CHAPTER 31: PRIDE & LOVE [R18]

Now Lucien found himself bathing beside the man who was the very reason he had lost his best friend, Damien.

He never even found Damien’s body in the rubble, just ashes, scattered like the remnants of his own heart.

The Don hadn’t been given time to mourn. All he could do was hold a small ceremony, give Damien a token of respect that meant nothing in the face of death.

Because Damien was gone, and no amount of ritual could change that.

The more Lucien thought about it, the more revolted he felt to even share the same space with Edmund.

"What’s wrong, Edmund?" he asked suddenly, cutting through the silence.

"Too ashamed to say anything? Not even a simple sorry?"

The only reply was the sound of water dripping, echoing in the stillness of the bath.

"I won’t ask for forgiveness," Edmund finally said. "Nor will I apologize for what I’ve done in this manor."

"You’re not foolish, Lucien. You know what I would’ve done if I had caught you that day."

His strong arms wrapped around Lucien’s body, pulling him close. The alpha inhaled his scent like he owned it.

Lucien’s jaw tightened, a click of his tongue marking his disgust.

"You bastard... you—because of you!"

Lucien’s words broke apart, strangled by rage and grief.

He struggled, twisting against the iron grip, but Edmund’s strength was unyielding. The omega’s resistance was useless against the alpha’s power and that only made him hate it more.

If Edmund had helped him that day, Damien would still be alive. If he had just reached out—just said something before cutting him off—Lucien wouldn’t be standing here feeling like this... Miserable.

Water rippled violently between them as Lucien’s anger grew. He knew he couldn’t overpower Edmund physically, but there were other ways to make him let go.

Lucien turned sharply, grabbed the Leopard’s face, and kissed him. Hard.

The suddenness caught Edmund off guard, his grip loosening just enough for Lucien to sink his teeth into the alpha’s lower lip.

Blood welled instantly, and Edmund released him with a hiss.

Lucien laughed, breathless and bitter. "Sex with you might be fun, Leopard. But being with you? That’s never entertaining."

His voice trembled with something raw and real beneath the venom. "Every time you touch me, I feel nothing but disgust."

The words hurt more than he expected. He could see it—the faint flicker of sadness in Edmund’s eyes—and it twisted something inside him, like his heart was being wrung out from the inside.

But anger and pride were too great for Lucien to care about the pain in someone else’s expression.

He looked away, biting down the tremor in his voice as he said coldly, "Don’t come near me again. Five meters, Edmund. No closer. And don’t touch me unless it’s for sex."

’Grandpa was right. I shouldn’t be here,’ he thought.

Yet Lucien still chose to be. He told himself it was just a vacation, an escape from the chains of being Don for a while.

He wanted freedom, pleasure, and the illusion of peace.

But maybe the truth was uglier than that. Maybe he was just too arrogant to face the pain and curiosity buried beneath his pride.

’Why did you leave me?’

The words pressed against his throat, but he swallowed them down.

Then Edmund caught his wrist. "Only for sex, right? Good. I’m in the mood for it."

"You—! Fuck you!" Lucien snapped.

"What? Isn’t this what you love most? Being taken like a whore?" Edmund sneered.

"Or are you going to scream like some little girl scared I’ll hurt you?"

Lucien’s jaw clenched; his glare was sharp enough to cut. The old wound in his chest tore open again. He spit straight at Edmund’s face and snarled,

"No one—not even you—gets to break me. If you want to fuck, then come at me!"

His voice rose, echoing through the steamy air. "Don’t hold back. Ruin me like you always do!"

The bathroom fell into silence, as if the world itself stopped breathing, waiting for the Leopard’s reply.

Edmund wiped the spit from his cheek and met Lucien’s glare. Then, slowly, he licked it from his hand and murmured, "As you wish."

The alpha suddenly grabbed his neck and spun Lucien around, forcing him to bend over. His head hit the edge of the bath, and his ass was fully exposed to the Leopard.

Without a hint of foreplay, Edmund thrust his long cock inside, making Lucien groan from the sharp sting.

But he didn’t scream, he bit his lip instead. The Serpent would rather die than show weakness.

He laughed, breath trembling. "As expected... a bastard like you gets hard seeing me struggle or are you hard knowing how helpless I am without my gun? That I, weaker than you so you can do as you please?"

Lucien turned his head slightly, eyes blazing. "Fuck you, Edmund, you heartless bast—"

Before he could finish, the Leopard drove his cock deeper, slamming into his sweet spot again and again until Lucien’s eyes widened in helpless pleasure.

His fingers clutched the edge of the bathtub so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Ugh... hnnn..."

He bit back every sound, even as his body trembled and clenched around the invading heat. His hole tightened with every thrust, his body betraying him completely.

Lucien knew it. But damn, he wasn’t in the mood to admit defeat.

Edmund suddenly landed a sharp slap on his ass.

"Ahhh!" Lucien gasped, the sting melted into something shamefully good.

"See? Your hole’s dripping and wet around my cock. It keeps tightening every time I go deeper."

The Leopard’s voice dropped low against his ear, a growl laced with mockery.

"You’re the perverted bastard here, Lucien. Not me."

Edmund pulled back until only the tip remained, then slammed back in, fast and hard. Lucien’s body jerked, his breath caught, and his cock twitched before releasing all over the bathtub.

"Huh," Edmund chuckled darkly. "You came just from that? You filthy little pervert."