The Lion’s Forbidden Mate

“I’m not a useless liar,” he said after shaking his head and laughing. “Violet and I have been engaged for maybe three weeks at the most. I’ve been struggling with it and last night, I had a moment where I saw a woman that I really wished I had a chance with and I took it the best that I could. I wanted a chance to have a relationship on my terms and with someone I genuinely found beautiful and not in the disappointing, depressing kind of way that she is. People tell me all the time how beautiful Violet is and I don’t see it. I see a fake girl that was pruned and prepped to look the way she does and I’m not interested in it. I don’t want it. I want someone who is naturally beautiful and who has a gentle soul, someone who will let me sit with them when I’m depressed and lonely and will give me the night of my life. I want you, Lucy, but I can see how it looks.”

“Don’t be like that,” she said, shaking her head.

“Like what?”

“Don’t act like this is the world against us,” she said with a stern voice.

She knew what she knew and she knew this man had done something that he shouldn’t have done and something she should have put a stop to, but she didn’t. She wanted to live in a world where they could be star struck lovers, but here in the real world, people were going to get sick of them real quick. She hated that and she was fearful of it. Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eyes and knew that there was something powerful between them, a pregnant moment where there could be so much more in the world. There could be everything that they ever wanted, but she had to be brave enough to reach out there and take it.

“It is,” he said softly, his fingertips brushing her cheek.

She hated that moment, closing her eyes and feeling vulnerable to his touch, feeling that sense of longing inside of her. She opened her eyes and she knew she had to have him. She had to fight whatever was happening with him and Violet. She knew she was pregnant with his child, but she had time to still fight for him. She knew she had time where she could see if this was the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with or not. She could figure it all out.

She leaned in and kissed him, knowing that there was going to be a moment where she knew she was going to regret this and she was going to hate herself, but she didn’t care. This was what she wanted and the moment that their lips touched each other, she knew there was magic. There was power in them. She kissed him again and again. She closed her eyes, and could feel his breath on her face. This was so wrong, but she wanted it more than ever. She had taken the plunge; she had dived into the waters of their future. She had given chase to everything that she knew was wrong. There was no going back now and she didn’t care. There was never going to need to be a regret in her life. She was going to find out everything that she could from him and she was going to find out whether she wanted to tell him that they had a child together or not.

When she pulled back from him, she knew she had a weakness for him and it was going to be easy for him to exploit it. She was going to have to be on her guard and she was going to have to be reserved. She needed to know that they were going to be okay and she needed to know that she could contain herself before she gave in to her lustful desires. But, more importantly, she suddenly realized that they were still at a party where hundreds of people could see them.

“My room, later,” she whispered to him, her voice quiver.

“I’ll be there,” he whispered back to her with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll be expecting you there,” Lucy said with a strange smile on her lips.

She didn’t know why she was so excited for this, but she was. This was going to be the moment her life was defined by. As she walked away from him, she could feel his eyes lingering on her. It was a good feeling. It was no longer terrifying but he was watching her. She smiled to herself as she passed through the crowd. This was not the Lucy she recognized. This is not the Lucy that left Montana. This is the new girl that she was excited to meet and explore with.

It was a long walk back to her hotel room. It was lonely, but she was glad for this moment by herself. It gave her a chance to think. It gave her a moment of peace so that she could think about all the questions she had for him, all the thoughts in her mind that she wanted to voice. There was a distinct truth to the fact that questions had to have answers.

As she made her way down the labyrinth of hallways and corridors, she eventually ended up in front of her room. Alone, she slipped the keycard into place and listened for the beep. When it called out to her, she opened the door and walked in. This room was not home. None of this felt real. Was she ever going to get used to that? Was she ever going to be comfortable with living in hotel rooms? She doubted it. She strongly doubted it. She had barely just gotten used to being back in Montana before all of this.

She took off her clothes, tossing them into her luggage and throwing on her tank top and her pajama pants. She didn’t think he was going to stop by. Sure, he was saying all the right things and maybe he did like her, but she would believe him when he showed his face. Lying on the bed, she turned on the TV and stared at it, not really watching it and not really caring what was on it. All she was doing was letting the sands run through the hourglass so that she could confirm that her cynical and bitter beliefs were something she could take refuge in. As she looked at the channels, flipping through them, she waited for him to disappoint her once and for all.

That is, until she heard the knock. She looked up from the television and stared at the door, like it was a ghost coming to get her. She didn’t know what to do. This was honestly the last thing she expected to happen. Her mind had turned so negative and so sour that she immediately figured that it was Violet coming to kill her for having flirted with and kissed her man. That seemed like the most plausible thing rather than actually have a talented, successful, handsome man knocking at her door.