Page 60 of Melt the Ice

“Scarlett…” She takes a timid step back, eyes heavy and half-lidded but locked on mine. “Run, Lettie girl,” I growl. “Don’t let me catch you.”

She squeals and takes off in the opposite direction. I give her a good thirty-second head start before I tear off my shirt and run after her. She’s almost to the water when my arms wrap around her waist, throwing all my weight to the side so she hits my chest instead of the ground. “I said, don’t let me catch you.”

She twists so she’s straddling my hips, her chest heaving as she bites down softly on her bottom lip. “Maybe I wanted you to catch me.” Slender fingers run from my shoulders to my chest as she pushes against me. “Maybe I wanted you to show me I’m yours instead of just running your mouth about it.”

My head falls back onto the ground, eyes slamming shut as I try to keep from losing it on the spot. “Come on, Goldie.” Her fingers dig into my pecs as a knowing smirk pulls at her lips. “Show me what it means to belong to Lucas Monroe.”

Those words snap what's left of my restraint. Before she can blink, I’ve flipped us over, my hand cradling her head so she doesn’t hit the ground. “You want to know how it feels to be mine?” My eyes bore into hers, and she nods with wide eyes, lips parting as I lower my hips to meet hers.

“You want to know what happens when you tease a man that’s been desperate for you most of his life?”

She gasps as I bite softly on the skin just under her ear. “I dare you, Goldie.” She tries to keep her hard exterior, but fails the second I suck on the spot I just bit. Her moan carries through the night, her back arching into me, but I relax more of my weight, keeping her pinned to the ground.

“Just remember, I love you. Because it might not feel like it in a second.”

“Lucas…” she whines as she arches into me.

“Oh, you beg too?” I chuckle as I nip at her collarbone, “You really are my good girl, aren’t you?”

“Less talking,” she mumbles, out of breath under my touch.

“Yes ma’am…”

25

scarlett

Never in my life would I have expected my world to be rocked so spectacularly. He listens with his hands as they trail over my body, moves with stamina that’s been shaped by his time on the ice, and brings me to the edge with a mouth fit for a sailor.

But what surprises me most is how it feels like coming home. Like after years of wandering around, doing what I could to be loved only to fall short every time, I’m finally seen and loved for me.

For the me on the inside, the one who swore she was too far gone to ever be considered worthy of calling this place or this man home. There isn’t a single part of me that doesn’t wish I could go back and do things differently, love him a little better, come back a hell of a lot sooner. But mostly, there isn’t a part of me that doesn’t wish I had chased his love with the same reckless abandon I did my father's.

Our chests heave as we lie in the grass, basking in the aftermath of what I can only describe as pure love. His fingers slowly trail up and down my arm when his phone pings. The veins in his hands pop as he reaches to pick it up. His brow furrows as he looks at the screen. “I don’t know who this is, but they sent whatever this video is to everyone at my house.”

I lean over hesitantly, my stomach bottoming out when I see the screen. “Lucas, don’t.” But I’m too late, his finger hits the video, and my voice comes through the speakers.

“I don’t give a rat's ass if you have fifteen kids or one,” I’m going to hurl, right here in this field. “You stole from this company, and that’s grounds for termination. Therefore, pack your shit, and get out while you can do so with your head held high. Otherwise, I’ll call security.”

His eyes narrow at the screen before he grimaces. I’m frozen, the video playing on an unsettling loop in my mind. I remember that day so vividly. I remember the way I ran out of the office and cried for the first time in years because I handled that situation so poorly. The woman was just trying to feed her kids, and my father had caught her taking food out of the company fridge.

God, he was pissed. Why? I don’t know, it wasn’t like we didn’t throw leftovers away every single day. I figured if I handled it, it would have been easier on her. But then a contract fell through, and I was on the receiving end of his outrage, and I took it out on her.

“Lettie, who sent this?” he asks, voice wound tight.

My head hangs in front of me, my insides rioting at the realization. “My money’s on my father.”

His hand reaches out, tilting my chin so that our eyes lock. The disgust that was on his face moments ago is now replaced by anger. “Why?”

I shrug. It’s half-hearted at best, but I try my hardest to downplay it. “To make you hate me? Maybe to make it clear that I don’t actually belong here.”

His eyes widen before his head tips back, and a shrill bark of laughter leaves him. “Yeah, I don’t think so. He’s going to have to try a bit harder than that.”

Tension winds through my forehead as my brows furrow, “Wait,” I say, shaking my head softly. “You aren’t mad?”

He scoffs, sliding his phone in his pocket before he hauls me to my feet. “Nope, and I’m not about to let you get in your head about it.” He starts to move, pulling me behind him. “Come on,”

“Where are we going?”