Her Sinful Mate

Chapter twelve

n a v e a h

Lucian slowly unwraps his arms from around me and moves one of his arms under my knees and the other around my shoulders . Swiftly , he picks me up from the ground and walks us out of the shower . He sets me down on my feet and turns to grab a white cotton towel . Hastily he wraps it around me , not once averting his eyes from my red , puffy ones . I sniff , tightening the towel around my body and drop my gaze down to the ground , watching the water drip onto the ground from Lucian's soaked clothes .

"Naveah ," Lucian whispers softly , trying to prompt me to look up at him . I squeeze my eyes shut , shaking my head . Realization of how weak I must look dawns on me . Sobbing into Lucian's chest is something I never should've done . Crying in the first place was a mistake and feeling sad ? No , no , I shouldn't have allowed myself to feel anything . 'Crying makes you weak' My father's voice rings in my ear , the image of him scowling at me for being this weak fills my mind .

"Don't ." I snap , gritting my teeth . "Just leave , Lucian ." I sneer , flicking my eyes up to his confused ones . I didn't ask him to come in here and comfort me and even though I enjoyed every second of it , I won't let him pity me . Lucian peels his leather gloves from his hands before removing his black sneakers and socks . I frown up at him as I watch him grasp the hem of his black shirt and pull it up over his head , his raven hair a mess on his head . My eyes absentmindedly drop down to his chest , roaming down to his mouthwatering , toned abs . When he reaches to unbutton his jeans , I snap out of my trance and look back up at him . "What are you doing ?" I croak out , a lump forming in my throat at the sight of him shirtless .

Lucian smirks down at me , his jeans falling to the ground with a thud , the sound causes goosebumps to flood my exposed skin . "I don't want to drag water all over the floor ." He says calmly , his eyes falling down to my covered chest that's now rising and falling with rushed breaths . He watches me with hooded eyes , his beautiful gray eyes now a shade darker and it takes everything in me to not throw myself at him and run my fingers down his chest , over all the tattoos scattered over his chest and stomach .

"If I were you , I'd leave while you still can ." His voice is so deep it sounds like a growl . His voice is dripping with so many sinful promises that I clench my thighs at the sound , my breath hitching in my throat and before I can process what I'm doing , I'm already turning around and striding out of the bathroom in a hurry . I sit down on the edge of my bed , my mind a wild mess about what would've happened if I had stayed in the bathroom . Lucian comes walking out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around his waist and his clothes and shoes in his hands . I stare with my mouth agape at his V-line before I scowl at myself , averting my eyes to the ground in frustration of feeling like this for him .

I feel his stare at me as he makes his way to the door and he slowly opens it . I look up at him through my lashes as he stands by the door , his eyes boring through mine , his stare heated . "This isn't over , Naveah ." he says , referring to what happened in the bathroom earlier , and I clench my jaw , narrowing my eyes . He gives me a once over before striding out of the room and closes the door behind him . As the click of the door rings in the quiet room , I let out a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding . I fall back on my bed , staring up at the white ceiling with a small , nervous smile .

--

"Wake up , sleeping beauty ." As soon as someone's hand wraps around my shoulder , I jolt up and wring the person's wrist in fast movements . I look up and see that it's Alexander , sighing in relief . He winces , his face twisted in pain and I let go of his wrist , holding back my smile . "Jesus woman , what are you ? Hulk ?" He mumbles , rubbing his wrist . I roll my eyes , removing the duvet from my limbs and I slip out of the bed . "Don't wake me up like that again . " I shrug , running my fingers through my disheveled hair and yawn .

Alexander grimaces , still holding on to his wrist . "Believe me , I won't ." He pouts slightly . I raise a brow at him , shaking my head at him and make my way toward my closet . Grabbing my tights and sport-bra , I turn back to Alexander . "Why exactly were you waking me up ?" I ask , bending down before gathering all my hair and tying it into a ponytail on top of my head . When I look back up at Alexander he's just staring at me , his eyebrows drawn together .

I raise my brows at him and he clears his throat , looking away . "Lucian mentioned that you jog in the mornings , so I thought we could jog together . " He shrugs .

"In the woods ?" I question with a frown , Lucian said I shouldn't , so I can't imagine he'd be happy if I went jogging in the woods again . Alexander shakes his head with a breathy laugh . "No , Lucian would kill us both if he knew we were jogging in the woods . He has a gym , so we could just go jogging on his treadmills ." He says , running his hands through his dirty blonde hair .

"Okay ," I nod , still a bit wary of Alexander after yesterday , but I've never went jogging with anyone before , so I guess it'd be nice to have some company . "Let me just get dressed , then we can go ." I say and he nods , leaving the room .

--

Lucian's gym is so large and sleek and has so much equipment that I don't even know what half of it is used for . Alexander and I are side by side on different treadmills , running for approximately fifteen minutes now , and I can't but laugh as I look over at him . He's a sweaty mess , his blonde hair plastered to his face , shallow breaths leaving his lips and a pained expression on his face . "Are you alright ?" I ask , pressing my lips into a thin line to prevent myself from laughing . He inhales a long breath , pressing buttons on his treadmill to slow his pace .

"No , no , I'm not okay ." He grumbles , tilting his head back and winces . "Every muscle in my body is screaming ." He whines , reaching to stop his treadmill . I chuckle , shaking my head before increasing the speed on my treadmill and start jogging faster , my hair whipping behind me as I inhale and exhale even breaths .

--

"I don't think I'm even able to stand up ." Alexander says when I climb off the treadmill , picking up my cold bottle of water . He's been sprawled out on the floor while I jogged , which has been for forty-five minutes . I roll my eyes , gulping down water and look down at him . "Have you ever jogged before ?" I asked with curiosity , considering he only jogged for fifteen minutes and at a very slow pace at that .

He opens one of his eyes , peeking up at me before closing it again . "Only when I've been chased ." He smiles , wiping his hair from his forehead . I scoff , playfully smiling down at him . "Well , I'm going to train now , if you want to join me ?" I ask , gesturing to the boxing bag with my bottle . Both his eyes snap open and his mouth falls agape . "Uh , no , thank you . I can barely stand after a fifteen minute jog , so you go ahead and enjoy that torture by yourself ." He says dramatically , groaning as he stands up from the ground . He picks up his water bottle and waves at me as he gulps down his water , leaving the gym .

I sigh , walking over to the boxing bag and put my bottle down . I search for some tape but find none , so I decide to go without them . As I get in position in front of the boxing bag , my eyes flutter closed and I exhale a long breath . Opening my eyes , I lunge for the boxing bag , throwing punch after punch . The pain jolting up my arm everytime my fists land on the boxing bag keeps me grounded and helps me concentrate on the swinging bag and nothing else but the bag . My fists connect with the bag at a faster pace , all my anger and frustration dispersing into thin air . When I lived with my father , he'd order me to train on a boxing bag for exactly two hours without stop and then return to jogging for a further two and a half hours until he'd have me fight against one of his men . It was brutal training , the pain causing me to push aside my emotions every single day .

That brutal training was only to prepare me to be his soldier , an emotionless and ruthless soldier . He trained me to do all his dirty work and prepare me to feel no regret , no remorse and no mercy while I was doing it . He trained me to obey his orders and take life's whenever he demanded . I was his puppet , who did whatever he told me to do . I grab ahold of the boxing bag and lean against it , catching my breath before I stand up straight again , gazing at the bag in disgust , hating the way I still train everyday , despising the way his orders still float in my mind . My mind goes blank as I stare at the boxing bag , my fists ruthlessly lunging at the bag .

He made me like this , he did this to me . My father made me emotionless , just to be his soldier . Now , he's dead and I can’t even ask why .