Page 43 of Lured By Shadows

“She was coming to dinner tonight regardless,” Culver said, colder now.

I shifted, fully dressed, but the friction of my panties suddenly felt unbearable, every small movement reminding me how worked up I still was. I rubbed my thighs together, trying to dull the ache that refused to fade.

Anna laughed softly. “What’s a little fun now and then?”

“You are all fun,” Culver shot back. “You and Rupert alike.”

Her response was light, knowing. “You shouldn’t stay angry for too long. Seeing her naked is hardly reason for it, especially when you’ve already—”

Her voice dropped too low to catch the rest.

My heartbeat quickened as I leaned closer to the door, straining harder, but the conversation dissolved into indistinct murmurs. Nerves and anticipation tangled together until I couldn’t separate one feeling from the other anymore.

After one last steadying breath, I reached for the doorknob and opened it.

I immediately wished I hadn’t.

Instead of finding them mid-conversation, I was met with Culver’s hand wrapped firmly around Anna’s throat, pinning her back against the wall as though something volatile had detonated between them. The sight stole the air from my lungs.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, rushing forward without thinking. I grabbed his wrist and yanked, panic flooding my veins. His hoodie slipped from my hands and hit the floor. “What the hell is going on?”

The instant my skin touched his, his eyes widened. He released her without hesitation, though the tension in his face didn’t fully fade. Anna stood unfazed, brushing her fingers along her neck as if it were routine.

“There’s no need to panic, delicate flower,” she said calmly. “You grew up an only child, didn’t you? This is quite normal between siblings.”

Uh, no. Rich people were terrifying.

“Yeah, I mean… I was an only child, but choking isn’t exactly normal sibling behavior. He was hurting you.”

“Hurting me?” Anna laughed, checking her phone and smoothing her hair. “There’s no need to worry about him.”

Against my better judgment, her confidence eased something in me. I loosened my grip on Culver’s wrist, swallowing hard. “Sorry,” I muttered. “I just got scared.”

“You really are innocent,” she said with quiet amusement.

Culver stayed silent. He sat heavily on the couch instead, elbows braced on his knees, hands loosely clasped while he watched me as though nothing else in the room mattered. The force of his attention settled over me, low and unreadable enough that I couldn’t hold his gaze for long without my chest tightening.

Anna broke the moment, smoothing her dress. “As entertaining as this has been,” she said, “Liam is here for me. I’ll see you at dinner, delicate flower.”

Her thumb brushed my cheek as she passed, cold and unsettling.

“Dinner,” I echoed faintly.

She smiled as though she already knew what I tasted like and turned toward the exit. “Brother,” she added, “Soroush will be joining us tonight.”

I turned slowly back to Culver, whose eyes never left me.

“Soroush?” I asked quietly.

“Finally,” he replied.

I wanted to ask what any of it meant—the situation with Soroush, the cryptic behavior from Anna—but Culver’s quiet presence filled the room now that it was just the two of us. I caught sight of him pulling his hoodie back over his head, and I knew I couldn’t stay quiet. I owed Culver something. At least something to help pull us through the embarrassment hanging between us.

12

“Culver,” I whispered as I sat beside him, forcing air back into my lungs like I’d forgotten how to breathe for a second. My voice came out soft, threaded with guilt. I didn’t look at him right away. Being close to him always made me feel exposed, as though he could see straight through whatever armor I tried to wear. And now, after he’d seen all of me—literally all of me—that feeling had only gotten worse. “I’m really sorry for… grabbing your dick like that. I swear I would never do that on purpose without consent.”

What a completely normal sentence to say out loud.