…his fingers pressed right against her cunt again, the same way he’d done before the entire f*****g council. Except now? Now it was just them. Sera whimpered, her body jerking as his fingers slid over her slit through the soaked fabric. Her breath stuttered, hitched, caught in her throat, like something that wanted to be pain but came out as need. Lucien leaned down. Bit her shoulder. Not hard. Not soft either. It was like a claiming. A warning. “You didn’t break,” he repeated, voice darker now. “They saw your cunt soaking. They saw your legs shaking. They saw you cry.” His breath hit her ear. “But they didn’t see you f*****g kneel.” Sera choked on air. Her fists balled into his chest. She was shaking. Not from fear anymore. From the weight of everything. From the look in his ey