Lucien stared at the door long after Scarlett had gone, his fists clenched at his sides. "What is wrong with me?" he muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. The lingering scent of her perfume only made things worse, stirring something deep inside him he'd kept buried for centuries.
Her face, the way she'd looked up at him in that moment – it had almost broken his carefully maintained control. He'd wanted to pull her close, to taste those lips that had been mere inches from his. But he couldn't. He wouldn't. Not since...
"Elena..." The name escaped his lips like a prayer, bringing with it a flood of memories he'd rather forget. Elena's final moments flashed through his mind – her tear-stained face, the betrayal still fresh in his heart, yet the love... the damned love th
