Chapter 177: Chapter 177

Brianna did not resist Lucien’s kisses. She responded in equal intensity instead. The world seemed to have stopped around them. Brianna had her body almost twisted to receive and give her kisses to Lucien with eagerness, mimicking his passion expressed for her to feel.

“Oh, Michaelson…” Brianna murmured with her eyes closed as she filled her lungs with the air it greatly demanded.

“Yes, Missus Michaelson?…” Lucien replied with a wide grin, biting his lower lip as he took breaths deeply through his nose, sniffing Brianna’s hair. He embraced his woman from her side. No one could tell how they were able to change Brianna’s position from sitting before Lucien with her back to him to getting cradled like a baby with her head and feet to Lucien’s sides.

Brianna shook her head when she heard Lucien’s words.

“I am not married yet. I remain as Peters until so,” Brianna retorted, hiding the smile on her face. “Right, dad?” She turned to her parents’ tombstone.

Lucien readily agreed.

“My sincerest apologies, dad, mom…” he quickly bowed his head in his spot, despite cuddling Brianna. “Babe, we gotta go… Let’s come again next time….”

Lucien spoke as if he was begging Brianna.

“You sound scared….” Brianna stated with teasing.

“Honestly, I am….” Lucien confessed.

“With what? Ghosts?” Asked a giggling Brianna.

“Ghost?” Lucien paused. He seemed to fall into thoughts.

Brianna frowned even harder, and her giggles turned to a teehee. She was somehow convinced that this man was scared of ghosts.

“What a baby!?” Brianna exclaimed.

But Lucien kissed her again, punitively. He claimed, captured, and ravished her kisses until he was satisfied.

“Honey, it’s not just any ghosts. I am afraid mom and dad would scold me for doing all this boldness right in front of them, so please… can we come again… I wanna have you for myself, my wife…” Lucien whispered his words as if trying to hide his message from Brianna’s parents in fear of them disagreeing.

It was also about the weather starting to feel cold as the night gets deeper. Brianna might feel the warmth from the alcohol’s effect on her bloodstream, but that wouldn’t have been enough. And he did not want to be disrespectful being intimate with Anna when they were supposed to be formally meeting the parents of his soon-to-be bride and wife.

“Dad, he’s saying something…” Brianna playfully said.

“Babe…? Please…?” Lucien complained pitifully. “I thought you would back me up to impress dad?….”

Brianna burst into guffaws. Then she cleared her throat when she felt like her laughter had all been released.

“Okay, okay, fine!” She raised her hands, one with the bottle as if she surrendered. “Let’s get you out of here, scaredy-cat…” she continued to tease Lucien.

But the man happily smiled. His grin reached from ear to ear.

“Yes, I’m a scaredy-cat when it comes to my dearest parents-in-law,” Lucien stated with mixed seriousness and playfulness. “Because I am so grateful they have borne a beautiful soul to be my one in this lifetime. I will never get to repay or express my deepest and wholehearted gratitude because they already left us in this world, so respecting their souls by loving you with all my heart is all I can do to make them feel at ease that their beloved daughter is loved.”

Brianna knew she was no longer sober, the alcohol had penetrated her system, but she was perfectly aware of everything that was going on. And her tough character, which stood as her invisible protective shield and barrier, had softened. Lucien’s emotional words touched her.

“Lucien Michaelson…” Brianna whispered his name softly.

Lucien did not say anything in response, but he made sure their eyes were silently speaking words of their own.

“You know how to win my stone yet fragile heart….” Brianna uttered.

Her parents are the most that Brianna valued in her life. She can live and die for them. So Lucien’s words of respect and gratitude did not slip out of Brianna’s sensitive ears and heart.

No one has ever shown so much respect for her parents the way Lucien did just now. Even Jack Foster, who had been Brianna’s friend ever since childhood. They have different levels and degrees of friendship a relationship as a family.

Brianna treasures Jack for who he is. And it will never change, as long as he does not change towards Brianna.

But Lucien’s words set a deep carve of affection in Brianna’s heart. She could sense the sincerity, honesty, and purity of his claims and declared adoration for her.

She decided to give this man the most precious space in her heart. But as she was not a woman full of spoken words. She thought about returning every expression of love Lucien would ever show her.

He deserves to harvest from every sowed love he would invest in her.

“Because you are a gem, Anna….” Lucien replied, turning her around to wrap her legs around his hips. “You think you have a heart of stone, and you are right because your heart is the most precious stone one could ever find. A daughter to your parents, a boss to your team, a friend to Jack, a wife to me, and a mother to our children. More precious than gold, a priceless rare diamond….” Lucien stated softly. His words were delivered with clarity, intensity, and sincerity. His eyes smiled as he spoke, staring directly into Anna’s eyes.

Anna felt a lone tear roll down her right eye. But it was wiped out right away by a thumb of Lucien’s hand closest to her right cheek.

“Like diamonds, you had to go through unbearable flames of suffering training from the hand of a person who turned out to manipulate you, but you made it through. The heat of life’s trials had toughened you and brought you wisdom no one would acquire without the same intensity of what you had been through. And so, you are worth more than any material treasure this world could ever offer and maybe more than it already possesses.”

Brianna realized she wasn’t tough at all. She melted at every sweet-sounding word Lucien was freely blabbering. Her tears flowed out again. This time, it was in an explicable joy that she felt this man seemed to value her more than she thought she deserved.

A part of her was trying to oppose, remain in her tough persona, and reject the flowery and sugary words Lucien was saying. She did not want to feel like an idiot being played by man’s words. But a bigger part of her wanted to take a grasp and hold on to those silly words and make the man prove them to her. Show her, make her feel more of them, and start a life with no violence. No bloodshed and no deaths.

A life like every normal human being would lead. Settle down, have kids, and grow old with a loving and happy family.

“I haven’t seen myself in such a view as to how you seem to see me,” Brianna said in her raspy voice, sniffing as she tried to say her words clearly. She had her eyes closed, trying to suppress the tears from flowing stubbornly. “I am grateful you have that eye for me, but…” she sniffled again, then she looked at Lucien right into his eyes.

Lucien eagerly nodded as if he was silently encouraging Brianna to say what was in her mind and let him know.

“I want to give us a try and see where life takes us, but…” she paused again, sniffling.

Lucien nodded again. He kissed her tears away, hands on the sides of her cheeks, thumbs wiping along after his kisses.

“But let me warn you that if you ever make a fool out of me, I will make your life worst than death….” Brianna pouted as she threatened.