Her heart was pounding. She wasn’t certain if it was from the proximity of his body or the suddenness of his appearance. “Technically, I think I could get away with saying I’m on the property. Sort of. Just checking things out a bit.” She made an attempt to face up to him, feeling very vulnerable locked between the wall and his muscular frame. He had removed the knife from her hand, but she was still shackled to him, his fingers tight around her wrist.
“You are definitely not on the property where I left you, honey,” Lucian whispered into her ear, his warm breath stirring tendrils of hair at her neck, stirring unwanted excitement in her body. He pulled the hood from her head to reveal the silky blond hair spilling wildly in all directions.
She wasn’t cold anymore. He had managed to heat her up with a few simple words. “Things didn’t go well on your little to-do list?” she asked sweetly.
His hand slipped around her throat so that her pulse was beating into his palm. His thumb stroked a caress along the delicate line of her jaw. “He has been here before you, angel. You have needlessly placed yourself in danger.” Lucian spoke in his most gentle voice, yet she recognized a note of reprimand. More than that. A warning, perhaps.
“It isn’t needless. You just aren’t getting it. He’s probably watching us right now.” Realizing it might be so, she made every attempt to swing them around, to somehow cover his big body with her own.
Lucian could easily pick her intentions out of her mind. She was frantic to protect him from Drake. “Be still, Jaxon,” he breathed, his voice a soothing balm, filling her mind with warmth. He held her close to his body with his enormous strength. Sheltering her. Savoring her. “He is not close at this time. I have scanned the area. Had he been near, I would not be so gentle with you. There is no need for you to protect me. Tyler Drake cannot harm me.”
His hand on her throat was warm and possessive, his thumb inducing molten heat in her veins where once there had been only blood. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘scanned the area,’ but I scouted it. I found evidence of him at two sites. We can protect ourselves from one of them easily enough, but this is impossible.”
Lucian bent his head to hers. “You do not listen well.” He appeared not to be paying much attention to the conversation, distracted by other things. “Hold still, Jaxon,” he murmured.
She went perfectly still. Jaxon didn’t know how, but she felt heat inside her where her wounds were throbbing. His fingers splayed wide across her abdomen. He did nothing else, simply laid his palm over her, but she felt him inside her. At once the pain disappeared. Lucian turned her into his arms. “Do not do this again. You are needlessly tired and cold.” He was framing her face between his palms.
Jaxon watched his eyes go from black ice to burning possessiveness as he lowered his head to hers. Mesmerized, she stood waiting for the touch of his mouth. She felt his breath, the heat, the beckoning. She felt him touch her mind, gentle and warm. His mouth moved over hers, coaxing, tasting. The world fell away from her. There was only silken heat, molten fire. She closed her eyes, willing to give herself up to pure feeling. Sensation. Dark fires.
He gathered her close, lifted her slight body into the hard strength of his arms, and whispered to her. She didn’t hear, couldn’t hear. His mouth was perfect. He drove out every sane thought, every responsibility, and replaced it with a burning magic. The earth dropped away, and the wind rushed past. She felt it in her hair, on her face. The dizzy sensation of a roller coaster. But his mouth was all that really mattered.
When Lucian lifted his head, Jaxon felt dazzled and had to blink several times to focus on her surroundings. At once she gasped and pushed him away. He set her down on legs that were rubbery, but sheer shock held her up. They were at the house, right at the kitchen door. Her teeth bit deep into her lower lip, drawing a tiny dot of blood. She could taste the bead welling up.