It took a lot to focus on him. “I thought . . . I thought you were dying. I couldn’t let that happen. I wanted . . .”
Something wet danced off my cheek, and I didn’t know if they were my tears or his. “You wanted what?”
My head was heavy. “I wanted to know if . . . if I was part of . . . your good memories.”
Luc shuddered as he bent, curling his body around mine. His warmth was everywhere, filling every cell and part of me. “Yes,” he said, his lips moving against mine as he spoke. “You were all my good memories.”33
As I lay in my bed late Sunday morning, I sent a text back to Heidi, letting her know that I wouldn’t be joining her and Emery later. I just wasn’t feeling up to peopling at the moment, especially since I knew Heidi had a lot of questions.
Not that I could blame her, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about everything.
I didn’t have clear memories of returning home last night. I knew Luc had healed me out in the woods, repairing whatever damage Micah had delivered, and I had a vague memory of Luc carrying me back home and finding the house full of . . . well, aliens and people who weren’t quite people. There’d been brief glimpses of Mom sitting up, with Zoe beside her. I saw Daemon and I thought I’d seen Archer with a pale, quiet Grayson.
However, I clearly remembered waking up in the middle of the night and finding Luc lying next to me, resting on his side, facing me, and asleep. He’d been holding my hand. Or I’d been holding his. I wasn’t sure.
I had no idea if Mom knew he’d been in there, but he’d been gone when I woke this morning, feeling out of it.
But I worried. No matter how awesome he said he was, I knew he’d been in bad shape last night. Luc was powerful—possibly the most powerful creature I’d ever seen, but Micah had done a lot of damage to him.
He’d almost killed him.
He’d almost killed me.
There were still some sore spots—like if I twisted too quickly, there was a flare of pain—but the heavy exhaustion I’d felt since waking was finally lifting. I felt like I’d just recovered from the flu. I had no idea why it felt that way for me after being healed. Luc claimed that humans usually recovered quickly, feeling better than before after being healed.
I wondered if it had something to do with what I’d been given before . . . I was Evie. If that somehow effected how I felt after being healed and if it would prevent me from mutating, because I’d been really hurt last night.
So, I had a lot of questions.
Glancing over at my closed bedroom door, I wondered what . . . Mom was doing. Other than Mom checking in on me this morning, she was giving me space. I knew she’d already called someone to take care of the window Grayson had literally been thrown through. It had been the upstairs hallway window. Work needed to be done downstairs, too.
A soft tapping drew my attention to the bedroom window, and my heart did a weird little jump. There was only one person who would be tapping on my bedroom window.
But in broad daylight?
Thinking I’d better get him off the roof before any neighbors noticed, I rose from the bed and went to the window. Excitement bubbled inside me and so did something . . . something far more sharp, more powerful. I drew the curtains back and saw him perched there, rocking those silver aviator sunglasses.
Luc was holding a Coke.
Fighting the urge to grin, I unlocked the window and pushed it open. “Why didn’t you just come to the front door?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I like knocking on windows better.”
“Uh-huh.” I stepped aside, giving him room. He landed in front of me. Closing the window behind him, I ignored the flutter of anticipation low in my stomach.
He took off his sunglasses, placing them on the dresser, and then he handed me the Coke.
“Thanks.” It was nicely chilled. I put it on the dresser. I started to say something, but my gaze met his, and the ability to speak dive-bombed out the window he’d just climbed through.
It was the way he was staring at me, his features stark and gaze intense. Like he was seeing right into me.
Luc stepped toward me and then stopped. His voice came out raspy when he said, “Can I? Can I just touch you?”
My breath hitched, and I nodded.
He moved, careful and slow, touching my face with just the tips of his fingers first. His hands flattened and slipped down the sides of my neck, sending an acute shiver through me. Those hands made their way to my shoulders as he stepped in even closer, his thigh brushing mine. Breathing in his scent, I closed my eyes as one hand slid to my back. Luc curled his other arm around my shoulders, tugging me toward him. His warmth breath danced over my temple as we stood chest to chest, my hands touching his sides. We were so close that I felt it when he shuddered. Neither of us moved or spoke for several long moments. We just held each other, and then I felt his lips press against my temple before he pulled away.