“Please, Miss Holt. You need to stay—”
Whether it was his fear of what Lucas would do if the driver actually used any force to keep me in the car, or if the look on my face made him relent, I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t care. I squeezed past him, and as soon as my feet were on the ground, I was running toward my devil.
His darkness cracked the moment his eyes found me, his body sagged with relief, and his pace quickened. For the first time since everything had begun that afternoon, a sob burst from my chest and tears filled my eyes.
I thought I’d never see him again.
Lucas caught me easily when I launched myself at him and crushed his mouth to mine in a searing kiss.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said against my lips, and then kissed me again. “Damn it, Briar . . . what are you doing out of the goddamn house?” His voice was demanding, but his ragged breaths and the ache in his words softened his tone.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I was trying to get you something for your birthday, and—”
He barked out an incredulous laugh before his mouth was moving against mine again. “You stupid girl,” he gritted out, but the words were full of affection. “You stupid, stupid girl. I thought I lost you, I can’t lose you.”
“I know, I’m so—”
“I love you, Briar.” The words came out so suddenly, so effortlessly, that I was sure I’d heard them wrong until he repeated them against my lips.
Our next kiss was fire.
I forgot about the people, the officers, the death . . . all of it. I could’ve forgotten about the entire world in that kiss if an officer hadn’t come up and interrupted it.
I hadn’t heard whatever he’d said, but his hushed words made Lucas tense. His arms tightened around me as a curse slipped from his lips. “Briar,” he said so low I barely heard him above the ringing in my ears. “I’m going to put you down and walk you back to the police car.”
“Wha—”
“There are people taking videos of the scene on their phones. If you were just a girl who had been sold at an auction, I still wouldn’t be able to risk a video of you ending up online. But you and I both know there are a lot of people looking for you.” As soon as he felt me stiffen, he placed one more soft kiss against my lips, then let me slide down his body.
He curled his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the safety of his body and allowing me to bury my head against his chest in an attempt to shield my face from any cameras or phones.
Once he had me in the police car again, his large frame block
ing anyone from seeing in, his haunted eyes locked with mine. “When we get home, we need to talk.”
I searched his expression, and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“After this, nothing’s okay. But we can’t talk here. I need to get you home right now.”
“But what about the police? Don’t I need to tell them what happened?”
“Blackbird,” he said in an amused tone. “You’re mine. They won’t ever need anything from you, and they’ll take the driver at his word.”
“The driver . . .” I mumbled, and looked around until I caught sight of the driver from out the back window. Looking back at Lucas, I said, “I don’t know what you’ve said to him, but you will not fire or threaten him.” I tried to have the same sure tone Lucas always had, but my words came out as more of a plea.
Lucas’s eyes were dark when he glanced back to the driver, but his tone was still amused. “Won’t I?”
“He saved me, Lucas,” I whispered. “I was standing right next to him when it happened. He did what he was supposed to.”
After a brief pause, Lucas nodded and blew out a harsh breath as the driver approached us.
“Mr. Holt, I am—”
“Take Briar home for me. Keep her in this car so she won’t walk in front of any more cameras. Make two officers check the house before you let her inside. I need to take William’s car back to him and discuss some things. I’ll be home soon.” When Lucas bent close to kiss me, my disappointed look had his eyes narrowing. He straightened out of the car to look at the driver, and his voice dropped low so it wouldn’t carry, but there was no mistaking the honesty of his words. “Thank you for saving her.”
The driver looked stunned. “Of course, Mr. Holt.”
Lucas was gone after giving me a short, passionate kiss, and within five minutes, so were we.