Marcus stood at the end of a bed, butt naked, with a shotgun pointed at me. After dispatching nine unarmed guards, I hadn’t expected anyone to have a weapon. We locked eyes from across the room, and my heart skipped a beat as he pulled the fore-end towards him with a deafening click.
“Pleasure to see you again, Miss McQueen. It’s a shame you can’t stay. ” He aimed at my chest and fired.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Either I was dreaming again or I was dead.
I was lying in bed, naked. A tangle of buttery-soft sheets that smelled like sun-dried linen kept me modest from the waist down, and a male arm covered my breasts. I rubbed my face against a downy pillow, breathing in the smell of sunlight that made my eyes water.
Lucas, naked next to me, opened his eyes and fixed his blue irises on my brown ones.
“I’ve never been here,” I whispered.
He wiped a tear away from my eye. “Pink?”
“Yes. ”
“Hmm. ” When he stuck his thumb in his mouth, I cringed. “Blood?”
“Yes. ”
“Where are you, Secret?” Where, not what. His question surprised me.
“Not here. ”
He pulled me near, and the line of our touching bodies made my skin explode with heat. He buried his fingers into my hair and brought my face close to his.
“This is real,” he told me.
“No. ”
“You are dying. ”
“I am?” I hated dreams. Especially when I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn’t make myself behave like I should. I kissed him and tried to push my conscious sense away so I could just be naked in bed beside him. His hands slipped down to the small of my back, and he returned my kiss with renewed vigor.
Then he seemed to register what we were doing and pulled back. We were always stopping short of the good stuff.
“Secret, focus. ”
“I was focused. ” My eyes were closed, my mouth trailing down his neck.
“No. You need to tell me where you are. ”
I kissed his clavicle, grazing it with my teeth. “I’m with you. ”
He was getting frustrated; I could tell by the heaviness of his sigh. “You are dying. ”
“You’re killing me,” I quipped.
Before I could make another pun, something in my stomach twisted and pain seared through me. It started as a throbbing ache, and I made a whimpering sound. I looked down and saw the cream-colored sheets turning red.
“Like my wedding dress. ”
I began to cough violently, expelling something hard from my gut. It clicked against my teeth, and he reached between my lips, pulling out a bullet.
When I scrutinized my own body, I saw a gaping hole beneath my ribs where blood was spilling out. Pain rocked through me like angry waves battering a ship at sea, and my breath was sucked from my lungs. I looked to him for help.
“Lucas? Why?”