“I love that you’re asking, but no.”
Heart racing, I studied his face, his chest, the rest of his body. Doctor Winchester had been adamant he not do anything strenuous, and there was no other word than strenuous to describe the physical level of what we’d just done. What if I’d torn open one of his wounds, or caused whatever had made him cough up blood earlier to start making him—
“Ronnie.”
Lucas’s deep chuckle jerked my stare back to his face.
He grinned at me, devilish delight dancing in his blue eyes. “Fucking you, being fucked by you, could never hurt me. It can only strengthen me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, unconvinced.
He laughed again. “I’m tough,” he said, smoothing a hand up my side. “I can handle it.”
Twisting my lips, I removed his hand, placed it on his stomach and crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, tough guy,” I said, arching an eyebrow. “Talk. Tell me why you can handle it. And while you’re telling me that, you can also tell me just who the fuck you really are and what the fuck is going on.”
Chapter 4
He didn’t answer me. Not at first. It took me starting to climb off the bed before he did. Mind you, there were no words to start with. Instead, he snared my wrist in a tight grip, halting my exasperated shuffle toward the edge of the mattress.
I stopped, fixing him with a pinning glare. “No dodging or side-stepping or sweet-talking your way out of telling me, Lucas,” I ordered.
“What if I make you forget with more incredible fucking?”
Even though my tummy and pussy fluttered and constricted at his question, I held firm. “We just had incredible fucking,” I pointed out, “and I haven’t forgotten how you turned up at my place, nor the fact we’re in a house I didn’t know you owned, with a fully equipped gym and firing range downstairs.”
An unreadable glint filled his eyes and his jaw bunched. “You’ve been through the house, I take it.”
I nodded. “I have. Care to tell me what’s in the safe?”
“A new life.”
I blinked. “Well, that sounds ridiculously ominous.”
He grinned.
I frowned. “Care to elaborate?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. Ask me about the house first.”
I frowned again. Considering I was meant to be in charge of this interrogation, I was feeling a tad not in charge. “Tell me about the house. How can you afford something like this? And why do I have a garage door opener for it in my car?”
“I bought the house with cash three months ago.”
“Cash?” I don’t think my eyebrows could go any higher up my forehead. “You bought it for cash. It must be worth—”
“I paid two mil for it.”
My stomach dropped. My mouth fell open. I gaped at him, not sure I’d heard him correctly. “Two mil. You bought this for two million dollars cash?”
He grinned. “I had to talk the previous owners down a few grand, of course.”
I pulled a face of mock agreement. “Oh, of course.”
He laughed. God, it was a sexy, unsettling sound. It made my nipples pebble and my tummy flutter. Damn him.
When he didn’t elaborate, I gave him a go-on glare.
He chuckled. Again, my body reacted. Damn him again. “There’s a lot of money to be made in underground professional MMA, Ronnie.”