My mind blanked.
I hated that I’d wondered what this would feel like. I hated that he was kissing me under duress. I hated that I now knewhowhe kissed, what he tasted like.
Mostly, I hated that I really didn’t hate it at all.
“Struggle,” he ordered against my ear. He pinched my waist hard, and I whimpered, squirming to escape him. He only pulled me closer.
A throat cleared somewhere near the door, but Lucas didn’t stop. His hand curved around my thigh, sliding to my hip, waist, breast. I yanked my face away, trying to catch my breath, and he scraped his teeth down my neck, then pressed a covert kiss where his hands had choked me earlier.
The throat cleared again, louder this time, and Lucas put on an affected sigh. He lifted his mouth from my skin and glanced behind him. “You better have a fucking good reason for being here right now, Lieutenant.”
The man stood at attention. “Sir, Colonel Miller requests your presence urgently.”
“It’s Thursday,” Lucas said, tone flat. “This is his night to deal with emergencies.”
“Yes, Colonel. These were my orders, sir.”
I thought Lucas might stand, leave me tied down and exposed to this Hunter officer, but he didn’t budge from his place atop my body. My own personal bodyguard.
The thought didn’t calm my heart in the slightest.
“How’d you find me here, Lieutenant? You following me?”
“No, sir. Your quarters were empty, sir. You have no comms on you. Found this address on your desk.” The man’s gaze darted to me. “I guess your Friday nights are getting tame?”
What didthatmean?
And why would Lucas leave this address on his desk? That wasn’t like him.
Lucas’s voice dropped to a lethal register. “Watch yourself. Why are you going through my desk?”
“Colonel Miller’s orders were to find younow, sir. There’s a…situation.”
The fear turned rancid in my gut. What could that mean? Did it involve the Defiance? I peered closer at the man’s face. Sweat had gathered on his brow, and his jaw ticked. Was it Lucas who had him so nervous? Or was the mystery situation dire?
Lucas appeared unfazed. “And theseven other colonelspresent at base are not enough to handle it?”
The man did not reply, but once again, his attention dipped to me and our eyes locked.
With a rough hand, Lucas cupped my jaw, jerking my head to match his gaze. “Don’t look at him. As far as you’re concerned, I’m the only man in the world. Got it?”
I nodded, frantic. My heart slammed against my ribs, and we were pressed together so tightly that he had to feel it like ahammer against his chest. Eyes squeezed shut, I fought to keep breathing, to push away the growing panic.
Because in that moment, Lucas Scott was the only shield I had, and Iknewwhat was about to happen. To protect his cover, he’d leave with this soldier, and I’d either be taken with them as a prisoner, or I’d be left alone, handcuffed to this bed.
I prayed for the latter, even though prayers didn’t work. At least in this house, the possibility of survival existed. If they took me with them, I’d wind up executed or a slave at the House. Funny, when I’d agreed to be a Hunter contact, I thought Lucas would be the greatest threat to my life. This kind of situation hadn’t even entered my awareness. Clearly, it had entered Lucas’s, since he kept a pair of handcuffs prepared for me in a bedside drawer.
Releasing his tight grip on my face, he pushed off me. Without the warmth of his body, I became aware of my near nakedness. I lay before these two Hunters in nothing but a strappy sports bra and neon blue bikini underwear. I tugged at my restraints, desperate to cover myself. Metal links clinked against the decorative iron, giving not an inch.
One last time, the officer’s gaze found me, but this time, a flare of heat lit behind his eyes. Whether it was lust or hate, or some combination of the two, I couldn’t tell, but it pulled goosebumps to the surface of my exposed skin.
Lucas’s dangerous stare locked onto him. “See something you like, Lieutenant?”
“No, sir,” the man said, returning to attention.
“Good. Because I plan to come back and finish what I started here, and if everything is not exactly how I left it, I’ll know who’s to blame.”
“Yes, sir.”
