Chapter 52 Lucy & Fallon #2
Sunlight hit my face as the automatic doors slid open, and I squinted against the sudden brightness. After endless days beneath artificial fluorescents, the natural warmth felt unnatural.
My eyes widened as a sleek, hunter green sedan with a gleaming hood ornament pulled up to the curb.
Not any of the muscle cars or motorcycles from the compound.
This didn’t seem like something DemonX would drive, but Fallon was behind the wheel.
He stepped out gracefully, large frame rising high above the car’s roof, and moved around to open the rear passenger door.
“Now that’s fancy,” the nurse breathed out. “You’re riding home in style, Lucy.”
“I… I guess I am,” I stuttered out. “Whose car is this?”
“Yours,” Kane said casually, as if giving someone a car was an everyday occurrence.
“I don’t have a license,” I said stupidly, glancing up and over at Kane’s face. “I’ve never even sat behind the wheel of a car.”
“Well,” he looked thoughtful for a heartbeat, “then it’s yours but you can’t drive it yet.” His tone was playful.
The nurse pushed me forward, stopping a couple feet from the open door and locking the wheels. She walked around to my side. Kane hung back, looking unsure of what to do.
“Okay, Lucy. You’re almost there.” The nurse reached for me.
“I’ve got it,” Kane said quickly, swooping in to take the nurse’s spot. She backed away without protest.
My brown-eyed Alpha, sandy hair falling across his forehead, helped me stand from the wheelchair. His arm slipped around my waist, touch careful to avoid my wound, and he guided me toward the car. Fallon reached out, ready to take my hand if necessary.
Once I was settled, Kane moved around to the other side and slid in beside me.
Before I could reach for my seatbelt, he was leaning across me, his chest nearly touching mine as he pulled the belt across my body.
His scent enveloped me—stronger now in the confined space—and I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply.
My reaction was instinctive, bordering on primeval. Mine.
Kane clicked the belt into place, then surprised me by producing a small, soft pillow from somewhere. He tucked it between the seatbelt and my stomach, adjusting it with unexpected gentleness.
"Does that feel okay?” He asked, gaze worried.
All I could do was nod. If I tried to speak, I wasn’t sure if I’d produce words or pull Kane toward me to do something different with my mouth.
His warm eyes flicked down to my lips, and intense hunger flashed across his face.
But then he pulled away, settling in his own seat.
My insides writhed with a need almost as painful as the healing wound.
As Fallon began driving, I caught him watching me in the rearview mirror, his blue eyes intense and unreadable. When our gazes locked, something hot and electric passed between us, sending my pulse skittering wildly. His eyes darkened before he forced his attention back to the road.
My heart fluttered in my chest. Their scents. Their expressions. The warm pull of their bodies. Was it really so ridiculous to hope they wanted me?
As the hospital receded in the distance, I stared out the window at the passing scenery, trying to calm my racing thoughts.
FALLON.
Her reflection in the rearview mirror was going to kill me.
I couldn't stop looking at her. The sunlight streaming through the window turned her silvery-white hair into liquid platinum.
The delicate curve of her mouth screamed to be kissed.
That slight furrow between her brows as she watched the world passing outside made me desperate to know her every thought.
It took monumental effort to force my eyes back to the road, my brain helpfully supplying the statistical probability of a crash if I stayed distracted.
But, even knowing that every time the speed of the car doubled, so too did the momentum, and so too did the force of impact, I couldn’t stop myself from repeatedly glancing back at my Omega.
My Lucy. Gorgeous fucking Lucy who couldn’t leave DemonX.
If she did, I wasn’t sure I and my brothers would survive.
Why hadn’t we recognized the truth sooner? Why were we such a pack of morons?
Maybe all the bike wrecks had damaged our damn brains.
I looked at her again.
She drew me in so easily. I doubted she even realized the magnetic power she had over me… over my pack… over our future.
Focus. The road. Less than six thousand pounds of steel and glass protecting precious cargo.
I adjusted my grip on the steering wheel, flexing my fingers against the leather.
This car, with its five-star safety rating and multiple airbags, was the only vehicle I'd consider transporting Lucy in now.
Not the motorcycles we usually favored, not even Kane's beloved truck with its questionable brake lines, definitely not any of the stripped-down racers, or Xander’s tiny Triumph. Nothing but the best for her safety.
Her sunshine warming wildflowers scent filled the confined space. It mingled with Kane's cinnamon-leather tang and my own musk, creating an intoxicating combination that made my Alpha instincts roar to life. Mine. Ours. Protect. Cherish.
I swallowed hard, forcing those thoughts down. She wasn't mine. She didn’t belong to any of us. Not yet. Maybe not ever, after everything we'd put her through.
We didn’t even have small, positive moments to build a future on. If there was a foundation beneath us, it was a brittle one threatening to crumble.
Once, my life had been an endless parade of women.
The pleasure clubs of Las Vegas had known me well—the cold, calculating Alpha with exacting standards and substantial tips.
The exotic dancers and professional companions knew better than to expect emotional attachment.
Physical release without complication or commitment.
After that grew stale for me, I tried anything I could think of to stoke desire.
Nothing worked.
Then I’d seen her.
I’d felt something different, something new.
Yet I’d fought every deep-seated instinct and agreed to push her away. Because she didn’t fit our expectations. I knew not to judge a book by its cover, yet I’d done exactly that with Lucy.
Now, the memories of dark rooms, pulsing music, and assorted toys felt like artifacts from someone else's life. The mere thought of touching another woman, of inhaling any scent but Lucy's summery warmth, was viscerally repulsive. My body had made its choice, and there was no going back. The point of no return was the minute she’d stepped onto our compound’s land.
Again, I looked at her.
Those captivating evergreen eyes.
The gold flecks catching light.
The delicate curve of her jaw. The slender line of neck.
I wondered what she tasted like. If her lips would be as soft as they looked.
If her skin would carry that sunshine scent even in the middle of the night.
I’d hold her against me in the dark, breathing every part of her in.
Would I find out what it was like to sleep next to her?
Was the damage we'd done too great to overcome?
The car hit a small bump. In the mirror, I watched as Lucy shifted slightly, a wave of discomfort crossing her features. I cursed under my breath, eyes back on the road, doing my best to avoid rough pavement.
Three more miles to the compound. Don’t look at her. Stay focused.
Who could I be for Lucy?
The sex addict. The calculating stunt architect. The Alpha who watched events unfold, good or bad, and then denied involvement. The broken orphan who grew to be a broken, thrill-seeking man-child.
None of those men would win her trust. None of those personas would heal what we'd broken.
Who I had to become settled over me with surprising clarity.
For Lucy, I needed to simply be myself. No pretense.
No walls. No calculations before manipulations.
She needed my fears, my dreams, my scars, my healing.
I’d show her the Alpha beneath all the masks and hope she might find something there worth accepting.
As I steered the car closer to home, each cruel word we'd spoken to her, each moment of neglect or humiliation, each time we'd treated her as less than the miracle she was scrolled through my brain. These were all debts to be repaid if she’d let us.
When my resolve broke and my gaze went to the mirror yet again, Kane was staring right at me. The silent exchange that came next was full of vows we’d never break.
We approached the compound, the high security fence coming into view.
I slowed the car, pulling up to the gate and lowering my window to punch in the code.
The wrought iron barrier slid open too slowly, making my pulse quicken.
I guided the car through the entrance, my eyes finding Lucy in the rearview for the millionth time.
She was staring at the building beyond, her expression unreadable, her scent becoming a complex swirl of emotions.
I hope you can think of this as home now, I thought, wishing I could project the words directly into her mind. I hope you want to stay with us.