Chapter Forty-Two #2
“I’m safe, Kylo. When I’m with you, I’m safe.”
He grips my chin. “Loving you is the only thing in my life I can’t control.”
My lips part, every confession caught between thought and breath.
“I’ve walked through war and invited death to take me. I’ve survived everything that was designed to break a man until there was nothing left. Then I met you and realized I’m still capable of being destroyed.”
His thumb presses harder beneath my chin. “I love you, Lia. More than I ever thought I was capable of. I never had any real defenses against you.”
My whole body goes still as my heart tries to catch up.
He loves me.
He cups my face in his hands, drawing my eyes back to his. “See? That is what I mean.” He taps gently between my brows. “You lock yourself away up here, oblivious to the fact that I’ve been falling for you this entire time.”
“To be fair, you guard your thoughts and emotions like a fortress,” I tease.
He kisses me. It’s fierce and consuming. He pulls back just enough to breathe against my lips.
“I had a lifetime of reasons to stay angry, but you gave me the first real reason to smile.”
Tears pool in my eyes. This lethal, maddening man has handed me his heart, and I’m sitting here like a lovesick fool who’s lost her words.
“There’s no need to speak.” He places his hand over my heart. “I can feel everything you’re trying to say.”
He leans in and kisses my forehead, a gesture so tender it makes my chest ache. “Are you feeling better?” he asks, pulling away.
I survey my surroundings, taking in the hospital-like room. A sink and cabinet sit across from the bed I’m lying on. White walls. One window.
“How did I get in here? The last thing I remember was the security checkpoint.”
“You blacked out.”
“What happened?”
“Before or after you caused the interrogation room to collapse?”
“I did what?”
He frowns. “Your telekinesis caved the room in on itself. You don’t remember?”
The pieces are still blurry. I remember the guard’s hands on my face, then…
“He was forcing his way through my memories. I asked him to stop, and when he didn’t, I—”
“I know. We went through the security footage. That prick abused his power.”
A pit opens inside me. “Is the security guard alive?”
“Yeah,” he grits out. “He’s in no condition to celebrate. Carter had to drag me off him.”
I twirl a strand of hair around my finger, trying to piece it together. “He kept examining memories of Joaquin and Draven.”
“He dug deeper once he realized you were a Lockhart. But that doesn’t excuse what he did without proper clearance.
He broke protocol. If a guard suspects someone of ill intent, they’re supposed to detain and wait for Elijah or another superior.
Interrogate. Investigate. Not violate someone’s mind the way he did to you. ”
“He shouldn’t have done it. He put all of us at risk. Draven could’ve sensed my defenses were down and used it to his advantage. He could’ve compromised the whole compound.”
“That’s another reason why I was seconds away from painting the floor with him.”
A few beats of silence pass before I whisper, “I’m ready for this to end.”
“Me too.” He strokes my hair. “Draven will pay for everything he’s done.”
“Facing Draven means seeing Blair again. Are you ready for that?”
“I’m going to try my damned hardest to break her out of his compulsion.”
“You’ll do it,” I say softly. “I have no doubt.”
I hadn’t intended for Joaquin to die by my hand.
I’m not seeking Draven’s blood for the sport of it, but I refuse to let his cruelty go unchecked.
I’ll do whatever I have to do.
“You gave him a quick exit. He deserved it—for the way he broke you down in the one place meant to keep you safe, for what he did to my parents, and for trying to force my hands around your throat.”
A muscle jumps in his cheek. “I would’ve stretched every second of his suffering until his mind shattered. Made his last hour feel like an eternity, locking him inside his own mind with no way out, no control, until the silence drove him mad.”
My chest tightens at the darkness in his voice. It doesn’t scare me. It hurts.
“Do you want to talk about what he did to you?”
“Mind manipulation feels like sinking deep underwater until the pressure crushes you. You see everything, but you can’t move. Can’t breathe. They control every impulse and thought.”
I squeeze his hand in reassurance.
A shadow passes over his face. “I’ve been compelled before. I should’ve known Joaquin would come at me like that. I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t. You snapped out of it.”
“Almost too late.”
“How did you get out?”
“I felt you. Your empathy severed the compulsion and snapped me back to myself long enough to fight him off.”
“Do you think Draven is capable of that kind of mind manipulation?”
“Yes. Which is why we need to be careful—especially you.”
“I think it’s time we meet with the others,” I say, though my heart isn’t in it.
I’m not ready to leave the sanctuary of this room.
In here, Kylo is safe. He’s alive.
Outside these walls, nothing is guaranteed.
The mere thought of losing him twists something deep in my chest. I’ve lost so much that one more loss might be the end of me. I can’t lose Kylo.
I won’t.
“Hey.” He shifts, moving until he’s sitting on the bed directly in front of me.
My fingers twist into my hair as my breath stalls.
His thumb traces the frantic pulse on my wrist. “Breathe. Follow me.” He places my hand firmly over his chest, letting me feel the rise and fall of his breath.
I follow the sequence until my pulse drops back into a regular rhythm.
“I’m alive. You’re alive. We’re okay,” he murmurs. “Let’s handle one thing at a time. The mission can wait.”
“Okay,” I say, feeling better as the fog clears. “Thank you.”
His eyes soften, the last of the tension easing from his face. “There you go.”
He stands. “Let me give you the grand tour of Elijah’s unnecessarily massive compound.”
I slip my fingers into his, relishing the connection. “Show me the way.”
As Kylo warned, this place is massive. Calling it a compound hardly does it justice.
“You said Elijah owns several of these?” I ask, lifting a brow as we pass yet another hallway lined with doors.
“This one and the one in Vancouver.”
There are easily hundreds of rooms stretching across multiple wings.
“Resort would be a better word.” I take in the polished floors, sleek lighting, and the panoramic windows framing the dense forest.
“This resort is home to many of his soldiers who live here full-time. It has everything—laundry rooms, kitchens, meeting halls, training areas, and gyms.”
He pulls a key card from his pocket and swipes it across the scanner, unlocking the door to a space that looks suspiciously like a spa retreat.
“This is our room for now,” he says, stepping inside as if this level of luxury is nothing unusual.
“You and Carter seriously need an upgrade.” My eyes scan the crisp bedding, modern furniture, and a fully stocked mini-fridge.
He laughs. “Our compound back home isn’t meant for permanent housing. We’re in charge of training and prepping new soldiers for Elijah and this lifestyle.”
“Newbies like me?”
He grins. “Especially the stubborn, telepathic kind.”
My attention drifts to the enormous and dangerously inviting bed behind him. I can’t resist the pull. I jump onto it, sinking into the mattress as if it were made of clouds.
It’s perfect.
Groaning dramatically, I say, “I don’t think I’m ever leaving.”
He smirks. “I could get used to this, but Oregon is our home.”
Rolling onto my stomach, I prop my chin on my hand and look up at him. “So… what do we do now?”
“I have a few ideas.” He crawls onto the bed and pulls me beneath him. I squeal, laughing as his hand wraps around my waist.
He looks down at me, his eyes dark and burning with a sudden hunger. When he kisses me, it’s deep and demanding.
Every thought of Draven and the war slips away. I give in to him shamelessly and breathlessly.