His lashes swept down as one side of his lips tipped up. “I would never lie about such a thing.”
“I also heard some really lame pickup lines.”
“My pickup lines are never lame, Peaches.”
In my chest, my heart started pounding. “I also heard you say that if I woke up and didn’t remember who I was, that you had enough love in you for me that it would be enough. That you’d still love me.”
Those lashes lifted, and the intensity in his gaze stole my next breath. “You have to have known that.”
“I did,” I whispered. “I do.”
“But what you don’t know is that wasn’t the first time I said those words to you.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No.” He placed the tips of his fingers to my cheek. “I told you that I love you, that I would always love you, no matter what, once before.” His throat worked on a swallow, and when he spoke, his voice was thick. “I told you that the only time I ever said goodbye to you.”
His face blurred. “And what did I say?”
“You said, ‘I know.’”
18
Hours later, after the sun had gone down and after Luc and I talked over everything Dr. Hemenway had said, while we ate what felt like a week’s worth of veggies and cheese, Zoe showed up. Like Luc, I saw a deep violet, transparent aura tinged with white all around her before she rushed forward, all but tackling me where I sat under the covers. There were hugs.
Lots of hugs.
And maybe a few tears.
“Don’t ever do something like that again,” she said, arms wrapped around my shoulders. “Do you understand me? I was scared to death.”
“Sorry.” I squeezed her back as I tried to get air into my lungs and not think about the fact that her face was almost planted in my unwashed hair.
“Don’t apologize!” she cried. “It’s not your fault. I’m just so happy you’re okay and you’re not—” She cut herself off.
My gaze lifted to where Luc lingered, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. Grayson was there, too, standing silently behind Luc. When he’d walked in, I’d seen the rainbow effect around him, but when I looked at him now, all I saw was the bluish-purple bruise.
The Luxen had a black eye.
I had no idea how a Luxen could have a black eye, but I was full of questions.
“That I’m not trying to kill everyone?” I finished for Zoe.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “Heidi would never forgive me if something happened to you before she got here.”
I had hoped that they’d made their arrival while I slept, but they hadn’t, and I was doing my best not to freak out about that. Nobody seemed concerned, so I was taking that as a good sign.
“I missed you,” Zoe said, squeezing me until I squeaked.
“Your girl is starting to sound like one of those dog toys,” Grayson commented.
“True.” Pushing away from the door, Luc approached and gently pried Zoe away from me, and I don’t know what he said to her, but after a few more moments, and then a few more rushing back to the bed for one last quick hug, Luc and I were alone again.
“It’s getting late,” he said, returning from showing them out. A few more candles sparked to life as he passed them. “And I figured you’d want to take a bath—a warm bath. I know you want to do it yourself, but I think we can make an exception tonight.”
I really did want to do it myself, but I wanted a warm bath more.
“Bath. Please. And then you.” I scooted to the edge of the bed, throwing the blanket off. “You have to tell me why and how Grayson has a black eye.”
“Sort of a funny story.” Luc carried one of the lanterns into the bathroom, placing it on the sink counter. “I punched him in the face.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Yeah. He could’ve healed it by now—” The water came on, drowning out whatever he was saying as he sat on the ledge of the bath.
“What?” I rose, my steps a little wobbly as I made my way to the bathroom. “What did you say?”
“I said he’s wearing it like a badge of honor.” The lantern didn’t do much to beat back the darkness of the bathroom, but it cast interesting shadows along the back of his shoulders.
“Why did you punch him?” I tugged on the hem of my borrowed shirt.
“He told me.” Luc glanced over at his shoulder at me. “He told me what he said to you.”
Oh.
Wow.
Was not expecting that.
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
“Because he needed to.” Luc reached over, turning the water off. “Do you want to see how I’m going to do this?”
I wanted to know why Grayson felt the need to tell Luc how much of a dick he’d been and why he hadn’t healed his own injury, but frankly, I was more curious about how Luc was going to heat the water. Shuffling forward, I stepped behind him.
“I think of boiling water,” he said, placing his hand in what had to be frigid temps. A faint burst of white light powered down his arm, barely noticeable as he lazily trailed his hand through the water. “That’s all.”
Before I could speak, I heard the gentle rumble of water and squinted, seeing the bubbles spring forth from his fingers. “That’s all,” I murmured.
He withdrew his hand. “It’s not easy to control, though, so you need to wait a few minutes for it to cool down.”
With that, he rose fluidly, and with me standing so close to him, there was very little room between us. I had to crane back, way back, to look up at him. I suddenly felt incredibly nervous. Not the bad kind, but the kind that was an odd mixture of hope and anticipation. I wanted …
I didn’t know what I wanted other than I knew I wanted him, and I could sense he was about to leave.
“I saw the aura thingy,” I blurted out, and Luc’s forehead creased. My cheeks heated as I shifted from one foot to the next. “I saw the same transparent aura around Zoe that I saw around you.”
“And Grayson?”
“He looked like a rainbow.” I toyed with the hem of the shirt again. “A bruised rainbow.”
One side of his mouth curved up.
“You shouldn’t grin about that,” I told him.
“He shouldn’t have said what he did to you.” The smile faded. “Do you need help with anything?”
I arched a brow.
“Dirty mind,” he murmured, that half grin of his making an appearance once again. “I was talking about the bath. Do you need anything?”
Somewhat disappointed, I looked around the bathroom. “I can get the stuff.”
“Or you can let me be all helpful,” he offered, and because I didn’t want him to leave, I nodded. “What do you want?”
Luc went about grabbing what I asked for. Body wash and a loofah. Cleanser for my face. A big fluffy towel placed on a small wooden stool.
“I want to wash my hair,” I said. “I need to wash my hair.”
“Got it.” He grabbed two bottles out of the shower caddy. “Let me grab you a pitcher. That should help.”
Stepping aside, I waited until he slipped out of the bathroom before turning to the bath. I sat down on the ledge, curling my toes into the fluffy mat. The water was hot to the touch, but I thought in a few more minutes it would be cool enough, especially if I used the cold water to rinse the shampoo and conditioner out.
I pulled my fingers from the water and stood, my gaze sliding to the half-open bathroom door. I don’t know what I was thinking, or maybe I wasn’t thinking at all as I reached down and wrapped my fingers around the hem of the borrowed shirt. Maybe it was being asleep for so long and waking up to hear Luc whispering his innermost fears. It could be the little piece of hope Dr. Hemenway’s theory gave me. Perhaps it was the dream that was really a memory. Or maybe it was hearing Luc say he loved me.
I didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure it even mattered as I pulled the shirt off and then shimmied out of my undies, dropping both items in the hamper.
> There was no turning back now.
Stepping into the tub, I sank down, sucking in a sharp breath at the shock of the hot water. It took a couple of seconds for my skin to adjust, and then … goodness. Leaning back until my shoulders were underwater, I almost moaned as the heat of the water invaded the stiff muscles along my back.
I sat up, tucking my knees to my chest as I eyed the soap. My pulse was pounding so fast as I waited, having no idea how Luc would respond. I doubted he’d scream, “My eyes!” and run from the room. I was sure he would be more than happy to see me like this, but this was bold.
I liked being bold.
Grinning, I planted my cheek against my knee and closed my eyes. It was only a minute more when my heart skipped a beat. I sensed Luc’s return, and it had nothing to do with any alien DNA in me. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the intensity of his stare, heavy and as hot as the water.
Opening my eyes, I saw him standing in the doorway, an old-fashioned white pitcher in one hand and a large plastic storage container in the other. He didn’t move. I wasn’t even sure if he breathed as he stared at me with pupils that shone like stars.
Heart still thrumming, I said, “I didn’t want to wait.”
“I see.”
He spoke only those two words, but they were full of so much want and need that I shivered. I took a small breath. “I thought you could help me wash my hair.”
All Luc did was place the pitcher on the vanity, the container on the floor near the tub, and then he backed up again, returning to the doorway.
“And I thought since you heated up the water, you should get to enjoy it while it’s warm. The tub is big enough.” And it was. The tub wasn’t a Jacuzzi or anything like that, but it was definitely wider and longer than a normal tub. He still hadn’t moved. I lifted my cheek but kept my knees to my chest. “If you want to.”
His mouth opened and then closed. He took a moment. “I don’t know if I can.”
I had not expected that response.
At all.
A different kind of flush swept over my skin, having nothing to do with the heat of the water or the fact I was completely super-duper nude. Oh, man, I’d made a mistake. A big one. A big old naked mistake, and I was going to drown myself—
“You misunderstood. Or I misspoke,” he cut into my thoughts. “I don’t think I trust myself to just share that bath with you and wash your hair. There’s going to be a physical reaction. From me. For you. It’s going to be obvious, and that should probably embarrass me, but it doesn’t. You could be wearing a hazmat suit and covered in cow dung and I’d still have a physical reaction to you.”
My lips twitched. “Cow dung? Seriously?”
He met my eyes, and it was then when I realized Luc wore many masks. He’d let this one slip, and stark need swept across his features, sharpening them. Heat licked his eyes, intensifying the amethyst hue and turning his pupils a brilliant white. “Seriously.”
A flush crept into my cheeks, and something far warmer and headier slipped through the rest of me. “Wow.”
“Indeed,” he growled, and the fire in his eyes lit up my veins. “So, as long as you know I’m not going to be a detached caregiver giving you a bath and you’re okay with that, I’m more than willing to help you.” One side of his lips curved up. “Like, you have no idea how willing I am.”
“I don’t want you to be a detached anything,” I whispered. “I want you to be you.”
“Thank God.” Then, without further ado, he reached around to the nape of his neck, grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and pulled it over his head. He dropped it where he stood.
My gaze was greedy as they swept over his broad shoulders and defined chest, lingering on the lean length of his torso.
He made me want to do really irresponsible things—
I suddenly recalled Grayson’s taunts. “Can you and I have, you know…?”
“Have?” He propped his arms up on the threshold of the doorway, and when he leaned in, the movement did interesting, sinuous things to the muscles along his arms and shoulders. I was confident he was aware of that. “Have what?”
Keeping my arms around my bent legs and my gaze above the shoulders, I frowned. “Any other time you’re reading my mind, but now you’re not?”
Amusement curved his lips up farther. “You’re not being loud.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that. “Can I get pregnant?”
“In general?”
My eyes narrowed. “From you, you asshole.”
Dipping his chin, he bit down on his lower lip. “No, you can’t. I was not designed for potency to bring anything other than a release. Husher believed that the ability for an Origin like me to father a child would only hinder growth of my physical or mental abilities.”
Designed? I hated how that word was used as a way to remind him he was a thing created instead of a person. I absolutely hated how he used that word and others. And I hated how that choice had been taken from him at birth.
“And before you ask, like the Luxen, the Origins are not carriers, nor are we susceptible to diseases that can be transmitted,” he explained. I had been wondering how to ask that question. “Are you surprised? About the baby thing?”
I gave a little shake of my head. “A little. It was just something Grayson said.”
“I’ve got to ask why you’re naked thinking about something Grayson said. Not that I’m judging. He’s very attractive, and a lot of people find that standoffish ‘I’ve been deeply wounded so I lash out at everyone’ routine to be very alluring.”
I rolled my eyes, not dignifying any of that with a denial. “He said I probably had enough alien DNA in me to make things compatible enough for you and me to make a currently really bad life choice.”
“He may be right for other Origins, but he wouldn’t know my current baby-making-abilities status. The most recent Origins were also sterile. After all, what could be more distracting than having a child?” He pushed off the door, lowering his arms as he took a step forward. He stopped by the vanity. “Does that bother you?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, because kids were something that hadn’t even begun to be something I’d thought about. So, I decided to be honest. “I don’t know, because I don’t even know if I want a kid many, many years from now.” I thought of Kat’s screams and shuddered. “I don’t know if I’d ever want to do the whole birthing thing. Babies sort of scare me.”
“What about ten years from now? Twenty? When we’re not dealing with the Daedalus any longer and it’s just us raising a herd of llamas?”
The fact that Luc was thinking that far in advance—thinking about us that far in advance—caused my heart to skip happily in my chest. Not only did he think there was a future for us, there was potentially a future for us that didn’t involve the Daedalus or being stuck in the middle of a fight for world domination—
Wait.
“Raising a herd of llamas?” I repeated.
He shrugged. “Always thought it would be cool to have a herd of llamas.”
I grinned. “I like llamas.”
“I know.”
Picturing us with a small house and a herd of llamas in our backyard made me laugh. It was the most ridiculous future.
The best future.
“We could always adopt one day,” I said. “If that’s what we wanted.”
“We could.” His head tilted. “Is the water still warm?”
I nodded.
“Do you still want me—”
“Always,” I said, not needing to hear anything more.
That rare, full smile of his appeared, and I melted like snow on the first warm winter day. And then he was stripping off the rest of his clothing.
I should look away. Wasn’t that the polite thing to do? But I couldn’t. And I didn’t think Luc wanted me to, either.
Even with just the light of the candles, I got an eyeful of everything. It felt like my skin had been heated with the Source, just like the water
. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen him, but it felt like it, because there was a certain awareness that throbbed between us, full of sharp anticipation and bone-deep yearning.
I started to scoot forward, but Luc’s hand on my cheek stilled me. He tilted my head back as he knelt on the outside of the tub, kissing me.
“Let me wash your hair first,” he said when he lifted his head.
“You don’t have to.” My blood trilled. “It was just a ploy.”
“To get me naked?”
Grinning, I nodded. “It worked.”
“It did.” The pitcher ended up in his hand. “But I want to do this. It’ll give me time.”
“For what?” I watched him from my curled position, still keeping myself from being exposed. It seemed fairer now since the wall of the tub hid all of Luc’s interesting bits.
“So I don’t end up embarrassing myself.”
It took me a moment to realize what he meant, and when I did, all I could whisper was a soft Oh. Despite all of Luc’s experience and his playfulness, this could be his first time.
It could be our first time.
Luc was quiet as he set about washing my hair, taking his time. I’d never had anyone wash my hair. Or at least I hadn’t remembered it, and I didn’t think I’d like it, but instead of feeling coddled, I felt … loved. He was careful not to tangle his fingers in my hair, and he warmed each fresh pitcher of water, making sure none of the suds or the conditioner ran down my face but into the container he’d brought in so that we wouldn’t be soaking in the water used to wash my hair. I honestly wouldn’t have thought of that.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I just did, and I think I’m now spoiled and I’m going to forever demand that you wash my hair. You’re really good at it.”
“It’s not my first time. I used to wash your hair when you were sick.”
Why was I still surprised to hear that? I watched him refill the pitcher, placing it on the ledge of the tub. God, he would’ve had to have been fourteen or younger, and something like that seemed like a simple gesture, but it required a level of maturity and intuitiveness that I knew even most adults lacked. Luc was, surprisingly, a care—
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