Loving Lucas (11 page)

not to allow you to play whatever sick, twisted games you

have in mind.”

Riley’s eyes narrowed. “You think I won’t kill you where

you stand?”

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“On the contrary, I know you will.”

“Don’t push me.”

“Then just do it. Kill me.”

For a moment, he was certain Riley was going to do it.

He would pull the trigger and that would be it, but instead, he smiled.

“Fine. If you insist, Lucas. I’ll kill you. And then I’ll wait a while and when things calm down a bit, I’ll come back here

and take Nicholas and do to him all the things I have in

mind for you.”

“You can’t….”

“Oh, but I can. And I will. I’ll just take your pretty

boyfriend in your place.”

“Riley….”

“You’re so big on having a choice, Lucas. Well, choose.

You or Nicholas? Who will it be?”

Sickened, Lucas shook his head. “I…I’ll go with you.

Okay? Anywhere you want, I’ll go.”

“You sure? I mean, I’m sure I could enjoy myself with

Nicholas.”

“Please, leave him alone. It’s me you want and you have

me.” He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as

Nicholas didn’t suffer. Riley smiled.

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“In that case, we’re gonna go right out that door there

and get into my car.”

Lucas nodded, not trusting himself to speak, as Riley

grabbed his shoulder, turned him, and gave him a hard

push toward the door.

Please, God, don’t let Nic be the one to find me when

Riley’s finished
.

He could feel tears burning his eyes at the thought, as

they crossed the room and Riley reached around him, to put

his hand on the doorknob. He had the gun pressed into

Lucas’s side and Lucas knew if he shot him now, at that

range, it would certainly kill him, but a deep sense of self-preservation demanded that he at least make an attempt to

save himself.

Drawing in a breath, as Riley opened the door, Lucas

lifted his foot and stomped down as hard as he could on

Riley’s foot.

The other man cried out in surprise and as he did, Lucas

spun, curling his cuffed hands into fists, slamming them

into Riley’s face. He felt Riley’s nose snap, but knew that wouldn’t deter him for long. The gun fell and Lucas kicked it, but as he did, Riley caught his foot, jerking hard,

knocking Lucas off balance and sending him crashing to the

floor.

The side of his head hit the doorknob and pain made his

vision blur. He rolled to his side, telling himself to stand, but 115

Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis

before he could, Riley was looming over him, the gun in

hand, rage bright in his eyes as blood poured from his nose.

“You bastard! I wish you had died ten years ago!”

“Well, I didn’t, you freak! I lived!”

“I’m gonna change that now….” He swayed on his feet,

but still managed to take aim. “And you know what? I don’t

even care if I get caught, if I go back to prison, as long as you’re rotting away in hell where you belong!”

I’m sorry, Nic. Please forgive me for not making it.

Closing his eyes, he knew it was over, knew this was it,

as the sound of a gun firing exploded. He waited for a rush of pain, but it never came and he opened his eyes in time to see Riley drop to his knees, before slumping forward to the floor.

Shocked, his mind hazy, he looked up to see Nicholas

rushing toward him, followed by three deputies. Lucas

wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was dead, or maybe he

was knocked out and he was just lost in some hallucination.

“Luc? Luc, talk to me, baby. Come on, talk to me.”

Nicholas dropped to his side, taking his face in his hands

and at his touch, some of the shock began to fade and Lucas fell forward into his arms.

“Nic….”

“It’s okay now, Luc. It’s okay. I swear; it’s all over now.”

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Lucas allowed the words, the comforting embrace, to

wash over him, as sirens sounded in the distance and he

closed his eyes, not bothering to fight the tears.

He was alive—alive—and Nicholas was holding him and

he wouldn’t let go.

The nightmare really was over.

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DESPITE great protest on Lucas’s part, the doctors ordered

that he stay in the hospital overnight for observation.

He had a mild concussion and the cut under his eye

needed just a few stitches, and the doctors expected his

recovery would be quick, but Nicholas knew, all too well, just how close he had come to losing the man he loved.

Two second later, and Lucas would have been dead.

The thought made his heart ache each time it came to

him and that ache was made worse when duty forced him to

leave Lucas’s side while the doctors treated him. He had to deal with reports, calling off the search for Riley and

explaining to the media that the bomb threat had been

bogus, just a sick ploy used by Riley to distract Nicholas and his deputies, leaving Lucas vulnerable.

And I fell for it; I left Lucas alone.

Nicholas knew he would never escape that guilt, even if

he had been doing his job. It was his gut feeling that

something just wasn’t right that had sent him back to make

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certain his lover was safe, and he thanked God that he’d

listened to that gut feeling.

With everything finally settled, for the time being at least, Nicholas went back to the hospital, slipping into Lucas’s

room, to find him asleep.

His face was bruised, there were cuts on his wrist from

the handcuffs, and he looked a little pale to Nicholas, but he was alive and beautiful and Nicholas felt tears burning his eyes as he sat down beside the bed.

Carefully reaching for his hand, he forced a smile when

Lucas’s eyes slowly opened.

“Hospitals are becoming a thing with us, Nic.”

“I say it’s a habit we have to break.” Nicholas kissed his

hand. “How are you?”

“Tired. A little groggy. But most of all, I’m damn lucky.”

“Luc….”

“Listen, I know you, and you’re about to go into this long

thing about how you weren’t there and how it all could have ended badly, but I won’t hear it. I’m alive because of you, because you came back, and I….”

“I should never have left.”

“You were doing your job.”

“You could have died, Luc.” Just saying the words made

him feel ill.

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Lisa Marie Davis

“I could have. But I didn’t and that’s all that matters.”

Nicholas kissed his hand again, taking a moment to

gather his emotions, to process everything that had

happened. He and Lucas had just gotten things right and

they had come close to losing out on the future they wanted, but now, Riley was dead and Nicholas couldn’t deny that he

was relieved to know Riley would never again be a threat to Lucas.

And, looking at Lucas, Nicholas could see something in

his eyes, something that said he was at peace, that he was

no longer haunted by the past.

“The statement you gave, you said he…he said if you

didn’t go with him, he would kill you and come back for me?”

Lucas nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“God, Luc….”

“I wouldn’t let you ever suffer what I did.” Lucas’s eyes

locked on his. “But I…God, I wouldn’t let him hurt you, but at the same time, I prayed you wouldn’t be the one to find

me, because I….” He had to swallow back a rise of emotions.

“I didn’t want finding me dead to be your last memory of me and when he was about to kill me, the entire time he had me at gunpoint really, all I could do was think about how I

wasted so much time.”

Shaking his head, Nicholas squeezed his hand.

“Whatever time we missed, we’ll make up for it and we will

make the most of every moment we’ve got ahead of us.”

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“Promise?”

“Always.”

Lucas smiled, but he still looked tired. “I don’t want you

feeling guilty, or blaming yourself, Nic, because you saved my life coming back when you did, but more than that, you

saved me when you refused to give up on us.”

“I will never give up on us.”

“Neither will I.”

Their eyes held as the promise passed between them and

Nicholas knew it was all okay.

“However, love, you look exhausted.”

“Do I?”

“Totally. Seems a good enough reason for me to scoot

over and make room for you in this bed.”

“You just want to get me in bed.” Nicholas teased.

“Any and every chance I get.”

“Luc….”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Carefully, Lucas scooted over, and Nicholas kicked off

his shoes before crawling into the bed, laying his head on the same pillow as Lucas.

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Just being close to the man he loved, the man he wanted

a life with, chased away the chill he felt each time he thought about how close he had come to losing Lucas forever.

But he’s okay now. We’re okay. Riley’s gone, and the past
we can face together
.

“I think we should live together,” Lucas said, as Nicholas

settled beside him.

“I think we should get married.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Was that a proposal?”

“Hell no! A proposal means I’m giving you the option to

say no, and I’m not.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t need that option. No is the

last thing I would say to marrying you.”

Leaning close, Nicholas kissed him slowly, gently, but

the passion and need was still there and they both knew it

always would be.

“Just promise me we’ll do our best to avoid hospitals for

a real long time,” Nicholas grinned.

“And you have to promise me you’ll get back to that idea

you had for chocolate….”

“Don’t forget about my fantasy of you and me in my

office.”

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten that.”

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“We have a lifetime to live out every fantasy either of us

has, Luc.”

“Living out fantasies certainly sounds like fun, and I

agree, we will indulge, but I have to tell you, Nic, I really like reality.”

“Reality?”

“Yeah. Reality. Our reality. You and me happy together.”

Nicholas blinked back the tears that again threatened,

but this time, they were good tears, tears that came from

knowing they had overcome every obstacle thrown at them

and not only were they together, they were stronger.

“We will be happy, Luc.”

“I know. We deserve it.”

“That we do. That we do, babe.”

Slipping an arm around Lucas, he pulled him closer,

holding on tight, certain that forever was theirs and it really would be happily ever after.

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