“Like a virus or cancer?” I asked, recalling bits of that previous conversation.
“Some cancers they were successful at healing.” His voice thickened. “But nowhere near all of them.”
All of it sounded insane, but he had healed me, and his touch was doing something right then. My eyes were still closed, but I felt the bed shift under me—under us—and I knew he was closer. I wanted to smack myself. I should be telling him to stop doing whatever it was he was doing because I was okay and this seemed dangerous in a way, but the languid heat was making its way down my arms and over my chest, clouding my thoughts and common sense.
Luc was quiet for a long moment. “You scared me today.”
My heart skipped a beat as I opened my eyes again. I was right. Luc was close. Our mouths were separated by what felt like just inches. “I did?”
“When I got that phone call and Connor said you were hurt, I . . .” He closed his eyes, his features tensing. “It terrified me.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, because it didn’t seem like anything scared Luc.
His hand was gone from the back of my head, but was now trailing down the side of my neck, eliciting a wave of acute shivers. The healing warmth from his hand was gone, but the heat was still there, curling deep in the pit of my stomach. His breath coasted over my cheek and he opened his eyes again. “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”
My lips parted as I pressed down into the pillow. “I am. Thank you.”
“You shouldn’t thank me.”
“I just did.”
“This shouldn’t have happened to you.” The tips of his fingers coasted over my not-so injured arm, to where my hand rested on my stomach. “I’m sorry.”
Electricity danced across my skin, following his touch. My breath hitched as his finger reached the tip of mine and then halted.
“It’s not your fault.”
An eyebrow lifted. “It’s not? This . . . thing that came after you did so because you were seen talking to me. Right?”
“You just told me what happened to Colleen wasn’t my fault. How can you blame yourself for this?”
“Because I can.” His palm moved maybe half an inch and then flattened against my stomach, right below my belly button. Little tingles shimmied across my midriff.
“You didn’t break my arm or tell the guy to do that. You fixed it. You made it better.”
Luc’s gaze lifted to mine, and his eyes reminded me of liquid fire and . . . hunger. I’d seen it before, in the way Emery looked at Heidi, and I was suddenly thinking about what it would be like for us to be in a bed under different circumstances, with his hand where it was and his eyes full of so, so much.
That half grin slipped from his mouth as a certain intensity settled around his lips. My whole body tensed as he lowered his forehead to mine.
“What . . . what are you doing now?” I asked.
“I really don’t know.” He inhaled deeply and it came out in an unsteady rush. “Actually, I’m lying. I know what I’m doing.”
I had a good idea of what he was doing too. My toes curled against the soft blanket, and my hand had a mind of its own. It left my stomach and landed against his chest. He jerked at the contact and then shuddered. My eyes widened at his response. His pupils started to glow and it had nothing to do with anger. Then his eyes closed as his head tilted to the side, lining our mouths up. I shouldn’t let this happen. I knew that. There was an entire football field length of reasons why: he was infuriating half the time, and I had a feeling he was keeping so much from me. Funny that the biggest reason, the fact that he was definitely not human, didn’t even register.
But I wanted this kiss—a real one that wasn’t stolen.
I’ve wanted this for forever.
That thought caught me off guard. Forever? There had been no forever. I hadn’t known him for forever, and most of the time I had, I’d wanted to punch him. In the throat.
The wanting, though? It was consuming and pounding, undeniable and new. My fingers stretched out over his chest. I could feel the heat from his body through the thin shirt. I’d never experienced anything like this before.
And it was a little terrifying.
I pushed against the chest. “Luc, I . . .” I didn’t want to say. I didn’t know what I was feeling.
He shifted onto his side. “It’s okay. It’s—Wait a second.” Luc sat up swiftly, his gaze flickering over me like he was looking for something. Then his eyes widened.
“What?” I sat up, relieved that the movement didn’t make me dizzy. I looked down at my arm again, making sure it hadn’t healed all wonky, in case that was why he was looking at me strangely.
Touching it lightly, I winced at the dull spike of pain. My arm was broken and . . . and now it wasn’t. That was the proof in the pudding right there. Mind. Blown. Overwhelmed, I lowered my arm to my lap. “I feel like I need to thank you again.”
“Don’t.” A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I’m the last person you should be thanking.”
“Why?”
He turned his head to me, his expression unfathomable. “Something is wrong here.”
My mind raced back to what we’d almost done. We had been heartbeats away from kissing. Was that what he was talking about? There was a knock on the door.
Luc turned. “Come in.”
The door opened to reveal Emery and then Heidi, peeking around Emery’s shoulder. “We just wanted to check on her,” Heidi said.
Emery had the same look on her face as Luc did. Like she was looking for something around me that wasn’t there.
I was starting to get a little worried.
“You don’t see it either, do you?” Luc asked her.
Emery shook her head as Heidi stepped farther into the room. “See what?” Heidi asked.
“I don’t know.” I looked at Luc. “What are you guys looking for? And why are you staring at me like I have a second head?”
“I know why,” Emery interjected.
Heidi looked at her. “Care to fill me in, babe?” she asked.
Emery glanced at Luc.
“Why are you looking at him instead of telling me?”
Luc rose from the bed. “I have to go.”
“What?” My voice cracked. “Can’t whatever you need to do wait?”
“No.” Luc laughed, and it was nothing like the laugh I’d heard before. It was cold and sent chills over my skin. “This cannot wait.”
22
“Where do you think Luc went?” I asked. “Did he go looking for the guy?”
Heidi and I were sitting on Luc’s couch. Ten minutes had passed since Luc had bolted out of the room like the building was on fire. Emery had followed him, but she said she was coming back.
“I don’t think so,” Heidi answered. “When you were out of it in the car, it sounded like Connor was trying to track that guy down.”
Connor.
I’d forgotten that he’d been there. That was another person I needed to thank. I glanced down at my arm, still unable to get over the fact there were only bruises. Healing broken bones in moments? Unbelievable, but it’d happened. Awe-inspiring and overwhelming. It was amazing.
Part of me could understand why that would capture the attention of doctors and researchers. What would normally take a surgery and a cast to fix, Luc had done in minutes.
“As soon as Emery gets back, we’ll get you to your car.” Heidi pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
I lowered my arm to my lap.
“Is it hurting?”
I shook my head. “Just a little, but nothing like before. It feels like I just banged it into a wall instead of it being broken.”
Emery returned then, walking into the room. She sat beside Heidi. “Sorry about that. I just wanted to let Grayson know what was going on.”
“It’s all right.” Heidi smiled at her.
She was seriously a Luxen. How had a pair of contacts tricked me? I gave my head another shake. “So, I have questions.”
Emery smiled weakly. “I figured as much.”
My mind was going blank as I tried to process everything that had happened. “Why were you and Luc looking at me strangely?”