Unbalanced

XII

“We’ve got her,” the female wraith smirked into her cell phone. She paused briefly before slipping it into her back.

“Who were you talking to?” Nic asked. If she was going to sit in a filthy alley with her hands tied behind her back, they could at least tell her why.

“Shut up,” the b***h spat, “you’ll see soon enough.”

“Come on,” she said to her goons. “They’re on their way. Knock her out and leave her; they want her. Kill the traitor.” She was heading toward the street before she finished.

Nic snapped her head up at the words. Wraiths were rarely so organized. Usually, they worked alone or in pairs. Who was giving the orders? Why would they want her alive? She had never met a wraith, besides Lucien, that didn’t just want her dead as quickly as possible. Who else could it be? The Sora wouldn’t have hired wraiths to track her down and she didn’t know anybody else that could want anything from her. She didn’t get to put much more thought into it before the beefy twins moved toward Lucian, grins twisting their faces as they went. She glanced toward Lucien, afraid he was planning to let them kill him, and considering how she could take all three of their captors down before they could. Thankfully, he looked at her from underneath the mess of curls falling into his eyes and flashed a quick grin.

She spread her feet and placed them flat on the ground while she tugged against the rope on her wrist. One swift push was all it would take to stand, but it would take longer to free her hands. She continued to work at the binding as she watched Lucien and waited.

Lucien’s power rushed across they alley as his assailants reached him. His movement so fast, Nic wasn’t sure what he was doing until it was done. He grabbed each goon by the back of their heads and slammed them together with such force the sound cracked like thunder. Both of them hit the ground hard, their skulls caved in from the impact.

“That won’t take long to heal,” he told her as he pushed to his feet and turned so he could free her hands. The rope ripped across her skin as he yanked it from her wrists, but she smiled as she turned back to face him.

“What were you waiting for?” She chuckled.

“I wanted to know who sent them and what they wanted. Also, they surprised me, and I wanted to make sure they didn’t have any more reinforcements coming. It wouldn’t have done any good to strike and get jumped by three more mountains. Really, Lita, I’m good but I’m not unstoppable.” He winked before nodding toward the alley entrance where the queen of the crew was headed back their way.

“She has my knives,” Nic said. “You got Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, right?”

Lucien gave her a one-sided grin and turned back to handle the Tweedles as they began to stir. When she returned a few minutes later, twirling her blades between her fingers, he chuckled and pushed himself away from the wall. The rest of the walk to Jared’s vacant apartment was quiet.

…

Nic had to admit, watching Lucien fight, however briefly, was pretty hot. She couldn’t help watching him on the walk back. She watched the play of the streetlights across his cheekbones and stifled the urge to follow the light with her fingertips. She watched the way he scanned the streets, his power flicking out to search their surroundings and realized she did feel safe with him. Despite his being a wraith, a male, and dangerous, she really didn’t think he would intentionally hurt her. The thought was driven home when Lucien touched the small of her back as they approached the stairs to the apartment building. She had been so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn’t even realized they were there. Judging by Lucien’s soft smile, he noticed.

She allowed him to lead her into the apartment and sat herself, gingerly, on the couch beside him.

“Lita, is everything okay?” He asked, eyeing her wearily.

“Yea, uh.. I just,” she had absolutely no idea how to do this.

Lucien shifted to face her and waited. After several seconds of taut silence, he reached forward and lightly brushed his thumb across her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, hoping the action might convey what she was unable to with words.

“Lita,” Lucien rasped.

She opened her eyes to meet his gaze, without lifting her head from where it rested on his hand.

“Lucien,” she whispered, bringing her own hand up to cover his.

He eased forward, slowly, without breaking eye contact. She could tell he was giving her the chance to say no, but she didn’t want to this time. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t have a life with him, or that she had no idea who the bad guys were in the grand scheme of things. She knew the man in front of her wasn’t one of them and she wanted him, now. She closed the last few inches between them and pressed her lips to his. She felt him smile against her mouth as he slid his hand into her hair and took control of the kiss.

This kiss wasn’t like the last times. It wasn’t a rush of hormones or the crashing of their lips together. This kiss was slow and gentle; he pulled her closer to gently grip her hip as he swiped his tongue across her bottom lip. Nic leaned further into his embrace, wanting more. She squeezed the hand on her hip and slid her own hand up his arm to his shoulder as she kissed him.

Lucien's other hand snaked around her back and she slid into his lap, her knees on either side of his waist, as she moved her hands to either side of his neck. A low sound rumbled in the back of his throat as his hands slid under her shirt, hot against her skin. She pressed herself closer. She wanted more.

"Lita," Lucian rasped.

"I know," she whispered back.

In one swift motion he was off the sofa and moving toward the bedroom. Nic sighed against his mouth and locked her ankles around his back while he carried her. He never left her mouth as he kicked the door shut behind them and set her on the bed. She watched as he pulled his shirt off, impatient to run her hands over the muscle rippling his body.

When he returned to her, he pulled her shirt off and reached a hand around to flick open the clasp of her bra. She let the garment fall from her arms and watched as Lucien took in the sight of her breasts. The next heartbeat pounded through her chest when he brought his mouth to her n****e. As his tongue swirled around the peak he lifted his hand to cup the other breast, eliciting a soft moan from her lips.

The sound seemed to light a fire in Lucien, as he quickly disposed of his own jeans and eased hers down as well. He laughed at his own impatience when he realized she still had her boots on and paused to remove the obstruction. She watched him straighten, after tossing her boots to the side, and trail his gaze up her naked body. She should have felt exposed, she thought distantly, as her own hungry gaze touched every inch of him it could reach.

When he returned to the bed, he kissed her until her head spun with the taste of him and eased her onto her back. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist and arched against him. She couldn't help the sound that left her as he slid inside her. She couldn't imagine ever feeling the way she felt right then anywhere else, or with anyone else. There was no going back from here, and she knew it.