Blackbird (Redemption 1)

Lucas

Some might think my life was dangerous. The things I dealt with on a day-to-day, the people I encountered . . .

I guess, in a way, it was.

But I had never been in as much danger as I was in Briar’s presence.

Fear, wariness, adrenaline. All that I should’ve felt on a daily basis in this life, and nothing I ever had until I first saw that girl.

Every moment with her in my arms, with her full lips so close to mine, teasing and begging me for something I knew she wasn’t ready for yet, and with that tempting body curled against mine, that danger grew.

Solidified.

Became a living thing inside me.

As I thought about leaving her to return to work for the first time in the almost two months I’d had her, I realized I was terrified. Not because I worried what would happen when I was gone, but because I wanted more. More hours in the day with her. More of the light that now burst from her. More of her infectious smile. Just more.

But more when I’d already broken so many rules was like playing Russian roulette by myself.

Chapter 24

Home

Briar

I woke to the feel of his lips against the back of my neck and his fingers intertwining with mine. A sound between a hum and a purr moved up my throat.

“Wake up, Blackbird.”

My heavy eyelids slowly blinked open, and I stretched between Lucas and the plush carpet as I tried to orient myself.

I curled my fingers against his, locking our hands against the carpet, and pressed my face against his tan arm as my eyes drifted to the window.

The sun was sett

ing. I was in my favorite part of my level of the house. I had been singing and it had been early afternoon . . . I must have fallen asleep.

I twisted around to look up at Lucas’s smirk.

“Good morning.”

“You’re home.”

His grin widened into a brilliant smile, and he dipped his head to kiss the top of mine. “I’ve been home, but I stayed downstairs to get more work done.”

I held back my disappointment that he hadn’t woken me up earlier. “Do you want me to make dinner, or did you already eat?”

Lucas’s face fell, and he hesitated for a moment. “There’s something we’ve been putting off, and William called me out during a lunch meeting in front of some other men today.”

My stomach dropped at the mention of his twisted mentor. “What is it?”

“Since he’s my mentor, I need to take each girl to visit him once I think she’s ready. Really, it should’ve happened within a week from you moving out of the starter room, but I haven’t wanted you near him.”

I pushed the thought of Lucas having other girls out of my mind. I knew it would happen—but it might destroy me when it did. “And what happens in the visit?”

“Nothing,” he assured me quickly. “It is only a visit for the mentor to make sure I’m not breaking any rules, and that you’re progressing the way you should. What he did that day with you never should have happened and never will again.”

“Not breaking any rules . . .” I mused. “So how do we act? What do I do?”