The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

“Really?” I said doubtfully.

“Really.” His gaze searched mine. “You are the only person whose opinion I ever cared about.”

The next breath I took hitched somewhere around my racing heart.

“I worry that I am too much, because I know that I am.” His head tilted to the side. “I worry that what I want is going to rush you into wanting it. I worry that I … that I could never be good enough for you.”

I stared at him, shocked. “How could you…?” I shook my head. “You are good enough, Luc, and you aren’t too much.”

His brows lifted.

“Well, okay, you are a lot, but it’s a lot that I like, and that’s why it’s okay.” I placed my hands on his chest, and under my palm, I could feel his heart thrumming as fast as mine. “I can’t believe you’re nervous or that you think you’re not enough.”

“Just because I don’t show it doesn’t mean I don’t feel it.” He swallowed then, and his voice lowered. “I haven’t done this at all, Peaches. I’ve never been in a relationship or held a hand before I held yours. I’ve done things with others, but you are my first … my first in a lot of things. How could I not be nervous?”

I didn’t know what to say, because I knew inherently that words wouldn’t matter in this moment. Not after what he’d admitted in a hushed voice.

Stretching up, I cupped his cheeks and brought his mouth down to mine. I kissed him, and in that kiss, I hoped he could feel what his words meant to me, what they did for me.

And I thought he did, because when I settled on my feet again and slid my hands back down his chest, his chest was rising and falling heavily.

The smile that tugged at Luc’s lips warmed as he took my hand. Now knowing it wasn’t just me that was nervous and worried, I felt the shyness seep away as he led me downstairs and out the back entrance to the alley. Kent was waiting for us there, behind the wheel of a black SUV, and by then, I’d pulled it together.

“Whose car is this?” I asked as I opened the back passenger door.

Luc smiled at me, and I decided that I probably didn’t want to know who this vehicle belonged to and how they came to acquire it. “I figured it was best to not be in your car in case things go sideways,” he said as he closed the door.

The knots in my stomach tightened as I leaned forward, gripping the back of his seat. “Do you think things will go south?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s better to be prepared.”

“And if things start to go badly, that’s why I’m here, honeybuns.” Kent waved at me, and I frowned, having no idea why he called me that. His mohawk touched the ceiling of the SUV. “I’m one hell of a getaway driver.”

“Is that something you have to do a lot?”

He smirked at the rearview mirror. “If you only knew.”

My gaze swung to the back of Luc’s head. How often did they need a getaway driver? Was it when they were moving unregistered Luxen? I sat back, clasping my hands together in my lap as I thought about all the things Luc and his crew did that I had no idea about.

That was going to need to change.

But right now, I needed to focus on my blossoming felonious aspirations.

It didn’t take too long to get to April’s place. She lived just outside the city, off a long stretch of road. The subdivision was smaller, houses spaced farther apart. Kent parked on a different block, remaining in the car as Luc and I climbed out. The streets were empty and quiet with the exception of the random car or distant, barking dog.

I was desperately trying not to think about what we were doing. While this had been my idea, I’d never broken into anyone’s house, especially the house of a psychotic creature.

Then again, who knew? Maybe when I was Nadia, I’d been a badass burglar on the prowl.

My hands were trembling, so I shoved them in the pockets of my jeans as we crossed onto April’s street and stepped up on the sidewalk.

“You doing okay over there?” Luc asked.

“I’m nervous,” I admitted. “And I am not talking about us.”

He glanced over at me. “That’s expected. Not like you engage in a little bit of breaking and entering on a daily basis.”

“Do you?”

He chuckled under his breath as April’s two-story, colonial-style home came into view. “I have been known to break into a house or … twenty.”

I shot him a look. “Nice.”

“You don’t have to do this. You can wait with Kent, and that would be okay. Actually, I’d prefer it.”

“No,” I immediately responded. “I can do this.”