Chapter Twenty-One

A s if things couldn’t get any damn worse.

Inda, Lucas, Ryland and Saint ran for the exit, shoved the door open and raced up the staircase. Back on the first floor, they paused.

“What’s the quickest way outta here?” Saint asked.

“The dock!” Inda turned, heading for the rear of the laboratory. The men followed and, as they hauled ass down the hallway, metal shields began rolling down, covering windows, blocking out the light and making sure no one could break out. The entire lab was going on lockdown.

Panic propelled Lucas forward. Shit, it was like being in a horror movie and they were about to get trapped overnight in the haunted house.

“Demon and I are out!” Pharaoh yelled in their ears. “Where the hell are you guys?”

“We stopped for lunch,” Saint snapped.

“Hurry the fuck up!” Gray growled. “Gates and shields are going down everywhere!”

“Yeah, we kinda noticed that,” Ryland responded, their boots thundering against the floor as they ran full speed.

For what was happening, Lucas had to admit the team was handling it all pretty well. But they were trained to hold up under pressure. He, on the other hand, not so much.

Zane’s voice crackled through their comms, “The back dock is locked down tight. You can’t get out that way.”

“Goddammit,” Ryland snarled as they all skid to a halt. “What the fuck? How do we get out of here?”

“You’re not going to like my answer,” Zane replied, “but from what River and I can see, there’s only one way out.”

“Are you going to tell us, Banshee?” Inda asked. “Or are we supposed to guess?”

“The sewer system.”

“Fuck my life,” Saint said, dropping his head back.

“Don’t worry, Saint,” Zane said, a smile in his voice. “It’s only about a half mile. You’ve been through worse shit than that.”

Saint growled something in what Lucas decided must be Russian. But, hey, as long as they weren’t going to be Novickok’d to death like Selma, he didn’t mind wading through some floating turds.

Almost forty minutes later, Lucas changed his mind. Well, almost. He, Inda and the guys had made their way back down to the basement, pried up the sewer lid and climbed down into the biggest bunch of filth and scum he’d ever encountered. The stench was nearly overwhelming. Saint bitched the entire way, and by the time they reached the end of the tunnel, Lucas was covered in black, gooey muck and smelled like death warmed over.

Braxton and Gray already had the lid off at the exit point and were waiting for them. Lucas boosted Inda out of the tunnel of shit and death first, and then Saint and Ryland gave Lucas a lift out. Ryland climbed out followed by Saint, who was cursing up a storm, half in English, half in Russian.

“Holy fucking stench, Batman!” Braxton exclaimed, covering his nose and mouth.

“Oh, shit, you guys reek,” Gray said with a grimace, stepping away.

“Yeah, but at least we’re alive,” Inda said. “Selma wasn’t so lucky.”

“If we don’t get cleaned off soon, I’m gonna puke,” Ryland stated. “And who knows what kind of bacteria crawled up my—”

“Shut the fuck up!” Saint snapped. “No bacteria crawled up anywhere.”

As they started walking to the Suburban, Zane came through on their comms. “Did you hear that story about the guy who went swimming in the parasite-infested water? Particularly parasites from feces.”

“Shut your hole, Banshee,” Saint warned in a low growl, not amused in the least.

“Oh, yeah! It was on the Discovery Channel,” Lucas chimed in, remembering the episode.

“Yeah, his man bits started burning and the doctor discovered it was a microscopic worm that crawled up his…” Zane’s voice trailed off and Saint visibly flinched. “Well, he called them testicular parasites.”

Brax and Gray stifled their laughter, while Ryland made a face and Saint turned so pale, Lucas thought he might hurl. Inda just shook her head and smirked.

“I’d worry less about a bug swimming up your peen and more about how filthy the SUV is going to be by the time we get back to San Francisco,” she said.

Of course, she was right. Saint had his head out the window like a dog the whole trip back and they made fun of him the entire time. When they finally pulled up in front of the warehouse, the Suburban stunk to high heaven and the seats were covered with God only knew what.

“We’ll debrief at oh-nine-hundred,” Brax said and tossed the keys to Ryland. “You and Saint can take it to get detailed.”

“Sure thing. But right now I need to soak in a tub of Lysol. Harper is going to kill me,” he muttered.

Lucas laughed. Damn, he was happy to be back. While he was debating what to do, stay or go, Inda grabbed his hand.

“Let’s go clean up,” she said, leading the way to her apartment.

◆◆◆

Overall, the day had been a success. They’d survived, Selma hadn’t, and Inda was counting it as a win for Ex Nihilo. Now all she wanted to do was wash off and slide into her bed with Lucas.

They entered her apartment and she didn’t want to touch anything. “Straight to the bathroom,” she said, leading the way. Without pause, they began stripping off their filthy clothes and tossing them in a pile Inda planned to burn later.

She flipped on the water then stepped beneath the spray, Lucas moving inside with her and pulling the curtain closed. Before she could even think anything sexy, she had to get clean. Grabbing the shower gel, she squirted a generous amount into her hand and then his. They washed themselves thoroughly, lathering up three more times, and then finally turned to face each other. Lucas wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close and kissed her passionately.

Today had almost turned out very differently. They both knew it. Now, more than anything, she needed to feel alive. She needed Lucas deep inside her, their bodies one, as they gave each other exquisite pleasure.

On exactly the same wavelength, Lucas scooped her up, shut the water off and grabbed a towel. They were hardly dry when he tossed her onto the bed and his heavy body came down, covering hers. Inda couldn’t quite explain how much she loved his hard, naked body pressed against hers, pushing her deeper into the mattress, but it felt like heaven. Every one of her curves seemed to align with each of his hard angles.

Lucas kissed her until she was arching beneath him, her hands tugging his thick, dark hair, her pelvis pushing up against his hard cock and letting him know how very much she needed him. There was a wild desperation in the way their mouths devoured and their bodies writhed.

They were alive, clean, and her need for him eclipsed all else.

“Lucas, please…” She let out a breathy sigh as his mouth lowered and latched onto her taut nipple, teasing the pebbled peak with his tongue and grazing it with his teeth.

“I’m going to taste every inch of you,” he murmured, flicking his tongue over to her other breast. She moaned when his hand took over, molding the flesh in his palm, lightly squeezing, while his lips trailed down, down, down.

Inda’s head dropped back, her thighs opening as his mouth latched onto her soaked pussy. “Jesus,” she cried, bucking beneath him. He nudged her legs further apart with his shoulders, held her hip in place with one hand and moved his other over, sinking his fingers inside her. Moving them in and out, he sucked on her clit, tonguing the underside, and she lost her mind.

With a shout, she let go completely for the first time in her life. Truly let go, handing all of her trust over to the man loving her so thoroughly she almost wept. It wasn’t about control snapping, it was about having a deep faith in her partner. Knowing that he would take care of her and always be there to catch her if she fell.

Spasms racked through her body and she fisted the comforter, riding out the orgasm as Lucas brought her back down to Earth with light, teasing licks.

“Oh…my…God…” She felt like a wet noodle—utterly boneless, but more content than she’d ever felt in her life. “I think I just melted.”

Lucas popped up from between her legs, licked his glistening lips and sent her a sensual, dimpled smile. “Not me,” he rasped, positioning himself between her thighs. “I’m hard as hell.

She tilted her hips up. “Let’s see what we can do about that,” she whispered invitingly, cupping his stubbled face and running the tips of her fingers along the grooved dents she loved so much.

The words were barely out of her mouth before he sank deep inside her hot, dripping core. The moment their bodies came together, they both groaned. Nothing had ever felt so right or so damn amazing. The way she expanded around his cock, the way he moved, the way everything else fell away and the only thing she could feel was…

Her heart lurched in her chest. Love. She felt love for this wonderful, heart-wrenchingly beautiful man, and she never wanted to spend another day of her life without him.

“Fuck!” she cried, both at the realization of how she felt and the way her pussy began to clench. That traitor was holding on tightly, not wanting to let Lucas Sheridan or his enormous dick go anytime soon. Waves of pleasure washed over her and she came so hard she saw stars.

Above her, Lucas pounded into her, moving faster and harder now that she’d found her release. His glacier-blue eyes locked onto hers as he came, emptying his hot seed deep inside her. With a shudder, he dropped down, covering her with his heavy body that she loved so much.

His lips brushed the delicate spot where her neck and shoulder met then moved up to her ear and he whispered, “I’m in love with you, Inda Diaz. Head over heels, crazy, stupid, lasso-the-moon-for-you in love. So don’t tell me you aren’t good enough. Because you, more than anyone, deserve love. I just hope you’ll accept mine.”

Instead of freaking out, she tightened her arms around him. “I’m trying. It’s just hard because…what if I’m not who you think? Or, when you see the real me, you won’t want me any longer. My life hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, Lucas.”

His head lifted. “You’re exactly who I think—a fierce, loyal, beautiful badass who has trouble trusting because life has thrown her some shitty curveballs. Am I warm?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He rolled over to the side, turning to face her. “You can talk to me. Your secrets are safe with me, On?a. Always.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

For the first time in her life, Inda felt like she had a safe space to open up. With a sigh, she lifted a mental sledgehammer and broke down the rest of her walls.

“Growing up, it was just me and my mom. But, it wasn’t like the close relationship you had with your mom.”

He brushed her hair back off her shoulder then began trailing his finger up and down her arm. Wrist to elbow…elbow to wrist…The gesture was soothing and she relaxed.

“I told you my dad left before I was born. But he was probably just as bad as all the other losers my mom dated over the years.”

“Well, one thing is certain—he missed out on a wonderful daughter.”

She scoffed. “Anyway, my mom worked all the time, so I was pretty much left on my own. And when she wasn’t working, she was a serial dater. I swear, she claimed to fall in love with a new guy every other week. It made me question what love and relationships really were because of what I was seeing…”

“What did you see?”

“I saw a parade of assholes coming in and out of our house, using and abusing my mother, and there was nothing I could do about it. She didn’t listen to me and always made excuses for them. It got so bad that I pitched a tent and slept in the backyard one entire summer.”

“Bad how?” he asked. His finger stopped trailing along her arm as he steeled himself for her answer.

“Just the things I would see and hear. The drinking, the sex, the looks I started getting from some of them.” A shiver ran through her. “I hated it.”

“I don’t blame you.”

The bad memories came rushing back with a vengeance and she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to relive them. But when Lucas threaded his fingers through hers, it gave her the strength to continue. Maybe finally talking about that night would help her let go.

“When I was seventeen, I came home and my mom and her boyfriend were making out on the couch. I didn’t like this guy—I didn’t like any of them—but this one was worse than the others. He was always looking at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off. I used to wedge a chair under my door at night and sleep with a knife because I had this awful feeling he was going to try to sneak in. Anyway, I went into the kitchen to get something to eat and they started arguing…something about me…joining them.”

She dropped her head, shame sweeping through her, hot tears pricking her eyes.

“Jesus,” Lucas hissed. “Whatever happened wasn’t your fault. You were just a kid. You can’t keep holding on to this guilt that makes you feel unworthy.”

“I heard my mom cry out, so I grabbed a knife and went back into the living room. I’d had enough and thought maybe I could scare him away. They were yelling and he started hitting and kicking her. All I knew was I had to protect her, so I ran over and lifted the knife…and he grabbed it. Yanked it out of my hand then turned and plunged it into her chest.”

“Christ. I am so sorry.”

“I screamed, and he yanked the knife out and came after me. But, I stood my ground and we grappled for it.”

“Of course, you did.”

“He was stronger, but I was smarter. I kicked him in the crotch and he let go of the knife. I didn’t hesitate. Just slammed the blade right into his chest. I must’ve hit his heart because he fell to the floor…dead. He was my first kill, but definitely not my last.”

Lucas waited patiently as she wrestled with the demons in her head. There was no judgment in his eyes, just the support she’d always wanted and needed.

“I didn’t know what to do, so I ran. Instead of calling an ambulance, I packed a bag, hopped on a bus and moved to the other side of the country. I couldn’t get far enough away. Since I was still too young to enlist, I got a job at a corner stand that sold newspapers and magazines. As soon as I turned eighteen, I joined the Army, determined to make up for failing my mom, hoping maybe I could help others.”

“You didn’t fail your mom, Inda.”

Shame filled her. “If he hadn’t wanted me to join them, my mom would still be alive. I left her lying in a pool of blood and ran like a coward.”

“You were just a scared kid,” Lucas insisted. “It wasn’t your fault.”

The tears she was trying so damn hard to hold in slipped free, streaming down her face. “I’ve had to be strong my whole life, Lucas. I’ve spent my entire life searching for peace and forgiveness, but I couldn’t find it,” she whispered, her voice and the dam finally breaking. “And I’m so damn tired of being strong.”

“ On?a , sweetheart.” He dragged her into his arms, kissing away each tear that fell, and she let out a sob. “That’s a good girl. Let it all out. You don’t have to carry the world on your shoulders or the guilt in your heart anymore. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Inda held onto him and bawled in his arms like a baby until there were no more tears left to cry. Then she leaned back, swiping a hand under her nose, and stared into his supportive blue eyes. “Why are you so good to me?”

“Because I love you,” he said simply.

She cupped his face and whispered, “I love you, too.”

And, suddenly, it didn’t seem so scary anymore. In fact, it felt absolutely freeing in the best possible way.