"That's a start," I assured him, reaching out to weave our fingers together. "Don't worry, Gumdrop, we've got this."
He shot me a sharp look, then grinned. "I used to think that was the worst nickname possible, but I'll take Gumdrop over Zeddy Bear any day." He raised our linked hands and kissed my knuckles. "Alright, so we're heading to my house?"
I nodded. "We sure are. I want to have another look around. Last time we were there we were so focused on your uncle's secrets none of us stopped to wonder what your mom might have been hiding."
"You think she would have hidden any physical evidence at the house? She seems pretty hell bent on taking whatever she knows to the grave." He winced at his own choice of words, then shook his head.
"She strikes me as the kind of woman who would have insurance policies. Backup. Whether that's at the house or not is anyone's guess. But I think somewhere out there Sandra is keeping some hardcopy information about the Guild. And whatever she's got, it's important enough for someone to threaten her."
Lucas pondered that for a few moments. "I don't know if I agree, but there's no harm in looking."
I squeezed his fingers. "But we should be quick. I've got something for you at home." Or rather, it’d been Cass's idea, but Zed and I were also claiming credit, seeing as we'd missed Lucas's birthday a week earlier and Cass had needed our help to sort it out.
Lucas gave me a curious look, but when I mimed zipping my mouth shut, he just gave a laugh and continued driving. Goddamn, he looked hot with his cap backward, a shadow of stubble dusting his jaw, and his strong hand wrapped around the Shelby's steering wheel. I needed to let him drive more often so I could admire that image.
The ride to Lucas's house was only about half an hour from Sunshine Estate, and when we pulled into the driveway, I scanned the house with a fresh perspective.
It was perfectly nondescript, looking exactly like every other house in the neighborhood. There was no excessive security—other than what I'd had my guys install—and nothing to ever suggest this was anything more than a middle-class suburban home. Lucas's uncle had been posing as an accountant, and that's exactly what his house presented as. A flawless cover identity.
"I don't have my keys," Lucas said, hesitating after we got out of the car.
I continued up the steps of the front porch. "Rio changed the locks over; there should be a passcode entry." Taking an informed guess, I gave the whole handle plate a firm push to the side, revealing a digital number display. "See?"
Lucas's brows hitched as he inspected the new lock. "That's cool."
I keyed in the generic code that worked on all the locks I got Rio to install so I always had access to Timberwolf properties, and the lock clicked open audibly. With a smile to Lucas, I closed the panel and turned the handle to open the door.
"It's practical, more than anything," I told him, standing aside to let him enter first. "For one thing, no one can steal your keys. For another, there is a digital record of anyone who enters, and it takes a picture of anyone activating the keypad."
Lucas nodded his understanding. "Makes sense. Thank you." He paused in the foyer, looking around at the subtle improvements my team had made to his house. Doorways had been widened to allow his mom's wheelchair through easier, ramps placed over any uneven floor joins, and of course the elevator installed that had led to us discovering the basement in the first place.
"You really didn't have to do all this, Hayden." He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he pulled his cap off and fluffed his hair. "This had to have cost a fortune."
I snorted a short laugh, closed the front door, then moved over to where he stood. "I owed you," I said softly, rising up on my toes to kiss him gently. "Come on; let's get searching."
Before I could spin away, he caught me with his arms around my waist, pulling me back against him as his lips found mine once more. This time it was no quick peck, it was a soul-deep promise. I kissed him back with equal intensity and moaned as he spun us around to press me into the door and slipped his hands under my shirt.
"Let's get something straight," he murmured against my lips, his palms sliding up my ribcage, pushing my shirt up as he went. "You owe me nothing. I'm with you because I'm completely, irrevocably in love, so there is absolutely nothing I regret. I'll wear these scars proudly to the end of my days because they're a part of my new life. With you."
A rush of affection surged through me so hard my knees weakened, and I sagged against his grip. "Lucas," I whispered, "that's not healthy. You almost died because of me."
"Almost," he replied, kissing my neck, "but I didn't. And what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Right?" He pulled back to meet my eyes, bringing a hand up to cup my face. "You know that better than anyone."
The truth of that statement hit me like an electric shock, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I hated the thought that I was changing Lucas, but I was too selfish to give him up. I was too invested already. He was too deeply lodged in my heart.
He didn't pressure me to reply, instead just bringing his mouth back to mine and kissing me deeply. His hands moved down to my ass, lifting me up and making me instinctively wrap my legs around his waist as he walked us through to the sitting room. As he laid me down on the couch, he flashed me a cocky grin, then tugged his hoodie and shirt over his head in one smooth movement.
"Fucking hell," I breathed, running my gaze and hands down his perfect body. Not even the raised, dark red lines of his scars could detract from his sexiness. Hell, they just added to it. "It should be illegal to be so gorgeous."
He huffed a short laugh in response, bending over with a delicious flex of his back muscles as he kissed my stomach and pushed my shirt over my bra. "You're one to talk, babe. You're pure perfection."
His mouth moved over my stomach, making my skin tingle and my muscles contract, and I tugged my shirt over my head. Fuck getting home quickly for Lucas's late birthday surprise. This was a much better use of our time.
Lucas made fast work of my jeans, stripping them—and my panties—down my legs and tossing them aside with my shoes. Then he took his time exploring every inch of my skin with his lips, removing my bra in the process, until I was a needy, panting mess on the couch beneath him.
Only when my cheeks were flushed with heat and my fingernails clawing at him in desperation did he give in to what I wanted. His own jeans hit the floor, and a second later I screamed my relief as his huge cock entered my aching cunt.
For a moment, I wasn't even capable of real words, just incoherent mumbling and gasps as he lined his hips up to mine, pushing deeper inside and making me see stars. We didn't need words, though. Lucas kissed me as he moved between my legs, fucking me brainless and making me totally forget all the shit going on in my life. Lucas had the most incredible way of taking my mind to another place where only the two of us existed. Where nothing mattered except the touch of our bodies, the movement between us, and the shared sighs and moans.
I didn't try to fight it when my orgasm crept up in a matter of minutes, I just cried out against his mouth. He swallowed my screams as my pussy tightened and pulsed around his length. His movements slowed to a gentle grind as I rode out the waves of my climax, my breathing rough and sweat running down my throat. Then he pulled me up off the couch in a fluid movement, spun me around, and sat me down in his lap, his front to my back, as he thrust back up into me from underneath.