Unbeautifully Loved (Breathe Again) (9 page)

Black rose.

Snake.

Purple Skull.

I jolted awake. It was just another nightmare about my attack and his tattoo coming to life, the snake’s mouth opening, biting into my neck, paralyzing me as he forced himself on me; no one coming to my rescue. I woke up multiple times gasping for air while my body shook, and sweat beads covered my forehead. My entire body was aching and throbbing in pain, especially my legs and arms.

Suffice to say I didn’t sleep well.

I looked over at my clock on the night stand, the red numbers flashing nine forty in the morning and I had a feeling it was going to be a long day for a couple reasons.

First, I didn’t want to tell Mollie what happened. She would freak out and go ballistic wanting to find the guy and rip his balls off then take a few shots of her own. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hide it from her though, thanks to the lovely bump on my forehead. Even if she didn’t notice that, she’d notice how I was acting and with one look at me, she’d know instantly something was wrong and would badger me until I came clean about it. There would be tears and a lot of cursing followed by bringing up Dex and finishing with her wanting me to find a different job.

I had two options. Try and cover it up, hoping she didn’t notice anything or lie and down play the whole situation. I was screwed on both options because Mollie knew me better than she knew herself most days.

Second, there was Lukas, the man who saved me.

After leaving the bar we drove in silence back to my place, there was an angry presence lingering in the cab of his truck, that was radiating off him. When he finally pulled up in front of my place, he left the truck running and turned to me but remained silent, neither of us saying a word.

His eyes blazed into mine. “Danny shouldn’t have left, he fucked up,” he said his voice rough with anger. “I’ll have a word with him to make sure this shit doesn’t happen again.”

I sat there, surprised at his words. “It’s not his fault. If I would have just locked my doors or left sooner, none of this would have happened. I don’t know why I –”

“Don’t. Don’t pile that shit on yourself. One it’s not your fault that fucking prick did what he did, believe me when I say I’ll find him and he’ll pay. And two, after what happened earlier Danny should have never left before you. End of story,” he growled his voice clipped at the end.

I knew from his tone not to argue with him, so I stayed silent, and turned my head to look out the window towards my house. My body was beginning to hurt; my knees were banged up, dirt and bits of gravel were in my cuts and blood had started to dry from the scratches that he inflicted on me. My hands were cut up from the gravel and felt raw. My eyes and throat were dry and scratchy from crying and the adrenaline high that I was riding started to crash, leaving me feeling exhausted and completely drained. I felt like a thousand pound weight was anchoring me down and all I wanted, was to crawl into my bed and crash.

My hand grabbed the door handle, and I turned to him. “Thank you for what you did...I umm...I don’t...” I paused, taking a breath; not wanting to cry in front of him, once had been enough. “Umm...just thanks.” I said feeling like a stuttering idiot.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” he muttered then hopped out his side and walked around the truck, opening my door and holding his hand out for me to take.

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I grabbed his hand and climbed out and stood on shaky legs. “You don’t have to walk me, I’m okay,” I whispered, trying to sound reassuring.

He stared at me for a second before he slid his arm around my waist pulling me into him then closed my door. He kept his arm around me, hand on my hip, as we walked up to my front door, like we’d been doing it for years.

“Shit,” I said as we climbed the steps and was standing in front of the door.

“What?” he asked.

“My purse– it’s still in my jeep... along with my keys; they’re still in the ignition actually. Shit.” I said bringing my shaky hands to my head, rubbing my temples. “I wonder...” I dropped my hands down and reached for the door knob, turning it, hoping it wasn’t locked so I didn’t have to go back to my jeep. I turned the knob and the door clicked open.

I felt his body tense next to mine. “You should really start locking your doors,” he said tightly. I looked up at him seeing his jaw clenched and his lips in a tight line.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I whispered

Looking into his eyes, I saw the storm had disappeared and changed back to their soft grey coloring, putting me at ease. His arm twitched and I realized he still had it around my waist tightly. My heart started racing as a flame licked the spot where his hand rested, and my stomach fluttered as it filled with butterflies so I blurted out the only thing I could think of.

“What’s your name? It just hit me that I don’t know it and I don’t think you want me calling you ‘hot bike guy’ to your face because that’s just weird–” I snapped my mouth shut as my eyes widened, not believing I had just said that. I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment, as I wanted to crawl into a dark hole and never see his face again.

I was turned in his arms so we were chest to chest. He brought one of his hands up, sliding it across my jaw, and then lifted my head to look at him and his gorgeous face. One side of his mouth twitched and pulled into a one sided smirk.

Fuck, it was sexy.

Sexy as all hell.

Seeing it at a distance was something, but up close was even more breathtaking. Tingles ran over the entirety of my body as his hand slid from my jaw to the side of my face. His palm flattened across my cheek, and his thumb slowly grazed back and forth across my cheek. Never in my life had I been touched in such a profound way, usually any hand coming near my face was in a slapping or punching motion. Never had it made a burning flame in my stomach light fully, or send heat flooding across my body like a tidal wave.

I was a statue as I stood against him.

“Lukas, but gotta say Peaches, I like ‘hot bike guy’ too.” His rough voice came out in a teasing way, as his lips curled into a smile showing his straight white teeth.

He pulled me closer into his chest. My breasts pushed against his warm chest and I could feel my nipples perk and tingle against him and my hands rested lightly on his firm biceps. All I could imagine were my hands sliding up, feeling every hard ridge of his muscles as they slowly made their way up and over his broad shoulders and then tightening around his neck.

Standing in his embrace I felt so out of my element and league. He’s a gorgeous guy, and I’m just Lexie. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, just stand there with him and wait for whatever it was I was waiting for or pull away and hide inside, praying to never see him again. But I couldn’t, I was sure if a fire were to break out, my body would remain standing in his arms, unmoving, not caring if I was engulfed in flames.

The thought alone scared the shit out of me, thinking something so profound about someone I had literally just met not even an hour before, but I knew the thought wasn’t anything I should worry about because I knew deep down there would never be anything between Lukas and I. I could almost hear Dex sneering in my ear, telling me someone as unbeautiful and pathetic as me was never going to be good enough for anyone, especially someone as gorgeous as Lukas.

The next words that Lukas’ spoke were in a tight growl. “Wanna kiss you Lexie,” he paused his eyes roaming over my face, “but the look I'm seeing on your face and with the night you've just had, I won’t, I’ll wait
. ‘Cause when I kiss you, I want you to be thinking of nothing other than what I'm doing to you and when I’m done, it will be all you can think of.
”
The air rushed out of my lungs as my heart slammed against my chest and my knees weakened. My hands gripped his biceps tighter to hold myself up.

I blinked, unsure if I heard him right. I was pressed up against him still, my hands squeezing his arms. My mouth dried as my lips parted, and my tongue swiped across my bottom lip. At this, Lukas’ arms locked around my waist. I hadn't noticed his hand had moved to the back of my neck and into my hair fisting a handful. His eyes flared, like fire, as his face hardened and the muscle in his jaw twitched.

“Fuckin’ hell,” he growled.

“What?” I asked and it came out in a whoosh.

“Should go inside and get to bed, lock the door behind you. Your jeep will be here when you wake up.” His eyes dropped to my lips then back to my eyes. “I’ll come by sometime in the morning, we’ll go to the station to make a report. Then I’ll take you to breakfast. ”

Before I could say anything he lowered his head, his soft warm lips brushed against my forehead, and my eyes fluttered shut.

I felt coldness.

My eyes snapped open and he was gone, already walking around the front of his truck. He jumped inside, started up the truck and I watched him drive off before going inside and locking the door behind me.

It was now morning. I burrowed deeper into my bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. Last night had been a
bad
night and could have been a lot worse if Lukas hadn’t shown up when he did.

Thank God he did.

Not only did I have Dex to worry about, but now the possibility of some creep in a ski mask.

“Lexie darling, if you’re up can you come down here a minute, ” Mollie called up in a sing song voice from the bottom of the stairs.

Shit.

I knew once I got up it was going to hurt like a bitch. I tossed my blanket to the side, sat up with my legs dangling over the side. Everything felt stiff, my hips, back and legs screamed in pain and I could feel the bruise pulsating on the side of my hip.

But it was nothing compared to what Dex put me through. I was used to this type of pain.

Mollie called up the stairs again, “Lexie?”

Groaning, I walked out of my room, and down the stairs. “Shit! I’m coming, I’m coming. What’s the damn rush?” I asked coming to a halt at the bottom of the stairs in front of her, and noticed she had a weird look on her face. “And what’s with the look?” I asked annoyed.

Her lips twitched, as a smile danced across her lips. “Anything you wanna tell me?” she asked cocking her head to the side, her eyes bright with amusement.

“No, now why’d you call me down so urgently?”

Her head straightened, as her eyes narrowed. “Really? Alright, come with me,” she said with a smirk, motioning to the living room.

Grabbing me by my sore wrist, she pulled me behind her, my body sore and protesting as I stumbled into the living room behind her. “Jesus Molls, I just woke up you know, I’d really like to see Finn before whatever it is you’re–” I trailed off, seeing she was looking straight ahead, with a grin spread across her face.

My eyes followed her gaze and I froze, and I was sure I stopped breathing.

Standing in my living room, in his faded jeans and grey button up and black leather jacket, dark hair wild like last night, was Lukas.

Shit. He was gorgeous.

I was sure I was dreaming, ‘cause if not, it meant Lukas really was standing in the middle of my fucking living room with that fucking sexy as hell half grin on his face. I was about ready to pinch myself, but Mollie whispering in my ear caught my attention instead.

“Close your mouth babe, you’re drooling,” she teased lightly, laughing.

My jaw snapped shut– nope, not a dream.

“Lukas,” I whispered, not trusting my voice not to sound like a pre teen boy who just hit puberty. “What are you doing here?”

“Told you last night I’d be by this morning to take you to the station then for breakfast,” he said hoarsely.

“Station? What station and furthermore, how do you know this very hot guy?” Mollie interrupted, her eyes darting between the two of us.

Fuck.

I looked from Lukas to Mollie, opening and closing my mouth, not knowing what to say. Lukas must have seen my struggle and spoke.

“Lex,” my head turned in his direction, “get dressed, I’ll explain, then we’ll go.” He crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes traveled up and down my body. I could feel every spot they hit as if he had touched me physically and my body trembled at the mere thought of his hands on me.

His lips curled into his sexy half grin as his eyes hit my feet then traveled back up. I realized I was standing in nothing but my purple underwear and an oversized band tee. I nervously pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. Instead of running out of the room and upstairs, I tugged at the hem of my shirt hoping it magically became longer.

Mollie was watching the entire scene between Lukas and me– enjoying every second of it.

I rolled my eyes. “Finn still sleeping?” I asked, looking over at his toy room– already knowing the answer but needed a quick topic change.

“Yeah, he may have gone to bed a little later than usual,” she said nonchalantly. “Our movie ran a little longer than I thought it would.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and I felt the bottom of my shirt rise. “Mollie...” I said with raised eyebrows.

I didn’t hear anything she said, ‘cause the room suddenly filled with a strong, booming energy. It hit me directly, almost knocking the breath out of me like a wave to a surfer. I turned my head in the direction it was coming from.