Immediately, he let go.

"E," he crooned, trying to bring her back from a land of nightmares. "It's me, Lucas. I didn't mean to frighten you. You're safe, I promise."

So, that part might be a lie. But at least she was free of the demons he knew she was seeing around her. If his simple hold had terrified her, what would happen if he did what his libido had been urging since he'd gotten to know her? If he unleashed the full blast of his attraction for her, he'd probably terrify her so bad she might never recover.

Afraid to touch her, he let his hand hover a hairsbreadth from her arm while his other reclaimed his weapon and put it safely aside. Despite the need inside him to destroy the people who'd done this to her, he kept his voice calm and reassuring as he rambled soothing nonsense.

It worked.

Ellie blinked up at him a few times and then flushed.

Far more embarrassed than she'd been earlier, with her entire chest displayed to the world, she pressed her palms over her face and peeked at him from between splayed fingers. "Shit."

"It's okay."

"That happens sometimes. It's getting better. I just, I can't help it when something reminds me. I know you would never-"

"Don't worry, E." He rummaged in his amputee survival kit for the first aid supplies he needed, while giving her time to recover. When she sniffled, he couldn't keep his gaze averted any longer.

What he really wanted was to hug her tight.

Maybe a hell of a lot more than that.

And that was exactly why he should stay far away. No way was she ready for that.

Not with him or anyone else.

"Is it okay if I touch your feet?" he asked quietly. "I have some 2nd Skin in here. It's pretty awesome stuff. It'll give you instant relief. It's an occlusive bandage. Keeps out water and air too. It'll stop your shoes from rubbing on these spots for the rest of our trek."

Ellie cleared her throat then said, "I'm good now. Please. Do it. That sounds awesome."

Lucas started carefully, brushing his thumb across her ankle. Even swollen from the abuse they'd put it through, it was delicate. Fine-boned.

When she seemed to relax further, tolerating his caress, he stroked the top of her foot.

A sigh rushed from her before she surrendered a soft laugh that had his heart flip-flopping in his chest. "Keep that up and I'm going to beg you for a massage when we get to your house."

That only brought to mind images of her naked, lying on his bed as he smeared warm, scented oils over her shapely back. Candlelight would glisten off her lubricated skin.

He cleared his throat.

Focusing on fixing her up, he opened a bottle of water then apologized in advance, "This is probably going to sting."

She nodded, biting her lower lip. "Go."

He splashed the damaged skin of her feet until the blood and other fluids were washed away. Then he uncapped a tube of antibiotic ointment and smeared some on the patch of bandage. Who knew what kind of germs had embedded themselves in her open wounds?

He aligned the material with the worst of her sores then pressed it into place.

Ellie's pretty painted toes curled and she groaned.

"Sorry." He promised, "It'll be better in a minute."

Quickly, he finished applying similar patches to the rest of her blisters.

While he worked, she talked. He suspected she was distracting herself, so he kept their conversation going, even when he might otherwise have clammed up.

"You obviously didn't walk all the way to my house." It wasn't a question.

"Nope." He figured she could tell this was a strain on him too.

"So, I assume your car was on the street in front of my house, unless your superpowers include flying. Won't they know where we're going?" She peeked up at him, taking her focus off what he was doing to her.

"My plates are untraceable. Nothing identifying inside either." He shrugged as though everyone existed that way. Like a ghost.

"Given the night we've already had, I really hate to tell you this..." Ellie winced.

"Go ahead. This is by far not the worst situation I've ever been in." He flashed her a wry smile.

"Me either." Her lips formed a thin line.

Lucas hated seeing her worried. Almost more than he hated how her toughness had prevented her from telling him she'd torn up her feet, which he had finished bandaging, but kept in his lap. "So, what's up?"

He acted on instinct, reaching out to cup her hand in his.

It surprised the hell out of him when she winged her gaze to his, pretty blue eyes flashing despite the darkness surrounding them. It wasn't fear he read there this time. More like astonishment and delight, to be honest.

"You know I won a crap ton of money tonight, right?" She winced.

"Yep. The Men in Blue sent me to your place to make sure you were safe overnight. Guess I fucked up that assignment."

"Are you shitting me?" She stared at him with wide eyes, her fingers clamping on his when he tried to withdraw his hand. "You saved my life. Again."

"If I'd gotten there sooner..."

"I'm thankful you didn't get there any later. You showed up exactly when and where I needed you. Thank you."

He cleared his throat and looked away for a moment. "Anytime."

"Let's hope I don't need this kind of assistance often." She snorted. And then she recovered, as if she remembered what she'd wanted to say. "Ah crap. Lucas, I left the money at my house. That last douche bag probably stole it anyway. Not that I care about any amount of cash more than my life, but I hate to see scum win. When will the nice guys start coming out on top?"

Lucas wasn't bothered at all by her admission. Instead, he grinned.

"You have good instincts, E." His praise seemed to warm her. Good thing since her arms and legs had to be cooling down now that they'd stopped moving. "Don't doubt your decisions."

He interrupted himself when he realized she was probably freezing her ass off.

"Want me to take some of your chill away before we get going again?" He held his arms open to her.

Without hesitation, she went into them.

He lifted her into his lap and wrapped her in his heat and admiration. Though he was rarely cold, he could never be frosty with her this near. She fired his internal furnace in more ways than one.

Ellie rested her cheek on his shoulder, cuddling entirely too perfectly into his hold.

Shifting her so that she wouldn't feel his hardening cock, he nuzzled the top of her head. As he'd expected, she was practically a popsicle. Fine tremors ran through her as he rubbed his hands up and down her back and legs.

In his dreams, he'd pretend it was desire, not necessity, that caused her reaction.

The early morning temperature had dipped far below comfortable. Hell, even at the peak of summer she'd need more than that beaded red scrap to keep warm overnight.

When she could talk without her teeth chattering, she continued their discussion. "Thanks. I thought I was being paranoid when I came up to the house. Something seemed off. I guess I should have listened to my gut."

"Never a bad thing. But you were smart enough to stash the winnings and grab your safety kit before going in. Even if I hadn't been there, I'm betting you'd have slipped away. I just don't want to think about what you might have had to do to distract those fuckers long enough to make your move." He nearly growled that last part.

"Hey, how do you know I hid the money and stuff?" Her brow rose. "Were you outside?"

Busted.

"Uh. Yeah. I saw you." Lucas groaned. "I was kind of checking you out."

Why the hell was she grinning up at him like that?

It only made him a pig, like most every other man she'd dealt with in her life.

"And because of that, I didn't act fast enough. I didn't see those guys waiting inside for you." He stared into her eyes, which were shockingly blue, even in the starlight. "I'm sorry, E."

She leaned in closer to him. "You're human too, Lucas. I know you thought you were invincible for so long maybe you've forgotten-"

"I'm pretty sure the universe made that clear to me last year." He glared at his leg, which throbbed from the abuse he'd put it through today.

"Hey, we all have flaws. Make mistakes. Like the fifty-thousand-dollar doozy I made tonight." She shook her head.

Lucas held her to his chest with one splayed hand on her back. With the other, he tipped his still-open backpack toward her so that she could see the casino bag nestled inside. "I've got you covered. I picked this up for you."

She stiffened then threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. When she peeked up at him, her brilliant smile was a pretty decent reward. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Not nearly as much as you." His head dropped, bringing his mouth dangerously close to hers.

Ellie's eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted.

Until he ruined the moment for them both with his thoughts. "When I saw what that bastard was about to do to you, I wished I hadn't stopped to snag the money, though."

"I'm glad you did. They don't deserve to prosper. At least what they did was for nothing." She blinked rapidly a few times. "I can't imagine even fifty grand is worth risking a life over. Never mind several."

Lucas cursed.

"What?" she looked up at him, half as confused as he felt.

Attraction, fear, danger and lust swirled around them in a deadly mix. A storm brewing.

"I think we should get going again if you're ready, E. Because I can tell you one thing..."

He swung to his feet and pulled her easily to hers, banking on his recently enhanced strength. At least all those gym hours counted for something. When they were upright, he snagged his jeans and drew them into place, securing them at his waist and shrugging into the backpack once more.

"These are bundles of hundreds in here."

"Yeah, I noticed. Lots of them."

"That's exactly my point. A standard bundle of hundreds is worth ten grand." He waited for that to sink in.

"That can't be right." She shook her head. "If it were, there would only be four and a partial. There are at least a dozen in there."

"Twenty," he confirmed. "I counted."

"What the-?"

"I'm pretty sure someone used you as a mule." Lucas frowned. "Maybe your win was real, maybe not, but the cashier definitely paid out far more than you were due."

"There's no way that's a simple mistake, right?" Ellie groaned.

"No," he confirmed.

"Fuck my life," she grumbled, then stuck out her hand.

Against his better judgment, he entwined their fingers.

Ellie surprised him when she yanked him toward her. Off-balance on his bad leg, he practically crashed into her soft breasts, flinging his arm around her to keep them both from smashing to the forest floor.

"Thank you for always being there when I need you." He saw her going to her tiptoes, read the intent in her eyes, and still he didn't take evasive maneuvers.

How could he, when he wanted to taste her so badly? Fuck, he craved her more than a pile of scallops on top of lobster ravioli-his favorite meal. And he could eat that every day for the rest of his life without ever getting tired of it.

The same might go for her.

Lucas groaned at the first sample of her lips. He savored her sweetness as if he were approving a fine wine from a sommelier at a five-star restaurant. It wasn't long before he was taking a nibble of her lower lip then fusing their mouths for a bigger portion of her.

It was better than he'd dreamed of, though he couldn't imagine how that was possible.

She arched into him, swiping her tongue across one corner of his lips then flicking it against his own. They thrust and parried as if they'd practiced this mock duel a million times before.

The rush of finally kissing her went straight to his head, and his groin. He wanted it to keep going forever because when he focused on bringing her pleasure, nothing else mattered. Not his leg, not her past, not the trouble they were smack in the middle of now.

Eventually, he had to breathe.

When they broke apart, both huffing like they'd run up the mountainside, all he could do was stare.

She was even more beautiful when she looked at him with unadulterated lust in her eyes.