"Take me home," she nearly begged.

He groaned, his cock twitching in his pants at the thought. Insane, he planned to do just that. Ellie Noble in his house! Hell, probably his bed, seeing as he only had one. How would he ever manage to keep his hands off her now that he knew how fucking great it felt to make out with her?

Chapter Five.

Ellie had trudged for so long, concentrating only on putting one foot in front of the other, that when the trees began to thin, she hardly noticed. All she could think about was what it would take to bribe Lucas into rubbing her calves when they got to his house. Maybe if she offered the same in return he'd go for it. It'd be like sixty-nine for lame, bedraggled hikers.

His leg had to be killing him. He'd taken a few tumbles, ripping his jeans and skinning his knee along the way. Other than a vicious curse or two, he hadn't complained. So there was no way she was about to either.

Her dress had suffered too. The skirt had torn along the side seams, putting her thighs entirely on display, right up to her lacy red thong. Most of the beads had snapped off as branches ensnared the delicate strands. They'd also caned the upper swells of her bared breasts and caused welts along the exposed skin.

It was at times like these that she drew on the certainty that she was stronger than she'd ever imagined. This fleeting physical discomfort had nothing on her time held captive and how that had damaged her soul. If she could survive that, she could endure an uncomfortable walk through the woods with the one man-besides her brother, relatives didn't count-she'd most like to spend time with.

Especially if, as she imagined, Lucas was proving some things to himself about his capabilities tonight along the way.

"We did it, E. Holy shit." Lucas's voice penetrated her calcified brain. "My house is right over that hill."

As soon as he broke the good news, a rush of elation washed over her. She wanted to sprint, just to be there. Warm and safe, inside his home. Another part of her gave out, her limbs going noodly as they realized they'd done their job.

"Hang on, just a little bit farther." Lucas tightened his arm around her waist.

When had he slung it there? She didn't care that she'd missed it when he tugged her against his side.

Surprised, she realized she was holding him in the same way, both of them drawing strength and balance from the other. "How do we know for sure no one's waiting for us?"

Ellie didn't mean to second-guess him, but he'd told her to trust her instincts and right now she was worried they'd come all this way just to limp into a trap. Why else hadn't that guy chased them? Unless he'd been tearing her cute little house apart searching for the missing cash he'd been sent to pick up. When she thought about the dead men inside and the damage the lone remaining burglar had likely done, she wasn't sure she would ever feel comfortable there again.

"I've got ways to tell." Lucas winked at her. "I promise. You'll be safe here. Come on."

He steered her toward a small boathouse near a dock that jutted onto the lake. While she would love a tour at some other time, especially since he'd never so much as invited her over for one of the Men in Blue barbecues he'd occasionally held here, right now she only wanted to collapse somewhere soft and horizontal.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she ducked beneath his arm when he held the door open for her. The slightly musty shack held life vests, a changing room, spare oars and a mountain of fishing equipment that was a hell of a lot less organized than she would have imagined anything of his might be.

When he led her to a freestanding tackle box on one wall, she started thinking of polite ways to let him know she wasn't in the mood to see his antique-fly collection or catch their breakfast at the moment.

Lucas felt around its side, doing something she couldn't quite see.

And that was when a palm scanner popped out of the corner of the box.

"Wow." Sometimes it was hard to remember that this had been his life for so long. He seemed like a normal-mostly-guy. Not too different from the cops she hung around a lot these days. Ellie was starting to realize that he was a next-level crime fighter.

He smiled at her then said, "I may be retired, but I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves."

Once he'd verified about ten thousand different passcodes and who knew what else, the lid of the box opened. Enough computer equipment to make JRad come in his pants was stashed inside.

To her it might as well have been books written in Chinese.

The blinking lights, lines, graphs, maps and whatever else seemed to satisfy him, though.

"It's clean." He hummed his approval. "I'm going to disable the perimeter until we can get through."

That sounded like he had bombs planted around his property or something.

Maybe robofish in his pond.

Surreal.

The only other point of reference she had was her friend Shari and the things Jambrea had told her about the woman's resort, which could pretty much double as a fortress if needed. "Is it true that you used to work with Shari's brother?"

"Technically, I'm not supposed to confirm that." He left no doubt it was true.

"I don't even know what branch of the military you were in." She inspected him as if she'd missed one of his tattoos that would proudly proclaim him a member of some service.

"One that doesn't exist on paper." He cleared his throat. "I will say that John David had a reputation as the best person in our business. I still can't believe he's gone."

Lucas stayed quiet for a few moments, lost in thought, until he shook his head. "I guess none of us gets to stay in the game forever. He made it the longest of anyone I know. I didn't do too bad myself."

"Right now, I'm okay with settling for being alive. A comfortable place to pass out would be a bonus." She barely stifled a yawn now that she felt the tension of being on the run finally melting away from her.

"I'm totally in favor of that plan." He rubbed his stomach. "With the addition of some snacks."

Ellie couldn't agree more. "I hope you have ice cream."

"Do you like Rocky Road?" He grimaced. "Although I feel like that might be a little too close to home after the past few hours."

"I'm not particular." Ellie grinned.

"Let's get you inside then." He drew her to him and kissed her forehead lightly, inspiring an entirely different sort of bone-liquefying sensation to course through her. At least until he seemed to come to his senses and set her away from him once again.

"You too." She watched in awe as he repacked his monitoring station and hid the access panel then reached to the floor for a handful of dust to cast over the top.

"You go out first," he instructed. "I'm going to follow behind and step on top of your footprints so it will look like you were never here."

So many tiny details, and he knew how to manipulate them all.

If he kept up these friendly touches and cozy intimacies, how would she know if he meant them with newfound affection, as it seemed, or if he was simply trying to make her malleable?

Either way, it worked.

Outside again, she ambled by his side. Even after a couple of minutes resting, inertia made both of them stiff and awkward after losing their momentum. That warm bed and food was sounding better by the second.

Extra tongue-tangoing would round out her list of immediate needs, not that she dared tell Lucas that and risk spooking him. The idea that intimacy with her freaked him out after everything he'd seen and done in his life nearly had her giggling. Hysteria threatened. She tamped it down.

Lucas surprised the hell out of her when he led her up three or four steps, across the wraparound porch and through his unlocked front door. She stared at him with bug eyes.

"What?" He shrugged. "Anyone able to make it to the door won't be deterred by a simple lock."

"So how do you make sure you don't blow up the mailman or something?" she asked as she stepped inside his perfectly normal-looking house. Hardwood took center stage, with cobalt-blue accents that made for a rich and masculine space.

"There's a gate and lots of No Trespassing signs along the driveway." He shrugged. "Plus I haven't needed a lot of security lately."

"I'm sorry." It dawned on her that she was dragging him into her mess. Putting him at risk. "I should go. Can we contact the Men in Blue somehow? Maybe they have information about the robbers or someplace to move me. A safe house."

"You couldn't possibly be more protected than you are here." He put his hands on his hips.

"But you would be a hell of a lot better off with me far away." The will to argue was trumped by her need to collapse onto his sofa. But she didn't want to ruin the thing with her mud and blood and sweat.

"I don't know about that anymore, Ellie." He grew serious then. "We've tried the hands-off approach and I'm not sure it's working."

She flipped him the bird. "You tried that. I had no choice in the matter."

Instead of arguing, he grinned. "It turns me on when you fight back."

"I'm not usually a pushover, Lucas." She glared at him. "You saw me at my worst. Don't make judgments about me based on that or I guarantee you're going to be sorely disappointed."

He cleared his throat, acting the tiniest bit ashamed. It looked weird on him, considering how confident he typically was. Almost, though not quite, to the point of arrogance.

"To answer one of your earlier questions, yes. I have a secure line and I'm going to get in touch with the Men in Blue right now. We'll figure out the best course of action. Do you want to be in on the call?" he asked.

His offer was enough. "Nope. Whatever you guys decide, I'll do. You're the experts. What I want is to find your bathroom and take the longest, hottest shower in the history of the universe."

"I have a deep soaking tub with jets upstairs." He smiled. "Feel free to indulge."

Ellie practically whimpered at the thought alone.

Lucas hobbled into the kitchen and grabbed some fruit, a couple bottles of water and a block of cheese from his fridge. Then he gestured toward the stairs. "You first. I'm still unsteady going up these, especially right now."

"Can I help somehow?" She turned, about to offer her hand or something.

"I can do it on my own."

"Of course you can."

He glanced away, then back, as if it pained him more to ask for assistance than it would falling on his ass with his hands full. "Would you maybe grab the food so I can use the railing?"

"Sure." Except he'd snagged more than she could hold in her much smaller hands.

Fuck it. Not like she had any modesty left at this point. She grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted the front flap of the shredded material, holding it out in front of her like a net.

Lucas deposited his scroungings, swallowing hard as he tried valiantly not to steal a glimpse at her exposed legs. Or her panties, which peeked out beneath the ruined dress. His gaze flickered toward her thighs a few times before he jerked his chin upward. "Go ahead."

Of course, that gave him a pretty up-close-and-personal view of her ass, which she didn't mind.

He stifled a groan.

When she spun around to make sure he was okay, she noticed his line of sight and beamed.

"God help me," he muttered.

Ellie waited until they were both at the top of the stairs before heading down the short hall to Lucas's bedroom. It was easy to pick out which one was his since it was the only bedroom. She figured his couch had looked plenty comfy. She'd get cleaned up then go crash.

"I hope you don't mind if I just say make yourself at home." He held his hand out toward the bathroom. "You can set yourself up in there a lot faster than if I try to do it for you."

"This is great-thank you." She smiled.

It would have been so natural to go onto her tiptoes and kiss him. Just a quick peck. But he turned toward a black box with a phone resting on top, right when she debated making her move. The chance vanished.

So Ellie limped into the bathroom, ripped her shoes from her feet and threw them directly into the trash. Her dress would follow shortly. She leaned over the massive tub to turn on the water. It would take a while to fill.

As she waited, she couldn't help but peek around. Not snooping, exactly. It just was such a rare opportunity to learn more about the man who'd kept her in the dark for months. No way would she dare to glance in the mirror. She could feel how ratty and full of leaves her hair was and her face couldn't be much better. So she distracted herself by cataloging Lucas's care products.

An assortment of items for amputees was lined up on the surround. Things she didn't really understand except to get an idea, by how many there were, of how much effort he was expending to adapt to his new life. She thought of the endless counseling visits, doctors' appointments, research on jobs and other therapy that had occupied her time lately. For Lucas, it must be way more daunting.

Every part of his personal space reflected some sort of change.

The bench in his shower, the slew of lotions and potions. Hell, even the pile of stump socks in his laundry basket. It was impossible to ignore here, where he spent so much of his time. Maybe he would let her turn his mind to more pleasurable things.

In the other room, she heard his efficient reporting to the Men in Blue. There, he was comfortable. Here, he still needed help adjusting. More determined than ever, she vowed to help him with that transition. If he'd let her.

"Mason, I think it's best if I keep her here." He spoke to one of Lacey's guys who had rank on the force. The other Men in Blue listened to him. If he agreed, she'd be staying. "People don't associate us. I wasn't on any of the documentation from Morselli's dungeon. We haven't been seen together for nearly a year."

Ouch. That part hurt.

It hadn't been for lack of her reaching out either.

Ellie leaned against the doorjamb, blinking back tears. Why had he cut her out of his life entirely?

With the evidence pointing to how radically his had changed all around her, it was clear that he resented her. Why wouldn't he?

Indirectly, she'd been responsible for this.

If she hadn't been in there that day...

If Ryan hadn't sent the Men in Blue and other task force members to search for her...

If Lucas hadn't been so damned brave...

He'd be whole, and she'd be gone. Instead of them both living half-alive.

Her heart sank as she realized the teasing they'd been doing in the woods was probably all they'd ever have. He'd been distracting her. Motivating her to keep going.