Page 82 of Love Bites And So Do I

Lucien pulled back, eyes half-lidded. I loved that I could put that look on his face, loved the effect I seemed to have on him. It was empowering.

Then the blasted phone rang again.

“Someone had better be dying,” he growled against my lips.

He begrudgingly rose from the bed and padded toward the door, naked and wholly unrepentant about it. I propped myself up onto my elbows, enjoying the view until it disappeared from sight, then flopped back against the pillows.

The ringing stopped.

Then came silence, but not the comforting kind. I listened for the sound of him returning to bed. But it never came.

In fact, the house seemed still, and not in a good way.

I sat up, wary, especially when I finally heard him speak, his voice distant but edged in steel. “What?”

A pause. Too long.

I slipped from the bed and wrapped a sheet around myself, my bare feet cold against the floor as I crept to the top of the stairs.

“Where?” Lucien suddenly demanded. That single word held such anger.

My stomach turned. I descended quietly. He stood at the foot of the stairs, phone still pressed to his ear, his entire body tense.

When he turned and saw me, his expression didn’t change. But his eyes—they burned. And not in the same way they’d burned a few moments ago.

“We’ll be right there,” he bit out before ending the call.

He lowered the phone and stared at me.

I clutched the sheet to my chest. “What is it?”

“It’s Thorne,” he said quietly.

Everything inside me went still. “What happened?”

“Someone attacked her. Rue found her a few blocks from the bar. She’s…” Lucien clenched his jaw, his voice deepening. “Izzy, she’s hurt.”

The hallway swayed. I immediately gripped the banister to keep from sinking to the floor. “What do you mean she’s hurt? How badly? Who attacked her?” My voice rose with the last question. “What happened?”

“I don’t have any other answers yet,” Lucien said gently. “But don’t worry, her brothers are with her, and they say she’s safe right now.”

He stepped onto the first stair and placed his hand over mine, steadying me. I immediately gripped his fingers for support, clinging to him for a whole other reason now.

“Where are they?” I whispered.

“At the Wolfe family estate.”

“Take me there.”

Lucien winced. “Izzy, I’m not welcome in that house.”

“Take. Me. There.” My voice was like ice. I refused to compromise on this, not when Thorne was hurt.

Lucien blinked, then nodded once. We hurried together me into the living room, where our clothes were strewn about in scattered piles. Suddenly, the warmth and the sense of safety I’d fallen asleep with was gone. Like it’d all just been a dream.

Dressing happened in a haze, but once we were clothed, Lucien hurried me outside into the biting cold night air. We climbed into the car, and Lucien sped through Eternity Falls like we were trying to outrun a monster.

“She was fine,” I whispered, more to myself than him. “Just a few hours ago. She was fine.”