Page 53 of Fire in My Blood
I start. Lucas is squatting right in front of me, and I didn’t even notice him until he spoke.
“Thank you.” I paste a smile on my face, but it feels stiff and unnatural.
He hands me the sandwich, and I start eating while he goes to get my tea.
Hopefully, I’ll have a few more days with him. It’s better to focus on that instead of letting myself get depressed about the future. Live in the moment. That’s always a good philosophy. Because you never know what will happen tomorrow.
After placing the cup of tea in front of me, he sits down in the chair next to mine.
Forcing my shoulders to relax, I give him a genuine smile. “Thank you.” My eyes drop to the wet patch on his chest, and I chuckle. “I truly thought I’d hurt you. I mean I knew you’d heal, but I still expected your skin to blister and be painful.”
His smile is warm, and his eyes shine with an emotion that makes my heart flutter in my chest. It only lasts for a moment, though, and I bite my lip when I realize it was probably my mind playing a trick on me. Wishful thinking is my enemy. I have to stop hoping for something more with this man. I’m but a moment in time for him.
“I can show you some of what I can do with fire, if you want?” Lucas looks at me expectantly.
Pushing my hurt away, I nod. “I’d like that. Just let me put my plate and cup in the dishwasher first.”
Before I can even get up, he snatches the plate and cup and saunters over to the dishwasher.
I silently chuckle while I wait for him to put my dishes away. This man is much more than just protective. If I let him, I suspect he’d carry me everywhere and do everything for me just to make sure I was safe and comfortable.
My heart sinks. But it might not have anything to do with me specifically. It might just be the way he treats human women.
This time when he takes me into his arms and carries me down the corridor, I let him without comment. I might as well enjoy this while it lasts.
We’re not far from our bedrooms when I remember something I read in one of the tabloids I skimmed through earlier. Putting a hand on his chest, I look up into his face. A soft smile curves his lips when his gaze meets mine.
“There was an interesting article I was meaning to tell you about.” I run my index finger down his breastbone. “A woman came into the hospital with a bite on her wrist. She insisted it was a man who bit her, but they concluded that she must be in shock and just didn’t remember correctly. There were clear marks from fangs on her wrist, and even though the teeth marks weren’t quite consistent with a dog or a cat, they concluded it must have been a dog that bit her.”
Lucas’s brows push together. “Did it say anything about where she was when she was bitten?”
I shake my head. “Not specifically, but it mentioned the name of the hospital, and it’s close to where I live. Do you think it’s him?”
He narrows his eyes. “That’s possible. I’ll check with Ron later to see if he’s got some information for us.”
We reach Lucas’s bedroom, and after putting me down, he moves over to the fireplace. Kneeling on the floor, he carefully arranges the kindling and firewood before he lights a match. The fire takes hold quickly and burns brightly.
“Sit down here in front of me, Erica.” He turns toward me and pats the hardwood floor. “How’s your foot?”
I shrug as I take a seat in front of him. “My toe aches a little, but it’s not bad. It’ll probably be gone by morning.”
He grabs my ankle like he did in the kitchen before removing my shoe and sock. Staring into my eyes, he wraps hiswarm hand around my toes. “Your toe will get warm and tingly, but it won’t hurt.”
My eyes widen when he reaches out and places his other hand into the roaring fire. There’s a tingling feeling in my toe, but it soon abates, and Lucas lets go of my foot.
Wiggling my toes, I shake my head in disbelief. “That’s amazing. The pain is completely gone.”
He opens the hand that he had wrapped around my toes seconds ago and shows me his palm. An orange flame springs up and plays in his hand, licking his fingers and twirling toward the ceiling. He removes his other hand from the fire, but the flame in his hand keeps playing.
“I can use any fire within about ten yards of my body. Putting my hand directly into the flames isn’t necessary. I just did that to show you what I can do.”
“Show-off.” Grinning, I raise my gaze to his.
He chuckles. “It took a lot of practice to be able to control my powers. Imagine someone running around throwing flames in random directions, melting any metal objects they touch or setting fire to the house by accident.” He lets out a sigh. “That was me before I learned how to control my powers. And that’s why I was taken away from my family when I was six months old. Otherwise, I would have ended up killing or maiming them.”
The flame in his hand disappears, and he reaches for me with both hands. But instinct has me automatically leaning back away from him.
Lucas gives me one of his amazing smiles. But there’s a hint of sadness in his eyes when he lets his hands drop. “I can understand why it scares you.”