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Buck threw a wide punch and Lucas blocked it. He tried again with the same result, and then rushed forward to pin Lucas in a hold. One kidney punch and left ear cuff later, and Buck staggered to the side, pointing at me. “Bitch. Think you’re too good for me—but you’re nothing but a whore.”
Lucas tracked him, staying between us. When Buck jabbed, Lucas grabbed his forearm and turned, wrenching Buck’s arm in a direction arms aren’t meant to go before turning him to deliver a quick uppercut to the jaw. Buck’s head rotated so far he was almost looking backward over his shoulder. He turned back and Lucas snapped another blow straight into his lip. Holding his defensive stance and cocking his head once to each side, Lucas’s ghost smile took on a menace it didn’t imply when he turned it on me.
Buck roared and lunged forward, and they went down. Height-wise, they were evenly matched. Weight-wise, Buck had a clear forty or fifty pound advantage, and he used it to pin Lucas, punching him in the side of the head twice before Lucas twisted, tossing Buck onto the top of his skull. Flopping onto his back, Buck shook his head twice, like he was trying to clear it.
Lucas tackled him, held him down, and slugged him four times in quick succession. The sound made me think of dad texturing steaks, and my stomach turned. Buck’s face was quickly becoming unrecognizable, and though I couldn’t feel sorry for it, I was afraid Lucas was crossing into what might be construed as deadly force.
“Landon! Stop!”
Dr. Heller was tearing down the driveway.
He pulled Lucas off Buck, who wasn’t moving. For a split second, Lucas fought back, and I was afraid Dr. Heller was toast, but I’d underestimated my professor and his Special Forces background. His arms a band around Lucas’s chest and arms, he barked, “Stop. She’s safe. She’s safe, son.” When Lucas sagged, Dr. Heller loosened his hold.
Lucas’s eyes found me instantly and he lurched in my direction. Sirens sounded in the distance, closing in quickly. I heard them turn down the far end of the street at the same time Lucas dropped to the grass beside me. He was shaking violently, the adrenaline still pumping through him with nowhere to go. Breathing heavily, he stared at me, lifting a hand cautiously, like he was afraid I might recoil.
My jaw throbbed, and I deduced from his expression that it must have looked bad. His fingers grazed over it and I flinched. He snatched his hand back and I came up on my knees.
“Please touch me. I need you to touch me.”
I didn’t have to ask twice. His arms came around me, pulling me onto his lap and cradling me against his chest. “His blood? From his nose?” He pulled the shirt away from my chest, and it stuck, the blood already drying, to the bra underneath, and my skin.
I nodded, disgusted.
“Good girl.” His arms slid around me again. “God, you’re so f**king amazing.”
I thought of Buck’s blood on my skin and I pulled at the shirt as my stomach heaved again. “I want it off. I want it off.”
He swallowed. “Yes. Soon.” His fingers moved gently over my face. “I’m so sorry, Jacqueline. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I sent you out the door like that.” He choked up, his chest rising and falling. “Please forgive me.”
As he caressed me, I turned my head under his chin, folding into him as small as I could get. “I’m sorry for looking her up. I didn’t know—”
“Shh, baby… not now. Just let me hold you.” He pulled me tighter still after grabbing his jacket from the grass nearby and draping it over me, and we stopped speaking.
An ambulance arrived, and the EMTs roused Buck, who at least wasn’t dead. Arms crossed dispassionately, one of the officers monitored his care as he was transferred onto a stretcher while his partner conferred with Dr. Heller over the altercation.
“Lan—Lucas,” he called. “You and Jacqueline need to give your statements now, son.” Lucas stood carefully, pulling me up with him, supporting me fully. Dr. Heller reached a hand to his shoulder. “This young man is the son of my closest friend. He rents the apartment over the garage.” He glanced at us with an odd look before continuing. “As I said, that fella—” he pointed at Buck, who was being loaded into the ambulance “—has a restraining order filed against him on behalf of this young lady, which he violated by coming to her boyfriend’s home.” Ah, there was the reason for the look.
The officers’ eyes widened when they took in my bloody shirt. “It’s his blood,” I said, pointing toward the ambulance.
One of them smiled and echoed Lucas. “Good girl.”
I leaned into Lucas, and he tightened his arms around me. The officers, already softened by Dr. Heller, couldn’t have been more sympathetic. Twenty minutes and all of our statements later, they, and Buck, were gone, and Lucas and I were gathering my things from my truck and the road after assuring Dr. Heller and his family that we would see to each other’s injuries.
Without speaking, Lucas led me up the stairs, into his apartment and straight into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and lifted me onto the counter to pull off my boots and socks. Without pausing, he removed my shirt and bra and tossed them in the trash. His shirt, speckled with droplets of blood—both his and Buck’s—followed.
Standing between my knees, he turned my face towards the light and inspected my jaw. “You’re going to bruise. We’ll put some ice on it to get the swelling down, after you shower.” His jaw clenched tight. “Did he… hit you?”
I shook my head, which made it throb a bit. “Just grabbed it really hard. It’s sore, but actually the spot where I head-butted him hurts more.”
“Does it?” He brushed the hair back from my face and kissed my forehead so gently I couldn’t feel it. “I’m so proud of you. I want you to tell me about it, when you can… and when I can stand to hear it. I’m still too angry right now.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He ran his fingers over the back of my neck. “I knew I’d f**ked up. I was getting on my bike, coming after you—and then you were running up the driveway.” His jaw compressed and flexed. “When he tackled you… I wanted to kill him. I think if Charles hadn’t stopped me, I would have killed him.”
I didn’t move from the counter until he’d undressed. He pulled me down, slid my jeans and underwear off, and led me to the shower, where he washed and inspected every part of me. We were both bruised and abraded in unexpected places, and I could barely lift my arms.
