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“No! I want to go home right now! I have to!”
My irrational shouts are partially drowned out by the rain hammering the ground.
He scrubs a hand over his face. “I’m taking you home!”
“You’re not! You’re taking me back there! I don’t want to!”
Nothing I’m saying makes any sense as I pound my fists against his chest in a fruitless effort to make him listen. It’s like my mind is associating his house with my past, even though I know in my head that’s not true. Everything in me bucks against the thought of going back there. Going back is bad.
An unimpressed expression takes over Lucas’ face. He looks two seconds from being done with my bullshit.
“It’s pissing rain, Gemma! It’s not safe out here at night.”
I wave my arms around. “It’s a gated community! You have your own private security!”
“Get in the car,” he repeats, pointing at his Range Rover. “If you don’t get in on your own in the next minute, I’m going to make you.”
A wild shout leaves me and I whirl around to run away. Lucas curses and grabs at me, but I slip free.
“Gemma, what the fuck?!”
He chases me. I pant as I scramble off, no idea what my plan is. The muddy water sloshes over my shoes and I take a leaping jump for the fallen tree, the bark scraping my palms with a rough sting.
A hand closes on my ankle and drags me back.
“Are you fucking insane?”
Lucas growls as he tries to wrangle me. I cry out, both in frustration and pain as freedom is stolen from me and my hands drag against the sharp bark. Lucas lets out a yell of surprise as he slips in the mud.
We go down in a crumpled heap, overbalanced by the weight of two drenched people. I catch his accidental elbow to my stomach in the fall, knocking the wind from my lungs. Lucas also hisses in pain, his fingers digging into my thigh. I think my knee landed on his balls.
Nudging me off him none too gently, Lucas lumbers to his feet. His face is set in a steely scowl. Wasting no time and offering me no choice, he hoists me over his shoulder in a fireman carry. I struggle feebly, mostly on principle, but whatever overcame me before is evaporating, logic setting back in.
Mortified, soaked to the bone, and covered in mud, Lucas gets me into his car. My burning palms throb from the scrapes. I stare out the window through the rain.
“What about my car?”
A muscle jumps in his jaw as he buckles my seatbelt with a jerky movement. He covers me with the rain jacket, tucking it around me. “I’ll take care of it.”
He slams my door and gets in on the other side, shifting the car into gear. He whips us around without a word to me.
On the way back up the incline, he punches the controls on the dash to turn the heat on high. It helps with my shivering and chattering teeth. He also calls Devlin to come pick up my car, then reports the blocked road to the community’s security personnel.
As we’re about to reach his house, he cuts a sharp look my way. His face has become a mask that I can’t penetrate.
“This time I guess I’m kidnapping you for real. I’m not letting you go.”
I gulp and shift against the seat, my wet clothes heavy and giving me the weird sensation of being trapped.
When we arrive, he appears at my door before I’ve even undone my seatbelt. Most of the people that were outside huddle on the wraparound porch and have crowded into the house to keep out of the rain. I don’t fight him when he takes me by the hand and leads me back into the house.
“Great news!” Lucas announces in a booming voice as he navigates through his house. He pauses on the stairs to address the party. “The road out’s blocked. Let’s keep this party going all night!”
Cheers erupt and the music pulses louder.
Lucas squeezes my hand and drags me upstairs. I don’t see Alec on the couch anymore.
“Where’s Alec?”
