Jenna Petersen - [Lady Spies] (23 page)

A gun fired a second time and Ana braced herself for the impact. But none came. Instead, Henry slumped forward, his weapon clattering away uselessly as he let out one final rattle of breath.

“Y
ou’re certain this spray won’t have a lasting effect?” Charlie asked as Dr. Wexler looked at Ana’s eyes.

She shook her head. “I can’t be sure, but the stinging has lessened since we rinsed my eyes. My lungs no longer hurt and my throat is raw, but it doesn’t burn. I believe the spray did exactly its job. Blinding and incapacitating without maiming permanently.”

She shot a glance in Lucas’s direction. He was leaning against the wall in the hallway of the abandoned building. He had hardly spoken since he gathered her up into his arms and carried her away from the broken, bloody body that had once been his best friend.

Charlie and men from the War Department had
arrived, Lucas had answered their questions, but he had refused to leave her side. And refused to look at Henry’s body, even when they carried him away, covered in a blanket.

“This is amazing, Ana,” Charlie looked at the pretty perfume bottle. “Another invention that will assist us in our duties.”

She smiled, but the expression was forced. Somehow Charlie’s praise and even solving this case no longer meant everything to her.

Lucas did. And she needed to talk to him desperately. Needed to touch him. Without these people here. Without their prying eyes and questions.

The doctor put his things away. “You’ll come to see me tomorrow, Anastasia,” he ordered. “And I will check you for the next few days to insure you aren’t permanently damaged.”

She nodded absently, hardly hearing his orders. All she could do was stare at Lucas and watch him stare back, utterly unreadable, just as he had been when she first met him.

What had he said to her then? That she had to learn to break the rules.

“I’d like a little air. Could Lucas take me outside for a moment?”

Charlie nodded. “Of course. But we’ll need to speak to you both further.”

“Just for a moment.”

Lucas straightened and wordlessly offered her an
arm. She took it, clutching at his heat and feeling his muscle contract beneath her hand.

“I’ll bring her back in a few moments,” he promised.

They stepped into the gathering dark. The moment the door closed behind them, Ana took his hand and hurried him toward their carriage, which had been swung up to the line of other vehicles for the officers and men inside.

“What are you doing?” Lucas asked, following behind her as she threw open the door. She pushed at him to go inside, whispered a few words to the driver and jumped in beside him.

He stared at her as the coach rolled forward. “What’s going on here, Ana? They need further statements from us, there is paperwork—”

“Rules were meant to be broken,” she interrupted. “I need to ask you something, Lucas. I need to know.”

He dipped his chin as if he anticipated what her question was. “Go ahead.”

“You told Henry that you loved me,” she whispered, her voice cracking and not just from her raw throat. “Did you mean that, Lucas? Do you love me? Or was it just a tactic to distract him?”

When his gaze lifted to hers, she saw the answer even before he said it. And it awed her.

“I meant every word, Ana. I have loved you since…probably since the moment I saw you.” He caught her hands and drew them to his chest. “I know you do not wish for love. But I think, given time, you could grow to
love me. I feel that in every part of me. I feel it in your kiss. I won’t ask you to love me now. But I hope that you will one day allow me into your heart, even in some small way. Even if you never give me as much of yourself as you shared with Gilbert.”

Ana stared at him, this man who had just poured his heart out. Offered her everything without any thought that he would receive anything in return.

He loved her.

And her love for him, which had seemed so surprising when she realized it a few hours before, flamed up and overcame her.

“I loved Gilbert,” she said softly, and her memories didn’t overwhelm her. “He was the boy I loved from the time I was a little girl. And being his wife was every childhood dream I ever had come true.”

Lucas swallowed hard and he nodded. “I know.”

“Wait.” She held up her hand. “I am no longer a child, Lucas. My dreams and my wishes and my fantasies are not the same as they were then. You helped me see that. Helped me see who I truly am. You are the
man
I love now. With all my heart. All my soul. Everything I have in me wants to belong to you. I
do
belong to you, Lucas.”

His eyes went wide and she realized that for the first time since she met him, she had shocked him into silence.

But then he didn’t need words. He caught her cheeks and drew her mouth to his, kissing her with a wild pas
sion and pure joy that made her heart sing. She threw her arms around him, hugging him so tightly that she could feel his heart pounding against her own. The two were in perfect time.

He pulled back to grin down at her. “Where are you taking me?”

She reached up and pulled him closer again. “Emily, Meredith, and I bought this little home in Southwark. No one knows about it but us. And tonight it will be ours. No one can find us to file their reports. Or ask us questions.”

“It sounds like heaven,” Lucas laughed.

She lifted her lips to his.

“If you are there, it will be.”