Unbreakable (28 page)

“Lilly?” Luke calls after me when I
disappear into the laundry room. I look through the cupboards for
the first aid kit, slamming doors as I go, when I finally find it.
I grab it and walk back into the kitchen to find them all staring
apprehensively at me. I grab a dishcloth from the drawer and dampen
it at the faucet before I return to Luke. I am sitting astride him
and I begin to gently clean the cut again. It is deeper than I
thought now that I am getting a better look at it. Luke places his
hands on my hips trying to get me to look at him. I search the
first aid kit for some iodine avoiding his eyes.

“Lilly, stop! It's fine!” He says trying to
control my hands as I frantically lean over and search for the
supplies that I need. “Lilly, look at me,” he orders finally
getting control of my hands. He holds them together and turns me
toward him. I sit back on his knees now that I can’t move my hands.
Not able to hold them back any longer, hot tears fill my eyes as I
finally look at him.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I blubber as the
tears stream down my face like a waterfall. Luke lets loose of my
hands and grabs my face.

“Oh baby. Baby, it’s okay,” Luke says almost
laughing at my emotions. “What are you sorry about?” He asks me
reaching up to sweep away my tears from my cheeks with his
thumbs.

“About all of this,” I say. “I can’t imagine
what your family thinks of me now,” I cry resting my forehead on
his shoulder sobbing.

“They love you. This isn’t your fault, you
know,” Luke consoles me, his lips by my ear.

“Any second, you are going to realize that
I’m not worth all of this and you’re going to be gone,” I mumble
still bawling like a baby. Sitting up, I rub my fingers under my
eyes to wipe the tears, but more take their place. I can’t seem to
stop crying now that I’ve started.

“Never!” He shouts angrily. “I love you so
much. Didn’t you listen to the stories my mother told you? I’ve
loved you since the first time I saw you. Don’t you ever say
anything like that again!” He scolds me. My face is in his hands so
I am forced to look into his eyes. “Damn it, Lilly, how can you
think that?” He asks with such a hurt look in his eyes that it
breaks my heart.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper leaning forward so I
can take his face in my hands and place tiny kisses on his lips.
Between each kiss I whispering more sorrys, when I hear Jacob clear
his throat behind me. I soon forgot that we weren’t alone. I sit up
and wipe the tears from my eyes again now that the crying has
stopped.

“May I please bandage that up now?” I ask
Luke, sniffling. Luke nods and rests his hands on my thighs so I
can doctor his cut. I turn to the first aid kit again giving a
quick look up to Jacob and Max. I am embarrassed of the show that I
just put on in front of them. My eyes still have tears, but I’m not
really crying anymore. Jacob winks at me to let me know that it's
okay, and I turn my attention back to Luke.

“So, tell me what I need to know,” I say as
I dab Luke’s cut with iodine making him wince. I lightly blow on it
to take the sting away.

“Well, it was him. The alarm must have
scared him, because by the time we made it to where the alarm went
off, he was gone,” Jacob explains to me as I fumble with a Band-Aid
to get it out of the package. “Sam and the dogs followed his scent,
but they lost it about a half of a mile into the timber,” he
continued, but stops as he watches me struggling with the paper
wrapper that covers the bandage. Luke finally helps me get the
paper off and I gently place it on his cheek giving it a light kiss
on top of the Band-Aid.

“A kiss to make it better,” I whisper and he
gives me a little smile. I turn around to face Jacob and Max where
they are still sitting. Luke wraps his arms around my waist and
clasps his hands together at my belly. “So we have dogs now?” I ask
trying to get a grip on the situation.

“Yes, two canines, but they are good. He
must have doubled back because the trail went cold,” Jacob explains
to me. “The timber is thick and vast. He would have to know it to
be able to do that and not get lost,” he says shaking his head. “I
think he’s been in there a lot.”

“So what now?” I ask them sniffing my nose
that is now running from the crying. I’m sure my eyes are red and
puffy since they feel like they are burning.

“I honestly don’t know, Lilly. I’m sorry,
but he’s smarter and better than I have ever dealt with before,”
Jacob says frustrated as he taps his pen on the table looking at me
apologetically. “Sam is going to be patrolling with the dogs
tonight and the alarms will be on. I think you should get some
rest,” Jacob suggests and I can tell he is waiting for some kind of
argument.

“Can we still go to New Orleans tomorrow?” I
ask as I scoot off of Luke’s lap and look from him to Jacob.

“Yes, as long as you promise that you do
everything you are told,” Jacob says and Luke nods.

“Okay, I can live with that,” I agree to him
just happy that I’m going to be out of the house for a while.

“I’m going to bed.”

“I’ll be up in a minute babe,” Luke says
when I turn to him to see if he is ready for bed. I nod and walk
over to Jacob standing behind him. I wrap my arms around his neck
and kiss his cheek.

“Thank you for all that you are doing,” I
whisper to him and give him a squeeze.

He pats my forearm and whispers, “You’re
welcome,” back to me.

As I move past him, I give Max’s shoulder a
squeeze and thank him also. I walk out of the kitchen and up the
stairs to my bedroom. I pull off my clothes and put on an oversized
t-shirt then climb into bed and wait for Luke.

Chapter 32

I wake up realizing that I had dozed off
waiting for Luke and it’s after one a.m. I turn and see Luke is
still not in bed. I notice something out of the corner of my eye.
There in the corner of the room in the shadows is a black mass.
It’s the same figure that I saw at the window and in the woods. It
sways back and forth staring at me. I try to scream, but no sound
comes out. I scramble to get out of bed and run for the door.
Fumbling with the knob to try and get it open, I look behind me to
see the black mass walking toward me. Banging on the door it
finally opens and I run through. This isn’t right. I’m in the
timber. My feet are bare and I step on a stick causing pain to
shoot through my foot. I try to run, but my legs won’t move. I hear
him just behind me and turn around to start swinging. I am finally
able to scream, instead I cry out for Luke. He answers me, but I
don’t understand him. He is saying, “Wake up, Lilly, wake up.”

I am lying in bed swinging at Luke when I
finally wake up. He’s on his knees next to me dodging my swings as
he is shaking my shoulders trying to wake me up.

“Lilly, baby it’s me,” he says as I start to
regain consciousness and he pins my arms to my side. My heart is
racing and I’m drenched with sweat. I hear a light knock on the
door before it opens and see Jacob standing in the doorway with
concern.

“She’s fine, a doozey of a nightmare
though,” Luke says not leaving my side as he talks to Jacob. I hear
the door close as Jacob exits. Luke lets go of my arms and I
instantly sit up. I wrap my arms around his neck, my heart still
beating a mile a minute.

“Sshhh, it’s okay baby. Try to relax,” Luke
consoles as he sits back on his butt and pulls me up in his lap.
With a slight rocking motion, he tries to soothe me.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” He asks
after a minute when my breathing returns to normal. I explain what
I can remember of the horrible dream to him while he continues to
gently rock me. I start to get a chill from my sweat dampened shirt
and Luke slowly pulls it over my head. He wraps a warm dry blanket
around me. My naked body is now resting against his warm bare
chest. I feel so safe in his arms.

“You are safe. It was just a dream. I will
never let him near you baby,” Luke says kissing my forehead. I
close my eyes as he tightens his grip on me.

The next thing I know I am waking up still
pressed against Luke’s chest with his arms around me except we are
laying down. He has the blanket wrapped around both of us and I
can’t imagine moving, but I really need to use the bathroom. It’s
daylight now but I can tell it is still early. I slowly roll away
from him trying not to wake him. As soon as I move he awakes with a
jerk tightening his grip on me.

“I just need to go to the bathroom,” I tell
him as he starts to comprehend everything is okay. He lets loose of
his grip and I roll off the bed. I notice that I’m still naked
except for my panties. My back to Luke, I turn my head toward him.
He is now on his side with his head propped up on his hand.

“Hurry back,” he says with his sexy wicked
grin.

I crawl back into bed next to him after I’ve
taken care of business. He engulfs me in his embrace and his hands
press firmly on my back smashing my bare breasts into his
chest.

“You are so beautiful,” he moans as he takes
my face in his hands. His lips take mine and we are lost in each
other as we make love.

Chapter 33

We doze off again after making love. Waking
up about an hour later we notice it is close to eight am.

“Good morning again,” Luke coos, stroking my
hair as my head lies on his chest. I lie there silent thinking
about how the past twenty-four hours has been filled with so much
fear and pleasure at the same time. It was just last night that I
met Luke’s family and it seems like an eternity ago. They are so
close to him and I barely know them. How can I have such a
connection with a man and not know so much about him.

“Hey you, what are you thinking about? You
seem a million miles away,” Luke asks as I stare out the window at
the sky.

“Your family,” I answer now resting my chin
on my arm so I can look him in the eyes.

“My family loved you,” he claims with
confidence.

“Oh yeah, you sound awfully sure about
that.” I give a look of doubt. I can’t imagine after last night
that any of them except for Jeffrey thought much of me at all. A
bunch of trouble is all I’m worth.

“I am sure missy. My dad adores you, you
know that,” he exclaims and I just nod giving him that. “My sister
called me last night after you went to bed. They were so worried
about you,” he says and I give him a look of disbelief. “It’s
true,” he adds laughing at my dismayed look. “I don’t know what to
say to convince you, so you will just have to see it in your own
time.” He gives my hair a little tug in frustration.

After I’ve showered and dressed to get ready
to go to New Orleans, I meet Luke downstairs who is already sitting
at the island having breakfast with Jacob. They don’t notice me
walk in the room because they are deep in conversation about the
plans for the day. Miss Finnegan pours me a cup of coffee and
offers me some eggs.

It’s been really hot the past few days so
Luke is wearing some khaki green shorts and a black tank top. I
really like him in it because I can see his amazing, tan muscular
arms. I am dressed in short white shorts and a purple blouse that
is off the shoulders. It is loose and flowy and very
comfortable.
I step behind the island next to Miss Finnegan to tell her how much
I appreciate everything she did last night for the dinner. I forgot
to thank her in all of the craziness at the nights end.

“It’s my pleasure dear,” she says to me when
Jacob looks up at me and almost chokes on a bite of eggs. He makes
certain that Luke takes notice of what I am wearing when Jacob
shakes his head in disapproval.

“Hell no, you are not wearing that!” Luke
shouts when he sees what I’m wearing. “You are not giving that
maniac anymore ammunition!” He shakes his head.

“What? It isn’t that bad, and it’s hot. What
do you want me to wear a turtleneck?” I say almost whinny at their
objections.

“That would be fine,” Luke says with a
smile. I know he’s joking, but I don’t find it funny.

“So you are saying if I cover myself up more
he’s not going to stalk me anymore?” I rebut with one hand on my
hip.

“Lilly, you are so sexy. I don’t even think
you know how sexy you are,” Luke argues back with frustration. “I
don’t think you need to be showing that much skin,” he says looking
to Jacob for support who nods in agreement.

“It’s this or a tank top, which actually
shows more skin and is tighter so you choose.” Now with both hands
on my hips, his look of frustration becomes worse. “This is no
different than any other shirt that I wear. Why are you freaking
out now?” I ask and regret it as soon as I say it.

“I am freaking out because he is getting
more aggressive, haven’t you been listening?” His jaw tenses with
anger. Even though Luke is shouting, I know he isn’t angry with me.
I walk out of the kitchen without saying a word and head to my room
to change.

It’s not worth the arguing so I change into
some jean capris and a tight fitting button up shirt that has
sleeves that go down to my elbows. I leave the top two buttons
undone because I don’t want to look like a nun. I slip on some
sandals and head back downstairs. Emma has arrived and is in the
kitchen with the boys. I notice that she is wearing something very
similar to what I just had on. Everyone’s attention returns to me
as Miss Finnegan hands me a plate of eggs. I stand at the counter
across from everyone and push the plate away.

“So are we ready to go?” I ask dryly now in
a sour mood, but I am trying to talk myself out of it. It is no
one’s fault and I don’t want to take it out on them.

“Yep,” Jacob says getting up and he walks
over to me. “You still look too sexy,” he whispers softly as he
walks by me and follows Emma toward the garage.