When she was empty, and had no more tears to give, she closed her eyes. She pictured Nick. She saw his hair and his beautiful eyes in her mind. She imagined what his lips would feel like pressed against hers. She fell asleep, picturing his arms wrapped tightly around her.
8
Nick
Nick quickly walked to his room quickly. He had to get away from Lana’s door as soon as he could, or he would go back in. He knew he shut the door a little hard, but his frustration had built so intention, he was afraid that he was going to explode.
He gratefully pulled off his jeans. They were getting to be a little tight, because of his physical response to Lana.
It wasn’t just that she was beautiful, with her emerald green eyes, long reddish hair, and perfectly curved body. He wanted to consume her heart-shaped lips. Nick longed to feel her body pressed to his.
It was more than her physical features. She was thrust into a world of destruction, evil, and chaos, yet she managed to maintain her composure. She showed true courage in the face of incredible danger. She had seen what Dizag had done to the other women, and knew that he would take great pleasure in destroying her. Yet, she refused to back down in her quest to find her sister. He actually suspected that even if Lucy was found, safe and sound, that Lana would continue hunting for this monstrous man, because she had witnessed what he had done to other women. She had the tenacity of a…lion.
He chuckled at his own thought. She was definitely a lion, in spirit and in physical form.
As exhausted as he was, he couldn’t fall asleep. His mind was racing a million miles an hour.
Thoughts of Lana dominated his brain.
What would she do if I went back down the hallway and knocked on her door?
Based on the look in her eyes and her response to him every time they got close to each other, he suspected that he knew the answer to the question. She would step back and allow him in.
Yet, he still would feel as though he was taking advantage of her. He thought that he might be falling in love with her. Nick knew that she had feelings for him. However, he wasn’t certain if those were true feelings or if they were simply a result of him being her safety net in an emotional time. He hoped with all of his might that this situation would be resolved in a positive way.
Visions of Dizag’s handiwork continuously tried to invade his thoughts. However, he knew that he needed a break from the grisly murders that had taken over his life in the last few weeks. Pushing them away, he forced himself to focus on Lana.
Even though he ached to hold her and it was causing him some discomfort in his nether regions, she was the best thing to have come into his life in a long time. Her large expressive eyes were the last thing that he pictured as he fell into a deep slumber.
When his alarm went off at seven the next morning, he was still drained. He was pretty sure that he could sleep another week if he could get away. However, he had things he needed to accomplish, and he couldn’t do anything from bed.
Actually, one of the things he wanted to accomplish most he could do from bed, but for now, that was off limits.
Groaning, his body cracked all over as he rolled out of bed. He thought of that old joke about sounding like a Rice Krispie, since he was snapping, crackling, and popping all over.
Hoping a cold shower would wake him up, he stood under the streaming water. He never even felt the iciness rolling down his body. His mind took him to other places. Nick wished that there was a magic spell that could make his brain shut up, even for five minutes.
Lana popped out of her room when she smelled the coffee and bacon. Her hair was tousled and she had the droopy eyes of someone who wanted to go back to bed.
Nick felt himself stirring, as he had never seen anyone looking so beautiful.
They ate in a comfortable silence. It was clear that each had something on their mind, but it was also just as obvious that neither of them knew how to address the issue.
They took their usual walk after they washed and put away the dishes. Nick unconsciously reached for Lana’s hands, so when he discovered her hand clasped firmly in his, he was startled. The air seemed to snap from the electricity that zapped around them.
After they returned, Nick said, “I have to go into the office. I want to see if they picked up any clues the night before and do some research. Do I have your word that you will stay here, in the house, and not go outside, not visit the neighbors, and not go to the club?”
“Yes,” Lana replied. “I will stay here, like a good little lion, until you get back.”
“Thank you,” he said.
It was hard for Nick to concentrate. Every time he tried to focus his attention and read the reports, his mind drifted back to Lana. Dizag had already proven that four walls and a door wasn’t enough to keep him out. Nick wasn’t foolish enough to think that Dizag didn’t know where he lived and where Lana was. The dragon shifter seemed to know everything. He likely had spies everywhere. As a matter of fact, Nick wouldn’t be surprised if there was someone following Lana all day, every day.
There were no surprises from the autopsy report. It had been pretty evident what occurred.
He dropped by the hotel to see what was going on. There had been so much butchery that there were still a lot of crime scene techs working the place. It looked even worse with
