Doctor Christie

Christie's POV

I sat as far away from Lyon as the passenger seat allowed, my back pressed against the door. My heart was still racing, but the initial panic was turning into a dull, heavy ache.

I looked at the man behind the steering wheel. His profile was sharp, his hands gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles were white.

He wasn't looking at me like a predator looks at prey; he was looking at the road like his life depended on every mile. I could see the desperation in his body language.

"You realize this is a felony, right?" I said, my voice finally steadying.

"You can’t just walk into a lab and take a person. There are cameras. There are witnesses."

"I saw you on the news tonight. It was more of a recap and a follow up news on what you've accomplished," Lyon said, ignoring my threat.

"I looked you up. There’s almost nothing about you online. No social media, no photos, just your medical papers and your research grants. You’re living like a ghost, Christie Graves."

"That’s how I like it. It doesn't give you the right to haul me into your truck like a piece of luggage," I snapped.

"I have a life. I have work. I’m going to the police the second I get a chance."

"I saw the way you looked on that stage," he continued, his voice dropping an octave.

"You looked like you wanted to disappear. I figured you wouldn't have minded leaving that crowd behind for a while. Maybe that would have been the right time to steal you away, had I had the chance then."

"I mind being kidnapped!" I yelled, throwing my hands up.

"Why are you doing this? What could possibly be worth going to prison for?"

"My mother," he said calmly. He finally looked at me, and for a second, the command in his eyes softened.

"She has the same tumor that killed my mate five years ago. I watched one person I loved turn into dust. I’m not letting it happen again. You’re the only person who has found a way to stop it and I can't stick around for protocol.”

My heart did a strange little flip. I hated that I felt a surge of sympathy for him. He was a criminal, a madman who had forced me into his car, but the desperation in his voice was real. I looked at him again. Even in the dim light of the dashboard, he was beautiful.

He had a rugged, effortless look that made it hard to look away, but I forced myself to stare out the window instead.

If this was attraction I was feeling, it was probably because I was ovulating. Only my work was supposed to be attractive to me.

"You should have asked me," I said. "You didn't even give me a choice."

"Would you have come? If a stranger showed up at 2:00 AM and asked you to drive four hours into the woods, would you have said yes?"

"No," I admitted. "But that’s the point. That’s how consent works."

"As long as you have my mother cured, you can do anything you want to do to me," Lyon said. He didn't blink.

"Call the police. Send me to jail. I don't care. Just save her first."

"You think you can just buy your way out of this," I muttered. "You offered me a hospital earlier. You offered me a car. You don't even know me."

"I know you need a better lab than that brick box you were working in," he said. "I can give you everything. I can give you a research center that makes the university look like a high school closet. Just tell me what you want, Christie. Name it."

"I want to be treated like a human being!" I shouted.

"You just assumed I could be bought. You’re just like everyone else who has some money. You think because you have power and money, you get to decide who I am and where I go."

"I'm not trying to decide who you are," he said, his jaw tightening. "I’m trying to keep a woman from dying."

We argued for the rest of the drive, the words flying back and forth until the truck turned onto a long, private road.

I expected a cabin or a small house since we had driven almost completely out of town, but a massive mansion appeared through the trees. It was huge, built of stone and wood, glowing with lights. He parked the truck and got out, walking around to my side to open the door.

He didn't grab me this time. He stood there, holding the door open, his expression pleading.

"Please, Christie. Just look at her. That’s all I’m asking now. Just look at her and tell me if you can help."

This right here was a man who loved his mom and would do anything to keep her alive.

Strange, but it almost got me teary.

I stepped out of the truck, my legs feeling like jelly. Before I could say anything, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw my mother’s name on the screen.

"Hello?" I said, answering it.

"Christie! Where are you?" Diane’s voice shrieked through the speaker, so loud that Lyon narrowed his eyes.

"I went to your room and you weren't there. Your sister told me you ran off to that filthy lab again."

"I'm working, Mom. I told you—"

"I don't care about your work! We have a guest coming from Paris this morning. A suitor. A very wealthy, important man. This is your chance to finally be integrated into high society, to finally stop being a shame to this family. You will come home this instant and prepare yourself. You are not going to ruin this like you ruin everything else with your disobedience!"

I felt the blood drain from my face. Even miles away, she could make me feel like I was ten years old and hiding in a closet. I gripped the phone, my knuckles shaking.

"I can't come home right now," I whispered.

"You will do as you are told! You are nothing without this family’s reputation, and you will not disgrace Anna’s standing by acting like a common laborer. Get back here now!"

Lyon stepped closer. He was so close I could feel the heat of his body. He looked at the phone, then at my face.

"Who is talking to a doctor that way?"

"It's my mom," I said, my voice trembling.

Lyon didn't ask. He reached out and snatched the phone from my hand.

"Hey! Give it back!" I reached for it, but he held it high above his head.

"Listen to me," Lyon said into the phone, his voice like cold iron.

"Doctor Christie is about to save a life, and she won't be taking your calls anymore for now. Don't call this number again."

He ended the call and handed the phone back to me. I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.

Nobody had ever spoken to my mother like that.

Nobody had ever stood up for me.

"You shouldn't have done that," I breathed. "She’s going to be furious."

"Let her be furious," Lyon said. "She isn't here."

Before I could process what had just happened, the front door of the mansion swung open. A young woman with dark hair and a tight, expensive-looking dress came running out. She didn't look at me at all. She headed straight for Lyon and threw her arms around his neck, plastering her body against his.

"Oh, my man! I'm so glad you're back!" she cried out, her voice high and possessive.

Lyon stiffened, his arms staying at his sides, but the woman didn't let go. She turned her head slightly, looking past me like one would a bug.

"Lyon, darling," she said, her voice dropping into a purr.

"Who is this person you brought to our home?"