Chapter 13: Dry Wood Meets a Raging Fire

Lucas's eyes burned as he undid a few buttons on his black shirt, revealing the firm lines of his chest underneath.

His jaw tensed, his throat working as he spoke low, rough, magnetic.

"Come here, fairy."

Claire turned in the water, sending ripples across the glowing pool, her feet kicking up a light spray around her.

She smiled, all mischief, her eyes bright with challenge.

"Lucas."

"Come get me."

Her voice was pure invitation.

His eyes narrowed with amusement, and he shed the rest of his clothes without ceremony, revealing the kind of build that came from actual discipline, not luck. He walked straight to the edge of the pool.

He hit the water with a splash and closed the distance between them with startling speed sleek, fast, utterly focused on her.

Claire's eyes widened, delight and heat both flaring at once.

He's like an overeager kid, she thought, charmed despite herself.

She let the water carry her, cheeks flushed, eyes shining with quiet laughter.

Lucas grinned, wicked and unbothered, and closed in faster.

Right as his fingers nearly brushed her skin, Claire twisted away, laughing, throwing a teasing glance back over her shoulder as she swam clear.

His smile only widened, and he gave chase again.

Water churned around them, the whole rooftop alive with motion and laughter two people entirely wrapped up in each other, and it showed.

Eventually, despite her best efforts, he caught her.

Lucas pulled her flush against him, his face buried in her damp hair. "Running out of places to run, little troublemaker?"

Heat rushed to Claire's cheeks, her heart pounding hard against her ribs.

She landed a light, playful punch against his chest. "You're a menace, Lucas Kane."

He grinned, pinching her cheek.

"You have no idea."

He leaned down and kissed her.

The rest of the night unfolded slowly from there unhurried, deliberate, neither of them in any rush to be anywhere else.

Whatever hesitation Claire had left dissolved completely. This man felt, absurdly, like he'd been built specifically to undo her.

Nathaniel didn't even cross her mind. There was no room for him here.

Lucas pressed a soft bite to her earlobe, his voice dropping to a murmur. "Let's move somewhere more comfortable."

Claire's blush deepened, warm color blooming across her face.

"Okay."

The night stretched on unhurried, warm, entirely theirs the two of them eventually making their way to the second-floor study, and later, deep into the night, somewhere quieter still.

Much later, Claire looked up at him with a lazy, satisfied smile, her eyes half-lidded.

"Lucas. Carry me to the bath."

He smiled back, something soft cutting through all that usual intensity, and lifted her easily, carrying her toward the bathroom.

Steam curled through the air as he lowered her into the tub, warm water rising slowly around her.

Claire closed her eyes, sinking back against the edge, completely at ease as the water settled around her.

................

Another Hunt

Claire turned her head and pressed her mouth against his once more, the night unfolding in a slow, indulgent haze neither of them was in a hurry to end.

A week passed after that night, and Lucas didn't reach out once.

No texts. No calls.

He didn't show up at the office either it was like he'd simply vanished from her life entirely.

Claire found herself, inexplicably, disappointed.

Did he already lose interest?

That didn't track. That night had been even more intense than the first more in sync, more everything.

He hadn't acted like a man growing tired of her. Not even close.

She thought back to the look on his face as she'd left his place that morning, the marks he'd left behind, and let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Guess men really are all the same. Once they've got it, the thrill's gone."

Maybe I got a little too comfortable, she thought.

So after work, Claire drove home, showered quickly, and pulled something suitably devastating out of her closet.

A white lace top, fitted close to the skin, paired with a matching white bodycon skirt slit high along one side. The whole look walked a careful line between mysterious and unmistakably provocative.

She stood in front of the mirror, lining her eyes in sharp black, studying the result.

Perfect.

After a spritz of the cologne-scented perfume Lucas had given her, she grabbed her bag and stopped by the salon for the full effect big, glamorous waves through her long dark hair, the kind built for exactly one purpose.

The final result was striking. Sexy, wild, entirely deliberate.

Top-tier nightclub, Meridian City.

Tonight, Claire had one goal.

Out with the old.

She had no intention of falling for anyone first. If anything, the plan was the opposite make someone else fall for her, and walk away clean.

She adjusted her dress one last time, settling into the most polished version of herself.

Claire crossed the club floor in silver stilettos, moving like she owned the room.

Lights strobed overhead, the bass thundering loud enough to feel in her chest.

The moment she sat down, a cluster of young men gravitated toward her table, clearly impressed.

She was used to this by now. She gave the unremarkable ones a brief, unimpressed glance and looked away.

For some reason, none of it did anything for her tonight. If anything, it just irritated her.

She downed a few shots of vodka in quick succession, the burn settling low in her stomach.

Then, a voice cut through the noise above her smooth, low, unmistakably confident.

"Gorgeous. All alone tonight?"

Claire looked up, faintly tipsy, and her eyes sharpened the moment his face came into focus.

The man in front of her was staggeringly good-looking features so refined they bordered on delicate, easily rivaling Lucas in every way that mattered.

Sharp, narrow eyes. A perfectly straight nose. A mouth that looked like trouble.

Unbelievable.

Her gaze dropped, taking in the long line of his throat the kind that practically begged to be noticed.

His build matched the rest of him lean muscle, obvious strength beneath a tailored shirt.

He was tall, roughly Lucas's height, with broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, legs long and sure beneath him.

Every inch of him radiated the same thing: charm, a little danger, and absolutely no shortage of confidence.

Charming. A little reckless. Completely unbothered.

If she'd had to describe the perfect word for him, that would be it exactly.