"Is the boyfriend that bad?"
He grimaced. "He's rogue and heavily into a gang."
"And that automatically makes him bad?" She'd learned that not all supernaturals were registered, and to some people that alone made them rogue, but not all unregistered supernaturals were bad, either. Della didn't consider Chan evil. And Kylie chose to believe her grandfather and great-aunt weren't bad. "Are all gangs bad?"
Her question seemed to give him pause. "Not necessarily, but even the gangs that aren't completely unethical are generally into something illegal."
"Drugs?" Kylie asked.
"And other stuff."
Kylie remembered how badly she'd felt for Lucas when she'd seen him looking so defensive facing his own father. She remembered he'd stood up for her against his own family. Her heart hurt for Lucas. "If your half sister is anything like her half brother, she'll do the right thing." She stepped up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
It was late. It was dark. But the moment seemed so right. What was meant as a quick kiss lingered and became more. Much more. He deepened the kiss and she leaned into him. She felt his body come closer to hers, hard in all the places she was soft.
She heard the purring sound that a were made when he was close to a potential mate. She became almost hypnotized-lured by the sound, tempted and enticed by all that could follow.
He tasted so good, felt so good. She wanted more. She wanted to feel more. To taste more. To experience more.
Then the magic ended when he pulled away. He brushed his hand over her cheek and while his blue eyes held the heat of passion, she could tell his mind was chewing on something else. "I'm sorry that my dad scared you."
She fought the desire to tell him to just start kissing her again. "It's okay," she said, and tried not to sound disappointed.
"No, it's not." He caught her hand and moved to the porch.
"He stated right away that he wasn't there to cause harm," she said, wanting to soothe Lucas. Wanting to make this easier.
"And you should never believe him," he said.
A whisper of fear settled in her chest. They lowered themselves down on the porch so they could lean against the cabin.
He brushed his thumb over her lips. "I don't want my father anywhere around you."
She looked into Lucas's serious gaze. "He hurt you?" The need to protect him made her blood run faster.
"Not me. I'm his son. But he considers anyone else fair game."
"If he's that bad, why do you go there? Why have anything to do with him?"
"For Clara, mostly. But then ... I need him right now."
"Why?"
"His approval will go a long way to help me get into the were council."
The council he couldn't get on if he married her. The thought shot a wave of apprehension through her and she remembered what Della had said about things not working out between them because of his family and his pack. She pushed that thought out of the way and tried to understand. "But if that's who they look to for approval, then why would you want to be on that council?"
He closed his eyes for a second as if explaining was difficult. "If I make it on the council, then I can change things."
Kylie recalled his grandmother telling her that he wanted to change how the world viewed children raised by rogues.
"But until then, I have to convince him that I see things his way."
"What things?"
He shook his head slowly. "Things I don't think you even need to know."
Kylie frowned, not liking being shut out of his world, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to belong to it. She'd bet that Fredericka knew everything. "But I do need to know. I want to be a part of your life. I don't want to be shut out." I don't want your pack or your family keeping us apart.
His eyes tightened. "I'm not shutting you out. I just prefer that you know this Lucas."
She digested his words. "There can only be one Lucas."
"There is only one. One real one. But I have to play games with my father and the council. I have to convince him that I'm on his side."
She shook her head. "I don't understand."
"And I don't expect you to."
She dropped her hand from his arm. "That's not right. How would you like it if you thought I kept things from you?"
A frown pulled at his lips. "You do keep things from me. Things about your ghosts." His eyes brightened with frustration. "Things you talk to Derek about and not me. And you're right, I don't like it."
She considered his words and knew they were true. "I only keep things from you because you don't want to know about them. They make you crazy."
He nodded, and acceptance filled his eyes, but she could tell it cost him emotionally. "And believe me when I tell you that the things I keep to myself are things you wouldn't want to know either."
She looked deep into his eyes, hating this conversation, but only because she cared so much about him. "Secrets between people can't be good. It can keep them apart. Why don't we just tell each other everything?"
"Sometimes what we don't know protects us. It can't hurt us if we don't know it." He leaned his forehead against hers. "I can promise you this, Kylie Galen. I'll do whatever I have to do, but I won't let this hurt you."
She frowned. "What do you mean by whatever you have to do?"
"Just that. I won't let what's happening in my messed-up life hurt you."
His words scared her. But the fear was more for him than for herself. "I'm not some fragile little girl. I'm not the same girl whose window you peeked into."
The playfulness in his eyes was both sexy and warm. "Oh, I've noticed."
"I'm serious."
"I know. But you're still my girl, and I want to protect you."
She rolled her eyes in frustration. "I'm the protector. That's what I do," Kylie insisted.
"I know. You're amazing and can do amazing things. And you've already saved my life. But as a protector, the one thing you can't do is protect yourself. So please don't try to stop me from doing it."
* * *
Kylie woke up before the sun the next morning. The only thing she was aware of was Socks sleeping on her stomach, his pointed skunk nose resting between her breasts. She lifted her head and stared at the little guy. He opened one of his beady eyes and then the other, and stared up at her with adoration. The kind of look one got only from a pet.
The kind that said pure love and acceptance.
The silence in the room was loud. Unsure about what had awakened her, she pulled her arm out from under the thin cover to measure the temperature. No cold. No ghosts.