Things always looked better in the morning, but there was nothing good about it. I'd gone back to bed after what happened. I wasn't planning on going back to sleep but somehow I had fallen asleep only to be jerked awake by the pain of a needle sliding into my skin.

Lucas had given me an apologetic smile as he injected me for the second time since I woke up. The first time had been when I...practically jumped him in the bathroom.

When I woke up, I was dying from thirst. My mind was hazy but I wasn't too out of it to notice the fact that I was strapped in on the back seat of a moving car. A glance to the front of the car was enough to inform me that Lucas was behind the wheel.

I must've fallen asleep again.

The second time I woke up I was sitting in the front of a different car with Lucas still behind the wheel.

I watched him from beneath my lashes as I silently took inventory of my body. Apart from a mild headache and a bit of shakiness, I was fine. No body aches or anything that made me feel alarmed.

Raising my head, I glanced out of the front window and then the window to my side.

We were on what looked to be a highway with only a few cars. The sun was starting to set which filled the sky with a million shades of pink and orange. If I wasn't so pissed at Lucas, I might have appreciated the beauty of it.

"Y-you injected me," I croaked.

Lucas glanced at me. "If you didn't see anything—"

"With what did you inject me?"

His hands clenched around the steering wheel. "I told you before that it's something to help you heal."

My mouth dropped open but before I could utter a word, there was a loud bang and the car jerked sharply to the left. Fear hit me hard.

Lucas cursed but he managed to keep the car steady, long enough for him to park the car at the side of the road. No more bangs followed and all the other cars drove past as if nothing had happened.

We are not under attack.

"Just a blown tyre," Lucas said softly.

I nodded but my hold on the seat didn't loosen. My stomach clenched as another wave of fear flashed through me. I could feel the panic attack hovering on the edge. One little nudge and it would tumble over, enfolding me with its dark clutches.

"Ariana."

I sucked in a breath but Lucas wasn't close enough.

My hands shook so badly that I couldn't even unclip my seatbelt. Gentle hands brushed mine aside and freed me from the restriction of the seatbelt. The moment I was free, I scrambled across the console and into his lap.

A grunt fell from his lips and his body completely froze.

I straddled his lap and pressed my face to the crook of his neck. Deep breaths had his scent filling my nostrils. Slowly the fear faded, enough for me to pay attention to Lucas. I raised my head and stared down at his face.

"Lucas?"

His eyes were shut and his bottom lip caught between his teeth with his hands clenched tightly on top of my thighs.

I sucked in another breath.

"I'm sorry."

The sweet scent of his fear filled the car. I had no idea what the hell happened but somehow I knew that I fucked up.

I gently cupped his cheeks and pressed my lips to his forehead.

"It's okay," I whispered. "You're okay."

Lucas's eyes snapped open and for a moment I was shocked speechless. My lips parted but the gasp was swallowed by his lips.

Something just. . .snapped.

Everything around us faded. The fact that we were parked at the side of a highway in plain sight of any passing cars was completely forgotten. All that mattered was getting closer to each other.

Lucas's lips devoured mine as his hand searched for the lever of the seat to move it backwards. I broke the kiss to press my lips to his jaw. My gums started to tingle as my mouth slid down his neck and rested at the little dip where his neck met his shoulders.

It's the spot where he will wear your mark.

The thought was so sudden but it was enough to make me pause which was apparently just what we needed.

Lucas's hands dropped to rest on my thighs as his body grew tense once again. The sexual haze that we'd been caught in slowly faded away, leaving us breathless. I placed one last kiss to the spot where I'd mark him and then leaned back.

Our eyes instantly locked.

For a few minutes we silently stared at each other until Lucas broke it by clearing his throat. He gave my thighs a squeeze before he reached up with a very shaky hand to gently grip the back of my neck. His eyes dropped to follow the movement of his thumb rubbing the wildly beating pulse at the base of my neck.

"I'm sorry for injecting you again," he said softly. "The less you know the better. It was the only thing he had that worked as a sedative."

"Who?"

His eyes snapped back up to mine. "It doesn't matter. I promise that it won't happen again." Lucas cleared his throat and glanced out the window. "I'll change the tyre."

"Okay."

His eyes darted between mine. "This is the part where you climb off my lap."

"But I don't want to." I pouted at him.

Amusement flashed through his eyes, followed by humour. "Do you want to see my penis again?"

Colour flooded my cheeks. With a groan, I dropped my forehead to his shoulder. Lucas chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. After placing a kiss to my shoulder, his hold loosened and his arms dropped away.

"It's getting dark. I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere when it's dark."

Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and captured his lips again. The kiss ended too soon for my liking but Lucas was right.

***

"I'm going to rent us a room for a few hours," Lucas said a few minutes later when we were on the road again. "Long enough for us to eat something, shower and get some sleep."

"Can't we just stay for the whole night?"

"No." He glanced at me. "There's not enough distance between Oliver and us yet."

"You need more than an hour's sleep," I pointed out.

"I'm fine."

I licked my lips and turned to stare out the window again. Lucas had easily changed the tyre so we were back on the road within a few minutes. He'd passed two turnoffs into towns I'd never heard off before. When we reached the third turn off, he'd taken it without a second thought.

I hoped that we found a motel soon because I really needed to pee and I'd love to stretch my legs a little.

We drove around for nearly an hour before Lucas finally located a motel that rented rooms by the hour. I waited in the car as Lucas booked the room for us. He parked the car near our door and led the way up the stairs to the second floor where our room was located.

Unlocking the door, he reached inside to flick on the light before he moved aside for me to enter.

My eyes darted around.

There was a double bed with two small bedside tables on either side, along with a small bathroom that had a toilet, sink and a corner shower.

"You can shower while I order us some dinner."

My eyes darted around the room again. A few sniffs assured me that the room had been thoughtfully cleaned not so long ago.

"We don't have any clean clothes," I pointed out. "Or any underwear," I added under my breath.

I was still wearing the shirt I'd been wearing when I woke up but a pair of drawstring shorts had been added along with some socks and shoes that were a few sizes too big.

Lucas sighed as he paused and turned to look at me. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, I kicked off the shoes and then turned my focus to Lucas.

I nibbled on my bottom lip as I waited for him to speak. Questions flashed in and out of my mind, making it difficult to focus on anything else.

Where had Lucas gotten all the money from and the car? Why did he inject me before we left? Why didn't he want me to know anything?

"Why are you protecting me?" I asked out loud. "We aren't exactly friends although there is a connection and some attraction. You risked your own life to save me from Oliver and now you're doing everything to make sure that he doesn't catch up with us."

"You haven't sucked in a breath once through all that," Lucas said instead of answering my questions.

"Do you like Eva?"

He pursed his lips and turned his back to me but not before I saw the look on his face.

"You're only doing this to get to her," I muttered. "Figures."

Tears burned my eyes. Only hours ago, I learned that Lucas was my mate, but clearly, he was not interested in me the same way I was interested in him.

"Hey."

I blinked rapidly to clear the blurriness from my vision caused by the unshed tears. Lucas placed his hands on my thighs as he crouched in front of me. His blue eyes darted over my face.

"What are you thinking?"

"You're only doing this to get into Eva's good books. You're pretending to be m-my friend so—"

"That's not true," he interrupted.

"It's not?"

Lucas gave me a small smile. "I'm not doing this to get into your sister's good books."

A tear slowly rolled down my cheek. He reached up to wipe it away with his thumb.

"Everyone a-always lies to me," I whispered. "They use me to—"

"I'm not using you."

I swallowed. "P-prove it."