Up in Flames Read Online Free

everything would work out. Even though it was hard to believe, she would fall in love with her mate almost instantly. Her mother had described it like coming home from being away for a really, really long time. That everything would just “click” into place. She believed her mother.
    Placing a hand on her hip, he gently turned her so she was facing him. Lying back, he draped her over him, letting her cry for all of the injustice she had been forced to deal with over the past eighteen months. Of all that was lost. He whispered how he would take care of her from now on, how he would find these bastards once and for all and deliver the justice they deserved. Because even he knew it would be the only way the two of them could have any kind of life together. He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her tightly. From the looks of things, he would bet she had never once broken down over the past two years. She probably never felt safe enough to do so.
    Finally, she cried herself to sleep. He lay there feeling like he needed to get up and stretch, every muscle in his body protesting from being inactive too long. But there was no way he was going to disturb her. If she ended up sleeping draped over him for the entire night, he would savor it.
    The ironic thing of it all? He remembered girl number eight. The local police had called and asked for help since they hadn’t been able to get any leads on who was doing this to their city. To think his mate had been in the same city all along and they had just missed meeting one another eighteen months ago. Eighteen months he could have been enjoying his mate. Eighteen months he could have been protecting her. Well, as of this very moment, he vowed to protect her with his own life. She was his mate. She was to be cherished, protected, loved, and spoiled. He planned on doing all of those things and more.
    About an hour after she had fallen asleep, Walter poked his head in. Lucas was quick to place a finger to his lips to warn his friend to be quiet. Walter whispered, “I’m heading out now. Everyone else has gone home and you two have this entire wing to yourselves. If you need anything, call downstairs to the officer on night watch. You and I need to talk in the morning.”
    Meredith awoke twice during the night, each time from a nightmare. Lucas wondered when the last time his mate had gotten a good, uninterrupted night’s sleep. Both times she started off mumbling in her sleep, quickly followed up with her thrashing and flailing her arms, as if she were trying to fight someone off her. Then she would scream out, as if in horrible agony. When Lucas was finally able to break through the nightmare and awaken her, she was embarrassed to have been seen like that. And when she crawled off him, he merely hooked his arm around her as he turned to his side, spooning her. After talking softly to her and reassuring her that everything was okay, he finally got her to relax enough to start to go back to sleep. His hand crept up under the front of her scrub shirt, and he allowed his fingertips to skate over the smoothest, softest skin he had ever felt along her rib cage. He didn’t go any further, especially when things were so new between them and she was so upset, but that didn’t stop his dick from rising to attention. Nor did it escape his notice how well it fit along the crack of her ass.
     

Chapter Two
     
    Meredith started stirring about seven the next morning. “Good morning, baby,” he greeted her.
    She popped her head up, blinked twice, then sat up abruptly. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I did this. I am supposed to be taking care of you, and here I go to pieces and….” she started wringing her hands in distress.
    Lucas was smart enough not to crack a smile. “Hey, it’s okay. I think I am almost completely healed. As a matter of fact, can you remove this gel pad they’ve have placed across my back? It is starting to really itch, and I would like to get up and take