It feels like time freezes, and I stare into his eyes. Luke stares right back, and I slowly stand. I blink quickly, trying to swallow with a cotton mouth. But then finally, I’m somehow able to talk.
“You… how are you...?”
I shake my head slowly in disbelief as the man I thought was dead steps into the room and closes the door behind him.
“What?” I whisper. “How?”
His dark eyes capture mine, and he slowly starts to walk across the floor towards me. “For you,” Luke growls deeply. His voice rumbles across the small room right into my chest, making me tremble. “The how doesn’t matter.”
I blink again, as if this might be a dream. “You’re… Luke, you died.” My brain says this can’t be real. I mourned this man. For fuck’s sake, we had a funeral! But there’s no denying that I’m awake, or that it’s him, in the flesh, standing a few feet away from me.
He shrugs and gives me a half-cocked grin. “Sorry to disappoint, Sisi.”
I blush deeply and grin like an idiot. But then, I frown as I replay the last few seconds of my life. “Wait, me? What do you mean?”
“You,” Luke grunts. He steps even closer, closing the distance between us while my breath comes heavier. “I mean I came back for you, Sienna.” His eyes are burning hot as they lance into mine. He steps closer until he’s standing right in front of me, towering over me.
“Luke, I don’t understand…”
“It’s you, Sienna,” he growls quietly. “It’s always been you, and I’d come back from Hell itself to find you and tell you that.”
Elvis, and perhaps reality, have left the building. I stare in shock and disbelief into Luke’s eyes. My heart races, and my skin burns as he reaches for me, and I gasp as his hand grips my hip with one hand. He pulls me closer to him, and his other hand tilts my chin up.
“I came back for you, love.”
His lips press to mine, and everything I know turns upside down. And if there were any doubts to my own sanity or if this were a dream, they go away the second he kisses me. Because that kiss is so real it makes my head spin and takes my breath away.
I moan as Luke kisses me. I can feel every single aching fantasy for him I’ve ever had come roaring back from the past. Every yearning desire for him and every naughty dream hits me at once, and I kiss him back as deeply as I can. Luke’s rock-hard arms circle me tightly and pull me into his muscled body. He kisses me like people get kissed in movies, and his lips are just freaking perfect. It’s not the fantasy I always had of kissing him… it’s better.
After a hundred years go past, or maybe it’s five minutes, we pull slowly apart. My lips can still feel his though, and I know I’ll never forget the taste of them, even if this is a dream. I realize my eyes are still closed like an idiot, and I blush as I open them. But if I thought the kiss was hot, the way he’s looking at me afterwards is even more scorching, and I gasp.
“Come on,” he says quietly. He takes my hands in his, he grins at me and makes my stomach flip, and then he turns and pulls me towards the door.
“Wait, Luke,” I gasp. “Wait, I’m…” I frown and pull back. “I’m getting married, Luke.”
His eyes narrow, and he shakes his head. “Not anymore you’re not.”
He pulls me gently and this time I don’t pull back. My heart races, and I grab my dress and hike it up as I rush after his bold strides. Lisa, the wedding planner, comes around the corner, and her jaw drops to the floor when she sees us.
“Excuse me, yes, hi, who the hell are you? And where the hell are you taking her?”
“Out of here,” Luke grunts, barely looking at her. I just shrug and flash her a smile. Luke slams a set of doors open, and my face falls. We’ve walked right out into the guests that are milling around outside the chapel waiting to go get their seats. Every eye turns to me, and every jaw falls open.
Lisa yammers something about going to find my mother, who I presume is still in her dressing room with Aurora, seeing as I can’t spot them in the crowd. Christopher and Nick push their way through the crowd. Luke ignores them and pulls me gently after him, but they shove their way in front of him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!?” Christopher roars at Luke.
“Leaving. Now.”
Christopher looks furious. “Listen asshole! Get your hands off of her!”
“No thanks,” Luke grunts and shoves past them. I almost laugh as he pulls me after, right through them.
“Now just wait a second!” Christopher barks after us. “Are you part of this? Huh?” I know he’s talking to my back, but I don’t turn to look. “Listen to me, you little bitch!” He snaps. Luke freezes, and I can literally hear him growling, like an animal.
“We have a contract!” Christopher yells. “You little bitch! We have a deal—”
Luke drops my hand and marches over to Christopher. “Not anymore you don’t!” He snarls at the older man. He jabs a finger into his chest. “Not. Any. More.”
“She…” Christopher looks white, but he still glares at Luke. “Her family owes me!”
“Do they?” Luke growls. “Fucking bill me. And then consider it settled.” Christopher sputters, and Luke shoves his large finger into his chest again. “Call her a bitch one more time and I break your jaw.”
My would-be father-in-law snaps his mouth shut firmly. Nick never even says a word, but Luke turns to him with fury on his face. “And you? You ever so much as think about her again, and I’ll find you.”
Nick nods readily. Luke turns to me, ignoring the flabbergasted guests. “Let’s go, love.” He takes my hand gently, he looks down into my eyes, and he grins. It’s the same heart-melting smile that stole my heart the first time I ever learned that hearts could be stolen. And it does the same damn thing this time.
He takes my hand, and I stare in shock at the helicopter I’ve just noticed sitting in the baseball field across the street. Luke lifts a hand and makes a circle in the air with a finger, and the engine starts on cue. I can see the words “Crow Financials” stenciled on the side, and I stop short to stare up at Luke.
“I don’t understand,” I blurt.
“You will, love,” he growls. “I promise. I’m going to tell you everything. But first, let’s get the hell out of here.”
He slides open the door to the back of the luxury helicopter, and he helps me and my big white wedding dress inside. The door closes and we rise up into the air, hand in hand with Luke Crow; back from the dead with my heart in his hands.
3
Luke
“But… Luke, how?! How are you here?!”
The shock of it all is starting to catch up with her; me showing up at the church like that, taking her away, and flying her off in a helicopter. But of course, the biggest one is that I’m alive. She doesn’t know my story, or what really happened over there. All she knows is, Carter and I went to fight, and we never came home.
“Take a breath, Sienna,” I growl gently. I take her hands in mine as the chopper flies through the sunset back towards the city. “Just take a breath, I’ll explain everything.”