against the dashboard.
“Brace yourself,” Lachlan grunted as they spun off the motorway.
They were clear of the truck, but a field of boulders loomed ahead, any of which would be just as effective at ending his life — or Holly’s.
“Hang on,” he grunted, steering into the spin as years of training kicked in.
The car rattled and bounced, then skidded to a stop just inches from a tractor-sized boulder. Still bracing his arms hard, Lachlan looked back, making sure the truck was gone. Then he closed his eyes and puffed out his cheeks.
“Whoa.” Holly twisted in her seat and touched his arm. “Are you okay?”
He took three slow breaths before nodding. Bloody hell, that had been close.
Without thinking, he put his hand over hers. As soon as he did, his pounding heart slowed a little bit. That edge-of-a-cliff adrenaline rush faded away, and his hands relaxed around the wheel. It was as if they hadn’t spun into a field but into a nirvana made just for him and his mate.
Mate, his dragon crooned. Missed you so much.
For a moment, he thought she might kiss him. And hell, if she didn’t, he might just kiss her, because you didn’t survive a near miss like that without acting on the impulse to make up for all your regrets.
Then Holly fluttered her hands, remembering something, and the motion yanked both of them back to the real world.
Panicked, she leaned over the back seat. “Mungo? Mungo!”
The dog scrambled up from the floor and wagged his tail meekly.
“Oh my God. Are you all right?” She hugged the dog. “Poor Mungo. Good, good Mungo.”
Lachlan blinked, wondering where nirvana had gone, and how he might get it back.
Then he pulled himself together and stepped out to check for damage. Not that a car measured up to a human life, but still. Trevor had entrusted that vintage roadster to him.
Other than the mirror, everything was all right, but still. He sank back into the driver’s seat and tipped his head back. That had been awfully close. What if Holly had been hurt?
She twisted in her seat and looked at the road. “Holy shit. Was the driver even looking where he was going?” She flopped back, shaking her head. “What a jerk. He didn’t even stop to see if we’re okay.”
Lachlan gripped the wheel tightly. No, the driver hadn’t. Not only that, but there’d been no screech of tires. Had the truck driver made any attempt to miss them at all?
He replayed it all in his mind. His jaw had probably dropped when he’d spotted the oncoming vehicle, but the other driver had looked calm and intent.
Intent on steering to safety, or intent on killing us? his dragon asked.
Exactly the question Lachlan was mulling over. But who would want to kill him? Why?
“Are you really okay?” Holly asked, touching his leg.
He looked at her, then froze. Wait. What if someone wasn’t after him, but Holly?
“Thank you. We’re fine,” Holly waved at a person who pulled over to check on them.
Were they? Lachlan sniffed the air then studied the sky. No enemy dragons overhead and none on the ground. But that was no guarantee. Any moment, another truck might come barreling along, intent on killing Holly. Or was he imagining things?
Chapter Six
Holly buried her face in Mungo’s fur, wishing it were Lachlan’s shoulder instead. Still, it helped. Because, whoa. That really had been close.
Then she gulped and checked the urn. “You okay, Trevor?”
There was nothing funny about it, but she could picture Trevor assuring her everything would be okay. Trevor was like that. He’d always seen the best in destiny — and in her. As if he’d somehow looked into the future and seen a happy ending she’d lost any hope for.
She straightened the urn and puffed out her cheeks. Then she tried a joke.
“Good thing I used duct tape.”
Lachlan gave her a look, but the corner of his mouth quirked.
The same corner she’d nearly kissed a short time ago — and the very place she burned to kiss now.
Kiss, hug, and never let go, her dragon agreed.
But the past stood between them like a wall too high and wide to ever get over or around.
Mungo licked her cheek, and she hugged him instead. “You’re the best, you know that?”
Mungo snuffled in her ear.
Lachlan spent a long time tapping his fingers on the wheel, muttering. Moments earlier, his defenses had slipped, and a tiny bit of emotion had escaped. Emotions like fear, relief, love, and even hope. But then that mask had