His Southern Temptation - By Robin Covington Page 0,42

years of training were hard to shake.

“Lucky, let him up,” Sheriff Burke’s voice, low and even, broke just over his right shoulder.

Lucky cursed, tightening his hold on Taylor’s attacker, who clearly thought the cavalry had arrived.

“Sheriff. Make him let me go. He’s going to kill me.” The weasel whined like one of those stupid yappy dogs rich women put in their purses—totally appropriate since he was Eddie Wilkes’s bitch. What Lucky wouldn’t give for one more minute to smack him around for being such a loser. And then another few seconds to beat the crap out of him for daring to lay a finger on Taylor.

“Burke, I need you to give me a little more time,” Lucky spat out between clenched teeth, his jaw aching with rage.

“No.” The sheriff’s word was clear. “I can’t let you settle this the way to you want to, son. Let him up and we’ll do this the right way.”

Lucky cursed. He levered himself off the guy, stopping when he caught the triumphant smirk twisting the bastard’s lips. Lucky didn’t even hesitate before he slammed his fist down on the slug’s face, connected with the sweet spot, and knocked him out.

The sheriff cursed loudly and creatively as Lucky hoisted himself up to a fully upright position. He smiled as he turned to face Burke, allowing his self-satisfied grin free rein as he dusted the dirt off his jeans.

“He’s all yours, Sheriff.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Are you feeling better, jailbird?”

Taylor emerged from the steamy bathroom, clean and wearing one of Lucky’s shirts. He sat on her bed among the purple ruffles with a hot mug of coffee in his hand. His hair was wet, his shirt off and jeans unbuttoned.

“Damn. You’re a beautiful sight.” She reached out to grab the coffee and flinched. There was an ugly bruise blossoming on the upper part of her right arm from where the crazy guy had grabbed her. “I know I was only there for a couple of hours, but it seemed like Burke questioned me forever.”

Lucky slid to the rug on the floor, dragging her down with him and tucking her under his arm. They relaxed into each other, drinking coffee and enjoying the moment of quiet after the craziest day ever. The day she got a glimpse of the Lucky she never knew before.

She’d never seen Lucky—hell, she’d never seen anyone look like that. He’d been as hard as the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains and eerily devoid of any emotion. No anger. No fear. Not even determination rippled across the familiar planes of his face. Lucky had looked like a machine, a futuristic robot that resembled a human being until you pulled back the layer of synthetic skin and uncovered wires and computer chips. Now she understood what he’d done in the military. Now she understood why it would take him at least twenty-four hours with her before he’d act like a human being.

“Tay. You okay, baby?” He sat down his mug and tugged her closer. His hands now seemed larger and more powerful. “You’re like ice. Are you hurt? Do you need something?”

“I need you to be honest with me,” Taylor answered, surprising herself with her bluntness. He wanted her to stay and she needed to strip away all the crap hidden between them. “What did you do in the Marines? Was it even the Marines? The way you bashed that guy it was—”

“Hey. Slow down.” Lucky pulled her in close and she slid onto his lap, straddling him, eye-to-eye. He tucked a finger under chin, the rough pad of his thumb rubbing softly against her lower lip. “Do you really want to talk about this now?”

She nodded, gripping his shoulder tighter just in case he tried to put distance between them. Right now she couldn’t stand to be any farther apart than what clothes dictated. Part of her worried that if she lost the physical connection with him right now, she’d never really understand him.

“Damn, Tay. There are things I can’t tell anyone. Not sure if I’d want to even if I could.” His arms tightened around her as if he needed her assurance. “I was in the Marines. I had unique talents and they put me in special training—sharpshooting, advanced hand-to-hand combat, the strategy of eliminating targets efficiently. They loaned me out when people had special projects.”

Taylor watched him closely, the play of pain and pride mixed in his expression. “You killed people.”

“Yes. Lots of people. And I was very good at it.” Lucky lifted a hand,