Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 by Victoria Aveline (readict books TXT) 📕

Alice groaned, wondering if this was a dumb idea. Without warning, the ground began to move. She screamed, clawing at Zed.

He let out another loud laugh. “Did you think we were going to walk up each floor?”

Relaxing, Alice thought back to the spiral staircase in the outpost. Had that been able to move too? Was this their version of an elevator?

After a nauseating ascent, the stairs slowed to a halt in front of a deep-red lacquered door.

“This is him. He owns the floor.” Zed reached out and placed his hand on the door handle rather than the door itself. A familiar buzz and grinding of locks sounded. “Luckily, he gave me access in case of emergencies.” Alice waited to follow him inside, but he remained stationary. After a moment, he crossed to a panel on the wall near the door. “Ask Luka to contact me when you’re ready to leave.”

“You’re not staying?” she said, suddenly nervous about being alone with Luka again.

“I need to get back to the Temple. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Just remember, it’d do him some good to fail a little,” he whispered the last, and Alice had to stifle a giggle.

Turning back toward the door, she nodded, straightening her spine.

“Oh, and one other thing,” he said, waiting for her to meet his eyes. “You should know that right before the meeting a few days ago, Luka broke a bone in his lower leg. His fibula. He tried to ignore it so he could make it to the meeting. Walked all the way around the lake just to see you.”

Alice thought back to the pained expression she’d seen cross his face many times throughout the meeting. It all made sense.

Why didn’t he tell me? Alice wanted to slap her palm to her face. Because I told him not to make excuses, that’s why!

She groaned. “Thanks for telling me.”

Zed shrugged. “It was sort of my fault. I thought it was just a sprain and told him to suck it up. Don’t let his behavior, at the meeting at least, color your opinion of him.”

Alice crossed the threshold; the sound of the grinding stairway spiraling downward confirmed Zed had set off. She stood for a moment in the entrance, absorbing what she’d just learned. This new information changed things, but she didn’t have the time or privacy to really think through what those changes meant.

For now, Alice decided, she’d try to get to know him again. No broken bones, no chains, no fooling around. There were definitely aspects of Luka’s personality that concerned her, but she could admit that while those things were red flags on Earth, they might not be here. Yes, the best plan now would be to get to know Luka as a person and then decide if he was dating material, and she desperately hoped he was. Giving herself a mental high-five, she peered around.

The lighting provided by the familiar glowing orbs in the large, open, semicircular room was dim and warm. It took her eyes a moment to adjust. A grin tugged at her mouth and relieved some of her anxiety.

The wall before her curved along the length of the room. Pictures, scribbled notes, and a variety of papers were stuck all over it. As she took in the various pieces of furniture scattered haphazardly throughout, she saw piles of books and papers strewn across almost every surface.

He’s messy. Alice smiled, thrilled she now knew this intimate detail.

To her right, she saw a small kitchen, the barest area of the house by far. It looked like no one had cooked in it, maybe ever. No utensils or spices sat on the black stone counters. There was no visible sink and no stack of dirty dishes, waiting to be cleaned. Alice found it odd that the area of her home most likely to be messy was Luka’s cleanest.

Near the kitchen, there was a set of polished wooden double doors. A matching pair could be found on the opposite side of the wall. Both sets large and imposing. Both firmly closed.

She should call out for Luka, tell him she was here. Alice grinned wickedly. He thinks it’s okay to watch me because I’m his mate, then he should be okay with me snooping around his house too.

There were no windows in the room, and although large, the lack of light from the outside made Luka’s home feel like the crowded study of an eccentric professor. A guilty pleasure washed through her. She knew she was invading a very personal space.

Two worn armchairs and a low table situated in front of a fireplace called to her. The area would make a wonderful reading spot if the fire were lit. Rather than being attached to a wall, as most fireplaces were, this one stood freely in the middle of the room. A metal bowl large enough to take a bath in held a pile of glittering, jagged black rocks. Hanging from the ceiling, about five feet above the bowl, was a vent.

Tilting her head at the large firepit, she laughed under her breath. It wouldn’t have been out of place in the old tv show The Jetsons. That’s if George Jetson also had a sexual magnetism that made her want to lay naked on a fur rug while enjoying the fire.

Alice approached the large basin, hoping to see the black stones in more detail. Suddenly, tall flames roared to life. Alice shrieked, snatching her hand away from the now-red stones.

The sound of doors being flung open briefly flashed through her consciousness before a deep voice rumbled behind her. “Alice?”

Heart still beating a mile a minute, she turned, intending to berate him for his dangerous insta-fire. What she saw had her words melting inside her, sliding down until they settled hot and heavy in her sex.

He