Chapter Twenty-Four

Luc watched the blood drain from her face and braced himself for her panic. She'd cry probably. Shed tears driven by the guilt and regret over how she'd betrayed the people who took her in.
He watched Kara step forward like a zombie, her wide green eyes frozen in shock on his face. Luc stepped towards her with hands stretched out to catch her if she fell apart. He'd be the hero and then convince her to hide in his home till he found the people after her and killed them. Simple.
Lucas gave her a sympathetic smile.
She didn't smile back.
In fact Kara's eyes turned a blazing green that sent him taking a step back.
"Kara?"
Kara clenched her teeth to stop from screaming with rage and ended up giving Lucas a nasty snarl as a result as he held up his hands in a calming pose.
"Kara, just..."
"You bastard!" she screamed. When her hand shot out to the side and grabbed the big knife on the chopping board, Lucas knew he was in shit.
A high pitched cry in declaration of war came from between her bared teeth and before Lucas could stop her, Kara launched herself at him.
He didn't have time to think, so in the next second, he turned around and ran like a flash into the living area.
"You bastard!" Kara screamed, chasing him with the knife raised high above her head. "You said you wouldn't tell! I'll kill you!"
Lucas sped past her painting station and threw open the sliding doors behind it, hoping she'd stay inside as he darted out onto the vast green that stretched out along the river.
He was disappointed. Kara raced after him, her hair falling wildly out of the loose bun she'd tied that morning.
He threw a glance over his shoulder as he ran, unable to stop the ridiculous laughter that rose out of his throat.
"Kara, stop it! Put the knife down!"
"I'll kill you!"
He could run much faster than her and was stunned at how easily she could keep up, how she even nearly caught up a few times to try and ram the knife into his back.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorryyy!" Lucas screamed through his laughter as he ran. God, she was crazy! There were no tears. No sad regret. No need for him to hold her and hush her tears away.
She'd grabbed a damn knife! She was insane. Fuck, he loved her.
"You think this is funny?! I'll turn you into a damn salad, you secret-telling nincompoop!"
Luc's chest hurt from the sudden sprint across the field coupled with his body shaking laughter.
"Please! Kara!" he screamed.
Weakened by his own laughter and out of breath because of the same, Lucas slowed to a stop and dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back, still laughing.
Kara glared hotly as she descended on top of him and placed a hand heavily against his neck, holding the knife tip above his nose.
"Traitor! You're gonna pay for this, I swear," she snapped, looking every bit like an evil mafia man's daughter who'd been learning the trade from birth.
Luc couldn't hide the grin as he eyed the knife glinting in the setting sun.
"Kara..."
"Silence! I trusted you!"
Lucas winced. "Okay, I...."
"You were the only man in my whole life... my whole life that I'd felt like I could trust! Do you have any idea how stupid I feel?!"
The tears of anger filled her eyes and Luc's smile slowly slipped away.
"Kara..."
"They must hate me..." she whispered, her hand weakening on his throat as her gaze slipped toward the sunset. He moved and her fingers immediately clutched his throat again, making Luc choke out air as her gaze snapped back to him. "Because of you!"
"I didn't tell them!" Lucas finally choked out. "I was... joking."
Her eyes narrowed, but her grip on his neck eased.
"What?" Kara asked with a frown.
Luc prepared to answer and make her grovel for chasing him with a knife, but was interrupted.
"Lucas? Karen? What is going on here?"
They both turned to see Celeste hurrying towards them, clumps of her long skirt gathered in her hands, a horrified expression on her face as she eyed the knife in Kara's hand.
With a squeak, Kara jumped up and dusted her knees where grass clung to the denim.
"Celeste! Uh. Nothing, Lucas and I were just..."
She trailed off, unsure what to say. What the hell could she say? She'd had a knife to his throat, for heaven's sake!
Celeste crossed her arms, clearly waiting for an answer.
"Were just what? What could possibly be the reason why you're trying to stab my brother-in-law, Karen ma cherie?" Celeste asked, genuinely puzzled.
Lucas grinned, turning on his side and propping his head up on a hand. Kara thought he looked like a damn Greek God in that position. "Nothing to worry about, Celeste. We were just practicing."
Kara quickly nodded. "Yeah, practicing." Practicing what? What the fuck?
"Practicing? Practicing what? Kung-fu?"
Kara gave a nervous laugh and stretched a hand out to Lucas, helping him up so Celeste could see that there was no bad blood.
But of course, Luc being who he was, had to drag her against his side and fold her in against his body, taking complete advantage of the situation.
Kara bit the inside of her cheek and smiled at Celeste. Of course Celeste and Isabelle still thought she and Luc were a thing. Hah. Never. She would never. Right?
"Not exactly that," he explained to Celeste. "Karen's had a few problems with safety recently so I was just teaching her how to defend herself and we must have gotten carried away."
He gave her a cold calculated smile and Kara narrowed her eyes up at him. He had said that on purpose, hadn't he?
Immediately, Celeste rushed forward and took Kara's hands, passing the knife to Lucas who grinned and gladly accepted what nearly could have been his own murder weapon.
"Oh, ma cherie! Mais c'est terrible ça! Are you alright? What happened? Was it somebody on the ranch?"
Kara tried hard not to cringe from the lie as Celeste's cool hands framed her face.
"Non, non, Celeste, ça va, je t'assure. I'm okay."
Luc was momentarily stunned by hearing Kara speak French for the first time. The way her inexperienced tongue curled around the words had his blood stirring, but he pushed the need back and quickly stepped towards them.
"Karen insists she's okay, but I really think she should take a few days off, maybe be at my place for a while so she feels a little safer and I can... teach her better. Self defense."
Kara stared up at the earnest expression on Luc's face with badly concealed shock. The weasel! How dare he!
Celeste was nodding before Kara could convince her to disagree.
"Oui, oui. Of course, whatever you need, Karen. I'll be fine for one or two weeks. I'm so sorry, dear!"
Before Kara could utter a word, Celeste had pulled her into a warm, love-infused hug. When They pulled away, Kara took Celeste's hands, determined to assure her Lucas was talking crap, but he smoothly whisked her away from Celeste.
"We'll go and pack now! Before Kara refuses to go," he called over his shoulder.
Celeste put her hands on her hips. "She'd better not! It'll be good for you, Karen!" she yelled after them, a worry nibbling at her at Luc's calling Karen Kara. That was the same thing Zavier had called her, but he was a child. Lucas was no child.
Shrugging at it, Celeste walked back towards the houses to find her husband and tempt him into bed. Maybe Kara was just Karen's nickname.
Kara stubbornly dug her heels into the ground as Lucas dragged her back to the open sliding doors, but he only chuckled at her efforts and easily scooped her up into his arms, one arm under her knees and the other under shoulders.
Kara started and immediately looked over Luc's shoulder to call to Celeste for rescue. She didn't get further than an intake of air when his arm curled around to clamp a hand firmly over her mouth.
Kara glared hotly over the hand on her mouth and muffled curses at him. Luc was undisturbed and simply took her in.
She thrashed and writhed in his arms and Luc hummed a merry tune, ignoring.. Kara suddenly stilled when they reached the cottage and he carried her in.
Luc grinned down at her as he went into the living area, thinking she'd accepted her fate. Kara had done nothing of the sort and Lucas realized it when he suddenly felt her wet tongue tracing lines against his palm.
An expression of disbelief crossed his faced and he immediately tossed Kara onto the couch where she bounced and landed on the floor.
"Did you just lick my palm?" Lucas questioned with wide grey eyes.
Kara got up and glared at him. "That's what you get!" she huffed.
Lucas grinned wickedly and closed in her, trapping her in his arms before she could run.
"That's what I get, is it?" he murmured and she stared up at him in that way that she did when he ventured onto dangerous ground where he was much more experienced than her. "You know what I'll make you do when we get to my house? Hm? Since you like licking me so much, I'll give you something to lick."
His teeth nipped at her cheek and Kara gasped. He wasn't talking about...?
Was he?
She absolutely hated...that she hoped he was.