Page 68 of F*ck Steal Kill

“It’s not so bad.” I knew he said that for my benefit.

“What’s going on out there? How are you in here?”

“The final test was completed, and everyone got their assignments. Believe it or not, that’s the sound of celebration.” He chuckled, but it sounded off.

“Doesn’t surprise me. Viper has gotten more violent as of late.” I shuddered, remembering the last time he hadn’t been pleased with me.

“Yeah. Well.” He cleared his throat, his fingers flexing against where they touched me. It should feel weird to be this close, considering this was the most we’d ever touched before, but it never had with Lukas. It always felt right.

“Dad let me come see you.” He swallowed, his eyes shiny. “I’m being sent out tomorrow.”

I thought the worst thing to happen to me would be turning eighteen in a few days and being married off to whoever my father chose. But knowing I’d never see Lukas again after this felt a hundred times harder.

“No,” I whispered, cupping his cheeks. The tears I’d been able to barely stop fell again, and I nuzzled his neck, letting them soak his shirt. “I can’t lose you.”

“I’ll be okay, Angel. I’m not going to give up hope.”

I shook my head, not wanting to hear what he said. It hurt too much. There was no place for hope in the Savages. Nothing but rape, grief, and heartbreak lived here.

“Ava, look at me.”

Lifting my head, I blinked away the tears, his thumbs brushing them off my cheeks in the softest caress. My heart thumped in my chest for an entirely different reason now.

The air between us felt charged, like we were standing on a cliff as lightning struck down around us. I licked my lips, the saltiness from my tears making them dry. Lukas’s eyes dropped down to them, tracking the movement.

“If I could go against your father and win, I’d do it in a heartbeat, Ava. But I know I can’t yet, so I’m biding my time until the day I can get both of us out of here. Dad’s helping as best he can. Just… don’t give up, okay? I know what will happen in a few days, and I wish I could make it easier.” He swallowed, his throat bobbing with the effort. “It won’t matter to me, though. That’s what I wanted you to know. It won’t change how I feel. Do what you must to stay alive until we can be together.”

“Lukas,” I cried, tears falling again. Instead of telling me not to cry, he sealed his lips to mine, stopping me.

Our first kisses had been simple. All lips and no passion as two awkward teens shared a moment. It had been everything, though, to me—my first real choice.

But this… I didn’t want to think that Lukas had been kissing a lot of other girls, but he’d definitely improved from the small pecks we’d previously shared.

His lips were still soft but firmer, and he knew how to press them into me just so. When his tongue peeked out, licking along the seams, I parted my lips with a gasp at the contact. His hands tightened on my hips, grounding me into him instead of floating away like my body wanted.

Passion scorched through me, heating me from the inside out, and I knew I wanted more. More of him. More of this. More of everything, Lukas.

Breaking apart, I gasped as I attempted to catch my breath, touching my swollen lips like I didn’t believe it was real. But I knew there was no way I’d dreamed that.

“Don’t forget me, Angel. One day I’ll come for you, and we’ll run away together where no Savages can find us. Promise me you’ll fight with everything you have until then.”

Clutching his hand to my heart, I nodded.

“I love you, Lukas. It might be stupid to say that, but I do. I love you. I think I always have.”

“I love you, too, Ava.”

He smiled, his eyes shining in the moonlight, and I tried to commit everything about this to memory, to have something to hold onto when it got bad. Because it would. Things were about to get so much worse.

“Please be careful. I’ll keep fighting if you don’t try to be a hero. I need you alive.”

“Babe, that’s like telling the sun not to rise. It’s in my DNA. Plus, I gotta come in and be all heroic so I can sweep you off your feet.”

“Lukas Dellota, don’t you dare! My feet are perfectly fine on the ground. I just want yours with mine.”

He smirked, his eyes heating to a playful simmer as he stared at me. “There’s my sassy angel. I love when you go all Ava Savage on me.” My cheeks tinted red, and I hid my face in his neck as he laughed. “How about we just promise to love one another and let the rest sort itself out?”

I nodded, kissing the spot behind his ear. “I like that.”

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