Free Thorneless (Rose of Thorne Series) by Mia Michelle Page B

struggle inside me to turn it on and off.  One second I’m numb, the next I’m hurting.  What do I do when I’m alone with this man?  I’ve never done anything like this before.  
    You need to do this , Skylar!
    Stop it , Skylar! You can’t do this!
    The inner battle continues raging in my head. Oh dear God , what do I do?
    Suddenly, my path is blocked and I slam into a solid wall of muscle.  The spicy cologne invades my nose and I feel myself begin to shake with fear.  Not fear of him, but fear of losing myself. It’s the only thing I have left and I can feel it slipping away.
    “What the fuck , man! Get out of my girl’s way!” The guy behind me shouts. I glance up into Lucas’ face and he locks eyes with me.  He’s breathing heavily and I see things in them that I’ve never seen before.  Have I been blind all this time? Does he love me?  Has that been there all along?  Gently, he drags me to the side and faces the stranger that I had been leaving with.
    “She’s not your girl, man. And she isn’t leaving here with you tonight or ever for that matter,” he says and the man swings his arm in Lucas direction.  Lucas ducks and returns the blow, landing it in the stranger’s gut and causing him to fall to the ground in agony.  The man is so drunk that he doesn’t fight back and Lucas takes my arm and jerks me out of the bar.  
    When the night air hits me, I can feel myself quickly sobering up.  He pulls me toward a tall new black Silverado pickup truck.  Almost all Texan men love their trucks, but I hadn’t thought Lucas to be one of them. He always liked to drive his fast cars more I suppose.  I stand there in confusion as he opens the passenger side door and motions me up to the door.
    “Get in!” H e orders, but I refuse to move.
    “No!” I stubbornly reply.  I’m not doing this with him now. I’m in no mood for a lecture.
    Growling, he steps in front of me and scoops me up in one quick movement and places me in the truck.  I’m too tipsy and shocked to fight him, so instead I revert to crossing my arms and pouting. Yeah, I know it’s really mature of me to act like a five year old right now, but if he’s going to treat me like one, then I’m going to act like one.
    He closes my door and moves to the front of his truck where he begins swearing loudly and kicking the gravel with his boots.   He is going all Texan boy on me tonight.  He slams his fist into the hood of his truck over and over again, causing me to jump in my seat.  I seem to have really done it this time. His emerald eyes meet mine through the windshield and he sees the terror on my face.
    Hesitantly, he breaks our gaze and moves around to the driver’s side and climbs up into the cab with me.  He never speaks as he cranks up the truck and slams it into gear.  Rocks spit everywhere as he tears out of the parking lot and onto the old country road.  For miles and miles we travel in silence.  Again, the silence is killing me, but I won’t let him win.
    About twenty minutes later, he is turning onto an old gravel road that leads to a large pasture.  He parks the truck and turns off the engine before climbing out and walking into the field alone.  He crosses his strong arms in front of his body and looks up to the star filled sky above him.  Moments later, I see his broad back begin shaking and realization hits me hard.  He’s crying.  My strong, fun filled adventuresome Lucas Drake is now crying, and it’s all because of me.
    O pening my door, I climb out of the truck and make my way to him.  I stand behind him and wrap my hands around his body.  It comforts me to be near him. We stand like this for a few minutes and I can tell his breathing is slowly returning back to normal.
    “You say I treat you li ke glass.  Maybe that’s true, but it isn’t because of the reason you think.  Glass breaks, but it also cuts.  Maybe I treat you that way because I’m afraid of being hurt again.  As much as you