Free When Lust Rules by Virginia Cavanaugh Page A

he called her? Found her? A sob tore from her. Luken got off the
bed and started toward the kitchen.
    “Are you fucking him, Julie? You know that’s considered
adultery.”
    She darted out the door after Luken and came around the
corner of the kitchen as he grabbed the receiver and lifted it to his ear.
    “Listen here, motherfucker.”
    Julie panicked and reached for the base mounted on the wall.
With a fierce tug she ripped it off. Her wide-eyed gaze met Luken’s once again
and he frowned.
    “I’m guessing Ivan?” He dropped the receiver and it
clattered against the tile floor.
    She swallowed, shaking her head. “I don’t know how…”
    “How doesn’t matter. We need to move. Obviously he knows
where you’re at and he knows about me. He might even be watching us now.”
    “Oh God.” Her knees became weak and Luken grabbed her arm to
tug her along behind him.
    This wasn’t happening. How in the hell did Ivan get out of
prison? Luken released her and she leaned against the doorframe of her bedroom
as he made quick work of stuffing clothes into her duffle bag.
    “We need to go.” Luken fastened his jeans and slung the
strap of the bag over his shoulder.
    “Your shirt and shoes are in the kitchen.”
    “No time.”
    She grasped his offered hand and followed him to the door.
    “Listen to me. My truck is in the driveway. I want you to
tuck your head and run to the driver’s side and crawl across as fast as you
can.”
    She inhaled a deep breath, focusing on the task he gave her.
Things were serious and she didn’t have time to curl into a ball and freak out.
She nodded.
    He opened the door and she took off as he’d instructed. Bare
feet slapped against the pavement of the driveway. Little pebbles dug at the
soles of her feet, but she didn’t let it slow her. The jingle of keys reached
her ears. She saw the headlights of his truck turn on and knew it would be
because he unlocked the doors with the key fob. With quick movements she slung
open the door and climbed inside. Her knee banged the gearshift on her way over
the console but she didn’t stop. By the time she had righted herself in her
seat Luken had already jumped in, fired up the engine and had it in reverse.
    They sped out of the driveway as she reached for her seat
belt. The rev of the motor seemed loud in the eerie quiet. Her gaze darted
around, looking for any signs of trouble, but found none. Nothing seemed amiss.
“Maybe we overreacted. Maybe he was just trying to scare us.”
    A loud pop sounded a split second before the glass shattered
behind her. She screamed as Luken’s hand gripped the back of her head and
shoved her down. Nope! They hadn’t overreacted. Tires squealed as Luken mashed
the gas pedal. She heard more shots.
    Luken growled. “When I get my hands on that fucker, he’s
dead.”
    Bullets pinged the side of the truck and Luken released a
stream of curse words. Her body trembled and swayed as Luken gave his all to
the evasive driving maneuvers.
    “Hang on, it’s about to get rough.”
    She watched as he yanked the wheel and then they hit the
first in a series of bumps. Her head jarred forward and collided with the
dashboard. “Shit!” That was definitely going to leave a mark. Pain arched
through her brain and she sucked in a breath between clenched teeth.
    Luken released his hold on her head. “Try to brace yourself.
Maybe sit up a little, but slouch in the seat.”
    She quickly repositioned herself and caught a glimpse of the
off-road scenery in front of them. Luken was dodging trees. She squeezed her
eyes shut as he sped over another hill. At least gunshots were no longer
peppering the tailgate. “Did we lose them?”
    “Maybe. I’m about to get back on a road so we can put more
distance between us and them.”
    She cracked open one eye and saw a paved road in front of
them. No longer having to fear a collision with a tree, she sat up a little
more and paid attention to where they were headed. Her direction sense