Four: Longest Kiss of Her Life

"Please don't hurt them," Skye pleaded with Lucas as she followed him out of Boylan's bar, the cold night air hitting her face and making her tremble more than her fear of Josh getting hurt because of her.

Lucas turned around suddenly, fury burning in his eyes. "My apologies, dear sister, but thanks to you running off to get Papa Shannon it seems I have to enforce some disciplinary action." He touched the tender side of his face, the swelling already beginning to form underneath his eye. "People around here need to learn some damn respect," he spat, losing his temper.

"Josh only did it for me," she said desperately, shivering in the shadows. "Please. He's my friend. He was trying to help me."

Her choice of words only seemed to make him angrier, his lip curling, as if he honestly hadn't intended to create a situation where she needed to be 'saved'.

"Please, Lucas," she repeated. "Let him go. For me. I promise he won't be any more trouble."

Lucas raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest in the process. He stared at her a few agonising moments, and then spoke again: "Alright, Bucket. I'll let Young Shannon go, and I'll forgive you." She was halfway through breathing a sigh of relief when he interrupted. "In exchange for a kiss."

"What?"

He smiled chillingly at her. "You heard me. A kiss; a real kiss. With you. Now."

"I…I can't kiss you," she replied quietly, for more reasons than she cared to admit. The mere thought of it made her stomach twist, made her want to vomit as if it were her brother who was suggesting such a thing.

He was looking at her again, with that look that only seemed to be reserved for her. He smirked, longing in his green eyes. "That's the deal," he said, moving closer to her.

She swallowed hard, considering the deed. She saw the wildness in Lucas' eyes, remembered the way he had battered Josh half to death. She couldn't let Josh suffer any more for her. Lucas would kill him. Sighing, she tilted her head back to meet his tall frame. "And you won't hurt him?" she clarified, attempting to sound authoritative.

He bowed his head mockingly, letting his arms fall by his sides. "You have my word."

She cleared her throat in response, pursing her lips together as she moved close to Lucas, preparing herself. He watched with relish as her lips gradually parted, leaning in slowly, her eyes squeezing shut so she couldn't see that arrogant gaze of his, full of cockiness, full of lust…

She guessed he must have leaned in too because she suddenly felt his cut lips touch hers, making her heart jump. He was warm, despite the brisk weather, and surprisingly gentle at first. But then he deepened the kiss, his mouth opening a little more, taking turns sucking each lip. His scraped hand snaked behind her ear, stroking it, tangling the rest of his fingers in her long hair. Skye refused to move, her palms moistening by her sides as she stood stiffly, rooted to the ground, wishing for it to be over soon. But this was turning out to be the longest kiss of her life as seconds turned to minutes and she waited impatiently for Lucas to release her.

He was starting to get rough again, pulling her closer to him, pushing his mouth on to hers so that she could taste the blood that remained on his cut lip, could feel his tongue fighting to enter her mouth. At that point, she turned her head so that his lips clumsily collided with her cheek. "Okay, that's enough," she snapped, breathing heavily as he slowly pulled away from her and let her go.

However, his stubbled grin confirmed that he was satisfied. "Okay," he said after several beats of silence, in which time Skye had noticed he hadn't looked away once, had hardly blinked at all. "A deal's a deal." He stepped away from her, beginning to walk back towards the Brig.

"Wait," she called after him, still unnerved by what she had just experienced. "I'm coming with you." He raised an eyebrow, but before he could get too cocky, she approached his side, her frown deepening. "I want to make sure you live up to your word."

"Bucket," he murmured, pretending to be hurt. "Don't you trust me?" She scowled at him. "I wouldn't let you kiss me for nothing," he sniggered, and then gave her a shrug. "As you wish."

He led the way, and she paused before following – hesitating, feeling her heart pound, as if she were following the devil himself on the way to Hell.