He let the feel of her, the vision of her and her divine aroma penetrate.
He lost focus and one of his hands roamed up her spine as he murmured, “Indeed I am.”
“Lucien,” she called. “You were going to impart great vampire wisdom on me?”
He’d rather kiss her. He’d also rather peel away her clothes and taste her skin, her breasts, the heat between her legs.
He did none of that no matter how much he wanted it.
Instead he told her, “Last night didn’t go as I planned.”
He watched her press her lips together in an effort to bite back her own words.
“You made it get out of hand, pet,” he said quietly and her brows shot up as she reflexively pushed against his chest, again to no avail.
“Me?” she snapped when she’d stopped pushing.
“You,” he returned.
“How was I responsible for last night?”
“You got too excited.”
“Too…” she paused and repeated, “too...” Then she made a strangled noise, unable to continue.
His hand slid further up her back, caught a lock of her hair and he started twisting it around his finger.
“You wanted me,” he murmured and she swallowed.
“Did not,” she whispered her lie.
“You did, I smelled it.”
Her eyes widened and her lips parted. Lucien decided that was his favorite of Leah’s many expressions.
“My senses are far more acute than yours,” he explained.
“I know that.”
“So you know I could smell your excitement.”
Her eyes slid away and she muttered with embarrassment, “I didn’t know that.”
He found he was surprised at her embarrassment, delighted but surprised. Even so, he sought to alleviate it.
“I wanted you too,” he told her softly.
Her eyes slid back fleetingly, he saw pink rise in her cheeks and he heard her heart trip over itself. Then she moved her gaze to study the arm of the lounge.
His arm gave her a squeeze at her waist. “Look at me, pet.”
She hesitated and then did as he commanded.
“Vampires are human,” he informed her and instead of her lips parting, her mouth dropped open and she gaped at him. He continued despite her astonished reaction. “The theory is, we mutated from homo sapiens a long time ago. As the millennia passed, we developed necessary traits, instincts, abilities for our survival and for the survival of the species that would keep us alive.”
She continued to stare at him then whispered, “You’re human?”
“A kind of human, yes, the immortal kind.”
“It’s not dark magic?”
He shook his head and said, “No.”
“Supernatural?”
“No.”
“Paranormal?”
“Leah, I’m just like you, except different.”
“Yes, you’re way different! You suck human blood!” Her voice had risen and she tried to pull away but he stopped twisting her hair and drew her closer with both arms wrapped around her.
“We feed on human blood, yes.”
“That’s wrong.”
“It’s natural.”
“It’s crazy!”
“It’s been happening since time began.”
She shook her head looking anywhere but at him visibly unable to process this information.
“This is nuts,” she muttered with an edge of hysteria.
“It isn’t.”
Finally she looked at him. “It’s sick.”
His arms tightened further and he held control of his temper but his voice betrayed it when he explained, “You should know, that’s offensive, pet.”
Her eyes skittered away and she accused his shoulder, “You move faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. That is not natural.”
“You’ve never been with a vampire.”
“You smell things, hear things –”
He cut her off, “Leah, this isn’t difficult to understand.”
Her eyes shot to his. “Easy for you to say!”
“Species have been evolving since the planet formed. It’s entirely natural, what I can do, how I feed. It’s who I am. It’s the way of my people.”
“I can’t believe this,” she whispered.
“It’s true.”
She studied him briefly, her eyes working, her thoughts shifting, wildly different expressions swiftly drifting across her features, settling on one. Distrust mingled with horror.
“So, what, we’re your prey? My people, that is. In this ‘natural world’ of yours.”
He didn’t hesitate with his reply, “Yes.”
She went still and stared at him, clearly stunned at both his answer and his honesty.
He took advantage. “What I haven’t explained yet is there’s more we can do. Something I didn’t do last night. Something that would have made things go far better for you if you hadn’t made me lose control.”
She gritted her teeth at another mention of her responsibility for last night’s events before asking, “And that would be?”
“I can anesthetize your skin.”
Her body jerked before she said, “Pardon?”
“Before feeding, only before feeding, my saliva has a numbing agent that releases. Not only does it anesthetize, it has healing properties. Strong ones. The healing begins even before I finish feeding.”
Leah blinked, the distrust and horror gone, confusion and disbelief in its place.
Lucien went on, “If I’d have prepared you before we started, you wouldn’t have felt the tearing, just the feeding, which is highly pleasurable for mortals.”
Her face instantly assumed the look he enjoyed, the one filled with wonder.
Then she said, “You’re joking.”
He shook his head. “Your people find it a sensual experience.”
“No,” she shook her head, pushed up again, got nowhere and gave up, collapsing against him. “I was wrong about what you said before. That wasn’t nuts. This is nuts.”
“It isn’t.”
She ignored him and her eyes narrowed. “So why didn’t you… prepare me?”
His arm at her waist circled further. His other hand slid up her neck and into her hair, bringing her face closer.
Quietly, he explained, “You were excited, moving against me, agitated, aroused. You felt good. You smelled good,” his voice dipped lower at the memory, “so fucking good I lost control.”
Her head pressed against his hand and didn’t stop even if her effort was futile.
“Tomorrow night, when we do it again, I’ll prepare you,” he murmured, his eyes dropping to her throat.
She halted her struggles and he listened to her pulse as it raced.
“No,” she whispered.
He lifted his gaze to lock on hers. “You’ll like it.”
Her voice held a tremor when she said, “You said that last time.”
“Tomorrow, I won’t be so hungry. Tomorrow, I’ll take care of you.”
“I’m supposed to trust that?”
His voice was deadly serious when he replied, “Yes, Leah. With feeding and with everything, you’re supposed to trust me.”
Her head jerked against his hand and his fingers curled into her hair until it stilled.
“I don’t trust you,” she snapped.
“You will,” he returned.
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“Never,” she hissed, losing her shock and getting angry.
Damn, she was stubborn.
“I’ll have to prove it to you,” he promised her.
“I’m never doing that again,” she announced and his fingers in her hair twisted slightly as his patience slipped.
“You will, tomorrow night.” His voice was implacable.
“Over my dead body,” she bit out, her eyes flashing, her insult crystal clear and he felt it slice agonizingly through his gut.
“Not a chance,” he clipped in return.
She glared at him. He scowled back.
She gave in first when she demanded to know, “Are we done with my lesson now?”
“Yes,” he growled.
“Good, then you’re going to go?”
“No.”
Her body jolted again and she asked, “What?”
“That’s answer to part two of your earlier question. I’m not going. I’m spending the night here.”
Her eyes widened again when she asked, “Why?”
“I like the smell of you when I sleep.”
“What?” she cried in horror.
“And the feel of you,” he continued.
She rolled her eyes toward her forehead and muttered, “Oh my God. It just gets worse and worse.”
He ignored her verbal non-prayer and called, “Leah.” Her eyes snapped back to his face and she was back to glaring. “I’ll be here every night.”
Her nose wrinkled before she mumbled, “Yep. Gets worse and worse.”
Lucien decided he was done and it was time to move on. Therefore he did so.
“Now, you have three choices,” he informed her.
Her head tilted and her jaw clenched before she gritted from between her teeth, “And those are?”
“You can share a drink with me while I have dinner, yours being non-alcoholic.”
“Next,” she snapped.
“You can get changed into your nightgown, get into bed and read.”
“That sounds doable.”
“I’ll be joining you.”
“Next,” she demanded immediately.
“Last, you can begin your next lesson.”
“And that would be?”
“I’ll be teaching you how I like to be kissed.”
Her face paled and her body froze.
After a long moment, she whispered, “I’ll pick door number two.”
He lost his annoyance and his impatience instantly for that was his choice. Although his choice was actually number three but he knew she wasn’t ready for that yet.
His fingers unclenched in her hair and his hand cupped the back of her head, bringing her face closer to his.
“I said I picked door number two, Lucien,” she breathed, pushing her head against his hand.
He pressed her ever forward until her mouth was a breath away from his.
“Get changed. I need food, a word with Edwina and I’ll meet you in bed.”
“Righty ho, oh Great Master.”
At her words, Lucien changed his mind and decided her next lesson would be right now. And that lesson would be that you always respect a vampire.
He brought her head forward a breath so her lips were light on his.
“This is your only warning, pet. If you call me ‘oh Great Master’ again, I’ll be forced to punish you.”
She held his gaze defiantly, her mouth soft against his, her head pressing against his hand.
Seconds slid by.
Then, Lucien was disheartened to see, she stopped her struggles and he watched her eyelids slowly drop in defeat.
A scant second later, her lids lifted, her eyes flared and she whispered passionately against his mouth, “God, I hate you.”
He smiled against her lips.
Yes, he was right, she was utterly enchanting.
Chapter Six
The Kiss
My eyes opened to a wall of sleek skin over the hard muscle of a massive chest.
I stared at it, confused.
Justin had chest hair. Did he shave his chest?
And was he working out, like, a lot?
Then I remembered that this wasn’t Justin. Justin was long gone. Four months gone.
This was Lucien.
Lucien who had left me last night to get food and have a word with Edwina. Lucien who had come back half an hour later carrying an expensive looking, black leather bag that appeared full. Lucien who had disappeared into the bathroom and come out ten minutes later wearing nothing but a pair of black, drawstring pajama bottoms, giving me the first-ever view of his bulging biceps, sinewy forearms, broad shoulders, defined collarbone and honed chest which narrowed into a six pack.
No kidding, he was perfect from the top of his head to his waist. Every inch.
I quit breathing and tried not to drool.
He totally sensed my reaction. I knew this because his eyes went hooded and he grinned.
My first reaction was to pant when his eyes went all vampire sexy like that.
My second reaction was vastly different. I resisted (barely) the urge to throw my book at him.
He got in bed beside me. I ignored him, turning my back to him and concentrating on my book, one page of which I read fifteen times before it sunk in.
I didn’t know what Lucien did. I didn’t look. I think he read because I heard pages turning. He didn’t touch me though and finally I turned out my light and tried to sleep.
He didn’t. He kept doing whatever it was he was doing for a good long while keeping his light on.
Eventually this forced me to ask irritably, “Are you ever going to turn out your light?”
“In a minute, my pet.”
God, I hated it when he called me his “pet”. It was way too close to the bone.
“I can’t get to sleep with the light on,” I informed him waspishly, still with my back to him, speaking to the opposite wall.
“You’ll learn,” he replied casually.
I clamped my mouth shut. Then I lay there and seethed. Lucien took his time which I thought was incredibly inconsiderate. Finally, he turned out his light.
I began to force myself to relax.
This effort was immediately rendered futile when he pulled me into him, the length of my back pressed to the length of his front and his arm tight around me.
“I’m not a cuddler,” I shared.
“You’ll learn that too,” he returned.
What a jerk!
“Lucien –” I started.
He cut me off. “Quiet, Leah, I’m tired.”
He said this like he expected me to obey without question. Which I supposed he did. And worse, I had pretty much no choice but to do so.
“My life sucks,” I announced into the dark.
He chuckled into the hair at the back of my head.
I didn’t know when he fell asleep. I didn’t even know when I did. I just knew I did because now I was facing him, staring at his glorious chest.
I had to get out of there.
My body tensed for flight. The instant it did, his hand came up, grasped a handful of hair and tugged it down, forcing my head back. I looked up into his still-drowsy face and caught my breath.
I hated him but there was no denying he was gorgeous, especially in the morning with that still-drowsy face.
His head was tilting toward me and before I could process the meaning behind his movement, his mouth was on mine.
This surprised me. Not that he would kiss me because the detail to my job description was pretty freaking clear.
No, what surprised me was that the kiss was soft, gentle, exploratory, not hard, demanding and invasive.
I was so surprised I didn’t even think to pull free.
His lips moved on mine in sensual discovery, his head slanting ever so slightly to press deeper. It was nice, stirring me but not frightening me.
I felt him then, the heat from his body, the soft skin over strong muscle of his chest under my hands. That was nice too.
His hand at my hip slid to the small of my back, just above my bottom and it pressed in.
More heat, more hardness, more pressure on my mouth, all of it controlled but delicious. Without a thought I helped, wriggling to get closer, liking what I was feeling.
His mouth opened over mine and, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, mine opened under his.
His tongue slid inside.
In a flash all gentle exploration was gone. The minute his tongue touched mine, my body
exploded. My stomach dropped, my toes curled, my nipples hardened and I felt a wave of fire rush between my legs.
It was fantastic.
Helpless to stop myself and not even trying, I pressed into him full body, trying to get as close as I could. Even though I was lying down, both of my hands slid up his chest and held onto his shoulders tightly like if I didn’t, I would fall.
At my touch, he growled low in the back of his throat, the power of it vibrating through my mouth, against my tongue and I lost it. Not that I had much of “it” to lose.
One of my hands pushed under his arm, wrapping around his back. The other one curled around his neck and up, gliding into his thick, soft hair.
He rolled into me, slanting his head further, deepening the kiss, his hand at my back sliding over my bottom, cupping me, pressing in. Our tongues tangled and he tasted beautiful. I’d never tasted anyone (especially in the morning) that amazing.
I liked it. I craved it. I wanted more and I took it. I took it like I needed it, like my life had a limit and if I didn’t get as much of it as I could, I’d quit breathing the next instant.
He felt my urgency and rolled me fully to my back, his weight pinning me, his hips grinding into mine so I could feel his arousal. My body answered with another luscious belly drop and rush of warmth at my core. My hand clenched in his hair and I didn’t care if it hurt. I was going to hold him to me for as long as it took me to get my fill of that mind-blowing kiss.
Suddenly his mouth tore from mine. His head went up and cocked slightly to the side.
I did not like this.
I held his hair clenched in my fist, my body squirming under his to resurrect our contact, my breath coming in fast pants.
“We’ve company,” he murmured, his eyes dark and unfocused, a strange look of annoyance on his features.
“What?” I breathed.
He looked down at me and when he did his face gentled.
“Company,” he repeated and I didn’t process this. I couldn’t. My concentration was entirely centered on his mouth, his eyes, his face, his body, his hardness, his heat and the intense, altogether too pleasant feeling between my legs.
His face dipped closer and my mind and body rejoiced.
But he didn’t kiss me (alas).
Instead, his hand came to cup my jaw and he muttered, “I can’t tell you how much it pleases me that you need no instruction on how to kiss me like I like it.”