That Night
LUCIEN DROVE TOWARD Leah’s house feeling a welcome sense of anticipation after a not very good day.
She was, he knew, going to be cold or furious, but he couldn’t care less.
Whatever she was, it would not be eager. It would not be sycophantic. It would not be adoring. And it would not be complaisant.
It would be something different. Something he relished. Something he had not had in a very long time.
That morning after he arrived at the home he shared with his mate, Katrina had been waiting for him.
The minute he closed the door behind him, she unleashed the fury that he knew she’d kept pent up all night waiting for his return.
Even though he was still furious with her for the plot she’d attempted to unleash at Leah’s Selection, she had every right to be angry. A vampire did not sleep with his concubine, not in any sense of that word. He or she didn’t spend the night.
Goodly portions of it, maybe. The entirety of it, never.
Vampires slept with their vampire mates in every sense of that word.
Things might, and often did (and The Dominion turned a blind eye), get out of hand at Feasts, but not with concubines. The lines were drawn, the boundaries understood, and no one, not even Lucien, could break them.
He ignored his mate, something he’d been doing a great deal for the past decade, walked upstairs straight to their bedroom, disrobed and got in the shower.
She followed, not ceasing for even a breath in her blistering tirade.
Lucien was angry with himself for losing control with Leah and nearly taking her life, something which he would miss, even knowing her such a short time. Not only because her blood was heavenly but also because she didn’t intend to grow up until she was ninety-three years old. That was a concept he found intriguing and very much wanted the time to explore.
He was also angry that he’d caused her to experience such unadulterated terror.
Fear was delicious, especially when it was mingled with excitement.
Terror, or at least the terror he’d witnessed from Leah that morning when she woke, was revolting.
Last, and most importantly, no matter how much he tried, he could not get the sound of her saying, her eyes filled with pain and accusation, “You promised,” out of his head.
Therefore, he was in no mood to deal patiently with Katrina.
He stepped out of the shower dripping wet and put a hand to her throat, silencing her invective. He lifted her clean off her feet and slammed her against the wall, her skull cracking against the plaster, and held her there, his fingers squeezing.
She clawed at his forearm with her nails to no avail.
He held her squirming against the wall, deftly avoiding her kicking legs until he felt she understood his meaning. Then he dropped her.
She landed lithely on all fours in a graceful crouch, her head snapping back, her cloud of long black hair falling over her back, her ice-blue eyes glaring at him. Her stunning face was contorted with rage.
She was preparing for attack.
“Don’t even think of challenging me.” His demand was quiet and it was lethal.
Indecision flickered in her eyes which was a strategic mistake. She should have long since learned to master any situation and indecision showed weakness.
She was a young vampire, only two hundred years old.
Even so she would never learn. She never had. He’d been trying to teach her for fifty years.
In the beginning she was quite like Leah, young, amusing, challenging, beautiful, and perhaps most importantly, unbelievably sexy.
The minute they finalized The Claiming she’d changed. Became possessive—intolerably so—jealous, even of his concubines, and until Leah he’d never given her reason for this ridiculous emotion. Demanding to go with him to Feasts (this he did not allow). Resistant to his teachings.
She’d been full of promise when he’d met her.
She’d become a disappointment.
He saw the fluid line of her shoulders fall in defeat, an action that defined his discontent with their pairing, and without a word he turned and strode back to the shower.
In the shower, he came to the swift decision to file for Severance. He’d been toying with it for years. Now was the time.
It was not unheard of for vampire mates to sever. It was also not nearly as commonplace as the mortals’ divorce. Vampires, the vast majority of the time, mated for eternity which, being immortal, meant literally.
Although it was frowned upon, Severance was also never denied. It was not a good idea to force two vampires to live together. It was, they discovered centuries ago, deadly.
When he exited the shower, Katrina had calmed down. He found her curled in a ball on her side in their bed, a bed, at the sight of his defeated and sulking mate, he made the instant decision he would never share with her again.
“You must know I deserve an explanation,” she whispered.
He didn’t answer mainly because he knew nothing of the sort.
“No one spends the night with their concubines,” she went on. “You’d lose your mind if I spent the night with Kyle.”
This wasn’t true. There was a good possibility he wouldn’t even notice.
Her voice dropped below a whisper when she asked, “What is it about her?”
Lucien had been dressing while she talked.
Finished, he turned to face her and answered simply, “She’s life.”
He watched her body jolt as if struck.
Then she came up on an arm, her face filling with disbelief and twisting with bitterness. “Your life? You barely know her.”
He crossed his arms on his chest and looked down at his mate. “Not my life, Rina. Life.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”
She wouldn’t.
Katrina didn’t know the difference between inexpensive champagne and the finest vintage and no amount of instruction or consumption would make her grasp that distinction.
He knew this because he’d tried for fifty years to teach her that exact lesson.
There was blood and there was Leah Buchanan’s blood. It was the difference between eating dust and allowing the finest Belgian chocolate to melt on your tongue.
Feeding from Leah was like drinking in heaven.
Doing it with his hand between her legs, her soft body pinned under the weight of his, enveloped in the smell that was all her mingled with the scent of her sex in a heightened state of arousal, was nirvana.
He was looking forward to Leah’s taming.
Regardless of how it happened, if the beauty of last night was any indication, feeding from her while they were physically joined and she gave herself wholly to him would be rapture.
“Lucien,” Katrina called.
Torn from his thoughts and not appreciating it, Lucien announced, “We’re finished talking.”
He watched her body go taut as his words penetrated.
“Now what does that mean?” Katrina asked on an irritated snap.
He didn’t answer. He left and put her out of his mind.
This was not difficult.
He met with Stephanie that day. And Avery.
There were plans to be made and he was making them. He had been making them since he received word from his informant that Leah had extricated herself from yet another of her hideously ill-suited boyfriends. The end of her mortal relationship opened her up for Selection. With vast and frustrating experience riding the tempestuous waves of Leah’s love life, he had not delayed in taking his chance and he, amongst others, had placed her name on his list to receive an invitation to The Selection.
Lucien knew The Council would not be blinded to what he was doing for long. They’d find out. Likely, once he filed for Severance, Katrina would tell them. Possibly Leah’s family would too, although he knew they’d demanded to examine the contract, and she’d not only gone to Study, but the Buchanans dispatched her for Homing.
If not those, undoubtedly The Council would hear of his actions somehow.
And he was ready.
Stephanie had always been impatient with the Immortal and Mortal Agreement. She’d even been indecisive on which side she would fight before The Revolution.
She was a definite ally.
Avery was a surprise. He’d been working in his role for The Council of The Dominion for centuries. Lucien had only sensed his willingness to turn traitor.
And Lucien had been right.
Cosmo, on the other hand, he’d been avoiding since Leah’s Selection, something which he failed to do that day.
Late in the afternoon, Cosmo had pressed into Lucien’s office, Lucien’s secretary, Sally hot on his heels.
Sally halted when Cosmo hissed, “Are you planning a revolt?”
Lucien nodded at Sally who withdrew.
Once she closed the door behind her, he leveled his eyes on his friend and answered, “No.”
“Then what’s this all about?” Cosmo clipped. “I was there, Lucien. Leah refused to blood your contract. The next thing I know, it had been signed, Avery had filed it, you’d Homed her, and The Bloodletting was last night.”
Lucien didn’t speak.
Cosmo continued, “Katrina told Nestor who told Jordan who told Hamish who told me that you spent the night with her.”
Lucien knew his secret wouldn’t last long. “I did.”
“Have you gone mad?” Cosmo bellowed.
Lucien stood, shaking his head. “Cosmo, calm down.”
“The Council will hear of this,” Cosmo bit out.
“They probably already have. Katrina was in a state this morning. She’ll not be thinking before she acts.”
Not that she ever did, he thought.
“They’ll pull you in,” Cosmo warned.
“It’s likely.”
Cosmo straightened and took in Lucien’s composure before asking, “What happened? Did you fall asleep?”
“Yes, after the initiation, I fell asleep.”
This was true. After he nearly killed her, he stopped the blood, soothed the wound, waited, watching and impatient for long minutes as the healing began. Then he watched for long hours as the healing progressed. When he was satisfied all would be well, only then did he pull Leah in his arms and fall asleep.
However, he had every intention of spending the night with Leah even had he not lost control necessitating that he wait for the healing. And he had every intention of spending every night with Leah until he lost interest in her and released her.
Cosmo continued to study him before he remarked dubiously, “So, it was all innocent.”
“No,” Lucien replied honestly. “It was far from innocent.”
Cosmo closed his eyes.
In a low voice that held a vein of steel, Lucien declared, “I’ll not live like this for another day, Cosmo.”
Cosmo opened his eyes “You are planning a revolt.”
“It might not lead to that.”
“You know it will.”
Lucien shrugged. “Then it’s war.”
Cosmo pulled in breath through his nostrils at Lucien’s words, but his face and eyes went blank, hiding his thoughts.
Katrina could learn from Cosmo.
Quietly, Cosmo spoke. “I’ve seen her, Lucien. I’ve smelled her. I like her. She’s fascinating. She’s funny. She’s different. But,” he paused before finishing, “she’s not worth war.”
“You haven’t tasted her,” Lucien returned decisively.
Cosmo’s head cocked to the side, intrigued despite himself. “She’s that good?”
“Better.”
Cosmo’s brows went up before he muttered, “Jesus.” Then he continued in a low voice, “Did you fuck her?”
“Not yet.”
“You intend to?”
“Absolutely.”
“Christ, Lucien—”
Lucien lost patience. “If I remember correctly there was many a night, for seven years, you left her mother and went direct with me to a Feast. Not to feed, to fuck, the way you wanted to fuck Lydia. If I remember correctly, for seven years, you wanted Lydia in a way you couldn’t have her because the Agreement said you couldn’t. It nearly drove you mad. You had to release her before you wanted just to end the torment. Do you remember?” Lucien demanded.
“I remember,” Cosmo answered, his jaw clenching.
“That is not going to happen to me,” Lucien stated. “I want Leah, all of Leah, and I’ll damn well have her. I’m tired of these ancient, absurd edicts ruling my life, your life, Stephanie’s life. We’re vampires for fuck’s sake and everything that is our essence has been stripped away. No more. I’m taking it back. If they try to punish me, I’ll fight.”
Cosmo’s face again lost all expression. Because the time might come where he’d need allies, and Cosmo would be an excellent one, not to mention he was a trusted friend, Lucien continued to explain.
“It’s been over five hundred years since I caught a scent as extraordinary as Leah’s.”
Understanding lit in Cosmo’s eyes.
“Maggie,” Cosmo muttered.
It took an extreme effort of will, even after all of these years, for Lucien not to flinch at her name.
He ignored his friend’s muttering and carried on, “I caught Leah’s scent twenty years ago. I should have had her then. I should have been able to take what I wanted. But I had to wait. Twenty years, Cosmo. I’ve lost twenty years. Or, more to the point, she’s aged twenty years and I’ve lost that. My time has come, as has Leah’s, and there will be no barriers, no boundaries, no fucking laws that tell me I cannot do what I wish.”
“You intend to tame her,” Cosmo surmised.
“I’ve already started,” Lucien announced.
Cosmo’s hesitation was brief before he sighed and shook his head. “I suppose there will be those who’ll champion you.”
“I’d like you to be one of them.”
Cosmo went still, his face remaining blank, before he asked softly, “You doubted I would?”
Lucien didn’t answer.
Still speaking softly, Cosmo said, “I’d burn for you, Lucien. I’ve proved that before.”
“You have,” Lucien agreed.
They locked eyes for long moments before Cosmo broke their silent renewed vow of allegiance by saying, “She’ll not be easily tamed.”
For the first time since seeing his friend, Lucien smiled. “This is very true.”
Cosmo smiled back. “How was she last night?”
“Untamable.”
Cosmo threw his head back and laughed.
Thus ended their tense conversation.
Lucien turned into the driveway of the home he’d purchased for Leah three months before, just weeks after she’d ended her last relationship.
He’d broken his own practice and searched for it himself. He gave Sally his requirements and attended the viewings personally, twenty of them, before he found what he wanted to provide for Leah. Then he’d hired a team of decorators to fit it to his exacting specifications.
When he’d met Edwina there just days before to give her the keys to her new home and place of employment, she’d been stunned at what she saw.
Edwina had been housekeeper to his acting concubines for forty years. She knew Lucien had a reputation for being particularly generous with them. He kept them well while they serviced him and left them well when he’d released them. All vampires did the same, but either miserly or unable financially, they didn’t do it as Lucien did because he was not miserly and he was far from financially unable.
But a six-bedroom mansion on a fifteen acre plot was beyond even Lucien’s pale.
He hit the garage door opener on his visor and slid his sleek black Porsche Turbo next to the equally sleek black Cayenne he’d purchased for Leah.
Edwina, likely curious at hearing his car pull in the garage, met him by the kitchen door, her face startled.
“Lucien,” she breathed.
“Edwina,” he replied in greeting, not pausing but moving beyond her.
“You’re here,” she noted unnecessarily.
He stopped in order to ask where Leah was as he had no desire to go in search of her and turned back to Edwina. “Yes, I am. Where’s Leah?”
He watched her eyes go round before she blurted, “She’s not ready for another feeding! And you can’t be ready for another one either.”
Lucien’s gaze leveled on hers and he watched the color run from her face.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, looking away.
“Where’s Leah?” Lucien repeated with ill-concealed impatience.
“In her room.”
Lucien turned immediately toward the stairs.
“Lucien!” Edwina called and with reluctance Lucien turned back. “She’s . . .” She paused, her face still ashen, her fear fragrancing the room.
“She’s what?” Lucien asked when she did not carry on.
Her body twitched then she continued, “She’s . . .” and she stopped again.
“Edwina,” Lucien’s voice was a dangerous hiss.
“She’s in a . . . a . . .” He watched her swallow before she finished, “She’s in a mood.”
Leah was in a mood. This was excellent news.
Slowly, Lucien grinned.
Edwina gawked.
Lucien turned back to the stairs.
As Edwina said, Leah was in her bedroom, though he knew this since he heard her heart beating and smelled her scent the moment he entered the downstairs hall.
When he walked through the door he saw her sitting on the chaise, her back to its arm, her legs bent in front of her. She was wearing faded jeans, a pale pink camisole, and a lightweight pale green cardigan. Her feet were bare, but her toes were polished a new color. Last night it was a sheer pink, tonight it was a bright fuchsia, evidencing the fact that she obviously disobeyed his command to rest and instead gave herself a pedicure. Her long, layered blonde hair fell around her shoulders in soft flips, the tendrils at her neck curving in, framing the graceful line of her throat in an invitation she likely didn’t know she was giving, but one he savored.
Her head shot up when he arrived and he noted she was reading a book which she had opened on her thighs.
He turned to close the door. When he turned back, her head was again bent to the book. He watched her as he walked into the room, shrugging off his suit jacket. He continued to watch her as he threw it on the foot of the bed and moved closer. And he continued to watch her as he walked past her to the small table at the arm of the lounge.
She kept her head bent to her book the whole time, ignoring him, but her heart was racing and he smelled her fear.
He bent and picked up the bookmark that was resting on the table next to a cold drink and walked to the lounge, seating himself an inch away from her feet.
Then he twisted his torso, reached out and pulled the book from her hands.
Her head snapped up and she cried angrily, “Hey!”
This time he ignored her, put the mark in the book and leaned into her.
She cringed back against the arm of the lounge, her head turning slightly to the side, the pace of her heart escalating.
Lucien ignored this too.
He deposited the book on the table, leaned in farther and put a hand in the chaise on either side of her hips, his stomach and chest brushing her calves.
His eyes caught her wary ones and he demanded, “When I come to you, Leah, I want you to greet me.”
He watched her jaw tighten and the flash in her eyes and he waited for her reply.
She gave it to him. “I’m sorry, oh Great Master. Hello. How was your day?”
He smiled right before he moved.
He’d decided not to hide his heightened abilities from her. He would be nothing but what he was with Leah.
In a second he had her out of the lounge and resituated in it, stretched out on her back, Lucien at her side up on his forearm leaning over her, his lower body pressed against hers.
When he was done, her dark-blue eyes were wide, her full lips parted and her breath had stopped.
“You don’t have to use the ‘great’ part, pet. ‘Master’ will do,” he teased her, still smiling.
She wrinkled her nose and glared. He threw his head back and laughed, barely controlling the urge to bury his face in her throat to get closer to her scent, her pulse, her.
Instead, when he stopped laughing, he put his hand at her fully-healed neck and ran his thumb down her jugular while his eyes watched its movements.
Then his gaze caught hers. “How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.
“Full,” she replied in a sharp, unfriendly voice. “Edwina isn’t skimpy with her portions.”
His brows went up. “You’ve eaten?”
“Yes.”
His thumb continued caressing her throat and his eyes moved back to it as he murmured, “I would have liked to share dinner with you.”
He felt her body give a small jolt, his gaze went to hers, and he caught her wonder before she could hide it.
“You’re surprised?” he asked.
She briefly struggled with something before she nodded.
“Why are you surprised?” he went on. “Because I eat or because I wish to eat with you?”
“Because you eat.” Her voice was still short, clipped, hostile.
Even so his body relaxed, pressing closer to hers, settling in. Hers tensed.
“I eat. I drink. I sleep. I bathe. I do everything you do,” Lucien told her.
She made no comment to this, although her face was filled with curiosity.
She hid the curiosity and decided to change the subject, demanding, “Are we going to talk?”
“We are talking.”
She lifted her hand and waved it around. “No, not talking-talking. Talking about whatever it was you wanted to talk about this morning.”
“We’ll get to that.”
“Can we do it now so you can go?”
“That has a two part answer,” he explained and her brows knitted.
“It’s a yes or no question,” she informed him.
“Then no, to both parts.”
He watched her jaw clench again and he heard her teeth grind together. It took another enormous effort not to laugh.
“Why can’t we get this over with?” she insisted.
“Because I’d like a moment to relax and get a drink.”
She made to move and he allowed more of his weight to settle on her until she stilled.
“If you let me up, I’ll get you a drink,” she offered with false courtesy.
He ignored her attempt to get away from him and his gaze moved to her glass. “What are you drinking?”
She didn’t answer as he took his hand from her neck and reached for the glass. He brought it to his nose and inhaled its scent. It was diet cola and rum.
His eyes moved to hers. “You shouldn’t be drinking spirits,” he admonished.
Her head tilted to the side and her blue eyes grew darker. “Is that an order?”
“For tonight, while you’re still recovering, yes. Any other time you can drink what you wish.”
“I just don’t believe you,” she whispered angrily under her breath.
This was something else he ignored while he took a drink from her glass. For some reason, this caused her to protest, her hand shooting out, fingers wrapping around his wrist and jerking to no avail.
“Hey! Don’t drink from my drink!”
He replaced the glass on the table and looked at her. “Why?”
“It’s my drink!”
“Yes. And?”
“You can’t drink my drink!”
“And why not?”
“Because it’s my drink.”
He sighed her name, “Leah.”
She mimicked his sigh sarcastically. “Lucien.”
He could bear it no longer. She was, quite simply, enchanting.
He burst into laughter again, burying his face in her neck this time while he pulled her to her side facing him, his arms wrapping tight around her, pressing her torso deep against his chest.
“Stop hugging me,” she grumbled over his shoulder, her hands between them pushing against him.
His hand slid down her back to its small, right above her ass, and he pressed in. “I can’t help it, pet, you’re entirely huggable.”
“I’m huggable?”
He lifted his head and smiled at her. “Entirely.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You know, Lucien, you need to make up your mind. Either you’re this guy or you’re the jerky controlling guy who I met at The Selection or you’re the near-miss murder guy last night. Pick one. I’m getting confused.”
He pulled slightly away, bent his elbow and rested his head in his hand, looking down at her.
“I’m all those . . . guys.”
“Can we make a deal that I get to pick which one I want?”
He was still smiling when he asked, “And which one would you choose?”
“None of them, in a perfect world.” He chuckled and she talked through it. “But this one, since we don’t live in a perfect world.”
“Lucky for you, you have this one now.”
“Then this one would give me back my phone.”
His smile died. “I’ll not be giving back your phone.”
“Okay then,” she shot back, “I don’t have the slightly tolerable one. I have the jerky controlling one.”
He disregarded her heated words and said, “There are things you need to learn.”
“Yes, and if I could phone my mother, she would teach me.”
“I’m going to teach you.”
Her mouth snapped shut and she stared before she asked in a soft, stunned voice, “You?”
“Me.”
“Why you?”
It had been a boon she’d been expelled from Vampire Studies even if the reason why annoyed him. She had no idea her role or his limitations. All she knew was the contract, which flew straight in the face of the law. Until he knew why the Buchanans sent her to him even after examining the altered contract, she would have nothing to do with them or anyone.
In the meantime, his path was cleared—at least with Leah.
And that was all that was important.
He, obviously, didn’t tell her any of that.
“Because the idea of doing it amuses me.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Leah,” he called and her gaze came to his. “I’ll take your instruction seriously and I expect you to do the same.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s no one to pass notes to here and I don’t have a phone so I can text my friends.”
He reached up a hand and slid his fingers through the soft hair on the side of her head. A mortal man might have missed the delicate shiver that slid across her skin at his touch. And a mortal would definitely miss the sudden racing of her heart.
Lucien didn’t.
This pleased him.
Greatly.
He made no mention of it nor did he give her any indication he felt it.
His eyes locked with hers. “Good, then I’ll have your undivided attention.”
“Can we get started?” she snapped.
“You’re very impatient,” he told her, fighting a smile.
Her eyes darted to his mouth then away while she announced, “I’m a lot of things, none of them good.”
“I’ve noticed you’re a lot of them, pet, but I beg to differ. I think all of them are good.”
She closed her eyes in despair while muttering, “Great.”
He chuckled and slid under her, pulling her over his body until she was mostly on top of him, part of her settled at his side against the back of the lounge. He kept his arms locked around her waist as she came up on a forearm and looked down at him. Her thick hair fell in a curtain around her face, its fragrance enveloping him in an intoxicating mixture of peonies with a hint of grapefruit.
He tamped down the urge to pull her hair and her closer and instead offered, “We’ll start with last night, shall we?”
“Finally,” she breathed and he gave her a gentle but unmistakable squeeze.
“Leah,” he added a verbal warning to his physical one.
She drew in a breath and exhaled loudly.
Then she invited, “Begin, oh Great Master.”
He again fought back a grin. “You’re about to earn another hug.”
“You’re already hugging me.”
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 farther 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.