Kat stopped Tristan from leaving and looked over to Luca. “Luca, I’ll feed you,” she offered.
“You sure? I thought you had an appointment. And you need to get your stuff together. We’ve got to leave soon,” Luca said.
“I’ll call the shop and give Sherri my client. They’re expecting me to leave soon anyway. Now they’ll just have to rearrange the schedule a little more quickly. Call it a perk of being an owner. And I don’t need anything else but my purse and cell phone, which I have. As soon as I get to Marcel’s, I plan to go wolf for a while. Any clothes I need, he’ll provide from the pack,” Kat answered without hesitation.
“Tristan, you mind? This isn’t our first time, but she’s still your sister.” Luca was old-fashioned in many ways and felt it necessary to get her older brother’s permission.
Tristan trusted Luca with his life and his sister’s. Luca and Kat had been tight ever since Luca rescued her, and while he hadn’t exactly talked about sex with his sister, he was pretty sure that they’d been together several times over the years.
“No problem. Go have fun, kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he quipped.
Luca grabbed Kat by the hand and started up the stairs toward the private rooms.
As they walked down the hallway, looking for an open feeding room, Kat grabbed Luca’s arm tighter and giggled, hoping she’d have at least an hour to make love with him before they had to take off. It had been years since they’d been together, and she was looking forward to reminiscing.
Luca, thirsting for blood, could feel his fangs pushing through his gums. Kat’s blood, heady, woodsy and potent, would surely sate his thirst. As he went to turn the handle to one of the feeding rooms, he froze. Samantha. She stared straight at him down the long, dimly lit hallway. There he stood arm in arm with another woman after he’d kissed her only hours earlier. The instant he locked eyes with Samantha, he registered the pain he was causing her.
Samantha stopped dead in her tracks, observing Kat hold Luca’s arms as if they were long-lost lovers. Rationally, she knew that he needed to eat and that he’d use a donor. She hadn’t offered her own blood to Luca. After everything she’d been through, she just couldn’t bring herself to do that. She honestly thought that she understood what it meant for him to feed off of someone else, but there in the hall, seeing another woman wrapped around his waist, she felt jealous. Her anger flared.
She felt like a fool for kissing him, for believing that they could have possibly had a connection. At the cabin, he’d kissed her passionately. He’d acted like he was ready to make love to her. It must have all been a ruse to get her to go with him back to New Orleans, she thought. Obviously he hadn’t felt the same toward her if he was letting Kat put her hands all over him. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of him kissing that woman, holding her in his arms. But what could she do? He did need to eat. And a display of jealousy would be akin to showing weakness. She would not let herself be a victim again. Biting her lip, she steeled herself and began to walk toward them.
Luca watched her contemplate what was happening. He felt a strange, unfamiliar feeling in the pit of his gut. Guilt. No, he refused to acknowledge it. Just as Samantha came within twenty feet of him, he acknowledged her presence with a nod, opened the door, pulled Kat inside and slammed it shut.
Luca growled in hunger as he caged Kat against the door. In anger, he pressed his lips to hers, pushing his tongue deep within her mouth. Sensing his predatory nature in full force, Kat submitted, keeping her arms down and against the door, and kissed him back. Luca knew immediately something was off as soon as he kissed her. That damn witch had cursed him; he was sure of it. He had kissed Kat many times in the past, but now the only picture in his mind was Samantha. Luca bared his fangs, threw his head back and roared.
Kat reached up slowly, pulled off her t-shirt and bared her neck to him. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with Luca but it wasn’t the first time she’d seen him upset. She could tell that she probably wouldn’t be having sex with him like she’d been anticipating, but understood that Luca had something on his mind.
“You’re sure, Kat?” Luca asked. No matter how many times he fed, he always asked his donor. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t taking someone against their will, no matter what their original intentions.
“Yes, Luca. Take me,” Kat whispered.
A split second later, his fangs sank deep into her neck. As he drank, he tried to block Samantha, but couldn’t stop thinking of her.
Kat pressed her flattened palms against Luca’s chest. Then her fingers clasped his shirt tightly as she felt an orgasm rip through her. She reached down to feel Luca’s hardness and had him in her grip, when he pushed her hand away and released her.
His eyes remained red as he fell down onto the sofa. “Fuck!” he yelled.
“Luca, what’s wrong?” Kat panted. She was still riding hard from the explosive release. She knelt before him.
Luca laid back with his head resting on a pillow and his feet up on the armrest. “I can’t, Kat. And I don’t want to talk about it, okay. Just don’t ask.” He closed his eyes, wiping her blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Luca, it’s fine. You know I want to, um, finish, but if you’re not into it today, that’s okay. Your bite is quite satisfying,” she teased and put her hand over his chest. “Whatever it is, we can talk about it later, when and if you’re ready.”
With a pat, she jumped up and put on her shirt. “Luca, since I have the time, I’m gonna run over to the shop and just check in before I leave. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes. I promise it won’t take long.” Kat leaned over and kissed her friend’s forehead.
Luca barely saw her walk out the door, but heard it slam shut. He opened his eyes, which had returned to green, and stared up at the stark white ceiling. He’d gone centuries feeling nothing, and it had served him well. Now he was good and fucked. Guilt. He was sure he felt guilt about being with Kat. And why? Because he’d had a kiss and tickle with Samantha in the lake? No, he’d known there was something there between them ever since the first time he’d stroked Samantha’s hair in Kade’s basement. And now that he’d kissed her, he couldn’t forget the taste of her sweet, soft mouth and the feel of her breasts in his hands.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” he said aloud to himself. Feelings. Very human-like feelings could threaten his entire existence. Yet he knew in his heart that he was done for. It didn’t matter what his mind said or the logic it possessed; his heart spoke and knew what it wanted. He had to have the witch.
From across the room, Tristan could tell that Samantha had been crying. Her face was reddened from her attempts to dry her eyes. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but pain washed over her aura. He knew that she’d been through a lot of trauma over the past few weeks, but she’d seemed relatively calm during their encounter at the cabin. Perhaps she was having a meltdown after watching the cabin burn? Or maybe she was just hungry? He knew he got cranky when he didn’t eat.
Deciding not to leave her to any of the sharks looking for a hot date, the Alpha strode over and pulled her into an embrace. “Come on, ma petite sorcière, whatever it is, it’ll all work out. What’d I tell you up at the cabin? Go to New Orleans for a little while and then come back. I’ll help you get settled back here at home.” He rubbed his hand over her hair. She was quite petite indeed, maybe five-three, he thought to himself. The top of her head barely reached his neck.