Samantha smiled, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her. She might not know where she really stood with Luca, but it felt good to bond with another woman.
“Thanks, Kat. The only thing I’m sure of right now is that I’ve got to stay safe and help find whoever wants me dead. Piece of cake, right?” she joked, just as Luca came through the door.
He raised a questioning eyebrow at Kat as she buckled herself back into her seat. “Everything okay here?” he asked.
“Fine,” both women answered at once. They both laughed and looked out the window.
The air in the plane felt lighter, but he wasn’t sure what’d just transpired between the two very special supernatural ladies. He’d been on the earth for over two hundred years and still couldn’t say he understood women. He did understand enough, though, to know he’d be having a very long conversation with Samantha when they got home.
Kat hugged Samantha tightly, before getting into the waiting limo. They had exchanged email and phone numbers so they could stay in touch. Luca waited until Samantha was done before embracing Kat. He was worried about the situation with the New York Alpha, but knew she’d be safe with Marcel.
“Listen, Kat. Call me if you need anything. I talked to Marcel, and he’s going to help straighten out this mess.” He kissed the top of her forehead. “Now, get going little wolf. Make sure those gators don’t get your tail in the bayou,” he teased as she ducked into the limo and shut the door.
Samantha and Luca got into the back of the other limo, and she purposefully put space between them by sitting on the side which faced the trunk. She was still irritated with him and questioned his intentions, but at the same time, she couldn’t help noticing how great he looked tonight in his loose fit blue jeans and black t-shirt. His biceps were exquisitely carved, and she noticed he had a black tribal tattoo on the right one. She remembered the strength of his arms holding her up in the water, and wondered what it would be like if he bit her. Would she offer herself?
Her thoughts were broken when Luca shifted and sat beside her. She felt his jeans brush her bare leg, and struggled to act nonchalant.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m sitting next to you,” he smiled at her.
She shot him a look of annoyance. Moving closer to the window, she tried not to let her bare leg touch him again.
“So little witch, I think you and I need to have a bit of a talk,” he said.
“Don’t call me that,” she insisted.
“You are testy, aren’t you?” He took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “I’m sorry for what happened at Eden.”
“For what?” she feigned ignorance.
“Let’s not play games,” he countered.
“Games? Games? I don’t know what you are even talking about, Luca.” Samantha’s normally soft voice was growing louder and louder.
“Yes, games. I know you’re mad at me, and I know why. I just want to talk about it, so we can…”
“So we can what, Luca? What? I mean, this morning at the cabin we kissed; that was all. You don’t owe me any explanations. Besides, Kat told me everything,” she interrupted.
“Did she now?” he chuckled. Women. “I told you when I went to Eden I needed to feed. I prefer to have live donors. You see, when vampires feed…” He stopped himself from explaining any further as she looked straight at him and held up her hand to him.
“Just stop. I don’t want to know,” she stated.
“Okay, well here’s the bottom line. Kat and I are friends who’ve known each other a very long time. I’m not going to lie to you, Samantha. In the past, we’ve been lovers, but we have never been a couple. And today, I just…I just needed to feed. And as much as I would love to taste your sweet blood, and believe me, I would, Kat was there.”
“And you were going to make love to her?” Samantha asked.
“Yes,” Luca answered quietly and truthfully. “But Samantha, I didn’t.” He reached over to run his fingers along the side of her face, and she brushed his hand away.
“But you wanted her?” Samantha challenged.
“No, Samantha, that’s the thing. I wanted you,” he whispered. He moved back to sit across from her as the car pulled into the driveway. Samantha’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he wasn’t sure what else he should say in the few minutes they’d have in the car. He decided to wait until they got settled before continuing the conversation.
Samantha didn’t know how to respond. She was confused. Why would he take Kat instead of her if he did indeed want her like he said? She tried to think of how she would have reacted if Luca had asked her to let him feed from her. Would she have said yes or have gone running in the other direction? As much as she liked him, she couldn’t honestly say that she would have said yes. She felt so raw from her abduction that she just wasn’t sure she could trust someone to bite her, to risk putting herself in danger, to risk pain.
As they pulled into the Issacson compound, she gaped at the huge southern Victorian mansion. She didn’t remember leaving there, but could still remember the luxurious prison cell accommodations located in the lower level of the home. She couldn’t help but wonder what the rest of the place looked like.
The car circled around the front of the mansion and took a small, almost hidden road that was lined with breathtaking, majestic live oak trees. The private road went on for about one hundred feet until they reached a secondary Greek revival styled mansion, which was equally impressive, with its white columned entrance greeting its guests.
As the limo stopped, Luca got out of the car and offered his hand to Samantha. She stepped out of the car, and silently followed him to his home. At the front door, he flipped open a security panel, typed in a code and placed his face and palm into the box. Within seconds, the lock clicked open.
Samantha was impressed. “Biometric facial recognition, iris security and palm identification?”
Luca smiled. She was sexy and smart. “Yeah, well, you can’t be too careful. Unlike Kade, I don’t have any security personnel working in my home. What you can’t see is the instantaneous DNA detection in the palm identifier. Look.” He pointed to a black panel with a neon green outline of a hand on it. “It’s hard to see, but there’s a microscopic needle that extends into the thumb of the user. Facial recognition is great, and while this software is essentially hack-proof, there’s still a small percentage of failure.”
“Yeah, I read hackers have been trying to demonstrate failure. Even though it’s a small percentage, I could see how if you were to invest in such a system you’d want redundancy,” she commented.
As they walked into the foyer, Samantha was amazed to see Luca’s finely decorated home, adorned with antiques and paintings. “Wow, Luca, your home is beautiful. It looks like a museum in here,” she gasped.
“Thanks. I don’t use the upper levels, though. It’s pretty much for show. If I entertain, I use this first floor area for guests. But I don’t live up here. Come on, follow me.” Luca walked down a short hallway, punched another security code into the wall, and a door with an antiqued face opened. “This is it. Ladies first.” He held out his hand to usher her down.
Motion detector lights illuminated the circular oak staircase which deposited them into a great room, which appeared more as Samantha had expected Luca’s style to be; an ultra-modern bachelor’s dream: sleek with minimal décor. A single chrome wall ran the length of the area; it was decorated with black and white still-life photos. The other three whitewashed brick walls complemented the cherry hardwood floors. A large overstuffed black leather sectional sofa directly faced a ninety-inch flat screen TV. Across from the living area, a half-moon, black granite bar swept around a small kitchen area. Royal-blue, spiral-shaped lights hung down from the ceiling from fine silver chains; the delicate illumination danced and reflected across the chrome walls.