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 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.”