“For what?”
“For taking you that hard.”
Was he serious?”
“Uh, darling, it seems you might have missed this but I liked it,” I informed him.
His thumb slid along my cheek as his eyes moved over my face.
Then his eyes came back to mine and he murmured, “You aren’t lying.”
“Why would I lie about that?”
“Because that would be what I wanted to hear.”
It was my turn for my eyes to move over his face.
Cautiously, I asked, “Do people tell you what you want to hear often?”
“Except for Cosmo, Teffie and occasionally others, always.”
I felt my lips part and my eyes grow wide.
Whoa. I didn’t know what to do with that.
“Seriously?” I asked in amazement, the shadow moved out of his handsome face and he grinned.
“Seriously,” he answered.
“I don’t know if that’s cool or if that would suck,” I shared.
“The latter,” Lucien clarified.
I tipped my head to the side even as I dipped it closer to his and I grinned before saying, “I don’t know. I think it would be cool to have everyone tell me what I want to hear. Like, ‘Leah, your butt absolutely does not look big in that.’ And, ‘Oh no, this hollandaise sauce isn’t runny and disgusting. It tastes great.’ Stuff like that.”
Lucien’s hand left my face so that arm could also wrap tight around me and his hips adjusted slightly so he slid out of me as he grinned.
Then he stated, “For the record, your ass never looks big in anything.”
“Good to know,” I said through my smile.
“But please, don’t attempt hollandaise sauce.”
I burst out laughing and as I was doing it, Lucien rolled me to my back. We ended with his torso on mine but most of his weight on a forearm in the bed beside me. I was still giggling and although Lucien was smiling a beautiful smile, he wasn’t laughing. He was watching and he was doing it like he liked what he saw.
And I liked that.
“All right, darling,” I replied. “I won’t attempt hollandaise sauce. But I’ll inform you that this is mostly because I already have about seven thousand times. I’ve always ruined it so I know that’s a road I shouldn’t go down.”
“This is good,” he muttered, his eyes holding humor.
“But I make no such assurances about béarnaise sauce. I think I could kick some béarnaise ass.”
Lucien kept muttering as his eyes kept dancing when he said, “Heaven help me.”
“Just saying,” I muttered back.
He held my eyes, his still lit with amusement then I watched the amusement die and he said quietly, “We must talk.”
I sighed. Then I replied, “I know,” and finished, “Cressida.”
His head jerked slightly and he asked, “Cressida?”
“Darling, I have to say, and please, no offense but I’m concerned you’re into me considering the two other women that have been in your life that I’ve met. Am I like them?”
“Not in any way,” he stated firmly.
Interesting.
“Then why did you pick them?” I asked.
“I’m not certain you want to know.”
I totally did.
“Call me crazy but I do.”
“Then I’ll amend my response,” Lucien returned. “I’m not certain I want to tell you because, having you, I’m no longer certain why I chose them.”
Oh my God.
That was sweet.
“Lucien,” I whispered.
Lucien changed the subject. “But that isn’t what we need to talk about.”
I nodded and said, “The table thing.”
Lucien’s brows drew together. “Pardon?”
I fluttered my hand in the air and explained, “The table thing. I saw it. When you seated me at the foot everyone went kind of weird. What was that?”
“Tradition,” Lucien answered. “You’re a mortal and you were amongst vampires. My mother would normally take the foot.”
I didn’t think that was good.
“Then why’d you seat me there?”
“Because it’s your house, your place and my seating you there was my way of telling them they should respect you in it. Unfortunately, even this did not deter Cressida and my father from behaving badly.”
He was right about that.
Still.
“I hope your mother wasn’t offended,” I whispered.
“She understood why I did it and therefore she wasn’t.”
Well, that was good.
Lucien went on, “That also isn’t what we need to talk about.”
Again I nodded and stated, “The Council.”
“Leah –” he started but I interrupted him.
“You still haven’t told me about what happened and I’d like to know.”
His eyes moved over my face again and he noted, “You’re worried.”
“I told you I was but that was then, only the morning after. Now I’ve had two days of inexplicably being under guard at your demand, something else you haven’t explained. And, I should tell you, I kind of figured it out that I don’t have a guard to stop me from sleeping without you close. Then there was both our families descending unexpectedly. Not to mention lots of hot sex. But bottom line, time has passed. So before I was worried. Now I’m worried.”
His eyes warmed and his head dropped so he could rest his forehead to mine.
What he didn’t do was answer.
Therefore, I prompted, “So can you either tell me everything is all right or tell me what’s wrong so I can pinpoint my freak out rather than making shit up in my head?” Lucien lifted his forehead from mine and caught my eyes but I kept talking. “Because you should know, I have this thing I do. So I can prepare for the worst, I worry about the worst. Then I find out what’s happening or what’s going to happen happens and it’s never the worst and I’m relieved. And, seriously darling, the shit I make up is really not good so give me something to go on here.”
When I shut up, instantly he stated, “I broke a rule. Not an insignificant one. However, it is one that was created a long time ago for reasons that might have been sound then although that’s debatable. What isn’t debatable is that they no longer are. It’s antiquated and confining. I’ve explained my reasoning to The Council and they’re considering it. They’ll find in my favor and all will be well.”
I studied his face then asked, “You’re sure?”
He held my eyes and I had no idea that he lied when he replied softly, “I’m sure.”
“And, say, just for the sake of discussion, they don’t find in your favor. What happens to you?”
“They’ll find in my favor.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Leah, they’ll find in my favor.”
“Okay, Lucien, but what if they don’t?”
“They will.”
I pressed both hands to his chest not to push him away but to communicate my need to know and repeated, “What if they don’t? Will they punish you? Vampire torture? Vampire prison? What are we talking about here?”
Lucien grinned. “There is no vampire torture or vampire prison.”
“So what if someone does something wrong?”
“If their transgressions are discovered, they’re told to stop doing it and pay compensation, if The Council deems it necessary.”
My eyes got wide. “That’s it?”
“Often the compensation is significant.”
I couldn’t believe this.
“So all forms of vampire punishment are paid through fines?”
“No. If a vampire breaks a very significant rule or continues to break a rule they’ve been penalized for before, they’d pay with their life.”
I sucked in breath and my body went solid.
Lucien’s big hand framed my face. “The rule I broke wasn’t that significant.”