Bite Me if You Can (22 page)

“That’s delicious.”

Leigh stopped chewing, her eyes narrowing on his surprised expression. There was definite lust in his eyes now as he contemplated her plate, and that—combined with his comment—made her fear he might want more.

“Is the sausage good, too?” he asked.

Leigh scowled. “Yes.”

“I’ll have a bite of that, too,” Lucian said, then frowned and corrected himself quickly, “I mean, can I try a bit of that, too?”

Leigh’s mouth tightened with displeasure. She’d feared as much. Now he wanted more. She wanted to snarl at him to order his own, but he was buying it for her, after all. She cut a piece of sausage and silently held it out, watching his lips again close over her fork, then their eyes met. For some reason in that moment, Leigh recalled her shower fantasy and felt a shiver run up her spine.

Swallowing, she pulled her hand back and ducked her head to concentrate on her food.

“That’s good, too.” Lucian’s voice had taken on something of a sexy growl, and Leigh felt another shiver run up her back. “Can I have another?”

Leigh’s gaze shot up. The resentment that had plagued her over the first two requests was now gone. Instead, she was a mass of confusion. Something had changed in his eyes, the silver had become more prominent, almost molten.

Forcing herself to look away, Leigh cleared her throat and cut another piece of sausage. Her hand was trembling now as she reached across the table to offer it to him. The piece of meat fell off halfway across the table and they both stared at it blankly, then Leigh instinctively reached for it, picking it up between thumb and forefinger to set it on the side of her plate and cut him another piece. However, before she could, Lucian’s fingers closed around her wrist and slowly drew her hand to him. Her mouth parted slightly, heat rippling through her stomach as his lips closed around her fingers and slowly drew down, pulling the sausage from her grasp.

Hoping to calm the confusion suddenly rife within her, Leigh closed her eyes. However, the moment she did, images flashed through her brain, quick disjointed pictures of Lucian kissing her, his hand tangled in her hair, his body firm against hers... his mouth suckling at her breast, tugging gently but insistently at one excited nipple... their naked bodies like entwined marble on black satin sheets... cold tile against her back as he drove into her... then Lucian suddenly rose up out of his seat, swept the table clear of food and dishes, and lifted her onto it.

“I brought you another fork since it looks like you’re going to share.”

Leigh’s eyes snapped open and she stared at their waitress as she set the fork in front of Lucian. A glance at the table showed that their cups and plates were all still there. It took a moment for her mind to recover enough for her to offer a weak smile.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“Would you like more coffee?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” Lucian answered when Leigh just stared, unable to process the question, then he added, “And two more orders of what she has.”

Leigh blinked in surprise as much at the husky growl evident in his voice as at the request itself. His eyes, she noted, were sleepy looking and still swirling hot silver, but then he smiled and said, “That way I won’t have to steal yours and fear you stabbing me with a fork for my impertinence.”

A slow smile spread her lips as the waitress moved off with a chuckle, then Leigh gestured to the extra fork the woman had brought them. “You may as well help me with this.”

Lucian smiled and picked up the fork as Leigh shifted her plate to the center of the table and they set to work demolishing it.

They ate in companionable silence, Leigh thinking about the strange experience moments earlier. The images had seemed as real as when she’d fantasized in the shower. In fact, she shouldn’t really call them images at all. It was more like flashbacks to that waking wet dream... except for the flash of them entwined on black satin sheets. That hadn’t been in her shower experience, but had seemed just as real as the rest of it.

She had no idea what happened, but—since she’d never experienced anything like it before Morgan bit her—supposed it must be a result of the nanos. Perhaps senses weren’t the only thing changed, they might alter her brain somehow as well.

They had just finished off the breakfast Leigh had ordered when the waitress arrived with the two fresh servings. She took away the empty plates they’d cleaned up and went away.

Now that they no longer had to hunch forward in their seats to reach the plate in the center of the table, Leigh and Lucian both relaxed back in their seats and their moods became more relaxed as well. They’d already eaten half a breakfast each, so were able now to eat at a more leisurely pace, interspersing conversation between bites.

“So, is hunting rogues a paid job or do you have another one?” Leigh asked between bites. The question was both out of curiosity and the concern that he was neglecting his work to look after her.

“Rogue hunters are our enforcers and most of them are paid,” Lucian said a tad stiffly. “I’m also on the council.”

Leigh blinked at this announcement, her attention turned. “The council? You’ve mentioned that before. What exactly is the council?”

“The governing body for immortals,” he explained. “We act as lawmakers, judges, and basically oversee anything that affects immortals.”

“All of them?” Leigh asked, eyes growing wide. It seemed she’d landed herself with a powerful person amongst the immortals. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“There aren’t that many, really. We’ve kept our population relatively low.”

She peered at him curiously. He was answering questions more easily this morning. It made her wonder how much of his earlier exasperation had been due to sleep deprivation. “How many people are there on the council?”

Lucian shrugged. “It fluctuates. We try to keep at least six on the council, but members serve for a while, then leave as they desire.”

“Are Etienne and Rachel on it, too?” she asked curiously.

“Good Lord, no.” He looked appalled at the very idea. “They’re far too young. Only the oldest immortals can sit on the council.”

Leigh’s eyebrows arched. “I see ageism is alive and well amongst immortals, too.”

He chuckled at her dry tone, but explained, “Older immortals have seen and experienced more. Besides, council members aren’t paid, and younger immortals are generally more concerned with making a living and can’t give the position the time and attention it deserves.”

“And you don’t?” she asked dryly, one eyebrow arched.

Lucian shook his head. “I am in the fortunate position of being half-owner of Argeneau Enterprises.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s a company my brother and I started... when was it? The sixteenth century or the seventeenth?” he said thoughtfully, then glanced at her with surprise when she burst out laughing.

“Sorry,” Leigh said. “It’s just rather odd to hear someone ponder which century they—Never mind. So, okay, you and your brother started a company centuries ago. You both had a half?”

Lucian nodded. “His half was split between his children and Marguerite when Jean Claude died.”

“Jean Claude is your brother?”

“My twin brother.”

Leigh’s eyebrows rose, her gaze sliding over him as she pondered the fact that there had once been two such handsome, powerful men in the world.

“Jean Claude and I ran the company at first, but Bastien took it over some time ago and runs it with the help of a board.”

“It’s hard to believe that I haven’t heard of a four-or five-hundred-year-old company,” Leigh commented.

“Not at all,” Lucian assured her. “It’s changed names a couple of times and we don’t sell anything that the common person would buy in a store.”

“What do you sell?”

“Argeneaus is very diversified. We have a branch that manufactures parts, another handles investments, another buys and sells real estate, and another branch is into medical things,” he said vaguely.

“Medical things like what?” Leigh asked curiously.

“Research and development, blood banks and specialized bars.”

Leigh blinked. The last part just seemed odd trailing after the first two, and she echoed, “Specialized bars? Why would the branch that handles ‘medical things,’ as you call it, deal with specialized bars?”

Lucian smiled at her expression. “They’re blood bars.”

“Blood bars?” Leigh repeated slowly, then her eyes widened. “You mean... ?”

“For our people,” he acknowledged.

“There are places you can just go in and order a—” She caught herself when he raised a hand, and she realized her voice had risen with her amazement. They weren’t supposed to draw attention to themselves, and squealing about blood bars would have done that.

“They have specialty drinks,” Lucian said quietly. “Bloody Mary’s, Sweet Tooths, Fiery Redheads, Bloody Bibbos, and so on.”

Leigh listened, fascinated. She owned a restaurant bar, so this was of interest to her. Before she could ask more, he changed the subject. “You said your parents died when you were ten. How did they die?”

Leigh was silent for a while as her mind shifted gears, then explained, “My parents went out to dinner with my aunt and uncle to celebrate their anniversary. Their car was hit by a drunk driver on the way back. All four of them died.”

“And your grandfather took you in,” Lucian murmured. “He lived in Kansas City?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I was born and raised in McKeesport. It’s a small town outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I lived there until I went away to Harvard.”

“Which is when your grandfather died,” Lucian murmured.

Leigh nodded, her mouth turning down. “I was away at Harvard when he died. I knew his health was failing and wanted to go to school closer to home, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Yesterday, you mentioned being married.”

Leigh shifted uncomfortably. The subject was taking a turn she didn’t care for. She didn’t like to think of that time in her life. She’d been weak and pathetic then, to her critical mind. She’d been so dependent emotionally on Kenny that she’d allowed herself to become a victim. She never wanted to be in that position again.

Before she could come up with a way to change the subject, he said, “You suggested your husband was abusive.”

A short, harsh laugh slipped from her lips at the understatement, then Leigh shook her head. “It was my own fault.” She saw him stiffen and said quickly, “Not his being abusive. That was all him. I’m not that stupid,” she added wryly.

“Then what was your fault?”

“Marrying him,” she answered, and explained, “We’d only been dating six weeks. I shouldn’t have agreed when he asked, but Gramps had just died, and he was supportive and comforting through it all... ”

Leigh frowned and toyed with her coffee cup, then said, “We were on a trip to Vegas with a bunch of other students. I’d dropped out of school to take care of my grandfather’s funeral and grieve, but the trip had been paid for and all the reservations made and Kenny convinced me to go.”

“Kenny was your husband?”

The disgust he put in pronouncing the name made her smile faintly. “Yes. He became my husband that weekend. We were there in Vegas, he asked, I said yes... ” She shrugged. “The die was cast.”

“You were lonely, suddenly alone in the world, and he took advantage,” Lucian said quietly.

Leigh blinked sudden tears away and shook her head. “I was an adult. I should have known better, should have got to know him better.” She frowned and shook her head with confusion. She didn’t think Kenny had set out to take advantage of her. “We were both young and foolish.”

“Even young predators are very good at picking prey.”

Leigh stiffened at the quiet comment. “You mean the weak.”

“No. I mean those who are vulnerable. Everyone is vulnerable at one time or another.”

“When’s the last time you were vulnerable?” she asked doubtfully.

Lucian was silent for a long time, then quietly said, “You would be surprised.”

Leigh stared, wondering what he meant by that, then he continued, “They say it takes a year to grieve. How long after your grandfather’s death did he ask you to marry him?”

“Three weeks.”

“Ahhh,” he said with a nod. “You see? Even an idiot would know you were still grieving and not thinking clearly.”

Leigh shrugged. She’d like to claim Kenny hadn’t been all that bright, but it wasn’t true. They didn’t let idiots into Harvard, and that’s where they’d met.

“He never hit you before the wedding?”

“Good God, no! I never would have married him.”

Lucian nodded. “It started with verbal abuse.”

Leigh grimaced. “Yes. I was stupid, fat, and so on.”

“Hitting on your weak points.”

“You say it like it’s obvious those would be my weaknesses,” she said dryly.

Lucian shrugged. “You said you’d left school when your grandfather died. That means you lost your identity as a student, would be feeling insecure about your abilities.”

“And the fat?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Lucian looked amused. “Every mortal female thinks she’s fat, even if she’s stick thin. I had a maid once who thought she was fat. Her husband encouraged it. She was so thin her hips stuck out, and still he told her she had a fat ass, and she believed him.”

He shook his head, obviously finding it difficult to understand. Leigh smiled faintly, but said, “You say all mortal women think they’re fat. Immortal women don’t?”

“How could they?” he asked. “Nanos keep us at our peak health and shape. It’s what they do. So every immortal is their perfect shape.” He grinned. “Rachel was disappointed that she didn’t suddenly turn stick thin, but she wasn’t meant to be. Now she is secure in the knowledge that she’s a perfect Rachel.”

Lucian suddenly grimaced and muttered, “Well, mostly perfect. The nanos don’t affect personality, unfortunately.”

Leigh chuckled at his words. “I did get the feeling that Rachel isn’t overly fond of you.”

“I do what I have to do to protect my family, my people.” There was steel in his voice. “Sometimes that doesn’t make me popular.”