Bite Me if You Can (32 page)

“Either,” Lucian said with a grin, then added sincerely, “I really am sorry. I know I was being a bit of a backseat driver in the car and—”

“A bit?” she asked pointedly.

“And you’re right,” he continued, ignoring her interruption. “I should learn to accept help better. It’s something I’m just learning.”

Leigh nodded and sipped her wine, watching as he drank his own, then turned to peer out the window at the lake.

“It’s beautiful here,” Lucian commented with a surprise that made Leigh’s eyebrows rise.

“Haven’t you been here before?”

Lucian shook his head. “The kids come down here some weekends in the summer to kick back and relax. Even Marguerite comes once in a while, but I—” He shrugged. “They’ve invited me, but... ”

He left the sentence unfinished and stared out at the water with a frown, then glanced down to see the amusement on her face and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing... us. Here I’ve always wanted family, and you’ve got it, but shun yours.”

Lucian frowned. “It’s not that I shun them. I just don’t feel I belong most of the time. I had a family and lost them and—”

He stopped abruptly, and Leigh said, “I know about your family. I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” he said quietly.

“But it still hurts you.”

Lucian stared at the water, then said, “I loved my family, Leigh. But it was a long, long time ago. Sometimes I can’t even remember their faces anymore... but I remember what it was like having them and being a part of a family. I can hear their laughter, the girls’ giggles, and remember how good it felt just to have a family of your own, people who loved you and you belonged with.”

“Lissianna and the others love you,” Leigh said quietly.

“Yes, but... ” He struggled briefly, then tried to explain. “Jean Claude married Marguerite and they had the kids, and I was a part of their family, but on the outside.”

“Like a fifth wheel,” Leigh said with understanding. She’d been a fifth wheel often enough at the Christmases and celebrations of friends and their families.

Lucian nodded, then shrugged. “Now, the kids are pretty much grown up and starting families of their own.”

Leigh blinked at the “pretty much grown up” bit. She knew the oldest son, Lucern, was over six hundred years old, and Lissianna over two hundred. How old did they have to be before they were fully grown up? Dear God, she thought. If Lissianna was only “pretty much grown up” in his eyes at two hundred, how did he see her?

Troubled by the idea that Lucian might see her as a child, she downed her wine and moved to set the glass down on the wood and glass coffee table, then started up the stairs. “I’m going to see if I can find a bathing suit.”

“Why bother? There’s no one around for miles and it’s dark out.”

Leigh paused at the challenge in his voice. She peered at him, but Lucian had turned away, staring out at the water. Her gaze followed his out to the lake. It was dark, but not dark enough to make her invisible. He would be able to see her.

As she hesitated, Lucian finished his wine, set it next to her empty glass, then straightened and peered at her as he began to undo the buttons of his shirt. Leigh watched one button after another slip through their holes, then swallowed and turned to the stairs. “I’ll just—”

“Coward.” The soft word slid through the air between them, and she turned back as he asked, “Have you ever been skinny dipping in the moonlight?”

Her eyes traced the contours of his chest as he shrugged the shirt off, tossing it over the end of the couch. Leigh licked her lips and shook her head.

“The water’s like a caress. The moon like a kiss. The sand as soft as a bed.”

Her mind suddenly filled with images, but not of the water caressing her, or the moon kissing her. It was Lucian. She closed her eyes as the images assaulted her, aware that her breathing was becoming shallow and her body reacting to both his words and the ideas in her head. When she blinked her eyes open a moment later, Lucian was standing before her. With her on the first step, and he on the floor, they were almost the same height.

His gaze meeting hers, Lucian lifted a finger and ran it lightly along the collar of the off-the-shoulder top he’d chosen. His voice was husky as he offered, “I could help you with this.”

Without meaning to, hardly aware she was doing it, Leigh swayed forward, her mouth parting. In the next instant, Lucian’s arms were around her, his mouth claiming hers. In her fantasy in the shower, his kisses had been hot and deep and all-consuming. They were more so in reality. Her world tilted and spun as his tongue slid into her. She had to clutch at his shoulders to remain upright.

He tasted of wine, sweet and strong, and she moaned into his mouth with pleasure as his tongue lashed her own. As if the sound were permission given, Lucian abruptly broke the kiss, his mouth trailing down her neck.

Leigh shivered and let her head drop back as he nibbled at the base of her throat where it met her shoulder. Then she gasped and tangled one hand in his short hair as his lips dipped to trace the line of her collar.

With a tug, he pulled on her collar, and Leigh peered down as the pink cloth slipped lower to reveal one naked breast. She was glad this shirt didn’t allow bras as his mouth immediately moved to claim the already erect nipple that was revealed. She thought she was ready for it, but still jerked and clutched at his hair as his lips closed hot and wet over the small nub and began to suckle, sending shock waves of pleasure and excitement rippling through her body.

Lucian was still pushing down on her top, and she made a sound of protest as her arms were forced down with it, trapping them at her sides. He left off her breast then and raised his head to kiss her again, but continued to push the top down until Leigh could free her hands from the cloth. She immediately ran them over his chest, sighing at the feel of him. He was so big, so strong...

Her pleasure was distracted by the knowledge that he was still pushing the material downward and her pants were now going with it. Somehow, while she was distracted by his kisses, Lucian had undone the suede pants without her being aware of it, and now they were slipping over her hips with her pink top.

Leigh didn’t care. He was like a fire in her blood, so much so that she could almost believe she’d drunk the Sweet Ecstasy that Thomas had intended to give her and—

She froze abruptly as she recalled the Sweet Ecstasy. She hadn’t drunk it. Rachel had stopped her before she could. But Lucian had.

She could have wept. All this passion, all this excitement—at least on his side—was all because of some immortal Spanish Fly Lucian had been fed.

Apparently sensing the change in her response, Lucian broke the kiss. Pulling back slightly, he peered at her with concern.

“What is it?” he asked breathlessly. They were both panting like dogs after a run, both as tense as bowstrings, both flush with passion; but only hers was real, she thought.

Leigh leaned her forehead against his shoulder and struggled with herself. If he weren’t under the influence, she’d push him to the floor and ride him like a cowgirl that very minute. Unfortunately, her conscience was battling with her desires and ruining everything.

“Leigh?” Lucian asked uncertainly.

“I... ” She hesitated, at a loss as to what to say to explain her stopping him. She didn’t want to tell him what Thomas had done for fear he’d be angry at the man. She’d been raised not to tattle. But what could she say?

Movement over Lucian’s shoulder caught her eye, and Leigh saw Julius pawing at the bag with the dog food in it, then looking their way and whimpering before pawing it again.

“Julius is hungry,” she said. The moment Lucian turned to glance over his shoulder, Leigh whirled away, snatching up the bag of clothes as she turned. Holding them in one hand, she used the other to pull her pants back up over her hips as she rushed upstairs.

Leigh waited until she reached the top step before announcing, “I have a headache. I’m going to bed.”

Grateful that Lucian didn’t chase after her or press her for explanations, Leigh paused once off the stairs and took a moment to gather herself. Her body was tingling, her heart still racing, and she truly wished it hadn’t been that drink Thomas gave Lucian that made him act as he had. Then she wouldn’t have had to stop him, and she wished she hadn’t had to stop him.

She took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out and tried to distract herself from her body’s aching by taking in her surroundings. The second floor of the “cottage” was half the size of the lower floor. It was a loft. There was no wall at the end overlooking the first floor, just a railing.

Leigh had expected two or maybe three bedrooms up here, but it was one large room with an en suite bathroom she could see through the open door on the far wall.

There was a huge bed in the very center of the floor, and then a sound system, television, and the door to the bathroom along the wall on her left. Two sets of drawers rested beneath a row of windows on the far wall, and a closet ran the length of the wall on her right, its surface made up of mirrors. Where a fourth wall would have been, there was the railing; a small table and chairs, as well as a couch and matching chairs, were arranged in front of it.

Though she tried to ignore it, her gaze kept returning to the big red bed. She’d never seen one so huge. Or one that was round, for that matter. It had to be custom made. The sheets must have been, too. It was giving her a whole new perspective on Thomas.

The murmur of Lucian’s voice reached her ears, and Leigh stepped closer to the railing to see that he was leading Julius into the kitchen. She quickly moved back when he glanced up, hoping he hadn’t seen her, then unzipped the bag she held and began riffling through it in search of the clothes Rachel had promised.

A nightgown was the first thing she touched, and she tugged it out and pulled it over her head without even looking at it, eager to cover her nakedness in case Lucian came up after all. Her top was pooled around her waist, so she simply pushed it off over her hips with her pants, wondering if the cowl neckline of the top would bounce back or forever be ruined.

That worry was forgotten when she noticed how short the nightgown was, and then the two slits in the front that rose all the way up to the bottom of each breast... and that it was see-through. She could see her own damn nipples.

Mouth falling open, Leigh ran forward and dropped the bag on the bed as she peered at herself in the mirrors on the closet doors.

“Lord above,” she breathed with something between shock and horror as she regarded herself. She looked like... well, this was... She couldn’t believe Rachel would—

The crash of breaking glass made her jump. Tearing her eyes away from her reflection, she turned to see Lucian standing at the top of the stairs, a broken tray at his feet.

“I brought you some aspirin and water.” His voice cracked as he stared at her. His eyes were eating her alive, and all the excitement and desire she had been battling since recalling the drink he’d had came rushing back up through her as she let her gaze drift from his swirling silver eyes, to his still naked chest, then finally to the obvious bulge in the front of his tight jeans.

Leigh wondered if he would be as big in real life as he’d been in her fantasy, and shivered with anticipation. She knew her eyes were as hungry as his own when she lifted them to meet his gaze, but couldn’t seem to help herself.

A growl slipping from his lips, Lucian stepped over the tray and broken glass on the floor and started toward her. A little frisson of panic sliced up her back, and she began to back away around the bed.

“We can’t, Lucian.”

“You want me.”

“Yes, but—” Wrong answer, she realized when he rushed toward her. Whirling, Leigh hurried around the bed to keep him from touching her. If he did, she knew all her good intentions would be lost.

“We can’t!” she cried, glancing over her shoulder to see that he’d stopped. Then stopping herself, to keep from running around the bed and into him, she eyed him warily.

“Why?” Lucian began to pad after her again, moving slowly, eyes narrowed, a hunter after his prey.

Leigh swallowed and began to back away around the bed. “You don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?” His voice was halfway between whisper and growl and brushed over every nerve in her body like a caress.

“This isn’t you. You don’t want me,” Leigh said, glancing over her shoulder to be sure she didn’t trip over anything.

“Oh yes, I want you,” Lucian assured her grimly. “I’ve wanted you since the first night. I wanted you on the plane when you lay there so pale and beautiful, I wanted you in the shower, I wanted you in the restaurant. I wanted you downstairs, and I want you now.”

Leigh stopped backing away. “Really?”

Lucian halted. They were now facing each other across the bed. “Really.”

Leigh hesitated. If he’d wanted her before the drink, maybe the drink didn’t matter. Maybe it just increased what he’d already been feeling.

“You don’t have a headache,” Lucian said. It wasn’t a question, but Leigh shook her head anyway, and he asked, “Why did you lie?”

“Thomas gave you a Sweet Ecstasy, and I was afraid you were under the influence,” she blurted quickly, silently apologizing to Thomas for tattling.

A slow smile spread over Lucian’s face. “You were trying to protect me from myself.”

Leigh nodded, then gasped as he suddenly lunged across the bed. Lucian was before her on his knees on the side of the bed in a blink. One more blink and he’d caught her around the waist and tugged her down, tucking her under him on the red satin surface.

“I didn’t drink the drink Thomas gave me,” Lucian announced, peering down at her solemnly as his hand slipped under the short nightie and slid up along her stomach.

“You didn’t?” Leigh asked in a squeak as his caress sent her stomach rippling.

Lucian shook his head as he used his legs to shift hers apart. He settled one leg between hers, pressing it against her as he added, “I saw him make the switch out of the corner of my eye, and even if I hadn’t, I would have recognized it for what it was. He didn’t think to remove the red umbrella. Only Sweet Ecstasies have red umbrellas at the Night Club.”