Lucas (47 page)

She drew a deep breath of clean air and stripped down to her skin, then searched the cupboards until she found a box of garbage bags beneath the sink. Every piece of clothing she wore went into a bag, from the coated rubber band in her hair on down, including her sweater and the two shirts she’d borrowed from Lucas, even her athletic shoes and socks. She tied off that bag, then shoved it into a second bag and secured that one just as tightly. Her first instinct was to throw it all away, but she might change her mind later, so for now she simply dropped it in a corner near the door and dragged herself into the bathroom.

Reaching into the shower stall, she turned the hot water on full blast,
then
leaned wearily over the sink, bracing herself on her arms. She avoided looking in the mirror, glad when the room filled with steam, fogging the glass enough that she couldn’t see anything. She felt tainted by what she’d
found,
and she wondered if she’d ever feel clean again. Turning back toward the shower, she opened the door and nearly stepped under the spray without checking first. Something registered on her tired brain at the last minute, and she put out a hand, jerking it back when the dangerously hot water hit her fingers. Heart pounding, she adjusted the water to just under boiling, then closed the door behind her and stood, letting the water wash over her.

She didn’t realize she was crying until the shower door opened and Lucas put his arms around her, holding her while she wept silently, her tears hot against his broad chest, her body trembling with emotion while he held her steady.

“Ah, Katie.
We’ll find your brother. I promise.”

Kathryn couldn’t answer at first, couldn’t find the breath to do anything but cry. But when she was all cried out, her voice scratchy from her tears, she said, “It’s not just Daniel. It’s that horrible place. Did you know that he—
”

“I knew some of it. We vampire lords don’t exactly socialize with one another, so I’d never been to his house before. But I knew
Klemens’s
preferences tended
toward .
 . . degradation, and my people briefed me on what they found before we left. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“You know,” she said, sniffing loudly, “I’ve met some of the agents who work on the child pornography task force, and they’ve hinted at the sorts of things they deal with. But seeing that awful collection of
Klemens’s
today .
 . . I’m glad he’s dead.”

“Aye,” Lucas agreed. “I’m only sorry he had to take so many with him.”

“But they lived there, too. They must have—”

“Some of them probably shared his tastes, but not all. The bond between a vampire and his children is strong, Kathryn. Even many of those who hated him would have been unable to defy him.”

“Then I’m sorry for them, but not the rest.”

She felt him kiss the top of her head and tried to pull away. “Don’t,” she protested. “I’m filthy.”

“We’ll have to do something about that then,” he drawled, his Irish lilt making
itself
heard.

He reached behind her and snapped open a plastic container, sniffing the contents before drizzling it over her head.

“I can do that, you don’t—”

“Let me,
a
cuisle
. Just relax.”

He turned her around until her back was to his chest, his big body protecting her from the pounding water. His strong fingers massaged her scalp, scenting the steamy shower stall with the fresh smell of her shampoo, filling her nostrils with the cleansing scent instead of the greasy miasma of
Klemens’s
lair. She leaned her head back and let him work, relishing the elegant flow of his muscles, the solid strength of his body behind her. A wave of sadness brought fresh tears to her eyes. She knew this couldn’t last. Before too long, she’d have to head back to
Virginia
, to her job and her life there. She’d have to leave all of this—leave Lucas—behind. Theirs was an impossible relationship. Thousands of miles separated their lives, and that was only distance. She worked for the FBI, and he was a damn vampire lord. How could that ever work between them? She couldn’t change who she was any more than Lucas could stop being a vampire. She bent her head, so Lucas wouldn’t see the tears. She never cried, and now suddenly, she couldn’t seem to stop.

Lucas’s fingers stilled, and she thought he’d sensed somehow that she was crying, but then he slid his hands to her shoulders and said, “Prepare to rinse.” He turned her slowly into the stream of water, tipping her head forward with a gentle pressure. Once the shampoo was gone, he massaged conditioner in—she’d fallen hopelessly in love with a man who appreciated the need for conditioner.

Her thoughts skidded to a halt.
Love?
She couldn’t
love
Lucas
Donlon
for all the reasons she’d already told herself.

“Relax,
a
cuisle
,” he repeated, murmuring against her ear. “I’ll take care of you.”

Take care of her? What did he mean by that? She didn’t need anyone to take care of—
Oh
.

Lucas’s clever hands were rubbing shower gel all the way down her back, over her shoulders and along her arms. He lifted each of her hands separately, washing between her fingers, massaging her fingernails and cuticles, scrubbing away every last bit of
Klemens’s
filth. He moved down to her butt and gave a teasing squeeze before sliding his fingers between her cheeks and lower, slipping one finger into her anus before gliding lower to barely crease her pussy.

Kathryn moaned softly and let her head fall back onto his shoulder. She turned her head and met his mouth. His lips and skin were hot from the shower, but his mouth when she swirled her tongue around was cool and delicious. He sucked hard, pulling her tongue deeper into his mouth before releasing her to trail kisses down her neck to her shoulder where he bit gently on the tender bone of her clavicle.

She felt the cold slide of her shower gel as he dribbled it over her chest, and then the warm caress of his hands, cupping her breasts, teasing her nipples into hard pebbles of sensation as his hands moved lower. He washed her ribs, her abdomen and lower still until he dipped his fingers between the folds of her sex, tantalizing her with toying brushes over and around her clit, stroking the edges of her vagina while denying her even the briefest glide of his fingers into her hungry pussy. Kathryn placed her hand over his, pushing his hand lower, deeper, demanding what she wanted.

But Lucas only chuckled and removed his hand from between her thighs and turned her to face him again. Squeezing more gel onto his hands, he knelt to wash her legs, from her hips to her toes, carefully washing and massaging each leg while Kathryn fisted her fingers in his wet hair, achingly aware of his mouth so close to the center of her desire. She nearly screamed when his tongue suddenly scraped a slow path along her slit, sweeping up the moisture of her arousal before stroking against her clit. His lips closed over that sensitive nub, and Kathryn thought she’d faint as he sucked hard, pulling the swollen pearl between his lips, then letting it slide out again, over and over until it was engorged with blood, until every nerve in Kathryn’s body was screaming for release. She squeezed her breasts, pinching her nipples ruthlessly, desperate to assuage some of the pressure, some of the
need,
that was overwhelming her senses.

Lucas reached behind her to cup her ass in his powerful hands, holding her in place as he tormented her, making her feel things she’d never felt with anyone, making her
want
things she knew were impossible. She opened her mouth to beg him to stop, or maybe to keep going forever. She didn’t know what she would have said, because at that moment, Lucas closed his teeth over her clit and bit down. She did scream then, as an orgasm stormed through her body like lightning, igniting every nerve ending, firing every muscle, and making every hair on her body stiffen as waves of ecstasy cascaded over her body until she could barely stand. Kathryn tugged on Lucas’s hair, crying out her pleasure until the orgasm stole even her breath, and all she could do was gasp his name.

Lucas gave her pussy a final stroke of his tongue, his eyes glowing gold as he looked up at her and licked his lips, visibly savoring the blood he’d drawn from her clit. He stood abruptly, his hard-muscled body sliding over hers as he pressed her against the wall of the shower. She could feel the solid length of his arousal as she lifted her arms around his neck. He gripped her thigh and wrapped her leg around his hip, lifting her higher until he could slide his cock into her eager wetness. Kathryn groaned and closed her eyes, overwhelmed with the velvet over marble sensation of his thick penis pushing into her.

“Open your eyes, Kathryn,” Lucas demanded, his voice low and rough.

Kathryn lifted passion-heavy lids and met his golden stare. He held her gaze as he began to fuck her, one hand cupped under her ass, the other pressed against the tile wall as he slid in and out with long, slow movements, letting her feel every inch of his cock as he plunged through her still trembling sheath, his pelvis grinding against her exquisitely aroused clit with every stroke. Kathryn licked her lips, sweat dripping down her face as the hot water continued to pound around them. Lucas’s gaze dropped briefly to her mouth, then flashed back to her eyes, his expression growing suddenly more intent as his movements became more urgent. His ass flexed harder beneath the leg she had wrapped around his hip, and he began to pound himself into her, shoving deeper with every stroke, his flesh slapping hers wetly.

Lucas growled, and Kathryn’s eyes widened as his fangs emerged. His gaze took on a predatory gleam, as he nipped briefly at her lips and jaw, before finally licking the skin of her neck, his tongue a cool rasp against the big vein beneath her ear. Her heart was hammering, her breath coming in short gasps, when the smooth glide of his fangs replaced his tongue. He lifted his head slightly and bit into her vein.

And then she was crying helplessly as a second orgasm claimed her body, fisting her inner muscles around his cock, turning her blood to molten lava as it rolled through her veins, carrying a pleasure that was nearly too much for her to bear all at once. Her leg
spasmed
around his hips, her heel digging into his muscled ass as her sex clamped tight, refusing to release him, even as some part of Kathryn was begging for it to stop. Her chest tightened with an emotion she didn’t want to acknowledge, didn’t want to feel, but it was too late.
Too late.

“Too late,” she whispered, as Lucas sagged against her finally, both of them spent and trembling.

“Too late for what,
a
cuisle
?” he whispered breathlessly.

“I don’t know,” she lied. “I don’t know what I was saying.”

Lucas reached behind him and
unwrapped
her leg, lowering her carefully until both of her feet hit the tiled floor.

“Shall I wash you off?”

Kathryn slapped his hands away and forced a laugh. “You’ve done quite enough washing for one night. Take care of yourself.”

“You’re no fun at all,” he muttered as he soaped and rinsed himself quickly. When he finished, he leaned in for a last soft and hungry kiss, whispering something against her ear before he pulled away and left her in the shower to finish alone. The words were Irish, so she could pretend she didn’t hear, didn’t know what they meant, but the truth was . . . She didn’t need to know the actual meaning of the words, because it was there in the way he said it, in the soft brush of his lips against her ear, the roll of the syllables off his tongue. He loved her, and it was breaking her heart.

Chapter Twenty

Lucas was just disconnecting a call with Nick when Kathryn finally emerged from the bedroom, looking all rosy and well-satisfied. He credited himself with both of those things. She’d been far from either when he’d wakened earlier this evening. He’d known she was downstairs even before he woke. The blood he’d taken from her over the past few days had sung to him of her presence, letting him feel her sadness and more.

“Feeling better?” he asked unnecessarily.

She crossed to him and cupped his cheek in one hand as she kissed him. “Thanks to you,” she murmured, then stepped back and said, “If I were you, I’d burn that awful mansion to the ground with everything inside it.”

“If it were up to me, I would. But it’s not my decision.”

Kathryn frowned. “I thought since you defeated him—”

“Killed him,” Lucas corrected.

Her lips flattened, but she nodded. “Since you killed him, that everything of his would become yours?”

“If I wanted it, yes, but I don’t. I’ll hold his
people safely until a permanent lord emerges
.”