“I need…” she panted, grasping his shoulders.
He slid his hand down her stomach and cupped her naked, quivering flesh, his expression suddenly intense. “Tell me.”
She bucked against his hand, seeking release from the building burn. “I need…you…now.”
When a warm finger slid inside her, she sighed in contentment at the slight assuagement as his finger rubbed against her. But Lucian seemed determined to bring her higher. As he trailed kisses down her stomach to her thigh, he moved his finger in and out of her moist sheath in a slow, rhythmic glide, causing her to lift her hips to match his pace.
A disappointed cry escaped her when he abruptly removed his hand. She came up on her elbows, ready to scream her frustration, but he surprised her. His strong hands grasped her thighs and pulled her closer, tilting her hips toward his lowering head.
“Lucian!” Rana put a hand on his shoulder and tried to back away. She’d never done this with another so soon. His grip on her tightened and his shoulders tensed. “I need this, Rana. I want to taste you…all of you.”
The longing in his eyes melted some of her resistance, and before she could gather her thoughts, he dipped his head and found her throbbing core in one swift, decadent lap of his tongue.
“Luuuucian,” she gasped, falling back.
He lifted his dark head and raised an eyebrow. “Shall I continue?”
Rana nodded mutely, to which she received a wicked grin before he lowered his head and took a slow, tantalizing exploration. Drinking her essence, he lapped at her entrance before plunging his tongue inside.
She bucked in response, panting, clutching him closer.
He made a primal sound and her breath hitched from the sweet passion building, intensifying with each sensual stroke of his tongue. “Oh, God, please,” she begged.
Just when she thought she’d scream in insanity, he gripped her nub with his tongue and teeth and sucked hard. He pulled on the responsive skin as far into his mouth as he could and elicited a keening cry of pleasure for his efforts.
Plunging two fingers deep inside her, he traced kisses to the juncture of her thigh, all the while whispering sexy words of encouragement. “Please,” she pleaded, writhing at his magical touch, pressing closer.
“Come for me, Rana, long and hard. I want to hear you scream my name. Let me know you’re ready for me to drive into your sweet flesh.”
He slid his thumb over her until it rested over her most sensitive spot while his fingers continued to twirl inside her. Then he stopped moving and pressed his thumb against her, creating tantalizing pressure as he slid his tongue over her thigh. She panted in agonizing anticipation, her body quaking for release.
Hot breath bathed her thigh and she heard a guttural growl right before he locked his teeth on the soft juncture. Rana gasped but didn’t have time to tense as he drove his fingers into her and pressed aggressively on her clitoris trapped beneath his thumb.
“Ohmigod, Lucian.” Rana gripped the sheets beneath her, screaming throughout her orgasm as her hips rocked with the most explosive waves of passion she’d ever experienced.
When she came back to herself, her eyes slowly fluttered open to stare at the dark ceiling. Disappointment coursed through her when she realized she’d had another tantalizing dream. Why did the most mind blowing orgasm she’d ever experience only happen while she slept? In her dream, she’d felt connected to Lucian on a deep level. His eyes told her what they shared was about more than just sex. Her heart hammered and her body still pulsed from the pleasure she’d derived. Sighing in disappointment, she turned her head toward the window and saw Lucian’s shadowy form.
Lucian reveled in Rana’s uninhibited response. Fighting his instincts to take what she offered, he’d put some distance between them until the unfulfilled ache clawing at his insides and shooting straight to his aching cock subsided. I’m driving myself mad, he thought with an inward grunt. At least he’d remembered to project the image of clothes around himself, so she couldn’t see his painfully hard state when she turned to face him.
He wanted her desperately.
When she’d climaxed, it took all his will power to keep his fangs retracted and not sink them into her luscious skin. Never in his life had he wanted to taste a woman more. His passion for Elizabeth had built over time. But with Rana, it was a fast, instantaneous flash and then a simmering burn. This woman called to his most primal instincts. He wanted to immediately mate in the traditional vampire way, to make her his for all time.
He should’ve known that sex would only heighten his need for her after this evening. In the parking lot, he’d come terribly close to taking her blood. Only her trusting voice calling to him had brought him back. Even then, he’d had to shake himself out of the haze of lust—for her blood as well as her body—before he could hold a normal conversation.
The earlier altercation with Kraid didn’t help. His primitive instincts were revved. But he had to see her tonight.
He watched her panting in her bed; listened as her heartbeat returned to normal while she rubbed her eyes and squinted in his direction. Rana was the forbidden flower and he was the bee. Even if his life depended on it, he couldn’t stay away.
“Lucian?”
Rana stood, her short silky nightshirt doing nothing to hide her long, shapely legs. Running a hand through her tousled hair, she approached him hesitantly, then stopped a foot away. Lucian steeled himself as the scent of her pleasure surrounded him in a cloud of pure temptation.
“Invite me to stay, Rana. I need your permission.” His voice sounded as raw as he felt. He stared at her, letting her see the deep yearning in his eyes.
“I can’t,” she whispered back. The puzzled look on her face changed to one of determination as she reached out to touch him. Lucian shimmered before her hand could connect. Gasping, she jerked her hand to her chest, a sound of pure disappointment escaping her.
If she touched him, he’d lose it. He wouldn’t be able to control himself. He was so amped right now, he’d yank her down on that bed and drive into her primed flesh over and over while he sank his teeth into her neck. Lucian reappeared across the room. “Why?”
She walked toward him once more, reaching out. He shimmered again and solidified a couple of steps behind her.
Rana turned to face him with a sigh of disappointment. “Obviously, you’re not real and I’m still dreaming. I need to know what I feel for you is real—that I’m not covering my grief with a relationship.”
Lucian closed his eyes in understanding before returning her gaze. “I know you’ve been through a lot with the loss of your grandfather.”
When tears shimmered in her eyes, he couldn’t help himself. Reaching out, he brushed her tears away with his thumb. “Don’t cry.”
She sucked in her breath and tried to reach for him. “You’re real.” The awe in her voice surprised him at how deeply she affected him. He didn’t have time to vanish, so he made himself an illusion, which drained him considerably. Her hand went right through him. She might not feel him, but her gentle caress rocked him to the core.
Lucian swallowed his groan. “When you’re ready, I can be as real as you want me to be. All I want to do is love you, Rana.”
Her smile was tremulous through the tears shimmering down her cheeks. “I could fall for you so easily. That’s what scares me the most.”
Lucian shifted back to solid form and touched her cheek. Brushing away another tear, he folded his hand inward, and then opened his palm toward her. A single crystal-clear stone, shaped like a teardrop, lay in his hand.
She laughed, gulping back a sob. “Oh, Lucian, what beautiful magic.”
He smiled, cupping his hand around the glittering stone, his chest tight with his love for her. “There’s so much I want to share with you. I’ll be waiting.”
Changing to his mist form, he left her smiling in the darkness.
*
Lucian was rudely awakened by Sabryn throwing open his bedroom do
or and striding inside. “Lucian!” she spoke in a low voice. “The police are downstairs wanting to speak with you. You must get up.”
Lucian watched her rummage through his dresser, while mumbling, “Where do you keep your jeans?”
“What the hell is going on?” He was by her side in a millisecond, grabbing the pair of jeans she’d pulled out.
Sabryn sighed. “A man was found murdered last night a couple blocks from the Lion’s Lair.”
Lucian frowned as he pulled on the jeans. Retrieving a casual sweater from another drawer, he tugged it on, then asked, “What does that have to do with me?”
His sister turned a worried gaze his way and pushed her long black hair over her shoulder. “They have evidence that links you to the man.”
Lucian stiffened. “What evidence?”
“Uncle Vlad is keeping them occupied for now,” she replied as she began to pace.
Lucian narrowed his gaze. “What information were you able to compel out of the police?”
Sabryn’s lips quirked, but she continued to pace, her brow furrowed. “Apparently they received an anonymous video clip showing you roughing up the man. It was time stamped earlier in the evening.”
Lucian clenched his hands into fists. “Was the man of average build with dark brown hair and wearing a canvas jacket?”
Sabryn halted, eyes wide, her voice barely a whisper. “That’s how he looked in the picture, except he was covered in blood. Why did you kill that man?”
Lucian set his jaw. “The only place the police would have gotten a video of me with the human was from the Lion’s Lair’s alley security cameras. I can guarantee the clip they got didn’t show the man slicing me with a knife, then trying to skewer me with it.”
“No, they didn’t mention that.” Understanding lit her eyes. “Was he a hunter?”
Lucian nodded. “As much as I would’ve liked to tear into him, I sent the man on his way with instructions never to return to my club. Kraid’s behind this. I caught him toying with the human in the alley. This police business is his ‘fuck you’ to me for getting involved.”
“He’s never forgiven you for the past.” Sabryn sighed, then slowly shook her head. “I’m worried there’s more to this than that. Kraid’s gunning for the Vité position. It’s not a coincidence that this police trouble happened so close to the vote. He’ll try to discredit you, to put doubt in the other leaders’ minds of your ability to head up the Kendrians.”
Last night Lucian hadn’t stayed at the club as late as he usually did. He’d come home and worked on business before going to bed. No one had seen him arrive, which might be enough for the police to want to question him further. If casting doubt was Kraid’s motive…the bastard might well succeed. The vote had to be unanimous. If even one of the clan leaders voted against him, Lucian wouldn’t make Vité.
Lucian grabbed his cell off the dresser, then handed it to his sister. “I’ll deal with the police. In the meantime, replace the head of security at the Lion’s Lair with a qualified vampire who can’t be compelled to just hand over security footage. Then call Ian. He has a contact on the police force.” Before he walked out of the room, he growled, “When this is all over, I’m going to bury Kraid.”
*
The next evening, Rana entered her home and set the stack of books she’d brought from her store down on the coffee table. She stared at the book on top, amusement curving her lips. It was the book on vampires she’d shelved the other night. A customer had considered buying it, then changed his mind at the last minute. When she started to put it away, for some unknown reason, she decided to take it home. She chuckled. At least no one could accuse her of not broadening her reading scope.
It was Friday night and she always brought home a set of books for the weekend. She snorted at her longtime habit and turned away from the tower of paperbacks with a happy sigh. “Tonight, I’m going to enjoy myself dancing with a handsome man.”
She’d just started to shrug out of her coat when her cell phone rang.
Seeing it was her mom, Rana grabbed the phone. “There you are! I tried to come see you earlier,” Rana breathed out quickly as she held the phone between her shoulder and ear, while struggling out of her coat.
“Henry told me you came by,” her mother said in a breezy voice.
Her mom sounded relaxed, happy even. Rana let out a sigh of relief. ‘You’re in good spirits. I take it that means the lawyer’s visit with Peter went off without a hitch?” Rana refused to call the man Dad.
“Actually, that’s why I was calling. When Gerald got to the hotel, he said all that was left in the room was a note from your father.”
“A note? What’d it say?”
“He apologized.”
Rana gripped the phone tighter. “What!?”
“Blew me away too!”
Scrunching her eyes in suspicion, Rana asked, “What exactly did the note say?”
“It’s definitely your father’s scrawly handwriting. Here, I’ll read it to you.” Paper crinkled in the background.
“Dear Sophia, after much soul-searching, I realized I was wrong to come here. Jack hated my guts, and I wouldn’t put it past him to come back and haunt me until the ends of time if I took even one dime of his money from you. I’m heading back to Texas. You won’t hear from me again. Sincerely, Peter.”
Rana’s brow furrowed. “Wow. Have you ever heard him apologize before?”
“No,” her mother laughed. “But I’ll take it…and the fact he’s gone from our lives forever. You have no idea how relieved I am to know he’s never coming back.”
“Me too.”
The sound of paper being folded came across the line. “I just remembered…I interrupted your date last night. How’d it go? Anyone worth meeting?”
“Very well! As to meeting him…maybe one day.” Rana smiled as she glanced at her watch. “Oh, I’ve got to go. He’s picking me up in an hour.”
“At least tell me his name!” her mother huffed impatiently.
“Lucian,” Rana said with a happy sigh.
“Go have a great time with Lucian,” her mother mimicked her swoony way of saying Lucian’s name, making Rana snicker. “But I expect a full report soon, young lady.”
“You’ll get details eventually,” Rana hedged. She didn’t want to say too much about Lucian. Not yet.
“You’d better! Now go get dressed. Never keep a man waiting…too long,” Sophia finished with a laugh.
As soon as Rana hung up, she kicked off her shoes and marched back to her bedroom, mumbling, “That’s the problem, Mom. This hot man has been starring in my nightly fantasies. I’m worried I won’t be able to control myself the next time we’re together.”
Rana chose her outfit carefully. She didn’t want to seduce Lucian, but at the same time, she wanted to look sexy and alluring. The red pantsuit’s plunging neckline somehow enhanced her average-sized breasts, showing a modest curve of skin. The long sleeves were made of a see-through organza material that ended with a cuff made of the same rayon as the rest of the outfit.
Pulling her hair up in a French twist, she slid in pearl combs to hold it in place. As she applied clear lip-gloss, the doorbell rang, causing her heart to flutter.
Lucian stood in her doorway, filling it with his tall, broad frame. He wore casual black slacks and a black button down shirt that somehow managed to show off the display of muscle underneath. His short-cropped hair curled slightly, as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. A sexy smile tilted the corners of his lips. When his silver gaze dropped to her outfit, his eyes appeared to turn crystal clear. Rana smiled back and opened the door further. “Come in.”
Once she shut the door behind him, Lucian clasped her hand and lifted it to his lips. “We can always stay here and dance to music we choose. No crowds. Just you and me,” he suggested with a hopeful raise of his eyebrows.
Laughter bubbled up. The man’s intoxicating gaze made her feel drunk and happy. Yes, happy for the first time in
a while. “Oh, no you don’t. You promised me dancing, complete with crowds and dark, nightclub atmosphere. No backing out.”
He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her against his chest. “Your wish is my command.”
Breathless, she could only stare at him as he lowered his head to hers, his exotic scent surrounding her, seducing her. Sparks flew at the first gentle caress of his lips against hers. She gasped when he slid his hands down her back to her lower spine and pressed her closer, fitting her curves to his hard planes. He tasted of mints and something elusive, his own natural masculine flavor as he first nibbled and then sampled her bottom lip, running his tongue along the curve.
“You’re like ambrosia, Rana,” he murmured against her lips, “all sweet with just the right kick of citrus and mysterious ingredients to keep me coming back for more.”
His words warmed her heart. Rana wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips. Lucian kissed her with demanding mastery. With the first plunge of his tongue, he seduced and enthralled her, taking what she offered, yet demanding much more.
The moment Rana’s heart threatened to pound right out of her chest, she put her hands against him, breaking the kiss. Knowing her eyes reflected her longing to continue, she pressed a finger against his lips with an apologetic smile. “Dancing, remember?”
Lucian kissed her finger, his eyes full of desire to please her. “Let’s go. The dance floor awaits.”
*
When he parked his Jag outside a nightclub called Lion’s Lair, Rana turned to him, excitement in her voice. “I’ve heard of this place. It’s supposed to be pretty exclusive and hard to get into.”
Winking at her, he whispered conspiratorially, “I have an ‘in’ with the owner.”
As they approached, the guy guarding the front entrance smiled at Lucian and opened the door. “Evening, Mr. Trevane.”
“Good evening, Dwayne. Have you seen Ian tonight?”
“He’s here.”
“Good. As of today, Kraid is now banned from the club. “
The guard’s gaze flicked to Rana before he addressed Lucian. “He’ll be furious, sir.”
Love's First Bite: Bad Boys and Alpha Vampires Boxed Set (6 book bundle) Page 51
