by Danica Avet
Spinning on her heel, she stomped into Lucian’s room. She felt violent and nosy. Not necessarily a good combination, her rational mind cautioned. She ignored the voice of reason and slammed the door behind her. His essence was in this room, permeating every inch of it. It oozed into her pores, seeping into her bloodstream, setting the blaze inside her even higher. With a sweeping glance, she took in the dark comforter, the plush pillows, and a set of picture frames across from the bed.
Shaking her head at her own reaction to his scent, Ruby peeked out the door to make sure he hadn’t returned. The room was without a doubt masculine. A massive four-poster king-size bed dominated the room. Made of rich mahogany wood, it had beautiful carvings etched onto every post. The wood furnishings would’ve appeared too heavy and oppressive in the room if it hadn’t been for the use of jade and emerald green accents.
The bed was a masterpiece of sea green silk sheets and emerald duvet. Ruby tried not to imagine Lucian on it, but could all too easily see his dark red and black hair on the sheets and how his skin would look against the green. Her already excited body went into overload.
“Think of something else. Find a weakness,” she told herself sharply, going through the nightstand next to the bed.
She thought she’d find condoms and maybe a little black book with phone numbers, but what she found was a huge bag of jellybeans. He apparently had a sweet tooth. Between the nightstand and the bed was a stack of books that revealed his reading tastes leaned toward biographies. Ruby winced. She personally hated them herself. Strike one.
Across from the bed was a huge flat screen television connected to a complex DVD system. The entire wall was an entertainment system housing nothing but movies and CDs. Giving the wall a cursory glance, she saw his musical style was Southern Fried Rock meets Techno, and he had a thing for Jackie Chan and Jet Li movies. The only thing she did agree with him on was the Vin Diesel movies. Nearly strike two, she thought.
Ruby rifled through a small drawer in the entertainment center, coming across a photo album. She flipped it open and decided right then and there she and Lucian were never having sex. The album was filled with gorgeous women. Women who’d probably slept in the massive bed with him, and she hated every single one of them. Not that she cared, she reminded herself.
Three pictures were of a blonde with precious blue eyes and a doll face. She looked so sweet and adorable Ruby wanted to punch her. In each picture, the blonde smiled at the camera as though the photographer was the world to her. There was something a little strange about her ears, but for the most part, she was pretty.
The second group of pictures Ruby noticed was of a woman with flaming red hair who seemed to pulse with sex even through the photo. Her sparkling green eyes were almond shaped and surrounded by thick black eyelashes. She didn’t look innocent or sweet. She looked like she had secrets, lots of them. In fact, if she hadn’t decided to hate the woman on principle, she was the kind of woman Ruby might have liked to be friends with.
The final pictures were of a serious looking woman with black hair cut extremely short and two delicate pink horns peaking out. The style suited her no-nonsense face. Dark brown eyes looked at the world with cold determination and seriousness. She looked like she would kick serious ass and not even bother taking names after.
“Three of the councilors,” Lucian said from the doorway. “I told them I really didn’t need to be reminded of what they looked like, but they insisted. The only ones missing are Fields, because he’s camera shy, and Bianca, the Oculum.”
Ruby froze, her head still bowed as she looked into the cold brown eyes of the brunette. Oh crap. She’d been so focused on looking at women she didn’t want to think of as rivals, she hadn’t heard the front door close or heard him enter the room.
She closed her eyes, trying to pretend she wasn’t there.
Lucian walked into the room, pulling his soaking wet shirt off, his scent growing stronger, hotter. Ruby could smell it from where she sat and her entire body flushed. If he came near her, she was doomed.
He paused by the nightstand to take the bag of jellybeans out of the drawer. “Want some?” he asked her, still casual.
Ruby shook her head, too afraid to speak because, God help her, even with the evidence of the number of attractive women in his life, she still wanted him. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye.
Lucian seemed calm, even relaxed. His skin was flushed from what looked like a well-ended hunt, but that only enhanced his attractiveness to her. He chomped on a handful of jellybeans and studied her as though she were something interesting.
“The blonde is Tawny, or the Nidurm, the red-head is Bree, also known as the Aristus, and the brunette is Nila, or the Manu,” he stopped to pop in a few more jellybeans and chewed thoughtfully.
“Fields is the Linguar, and Bianca is the Oculum, as you remember. She thinks the other women are silly,” Lucian continued slowly, wiping his hands on his discarded shirt before tossing it in the corner of his room. He stretched, causing all the muscles in his arms, shoulders and stomach to flex at once. Ruby’s mouth watered.
She barely repressed the urge to jump him. She couldn’t tell if he was playing her or not. He was so casual and at ease. She couldn’t even feel sexual tension from him, while she seemed awash in it. Pinpricks of heat caressed the side of her neck, making her shiver. Okay, so he was feeling it, too, but he was just a little more controlled.
For some reason, that didn’t sit well with Ruby at all. Lucian drifted closer to her, showing too much skin and smelling too much like hot, sexy vampire for her peace of mind.
Chapter Sixteen
Lucian eyed Ruby lazily. The last few days had been hell. Sitting next to her each evening before the hunt, he would smell the spicy flowery scent of her and feel the heat of her skin, knowing he couldn’t do anything about it. He’d increased his workout routine and had more than one conversation with his hand just to keep his urges under control. The nights he spent hunting were torture when he wanted nothing more than to take her vein.
He knew she hadn’t forgotten she was a captive in his home. No matter how much freedom he gave her within the house and no matter how pleased she seemed to be learning from her books and him, he could see her spirit crying to be completely free. He’d thought of letting her go once or twice, but imagining her out in the world with Malachi dogging her heels, not to mention the duty he had to keep her confined, kept him from being foolish. Lucian had even toyed with not letting the Council know he had her, but he knew how futile that would be. Nila and Tawny were close friends with Pagan, and Pagan would have found out from Marie and Jackie about his kidnapping of the Chieftain. In the Veil, it was next to impossible to keep secrets.
In fact, the only sensible thing he’d done this entire week was to contact Bianca and let her know the Council should convene at his home in the morning. This was his last night with Ruby and, God help him, he didn’t know if he could keep his hands off of her.
Seeing her in his bedroom had taken him from half-mast to full hard-on and seeing the blood rush to her cheeks nearly sent him over the edge. He considered it an honor she would seek out his room to learn about him. Lucian wasn’t fool enough to think she did it because she wanted to know his favorite color. But her reaction to the photo album of the councilors pleased him.
He stepped up behind her, not touching her but letting the heat from his body reach out to her. Lucian breathed in her sweet jasmine scent and felt the lust come back on full throttle.
“Did you learn anything interesting about me?” he asked, leaning forward so his breath washed over her ear.
Ruby kept her head bowed, the vulnerable nape of her neck bared to him by her short hair. Lucian watched the goose bumps travel up her neck.
“You have terrible taste in books and candy,” she said softly, her hands flipping through the pages in the photo album.
Lucian chuckled, moving his mouth to the other side of her ear. “Anything else?”
He heard her breath catch. His nostrils flared. He caught the scent of her arousal. He fought a growl.
“You watch too much television,” she responded on a shuddering sigh. Lucian could see her eyes were half closed and a light blush crested her cheeks.
“It gets lonely sometimes,” Lucian whispered against her ear, pressing a soft kiss at the top of it.
She shivered and he applauded her body’s response. Lucian knew success was at hand, until her spine stiffened.
“You could always call one of your fellow councilors to join you,” Ruby shot back with fire. She moved away from him, tossing the album on one of the shelves of the entertainment center.
Lucian could just about kill Tawny for sending the stupid album. It had been her idea of a Christmas gag gift, as if he’d want to look at their mugs for the holidays. He wouldn’t have the damn thing at his house if it hadn’t been for one of the Junior Guardians mistaking the breathtaking women as part of a harem. Lucian grimaced.
“Ruby, those would be the last women I’d bed,” he said in all honesty. He’d only slept with Bianca, and she wasn’t in the album. Ruby still didn’t look convinced. “I’ve worked with them for the last forty years. The last thing I want to do is take them home with me.”
She stood in front of one of the massive windows, looking outside. Her chin was tucked into her chest as she looked at the backyard. Lucian knew she could see Deer Trail Bayou through the tangle of oak trees surrounding the property. He always found the view calming. He wondered what it would be like to pull up one of the overstuffed chairs and sit with her in his lap looking out the window just like she was doing now.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” she said in a soft voice. “I’m not who you think I am. I’m not tough or brave like the other women seem to be in this world.” She chuckled and threw a glance his way. Her eyes darted around the room. “Would you mind getting dressed?”
Lucian did mind as a matter of fact, but had a feeling this stunning moment of intimacy might come to an end if he didn’t offer her a little distance. As a skilled tracker, he knew when to give his prey some room.
He shrugged as though it didn’t make any difference to him one way or the other. He pulled out an old T-shirt from his chest of drawers, all the while very conscious of her watching his every move. With his back to her, Lucian grinned to himself and made a show out of snapping the shirt out of its fold, causing her to flinch.
He felt the muscles in his shoulders and arms flex as he bunched the shirt with his fingers. His sensitive ears picked up the sound of light, rapid breathing and Lucian knew she wasn’t unaffected. He lifted the shirt over his head, tilting his head back and letting his hair fan over his shoulders. He glanced over at her.
Ruby had a crazed look in her eyes that sent a zing of desire through Lucian. Her mouth was getting redder by the minute and her arousal scented the air again. Teasing her, he stretched his torso, pulling the shirt to cover his chest, one hand smoothing it while the other led the way. When his leading hand reached the waistband of his jeans, her eyes went to half-mast and a wild flush bloomed in her face.
Lucian wasn’t exactly immune to his play either. He had a screaming erection begging for release. When Ruby’s tongue swept out of her mouth to wet her bottom lip, Lucian growled deep in his chest. It was an instinctive reaction to her bodily fluids and he wanted a taste.
So he stepped forward and left Lucian Ravenswaay behind, while the predatory beast stalked its mate.
* * * *
Ruby was on fire. The minute Lucian began to tease her with his body, she’d been lost. Hell, she admitted to herself, she’d been lost from the minute he growled at her in the hotel lobby.
Something in him called to her. At the moment, she didn’t care if it was vampire pheromones, if it was her own hormones ready to mate, or even if it was just the way the planets were aligned. She wanted him, and she wasn’t going to fight it.
So when Lucian began to stalk her, instead of backing away like she would have before, she met him in the middle of the room. They reached for each other at the same time, their mouths meeting in a kiss that could only be described as earthshaking. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t sweet, and it sure as hell wasn’t adoring.
It was hot, slick, and erotic. Lips and tongues tangled as each of them delved and tasted as much as they could. Ruby had never kissed, or been kissed, with such intensity, and she savored every stroke. The friction of his tongue sliding into her mouth, flicking against hers, infusing her with his taste, sealed it for her. She was done for. She was going down for the count with a blissful smile on her face.
Lucian’s shirt was shredded at some point, falling to the ground like a flag of surrender. Ruby wasn’t sure who did that, and she didn’t particularly care. She finally had all of his glorious skin under her hands, and she didn’t even fight her moan of pleasure touching his skin gave her. Warm, firm, and slightly rough to the touch, his skin was something she could’ve stroked all day. It was then, while she was touching him with her hands, she realized that she wasn’t wearing her gloves and she wasn’t reading anything from him. She’d gotten into the habit of leaving off the gloves as they weren’t necessary when she didn’t plan to touch him. At least she hadn’t planned to touch him until today.
She pulled away. Lucian grabbed for her with a fierce expression on his face. “No, my powers. I can’t feel your lineage,” she said worriedly.
Lucian smiled in fierce satisfaction, his fangs glinting in the light and that sexy red glow taking over his eyes.
“Chieftains can’t read their mates, Ruby,” he growled, his voice deeper than usual. He set his teeth against the tendon that connected her neck and shoulder. “Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to make a Chieftain see their bloodline’s possible decline.”
“This doesn’t…” she gasped and rubbed up against him, unable to help herself. She struggled to remember what she had been saying. “We’re not mated.”
“But the possibility exists,” he rasped against her skin.
He bit into her neck just a little as he finished his whispered explanation, and Ruby forgot everything else. Fate had apparently chosen this vampire as her mate. That was fine. He lapped at the place where he’d bitten her, growling.
Having very little in the way of seductive clothing, Ruby was wearing yet another pair of sweats, but those were nothing before Lucian’s determination. Underneath the sweats was the flesh colored lingerie Kali had talked her into. When Lucian saw her in the lingerie, she was glad she’d taken the advice from the drag queen Oracle because he went insane.
Swept into his arms, Ruby was carried to his bed and tossed into the middle of it. His jeans went the way of the floor and he was gloriously naked. He was gorgeous. Having ogled that sexy chest for the past several days, Ruby had been anxious to see the rest and she was so not disappointed.
His narrow hips led to full, muscled thighs she yearned to sink her teeth into. She wanted to sink her mouth on the glorious erection that was pointed her way a lot more, though. Heavy veined, thick, and straight as an arrow, it was huge, and her body quivered in anticipation.
Unable to help herself, Ruby growled, pushing to her hands and knees to crawl across the bed towards him. The logical part of her brain suspected Lucian’s insanity was catching because Ruby Fontenot had never imagined taking the initiative in sex. But Ruby Blue was no shrinking virgin. Here she was, growling and stalking a vampire like she was just as powerful as he was.
They met in the center of the bed like wrestlers. Ruby’s mouth was back on his, her hands pouring over his body like honey while he struggled with her underwear. They were growling and moaning at each other. Lucian gave up trying to be delicate with her bra and just ripped it off, causing her breasts to bounce out of their confinement.
“Oh, yeah,” he growled, filling his hands with her flesh, holding her immobile so he could taste each nipple.
Ruby arched her back, rubbing her belly aga
inst his erection, her hands digging into his shoulders so she wouldn’t fall backwards. Not that Lucian would’ve let that happen. He held her by the waist, his clever tongue flicking over each nipple back and forth. Lost in a haze, Ruby almost screamed when he scraped her nipple with his teeth.
“Luc!” she cried out, her nails bringing up blood. She felt a moment’s worry that he wouldn’t like pain, but the pleasure on his face brought the thought to an abrupt end. He purred around her nipple and gave her an approving lick.
He anchored his arm more firmly around her waist and pulled her closer to suckle as much of her breast in his mouth as he could. Ruby cried out and swung her body so her legs could wrap around his waist. She reveled in Lucian’s strength, in knowing that even with her body hanging off of him, he remained immovable at her breast. He supported her full weight with no trouble. The unbearable, empty ache at the center of her body demanded Lucian’s presence, and Ruby was helpless against its commands.
Lucian acted like he could spend all night at her breasts lapping, suckling, and nipping, and Ruby would’ve let him because the pleasure was more than any she could’ve ever imagined. But one of his hands eased up her thigh, ripping away her panties before slipping through moist curls, finding her drenched center. With the deft sweep of a finger over her clit, Ruby splintered. She flew apart, a scream of release rising from her throat and echoing throughout the room.
Lucian still wasn’t done with her. He tossed her flat on her back, stole down her body, and planted his wide chest between her thighs. Ruby felt a blush work its way up her torso, a mingling of arousal and embarrassment. She’d never been so exposed before, but Lucian wouldn’t let her put space between them.
“To a vampire,” he said, breathing against her inner thigh, “the most erotic place on his lover’s body is the inner thigh.” He gently bit into her skin.