Until the Sun Falls from the Sky(137)
He couldn’t. In fact the very idea infuriated him.
He didn’t get a chance to share this, she kept talking.
“You wouldn’t make me change the tire and you wouldn’t let some guy paw me and you haven’t told me I have a fat ass and perhaps I should lay off the fried chicken. You’re big and heavy and strong and cart me around like I weigh as much as a kitten and you’re tall and I have to look up at you even when I’m wearing heels,” she uttered this last like it was a total impossibility for her to look up at anyone and to look up at him was akin to a miracle. However, she wasn’t quite finished. “And you could probably change a tire just by glaring at it.”
Lucien bit back laughter as he rolled her to her back and decided they weren’t having Crêpes Suzette. And definitely her family wasn’t coming over.
His mouth went to her throat and he muttered, “I’m sorry to say I can’t change a tire by glaring at it.”
Her voice was no longer loud but breathy when she replied, “You know what I mean.”
His mouth moved up and over her jaw to meet hers.
Looking into her eyes, he murmured his understatement, “I’m glad you feel safe with me, sweetling.”
She tried to make light of it by announcing, “Anyone would feel safe with you. I’ll repeat, you can throw a car.”
“Maybe,” he allowed, “but I’m thrilled that you do.”
Before she could speak again, he rewarded her admission with a kiss.
Without hesitating, her arms stole around him and she kissed him back, her mouth sweet, her tongue sweeter.
His hand moved to her breast and cupped it, his thumb stroking its peak, feeling it harden instantly.
His cock responded in kind.
She gasped into his mouth.
He lifted his head to watch her face as his thumb stroked back and as he did he liked what he saw.
Her cheeks warmed and she bit her lip.
Then she said, “I’m hungry.”
“I’ll feed you,” he assured her, executing another nipple swipe before he finished, “later.”
Her eyelids fluttered lower, desire evident in her face, he felt a further tightening in his groin but even so, she whispered, “My family –”
He added a finger to his thumb and rolled. He was rewarded at once. Her breath caught, her heart started hammering and he smelled the rush of heat between her restless legs.
Magnificent.
“Later,” he repeated, his head descending and his mouth was on hers when he heard it.
Her body froze beneath his as his head jerked up. His two fingers stopped rolling but all of them curled possessively around the swell of her breast.
He listened and he couldn’t believe what he heard.
“What is it?” Leah asked, a tremor of fear in her voice.
His eyes caught hers.
The doorbell rang.
Her body went solid and her fear permeated the air.
Lucien’s temper spiked.
“What is it?” she asked again, the fear stronger.
“It’s my fucking family,” he growled. He watched as her eyes grew wide, her lips parted and yet again he found no pleasure in her endearing expression.
This was mainly because, instead of being able to do something about it, something they’d both like very much, he had to go answer the fucking door.
Chapter Nineteen
The Family
Lucien walked the small pier to the end where he stopped and examined the lake.
His children followed.
He didn’t speak for long moments and Julian and Isobel astutely left him to his silent contemplation of the serene water.
Then, quietly and menacingly, Lucien spoke to the water. “Explain.”
“He came to see me, Father,” Isobel replied swiftly.
“And?” Lucien prompted.
“I thought –” Isobel started but stopped when Lucien’s head turned and his eyes sliced to his daughter.
“No,” he said softly, “you didn’t.”
Her eyes slid to her brother. Julian’s gaze locked with hers a moment before he looked to his boots.
Julian had his father’s build, his father’s hair but he had his mother’s startling blue eyes. They were clear sky blue. In all his years, Lucien had never seen eyes that color except in the face of his ex-partner and his son.
Isobel had her mother’s curves and delicate bone structure but she had her father’s dark hair and eyes. She was petite for a vampire, an inch shorter than Leah, her mother’s height.
Lucien was close with his children. He visited them when time allowed. They visited him the same. And he spoke to them regularly.
At that moment, however, he’d gladly throttle the both of them. Starting with Isobel.
This was because she brought Lucien’s father, Etienne.