Chapter Eight
Lucern loved television. He didn't know why he had allowed prejudice to prevent him from at least trying it before now. TV was a marvelous invention. It was like a mini-stage with little players. And what players! In the last three hours he had watched a movie by some guy named Monty Python or had that been the character?
Anyway, they'd watched that first. When it ended, Chris had looked through a television guide and cried, "Yeah! A Black Adder marathon!" And they'd been watching that ever since. It was a grand show! Marvelous and amusing. Lucern hadn't laughed so hard in years.
"They have history all mixed up, but it is quite amusing," he announced, reaching for a fresh beer from the six-pack on the coffee table.
Chris burst out laughing, then stopped abruptly, his eyes going wide. "Oh, shoot! Kate's going to kill me!"
Lucern arched his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because I was supposed to make you watch modern American television, to help with your speech. " He pondered for a minute before shrugging. "What the hell. It's kind of late in the game to change your speech, anyway. "
Lucern nodded absently. The mention of Kate made him remember her accusations of earlier. She had said he spoke in old-fashioned ways. Lucern supposed he did; it was hard to change speech patterns. He'd been born in Switzerland in 1390. His parents had moved around a lot in those days, but that was where he'd been conceived and born. They had subsequently moved back to England, and he had learned to speak using the King's English. Despite all the countries he had lived in since, and all the languages he had learned and spoken, he still did and probably always would bear a slight accent and lean toward speaking the way he'd been taught.
What else had she said? He recalled something about an angel. That he looked like an angel wannabe? What did that mean exactly? Her voice had been too snarly for it to be a compliment. His gaze shifted from the TV screen to Chris. "Who, or what, is an angel wannabe?"
Chris turned a blank expression on him. "Huh?"
"Kate said I looked like an angel wannabe," Lucern reminded him. Understanding immediately lit the young editor's face. "Oh, yeah. Well, you know. Angel. Buffy and Angel? Vampire slayer and vamp? Oh, that's right. You don't watch TV, so you wouldn't know," he said finally. "Well, Angel is this vampire, see. And he is, or was, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's boyfriend. But he has his own show now. "
"Vampire slayer?" Lucern asked with dismay. Did they still have those? Dear God, he had thought that craze had died out a century or so ago. Life had been pretty tense for a bit. He and his family had had to be terribly cautiousor more so than usual. They had always had to be cautious. Their natural proclivities had made them a target many times over the centuries. Many had been burned at stakes as witches during the Inquisition, and when Stoker had come out with his damned book, vampire slayers had popped up everywhere. It had been a damned nuisance. And scary, too. His family had only really begun to relax since the advent of blood banks, which had lessened both vampires hunting and being hunted. Now it seemed to be a false security. There were still slayers out there.
Well, there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, though he meant to warn his family. He would mention it to Bastien when his brother called back.
Lucern moved on to the other accusation Kate had made. "What did Kate mean by my being named after a dairy product?"
"Oh. " Chris made a face. "Lucern is a dairy company here in the States. "
"A dairy company?"
"Yeah, you knowmilk, cottage cheese, ice cream," Chris explained in exasperation.
"I know what dairy products are," Lucern said testily. "But I am not named after dairy products. "
"So what are you named for?"
"The lake in Switzerland where I was conceived. "
Chris nodded. "I think I've heard of it. But doesn't Lake Lucerne have an e on the end?"
"Yes, well I think my mother thought the e made the name feminine. She took it off. "
"Ah. " Chris nodded again. "It's a cool name. Don't let what Kate said bother you. She's just a little testy lately. Working too hard or something. " He gestured to the pizza box on the table. "Is there any left?"
Lucern leaned over and saw that there were still two slices of the meat-eater's special they'd ordered. He took one, then handed the box to Chris.
Besides television, pizza was something else he'd never tried. It wasn't something served in the gourmet restaurants he frequented. Lucern was beginning to think that his snobby ways had been making him miss out on many pleasures he might truly enjoy. He had never been a great fan of beer, but it had a nice bite to it with pizza. It went even better with the peanuts Chris had run out to buy. It had been kind of fun, too, cracking the peanut shells and strewing them all over the place.
Lucern peered at the coffee table with interest. It was awash in empty beer cans, peanut shells, used paper plates and napkins. He had at first tried to clean up as they ate, his fastidious nature kicking in, but Chris had told him to just stop, he was blocking the TV. Now Lucern found himself rather comfortable amid the mess.
His gaze slid curiously to his companion. Kate's editor friend was an interesting fellow, mostly good-tempered but with a caustic wit at odds with his youth. Lucern had learned the man was in his late twentiesa babe to his own advanced years, though the editor would probably resent him thinking so. Despite that, Lucern was enjoying his company.
He had, though, found himself looking at the man's neck a lot the last hour or so. Now that he had eaten regular food, and satisfied his more natural hunger, the missing blood delivery was beginning to gnaw at Lucern. He had called Bastien twice from his bedroom but got no answer either time. His brother was never home! But that was Bastien's nature.
His younger brother worked hard, played hard, and ran on staggered hours, sometimes braving the day to work, sometimes working nights at the family company. Bastien was the son who had taken up the reins of Argent, Inc. after their father's death. Lucern had never been interested. He'd always preferred the arts, alternating between painting and writing the last couple hundred years.
In contrast, Bastien had always enjoyed the wheeling and dealing of business. The boy had worked in the family company most of his adult life, and he was good at it. Bastien was the one who had convinced their father to diversify from farming and shipping to production in the eighteenth century. He was also the one who had decided they should move into feeding from blood banks. Bastien was an innovative thinker.
He was also damned hard to keep track of. The family business often took him on unexpected trips to foreign countries for indefinite periods. Lucern often couldn't be sure of where his younger brother was or when he would be back. Bastien might simply have been out to dinner when he called, or he might be on his way to Europe to handle a problem at the head offices. Whatever the case, he would get Lucern's message and return the call sooner or later. But Lucern was hungry now.
His gaze slid to Chris's throat again. The editor had a good healthy pulse. Lucern could probably get a pint out of him without harming the fellow. Of course, it would be alcohol-soaked blood, he realized unhappily. And his own blood had a goodly portion of alcohol in it already. He frowned, but his gaze stayed fixed on the other man's neck. Chris laughed at something that had happened on the latest Black Adder skit. Lucern didn't look toward the television; he hungered.
The craving for blood was nothing like that for food. It was somewhat similar to thirst, but wasn't just a dry mouth. It affected his whole body. His skin seemed to be shriveling and aching with want of nourishment.
He knew it wouldn't be as bad right now if he hadn't been out in the sun. The walk from the car into the airport had been a short one, but the airport was all glass and he'd had an aisle seat on the plane. So he'd been unable to close the window shade. He had been stuck with the sun shooting in the window and striking him. The sun was dangerous to his sort. It caused damage in everyone, of cour
se, people of his own race and humans, too. But his body, his blood, was constantly repairing that and other daily damages, and the sun's rays could do a lot, using up his reserves at an accelerated pace and leaving him dangerously dehydrated, bringing a thirst that no amount of water would cure. Only blood.
"What are you doing?"
Chris's question made Lucern realize that he had stood and moved around behind the other man. The editor twisted in his seat, peering back at him curiously.
Nothing. I am sitting on the couch. Watch the show, Lucern commanded, slipping inside the man's mind with little effort and taking control.
"Watch the show," the editor echoed, and turned back in his seat.
Lucern smiled. He hadn't lost the ability to slip inside another's mind and take control. His inability to do so with Kate had made him worry that he had forgotten how. He hadn't, of course. Which meant that Kate was one of those strong-minded and strong-willed individuals his mother swore were the
Lucern pushed the thought away. Thinking of Kate at this moment stirred guilt in him. He was contemplating dining on her coworker, after all, and knew she would not be pleased.
His gaze narrowed on the man sitting before him, and he quickly sifted through the editor's thoughts, looking for anything regarding Kate. He was relieved to find little but friendship and affection. Chris and Kate were not now nor never had been in any sort of relationship. This was good. Lucern liked the young man. He wouldn't have liked him nearly so well had he been romantically involved with Kate.
Lucern proceeded to blank out Chris's thoughts, forcing him to concentrate only on the Black Adder show. He would be unaware of Lucern, who touched the top of his head and tilted it to the side to allow him better access to the carotid.
Lucern bent forward. He would only have a little nibble, take just enough blood to quench the worst of his thirst. Just a little.
Kate stepped off the elevator and started down the hall with relief. She had spent the last several hours involved in shop talk, encouraging, assuring and praising her various writers at the party. All of them were wonderful women, but they had little personal contact with her, so when they got the chance to see her in person they were all rather needy. Though enjoyable, the encounters were mentally and emotionally exhausting, and Kate couldn't wait to get back to the suite and relax.
She thought of Lucern. Taking off her hat, she ran her hands unhappily through her hair. She had been unnecessarily mean to him earlier. Her only excuse was frustration and weariness. She was frustrated because she'd managed to get the man here to the conference and was now worried it would do more damage than good. And she had worked late hours the last month trying to get ahead so her absence this week at the Conference would not be a problem. Added to that, she had been nervous the entire time, worrying over whether Lucern would show up or not.
Kate sighed to herself and dug around in her pocket for her room key. She would be extra nice to him to make up for her earlier irritability. After all, it wasn't his fault he was named after dairy products, was as pale as death half the time or spoke in such an old-fashioned way. He had been tricked into giving his word to come, then had kept it. He wasn't all bad. He was
A pervert! That was Kate's first thought upon opening the door to the three-bedroom suite. She couldn't believe her eyes. She wasn't even sure at first as to what she was witnessing. Chris was sitting in the chair, and Kate would almost have believed he was watching television, except Lucern was bent over him, an arm around his shoulder and trailing down his chest as he buried his face in the editor's neck.
Kate gaped in honor. Lucern Argeneau was gay: And he was making a pass at her coworker!
"What the hell are you doing?'"
Lucern straightened abruptly and whirled to face the door where Kate stood gaping. His first thought was, uh-oh. His second was that it was a damned shame she was resistant to mind control, because he would have used it on her. Then the phone rang.
Lucern took a moment to reinforce his control over Chris so that the editor wouldn't hear or see what was going on; it was better not to free his mind until Lucern knew how he was going to explain this. Then, since Kate seemed incapable of moving at the moment, he left her standing by the door and walked into his bedroom to answer the phone. He was hoping it was Bastien.
As he'd hoped, it was his brother's voice on the line. Though the timing sucked. If his brother had called half an hour earlier, Lucern might have been able to control his bloodlust and avoided the scene in the other room. How the hell was he going to explain this to Kate?
"Lucern? Lucern!"
He gave up and turned his attention to Bastien. "Where are you?" he asked.
"I'm in Europe. I got your message, but you didn't say what the problem was. What?"
"Hang up the phone. " Kate was suddenly at his side. He should have locked the door. It appeared she had recovered from her shock, and judging from her expression, she was not a happy camper.
"Just a minute, Kate," Lucern scowled at her. "Go wait in the other room. "
"No. I want to talk to you. Now. " She grabbed for the receiver, but Lucern turned away, moving it out of her reach.
"Look, Bastien. I" He paused and stared at the receiver in his hand after a click sounded in his ear.
"What were you doing to Chris?"
Lucern turned. "You hung up the phone!" He gaped at Kate.
"You're damned right I did," she hissed. She glanced toward the door to the other room. The Black Adder laugh track could be heard beyond. She turned back and accused in a harsh whisper, "I leave you alone for a few hours and come back to find you hitting on my friend? For your information, he isn't gay, so you're wasting your time. I can't believe you'd act like this, but you're going to explain yourself right now. "
Lucern recoiled as if she'd hit him. "I wasn't hitting on your friend. What kind of man do you take me for?"
"Well, what kind of man am I supposed to take you for? You've never shown the least bit of interest in me, and I come back to find you all over Chris!"
Lucern stared at her for a moment, then slammed the dead phone down in its cradle. Snatching her by the wrist, he tugged her into his arms. She got out one gasp of surprise before his mouth closed over hers.
It was no soft, tentative kiss. Lucern had something to prove. Besides, he'd wanted her for so long that he couldn't have been soft had he wanted to. The kiss was a takinghe ravaged her mouth, forcing her lips open and thrusting his tongue inside, his body clenching at the taste of her. She was as hot and sweet as he had imagined.
And she was as willing. Oh, not at first. For the first moment or two Kate was stiff and still in his arms, but then she gave a groan of surrender and melted into him, her body forming itself against his like a soft sweater. Her breasts nudged his chest as she slid her free arm around his neck and tilted her head slightly to make it less awkward as she kissed him back.
It only served to fan the flame of Lucern's desire. Forgetting his original intent to prove he wasn't gay, he released her wrist and slid his arms around her. Letting his hands slide down over her back to her heart-shaped bottom, he cupped those round curves and lifted her against him until they were groin to groin; then he gyrated his hips to press into her. Kate was warm sunlight in his hands, arching and writhing against him as she moaned. Her mouth went wider, then sucked at his almost frantically.
"Lucern. " She gasped his name in protest when he paused to glance around. But Lucern wasn't stopping. He had no intention of stopping; he merely wanted to know where the hell the bed was. He wanted to touch more of her. He wanted to take her. He couldn't touch and take her while they were standing.
Seeing the bed directly behind Kate, he urged her back onto it. Following her down, he pressed his body insistently into hers and lowered his mouth to kiss her again. Kate relaxed at once, her hands roving over his back, side and arms. Lucern felt her tugging at his shirt, trying consciously or unco
nsciously to pull it free of his pants, and he was suddenly grateful that he'd removed his jacket and tie earlier. There was less to take off that way.
Kate, of course, was wearing far too much. He decided to help her with that problem; but when he started to break their kiss, she protested with a loud groan and dug her claws into his lower back, trying to hold him in place.
Lucern chuckled breathlessly into her mouth, pleased with her passion. He gave her another deep kiss, filling her mouth with his tongue, then withdrawing it in imitation of what was to come. He broke the kiss and nibbled his way down her chin, along her throat as he started to work on the buttons of her shirt. He hesitated as his lips found and paused on the pulsing vein in her throat. He could feel the excitement in her blood, could almost taste it. He wanted to bite her. Wanted to feed. But he would wait. He would take her blood as he took her body. They would both find the heights of ecstasy that way. It would be better for the wait.
Lucern let his mouth move on, kissing Kate's tender flesh until he reached where the round tops of her breasts pushed out of her bra. His hands had been busy. Her shirt was undone down to where it was tucked into her jeans. Lucern rose up, his knees settling on either side of her hips, and he tugged the shirt free, opening it fully so that it dropped to lie on either side of her. She lay, naked except for a white cotton bra.
Lucern had seen many women in various states of undress. He'd seen women in corsets that had curled his toes, in slinky French negligees that had left him breathless, in little bits of nothing that couldn't even really be called clothingbut he didn't think he'd ever seen anything as sexy as Kate in her cotton bra. Her cowboy hat had tumbled off and lay next to her, her hair was a tangled mess around her flushed cheeks, and her eyes were sleepy with desire. He wanted to eat her up. Wanted to take her into his body and keep her there for eternity. He wanted Kate.
She shifted restlessly beneath him, her hands reaching to feather over his belly through his shirt, and Lucern reluctantly gave up looking at her. Leaning forward, he caught her by the arms and pulled her into a seated position; then he kissed her as he slipped his hands around her to undo the bra. He would have just ripped it off, but it would be a shame to never see her in it again.
Kate wasn't inactive as he worked. She finished tugging his shirt free of his dress slacks and ran her hands underneath, over his hard back then around to explore his chest.
Lucern smiled against her mouth. He undid the last clasp and felt the cloth slip loose. Quickly pushing her shirt off her shoulders, he pushed her back on the bed and tugged the frustrating scrap of cotton off so that he could see her properly.
"Perfect. " The word slipped from his lips as he reached to cup her breasts. Kate moaned and arched her back, pressing upward into his touch. It was all the urging Lucern; needed; he shifted lower on her body so that he could bend forward and take one perfect, hardened nipple into his mouth. His eyes closed with pleasure as he suckled the nub and felt it stiffen even further with excitement. Kate allowed him to attend her breasts for a bit, then caught his hair and tugged his head demandingly upward.
Lucern gave in to the demand. Shifting to kiss her, he slid his leg to nestle between hers. He pressed upward, nudging his thigh against her sex as he kissed her. Kate responded heatedly, rubbing back in return and tugging viciously at his shirt. Several buttons snapped. Lucern suddenly found his shirt open, and he pushed closer so that their flesh met. Kate's nipples grazed the hair of his chest, then his skin, sending tingles through him. He felt her hand slide down over his stomach to his groin.
Lucern went a little wild. He thrust against her, grinding closer, her hand caught between them. The phone began to ring. Lucern heard it, but it was a far-off sound, a distant concern he couldn't be bothered with. Kate filled his mind. She was all he saw or heardher gasps and soft sighs, her scent, her touch. She swamped him. The world could go to hell for all he cared. Kate was with him, and he wanted her there forever. For longer than forever.
Lifting his mouth from hers, Lucern moved to her neck, found her pulse and sank his teeth into her flesh. She cried out, her neck arching, and Lucern closed his eyes, grinding his lower body against her. Her lifeblood filled his mouth. It tasted sweet despite her slender body. Lucern had always preferred larger women, finding their blood thick and rich and fulfilling. But while Kate's blood was different, it was still heady. He felt a rush as it filled him.
"Hey, Lucern! Some guy named Bastien Oh! Uh, sorry. "
Lucern straightened abruptly, rising to his knees on the bed. Whirling he caught sight of Chris moving quickly away from the open door. He stared in amazement, unable to believe that he had got so carried away that he'd forgotten to close the door, and was even more amazed that he'd lost control to such an extent that he had released his power over the editor's mind. Worst of all, he had allowed Chris to catch him and Kate together. He had no fear that the man would know he'd been feeding, but Chris's other assumptions would be just as bad. Kate certainly wouldn't be pleased about it. And Lucern had no desire to cause her discomfort with her coworkers.
Then what the other man had said sank in, and Lucern recalled the ringing phone. Bastien was on the line, calling back! Hurtling himself off the bed, Lucern rushed to the door just in time to see Chris hang up.
"Oh," the editor said, spying him in the doorway. "I told him you were busy. "
Lucern cursed under his breath. Opening his mouth to snap at the younger man, he paused when he realized the editor was avoiding looking at him. Keyes was also blushing furiously. Lucern peered down at himself, grimacing when he saw that Kate hadn't only got his shirt open; she'd managed to start on his pants. The belt was undone, the button open, and his slacks were halfway down his thighs.
He doubted that was what had got Chris upset, however. No doubt the man was discomfitted by finding Kate in flagrante delicto with one of her writers.
Lucern was trying to decide what to do when he was suddenly pushed from behind. Shifting to the side, he half-turned to see Kate rush out of the room past him. Her shirt was done up and her hat was back on her head, and the glimpse he got of her face showed it cherry red with embarrassment.
Lucern tried to grab her hand, but she was already out of reach. Kate called something unintelligible but for the word "bed," then disappeared into her room. The door closed with a snap, followed by the snick of the lock. She definitely wanted to be alone.
Lucern sighed unhappily and pushed a hand through his hair. He'd made a mess of everything.
"Well, I guess I'll er go to bed, too," Chris announced. He then disappeared.
Shaking his head, Lucern walked to the bar. He poured himself a stiff drink, then carried it back to his room, closing the door behind him.
"Now that it doesn't matter," he muttered to himself as he walked to the bed. He'd muddled everything and knew it.
What could he do now? He hadn't a clue what Kate was thinking. Was she aware that he'd bitten her? Usually people weren't, but he usually controlled their mind while doing it, pouring the pleasure it gave him back into them while he fed. It was usually a very erotic experience for them. For the women, anyway. He didn't bother to do that with the men, but merely blanked their mind so that they wouldn't recall what had happened. They were simply left with two tiny holes in their neck and no idea where they'd come from. Lucern had opened his mind to Kate as he'd bitten her, but he was not sure she'd felt his pleasure as her own. Had she felt his bite? Had it been painful? Or had she felt the pleasure and jubilation?
If she had felt the pain of the bite, Kate would probably think he was some insane freak. She'd think he wrote about vampires because he mistakenly thought himself one. She'd be wondering just what she had on her hands. Or, worse, she'd know the truth. But Lucern suspected it would be the freak thing. A sensible modern woman like Kate would never believe in vampires.