Until the Sun Falls From the Sky

  She looked into his eyes with interest until the last. When he mentioned Cressida he saw something cut through her features before she wiped her face blank. And what he saw cutting through features he did not like. He did not like that she felt it and he did not like that her feeling it meant he felt it as well.

  “Leah, sweetheart, what we had was a very long time ago,” he assured her and this was true, for mortals. For vampires, seeing as he ended the physical side of his relationship with Cressida only fifty years ago, it was not.

  “Okay,” she said quietly.

  “There is nothing there,” he told her.

  “Then why is she at our house?”

  Our house.

  Until the sun falls from the sky.

  “I mean, um…” Leah went on, “I don’t know how vampires roll but the ex isn’t normally in on surprise family visits unless that family is a little bit weird.”

  Lucien again grinned. “Vampires are the same way.”

  “Well then?” she prompted.

  “Cressida is…” he searched for a word, “unusual.”

  Her eyes slid away and she muttered, “Great.”

  His arms gave her a squeeze and he regained her gaze.

  “It is your home, Leah,” he dipped his face closer to hers and stated, “Our home. She will respect me in it and I will make certain she respects you.”

  He watched her brows draw together. “She wouldn’t?”

  “Cressida is unpredictable.”

  “Great part two,” she again muttered.

  “I’ll need you to have patience with her, my pet. And I’ll need you be cautious around her. She will attempt to goad you. Take the high road.”

  Leah stared up at him. Then she whispered, “Uh… something to know about me. I’m not very familiar with the high road.”

  This time Lucien smiled. “I am aware of that but this time, you’ll need to embark on an adventure and discover it.”

  She smiled back, humor lighting her eyes, making them luminescent, as she whispered, “Embark on an adventure.”

  Lucien very much wanted to savor the amusement he gave to Leah but he didn’t have the time.

  So he continued, “Cressida will be irritating. She will say things, perhaps even do things that might be maddening or even hurtful. Do your best to ignore her. I’ll deal with her and I promise to talk through with you anything you may have questions about after she leaves.” He waited for her nod, received it and went on, “My father is another matter.”

  Her head tipped to the side. “Your father?”

  “We do not share a close relationship,” he disclosed.

  “Oh,” she whispered.

  “Not even slightly,” he went on.

  “Oh,” she repeated on a whisper.

  “I do not like him. I do not respect him. And I do not trust him. He has reached out to Isobel and therefore she brought him to our home. I’ve had words with Bel. But I cannot know his intentions. He may be charming. He may be condescending. Either way, you must treat him with respect no matter what.”

  “Okay.” She was still whispering.

  Lucien’s arms gave her another squeeze. “No matter what, Leah. I’ll do my best to control him but, like Cressida, he’s uncontrollable and unpredictable. The only thing I can ask is that you control your reactions.”

  “I’ll control my reactions, Lucien.”

  After her immediate response, he studied her again. The inquisitiveness was gone. The warmth muted. The concern evident.

  He did not like this but he nodded.

  “I also ask you not to share anything about you and me,” he went on.

  Leah blinked. Then she asked, “What?”

  “Nothing about us, Leah. They know I live with you. They know you are my concubine. They know I hold deep regard for you. Any personal information is not theirs to have. Not your nightmares. None of your abilities. Not what you are to me.”

  He felt her body stiffen and she asked quietly, “What I am to you?”

  “That we’re lovers.”

  Understandable confusion suffused her face and she started, “But –”

  “It is none of their concern.”

  “Of course not,” she replied. “But won’t they know that already?”

  “They would make that assumption,” he lied. “I simply wish you to avoid any discussion about it. Any at all.”

  Her head tipped to the side again and the confusion in her features increased. “Why would they discuss it?”

  “Again, Cressida and my father are uncontrollable and unpredictable. They may bring it up to provoke you. Don’t be drawn in and if I ask you to leave the room, you do it. Immediately.”

  She stared at him a moment before she admitted, “This is kind of freaking me out, Lucien.”

  His arms gave her another squeeze and his neck bent so he could touch his mouth too briefly to hers. When he lifted his head, he held her eyes.

  “You feel safe with me,” he reminded her, her lids lowered slowly for a languid blink he liked very much then she nodded. “Then you must trust me because I promise you, my pet, I will keep you safe.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  Lucien sighed.

  Then he stated, “Let’s go home.”

  “Okay,” she repeated.

  He touched his mouth to hers again then let her go only to take her hand and draw her to the front door. He knew she turned back to the windows to wave to her family and Avery.

  He did not.

  He took her out to his Porsche and took her home.

  Chapter Twenty

  The Lunch

  “Mother,” Lucien’s son hissed, “stop it.”

  She wouldn’t. I knew this. I’d been in Cressida’s presence for an hour and I knew this.

  Lucien’s ex was a total bitch. I hated her. I tried not to be a hater but she was the kind of woman that even Mother Theresa would consider bitch-slapping.

  But Cressida wasn’t my concern. I was a woman. I’d encountered bitches.

  It was Lucien’s father Etienne who gave me the creeps. And he did this because he enjoyed Cressida playing with me. Every catty comment out of her mouth, his eyes flashed with a sick happy light and they moved to me to assess my response. I didn’t know how I knew it but I knew he was waiting for me to break no matter what way that was. To be hurt. To get angry. Just as long as it was negative or damaging.

  Vampires were human-ish. This meant that Lucien shared this man’s DNA which I found impossible to believe. Lucien could be a jerk but he was a hot jerk who could be funny, sweet and gentle. Etienne was none of these (except, damnably I had to admit, the hot part) and proud of it. If Magdalene wasn’t sweet and openly loving, I would think she stepped out on Etienne. There was nothing in Lucien that was like his father. They didn’t even look alike, Etienne being blond and blue-eyed, tall but lean for a vampire. Lucien looked like his mother. In fact, he was the uber-masculine image of her classically beautiful femininity.

  Cressida turned her (damnably I had to admit, gorgeous) sky blue eyes to her son and asked with fake innocence, “Stop what?”

  Julian glared at her then ordered, “We need to talk in the study.”

  She threw out an elegant hand to the dining table at which Edwina was currently serving us dessert. “But, we haven’t finished lunch.”

  Julian pushed his chair back, declaring, “You have.”

  “Julian, don’t be rude,” Cressida returned.

  I looked to my lap and smiled because that was hilarious coming from her. She’d been rude from the get-go when she took my hand, squeezed it and murmured, “Mm… tasty.”

  “Study, Mother, now,” Julian growled and I looked to Lucien’s son.

  It was bizarre how Lucien, who I knew was over eight hundred years old but this didn’t penetrate considering his looks and vitality, had two grown children. It was also bizarre that his parents looked like his contemporaries. And it was equally bizarre how both his children clearly
got the best selections in the gene pool they were offered. Julian was gorgeous in his father’s raw, manly way. Isobel was beautiful in what had to have been her mother’s delicate way but Lucien was still stamped all over her.

  I liked them both. They were obviously close and affectionate with each other, their father and their grandmother and, until now, patient with Cressida. They also were cautious and watchful with their grandfather which meant they were far from stupid. And they were kind and welcoming to me which was nice.

  On this thought, I heard Lucien command, “Go with Julian.”

  My head came up and I looked down the table to the head where Lucien was sitting. I was at the foot. Lucien seated me where I was and I didn’t think anything was amiss with this, considering it was my house. But when he did this, the rest exchanged looks and I jotted this down on my mental list of what to talk to Lucien about later.

  He was also glaring at Cressida and it was clear he did not find anything amusing.

  Cressida looked to Lucien and grinned cattily, “I don’t want to miss Edwina’s dessert.” Her head then turned to me and she finished. “I’ve known Edwina for years. She’s the best cook. Don’t you agree?”

  Her meaning was clear.

  See?

  Total bitch.

  “You can go or I can carry you,” Lucien bit out, Cressida looked to him and I pressed my lips together.

  “Oh,” she purred, her eyes flaring with a sultry light, her face softening seductively. Neither of which I liked. Neither of which I could do a thing about. “I’ll take the second option.”

  Bitch.

  Lucien opened his mouth to speak but I took my chances and got there before him.

  “Lucien, really, Cressida’s right. No one should miss Edwina’s dessert,” I stated. Lucien’s eyes cut to me but I looked to Cressida. “As you can see,” I pointed to the bowl Edwina had set in front of me, “it looks delicious. Of course, if you wish to chat with Julian and not tax yourself after that rich lunch, Lucien can carry you to the study.” I shrugged and smiled at her. “Anything goes in Casa Leah. So, whatever you wish.”

  Cressida’s eyes narrowed on me.

  My smile got bigger.

  I heard Isobel chuckle.

  Cressida’s eyes narrowed further.

  I forced myself to quit smiling.

  “The Buchanan smell.”

  This came from Etienne and I looked to him to see he was studying me in a way that made my flesh crawl.

  “I have, of course, smelled it at Selections over the years but haven’t partaken. You, my dear, have changed that. I believe you have cousins who’ll be attending their Selections soon?” he asked but didn’t wait for me to answer. “I’ll be certain to arrange it so I’m free of concubine and I’ll act quickly at their Selections to declare my intentions.”

  Oh yes, my flesh was crawling and I tasted bile considering it suddenly crept up my throat.

  I didn’t want my cousins to service this man and my eyes flew to Lucien to communicate this fact. The instant they caught his, his locked on mine and they were intense. I knew what that meant and I swallowed the bile, deciding I disliked Etienne even more considering he put me off Edwina’s dessert. I didn’t know what it was but by the looks of it she’d used a heavy hand with whipped cream so I also didn’t care.

  Now I knew I’d have to force it down.

  I pulled in a breath, looked back at Etienne and lied quietly, “I’m sure they’d be honored.”

  Actually, what I was sure of was that I’d warn my aunties about this and prepare my cousins for this eventuality. They could refuse him and would have to wait for another Selection but it would be worth it.

  “And how do you find serving your Master?” Etienne asked what I considered a rude question. I hadn’t sat down to lunch with vampires, except, of course, Lucien and Stephanie, but what I did for and with Lucien was personal, not a topic for luncheon conversation. And I didn’t like the way he put it. Lucien had called himself my Master in the beginning so I guessed this was accepted language in their culture. But I still didn’t think the way Etienne phrased this was nice.

  My gaze again went to Lucien to see his jaw was hard and his eyes were still intent.

  I was right, it might be accepted language but Etienne wasn’t being nice.

  I forced myself to smile a small smile at Lucien, take in the elegant dining room where we were seated and I looked back at Etienne.

  “I believe I’ve done well,” I replied. “At least for my part. You’d have to ask Lucien if he agrees.”

  “Oh, Lucien always enjoys his meals to their fullest,” Cressida put in. I fought against my back going straight even as I felt the air in the room get thick but she wasn’t done. “Of course, considering all that is you, he’s enjoying it even more.”

  “That’s enough.”

  This was said quietly and surprisingly by Magdalene and all eyes went to her to see she was looking at Cressida.

  “You are at Leah’s table in Leah’s home eating Leah’s food. She is concubine. She is Buchanan. And you have repeatedly disrespected her,” Magdalene went on, again quietly, her voice soft and if it wasn’t for the sharp look in her eyes, you wouldn’t know she was angry.

  But that sharp look in her eyes, so sharp it was piercing, you couldn’t mistake it.

  Magdalene wasn’t done.

  “I know for a fact that if Lucien referred to your Teo as your ‘meal’, you’d challenge him without hesitation. And yet here you sit, at his concubine’s table in her presence and his and treat them both to your insolence. I’ve shown you patience, Cressida, until now. One more demonstration of your lack of regard for this family, it will be me who challenges you.”

  Cressida’s brows went up. “This family?”

  Magdalene sat back. “Are you not seated at a table with your son, his sister, their grandparents?”

  “Are you not inferring that Leah is family?” Cressida shot back.

  “If that is what you wish to read into my statement, be my guest. I, for one,” her eyes intriguingly slid to Etienne before going back to Cressida, “hold my concubines in deep regard so I have no issue with that.”

  Cressida had no retort. It was clear she didn’t like this because her face went hard and her nose scrunched.

  Magdalene dismissed her and looked at me.

  “My apologies, Leah. I’m deeply sorry we’ve intruded on you and my son only for you to be treated to this behavior.”

  “Good Christ,” Etienne muttered in clear contempt. “Apologies to a concubine?”

  I so did not like Lucien’s father.

  But with effort I ignored him, held Magdalene’s eyes and said quietly, “Thank you.”

  She nodded to me and her face went soft.

  I so did like Lucien’s mother.

  I smiled at her, picked up my spoon and forced myself to take a bite of dessert. I was right. Lots of whipped cream with a hint of strawberries and chunks of moist, rich yellow cake. I was also wrong. Even the antics of Lucien’s crazy family didn’t make me not enjoy Edwina’s scrumptious dessert.

  Edwina was a genius.

  I was scooping up more dessert when I heard in my head, I’m proud of you, pet.

  I kept my attention on my bowl when I replied, Thank you, darling.

  Only when I swallowed my next bite did I look to Lucien.

  His eyes were on me.

  I grinned.

  He grinned back.

  I liked that. Therefore my grin got bigger and I gave him a smile I had no idea was dazzling. Not even when Lucien’s eyes warmed and his face got soft upon witnessing it.

  Then I turned my attention back to my bowl and thus missed his family again exchanging glances.

  Some were relieved. Some were hard.

  All were knowing.

  * * * * *

  It was after dessert and coffee. Lucien had come down to my end of the table to pull out my chair, help me up and guide me out of the room with his hand at t
he small of my back.

  We were walking through the double doors when I saw Magdalene and Isobel were hovering. As was Cressida, if further away. Julian and Etienne were moving to the formal living room which I found a relief.

  No lounging in the comfy seating area off the kitchen for Etienne. No way.

  I was wondering if I could tell them I needed to powder my nose and Lucien had to help me whereupon I would barricade us in our bathroom until they all went away when Magdalene came forward and wrapped her fingers around my elbow.

  “Girl talk,” she said on a smile tipped up to her son.

  I felt Lucien’s body get tight even as mine did the same.

  “Oh goodie!” Cressida exclaimed.

  My body got tighter and Lucien’s hand pressed into the small of my back

  “Magdalene said ‘girl talk’, Cressida, not cat talk,” Isobel stated instantly,

  Cressida sliced her a look but Lucien relaxed and I did too.

  “I’ll behave,” Cressida declared, I knew lying through her teeth.

  “No you won’t,” Isobel returned, knowing, better than me, Cressida was full of it.

  “Reap what you sow,” Magdalene stated in her quiet voice. “You came here full of curiosity, like a cat, and recklessly indulged yourself in that curiosity, like a cat. Now you bear the consequences.”

  Not giving Cressida the opportunity to reply, but I got a funny feeling I didn’t like all that much when her angry eyes cut through me, Magdalene drew me away. Then I saw Lucien give his daughter a look and felt his hand slide around my waist to curl at its side.

  I stopped and looked up at him just in time for his mouth to touch mine.

  When his head lifted slightly, he said gently but I still knew it was an order, “Don’t be long.”

  I nodded. I could do not long. I could definitely do not long.

  I had to say, it freaked me out he was so cautious about me being with his family. Sure, they were strange and he’d forewarned me about Cressida and Etienne but I sensed there was more.

  I needed to ask him, Edwina or Stephanie about this. I didn’t know if I missed this when I missed my studies. Perhaps concubines didn’t socialize with a vampire’s family and his was just weird or weirdly nosy. I did know, whatever was happening, Lucien didn’t like it.