“I’d said some awful things…” she defended him and his arms gave her a gentle shake to stop her exoneration.
“That won’t happen again,” he declared.
Leah watched him, her eyes wide, lips parted and this time he didn’t revel in a look that made her adorable.
“What is it?” she whispered.
His reply was swift and terse. “Preparing for battle.”
“Wow,” she breathed.
“Against an immortal, Leah,” he went on, tone still curt. “My strength is twenty times yours. When I’m in a fight or flight situation, my adrenalin releases just as yours does, but it makes me twice as strong as I was before, twice as fast. If I were to –”
“You didn’t,” she cut him off.
“And I wouldn’t,” he stated. “I’ll repeat, my pet, when you’re with me, you never have anything to fear.”
At that, she replied, “That part I know.”
After she spoke, he watched as her face stilled then horror filled it and she grew pale.
Her heart started racing. In his anger, he’d ceased attuning his to hers and his remained steady.
But she’d given something away and it wasn’t that she trusted he’d never harm her.
“Leah?”
She looked toward the door and she quickly changed the subject, “Maybe we should call my family to come and have breakfast.”
“Leah –”
“I’ll make breakfast today. Crêpes Suzette.”
The idea of Leah attempting Crêpes Suzette, which she’d fail to do (not to mention it was dessert), was infinitely amusing, especially considering flambéing was key to the dish’s success. He mentally located the fire extinguisher, just in case.
At the thought of witnessing this endeavor and her reaction at her inevitable failure, Lucien was tempted to let her off the hook.
However, he didn’t.
“Look at me, sweetheart.”
Her gaze flitted to his eyebrow.
His arms tightened and his tone was a warning. “Leah.”
She sighed and her eyes caught his.
“What did you mean?” Lucien asked.
“What did I mean what?” Leah asked back.
His eyes narrowed. She wrinkled her nose.
“Tell me, Leah,” he ordered.
“Oh all right,” she snapped and frowned at him before admitting something astonishing and tremendously gratifying but doing so with extreme ill-humor. “You make me feel safe.”
Again, Lucien was stunned. This time in a much better way.
“I make you feel safe,” he repeated.
“Yes. You,” she poked him in the chest, “make me,” she pointed to herself then her hand fluttered in the air, “feel safe.” She dropped her hand and stared at him. “You’re big and fast and you can throw a blinkety blank car, for heaven’s sake. You make me feel tiny and sheltered and… well, safe!”
That warmth in his gut started spreading.
“Leah –” he began, his hand inching up her back, sifting into her hair.
But she wasn’t quite through.
Glowering at him, she admitted irritably, “My father left me, which was enough to twist me in a way that I’d never feel safe. We were girls on our own. Mom’s strong but, you know, sometimes…” She trailed off, losing track of her theme then she found it and kept going, “Then every guy I’ve ever been with has hit the top bell on the jerk-o-meter. You can be a jerk but, get this!” she fairly shouted. “One of my boyfriends sat in the car while I changed the tire. Another one didn’t do a freaking thing when some guy was pawing me at a bar. After I got away I asked him why he sat there and watched and did not… one… thing and he said he didn’t want to get ‘into it’ with some ‘moron’ and it was obvious I could ‘sort myself out’.” She lifted her hands and used two fingers to put quotation emphasis on her words before dropping them again and finishing, “Can you believe?”
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 c**k 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.