It was a good kiss. One of the best in a lineup of seriously top-notch kisses.
My arms were wrapped around his neck and my body was plastered against his when he lifted his head.
When my thoughts unjumbled, I whispered, “We have a wee problem then.”
“No, we don’t.”
I tilted my head to the side. “We don’t?”
“Leave it to me.”
For some reason, I got worried and my arms tightened.
“Lucien, I’m not sure you understand. The Buchanan women can be kind of…” I couldn’t believe I was saying this to him of all people but I had to warn him as I would have to warn anyone who went head-to-head with the aunties, “daunting when they’re riled. Whatever they did made my Dad leave and never come back and–”
Lucien interrupted me, “First, they’re concubines. I’m a vampire. Your father wasn’t. They won’t say a single word to me.”
Oh yes. That was true.
He went on, “Second, your father left because of your aunts but he never came back because of Cosmo.”
My arms tightened again, this time spasmodically because at the same time I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut.
“What?” I whispered.
“If concubines find a man after their Arrangement and wish to stop their care, they can ask their vampire to stop it. Most of them do. Your mother did too. But your father couldn’t give her the life Cosmo gave her or the ones her sisters had. This made him mean. Mean turned to nasty. Drink made him dangerous. Your aunts got rid of him, Kate told Cosmo about his behavior and Cosmo reinstated your mother’s care and made certain he stayed gone.”
I stared at him, uncertain what to do with this knowledge.
“Did Cosmo… did he… kill my father?”
Lucien’s brows knitted. “Of course not.”
“What’d he do?”
“He gave him a very large sum of money.”
My mouth dropped open.
My father vanished from my life because Cosmo gave him money?
“He, Cosmo, Dad…” I stuttered, composed myself and then went on, “Cosmo made it so my father didn’t even send me a birthday card, a graduation gift, a –?”
“Cosmo made no stipulations about you girls. Only Lydia. Your father chose to disappear from your life.”
This rocked me and my eyes moved to stare unseeing over his shoulder.
What a schmuck!
Of course, I already knew this but to have it confirmed totally stunk!
Lucien’s arms gave me a gentle squeeze.
“Leah?”
“What a schmuck,” I whispered.
“Leah.”
My gaze returned to him and I declared, “Men suck.”
His lips turned up at the ends. “Not all men.”
I wrinkled my nose and then stated, “No, you’re right. Avery seems relatively nice.”
His arms gave me an affectionate squeeze this time but I didn’t feel in the mood for affection.
“Do you know everything about me?” I asked snottily.
“Not everything, no. But most things, yes.”
“That’s not fair,” I declared.
His small grin got bigger. “Why’s that, pet?”
“I don’t know hardly anything about you.”
His hand twisted in my hair then started playing like we had all night and my aunties and Avery weren’t in the other room and Edwina wasn’t blustering around in the kitchen in a dither at how to feed twice as many people as expected.
“What would you like to know?” Lucien asked.
I looked over my shoulder at the door mumbling, “The aunties –”
Another arm squeeze and I looked back at him.
“What would you like to know?”
I had a million questions. No, a billion. Enough where the aunties would have to find ways to amuse themselves and breakdancing would no doubt commence.
“Lucien, we have company.”
“Two questions,” he returned.
“Sorry?” I asked.
“Later you can ask me whatever you want. Now, you’ll ask two questions.”
I stared at him and curiosity, as it had a way of doing, got the best of me.
I started with, “How old are you?”
“Eight hundred and twenty-two.”
I felt my lips part and my eyes grow wide. The instant he caught my look, his eyes went hooded.
“Wow,” I breathed, “you’re old.”
His eyes stayed hooded and he smiled, making it the sexiest smile I’d ever seen in my life except the first one I witnessed from him at my Selection the minute I clapped eyes on him when he heard me verbally drooling over how handsome he was.
This one, however, was up close so it was even better.
“Second question,” he prompted, taking me out of my sexy smile reverie.
I tried to decide. There were too many.
Then it came to me. “How do you stop from hurting me?”
His head cocked sharply to the side and he asked, “Pardon?”
“You can throw a car, Lucien,” I said softly. “How do you hug me and not crush my bones?”
His hand slid through my hair then twisted back in it and he explained, “It’s like speaking two languages from birth. It’s second nature. You can think, speak, read and write in them both. You just learn from the minute you’re born how to be a vampire and how to live in the mortal’s world. It’s rare I’ll lose control or any vampire will and it only happens when emotions are high,” he paused, “or when it’s deliberate.”
“It’s like you speak two body languages?” I asked. “Fluently?”
“Exactly like that, yes.”
I thought that was kind of cool. Then something occurred to me that was seriously not cool and my heart skipped a beat.
He heard it and called, “Leah?”
Before I could lose my courage, I blurted, “Emotions are high when you have sex.”
His hand fisted in my hair, his other arm growing tighter.
“Yes,” he agreed.
My breath caught, my body tensed then automatically I tried to draw away.
His arm got even tighter and his face dipped closer. “I’ll not hurt you.”
“Have you ever hurt anyone else?”
“Never.”
“You said that about the feeding,” I whispered.
“Leah –”
“Maybe we should –”
His face got even closer. “No you don’t,” he warned. “I was a week without food when I lost control at your first feeding and you were far more excited than I could imagine. Not than I could desire, but definitely than I could imagine, especially at that point in our relationship.”