Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (The Three #1)(20)
Author: Kristen Ashley

“Yes, you’re way different! You suck human blood!” Her voice had risen and she tried to pull away but he stopped twisting her hair and drew her closer with both arms wrapped around her.

“We feed on human blood, yes.”

“That’s wrong.”

“It’s natural.”

“It’s crazy!”

“It’s been happening since time began.”

She shook her head looking anywhere but at him visibly unable to process this information.

“This is nuts,” she muttered with an edge of hysteria.

“It isn’t.”

Finally she looked at him. “It’s sick.”

His arms tightened further and he held control of his temper but his voice betrayed it when he explained, “You should know, that’s offensive, pet.”

Her eyes skittered away and she accused his shoulder, “You move faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. That is not natural.”

“You’ve never been with a vampire.”

“You smell things, hear things –”

He cut her off, “Leah, this isn’t difficult to understand.”

Her eyes shot to his. “Easy for you to say!”

“Species have been evolving since the planet formed. It’s entirely natural, what I can do, how I feed. It’s who I am. It’s the way of my people.”

“I can’t believe this,” she whispered.

“It’s true.”

She studied him briefly, her eyes working, her thoughts shifting, wildly different expressions swiftly drifting across her features, settling on one. Distrust mingled with horror.

“So, what, we’re your prey? My people, that is. In this ‘natural world’ of yours.”

He didn’t hesitate with his reply, “Yes.”

She went still and stared at him, clearly stunned at both his answer and his honesty.

He took advantage. “What I haven’t explained yet is there’s more we can do. Something I didn’t do last night. Something that would have made things go far better for you if you hadn’t made me lose control.”

She gritted her teeth at another mention of her responsibility for last night’s events before asking, “And that would be?”

“I can anesthetize your skin.”

Her body jerked before she said, “Pardon?”

“Before feeding, only before feeding, my saliva has a numbing agent that releases. Not only does it anesthetize, it has healing properties. Strong ones. The healing begins even before I finish feeding.”

Leah blinked, the distrust and horror gone, confusion and disbelief in its place.

Lucien went on, “If I’d have prepared you before we started, you wouldn’t have felt the tearing, just the feeding, which is highly pleasurable for mortals.”

Her face instantly assumed the look he enjoyed, the one filled with wonder.

Then she said, “You’re joking.”

He shook his head. “Your people find it a sensual experience.”

“No,” she shook her head, pushed up again, got nowhere and gave up, collapsing against him. “I was wrong about what you said before. That wasn’t nuts. This is nuts.”

“It isn’t.”

She ignored him and her eyes narrowed. “So why didn’t you… prepare me?”

His arm at her waist circled further. His other hand slid up her neck and into her hair, bringing her face closer.

Quietly, he explained, “You were excited, moving against me, agitated, aroused. You felt good. You smelled good,” his voice dipped lower at the memory, “so f**king good I lost control.”

Her head pressed against his hand and didn’t stop even if her effort was futile.

“Tomorrow night, when we do it again, I’ll prepare you,” he murmured, his eyes dropping to her throat.

She halted her struggles and he listened to her pulse as it raced.

“No,” she whispered.

He lifted his gaze to lock on hers. “You’ll like it.”

Her voice held a tremor when she said, “You said that last time.”

“Tomorrow, I won’t be so hungry. Tomorrow, I’ll take care of you.”

“I’m supposed to trust that?”

His voice was deadly serious when he replied, “Yes, Leah. With feeding and with everything, you’re supposed to trust me.”

Her head jerked against his hand and his fingers curled into her hair until it stilled.

“I don’t trust you,” she snapped.

“You will,” he returned.

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

“Never,” she hissed, losing her shock and getting angry.

Damn, she was stubborn.

“I’ll have to prove it to you,” he promised her.

“I’m never doing that again,” she announced and his fingers in her hair twisted slightly as his patience slipped.

“You will, tomorrow night.” His voice was implacable.

“Over my dead body,” she bit out, her eyes flashing, her insult crystal clear and he felt it slice agonizingly through his gut.

“Not a chance,” he clipped in return.

She glared at him. He scowled back.

She gave in first when she demanded to know, “Are we done with my lesson now?”

“Yes,” he growled.

“Good, then you’re going to go?”

“No.”

Her body jolted again and she asked, “What?”

“That’s answer to part two of your earlier question. I’m not going. I’m spending the night here.”

Her eyes widened again when she asked, “Why?”

“I like the smell of you when I sleep.”

“What?” she cried in horror.

“And the feel of you,” he continued.

She rolled her eyes toward her forehead and muttered, “Oh my God. It just gets worse and worse.”

He ignored her verbal non-prayer and called, “Leah.” Her eyes snapped back to his face and she was back to glaring. “I’ll be here every night.”

Her nose wrinkled before she mumbled, “Yep. Gets worse and worse.”

Lucien decided he was done and it was time to move on. Therefore he did so.

“Now, you have three choices,” he informed her.

Her head tilted and her jaw clenched before she gritted from between her teeth, “And those are?”

“You can share a drink with me while I have dinner, yours being non-alcoholic.”

“Next,” she snapped.