Stealing Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 5) (27 page)

He met her eyes and she realized he wasn’t completely in his human form. His eyes were big black pools, not even a hint of white showing. “It doesn’t hurt around you.”

“Liar,” she whispered. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I’ve seen what you look like. I won’t run screaming.”

“Can you just move out of the way so I can get in the shower?”

She pursed her lips as she looked him up and down. Something had happened. Something bad. Part of her wanted to know and part of her didn’t. “Is Charlie okay?”

“He’s alive. A lot of other people aren’t.”

Ella took a deep swallow. “I’m sorry.”

Lucian didn’t wait for her to move, pushing past her and into the green and gray decorated bathroom. “For a second there, I thought I might be just as bad as them. When there was just one dead girl. Charlie was pissed and almost broke down. I just stood there. Upset but still in control, you know?”

Ella nodded, though she didn’t truly have any idea what he was talking about. She held her breath as he continued, not wanting to interrupt him in even the tiniest way.

“And then—” He looked down for a moment before he pulled his shirt over his shoulders, leaving him in just his shoes, jeans, and the two pounds of dirt and dust that covered him. “I tried to save them. I got to a few in time. Even saved two dogs. But there were so many who didn’t make it. Now I know I’m not like them.” His voice held a strange, wistful tone.

“You’re jealous?” she asked.

He looked up at her, his terrifying eyes surrounded by sadness. “It would be nice to not feel anything, wouldn’t it?” The side of his mouth hooked up in a crooked grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’d probably never think like that.”

Ella stepped into the bathroom and touched Lucian’s hand. She didn’t hold it. Just placed her fingers over his. “Everyone feels that way sometimes. It’s the ones who feel the most who wish they could turn it off.”

Lucian moved forward, leaning down and inhaling her scent. “How can you even bear to look at me?”

She grinned and tilted her head back to meet his eyes again. “I’m not sure if you’ve seen your daughter, but I basically look at you every day.”

One of Lucian’s palms ran down the side of her face before cupping the back of her head. She was just inches from his lips and all she could think was how soft they felt against her in comparison to his rough hands.

“Tell me to leave and I will,” he whispered against her.

She could’ve laughed at the gentlemanly words. Instead, she stood up on tiptoe and covered his mouth with hers. He met her kiss with untamed ferocity. His lips were hot and hungry and they seemed to devour her whole.

But she wasn’t scared. She pulled him closer, fingers gripping into his shoulders. His tongue urgently invaded her mouth and she moaned at the primitive rhythm. His arms wrapped around her, lifting her off her feet, and he maneuvered her out of the bathroom.

“Baby,” he muttered as he moved his mouth from her mouth to her neck.

“Mmmm?” She moaned as his teeth found just the right spot to nibble.

“Your bed’s about to get dirty.”

She let her head fall back as she laughed. As second later, she was falling through the air and on the mattress. She expected him to immediately follow, but all she felt was cold.

The click of the door closing sounded and she looked up into the darkness of his silhouette against the bathroom light. She heard the unmistakable sound of his jean zipper sliding down and the rustling of his pants and boots coming off. She couldn’t see any details, but the idea of him being completely naked and ready for her caused her mouth to go dry. She bit at her bottom lip.

The mattress dipped as he rested one knee on the edge, followed by both his hands until he straddled her.

She reached one hand up to run along the ripples of his chest. “I wish I could see you.”

“I can see you,” he whispered. He placed a soft kiss on her temple as one of his hands played with the hem of her shirt. “I can see the gold in your eyes.” He kissed her right on the bridge of her nose. “I can see there are little dots on your shirt.” He lifted the material and moved down her body to lay a kiss on her stomach.

She moaned and lifted herself up, allowing him to pull the shirt over her head, leaving her only in panties and pants.

Lucian groaned as the shirt fell to her side. “I can see your amazing breasts.” He covered the rosy tip of one with his hot mouth as his fingers teased her other nipple. Ella arched off the bed at his touch.

His rock-hard erection rested against her. Ella suddenly needed him inside her. Well, maybe not so suddenly. They’d been building up to this from the moment he showed up at Charlie’s gym.

He moved to the other nipple and her hands fisted in his hair. She wrapped one leg around his tight butt, positioning him right at her opening. She tilted her hips just the right way as his teeth gently squeezed the tip of a breast. The multiple jolts of electricity almost caused her to jump off the bed.

“Please,” she murmured.

“Please? Are you ready so quickly?”

Was this quickly? Time seemed to dissolve into one big blur when his hands were on her.

“You aren’t even naked.” He left her breasts and snaked kisses down her belly. When he reached the waistband of her pants, she lifted her hips, letting him pull the material, along with her panties, off her legs, where it ended up in a pile on the floor.

The width of his shoulders pushed her thighs apart and Ella was suddenly shy again. She hadn’t had a man down there in years, and she knew his night vision could pick up on every minute detail.

She moved to cover herself with her hands, but he caught her wrists. “No hiding.”

His fingers traced up the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, his touch so light but reverberating through her entire body. He reached the center of her and without warning, pushed two fingers deep inside.

Her hips thrust off the bed and her hands fisted in the sheets.

“God, you’re beautiful,” whispered Lucian. He moved his fingers almost all the way out before he pushed them back in again. “And tight. And wet. Fuck, Ella.”

On account of her eyes being squeezed closed in ecstasy, she didn’t see him move, but she felt as if she’d been hit with some sort of orgasmic lightning as his lips closed over her clitoris, tongue working the small nub as his fingers moved within her.

The double onslaught was too much to take. She thrashed beneath his talented tongue, her heels pressing into his back. Her breaths came in short pants and she bit down on the meaty side of her palm to keep from screaming out too loud as her world exploded into millions of tiny lights, every cell in her solely focused on what Lucian was doing to her body.

As she slowly came back down to earth, Lucian moved up, desperate hunger etched in his face.

He hooked one of her knees over his wrist and spread her wide for him. He slid home in one smooth motion, her still extra-sensitive nerve endings vibrating at his entry. He groaned above her. He let his head roll back and held himself there for a moment, seeming to savor the moment.

And then he started to move.

His muscles shook as he pulled out so far that just the smallest tip of him was still imbedded in her and then slammed forward, filling her to the brink.

She couldn’t hold back the moans any longer, throwing her head back and releasing a scream he caught in his mouth. Her nails bit into his back as he thrust faster and faster. His hands caught her hips, holding her steady for his brutal assault.

Not that she minded. She gripped him tighter, reveling in the feel of his hips slamming into hers. When his entire body tensed above hers, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close as he shuddered above her.

When he was finished, he sank against her, chest heaving for air. Ella was having a bit of a problem catching her own breath.

“That was—” She trailed off as she tried to think of an adequate word to describe it.

Lucian bent over and kissed her on the forehead. “You were amazing.”

“What do we do now?”

“Just enjoy the moment. We’ll deal with the consequences tomorrow.”

Ella closed her eyes and let the darkness sweep over her. There was always tomorrow.

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T
hough Ella didn’t go into work the next day, she did head over to the rubble to help the cleanup efforts.

The eight hours she was there seemed to go by alternately fast and slow and was filled with all the craziness that was to be expected after a small town was the victim of a terrorist attack. That’s what the news stations were calling it, and they weren’t wrong. It had caused terror. In essence, the building was blown up as a sign of the vampires’ power and just how far they were willing to go to get what they wanted.

Of course, Lucian had informed her he wasn’t exactly sure what they wanted. He’d expected them to come after Charlie for revenge because of the man they assumed he killed. Now that they knew the myotis were involved, Lucian wasn’t sure what they had planned.

The vampires had a long history of losing when going head-to-head with the myotis. Hopefully the building was their last hurrah before retreating.

Explaining to Clara why Lucian was there when she woke up took a bit of tiptoeing. Ella decided lying was her best option in this case and told Clara Lucian had gotten there extra early to watch her.

Clara didn’t question it. She was just happy to have her “favorite babysitter” back.

When an exhausted Ella got home at six o’clock, Clara ran into Ella’s arms, giving her a tight hug. “Hi, Mommy!”

Ella smiled and pushed her nose into Clara’s hair. “Hey, sweetie. Did you and Lucian have fun?”

Lucian was suspiciously silent, but Clara nodded emphatically.

“So what did you guys do all day? I don’t smell horses.”

“Lucian took me swimming!”

Ella frowned. “I take you swimming all the time and you never look that happy.”

“This was the biggest lake I’ve ever seen. It was so big I couldn’t even see the end! And it tasted funny, but I just made sure I kept my mouth closed really tight.”

Ella nodded, pretty much expecting this. “The ocean. You took her to the ocean. Is the television really so repulsive to you?”

Lucian grinned at her annoyance. “You’re just jealous you didn’t get to go.”

Clara fidgeted and Ella set her down. “There is so much wrong here. You need to tell me where you take her.”

“I didn’t plan it ahead of time. To be fair, she said she wanted to go to Disneyland. I thought the beach would be a good compromise.”

Ella pinched the bridge of her nose. “You need to keep me informed. What if something had happened?”

Lucian’s hands fell to rest at her waist. The sudden contact made her jump. “Next time, I promise I’ll call. Okay?”

“Screw calling. Next time, I get to go to the beach too.”

He laughed softly before he kissed her on the forehead. As good as the contact felt, Ella felt awkward with the PDA because Clara was so close. She twisted away from Lucian and glanced to their daughter, who seemed distracted enough rubbing Reno’s stomach. The red dog was stretched on his back and looked as if he was in heaven.

Relieved Clara hadn’t seen them, Ella turned back to Lucian. “What’s on the agenda for tonight?”

“Same as last night but hopefully with better results. Dean, Charlie, and I try to track down where the monsters have been nesting and stop them from hurting anyone else.”

Ella opened her mouth to offer to go with him. She was smart. She’d survived vampire attacks before and this was her town they were messing with.

But the words never came out. Clara was here. She needed to be protected. She was in the most danger if anyone ever found out about her and the most vulnerable.

“You’ll be safe, right?”

Lucian wrapped his arms around her, giving her a few seconds to lean against his hard strength and rest her head against his shoulder. A few seconds of warmth after the dreary day spent dealing with misery and death.

“I’ll be extra careful. Promise.”

She let out a sigh. He’d better be.

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