"Normal men do not control other people's brains, Lucern," Kate pointed out.
"No. Well…" He sighed. "Look, it isn't some mystical power. Our infected blood makes our bodies more efficient. We're stronger and have more endurance than the usual person. I can lift things ten times heavier than the average man my size, run longer, hit harder. I've never really questioned my ability to read and control people's thoughts, but I would assume that's just another enhanced characteristic. They say humans don't use their entire brain. Well, it would appear my kind's blood makes sure that we do. Or, at least, we use more than the average person. It's probably a survival necessity like the teeth."
He allowed her to digest that, then added, "Does any of this really matter, Kate? The fact is that I am different in some ways. But I love you, Kate. With all my heart. Can't we get past this and find a way to be together? I'd like to marry you. Spend the next hundred years or so with you."
There! Now I've done it, Lucern thought. He'd fought his own dragons, put his pride and fear aside and told her how he felt. Now his heart and his future were in her hands. And for one moment he thought everything would be all right. Tears came to Kate's eyes and joy to her face, and she started to move toward him. Then the front door opened and the two cleaning women sidled out. They were eyeing Lucern as if he were a mad serial killer. Or a vampire.
Luc scowled at them for interrupting at such a critical moment, and they both flinched and slowed. Then one of them grabbed the other's wrist and blurted, "We quit! We've already called the company and told them how weird you are. They're canceling your contract. You'll have to find another company to clean this place."
Lucern sighed as they broke into a run, charging off his porch, down his sidewalk and to their car with the company logo, which they'd parked on the street. They left in a squeal of rubber that made him sigh again.
Forcing a crooked smile, Lucern turned back to Kate. "See, you have to marry me. I seem to scare off all the help."
Kate smiled slightly, then ducked her head to peer at her fingers. They were tangling and untangling themselves nervously. He felt the first arrow of fear hit him. "Kate?"
"I… How could we be together, Luc? You'll live another couple hundred years or so, never aging, and I—"
"I could turn you, like Etienne did Rachel and Lissianna did Greg," he interrupted quietly. He had thought she understood that. Apparently, she hadn't. She also hadn't said she loved him, he realized.
"Turn me?" she repeated, sounding distracted. "I'd be with you, live forever? Never age?"
Lucern was relieved to note that being with him had been the first thought, and not the living forever or not aging. For a lot of women, the last two points were temptation enough to fake love.
"What about my family? How would I explain… ?" She paused when he clasped her hands.
"You would have to disappear in ten years or so. The fact that you wouldn't age would be noticed, and you couldn't explain it to them without risking the lives of my entire family," he admitted. It was something he had hoped to keep to himself until after he had turned her and bound her to his side.
"Give up my family?" she whispered, obviously not happy with that point.
"Kate, come inside please?" His hands slid up her arms, caressing her. He wanted to make love to her, convince her with his passion. He knew how heady and addicting it could be. She wasn't the only one who experienced the double pleasure. He did, as well. Even as Luc shared his excitement with her, Kate had opened instinctively and shared her own with him. It was a rare experience, one borne of the trust and love they shared. At least he thought it was. He had never experienced it with any other woman. But she still hadn't said she loved him.
He didn't care, Lucern decided. He wanted her, he needed her, he loved her. His pride be damned, he would take her any way he could get her, and would use every trick he knew to do it. Tipping her chin up, he claimed her lips, kissing her with all the passion he possessed as he fitted their bodies together. It was as if she had been made for him. She was soft where he was hard, giving where he was not. Lucern embraced her tightly and groaned as he ground his body against hers. He had missed her presence, ached for her body, and longed for her smiles and soft laughter. He couldn't lose her now. And for a moment, he thought he would win.
Kate yielded against him with a sigh, her arms sliding up around his neck and holding him just as desperately as he held her. Little moans issued from her throat as his hand found and cupped one breast—but then he pushed too fast.
Breaking the kiss, he caught her wrist and pulled her toward the front door. "Let's go inside."
Kate resisted, the passion disappearing from her face and something akin to fear replacing it. She shook her head. "No, I can't. I need to think."