She whirled back to Chris in shock. He was already closing the door behind him as he left.
The room was enclosed in darkness for a moment; then Lucern flicked the switch on the bedside lamp. Kate started toward him. "What did you do to him? How could you possibly make him think that is a shaving cut?"
Her incaution was foolish. She got too close and, just like that, Lucern rose up in bed, caught her by the arms and dragged her over him until she slammed down on the mattress. In the next moment, he moved to cover her.
"Get off of me." She had meant to sound commanding. Instead her voice came out weak and breathless. Kate scowled to try to reinforce her words. She wasn't scared exactly, but there was a quaver in her voice. Lucern's eyes had turned that silver color, though not in anger. He looked like a predator, and Kate was pretty sure she was the prey. The problem was, she wasn't sure she didn't want to be. Her body was already responding to the feel of him pressing down on her.
Lucern hesitated, then let his eyelids droop over his eyes. He looked like a sleepy lion. It really wasn't much better.
"I am sorry," he said in that proper English of his. Another clue to his vampirism, Kate thought unhappily. He was probably real old.
"What for?" she asked after several moments of silence.
"For biting you," he answered promptly, then added, "without your permission."
Kate scowled. "What about Chris?"
"It was just a nibble," he said with a shrug. "And you did say I should go to him if I needed anything."
"I didn't mean you should bite him!" Kate yelled.
Lucern had the nerve to grin. "And what should I have done?"
"You could have…"
When she fell into a confused silence, he asked, "What? Said, 'Oh. Say, Chris, would you mind picking up a pint of blood while you're out getting peanuts? I'm a tad thirsty at the moment.' " He made a face. "You didn't put my name on the room, so the blood that was supposed to be delivered here was turned away. I was hungry," he explained simply.
Kate stared at him, her mouth gone dry. He really was a vampire. She suddenly realized that she hadn't really believed it yet. Now she did. Mostly. Shifting under him, she demanded, "Show me your teeth."
He bared them. They looked perfectly normal to her. His canines were a little pointy but not overly long, and she muttered, "No sharp, pointy, canine teeth...."
"Oh, those teeth." Lucern opened his mouth again. To her horror, the canines extended out of his gums like a cat's claws.
"Oh, God," Kate whimpered.
He retracted the teeth at once. "It's okay, Kate. I would never hurt you."
"You bit me!" she cried. Which was followed by another chorus of "Oh God, oh God, oh God." She couldn't seem to stop saying that.
"But it didn't hurt," he argued. "Did it?"
"Oh God! Get off me, get off me, get off me!" She began to struggle beneath him, but it was a useless attempt. He was much bigger than her. And stronger. She stopped struggling, tried to calm herself, then said, "Please."
Lucern peered at her for a moment, suspicious, then shook his head. "I can't. Not until you promise that you won't tell anyone about this."
She opened her mouth, but he forestalled her by adding, "It's for your own good, Kate. People would just think you are nuts."
He was probably right about that, she realized. They would all think she'd been working too hard and gone off her rocker. A shifting from below drew her attention to the fact that something was moving down there, and it wasn't Lucern. At least not most of him. Dear God, he was getting aroused. She could feel him growing and pressing against her. Kate cleared her throat. "Umm, Lucern?"
"Call me Luc," he suggested. He gave a wicked grin. "Lucern sounds so formal, and we're a bit beyond that."
Kate didn't smile. She cleared her throat again. "Luc. If you're dead, how can you get…" She shifted her eyes downward. He got the drift without her having to explain further, thank goodness, and he shifted away so he wasn't pressed quite so intimately against her.
"I apologize, but I fear I find you quite attractive," he said with great dignity.
"You do?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Oh." She wasn't sure whether she should be happy about that or not, so she returned to her question. "But, if you're dead—"
"I am not dead," Lucern informed her, rolling his eyes.
"You aren't?" she asked. He shook his head solemnly, so she continued, "Then, you aren't soulless?"
"No." A smile quirked his lips.
"And the rest of your family…?"
He shook his head solemnly.