"I do not need blood." He tugged her off balance and into his lap. "All I need is you."
Kate didn't get a chance to respond; Lucern prevented it by sealing her lips with his. She kept her mouth closed at first, ignoring the temptation to kiss him back as she struggled to retain control. But his lips weren't the only thing moving on her—one of his arms was around her back, the fingers having slipped through the side of her dress to caress the ticklish skin under her arm and along side her breast. The other was working busily at the ties of her gown at her shoulder.
Kate moaned deep in her throat, but managed to keep her lips shut as first one shoulder tie was pulled free, then the other. The material pooled around her waist, and Lucern gave up trying to kiss her and bent his head to her breasts.
"Damn," Kate breathed as he suckled one nipple, then the other. "Screw the ball."
Grabbing him by the hair, she dragged his head back up and kissed him voraciously. This was their last night together. Chuck and her job could go to hell. She was going to make the most of this.
Kate heard Lucern growl in response to her surrender; then he set to work with a passion. His hands were everywhere, skimming her breasts, her waist, her hips, sliding up her thighs.
Kate wasn't satisfied simply being the recipient of his touch, and with his help, she shifted to straddle him on the couch, forcing the narrow skirt of her dress up her legs to her hips. She wanted to touch and taste him everywhere. Breaking their kiss, she leaned back and set to work removing his clothes. She undid his cape and pushed it off his shoulders, then pushed the tuxedo jacket off too.
Leaving both garments bunched up behind him on the couch, Kate set to work on his shirt. She breathed a sigh of relief once she had him bare to the waist. Sliding off his lap, she knelt on the floor between his knees and turned her attention to his pants. When she got the button undone and slid the zipper down, Lucern made as if to stand, but Kate shifted forward, blocking his ability to rise. She pushed his slacks and boxers down and caught hold of his erection. Lucern jerked and gasped as she took him into her mouth, groaned as she ran her lips down him and back again.
"Kate," he growled and caught his hands in her hair. He couldn't seem to make up his mind what to do. She suspected he wanted to pull her head away but couldn't quite manage it and so simply held on as she pleasured him. He allowed her to do so for a moment or two; then he did exert pressure and pulled her head away.
He was growling again, his face strained, and Kate knew she had woken the beast. Catching her by one arm, Luc stood, pulling her up with him; then he kissed her roughly, his hands shoving her gown down her hips. It barely hit the floor before he caught the fragile cloth of her panties. He gave a tug that ripped them clean off.
Kate gasped and trembled. Then his hand was there, his fingers delving between her legs. Kate squeezed her eyes closed and pressed into his touch, aware that her legs wouldn't hold her upright for long. Lucern seemed to realize it, too, because he broke the kiss and turned her toward the couch. Pushing her onto her knees on it with his body, he followed her, bending her over its back and pressing close.
Kate cried out and clutched the back of the couch as he slid into and filled her. She cried out again as he reached his arms around, one hand catching under her breasts for support, the other slipping between her legs as he slid in and out.
It was fast and furious this passion, overwhelming them both quickly. Kate never felt Lucern bite her, but she definitely noticed when he suffused her mind with his passion. Already teetering on the edge of fulfillment,
Kate plunged into it, screaming out with ecstasy. Luc's pleasure joined hers in her mind. But the sound seemed faint to her ringing ears, and Kate feared she was about to…
Chapter Eighteen
She hadn't fainted. She'd come awfully close, though, Kate admitted to herself as she showered the next morning. It was a good thing that she was young and healthy; otherwise these passionate encounters quite possibly might have killed her.
Smiling, she turned into the water and let it wash the lathered soap away. Lucern was better than chocolate. As a child, Kate had once asked her mother how she would know she was in love. Her mother had said she would know she was in love when she would be willing to give up chocolate forever to be with that person for even an hour. Kate, a dedicated and hopeless chocoholic, had decided right then that she would never fall in love. She had been sure that no male was worth such privation.
Lucern was worth giving up chocolate. Dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate—she would happily give it all up for him. But her grin quickly faded.