Lure of Forever (11 page)

"Breathe,
Coralie
.
Focus on my voice. You're safe. Stay here,
Chere
.
Breathe with me -
in – out – in – out –
that's
it.
"

Slowly her panic subsided, and the
ice-cold fist squeezing her insides unclenched.

****

Relief flooded Lucas.
Coralie
trembled like a leaf in his arms, but her eyes were
back to their normal warm chestnut and some color had returned to her cheeks.
She clung to him and his chest grew wet with her tears.

"Where did you go,
Chere
?"

"I…I don't know, but I don't
want to go back there, Lucas. I saw… oh God," her voice broke and her
shivers increased. He picked her up and settled her back in front of the fire,
stoking them to increase the heat. When he turned back to face her, agitation
was radiating off her in waves. Her hands clutched the pillow she held against
her middle in a white-knuckled death grip and she was biting her bottom lip so
hard, she drew blood. His fangs ached with the sheer force of will it took to
stop them from running out. Her galloping heart and the tiny drops of blood on
her lips raised the monster in him, and he stamped down on the bloodlust with
grim determination. The last thing she needed right now was a reminder of who
he was.

"What did you see?" He
made his voice as gentle as he could and took the cushion out her hands with
infinite care.

"I saw… I…" She rung her
hands and Lucas enclosed them in his own. Her watery smile made his chest tight
and he cleared his throat noisily.

"What did you see,
Chere
?
Tell
me.
"

"I saw him, this
Jacomo
. He was killing Jerry. I was in his head, Lucas - it
was awful.
 
He wants Jerry so
badly,
he's not going to stop until he gets her."

The renewed tears glistening on her
eyelashes settled like glue in his gut and he forced himself to not react to
her words. Jerry must be the one who summoned
Jacomo
.
Excitement coursed through his veins. There was no way
Jacomo
would be able to get to Jerry. Ion's pack would ensure that and the demon would
walk straight into a trap. But he had to be sure and they needed bait. There
was no way Jerry could be risked. If the demon killed the person who summoned
him, he became invincible. Jerry was the seventh
summoner
.
No spell on earth would ensure
Jacomo
would stay in
the demon realm, if he killed
Coralie's
friend.

And that would bring with it the end
of humankind. But he couldn't tell
Coralie
that, at
least not now. She looked absolutely terrified, her voice an agonized whisper.

"I don't ever want to go back
there, Lucas. That mind, he's…"

"I know,
Chere
.
I've been hunting
him for centuries and I promise you I'll get him this time."

"This
time?
And what if you don't? What if he gets to Jerry? I need to see
her." She pushed him away with a force that surprised him. "I know I
can't tell her the details, but I need to see her."

As quickly as her outburst had
started, it stopped. Her huge eyes implored him and he smiled. When she looked
like that he couldn't refuse her anything. And it wouldn't hurt to check on
Jerry and her escort himself.

"As you
wish,
Chere
.
But it will have to wait till nightfall. And we have to do something about
these."

She flinched when his fingers ran
over Carmen's bite marks.

"I can wear a scarf or
something."

"In the
middle of summer?"
He smiled at her
embarrassed
shrug. "I could compel her or…"

"No," her immediate denial
interrupted him. "Don't you dare mess with my friend's mind… or
mine.
"

           
"I told you,
I can't
mess
with yours. I don't
mess
with anyone's mind."

"Bullshit. So the array of
dazed women you've been feeding on for the last three days didn't have their
minds messed with? Pull the other
one,
it's got bells
on it."

Vibrant crimson stained her cheeks
at his quiet observance of her and she crossed her arms again. Amusement
bubbled up inside of him.

"And you know about these women
how?"

"What does that matter,"
she mumbled and he couldn't help it, he laughed. Her startled eyes connected
with his and he tucked that errant strand of hair back behind her ear again.

"It matters to me."

He tilted her chin up, better to see
her face and his amusement increased. She wouldn't look at him and
embarrassment made her fidgety.

"I can't see why it should
matter to you. And besides I get it, you needed to heal. Ion explained it all.
What I don't get is why you refused my blood. You, stubborn idiot, could have
died."

"Anyone would think you worried
about me."
 

She shrugged her shoulders again,
still refusing to meet his gaze and that unfamiliar tightness was back in his
chest.

"So what if I did? You did save
my life. One is bound to feel a bit obligated after that. Stop dodging my
questions.
 
Why didn't you want my
blood?"

She worried her bottom lip with her
front teeth again and his fangs ran out with a soft click at the sight. Her
eyes grew huge and settled on his mouth.

"It would have been too easy to
turn you if I had. You had a lot of my blood the night before. I couldn't take
that risk."

And he never would. There was no way
in hell that he would condemn his
Coralie
to life in
the shadows. The thought pulled him up short.
His?
She
wasn't his, no matter how much he wanted her. She was human and fragile and
deserved much better than him. But there was one thing he could do for her.

He bit into his wrist and held it up
to her lips.

Chapter
Twelve

Coralie
watched in horror as Lucas bit into his wrist and offered it to her.

"If you don't want your friend
suspecting anything, then drink. It will heal your injuries."

She shook her head in denial. There
was no way she could drink his blood, no matter how bad she felt.

"
Coralie
,
drink and heal, or accept that I will have to compel your friend and her little
girl too, if she sees me."

"You can't do that. You
wouldn't dare."

His raised eyebrow told her that he
would and her stomach churned, looking at his wrist. It closed up in front of
her eyes.
Holy shit
.

"Your other option is to not go
and see her."

"I have to see her, Lucas. And
I have to get out of here."

"Then drink for your own safety
as much as your friend's. Carmen will expect me to heal my… pet. "

"
Your
what?"

A slight flush appeared on Lucas’s
sculpted cheekbones and he didn't quite meet her eyes. He couldn't be
embarrassed, could he? Some of her annoyance at being called a pet dissipated,
seeing his discomfort.
 
Her silly little
heart did a small flip inside her chest.
Get a grip, girl.

"Seeing you still injured will
only serve to increase her suspicions. It's taken all of Ion's influence on the
council to stop her from compelling you. She would drain you on the spot, if
she knew you couldn't be compelled. I sure as hell couldn't cope with the guilt
of my responsibility for your death. There have been too many already."

He still wouldn't look at her and
the tension emanating from him was almost a palpable presence in the room.

"I may be a monster, but I do
have some morals."

The growled words carried a depth of
hidden pain and
Coralie
grabbed his wrist. He smiled
his approval and bit his wrist again. The thick liquid oozed out and
Coralie's
stomach rebelled. She swallowed convulsively to
stop herself from being sick and screwed her eyes shut, when he urged his wrist
towards her mouth again. The coppery smell filled her nostrils and she gagged
when the hot liquid spilled into her mouth.

He pulled her closer until her back
was resting against his chest, his wrist held firmly to her mouth, giving her
no choice but to swallow.

"Suck harder,
Chere
.
"

His deep growl into her ear, coupled
with his erratic breathing and the erection pressing into her bottom, did
strange things to her insides. Or maybe it was the effect of his blood. She
pushed his wrist away, as her body felt lighter, the aches and pains being
replaced by the heat of arousal. He groaned into her ear when she wiggled her
bottom into his cock, and her excitement rose to fever pitch.

"
Coralie
,
if you don't stop wriggling I shall not be responsible for my actions."
His hands roamed to her hips and pulled her tighter against him. Oh, that felt
so good, but she wanted more. Right now she wanted, no, she needed him. After
everything she learned and witnessed she needed to reaffirm that she was alive.

"
Chere
,
stop."
His strained voice skimmed across the sensitive skin of her neck and sent
tingles down her spine that settled in her core and turned her inside out.
Liquid heat flooded between her thighs and she moaned her denial.

"I don't want to stop, Lucas,
please."

She barely recognized her own voice
– breathy and laced with need. The grip on her hips grew painful and she bit
her lip to stop another needy moan escaping as he ground his erection into her
bottom. The heat between her legs reached unbearable levels, her breath coming
out in short bursts and she whimpered her need for him to fill her, to take
away the unbearable need for release.

She spread her legs to give him
better access when his hand strayed under her robe.

"You're so wet,
Chere
.
"
 
She
sighed
her relief
when his fingers sunk into her. His thumb rubbed her clitoris in maddeningly
slow strokes and she pushed herself down on his relentless fingers. His hot
breath fanned across her neck and his fangs scraping her neck sent her arousal
higher, even as fear sliced through her.

"Don't bite me."

The butterfly kisses delivered
across her neck with whispered affirmations that he wouldn't bite had her
sinking against him. Her legs buckled and he pulled her back up with one hand.
She was so deliciously close, but she wanted more.

"Lucas,
please
, I want you inside me."

The growled curse into her shoulder
blades was followed by the sound of a zipper.
Coralie
held her breath, as he bent her forwards with a husky, "Hold onto the
bar." The thick tip of his cock rubbed along her slit with maddening
slowness. She grabbed the bar for support, as sensations assaulted her. Her
breath escaped in one big whoosh, when he pushed himself inside her in one
swift move until he was seated to the hilt. Her muscles contracted as his thick
shaft lodged inside her, and she cried out when he started to thrust, slowly at
first and then with increasing speed. She locked her arms and pushed against
him, every thrust bringing her closer to the brink until
Coralie’s
climax exploded. He pulled her upright, lodging himself even deeper into her.
His cock nudged her cervix with every move and she cried out at the
pleasure-pain of the thick invasion.
 
He
increased his pace until all she could do was hang on for dear life. They came
together in one earth-shattering orgasm that saw them tumbling to the floor in
a heap of tangled limbs and shared laughter.

****

None of that earlier laughter showed
on Lucas's face now. He watched Jerry's block of flats with narrowed eyes,
whilst maintaining a firm grip on
Coralie's
arm to
stop her from dashing across the road. Her eagerness to see her friend seeped
into his consciousness.
 
Something had
changed between them since that hard, fast ride against the bar. He'd
half-expected her to be furious again, once the immediate effects of his blood
had worn off. Instead he'd seen acceptance in her eyes and understanding had
settled deep inside his ancient heart.

His voice had been rough, with long
suppressed human emotions battering their way to the surface, and she had
eagerly taken him up on his growled suggestion that they should take this
somewhere more comfortable.

When night finally fell, she had
adopted the role of his pet human with admirable enthusiasm, not even flinching
when they came across
Bughar
in the corridor.
Something suspiciously like pride had made his chest swell at her courage. When
they'd finally made it out of Carmen's compound her trembles had started and
he'd held her until she regained her equilibrium.