Lure of Forever (2 page)

The cool hand on her arm stopped
her. Great,
now
he wanted her to stay?

"What do you
mean,
you've got the wrong boat? I'm the only barge moored here. Unless…" The
grip on her arm grew painful and
Coralie's
eyes
widened with the discomfort. "Ion, check it out. If he uses a boat, the
location of the unfortunate girls would make complete sense. But she's not his
type. He prefers blondes, it seems."

Coralie
stopped
breathing. Jerry was blonde…what on earth were they going on about? Before she
could ask, Ion took off through the door as though the hounds of hell were
after him. He was followed by the other, non-fanged men in the room, which left
her in the company of the weirdoes.
Oh, great.
She stared pointedly at
Lucas's hand, which still held her arm in a firm grip.

"Would you mind letting me go?
You're hurting me, and I really need to go."

He released her immediately with a
mumbled French apology, but he didn't budge. Another two men moved in the way
of the door, arms crossed over their chests. There was no way out, it seemed.
Coralie's
heart started pounding like a jackhammer, as her
earlier unease returned with a vengeance. What the hell was going on here? Who
were these people?

"What did you mean, he prefers
blondes?"

"Nothing you need concern
yourself with, human," the blonde woman replied. Her icy tone chilled
Coralie
to the bone.
Hell's
bells
. Her freezer gave off more warmth than this Ice Queen. And, what did
she mean, 'human'?
 
They took their vamp
fantasy a bit too far.

The words were out in the open
before
Coralie
could stop them. "Considering I'm
the one standing here dripping all over the floor, and the friend I'm standing
in for is blonde, it seems to me it's very much my business."

"What friend?" Lucas
growled in her ear and the woman was on top of her before she could blink. Boy,
she moved fast.

"Lucas asked you a question.
You would be wise to respond, human."

There she went again with the '
human
' crap. Ice Queen sure fancied
herself.
Coralie
rolled her eyes and bit her tongue.
There was something really unsettling about the cold, unblinking stare leveled
at her.

"Carmen, I will deal with this.
Perhaps you ought to leave." The deep voice just behind her permeated
Coralie's
senses and her body responded. She had to stop
herself from sinking back into the cool chest of the man behind her.
 
It was the accent, she told herself, that's
all.
Nothing else.
She would snap out of it any minute
now.

Carmen gave her one last, long look
and with a clap of her hands led everyone else out of the room, which left
Coralie
completely on her own with the man in question. His
hands reached out, slowly turning her around by the shoulders.

Before she could step back, he
cupped her chin in his hands, and
Coralie
lost
herself in the deep, hypnotic quality of his gaze.

"Listen to me,
Chere
. You will
not remember this…"

Chapter
Two

Lucas looked into the doe-like eyes
of the deliciously wrapped human parcel that had so unexpectedly landed on his
boat. He extended his mind, probing, feeling, and hit a proverbial brick wall.

Sacre
bleu
! This couldn't be. The little morsel was human. He knew that as
surely as though he'd tasted her.
 
Yet
every time he probed, the wall got stronger. Heat built under his hands, until
he had to release her, and she blinked twice, stepping away from him with a
frown.

"Will you stop staring at me,
you…you, who the hell are you, anyway?"

Odd.
Did she repel him on purpose, or was she an exceptionally good actress? There
was only one way to find out.

"Lucas de Tourneau at your
service, Miss...?"

"
Coralie
Roberts, but don't call me that. I'm Coral." Her voice wobbled and her
eyes filled with sudden tears before she blinked them away. She straightened
her shoulders with the same unconscious move he'd observed several times
already,
then
shut her eyes for a moment. When she
opened them again they glittered, seemingly in annoyance.

"Now that Miss Ice Queen has
left, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"Miss Ice Queen?" he
echoed in silent amusement.
 
It was quite
an apt description for the ruthless Carmen, but for
Coralie's
sake, he was glad the ruler of the council wasn't here to witness it. Carmen
was not known for her sense of humor.

"Oh,
for goodness sakes.
The blonde who
seemed so full of herself?"

"I'm fully aware of who you're
referring to,
Coralie
," her sharp intake of
breath stopped him as she stabbed her index finger in his chest repeatedly.

"Do
not
call me
Coralie
. Had I not said
that
just
five seconds ago? I'm not—"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her
flush into his body.
 
Merde
,
if her curvy body didn't rub against all the right places. It had been way
too long since he'd indulged himself.
 
This little human may well regret having landed on his boat in the
morning, and he had to find out what she knew. His blood surged south, pooling
in his balls at the mere thought of having those soft curves writhing under
him. All that banked passion, he sensed, would make for an interesting time
between the sheets.

He allowed his fangs to run out a
little further, waiting for her reaction, which turned out to be amusing and
infuriating in equal measures. She rolled her eyes and pushed against his
chest.

He let her go, but not before he
noticed the way her breathing and heart accelerated with a satisfied smile. He
may not be able to reach her mind, but her body was another matter. The
exasperated sound she made deep in her throat shot straight to his cock, and he
shifted imperceptibly to get comfortable in his jeans.

She glared at him, shaking her head,
and drops of moisture flew in the air. His conscience stirred briefly. As she'd
arrived here looking like a drowned rat, he figured she must be getting cold.
He stepped closer again, but her raised hand and incredulous expression stopped
him.

"You have got to be kidding me.
Are those things growing?
Seriously?
Aren't you a bit
too old to play Dracula?"

The nerve of the little minx
.
She made him sound like a five-year-old, playing dress up. As she headed for
the door, dismissing him as though he
was
a child, he pounced and spun
her around.

Her eyes widened and her breath
hitched. He caged her in against the wall, the rhythm of her heartbeat
reminding him he hadn't fed in several days. His cock pressed painfully against
the seam of his fly, her ineffective struggles in his arms awakening the
bloodlust he usually held under iron control. It had been way too long since he
had the thrill of the chase. She shivered and stopped struggling when he ran
his fangs along her neck and he smiled. He had her now. He pulled back slightly
to see her expression. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide and unblinking as
she looked up at him.

"Ah, that's better,
Chere
. Does this
feel as though I'm playing at Dracula? I let you know he has nothing on me. I
have been around for...
Umph
.
"

His balls exploded as her knee came
up and hit the bull's eye.
 
He staggered
back when she pushed against his chest, in too much pain at that moment to stop
her.

"Spare me, big boy. This may
work in your little gatherings, but
please
.
Are you that deluded, you actually believe you could hypnotize me? What next?
You're
gonna
sparkle in the sun? Turn into a
bat?" She stamped her foot in frustration at his complete inability to
utter a response.
"Oh, for goodness sakes.
Speak
, man. I didn't hit you that
hard."

"That is a matter of
interpretation." He just about managed to croak his response, and had to
resist the urge to cup his aching balls to make sure they were still attached.
That woman had bloody hard knees. At least she had the good grace to look a
little chagrined, as her chocolate eyes rested briefly on his groin.

A slight flush crept into her cheeks
and she didn't look at him when she mumbled, "Well, yes. I'm sorry if I
hurt you, but what do you expect me to do? Stand there and let you maul me with
your fake teeth? They're bloody sharp, you know. If you insist on wearing them,
I'd file them down, before you end up hurting someone."

She worried her bottom lip with her
teeth and amusement replaced his annoyance.
 
Righteous indignation warred with worry in every line of her delectable
body. She was a walking enigma, this bundle of curves. The well-buried human
part of him stirred in recognition––of what, exactly? He wasn't sure, and now
was not the time to ponder that. Shifting slightly, relief flooded him as the
ache in his balls ceased.

"Are you OK? Don't need an
icepack or anything?”

"I'll
live,
it seems, but thank you. Shall we start again?" He extended his hand as he
spoke.

She looked at it suspiciously and
glanced up at his face, before taking his hand. A jolt of awareness shot up his
arm and she dropped his hand as though she'd been burned. Her frown matched his
as they stood staring at each other.
 
What the hell was going on here?

"I…I really ought to go."

Her suddenly breathy voice had his
balls aching anew.
 
His ringing phone
broke the growing awareness between them and he put one hand up in a silent bid
for her to stay. She nodded warily, her expressive eyes flitting over his face,
resting briefly on his mouth, and he grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and
his amusement grew.
 
Bet she wondered
what he did with his teeth. File them down, indeed. She would find out soon
enough how sharp they could be. Reading the display on his phone stopped those
thoughts instantly: Ion.

****

Why was she still standing here,
gawping at him as though he was the Holy Grail to womankind? He certainly
didn't need the boost to his ego––that was for sure. How she'd managed to bring
her knee up like that, she'd never know. Her body had simply melted against him
when he caged her in against the wall, and even though she knew those blasted
teeth were fake they still sent shivers down her body that settled between her
thighs. It was every wicked fantasy come to life. God, she was no better than
him, getting lost in the illusion. Vampires were damn hot in the fantasy realm,
but that's where they belonged. She was not going to be turned into a crazy
person who acted these fantasies out, no matter how delicious the man was.

Holding the phone to his ear, he
looked like an intently listening statue.
Coralie
didn't know it was possible to remain that perfectly still. She couldn't even
see him breathe. Then again, a man who sported fake teeth and held strange gatherings
on his boat would no doubt perfect the art of pretense to such a degree, that
he could pass for whatever he wanted to be. It would also explain his pale
complexion and the fact that his body felt cool, too. Or maybe that was just
her body temperature. She wrapped her arms around her waist in an effort to
warm up. The damp clothes felt ice-cold on her skin and she couldn't stop the
shivers.

The gust of air raised her sodden
hair off her forehead, before a warm soft towel was draped round her shoulders.

"Forgive me. You must be
frozen."

She leaned back into the hard wall
of muscle behind her with an involuntary sigh. His amused chuckle vibrated
through her and she stiffened for an instant. What was so damn funny? And how
did he get there so quickly, anyway? She was definitely coming down with
something.
 
She was seeing things. He’d
stood a few paces away, talking on the phone only seconds ago, hadn't he?

A second warm towel draped over her
head brought another sigh from her lips. However he’d done it, it felt so good.
Lucas moved her until she was seated on one of the plush chairs scattered
around the room. He proceeded to take each strand of her hair and pat it dry,
his long fingers kneading her scalp in a sensual massage. She closed her eyes
with another sigh and simply gave herself up to the feeling of being pampered.
A gust of cold air brought with it the smell of chocolate and
Coralie
opened her eyes to find the man standing in front
of her with a steaming mug of the elixir.