“Lucas,” I moan, rocking my hips along with his. We come at the same time, holding onto each other like it’s the only thing that matters in the world. And right now, being with him is.
He pulls out and moves next to me, spooning his large body around mine. Gently, he rakes my hair back and licks up the remaining blood on my neck and then presses two fingers over the bites, holding pressure so the punctures clot. I let my eyes fall shut and am close to falling asleep when Lucas takes his fingers off my neck.
“Do you have to go now?” I’m too lazy to sit up. Lucas moves off me, picking up his pants from the floor.
“Yes. I’ll be back before dawn.”
“Okay. I’ll probably be asleep.”
“I figured so.” He pulls his pants on and goes into the bathroom, washing away the little bit of blood that’s on his face.
“You’re meeting with a distributor tonight?” I ask, having briefly heard him talking to Eliza about it on our way to Chicago.
“Yes, it’s a new brand of bottled animal blood,” he makes a face as he says it, practically recoiling from the words.
“You’ve never drank it, have you?”
“No, and I never will.”
I don’t think a vampire like Lucas would ever have to. He can take whatever he wants from whoever he wants. And as long as I’m around, he has his own source of blood right here for the picking.
“What kind of animal does the blood come from?”
“Mostly cattle.” He tucks in his shirt, looking fine as fuck all over again. “Deer blood is gaining in popularity. Supposedly it tastes slightly less putrid than cow blood.”
“That sounds disgusting.”
“I’m sure it is. It doesn’t smell appetizing.”
“What if that was all you had?” I ask. “Would you drink it then?”
“I’d rather starve.”
“Seems a little extreme,” I say, though it’s not like refusing to eat would actually kill a vampire. It would weaken them, eventually making them unable to move or even draw their fangs, but they’d live forever feeling like they were starving to death. “There are foods I don’t like but will eat if I’m hungry enough.”
“It’s different for vampires.” He fixes the collar on his shirt. “Drinking human blood reminds us how fragile the life balance is. How easily we can take life but also how much we depend on others for our own survival.”
“I never thought about it like that, but it makes sense.”
He goes into the closet again to get a belt. “Rest, my love.” He leans over the bed, kissing me once more before leaving. I stay in bed a while longer before forcing myself up to use the bathroom and get ready for bed. It’s been a long day, and I’m tired.
There are only a few hours until dawn, and I have no doubt I’ll be fast asleep by the time Lucas comes home.
Chapter 10
The harrowing sound of metal on metal jolts me from my sleep. I sit up with a start, comforted instantly by Lucas’s embrace.
“I was wondering if you’d startle again,” he says, cradling me against his chest. “What is it about the automatic blinds that does that to you?”
I inhale, hearing the echoing of the see-through door opening. My heart speeds up, knowing what’s coming next. I hate leaving this room almost as much as I hate being in it.
“It’s something from my childhood,” I blurt. “Something associated with a bad memory.”
He runs his fingers through my hair. “Repressing these memories is doing you no favor, Callie.”
He’s right, but dammit, I’ve worked hard to store these memories away and never let them rise to the surface again.
“Your father and brother were cruel to you because you were different, but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”
“A lot more.”
Lucas lays us back down, bringing me onto his chest. He turned on the heated blanket before he got into bed, and the warmth is comforting. “I’ll tell you something about my past if you tell me something about yours.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He pulls me closer, and I hook my leg over his.
“Where were you from when you were a human?”
“Rome.”
He told me back in his human life, he wasn’t allowed to read or write because only the wealthy nobles were taught how to.
“What did you do?”
“I was a solider, and then I was captured in war and fought in the Colosseum.”
I sit up, eyes wide. “Wait. You were a gladiator?”
“Yes.”
I run my eyes over him, looking at his pounds of muscle. “No wonder you are in such good shape.” I bring my gaze back to his handsome face. “That’s…that’s…incredible, but I can’t imagine what life was like for you.”
“You don’t want to imagine it. Now…why do the blinds startle you so much?”
“Talking about my messed-up childhood after finding out you fought in the Colosseum doesn’t measure up.”
Lucas laughs softly. “My past was a long time ago. I’ve made peace with it. Killing the man who paid for me to become a Vampire Champion helped. Maybe you could try—”
“I told you, no murder. Not unless absolutely necessary.” I look back into his eyes. “And Vampire Champion. Holy shit.” I flatten my hand over his chest. He told me the vampire who made him was paid by a human to turn other humans into vampires. Who better to turn than a bloody gladiator?
“History books always leave that part out.” He traces the vein on the inside of my wrist with his finger. “I was forced to fight as a human, and then again once I was turned. The underground vampire fights took place at night, of course, and the crowds were very selective.”
“Wow.” I slowly shake my head. “I don’t even think witches knew about that.”
“It was a long time ago. Now…the blinds, Callie.”
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. “The blinds remind me something, something that made the same sound when the door would open and close. I feel like I need to tell you the whole story, to start from the beginning.”
He gently caresses me. “I brought home a bottle of wine. Want me to get you a glass?”
I sit up, cocking an eyebrow. “You planned to ask me this, didn’t you?”
“Yes. You’re obviously still bothered by your past. I’m curious as well, but I want you to deal with whatever is going on in there.” He puts his finger to my forehead.
“You’re right, and yeah, wine sounds good.”
Lucas kisses my forehead and gets out of bed, returning only seconds later with a bottle of white Zinfandel and a wine glass.
“It’s the same wine I got the first time I stayed the night with you.”
“I remembered. And I bought a corkscrew, though I don’t think you need it.”
“I don’t.” I take the wine and hold my hand over it, using magic to pull the cork out. Lucas hands me the glass, and I fill it only about a quarter of the way up. Usually, I need the alcohol to dull the pain. But having Lucas here, knowing he cares enough to push me through this, is better than any pain medication I could consume.
“Take your time,” he says, pulling the blankets over my legs. He moves in closer.
“Thank you for not pushing me.”
“I want you to be happy. You make me very happy, and I want nothing but the world for you.”
“Starting off, all this emotion is only going to make me at risk for crying.” I blink away the tears forming in my eyes.
“You should never be ashamed of what you feel.”
I take another drink of wine and set the glass down, suddenly nervous. Not because I’m afraid of talking to Lucas, of finally confessing everything to him. He’s as easy to talk to as Kristy, and it hits me then that Lucas is very much like a best friend, only better because we’re in love and I get to have sex with him.
“I started showing signs of having powers when I was pretty young, like two or three,” I start, m
y voice small. “I don’t really remember it, but Abby’s told me stories. I didn’t do anything major. It was more like I wanted a cookie for dinner, was told no, but then one would show up on my plate. My parents knew I was different then, and they basically locked me up in the highest tower and tried to hide me. Sounds like a Disney princess in the making, I know, but a prince never came and rescued me. In the end…I guess I rescued myself.”
“Rescued yourself from what?”
I close my eyes and get a flash of the waiting room. Of knowing my father was lying to me. Of the feeling deep in my stomach that I’ve known all along. That even though I was his youngest daughter, the last of his flesh and blood…my father didn’t love me.