I turn my palms up and study them, shaking. “How long does it last?”
“Depends on how much blood you drink. The effects wear off, in time. Until then, you’re as powerful as a vampire. Maybe more powerful.”
I stare at Lucius.
“Run with me.” He holds out his hand.
I smile… and take off for the mountains. His laughter chases me and I run faster, with him hard on my heels. He might be letting me out pace him, but he’s right. I am so much stronger than I ever was. With this blood, a super drug flowing through me, I could take down a Vampire King…
“This way,” he shouts, blurring between two boulders. I follow, ducking around rocks as we climb the mountain trail, red dust rising in our wake. The trail ends halfway, so I make my own way, leaping from rock to rock, scaling the cliff leaps and bounds at a time until we reach the peak. The stars are brighter up here, the moon close enough to touch.
A whoosh of air and Lucius is at my back, wrapping his arms around me.
“I can see forever,” I whisper and raise my hands to the endless blue, drinking in the silvery light until he turns me to face him, fists a hand in my hair, and claims my mouth. I arch into him with a cry, exhilaration snapping through me, making me tear at his clothes. We fall, him cushioning me before I hit the ground, rolling under and holding my hips aloft until I free his dick and drive down. The world spins and the starlight smiles above us, but even as I ride him, I know it’s not forever.
This feeling can’t last.
“Thank you,” I murmur to him, much later, when we’re tangled in his bed.
“You’re welcome, pet. But what are you thanking me for?”
I palm his cheek, holding his incredible beauty in my hand. “You let me into your world. It’s a beautiful thing.”
“It is. But you’re not a creature of the night. You’re made of light.” He catches a strand of my hair between his thumb and finger, rubs it between them.
“Moonlight,” I correct. “Lucius. I want to stay with you.”
He releases my hair, takes my leg and eases me under him. “No,” he says as he glides inside me. My legs open wide to accept him. I couldn’t resist him if I tried–and I have tried.
I twine my calves around his fine, flexing ass. I don’t want to resist him any more.
“Lucius,” I gasp as he speeds the rhythm of his thrusts.
“Selene.” He sets his fangs at my throat, and pierces as my orgasm blows up.
When it’s over, I huddle in the shelter of his strong arms.
“Let me stay,” I murmur.
“I can’t,” he murmurs. “Even if I wanted, you don’t belong here.”
Selene
A PALE FACE greets me in the mirror. A month as a vampire’s sex toy has left my cheeks pale and bloodless as a ghost’s, not that I’m complaining. Any exhaustion is wiped away as soon as I drink Lucius’ blood.
I apply red lipstick–the color of blood and vampire dreams–and check the fit of my collar. Lucius has me wear it almost constantly, now. Our nights have become one long scene. Our time together is frenzied, desperate, both of us aware of the countdown towards the end. Lucius has me so well trained, I’m wet and dripping as soon as I hear his voice. He says my name and I’m on edge. He snaps his fingers and I come. We spend every waking moment together, and we exchange blood almost every day.
In a few days, it’ll be over.
Lucius strides past my door, looking delicious in his suit. He’s promised me a night on the town, a night of pretending to be a couple. We’ll end at Toxic, like usual. He’s opened the top half of the club, so his sired can mingle with humans and sip from the victims in the dark corners. The dungeon is still reserved for him and me. In a few days, his sired will gather and I’ll have my first public scene. Our last scene together.
A phone rings in the house. I exit my room in a rustle of fabric, still slipping my earrings in.
Lucius is in the foyer, on the phone. “Theophilus?” he answers and pauses. My ears prick. Lucius’ has shared the names of his sired and Theophilus is one he respects. “Where are you?”
“At the club,” says the vampire. I hear him as clearly as if he was in the room. Werewolf ears are great for eavesdropping.
Lucius turns and meets my eyes. He knows I’m listening and if he cared, he’d leave. He doesn’t care. In the past few weeks, we’ve shared everything.
“You should come here, now,” Theophilus says, his voice tense. “There’s something you should see.”
We hit the club at half past nine. The dance floor is already a crush, the bar four people deep.
Lucius stops beside coat check. Ever the gentleman, he helps me out of my wrap, his face a stern mask as club employees rush around, eager to do his bidding.
He guides me to a private booth overlooking the dance floor. “I have to deal with something. I’ll be right back.”
“It’s all right,” I tell him, sliding deep into the booth. “It won’t ruin our night.” The way his jaw is clenched makes me think heads will roll. Literally.
“Keep everyone away from her,” he tells the guard, and strides away, straight through the dance floor. He looks neither left nor right, but the crowds part for him as if by magic. As soon as he disappears, I sink back in the booth, toying with the glass of Merlot a waitress delivered, suppressing my growing sense of foreboding.