Knowing that she needed to get herself together, that they had critical tasks to accomplish, she pulled out of his arms. Don’t pay any attention to me right now. I’ll be okay. And I really do need a shower.
She threw levers and yelped when cold water hit her then yelped when the water got too hot. But she didn’t care. She’d made the mistake of getting involved, of wanting Lucian to see himself the way she saw him. And now she cared about him.
Lucian’s voice once more broke through her thoughts. Rumy’s sending over some clothes for the trip to Siberia, something warm so you’ll be comfortable.
She took a deep breath. Sounds good.
She spent the next several minutes washing her hair then getting rid of all the makeup, trying to find some balance. But the last thing she’d expected, when Rumy had given her the first blood-chain to wear, was that she’d fall so hard for a vampire.
Chapter 11
Lucian thanked Rumy for the clothes. His staff was incredibly efficient, highly motivated to please and to do their best at all times. Eve had sent along an iPhone for Claire to use for the duration, and Rumy had provided a long fur coat for her as well. She might be siphoning his power, but it would be cold on the River of Lights ride for her, human that she was. He wanted her to be comfortable.
Rumy took off, asking Lucian to stay in touch and to come back to The Erotic Passage as often as he needed while he continued his hunt for the extinction weapon. He also said he had a few remote connections to the Dark Cave system, where Zoey probably would have lived for the last two years and where Daniel no doubt had her caged up.
“I think it’s sweet. The River of Lights. Just precious.” Rumy had smiled, but wisely took off before Lucian could smash his face in.
Some vampire couples went on their honeymoon in Siberia, which made Lucian shudder. Just what he needed, to be with Claire in a romantic setting. He didn’t want to think of her like that, in any context, and yet how many times had he made love to her over the past couple of days? It had to be some kind of record for a pair of strangers.
And now she was really distressed.
He slipped on a long-sleeved black tee, fresh battle leathers and accompanying weapons, steel-toed boots. He tapped the chains at his neck. Damn chains. This was the real problem. Maybe they didn’t lie, but if Claire hadn’t bound him in the first place, he wouldn’t be stuck feeling so damn much for her. When she’d come into the bathroom, she’d looked beyond upset, so he’d held her. But the whole time, his chest had started to ache in a way he’d never experienced before, which was the exact moment he realized that the woman meant something to him.
So much for keeping things simple.
A string of curses rolled through his head, one after the other, hot bits of invective that summarized his frustration about their present relationship. He desired Claire, wanted her, hungered for her, and it wasn’t because of the chains, it was because of Claire herself … and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about that. She’d come to mean something important to him, and he was so screwed.
When Claire emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her, he gestured to the clothes hanging on the rack then turned around so she could get dressed with some degree of privacy.
“Thanks. This is awkward.”
With his back to her, he tried not to think about her being completely naked. “I know.”
“Am I supposed to wear this fur?”
“It’ll be cold. Don’t worry, it’s faux.”
She fell silent but he heard her movements, sidesteps of her feet as she probably put on the thong that he wanted to look at really bad, but didn’t. Next, her jeans, which he knew she preferred and looked hot on her. Claire had a beautiful ass. She’d wear a bra, one of several that Rumy’s staff had bought for her and arranged in the top dresser drawer. He knew, because he’d checked them out while she was showering
He heard a faint grunt, then, “This is a bit snug.”
The comment made him instinctively turn around to look. There were the shapely mounds of her br**sts overflowing a low-cut, lacy black bra. His heart might have simply paused for a few seconds, he wasn’t sure. His breathing certainly had.
He frowned then looked away. “You want a different one?” He wanted her to say no.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
He waited. She’d already chosen a purple silk top, so she’d be putting that on.
“It’s sure a good thing I’ll be wearing fur.”
Once more, her comment tugged his gaze in her direction. He held back a moan since her perfect cle**age showed through a long cutout in the blouse.
She rifled through the clothes and found a second pullover to solve the problem. He should have been grateful, but he was just enough of a man to admit he liked looking and Claire had great stuff to look at.
She met his gaze, tugging at the hem of the pullover. “What’s with all the sexy vibrations? Didn’t you take me enough times back there in the specialty room?”
“No.” The word left his mouth before he could stop it. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I mean sure, yeah, of course. I mean, hell, whatever.”
“You said no. Honestly, Lucian, what is it with you men?” But she smiled, and some of the tension left her.
He shrugged, then he laughed, that thing she could make him do. “We’re men. Our dicks dictate most of our decisions. I didn’t mean anything by it and I know we both need to move on.”
The amused light in her eye dimmed. She sat down to put on a pair of socks and soft brown leather flats. “Yes, we do. I’m trying, Lucian, but all this sex is getting to me and making feel things that I know aren’t real, can’t be real, and can’t last. Know what I mean?”
He leaned his elbow on the upper brace of the steel rack, looking down at her. “Yeah, I do. We’ll get through this, Claire, and I’ll get you home as soon as we have the extinction weapon in hand and after we rescue your friend.”
Claire slid her foot slowly into the second shoe. She stared at the floor and released a deep, almost labored breath. “It’s funny to me how what we each wanted to accomplish dovetailed like this—your father having bought Zoey, I mean. Now I have yet another reason to detest Daniel, as if what he had already inflicted on your world and on you and your brothers wasn’t bad enough. God, Marius…”
She shaded her face with her hand.
He kept forgetting that she’d witnessed his brother’s murder. Another shard of pain took a slice off his heart for a brother lost, one he’d loved for four centuries.