The truth was, she didn't know where she belonged now. She didn't know where to begin looking, but as she walked the compound's maze of corridors, Gabrielle found herself standing outside Lucan's private quarters.
The door to the main apartment was ajar; a soft light glowed from within. Gabrielle pushed it open, then stepped inside.
Candlelight flickered in the adjacent bedroom. She followed the ambient warmth to the threshold and paused there, marveling at what she saw. Lucan's austere bedroom had been transformed into something out of a dream. Four tall black pillar candles set into intricate silver sconces burned in each corner. Red silk draped the bed. On the floor before the fireplace was a cushioned nest of fluffy pillows and even more crimson silk. It looked so romantic, so inviting.
A room intended for lovemaking.
She took a step farther inside. Behind her, the door closed softly on its own.
No, not quite on its own. Lucan was there, standing on the other side of the room, watching her. His hair was damp from a shower. He wore a loosely tied, satiny red robe that skated around his bare calves, and there was a heated look in his eyes that melted her where she stood.
"For you," he said, indicating the romantic setting. "For us tonight. I want things to be special for you."
Gabrielle was moved, instantly aroused by the sight of him, but she couldn't bear to make love the way things had been left between them.
"When I left tonight, I wasn't going to come back," she told him from the safety of distance. If she went any closer, she didn't think she'd have the strength to say what had to be said. "I can't do this anymore, Lucan. I need things from you that you can't give me."
"Name them." It was a soft command, but still a command. He moved toward her with careful steps, as though he sensed she might bolt on him at any second. "Tell me what you need."
She shook her head. "What would be the use?"
A few more slow steps. He paused just beyond an arm's length. "I'd like to know. I'm curious what it would take to convince you to stay with me."
"For the night?" she asked quietly, hating herself for how badly she needed to feel his arms around her after what she'd been through these past several hours.
"I want you, and I'm prepared to offer you anything, Gabrielle. So, tell me what you need."
"Your trust," she said, tossing out something she felt was well out of reach. "I can't... do this anymore, when you don't trust me."
"I do trust you," he said, so solemnly she actually believed him. "You are the only one who's ever really known me, Gabrielle. There is nothing I can hide from you. You've seen it all - the worst, certainly. I'd like the chance to show you some of the good in me." He moved closer. She could feel heat coming off his body. She could sense his desire. "I want you to feel as safe with me as you've allowed me to feel with you. So, the question is, can you trust me, knowing everything about me that you do?"
"I've always trusted you, Lucan. I always will. But that's not - "
"What else, then?" he asked, cutting her denial short. "Tell me what else I can give you to make you stay."
"This isn't going to work," she said, inching backward. "I can't stay. Not like this. Not when my friend Jamie..."
"He is safe." When Gabrielle looked at Lucan, confused, he said, "I sent Dante topside to find him soon after we arrived. He reported back a few minutes ago that he retrieved your friend from a police station downtown and took him home."
Relief flared in her, but it was quickly followed by concern. "What did Dante tell him? Did he wipe Jamie's memory?"
Lucan shook his head. "I didn't think it would be fair to make that decision for you. Dante merely told him that you were safe as well and that you would be in contact with him soon to explain. Whatever you wish to tell your friend is up to you. You see? Trust, Gabrielle."
"Thank you," she murmured, warmed by the consideration. "Thank you for helping me tonight. You saved my life."
"Then why are you afraid of me now?"
"I'm not afraid," she said, but she was moving away from him, hardly aware of that fact until the bed came up behind her, blocking her escape. In an instant, he was right there in front of her.
"What more do you want from me, Gabrielle?"
"Nothing," she said, hardly more than a whisper.
"Nothing at all?" he replied, his voice dark, demanding.
"Please. Don't make me want to stay with you tonight when you will only wish me gone tomorrow. Let me go now, Lucan."
"I can't do that." He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. His mouth was warm and soft on her fingertips, weaving a spell around her as only he could do. He brought her hand closer, pressing her palm to his chest, to the heavy throb that beat against his ribs like a drum. "I can't ever let you go, Gabrielle. Because whether you want it from me or not, you have my heart. You have my love, too. If you'll accept it."
She swallowed hard. "What?"
"I love you." The words were low and earnest, a caress she felt deep inside of her. "Gabrielle Maxwell, I love you more than life itself. I've been alone for so long, I didn't know enough to recognize that until it was nearly too late." He stopped talking then, searching her eyes intensely. "It's not... too late, is it?"
He loved her.
Joy, pure and bright, poured through her to hear those words coming from Lucan.
"Say it again," she whispered, needing to know that this moment was real, that it would last.
"I love you, Gabrielle. With every ounce of life in me, I love you."
"Lucan." She sighed his name, tears rising, swelling, spilling over to run down her cheeks.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply, a passionate joining of their mouths that sent her head spinning, her heart soaring, her blood pulsing like fire in her veins.
"You deserve so much better than me," he told her, reverence in his voice and in his bright, amber-flecked gray gaze. "You know the demons in me. Can you love me - would you have me - even though you know my weakness?"
She cupped his strong jaw in her palm, letting him see the love she held for him reflecting in her eyes. "You're never weak, Lucan. And I will love you no matter what. Together we can get past anything."
"You make me believe that. You've given me hope." Lovingly, he caressed her arm, her shoulder, her cheek. His gaze roamed over her face, following the reverent path of his hands. "My God, you are so exquisite. You could have any male, Breed or human - "
"You're the only one I want."
He smiled. "God help you, but I will have no other. I've never wanted anything so selfishly as I want this moment. Be mine, Gabrielle."
"I am."
He swallowed, glancing down as if suddenly uncertain. "I'm talking about forever. I can't settle for anything less. Gabrielle, will you have me as your mate?"
"Forever and always," she whispered, leaning back onto the bed and bringing him down with her. "I am yours, Lucan, forever and always."
They kissed again, and when they drew apart this time, Lucan reached for a slim gold dagger lying on the table next to the bed. He brought it toward his face. Gabrielle started a bit, seeing him bring the edge of the blade up to his mouth. "Lucan - "
His eyes were soft, serious, yet tender as he held her anxious gaze. "You've given me your blood to heal me. You strengthen me and protect me. You are all that I ever want, all that I could ever need."
She'd never heard him speak so solemnly. His irises just about glowed, the pale gray mingling with amber and the depth of his emotion.
"Gabrielle, will you honor me now and take my blood to complete our bond?"
Her voice was the barest gasp. "Yes."
Lucan bowed his head and moved the dagger to his lower lip. When he set the blade aside and looked at her once more, his mouth was glossy with dark red blood.
"Come here. Let me love you now," he said, and pressed his scarlet kiss to her lips.
Nothing could have prepared her for that first sweet taste of Lucan's blood.
Richer than wine, instantly intoxicating, his blood flowed over her tongue like an elixir crafted for the gods. She felt all of Lucan's love pouring into her, all of his power and strength. Light filled her from deep within, giving her a taste of the future that awaited her as Lucan's Breedmate. Happiness flooded her, leaving her flushed with its heat, and a feeling of contentment like she had never known before.
She felt desire, too.
More intense than it had ever been.
With a low growl of need, Gabrielle braced her hand against Lucan's bare chest and rolled him onto his back. She stripped out of her clothes in little more than an instant and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips between her thighs.
His sex thrust up in front of her, thick and solid as stone. The beautiful web of markings on his skin were deep purple shot with vivid red, pulsing in stronger hues as she gazed upon him in hunger. Gabrielle leaned down and let her tongue trace along the swirling, intricate lines that decorated him from thigh to navel, and higher, up his muscled chest and shoulders.
He was hers.
The thought was fiercely possessive, primal. She had never wanted him more than she did in that moment. She was panting and wet, burning up with the need to mount him and ride him hard.
God, was this what Savannah meant when she said the blood-bond would enhance lovemaking?
Gabrielle looked at Lucan with pure carnal need, hardly knowing where to begin with him. She wanted to devour him, worship him, use him up. Slake the coiling need that was churning inside of her.
"You should have warned me you were feeding me an aphrodisiac."
Lucan grinned up at her. "And spoil the surprise?"
"Laugh it up, vampire." Gabrielle arched a brow, then gripped his stiff erection and sheathed him to the hilt in one long move. "You just promised me eternity, you know. I can make you live to regret it."
"Yeah?" The word was more of a strangled groan as she rocked on him, making his hips buck sharply beneath her. Eyes blazing now, he gave her a glimpse of fang as he smiled, clearly enjoying his torture. "Breedmate, I'm going to love seeing you try."