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He took the wood to the greasy kitchen and turned on the gas stove. Once the pieces caught fire, he threw them through the club.
He kept doing this, tearing stool after stool apart, until the building set up a serious blaze and really started to roar. He shifted to altered flight and left through the roof, flying high in the air, admiring the flames as well as Claire’s violet disguise that kept the stand-alone facility hidden from human eyes, and therefore the local fire department. As the flames rose higher, he kept rising in the air but stopped when the proximity tug of the new set of chains warned him he’d reached his limit. He went in search of Claire.
He found her at the edge of the parking lot and flew to land beside her. The growing sunlight prickled his skin and the backs of his eyes, clear warnings that he needed to at least switch to altered flight. Once in flight, the damaging rays of the sun couldn’t touch him.
He held his arm wide for Claire. She slung an arm around his neck and stepped onto his right foot. The chains vibrated heavily, though, which caused him to focus on her completely because right now a terrible sadness weighed her down.
As the sun crested the horizon and when his eyes burned from too much sunlight, he drew Claire into altered flight.
Sorry, my vampire physiology can’t take this much sunlight.
I understand. Can you fly me once around the building before we leave?
Of course.
He took her in a slow pattern around the entire circumference, then high enough so that she could watch the roof collapse and flames shoot high in the sky.
I’m going to remove the disguise from the property now.
Go for it.
He felt her draw her power in, the power she siphoned from him as though it was second nature, and the disguise vanished.
While in the air, he turned in a 360-degree circle, looking at Santa Fe from a bird’s-eye view.
She remained silent as she leaned her head against his chest, then addressed his ongoing problem. You need to feed again, don’t you?
I have some cramping but it’s not as bad as before. But yeah, I do.
Then how about we head to the Ozarks? I’d love to see the home you mentioned earlier, and I can take care of you there. How does that sound?
He couldn’t tell her what he really thought, but her suggestion sounded like heaven to him. And I’m sure you’ll be ready to crawl into bed.
Pretty soon.
As he turned, heading east, she leaned up and nuzzled his neck, then kissed him.
Chapter 7
Lucian flew northeast toward the Ozarks and soon passed over the Missouri River. Within a few seconds he hovered over the entrance to his Arkansas home.
It’s a very private system, and I keep my home in particular behind about a dozen layers of shielding disguise. And yes, I paid handsomely for it. But my guess is that you can see through them.
I can.
Part of his payment for the disguising shield included a location sensor built just for him. He tuned in and passed through the disguise in a quick blur of sensation that landed him square in a large cavern. Over the decades, he’d spent a lot of time in this dwelling, more than once when wounded to the point of death during a battle.
Lucian released her, watching as she turned in a slow circle looking at the room.
“Wow, this is almost exotic.” A waterfall cascaded down one side of the cave and passed through a natural breach to a river below. The entire cavern, about a hundred feet long, was on a thick shelf of stone above an underground river. Teakwood tables as well as low leather couches and chairs furnished the space.
“I can sense that you need to eat. My housekeeper knows to keep my cupboards and refrigerators stocked.”
She glanced at him. “You mean, she did this even while you were in prison for a year?”
“It’s a rule I have. Don’t worry. She makes sure any unused provisions are given to homeless shelters. But the upshot is, I can fix you something to eat.”
“Well, I have to admit I’m starving, but are you sure you can wait, I mean, you know, to feed?”
He narrowed his gaze. “It’s important to me that you have something to eat when I know you’re hungry.”
She appeared thoughtful. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Will sandwiches do?”
“Of course.”
He led her to the kitchen and started pulling bread, deli meat, and condiments from the fridge. She sat quietly at the marble island, but he felt her gaze on him, the chains remaining silent as though she worked to keep her emotions in check.
When he finally placed a ham sandwich in front of her and started in on one of his own, her voice drifted through his mind. We’ll take care of business as soon as we’ve eaten. But she didn’t look at him. She was being careful, not wanting to set him off, and he appreciated that.
Thank you.
Lucian had never been in this place before, knocked out of stride by a woman, by the courage she’d shown in doing all that she’d done in the last twenty-four hours, by her commitment to getting Amber and Tracy home safely.
Now she was here, aware of his needs and willing to help, even sensitive to the ongoing trouble he had with recurring bouts of blood-madness.
He ate his sandwich, which didn’t exactly help the cramping in his stomach, but regular food was as necessary to a vampire as blood. He needed both to survive.
At least he wasn’t experiencing the tremors he had with the last go-round.
He’d already finished his meal when Claire took her last bite, wiping her mouth with the napkin he’d set on the counter.
She turned to him and settled her hand on his knee. “You were wonderful at the Hawaiian cavern. I was too busy with Amber and Tracy and some of the other women to tell you that, but I wanted you to know that I thought you were great.”
“Just doing my job.”
Claire leaned close and kissed him. “Well, you do your job really, really well.”
Lucian thought about what he’d felt earlier, about wanting a chance to prove to Claire that he knew how to please a woman. He searched her gaze and returned her kiss, plucking at her lips with his own, savoring how quickly she responded. He loved the sweet herb smell of her and drifted a line of kisses up her cheek until he teased her ear with his tongue.
She moaned softly.
Claire?
Yes?
Have you ever made love on a marble island before?
She drew back, her eyes widening. She glanced at the smooth surface and patted the beautiful stone. “You mean here?”
“Why not?” He met her gaze, then using his finger traced her cheek, dipping lower to play along the vein at her throat. Her breath caught.
