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Then there was Claire.
Feeling so right in his arms.
Did she realize that with her free hand she was fondling his chest again, rubbing over his pec? God help him if she tweaked his nipple.
He thought he should warn her. Careful.
About what? The costumes?
No, what your fingers are doing to me.
She drew them back, clearly startled. I’m sorry. I was touching you. Again.
As he flew, he caught her hand and pressed it back to his chest. I liked it. That was the problem.
He heard that sound of hers, like unh, as she nuzzled beneath his chin. This is nice, flying with you. I can’t believe how quickly I got used to it once you became an Ancestral.
I admit, it’s pretty great.
Yeah, it is. And it’s fun taking it slow as well.
The absolute worst thought went through his mind: He could get used to this, used to having Claire next to him, flying with him. He could get used to heading into a dangerous situation with a woman who could handle the pressure.
Which brought him full circle, to that slice of anxiety that lived inside him. He needed to guard himself against Claire because he had no future with her—not with any woman. He couldn’t be trusted, not when he’d already proven more than once that he had a monster living inside him, a dark entity that liked dominance and control, that would take and take until he had Claire at his mercy.
He flew through another tunnel and cave, following Eve’s glittering ruby-red signature. Eve was taking it slow as well, maybe thinking, planning, strategizing. Eve always had one card up her sleeve, always a new idea, a twist on things.
He wasn’t surprised when she doubled back more than once, finally landing them in a really dark cavern suite, without drywall, something that had been carved out of a shelf of black granite with lots of rough edges and a tall, rugged ceiling. There were hooks in the walls and several sets of thick iron chains, similar to the ones he’d been bound with in India.
He stiffened as Claire stepped away from him, her brows high on her head, her eyes wide. He watched her turn in a circle then did the same. Eve had told them to stay put, that she’d be right back with her team to get things started. First up, they’d need to do a quick photo shoot, with Claire in costume. Her picture would be Photoshopped into an invitation and emailed to Arsen and Salazar. Hopefully, the men would take the bait and come to The Ruby Cave for the private show.
He also thought he understood part of what Eve was up to. He was pretty sure she wanted him to have a good look at this room, at the chaining-up potential. Eve had more than once told him that he could benefit from a few dominance sessions, just to clear his head from some really rotten memories. He thought she was out of her mind.
On the other hand, as he glanced at Claire, something inside him warmed to the idea, especially as memories from the night before rolled through his mind.
Claire walked away from him exploring a secondary room through a short, arched hall opposite.
When she returned to him, her eyes glittered and the chains at his neck vibrated in a way he’d never felt before. “What’s going on?”
He knew whatever had set her off was in the adjoining room, but she drew close then slapped a palm hard on his chest. “You’re not to go in there, not yet. We have work to do, but when the time is right, I want to bring you back here with me. But I have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you trust me?”
He looked into her light-brown eyes, dilated and heady with a desire for more sex. Did he trust her? Something inside his chest gave way. “Yes, Claire, I do. Even more than most vampires.”
“That says a lot.” She was tense head-to-foot as she continued, “Do you trust me enough not to go in there right now? To wait until the time is right?”
He moved back in her direction and caught her arms in his hands, gripping her firmly. “What’s in there? Is someone in there?”
She shook her head. The sweet, rich scent of her sex poured off her now. “Just something I want you to do to me, that’s all.”
Something she wanted him to do to her.
His chest seized.
Maybe it was her aroused state, or that he could smell her desire, or the glitter in her eyes, but another tremor went through him, of hunger and blood-need, that lingering blood-madness that had turned into some kind of crazy Claire-madness.
He drew her into his arms and kissed her. He needed this—being with a woman who desired him as fiercely as he wanted her, who even sought his darkness, encouraging him to let go.
She moaned softly as he deepened the kiss and drove his tongue into her mouth. He shifted his right foot and pressed his h*ps against hers so that she could feel him.
I love how you feel, your c**k so hard, right against me. Lucian, I don’t understand this madness between us because all I want you to do is jump me again.
He forced himself to draw back. Eve would return any second and he wasn’t in a state that could be easily hidden. He leaned his forehead against hers, then drew her tight against him.
He just held her. She kept things simple as well. She didn’t rub up against him, or dip her h*ps into him, or fondle his arms or back.
He felt her thoughts, her feelings, grow very quiet.
When he’d calmed down, he drew her to the side of the room where a bench sat against the wall. Clearly this was one of Eve’s workout suites, where she either brought her private clients or enjoyed her own liaisons.
He supposed in human terms Eve would be considered a high-class escort. But she was so much more than that, a businesswoman in her own right, with a very free lifestyle, who didn’t mind accepting large amounts of cash to entertain her special people. But she always stayed in control, preferring to dominate, which was probably smart in her profession.
He sat directly across from the short, arched hallway and wondered if he’d find one of her tables in there. Probably.
He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. Like hell was he going to start thinking about something like that, or even doing it. Maybe he should set Claire straight. After all, how wise was it to keep tempting the darkness that lived inside him?
He was about to address the subject when Eve returned with an entire crew, including a rack of clothes that had, yeah, straps and a few narrow bands and some feathers attached. A string of curses flipped through his head. He stood up and paced in front of the bench.
Eve, however, was nothing if not professional. She knew what she was doing. Her makeup team took charge of Claire and whisked her away, taking her into an opposite suite of rooms. Staff kept arriving, including a lighting expert.
