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I raised an eyebrow. “I can’t remember hearing—or accepting—such an invitation.”
His smile grew, and mirth crinkled the corners of his bright eyes. It marred the perfection of his face, yet made him all the more appealing. “But is it not the human way to thank your savior by sharing a drink or a meal?”
“Ah, but I’m not human.”
“Neither am I,” he conceded, his warm and seductive tones nothing like I’d expected of an Aedh. At least, not a full Aedh. All the stories Uncle Quinn had told me about the full bloods had made me believe them to be cold and distant beings, but this man seemed about as far from an iceberg as you could get. “Yet it is a custom that—in this case—I’m eager to embrace.”
Something in the way he said that suggested he wanted to embrace a whole lot more than just a custom.
“You may have saved my life, but I can hardly go out with someone when I don’t even know his name.”
The shifter moaned and his fingers twitched. I stepped out of range and the stranger stepped forward, but I raised a hand to stop him. I could do my own dirty work.
Even if the thought made my stomach churn.
I raised a booted foot and—after taking a deep breath and thinking of Ilianna and what they might have done to her—stomped down on the bottom half of his leg. The force of the blow reverberated up my leg, but the snap of bone was clearly audible. The shifter twitched, but didn’t react any more than that. Hopefully, the break would keep him in the depths of unconsciousness a little bit longer.
I stepped back and met the stranger’s gaze again. Desire was sharper in his eyes, as was something else—something I couldn’t quite define. But seeing it made my nerves quiver, and I couldn’t decide whether it was a good sensation or bad.
“My name, lovely lady, is Lucian Dupont.” His gaze burned into mine, scorching every part of me. “And yours?”
“Risa.” My breath was caught somewhere deep in my throat and the word came out low and breathy. “Risa Jones.”
“Then, Risa Jones, there is a lovely little restaurant called Wintergreen in Carlton. Shall we say tonight, at eight?”
I licked my suddenly dry lips and managed to nod.
He smiled and gave me another bow. It was an oddly old-fashioned movement, and yet extremely sexy. “Until tonight then.”
He walked away. I watched him, enjoying the economical and yet oddly powerful way he moved. It was only once he’d disappeared around the corner that I remembered how to breathe properly aga
in.
And suddenly I had to wonder how much of what I’d felt was real, and how much of it might have been enhanced by the Aedh. They might be cold and clinical beings, but I’d gotten the impression from Mom that they could—when they wanted—be as sexually alluring as any wolf.
Although from what I understood, that only happened when the Aedh was nearing the end of his long life span and needed to breed. Lucian certainly hadn’t looked ready to die. Far from it.
But I hadn’t felt anything untoward caressing my senses, and surely I would have. I had felt the sexual energy—the need and desire burning off him—but that had in no way been designed to seduce or coerce.
Besides, he’d invited me to dinner, not a roll in the sack. Although part of me was totally hoping a roll in the sack ensued at some point in the near future.
And maybe satisfying my more basic need—as Ilianna would call it—would stop my stupid hormones from hungering after the reaper the next time he showed up.
The thought of him had me looking over my shoulder, but there was nothing and no one there. Or at least visible.
Part of me wished he was.
I dug my phone out of the pocket and called Uncle Rhoan.
“Risa,” he said, his gray eyes—the image of Riley’s—showing surprise even on the phone’s small vid-screen. “What’s happened?”
“Two shifters attacked me. One’s dead and the other is—”
“I’ve got your location,” he cut in instantly. “I’m not far away. Hang tough.”
He disconnected and I had to smile. I might never have had a dad, but I had Rhoan and Liander and Quinn, and I really didn’t need any other fathers in my life. Especially not one who was planning to wreck the very fabric of life here on earth.
The shifter groaned again. I put my phone away then walked across to pick up the brick I’d dropped. As my fingers wrapped around it, the shifter jerked and tried to get to his feet. Either he hadn’t felt the break or he was still partially out of it, but the sudden movement ripped a scream from his throat.
