Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(46)

Lucern followed her down and braced himself with one elbow as he continued to pleasure her. Kate closed her eyes and let her hands drift into his hair. They knotted and tugged there of their own accord. She didn't mean to interrupt his meal, but she had a sudden hunger of her own—she desperately wanted him to kiss her. When he raised his mouth from her nipple, Kate saw that her flesh was still intact. No biting yet. It appeared that feeding was a rather involved ordeal. She should have known. Lucern wasn't the eat-and-run type.

His mouth came down on hers as she'd wanted, and Kate sighed into the kiss. She also allowed her hands to drift down over his back to find his behind, and she pushed him tight against her even while arching up to meet him. He ground against her without entering, but it seemed to excite him as much as her, because his kiss grew hard, his mouth demanding.

Kate moaned when he tore his lips away and shifted to her neck. Somehow, she knew the time for biting had come and felt herself tensing in preparation. Then she was distracted by the way he moved over her, urging her legs apart. He settled in the cradle of her thighs, his hardness pressing against her.

"I want you," he whispered in her ear, then nibbled at the tender lobe, a sharp tooth running lightly over the skin.

Kate suddenly had the mad idea that, were her ears not pierced, he could have done it for her.

"Kate?"

She forced herself to concentrate. He was asking permission. She wasn't sure for what exactly. To bite her, or to sink his body into hers? Probably both. Kate opened her mouth to vaguely tell him to go ahead when there was a knock at the door.

"Hello? Hey! You two!" Chris called through the door. "Look. I hate to bother you, but the welcome brunch and RT awards start in about fifteen minutes. Are you guys ready?"



Chapter Ten



"Is Lucern okay? He looks awfully pale."

At Allison's comment, Kate glanced worriedly at her author. Luc was awfully pale. She'd thought so in his room, but he seemed even more so under the lights here in the large reception area of the welcome brunch. She should have insisted that he bite her.

She had tried, of course. She'd told him to just do it, but Chris had been knocking insistently on the door, and Lucern had refused. He'd feared she might be faint afterward, and he didn't want her trying to get ready, suffering a dizzy spell and perhaps falling. Besides, there wasn't time, he'd said. He'd do it later.

Now, as she took in the pallor of his skin, she could have kicked herself for not being more insistent.

"Kate?"

She turned and forced a smile for her boss. "He's a little jet-lagged. He'll be okay."

Allison accepted the lie and turned her attention back to her meal, leaving Kate to fret over Lucern. She was going to make him bite her first thing upon leaving the brunch; they could run upstairs for a quickie before going to the reader hospitality suite. And then she'd have to find a way to get him a real supply of blood. She'd considered the matter, and even if they were able to get hold of Bastien today, she was sure it would be tomorrow before he could arrange another shipment to be delivered.

Kate frowned as she realized that Bastien could be calling right this minute, and there was no one in their room to answer the call. And there wouldn't be all day. Or tonight either if they attended the cover model reunion. Perhaps they could skip that. Lucern wasn't really needed there. The fans would all be interested in the male cover models and might not notice his absence. Allison and Chuck would, however. Kate frowned down at her plate. Allison wouldn't mind, but Chuck would. As far as he was concerned, the company had paid for Lucern to be there and he would want his money's worth.

"Does he speak?"

Kate glanced sharply up at Chuck's acidic question. She had made sure that Chris was on one side of Lucern and she on the other. Allison was directly on her right, and Chuck was next to Allison, but the publisher was leaning in front of the editorial director, his chin practically resting on her chest as he spoke. Allison was seething, and Kate couldn't blame her. Chuck was something of a pig, hitting on all the women in the office and trying to look down their tops. He wasn't well liked by the staff, and they could hardly wait for him to be replaced. As a rule, presidents at Roundhouse were changed almost yearly. Kate just hoped Chuck Morgan wasn't the exception. No one at Roundhouse had been happy when he had arrived to replace George Sassoon. Their last president had been an exceptional man who had moved to publishing from radio and television, bringing all of that savvy with him. He had done wonderful things for Roundhouse. No one had been surprised when he had been snapped up by a bigger company. Chuck Morgan was a poor replacement.

Her gaze drifted past his sneering face to Jodi Hampton, the writer who sat beside him. Jodi was throwing curious glances at Lucern. Kate wasn't surprised. Aside from him being an attractive man, Lucern was receiving an unusual amount of VIP treatment. The editors and personnel of Roundhouse were supposed to be spread out among a couple of tables so that all their writers felt included. But Chris and Kate weren't going to leave Lucern's side all week, and Allison and Chuck had wanted to meet the mysterious Mr. Argeneau, so they were all grouped around him. Which left only Deeana Stancyk and Tom Duchamp, the VP of Promotion, to circulate among the thirty other Roundhouse writers in attendance.

"I said, does he speak?"

Kate's gaze shifted back to Chuck. He was one of the few men whose features reflected his unpleasant nature. He had a pockmarked, florid face, a drooping gray mustache and a bespeckled, balding head.