Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(66)

"Is that for me?" Lucern stood and walked over, his gaze sliding across her in a slow caress.

"Yes." Kate handed him the bagged clothing, aware her face was flushing. She not only looked sixteen, she felt sixteen at the moment.

"You look lovely," he said in a whisper-soft voice. "Sweet and cute. The picture of youth."

Sweet and cute. Kate chewed over those words as Luc unwrapped his boots and jacket, then donned them. Puppies were cute. And who wanted to look like "the picture of youth"?

"A perfect fit."

Kate glanced at Lucern where he stretched, testing the fit in the shoulders of his jacket. Her gaze didn't settle on his shoulders, though, but on his chest where the muscles bunched. Cute and youthful. She sighed.

"Looks great." Chris got to his feet and joined them at the center of the room. "Let's get going. I have to stop and pick up a pack of cigarettes to stick under my sleeve."

Kate managed to tear her gaze from Lucern's chest. She nodded, then turned to lead the way out.



The Rock 'n' Roll party was in full swing when they arrived. Kate took one look at the dancers—mostly women—and winced. Some of them were very good. Some obviously didn't have a clue what they were doing. Kate very much feared she would fall into the latter category.

"I suppose you know the dances?" she asked Lucern. At her pained expression, he grinned one of his rare grins and nodded.

"Very well, actually." Then he added, "I'll teach you." To Kate, who was of the considered opinion that she had two left feet, that sounded very much like a threat. But Lucern was a very good teacher and, being one of so few men, he was much in demand. He took everything with a good grace that nearly sent Kate into coma from the shock. She watched him dance with twenty or so women at a time. He lined them up in rows, patiently teaching them steps amidst much giggling, then twirled the women about in the air with the strength and stamina of a bull. The women thought he was marvelous. Kate did, too. She couldn't believe this was the same surly man who'd once slammed a door in her face. This man smiled. This man had the patience of Job. This man was every woman's dream. She even let him teach her how to dance.

The party was great fun, but Kate had suffered a stressful day and she found herself growing tired early. Lucern apparently noticed the yawns she was trying to hide. "You have to leave," he said, coming over and collecting her. He then lectured her all the way back to their suite—mostly about not eating enough. He had apparently noticed she'd been too busy talking to her writers to eat more than a few bites from the buffet.

"I don't like it. You have to take better care of yourself," he insisted firmly. "You expend far too much time and energy on behalf of your writers, myself included," he complained.

Kate tried to defend herself, pointing out that this was only one week a year.

Luc wasn't fool enough to fall for it. "Jodi mentioned many other conventions that are held throughout the year," he said. "And I hear you frequently work nights and even weekends, editing and reading books from your 'slush pile.' "

Kate made a mental note to block Jodi from her Windows instant messenger after hours, if the author was going to go and tattle on her. She always kept her instant messenger signed on while she was in the office, in case one of her writers had a question. Jodi often berated her for working so much, but the last thing Kate needed was Lucern knowing she had absolutely no social life.

Of course, he had apparently lost interest in pursuing the passion they had briefly shared. He hadn't tried anything since that first night and the morning after. That had been Tuesday and Wednesday. It was now Friday night, and other than holding her hand in a calming manner, Lucern hadn't done anything to initiate another such occurrence.

Of course, neither had she, Kate admitted to herself. She eyed him consideringly. Perhaps…

"You're going to bed the moment we get back in the room. And I don't want to see you again until at least seven a.m. That means ten hours of sleep. You need it," Lucern said firmly, interrupting her thoughts as they stepped out of the elevator.

Kate sighed inwardly. There was no "perhaps" about it; the man wasn't interested in bedding her any longer, and he had just made sure she wouldn't get the idea herself. Had those first two passionate encounters been caused purely by his need for blood? Perhaps he had deliberately seduced her only in an effort to "have a nibble." Perhaps she hadn't noticed his lack of true interest the first two times because she had been so overwhelmed, hadn't been aware of the fact that he might deliberately excite her only to bite her. She had certainly been aware of it the third time and noticed it then, but only until his practiced, deliberate assault on her senses had overwhelmed her. Perhaps he wasn't at all interested in her as anything but dinner.

Why had she thought otherwise? And when had it started to mean so much?

Kate sighed unhappily as they entered their suite. It was rather disheartening to be nothing but a snack.

"Sleep well." Lucern gave her a gentle push toward her bedroom door, and Kate went without comment. She managed to murmur good night before slipping inside, but that was just for pride's sake. Her shoulders slumped, her heart sore as she began to undress.



Lucern watched the door close behind Kate and frowned to himself. The woman worked too hard, ate too little, and was killing herself to keep everyone happy—including himself. She needed rest. She needed to eat more. And, above all, she needed to relax. He could think of many ways to help her do that. Unfortunately, most involved both of them naked, and he wasn't at all sure she would welcome that now that she knew the truth about him. It had been his experience that most women were repulsed by his being a vampire. Kate certainly wasn't the first woman who had learned his secret over the years, and he had found, more often than not, they became afraid of him upon learning the truth. To keep himself and his family safe, he had often had to exert himself to veil their memories, or persuade them the revelation was just a dream.