Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(72)

"Uh, just a minute. Just… uh…" Sweeping the blankets aside, he leapt from the bed and grabbed the bloodstained pants he'd removed last night. He began searching through the pockets. When he found his wallet, he took it out and smiled at her—an admittedly pained smile. "I just have to… er… just one minute."

He ran out of the room and into the living room. He paused halfway to the door to the hall when she shouted, "You don't plan on going to buy some, do you? You're naked, Luc!"

That stopped him.

"Luc?"

"No. No, I'm not—Just a minute," he finished at last, his mind feverish. He considered dressing, but then an image of Kate rose in his mind. No, there wasn't time to dress. What if she changed her mind? Had second thoughts? He couldn't risk that. It would be faster if…

Hurrying to the phone, he snatched it up and dialed the front desk.

"Good morning," a cheerful female voice sang. "Front desk. Can I help you?"

"Condoms," Lucern blurted.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Condoms. I need condoms," he barked.

"I see, sir." The cheerfulness went out of the voice. "What size?"

"Size?" They had sizes? Lucern peered down at himself. "Big."

"Of course, sir. They're always big," the voice said dryly. "Your choices are fitted, regular, large or extra large."

Lucern stared down at himself again. He seemed smaller than he had been moments ago. His erection was dwindling. He decided to forgo the extra large. "Large."

"Luc? What are you doing?"

Lucern turned to find Kate standing naked in the bedroom doorway, her gaze moving nervously between him and the door to Chris's room. His gaze swept her from top to toe, and he was grateful that his eyesight hadn't been damaged last night. Neither had his sense of smell. Her sweet, spicy scent was wafting to him, surrounding him with its succulence. She smelled good enough to eat. That thought brought other thoughts to mind: licking every inch of her flesh and—

"Luc?" Kate was starting to look concerned. "Are you all right? You look… odd."

"Sir?"

Lucern's gaze dropped to his erection. He said into the phone, "Make that extra large."

"Extra large what? Lucern, what are you doing?" Kate asked. She was starting to sound irritated.

"Just a minute," Lucern barked into the phone. Setting it on the table, he hurried to Kate's side to catch her by the arms. "I'll be right there. Go back to bed. You have goosebumps." She had them everywhere—on the arms his hands were absently caressing, on her breasts which his eyes were caressing, on—Perhaps extra large wouldn't be big enough.

Shaking his head, Lucern turned Kate around and pointed her toward the bed. "I'll be right there. I promise."

"But—"

Lucern closed the door on her protest and hurried back to the phone. "Hello?"

"Yes, sir." The woman was definitely annoyed at waiting. "Now, what size package do you want? We have six-packs, twelve-packs, twenty-four and thirty-six."

"Six, twelve, twenty-four and thirty-six?" Lucern repeated. This was like some sort of test. Dear God, he couldn't think. The scent of Kate still enveloped him, and his brain had gone all fuzzy. He wondered briefly if he shouldn't have consumed more blood. Perhaps he had lost more than he'd thought, and his blood supply was so low that his body was now having to take blood from elsewhere to support his erection. If so, it had definitely chosen to remove it from his brain. His thoughts were as muddy as a pigsty after a rainfall.

"Sir?"

"All of them," he said at last. The more the merrier.

"Lubricated or nonlubricated?"

"Urgh," Lucern choked into the phone.

"Very good. Lubricated," the woman said. "Now… do you want For Her Pleasure, Ribbed, Ultra-fit, Extra Strength, Ultra Pleasure, Shared Sensation, Textured, Sensitive, Ultra-thin, Magnum, Supra, Pleasure Mesh, Extended Pleasure or Magnum XL?" The woman sounded like she was really enjoying herself.

Lucern wasn't. He peered down to see that his erection was definitely suffering from this barrage of questions. It was a sad sight, and he whimpered into the phone.

"I'll just send a variety, shall I?"

Lucern was sagging against the table in relief when she added, "That should be no more than half an hour. Have a good day, sir."

Lucern was erect at once. Well, his body was. His penis was still flagging as he roared, "Half an hour?" into the phone.

His answer was the dial tone.

"Luc?"

He slammed down the phone and turned to find his bedroom door open again. Kate was once again standing in it. But, she had re-donned her robe. He noted this with horror, his sinking heart telling him that the moment was passing. If he didn't do something soon, she was going to change her mind. Uncertainty was already creeping into her expression. "Maybe we should just give this a pass. You're one of my writers, and it probably isn't very professional to—"

Lucern almost groaned aloud. This was exactly what he'd feared might happen. Faced with it now, he did the only thing he could think of. Crossing the room, he caught her in his arms and kissed her. It was no "Good morning, nice to see you" kiss. It was "I want your body hot, sweaty and plastered against mine." Kate hesitated the barest moment, then—much to Lucern's relief—gave in with a moan. She melted against him.