Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (The Three #1)(13)

I felt my body grow stiff and my nose, of its own accord, went half an inch up in the air before I declared, “I’ll grow up when I’m ninety-three years old, not a day sooner. I made a vow to be a girl until then and I’m sticking to it.” Lucien was silent so I finished with, “I have fifty-three years left.”

He shook his head and dropped to his side on the bed taking me with him so my head was on the pillows but my bottom was tucked into his lap, my calves hanging over his thighs. His big body was at a right angle, his legs were still partially over the side of the bed but he cocked a knee so his thigh was deeper into my bottom and he went up on his forearm beside me. He was towering over me, all huge, bulky vampire and he rested his other arm at a slant across my abdomen, his fingers casually curled into my hip.

“That still isn’t terms for expulsion,” he announced while I concentrated on not hyperventilating at this new intimate position.

He was acting like we lay in bed, physically touching, nonchalantly discussing the weather, my frequent antics and the meaning of life every freaking day!

Not like we barely knew each other, which we didn’t.

Not like he wasn’t an overbearing vampire who’d made my life a living hell with his mind games.

Not like he was a being I hated with all my heart.

Not like he was there to suck my blood from my body to make him immortal and superhuman.

No.

Like we were something else entirely.

“I didn’t get expelled for that,” I said and it came out breathy.

I watched close up as his tongue wet his lips then he pressed them together. I didn’t know for certain but this didn’t seem like a good sign.

Finally he said, “Let’s skip all of your other mischief and get to the part that got you expelled.”

I decided that was a good idea. I was, I should note, wrong.

I didn’t know that so I informed him, “Instead of taking the essay test at the end of the first day, I wrote my will.”

“Your will?”

“My last Will and Testament. It freaked out some of the girls. It took the instructor a while to calm them down. I didn’t mean to –”

I was so busy explaining, I missed his narrowing of the eyes. I should have paid attention.

His voice sounded angry, this time definitely at me, when he cut me off by asking, “Why in the f**k were you writing your will in Vampire Studies?”

Oh my.

Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted to being expelled. It was clear I definitely shouldn’t have explained why.

It was too late. I had to finish it.

“You’re a vampire,” I stated the obvious.

“Yes. And?”

“You suck people’s blood.”

“If you’d paid attention in class, my pet, you’d know we prefer to call it feeding.”

“Whatever,” I waved my hand between us again, “it’s still my blood. Things can go wrong. What if something goes wrong?”

His eyes narrowed further. “Nothing will go wrong.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

“What if you get really hungry?”

“I’ll repeat, if you’d paid attention in class, you’d know the answer to that.”

“Well I didn’t so maybe you should tell me.”

“I don’t have the time, or the inclination, to tell you.”

At his words, my body froze and I felt my blood begin to race. “So you’re going to su… I mean, feed? Now?”

He stared at me then closed his eyes and pulled in a deep breath. When he opened them again they were at my throat.

My heart started beating so fast I could feel it.

“No,” he said softly, “not now.” His hand at my hip moved, sliding down the side of my thigh to my knee. Then up again. Then back again. The slit of my gown having opened, this meant his gentle movements were skin against skin.

This felt nice. I didn’t want to admit it but my body wasn’t letting me deny it.

I ignored my body and whispered, “Why not now?”

“Your heart is beating too fast, my pet. If something could go wrong, which it won’t, that’s what would make it go wrong.”

“How do you know my heart’s beating too fast?”

“I can hear it.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

Of course he could. I would have probably learned that in class too.

“What could go wrong?” I asked.

He studied me likely weighing the wisdom of answering.

Then he said, “After you’ve had enough, I have to stop the blood from coming so I can heal the wound. If it’s pumping too much, I might not be able to do that.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I whispered.

“It wouldn’t be,” he replied, his hand still stroking my thigh. “That’s why we need to calm you down.”

“I’m not sure that’ll work,” I admitted. “Me calming down, I mean.”

He slid his arm out from under his upper body but bent his elbow and put his head in his hand. This pressed his warm chest against my side and brought his face a whole lot closer to mine.

“Let’s try, shall we?” he suggested.