Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (37 page)

“Are you bored, Teffie? Do you
want
me to challenge you?”

“I’m saying it like it is,” she returned.

“If all I wanted was a piece of ass, I would have seduced Leah twenty years ago.”

“Oh right,” Stephanie scoffed, “you want
the taming
.”

Lucien, who, these days with Leah behaving the way she was, had little patience, lost the little he had.

“What are you driving at?” he clipped.

“What I’m driving at, Lucien, is I’m all for this. Vampires being vampires. These ridiculous rules being shattered to smithereens. I want the hunt, just like we all do. I miss it. I
yearn
for it. The problem I have, right now, with you, is that you’ve gone off target. You’re messing with Leah and things are obviously
not right
.”

“Stay out of it, Teffie,” he warned.

“She’s changed,” Stephanie shot back.

“She’s changed before. You know how it is, how they fight it. She’ll change again.”

“I suspect she will but are you prepared for when she does?”

For the first time in days, Lucien smiled. Stephanie growled.

Then she hissed, “You don’t get it, do you?”

Lucien’s smile grew arrogant. “Not right now but I’m going to.”

Stephanie leaned in. “What, exactly, do you think she’s working so damned hard to protect herself from, Lucien? Have you ever thought of that? You’ve tamed many mortals, what happened with the one who gave you the toughest fight?”

The smile died from his face and Lucien felt himself flinch. Stephanie saw it and went in for the kill.

Speaking quietly, she said, “That’s right, she fell in love with you. Luckily for Maggie, you fell in love with her too and you could make her your mate. That isn’t an option for Leah. So what happens to her when she directs all that feeling and life-force inside her at you then, when you’re done with her, where does she go from there?”

I love you.

The words spoken in Leah’s heartfelt whisper, like they did time and again, day after day, came unbidden into his head.

Lucien didn’t like what he was feeling.

“Stay out of it, Teffie.”

“I’m in it, we all are.” She got closer. “If Rafe moves in with Lana, takes her as a lover, The Council is not going to look kindly on what you’re doing with Leah. They might have before, to pay back their debt but this is spreading. They’ll want to nip it in the bud and the best way to do that is shut down its source.”

“I’ll talk to Rafe.”

“Yes? And what will you say?”

Lucien held Stephanie’s gaze and made a decision.

“I’ll congratulate him on his new home.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about revolution.”

“Why are you acting surprised?” Lucien asked. “You knew that was a possibility from the beginning.”

She threw up a hand. “This is happening too fast, Luce. We’re not prepared.”

“It already happened, Teffie. I drew the line the minute you and Cosmo sheltered Leah from anyone declaring their intentions at her Selection. Since then everyone’s been taking their positions on their side of the line. The Council will have to take that into consideration when they make their judgment.”

“You think they’ll roll over?”

“I think they must understand on some level that their traditions are antiquated and I’m counting on them being forward thinking.”

“And if they’re not?”

Lucien leveled his eyes at her. “You took your position on the line, Teffie, are you changing your mind?”

“When I chose my side, I didn’t know Leah.”

Lucien’s brows drew together. “And what does this have to do with Leah?”

He watched, surprised, as Stephanie’s face grew pale, her mouth went slack and her eyes slid from his.

“Teffie?” he prompted.

Her eyes slid back and she whispered, “You have to ask that?
You?
”

Lucien, unfortunately, chose not to respond.

So Stephanie kept talking. “What did the last Revolution have to do with Maggie, Lucien?”

Lucien felt every inch of his body stretch taut.

“We’re placing her in danger,” Stephanie went on.

“Leah will not be in any danger,” Lucien clipped.

“You’re so certain?”

Lucien moved forward a very threatening inch.

“Yes,” he growled. “I’m
very
certain.”

Stephanie watched him, her eyes not moving from his, something that looked like understanding finally flashing in hers.

Then, seemingly appeased, even now actually pleased, she nodded and looked over his shoulder.

“She’s coming back,” Stephanie noted and Lucien turned.

Leah was moving toward them, squeezing between the bodies with more small smiles and murmured pardons. He noticed immediately she’d reapplied her lip gloss.

She was wearing an orchid-colored strapless dress. Simple. Elegant. No adornment on the dress only a deep slit up the center front that stopped at the swell of her thighs and a short train, the weight of which dragged the skirt back exposing her shapely legs. She wore the pair of high-heeled, burnished gold sandals he’d bought for her when they were shopping.

Her hair was not simple however, it was elegant. She’d let it dry in natural waves, then pulled it up and back in a way that was stylish but messy, innocent-looking but sexy. Strategically placed in it, she’d affixed the dozen tiny gold-filigreed butterfly hair clips he’d bought her and at her throat from a delicate gold chain hung another larger filigreed butterfly. The ones in her hair, the wings were near to closed, the one at her throat the wings where spanned.

He’d bought her the jewelry because he liked it, he thought it suited her and he wanted a reaction. He’d been cautious with her ever since the night he threw the wineglass and she’d had her first dream. He’d backed off and used extreme patience, attempting to draw her out gently. None of which, incidentally, was working.

He’d given the jewelry to her the night before, right before they went to bed when he told her they’d be going out that evening.

She had not been overwhelmed by this gesture. He’d received no radiant smile. In fact, she’d only ever smiled at him once and never repeated it.

Instead, she’d been only dutifully grateful. Nothing more.

He watched her get closer thinking he’d been absolutely right. The dress, the shoes and the jewelry all very much suited her.

The blank expression on her beautiful face very much did not.

She was less than ten feet away when a man’s hand curled on her upper arm, stopping her progress.

“Leah?” Lucien heard the voice, his eyes moved to the man. He recognized him and without delay Lucien moved.

He would have liked to have moved faster but he forced himself to go with a mortal’s slowness and it was at that moment Lucien hoped there was revolution, that vampires would be freed to be who they were and do what they liked.

For instance, being at Leah’s side in a split second, grabbing her and leaping across the room instead of having to wend his way excruciatingly slowly toward her.

“Justin?” Leah’s voice was stunned and not in a happy way.

“Leah, girl, what are you doing here?” Justin’s voice was also stunned, definitely in a happy way.

Lucien made it to her side in time for Justin to pull Leah into his arms.

She visibly stiffened. So did Lucien, a half a second before he moved closer in order to extricate her from an embrace with her ex-lover.

Leah got there before him. She put her hands to Justin’s waist and pushed away. Her shoulder met Lucien’s chest and her head jerked up to look at him.

And then she did something that stunned Lucien.

She turned to him, sliding her arm along his back, her fingers curling into his waist. She leaned the front of her body into his side, pressing close.

The act was smoothly done as if she curled into him all the time. It was also immensely proprietary in a beguiling, feminine way.

He liked it, a great deal, and therefore relaxed into it.

“Lucien, this is Justin.” She gestured with her hand then turned from him to Justin. “Justin, meet Lucien.”

Lucien looked at Justin who, Lucien was pleased to note, was now not looking so happy to see Leah. His eyes were darting back and forth between the two of them and his faced had paled slightly.

Unfortunately, Lucien had to break contact with Leah who’d burrowed under his right arm to shake the man’s hand.

“Justin,” he murmured.

“Lucien,” Justin murmured back, shaking his hand.

It took effort but Lucien stopped himself from crushing all the bones in Justin’s hand. Regardless, Justin winced behind the power of Lucien’s grip.

The minute their hands broke, Leah moved back in, assuming the same position but this time she rested her other hand on his upper abdominals.

It was a light touch but it spoke volumes.

As with most moments with Leah, but especially
that
moment, Lucien had the raging desire to kiss her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Justin, her voice not entirely friendly, not exactly unfriendly. She was testing the waters and Lucien decided to give her the lead in this uncertain situation.

“I just asked the same thing,” Justin replied, his voice was entirely unfriendly, his pleasure at seeing her had evaporated.

“You first,” Leah said, she read his tone and her words were frosted.

Lucien settled in to watch.

Justin looked between Lucien and Leah again, his eyes traveling down to Lucien’s middle. Lucien slid his arm around Leah, cupping his fingers on her shoulder. Justin’s eyes shifted, he watched this and his mouth grew tight.

Then he spoke. “At the last minute, they changed their minds and instead of transferring me to Seattle, they transferred me here.”

“You live here?” Leah asked and Lucien felt her body tensing.

Not good news, at least not for Leah.

“Yes, I do,” Justin replied. “Now… you.”

“I live here too,” Leah told him and Lucien watched as Justin’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.

“You
live
here?” he whispered.

“Well, not here, in the city,” Leah explained. “I live in Dragon Lake.”

Justin’s eyes, already wide, went huge.

“Dragon Lake?” His voice had dropped even lower then he whistled before stating, “That explains it.”

“Explains what?” Leah asked sharply.

“What would drag you away from that family and all those friends of yours. Obviously, if you can afford to live in Dragon Lake, you must have got a helluva job. That’s a pricey neighborhood.”

“We don’t actually live in Dragon Lake.” Lucien decided it was time to enter the conversation. “We live outside town, on the lake.”

Lucien didn’t put any emphasis on the “we” but then again, he didn’t have to. Justin caught his meaning, his eyes narrowed on Lucien and his jaw clenched. He again looked between Lucien and Leah and Lucien heard his heart start beating faster.

Angry.

Lucien bit back a smile.

Finally Justin’s eyes settled on Lucien and he asked, “Do you?”

“Justin –” Leah started, her tense body going solid but Justin’s eyes didn’t move from Lucien.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked.

“Justin –” Leah began again but Lucien talked over her.

“Yes,” Lucien replied.

“Then you know she broke up with me just five months ago.”

“Justin!” Leah snapped but Lucien again spoke over her.

“Yes,” Lucien repeated.

Justin’s eyes shot to Leah. “You’re a fast mover. Or were you with him before you finished with me?”

“Justin –” she started yet again, his name a shard of ice but this time Justin talked over her.

“Nice necklace, Ley-lo.” His voice was snide and it was Lucien’s turn to go tense.

“Do we have to do this?” Leah asked, her tone hard saying it was not a question at all and that they were not going to do “this”.

Justin disagreed. “Oh, I don’t know,” he drawled sarcastically. “Six months ago I was told I was being transferred, with a fucking great raise and a huge bonus. Not anything that would put me near Dragon Lake but it wasn’t anything to fucking sneeze at either. You said you wouldn’t move, no way, no how. Guess you were waiting for someone who could put gold around your neck and your ass in a two million dollar house
on
Dragon Lake.”

“I think you’re done,” Lucien told him and his voice made it clear Justin was, indeed, done.

Again, Justin didn’t agree. “Oh, do you now?”

Leah pressed into his side as her hand came up to grasp his lapel. “Lucien, don’t –”

Lucien looked down at her and saw her face had paled with alarm. But before he could reassure her, Justin was there.