To Love a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (68 page)

“Deal,” he said without missing a beat.

“Luka!” I wailed. He wasn’t supposed to agree.

Luka gave me a pitiless look. “Don’t be such a baby.” He punched a few digits on the local phone and gave our orders.

“You’re such a monster,” I snapped when he put the phone down.

“It takes one to know one and you, my dear,” Luka murmured, “are a spoiled little monster.”

I made a face. “I hate it when you act all grown up.”

He rolled his eyes. “I have grown up.”

I fluttered my fingers. “Whatever.”

Our order arrived under a minute. The nurse kept on smiling provocatively at Luka as she laid the tray on the table. She bent extremely low just to show Luka what was hidden—or not so hidden—underneath her skimpy little uniform.

“We can take it from here,” I said coldly.

“Don’t you think you were a mite too sharp?” Luka remarked mildly when the door closed behind the nurse.

“Her sluttish ways were offending my delicate sensibilities,” I said sweetly.

Luka choked in his laughter. He handed me my glass and took mine. “
Avida
,” he said. It translated roughly to a more formal version of ‘cheers’ in our language.

I swallowed convulsively as our glasses made a clicking sound. “Avida,” I replied, but I couldn’t really hear my own voice, not with the way my heart was beating so loudly.

The idea of taking blood sustenance in front of Luka felt too intimate. It was almost easier to undress in front of Luka.
Almost.

Luka was the first to tilt his glass to his lips. His gaze locked with mine when he started to drink, and I was lost.

Never had I seen something so beautifully sensual than the sight of Luka drinking blood for sustenance, and I wondered dazedly if this was the real reason that public intake of blood was forbidden for our kind. The sight of it sent all my senses spiraling out of control, and my hand shook in my effort not to crush the fragile glass between my fingers.

The way his throat worked as more blood flowed into him made me wet my lips, and the way his pulse throbbed with each sip sent a shaft of heat between my legs, making me wet in seconds. Oh, God of Caros—what have I gotten myself into?

Before I lost my courage completely, I brought my own glass to my lips and started to drink.

Luka’s eyes flashed, his body hardening in a perceptible manner at my first sip. As the blood flowed into my throat, I let out a silent whimper of pleasure. Now, I knew. Now, I understood. Now, I hungered.

Taking blood was like going on a high for us—a feeling akin to having new life course through your veins. But if you did it with another person, the pleasure became incredibly sensual and intimate, a liquid aphrodisiac that set your body on fire in an instant.

Unable to help it, I drank more slowly, wanting to prolong the pleasure. Without even thinking about it, I let my gaze slide down, down, down until I saw it. Something shattered, and then Luka was gripping his cock, which had swelled immeasurably to a size that made the blood burn hotter and sweeter against my tongue.

“Drink more slowly.
” Luka’s voice was like whiplash, a silken command that my body yearned to obey.

“
Touch your breasts
.”

I whimpered again, but I was powerless to resist Luka’s command, my fingers slowly drifting over my body before cupping one breast and squeezing.

Luka groaned, and his hand stroked his cock more quickly, roughly.

The sight was impossibly erotic, and I forgot everything inside the fog of pleasure that enveloped me. I drank the last drop of blood from the glass. I closed my eyes, and then suddenly Luka was there, throwing the glass against the wall as he swiftly rolled us on the bed, leaving me on top of his hard, throbbing body.

I moaned and he groaned, our bodies straining against each other. Luka gripped my hair tightly before yanking me down. Our lips touched, and the passion between us flared into a conflagration that burned away every thought until all that was left was just desire.

Luka ground his dick against me.

I tried to wriggle out of my silken panties, but Luka resisted, fingers digging into my bare hips.

“Luka, please,” I begged, having lost all sense of shame and pride.

“No,” he growled. “Not like this.” His hands curved around my ass and after squeezing hard, he started lifting me up and down on his cock, positioning me perfectly so that the head of his cock would rub against my clit.

“
Aaah.
” The pleasure started to build inside me.

He ground his erection harder against me, knowing exactly how to set my clit on fire.

“
Luka
.” I screamed his name, no longer caring who would hear me as the pleasure took over, and my body started shaking as bolt after bolt of ecstasy hit the flesh between my legs, leaving me a quivering mess.

Luka growled out his pleasure a second after, and I closed my eyes as I pulled him tightly against me, reveling at the way his lean hard body shook over mine.

An eternity seemed to have passed before Luka gently lifted me off his body and returned me to my bed. He started to take my underwear off, but I shook my head quickly, instinctively knowing that he wanted to clean me…there. But I wasn’t ready for that yet, and I could only blush when he chuckled, the sound too dark and lush for someone who was supposedly cold and ruthless as Luka Georgiades.

“I can do it alone,” I insisted even though I felt incredibly tired.

Luka sighed but he eventually satisfied himself with helping me to the shower. Inside, I quickly set the temperature and switched the shower on at full blast. The tears started to fall right after, mingling with the jets of water pulsing down.

Oh God of Caros, I was in loads of trouble.

I was even more obsessed with Luka Georgiades now.

      “Smile for the camera, Caylie!”

“Are you completely recovered, Ms. Sonora?”

Question after question was fired at us as Luka guided me out of the hospital late afternoon the next day. Caro reporters jostled with each other as their camera bulbs flashed nonstop. A particularly insistent reporter almost caused me to stumble, and Luka’s face hardened as he gently set me back to my feet and pulled me tightly against him.

I watched him make one barely perceptible nod and Brethren guards once again came out of nowhere. A squad of them escorted my parents into William’s limousine while another squad formed a protection circle around us, effectively keeping any of the press from reaching us.

Even so, we moved at a snail’s pace, the throng of reporters surrounding us too huge and too insistent for us to forcibly get through without inflicting hurt.

The attention on my discharge confused me. Yes, I got photographed for the society pages frequently but I wasn’t close to being the next Kardashian. Right now, everything felt like sheer madness.

“What’s happening?” I blurted out.

“I’ll explain later,” Luka answered curtly as his arm around my shoulders tightened even more while he lifted one hand to shield my face from the blinding glare of camera bulbs that were being shoved at us.

As he helped me inside the limo, one question, shouted so loudly it was impossible to ignore, reached my ears.

“What do you feel about the assassination attempt on your boyfriend’s life?”

The car door was slammed shut by one of our escorts just as my head snapped to Luka in shock.

Luka’s lips tightened.

“Assassination attempt?” I whispered. “You told me last night it was a gas leak or something!”

Luka remained silent.

“Luka!”
He sighed. “I may have modified the truth a bit.”

My eyes narrowed. “You mean you lied, don’t you?” My head was beginning to ache but I stubbornly ignored the pain. This was just too important. “Don’t you go using your smart tricks on me, Luka. I’m not one of those constituents you have to flatter and convince to vote for you.”

Luka actually smiled. “Technically, you are one of your constituents since you’re Caro yourself.”

I cursed.

Luka blinked, visibly taken aback.

It only made me want to strangle him. Sweet Caro heaven, the explosion had been an attempt to assassinate him! How could he think I wouldn’t want—wouldn’t
care
to know about that? The thought of Luka dying was like having the ground crumble under me, leaving me afloat in despair and confusion.

Someone was trying to murder Luka.

Just the thought alone was enough to put things in perspective.

I
couldn’t
lose Luka. I couldn’t.

“Luka, was it an assassination attempt?”

“Yes.”

I collapsed against the seat at his flatly voiced admission. “The explosion was meant to kill you.”

His eyes flashed. “And whoever it was behind it didn’t seem to care if you were killed, too.” When he saw me shudder in response, he quickly pulled me on his lap and I burrowed in his arms without hesitation.

“I’m sorry for endangering you,” Luka said harshly.

“I’m not worried about that,” I snapped impatiently. “It’s
you
I’m worried most about. Why would someone want to kill you? You haven’t even run for anything.”

“But I
will
and everyone knows it.” Luka pressed a kiss to my forehead.

My fingers curled against his chest as I clutched his shirt. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

I could feel him smiling against my hair. “You’re seriously advising me that.”

“Yes. Because you could be stupid by being noble.”

Luka’s smile widened.

“I’m serious. When I heard the press ask…” My voice trailed off when a belated realization hit me. I jerked away and would have almost fallen off Luka’s lap if he hadn’t caught me in time.

“What?” he demanded, alarm on his beautiful face.

I stared at him in consternation. How could Luka, the man with the so-called finest mid in Caro history,
not
know what was making me flush red in awkward embarrassment?

Luka’s face was perfectly blank. “What is it?”

With a baleful glare, I said in a rush, “They referred to me as your girlfriend.”

There were so many ways I could imagine Luka reacting to my words, but none of it was remotely close to what actually happened.

“Ah,” was all Luka said before relaxing back against the seat.

I smacked him hard on the shoulder. “What do you mean ‘ah’?” My hand immediately stung at the force on which I hit him with but I was too proud to show it.

Luka didn’t even have the grace to look hurt. He just gave me a knowing look and then grabbed my hand before massaging it.

I tried to pull my hand away but he held on.

“Stop being such a baby. I know it’s hurting,” Luka snapped.

I ceased my struggles with another baleful glare.

“As for that issue,” Luka began.

I was cringing again. Even though Luka and I enjoyed indulging in each other, there wasn’t anything to it. What we had wasn’t the same with what Phillip and Sabina had. We were just friends, and I found it horrible that the press had somehow twisted our relationship into something more.

“It’s better to let them think that way.”

My jaw dropped open. If Luka kept this up, I was going to have a heart attack soon. “Why?” I burst out.

Luka’s attention was still focused on massaging my hand—it didn’t hurt now, but his ministrations were too good to resist and the giddy feeling it created inside me, weird as it was, was irresistible as well. His gaze still focused on my fingers, he murmured, “You’re still in danger, Caylie.”

“I’ve already guessed that, but—”

“You know how with guys in my position, girlfriends are effectively considered as fiancées as well, don’t you?”

Although I couldn’t see where this was going, I also knew I wouldn’t like wherever it would be heading. “Luka—”

“I can’t get the Brethren to lend their forces to protect you, Caylie, but I can if they believe we’re betrothed.”

I frowned. “Luka, I don’t think that’s—”

Luka shook his head impatiently. “Let me explain to you in terms you’re sure to understand.”

I raised a brow. “You’re dangerously close to insulting me. Are you saying that you have to explain things to me like I’m a fifth grader, something like that?”

“No, I mean like the latest gossip, something like that,” Luka replied without missing a beat.

I laughed in spite of myself.

Luka’s face slightly softened with a smile. “When Kate Middleton broke up with Prince William—”

“I’m surprised you actually know her last name.”

Luka ignored that. “—she was besieged mercilessly by the press. Buckingham Palace couldn’t do anything about it because she wasn’t related to Prince William anymore, and they wouldn’t be able to justify the expenses to the pubic if they still sent guards to provide her protection. But when she and William reconciled, the royal family became once again authorized to protect her.”

Luka looked at me directly in the eye. “Think of yourself as Kate and think of me as William. Do you get the picture now?”

I did, but I didn’t want to, especially considering the fact that William and Kate weren’t just married but were already parents as well.

I said slowly, “But my family has more money than Kate has. We can afford to hire protection—”

Luka was already shaking his head, saying harshly, “Your parents can only purchase brute force but that’s no match for the kind of opponents I have. Only the Brethren have forces trained to handle any threat.” He paused. “Like vampires, for instance.”

“
Vampires
,” I echoed, my entire body going numb. All at once, I felt like I had suddenly fallen off a cliff and I only had myself to blame. Luka was going against vampires, and wasn’t it ironic that some days I had a horrible feeling I was turning into one myself?

“
Caylie
?”

“I was just thinking how impossible it seemed, to worry about vampires.” I spoke the lie expressionlessly. “I remember being taught that they were solitary creatures, driven mainly by their hunger—”

“They’ve evolved.”

My heart slammed harder against my chest.
They had evolved.
Could that also mean another way for a Caro to turn vampire without being bitten?

“Then the massacre years ago in the realm of Faeries…vampires were truly behind it?”

Luka nodded curtly.

I felt sick to my stomach. “And you think vampires were behind the assassination attempt on your life?”

“It’s a possibility.” Luka touched my face. “Now, do you understand why you have to take the pretense of being my betrothed? It’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

Oh God of Caros, those words hurt.

“Caylie?” Luka demanded when I tore away from him and sat huddled in the opposite seat, gaze directed at the scenery that flew past us outside the limo’s panoramic windows.

Luka followed me to the seat. He tried to make me look at him, but I swatted his hand away. “Caylie, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head. How could he ask me that? How could he?

In an instant, Luka had pushed me against the door, locking my wrists behind me with one hand. He used his other hand to tip my chin up, forcing my eyes to meet his.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” he gritted out.

There was nothing cool, nothing polite about Luka now, nothing urbane in the way he spoke and stared at me. I used to think that made me special, used to believe I was the only one he could let down his guard with. But his betrayal taught me better.