Her mouth watered at the prospect of diner pancakes. Was there anything better in life?
As her gaze ran over Lucien, she decided there were better things in life, but right now, pancakes smothered in syrup and butter sounded like heaven.
“That would be great,” she said.
Lucien’s head canted to the side as he studied her. “Do you want to eat first?”
“No,” she said as she tossed aside the blankets. “Get the phone, and I’ll shower.”
She gathered her scattered clothes from the floor and held them against her chest as she padded toward the bathroom. She was walking by him when he grasped her arm and pulled her toward him. Before she could react, he claimed her mouth in a kiss that sent fresh heat through her.
She was starting to melt into him when he broke the kiss, left a small peck on her nose, and released her. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
“No rush.”
She took a few steps away before reality returned, and she turned back to him. “Lucien.”
He lifted his head from where he sat on the end of the bed with his socks in hand. She had no idea why, but his eyes were red again, and she missed the black.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“I have an IUD for birth control, but we didn’t use anything for protection against diseases.” She tried to stop the blush creeping into her cheeks, but its warmth radiated up her neck and into her cheeks. “I don’t have….” She swallowed. “I don’t have any diseases, but….”
He smiled as he tugged on a sock. “Vampires can’t carry diseases.”
“Oh, okay, good.”
Before he could reply, she disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door. Lucien stared at the closed door as he finished getting dressed. He struggled to suppress the jealousy churning inside him as he wondered about her need for birth control and the men in her past. It didn’t matter who came before him; no one would follow him.
Still, after she ate, he would spend the rest of the day in bed, making sure she forgot everyone who came before him. He grabbed the keycard and slipped on his glasses. He was aware his eyes had changed back to normal when he was in her arms, but now that they were apart and reality was returning, so was his concern over her safety.
Chapter Twenty-Four
He stepped outside and hesitated before releasing the knob. He hated the idea of leaving her, but he wouldn’t be gone long, and as he searched the parking lot, he didn’t see any hint of a threat. The Savages could have lackeys around that didn’t smell like the Savages, but he was sure he’d lost them.
He glanced back at the closed door before striding toward the office. He could knock on one of the doors and confiscate a phone from whoever was within, but he didn’t know how many people were in each room, and he’d prefer not to take control of a child’s mind if they happened to be inside. It would also weaken some of his newly regained strength if he had to take control of more than one person.
No, the office was his best bet. He would only have one person to contend with there.
When he arrived at the office, he opened the door and spotted the woman he drank from last night behind the counter. His hunger returned as he recalled her fresh blood on his tongue, but he’d promised Callie he wouldn’t feed on women unless it was a necessity, and it was not a necessity.
The woman looked at him and broke into a smile. “You shaved the beard.”
He ran his hand over his jaw as he remained standing in the doorway. He’d decided not to completely scrub her memory of him and Callie last night. He couldn’t have her, or the clerk who would come on after her, spotting them on camera outside of their room and calling the cops.
Instead, he’d left her with clear instructions to deny they were here if anyone came looking for them, and to call him immediately after they left.
“It was time,” he said.
“It looks good.” It was impossible to miss the lust in her gaze as it ran over him. “Did you enjoy your night with us?”
“Yes.”
It was the best night of his life, but she didn’t need to know that. He sent his ability out to take control of her mind as he glanced at his room. Everything remained calm outside, and there weren’t any other windows in the room, so the Savages couldn’t get at her another way. If they went after her, they would have to go through the front door, and he would see them.
He shifted his attention back to the woman. “Come here.”
She hesitated before putting the bottle and rag she’d been holding on the counter. She walked over to stand in front of him.
“Is there anyone else here?” he asked.
“No, my replacement doesn’t arrive for another hour.”
“Good. Give me your phone.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She handed it over to him, and he took it. “Go back to cleaning.”
She nodded, and he slipped out the door. Before he could think too long about it, he dialed the last number he had for Ronan and hit send. He kept his attention focused on the parking lot and their room as he listened to the phone ring.
There was a good chance Ronan wouldn’t pick up. They never kept their phones long, but if Ronan still held any hope of hearing from him, then he wouldn’t have gotten rid of this phone.
It rang five times, and he was about to hang up and dial the last number he had for Declan when the ringing stopped and a gruff voice asked, “Lucien?”
Despite his uncertainty over how this would all go and what they would think of him, relief and joy filled him at the sound of the familiar voice. You did not become a monster, he reminded himself.
But he would have if it wasn’t for Callie, and he couldn’t forgive himself for that. However, he may not be able to forgive himself, but once he heard the hope in Ronan’s voice, he realized they wouldn’t care. They wouldn’t hold his actions against him; they would just be happy to have him home.
“How did you know?” he asked.
The harsh release of Ronan’s breath sounded across the line. “Everyone else has a new number for me.”
“I thought you might have gotten rid of this phone.”
“I was hoping you’d call.”
“Here I am.”
“And who are you?”
Her mate. “I’m not a Savage.”
Ronan hesitated long enough that he thought he’d lost the connection. “You’ve been gone a while.”
“I have, and they starved me for most of that time, but I’m not one of them.”
“What happened?”
Lucien gave him a rundown of the details he remembered. A lot was a blur that revolved around thoughts of death, starvation, and feeding, but there were breaks in his cruel reality before Callie entered his life.
“You didn’t kill her?” Ronan asked when he told him about Callie.
“I could never kill my mate.”
Ronan’s breath hissed in. “You’re shitting me.”
Lucien chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the ends of it. “I’m not. I hurt her, badly, when I bit her, and that pierced through my madness. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be calling you. Or who knows, maybe I would, but the conversation would be a lot different.”