There was no way she would be hungry by lunchtime, but she and that cherry cheesecake had a date for dinner tonight. Despite being stuffed, her mouth watered in anticipation.
They left the diner, and Lucien took her hand as they walked down the street toward the motel. Callie smiled at his hand on hers, and the natural way he’d taken possession of it.
She had to guard her heart against him, but she couldn’t stop herself from leaning against his side and wrapping her hand around his arm as she rested her head against it. Being with him felt natural and right, even if there was nothing natural about their situation.
When they returned to the room, she collapsed on the bed.
“Are you okay?” Lucien asked.
“Stuffed,” she said as she patted her belly.
He laughed as he sat beside her. He lifted a strand of her silken hair and admired its black hue as he twirled it around his finger. “I can think of a fun way to burn off those calories.”
“As tempting as that sounds, I might throw up on you if I tried moving right now.”
The bark of laughter that escaped startled him. He couldn’t recall the last time he laughed, but it flowed from him now. She seemed as astonished by it as he was; her eyes widened, and she smiled.
“I like your laugh,” she said. It was warm and deep and masculine, like him. She vowed to make him laugh as often as possible so she could hear it more.
“I’m glad,” he said and kissed the tip of her nose.
They talked for a little while, and when she was sure she wouldn’t throw up, she rolled on top of him and kissed him.
They spent the next couple of days learning more about each other, where they grew up, their families, and past relationships. As she’d expected, because he was centuries old and gorgeous, there were many women in his past. However, she was amazed to discover he’d never had a serious relationship. Actually, according to him, he never had a relationship.
It was a giant red flag waving in front of her, but she didn’t care. Given what he was, she couldn’t expect him to have the same kind of relationships as humans. Maybe, in all his years, he should have had a couple of girlfriends, but who was she to judge his life when it was so different than hers? Maybe he found her having had past relationships weird.
And she’d had three relationships in the past. One was her high school boyfriend. They dated until the summer before their senior year when his dad got a different job and they relocated to California.
Heartbroken by their separation, they’d tried having a long-distance relationship for a couple of months, but it didn’t work. He was the one to end it, but by then, she already knew it wasn’t going to work.
Originally, they talked about him coming home for college, but he met someone new and never returned. They reconnected through Instagram a few years ago, but it had been years since they last talked, and then he was single and living in Japan.
Their breakup was difficult for her; he’d been her first everything, and she’d pictured them getting married one day. However, once she got to college, she was glad they went their separate ways. She’d experienced many things that she wouldn’t have if they were still together.
In college, she dated another guy for her sophomore year, but she ended it when it became apparent partying was more important to him than school or her. Worried about his drinking, she tried to talk to him before breaking it off, but he wouldn’t hear it. She had no idea what became of him after he failed out of school.
And then, there was Carter. Although, she didn’t know if she could consider someone she only dated for three months and never had sex with a relationship. Yet, despite their short time together, he had become the most significant relationship in her life.
However, she told him about her high school and college boyfriends, but she didn’t tell Lucien about Carter. She didn’t know how he would react to the revelation, and she preferred not to recall that horrible time in her life while locked in his arms. Their lives were at risk, and they were hiding from Savages, but she was inexplicably happy with him.
As the days passed, he fed on the men who arrived, and they took some clothes from a couple of travelers. Every morning, they went to the diner for breakfast. She usually brought something back to the motel for lunch, and they returned for dinner.
When they were in the room, when they weren’t having sex, they slept or talked for hours. She’d memorized every detail of his body, and some of the things he did to her were probably illegal in a few states, but she relished each discovery they made about each other.
Their time together would end soon, and she dreaded when it did, but until then, she chose to enjoy every second they shared.
Though it hadn’t even been a week since they escaped the Savages, he’d already put on a lot of weight. With every passing day, he became more handsome as his face filled out and color returned to his skin. His eyes were mostly black now, but whenever they left the room, they shifted back to red, and he became as alert as a guard dog.
On their fourth day in the hotel, it was almost lunchtime as they lay in bed together. He ran his fingers up and down her body while they talked about their favorite music and the festivals she’d attended.
Music festivals sounded like a circle of Hell to him, but her eyes sparkled while she gushed about them. He’d learned she loved all kinds of music while he leaned toward Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and the music of that era.
Callie’s voice trailed off in the middle of her sentence when Lucien’s hand stilled on her belly, his head lifted, and he stiffened against her. When his eyes turned red and latched onto the door, a chill caused the hair on her arms to rise.
She turned her head to look at it too. Holding her breath, she waited for a monster to rush into the room.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Lucien?” she whispered.
He leaned over and kissed her. “Get dressed.”
He rose from the bed, and Callie scrambled to gather her clothes while he tugged on his jeans. She was pulling her shirt over her head when a loud knock reverberated against the door.
The sound caused her to jump as uneasiness crept through her belly. She had no idea what was on the other side, but she suspected their time here had come to an end.
Lucien checked to make sure Callie was dressed before he put his eye to the peephole. On the other side, he spotted Ronan looking back and forth down the walkway.
“It’s okay,” Lucien assured Callie. “It’s my friends.”
Despite his reassurance, disappointment filled her. Yep, their time here had come to an end, and she had no idea what would happen after this. They would go somewhere safer, he would return to his life, and she would…?
And that was the kicker of it all. She had no idea what she would do or what would become of her. Lucien wouldn’t turn her out on the street, but knowing that didn’t give her any answers or reassurance.
Lucien undid the locks and opened the door. Ronan’s burgundy eyes swung toward him, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled.
Lucien didn’t move as he waited for the leader of the Alliance, his king, to ascertain he wasn’t a Savage and this wasn’t a trap. It didn’t take Ronan long to realize he didn’t possess the reek of a Savage, and Ronan’s eyes warmed.