Page 6 of Lucian's Soul

“If this gorgeous man wanted to buy me all these things, I’d gladly let him,” the saleslady said.

Lucian’s eyes lit up and his smirk turned into a grin. “Hear that, kitten? I think you should take a page out of the nice lady’s book.”

Growling in frustration, she glared at Lucian and stormed out of the store. Tessa knew she should be more grateful, but she’d learned the hard way that nothing ever came for free. Lucian may be all nice and loving now, but she didn’t know how long that would last and she didn’t want to be in debt to anyone else. Lucian kept spouting stuff about her being his and so on, but she knew his reputation. She’d walked in on him with three women.

Lucian chased after her with the bags. “Let me call someone to get these bags and we’ll go have something to eat.” Lucian seemed oblivious to her frustration and anger.

She grabbed the bags from him and walked towards the food court. “I can hold the bags. You don’t need someone to come and get three bags full of underwear. Come on, let’s eat.”

At the food court, she ordered their food, grinning when he paid and stared at the food. “Did you just order for me?”

Biting her lip to hold back the smile, she shrugged. “Yep.” She chose their seats and placed the shopping bags beside her.

He set his food in front of him and grumbled, “I’m the man. I should choose the food for you.”

“You’re so controlling.” She rolled her eyes at his sulking. “I can choose my own food just like I can buy my own clothes, shoes, and underwear.”

He stared at her like she had just done the inconceivable and bested him. Smiling at him, she picked up her utensils and ate.

When he was done and she had a couple of bites left, he sighed. “You’re nothing like any of the woman I know. You’re the first woman who doesn’t want to spend my money. The first woman who has genuinely wanted to pay for things.”

Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she gazed at Lucian. His mouth was set in a fine line and his forehead wrinkled. He looked at her like she was an unknown entity and had no idea what she was.

“Lucian, I learnt years ago that money doesn’t grow on trees. You have to work to get money. I know the value of working to buy a top that I fell in love with. I learnt that nothing in life is free. What you have done for me today was nice and I thank you, but I don’t want to be in debt to you.”

“You will never be in debt to me. I have plenty of money and I want you to have the best.”

Tessa put her hand up to stop him from saying any more. “That’s nice of you, but I’m sure you worked hard to get where you are now, and I am happy with what I have. I don’t need expensive clothes and shoes. You don’t need to buy all these things to be with me. I don’t want or need to be bought. I will be happy just to spend time with you. To get to know you, and you me.” She smiled at him. “What are you doing tomorrow? I say we should go to the beach and maybe hire a movie, buy some popcorn, and sit back and relax. What do you say?” Tessa held her breath, hoping that he was willing to spend the day doing what she’d asked.

Lucian ran his fingers through his thick hair. “I’m busy tomorrow taking my woman to the beach and getting popcorn so we can watch a movie.”

Letting her breath out, she reached across the table and held his hand. “I’m looking forward to it. Are you finished? You ready to go?”

He let go of her hand and stood. She joined him, gathering the bags. He grabbed some of the bags from her and with his other hand held hers. Together they walked to the exit.

* * * *

Lucian wasn’t a beach person. He hated the feel of grainy sand on his feet and between his toes. He didn’t like how it got into every crease and crevice. The beach wasn’t a place where he could wear his usual attire of a suit, tie, and leather boots. Yesterday, Tessa wanted to go to the beach, he’d had to call his assistant when they arrived home to get him the appropriate clothes for the occasion. Demons did not do beaches.

He now walked hand in hand with Tessa, the sand squelching against his feet as she told him about all the beaches she’d been to. “I make sure if I go to any coastal town that I visit every beach. When I was younger my parents were the same. I spent every holiday at a new beach. You’d be surprised to find that every beach is vastly different—from the sand and dunes, to the sea shells and rock pools. Yeppoon in Queensland is a great example, its beaches seem hidden in coves and there is a lot of grass. Great Keppel Island has fine sand and the beaches go almost all the way around it. From Yeppoon Beach you can see the island, but from the island you can’t see Yeppoon. Caves Beach in NSW is separated by caves and rock pools. In Darwin Mindil the beach is very rocky and the sand is harder—bigger shells.

“I love coming to the beach in the early morning or afternoon and just sitting and listening to the soothing sounds of the waves crashing to shore. Watching as the water retreats and comes back again in another wave to fight the sand. I’ve always thought that beaches and the sea bring us together. I mean, at least once in your life you stand on a beach and look out into the vast ocean and wonder how far to the nearest island, or how far to the next country. You look for life.” Tessa stopped and sat down, patting the sand beside her. “Have you been to many beaches?” Tessa stared at him and he glared at the sand next to her before he groaned and sat down.

“I have seen many beaches, but until you just explained how you see them I saw them as another way to separate us, a way to show us how different we are. That distance between places makes us different.”

Tessa grabbed his hand in hers and squeezed. “I don’t think every country is so different from the other. We all want the basic things—food, water, shelter, and love. We all live on Earth, we all need those vital things to survive. Landscapes are vastly different all over the world but most have beaches.”

He watched her, captivated as she talked about something she loved. Her whole face was bright, her mouth curled up in a content smile, and her eyes were alight with happiness. Tessa looked stunning. “Here is a fact I learned, there are six hundred and eighty-two beaches in the whole world.” She seemed to vibrate as she eased up on her knees. “My dream is to see as many beaches in my lifetime as I can. At every one I can remember being at I have sat and looked out to sea. My goal is to do that with each one I continue to see.”

For once in his long life, Lucian felt excited. He could give Tessa her wish. With her now mated to him, she would live longer and he had the money to take her anywhere she wanted to go. Angels be damned. Right now, as he looked at his mate, he didn’t even care that the sand was seeping into unknown places, because he knew he would need to get used to it. Seeing the joy on Tessa’s face was worth living with sand following them wherever they went.

Tessa snuggled into him and turned to watch the water. Wrapping his arm around her, he did the same. This time when the waves hit the shore he thought that on six hundred and eighty-one beaches the waves were doing the same…fighting the shore. Angel and demons. Humans with each other. Animals with the weaker species. It seemed that everything was in a fight for life.

Chapter Three

Being at the beach withLucian had been nice. Lucian wasn’t one to talk. He was the one who asked questions—tonight, though, Tessa would do the asking. They had bought a movie to watch and Lucian was now putting it on. Tessa had microwaved some popcorn and waited for Lucian. The screen lit up and Lucian sat next to her. She snuggled into him and shoved some popcorn into her mouth.

“So, at dinner you found out my favorite color is purple, the shade that lights up the sky when the day fights the night. That I’m a dog person over cats, and I always wanted a chocolate Labrador. I am an only child and my mother had me late in life. It’s my excuse for not being able to talk to them. I have only ever been sexually active with one other man. That I was stupid and left with that guy and racked up a bunch of debt, and it took me some time to realize my mistake and grow up. You also learned that I love chocolate, dancing, and am not a fan of horror films, but I haven’t learnt anything about you beside your favorite color being red, like a blazing fire. That you have five brothers, which is just crazy, and I think I only found out about your brothers because you were talking to one of them. I’d love to know other things, like how long have you owned Devil’s, Inc.?”

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