Page 22 of Lucien

You’re in America, you idiot. Nobody drinks afternoon tea.

It was incomprehensible to him. Jamie wanted Luc…enmeshed…in his life. Wanted him to see his favorite places, meet his favorite people. He wantedLucfor some reason. All of him, it seemed.

Resident monster. Vengeful psychopath. Destructive killer.

Nobodyactuallywanted all that in their life, did they?

Go back. Go back. Go back.Jamie. We wantJamie.

The monster’s chanting was a relentless litany in his mind.

Nowit fucking spoke. Around their human it had been quiet as a fucking mouse, as if mesmerized by him. Like the young man was some kind of goddamn snake charmer. And maybe he was. Maybe, along with the Sight, he had some secret powers of persuasion. Because none of Luc’s actions made any sense where this human was concerned.

Luc had thought, with Jamie knowing what he was—accepting it, even—that he’d turn the young man immediately. And why wouldn’t he? He had his mate. What he’d been searching for all these decades, right there in his grasp.

So why couldn’t he just take it? Takehim.

But Jamie was so…vibrant. So alive. The way he charmed the people around him, smiling that gorgeous fucking smile at everyone, laughing with his whole goddamn body. And he had a family, apparently. One he loved and trusted enough to share his life with. To share Luc with.

Could Luc take that away from him? How much of a monster could he really be? How much of a monster could he be to his soulmate?

How far was he willing to take being the villain of the story?

Freshly turned vampires couldn’t be trusted to be around humans in the beginning, after their transition. They were too bloodthirsty, too impulsive. Too deadly. Luc knew that truth all too well. To turn Jamie would be to take him away from everything he knew and loved.

Luc looked around the room for something else to break. He considered the window, the flimsy little hotel desk chair. But ultimately he stayed right where he was, shoulders drooping in resignation.

For so long, he’d been devoured by anger. By vengeance. By envy. He was comfortable with every one of those bitter emotions. But now he was consumed withwant. He wanted to touch Jamie. Wanted to run his fingers through that messy green hair again. Wanted to sink his cock into that rosy mouth. Wanted to fuck him until he begged for mercy.

But Luc was afraid if he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop. He wouldn’t just fuck—he’d bite. He wouldn’t just bite—he’d drain. And he wouldn’t just drain—he’d turn.

Would Jamie hate him then? For snuffing out all that vibrant life? For chaining him to a monster he didn’t know the first thing about? And what did it matter to Luc if Jamie hated him, if Luc’s progression to a feral state was halted? Since when had he started caring about other people’sfeelings?

Luc sidestepped the broken vanity and made his way into the bathroom, using the sink there to wash the blood off his hands. His monster was snarling and growling and just generally giving Luc a massive fucking headache with its ceaseless noise.

Hush, beast, he ordered.We’re not going back. I don’t trust you with him.

We’ll be good. We’ll be so good. Gentle. Patient. We won’t bite. We won’t turn.

Luc took that in—those pleading promises—staring at his own black eyes in the bathroom mirror, this reflective surface unblemished and unbroken. His monster did a lot of things. It raged. It cajoled. It wheedled.

But it never lied.

Luc couldn’t fucking believe it. This was the same internal force that had urged him incessantly to hunt, maim, and kill for centuries. And now it was promising…gentleness? Patience?

Did you take our flower’s request so seriously?he asked.To not make my life miserable any longer?

He pictured it in his mind again. That unbelievable moment, Jamie holding his face with those long, slender fingers, staring so intently into Luc’s soul. Asking the monster to be good for him.

Luc received no answer from within. Just that restless, tortured feeling of his monster not getting its way. Like Luc’s very skin was going to come off from the internal pressure.

Leaving Jamie’s side was driving the monster wild.

Was that it, then? Would the monster actually listen to Jamie?

That could…change things. If Luc’s monster could be tamed, then it was justLucwho had to be trusted with Jamie’s well-being.Lucwho had to be patient, who had to be gentle.

Well, nottoogentle, he thought with a smirk, recalling the way Jamie had so happily gagged himself on Luc’s cock the night before. His flower may be breakable, but he was hardly delicate.

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