Page 7 of Lucien

Luc let out a deep breath, trying to shake off his reaction to the stranger. After a quick search on his phone and a fifteen-minute drive to the outskirts of the desert, he pulled into the parking lot of a massive hotel.

“Welcome to the Oasis,” the elderly gentleman manning the counter greeted as he entered.

Luc didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He locked eyes with the man, after removing his sunglasses. “You’ll give me your best room. Indefinite stay. No ID or credit card required.”

“Our best,” the man repeated. “Yes, of course.” He started fiddling with the computer in front of him.

“Have whiskey sent up to my room,” Luc ordered, then paused. “And I need a salon. The best you know. One that caters to men.”

He was in his room—a massive suite with an adjoining living space, a small kitchen he would never use, and a king-size bed Luc was currently sprawled over—with a whiskey in hand twenty minutes later.

His monster had been uncharacteristically quiet as he made his moves, clearly sensing that victory lay in the waiting.

“We’ll do this on my terms,” Luc muttered, downing a gulp of his drink.

He wasn’t being noble, not at all. Just…cautious. However pleased this stranger appeared to have been to see him, he’d obviously been mistaken. He didn’t know who Luc was.Whathe was.

And Luc worried if he rushed things—if he scared this little desert flower off—it could botch the mating bond. He didn’t know enough about how it worked to be sure. Did the human need to love himbeforehe was turned for the bond to solidify? If the young man despised and feared him and Luc turned him anyway, would they both be rewarded with an eternity of misery?

And what hope did Luc have for an alternative? Because who in their right mind would want to be shackled to a monster?

Luc’s life had been hell for nearly a century, and it was a hell of his own making. He’d hurt people he loved. He’d killed people who only maybe deserved it. He’d ruined lives.

Luc didn’t deserve a mate.

Luc didn’t deserve anything good at all.

But who was he really kidding? Luc smirked to himself as he took another sip, his monster purring in satisfaction as it sensed his capitulation. Because Luc would take the good anyway. He’d find his little desert flower again and make him his.

What was the point of being the villain if he didn’t get what he wanted in the end?

three

Jamie

Jamiehadfuckeditall up.

You don’t go around kissing people without their consent, he chastised himself, kicking his foot against the outer brick wall of the bar.Big fucking no-no.

The alley was deserted now. Empty. A fact that was completely Jamie’s fault.

But he was still having a hard time keeping the smile off his face.

He tried to twist his lips into a frown.No smiling. Very bad. You did a bad thing. Naughty boy. You scared him off.

But really, how could he not smile? He’d finally met him. In the flesh. In the real fucking world. The literal man of his dreams. Or, you know,monsterof his dreams, to be precise.

And ohhh, Dream Guy was just as scrumptious as Jamie had seen in the visions. Tall, built, intense. Smelling like absolute sin. With that lovely little smattering of salt and pepper at the temples of his abundant dark hair.

Hello, Monster Daddy.

Sure, he’d been looking a little worse for wear. Definitely more rumpled than Jamie was used to seeing, with his scruff more overgrown than usual. But he still managed to look like he should be in some Italian ad for Campari or whatever. And the way he’d stopped in his tracks and stared at Jamie like he was the fucking Holy Grail or something?

Sohot.

Could Jamie really be blamed for wanting to make out with him until the sun came up? For slamming their mouths together the moment he was in reach? After all, Jamie had been waiting for him all his adult life. Which, okay, was only five years, but that was like almost a quarter of his existence.

But after tearing his lips away, Dream Guy hadn’t greeted Jamie with any recognition or exuberance. He’d just held those beautiful, built muscles tense with unnatural stillness, those black eyes focused on Jamie with unwavering intensity, not even breathing, as far as Jamie could tell.

---