Page 90 of Lucien

The middle-aged man he was following had no idea of the monster on his tail. He thoughthewas the predator in this town. Stalking women, hurting them. Luc’s monster had sniffed him out almost the moment they’d arrived, aided by Jamie’s newfound control over his visions.

Luc waited until they were well into the park before he pounced. The disgusting man had no idea what hit him. One minute, he was walking along, and the next, he was held up against a tree by Luc’s hand crushing his throat.

“Hello, Robert,” Luc greeted.

“What— Who— Who the fuck are you?”

Luc sneered. “Well, see, now you’re tempting me to say something incredibly cliché like ‘your worst nightmare.’ And it wouldn’t be a lie now, would it?”

“Definitely no lie.” Luc immensely enjoyed the man’s little high-pitched yelp as Jamie popped out from behind the tree the man was held against.

Robert turned wide eyes to Jamie. “Please— Please, you’ve gotta help me.”

Jamie smiled at the man, wide and happy. “Who, me? Oh man. You’re really barking up the wrong tree there, buddy. We already know all about your games. Playing tourist in foreign countries and doing away with the local ladies.” They knew because Jamie had seen it, the man they were going to hunt. Danny had been onto something, about Jamie gaining more control over what he saw after his transformation. It was turning into a very useful tool. “You’re the last person in the world I’d want to help. I’m just here to watch the master at work.”

“Not just watch,” Luc corrected, and Jamie turned that lovely smile over to him. As he should. In an ideal world, that smile belonged to Luc and Luc alone.

But Luc supposed it was his plight in life to share his beautiful, bright mate with the world around him.

There were worse fates, he supposed.

Jamie’s hair, held up in a little half ponytail, matched their verdant surroundings. He kept threatening to dye it a different color, but after only mere months to enjoy it, Luc wasn’t ready for that. He was…sentimental about that color. They matched, out in public in the daytime, when Luc’s human eyes were on display.

“No, not just watch,” Jamie agreed, changing as he spoke. The black took over his eyes, those darling fangs peeking out from between his red lips. Luc’s monster howled with delight inside him. It loved when Jamie changed, when he let his gorgeous monster loose. Luc shifted into his monstrous form as well.

Their prey gave another pathetic scream, but Luc’s eyes were on Jamie as he tore into the man’s throat, silencing him for good. He growled in delight when Jamie joined him, their eyes locking from their respective feeding spots.

They made quick work of him, and Luc shoved the corpse into the bushes when they were done.

Jamie frowned at it. “Shouldn’t we hide the body or something?”

He looked so glorious, blood dripping down those red lips. Luc couldn’t help taking a taste, dragging him in to plunder his mouth. “It’s our last night in town, flower. Let them find him,” he said carelessly once he’d released Jamie’s lips, cinnamon and copper warring for dominion on his palate.

Jamie’s brow furrowed. “What if some poor kid finds it and is forever traumatized?”

Luc sighed before crouching, reaching into the dead man’s pocket, and grabbing his phone. He dialed for the city’s police force. “There’s a dead body in Parque San Martín. Come get it.”

He tossed the phone back onto the drained corpse. “There, my flower. We’ve done our good deed.”

“And why do you look so grumpy about it?”

Luc waved a hand at the foliage bordering the path. “I had plans to fuck you up against this tree.”

Jamie’s mouth went a little slack at that. He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, eyes darting around their surroundings. “We could— Let’s—”

Luc grabbed his mate’s hand, chuckling as he dragged him down the path. “Come, you insatiable beast. We’ll make do with our luxurious hotel suite.”

Half an hour later and they were back in the hotel.

Despite his clearly half-hard state, Jamie had insisted on walking back. He’d wanted a last chance to take in the sights, and Luc was happy enough to oblige. His lust would be sated soon, and he could bear waiting if it meant that look of delight on Jamie’s face stayed in place a bit longer.

They’d chosen Mexico City for their first international destination. Jamie had told Luc he’d always wanted to visit, and Luc had booked the tickets the next day, always eager to give Jamie whatever his heart desired. They had kept their stay to a week, as brief as they could while taking in a good number of the sights. Jamie in his new condition was very conscious of time, wanting to stay close to his family as long as he could. When Luc had suggested that the next trip they take, they fly Jamie’s family out with them, his mate had shot him a look so full of adoration Luc thought he might melt from the force of it.

The rest of their time they spent in Jamie’s hometown, in the gorgeous modern mansion Luc had purchased on the outskirts of the desert, complete with a saltwater pool. Luc had never thought Tucson, Arizona, would be the site of his first real home in decades, but there it was.

He intended to make the most of it.

As soon as the door to their suite had shut behind them, Jamie dropped to his knees, unbuttoning Luc’s jeans with desperate fingers. It reminded Luc for a moment of their first night together, Jamie asking so shamelessly to blow him, but now there was that added bite of hunger and greed, elements that had emerged after Jamie had turned.

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