42nd & Lex (12 page)

“As
long as you don’t expect me to eat all this!” I exclaim, holding my hand over
the bowl to stop the incoming scoop.

“Sorry,
it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten how much humans eat,” he grins sheepishly. 

So
that means he isn’t hosting candle lit dinners every night of the week for New
York’s elite bachelorettes.   

“No,
you’re the first actually,” he answers my thoughts without skipping a beat. “First
ever.”

“You
mean to tell me that you’ve never cooked a girl dinner before, ever?” I am
shocked.
Ever
is a long time relatively speaking. Wasn’t he supposed to
be one of New York’s most eligible bachelors?

“Never.”
I see a hint of fangs as he smiles. His smile fades instantly and I can tell he
is running his tongue over them behind closed lips.  I am fascinated, not
scared like I would expect to be.

“Lucan, please. It’s okay. You can just be
yourself around me. Really, I want you to feel like you can trust me too.”

I dig into the pasta so he can see I am
okay. It is wonderful. Maybe I will eat the entire bowl.

“I’m glad you like it. I might not have been
a painter, but I did learn a thing or two about cooking while I was in Italy.
I’ve spent some time in Spain and France as well. We can try those countries
out some other night.” I nod, my mouth full of pasta.

“So tell me about the eating thing. Now that
I know there’s not a string of women running in and out of here every night,
I’m curious as to why someone who doesn’t eat has that much food.”

“I got it for you; I didn’t really know what
you liked so I got some of everything. I think you might want to finish eating
before I tell you about the other part.” He is still running his tongue over
his incisors.

“I’m
not squeamish, go ahead. Do you puke it up?”

“Ah,
yeah, basically,” he sighs. “My body doesn’t need the nutrition and my insides
don’t really work like a human’s anymore so digestion is slow to nonexistent. If
you’re not quick in getting rid of it, it can begin to rot and talk about heart
burn…” he trails off. 

“That
is fascinating, seriously.” I take another huge bite of pasta. “I’m so sorry
you had to eat all that stuff last night for me.”

A short laugh escapes his lips. “I figured I
had enough strikes against me already. I didn’t need to add weird date that
didn’t eat to the list.”  

“True,
would have been a red flag for me. Hot guy in an awesome car with a sweet
apartment, but doesn’t eat—highly suspicious. What about drinking? Same thing?”
I ask between mouthfuls.

“No, since it’s liquid it kinda goes the way
of the bl—” He stops and then recovers. “So, how was work today? Did your
friends hound you to death about your date?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” I give him a reprieve
on elaborating on the liquid issue. “I gave them a general description but left
out the unconscious parts and the spending the night part. Well, I told Max, my
assistant, that part, but he had already figured it out so it was better to
fess up and avoid a confrontation from the rest of the peanut gallery. How did
you know Brooks saw the Evora?”

“I
saw him when I was getting into a cab out front. Did he know it was you
driving?”

“No,
but I think he put two and two together when he saw the key at lunch. He hasn’t
said anything, but that’s probably because we work in different departments. He
was jealous though. How did you get a car that isn’t supposed to be in
production for another six months?”

“I have a connection at Lotus. They are in production for
those of us that are in the—”  I cut him off. 

“Enclave?”

“No. Those of us in the know. You can special order anything
that is past R&D if you know who to ask,” he chides.   

“Oh.” I am embarrassed that I jumped to the conclusion that
the Enclave was involved. “Can I ask you some more vampire questions?”

Lucan cringes slightly, whether from my
casual use of the word vampire or my inquiry, I can’t tell. “Abri, love, do you
ever quit?” He is smiling but I can tell the question is more than just
rhetorical. “Go ahead.”

I scoot to the edge of my chair and put my
fork down. “How do you move so fast?”

“That one is pretty close to Hollywood
fiction. I just can. I’m faster, stronger, and more agile than any human. I can
see, hear, and smell better than any creature. All the better to capture my
prey. I mean, in theory, if I there was prey I was trying to capture.” He is
struggling now. There is a look of great sadness on his face that I cannot
understand. “Do you have any idea of what you have gotten yourself into, Abri?”

“Me? You barged into my office the other day
and demanded to see me. I didn’t do anything except maybe bump into you on the
elevator” My voice waivers a little. That pull in my chest is back.

“I
guess you have me there, love. If you’re done we can relax in the living room,”
he says, noticing that I have not picked my fork back up. I am very full and
partially inebriated from yet another night of drinking.

“Sounds good to me.” I am trying to keep the
thought of the marble tub out of my conscious mind as he rolls up his sleeves
to tackle the dishes. Water and bare skin are not helping me. “Can I help you
with those?”

“Nope,” he replies with a sly grin. Shit. So
much for keeping things out of my mind.

 In a blur of water and soap bubbles, the
dishes are done in thirty seconds or less. There are some definite advantages
to this vampire thing. As the last dish is spinning to a stop on the
countertop, Lucan darts over to the stereo and changes the CD. Norah Jones’
Come
Away With Me
fills the apartment.   

“Dance with me?”

My heart nearly thunders out of my chest and
I am suddenly shy. “I’m not much of a dancer,” I admit quietly.

“Come.” His command is quiet and my
resistance melts into a puddle at my two left feet. 

His sweater is damp from the dishes and he
tugs it over his head before tossing it on the couch. This time there is no
tight white undershirt, just low-slung jeans and muscles. I may pass out again
and he hasn’t even touched me yet. I find myself crossing the room to meet him.

He reaches for my hand and the familiar arc
of electricity flows between us. Contrary to its intended purpose, I have never
felt safer in my life. The amps ebb and flow with the melody as our bodies draw
closer. Lucan places his other hand on my back and presses me against his bare
chest. I rest my head on his shoulder and we swirl around the polished wood
floors of the Cloud Club.  

I am in awe. It is obvious Lucan learned to
dance in a time when dancing was a necessary and valued skill for a gentleman. He’s
even making me look like I know what I’m doing. My experience with slow dancing
is limited to a best-forgotten seventh grade dance and a wedding last fall
where my aunt forced me to dance with my thirteen-year-old cousin. When the
song ends, he kisses my forehead before letting me go. I hope my legs will
support my weight. My extremities have a way of forgetting themselves under
Lucan’s touch.
Oh Abri,
I think
, what have you gotten yourself into?

“Probably more than you can handle.”

He is getting better at holding back the amps
and we stand there making out like teenagers while the stereo flips to another
slow song. I cannot stop my hands from roaming over his sculpted back.

“I like your idea.” Lucan has a mischievous
look in his eye. I realize he is talking about the bathtub. I blush.

“Is it a good idea? I mean, you’ve read
those warnings on electrical appliances haven’t you.”

“It doesn’t work in the water. Otherwise taking
a shower would be hazardous to my health.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lucan is already walking towards the giant
bathroom. “Glad you see it my way, Abri. I’ll start the water if you will grab
us something to drink. Your choice.”

I stand dumbfounded in the middle of the
living room floor. Is this really happening? Although it’s been a while, I know
the likely outcome for a scenario such as this. I need a drink. He is lighting
candles around the tub when I rejoin him. The city below and the candles are
the only lights in the room.

“What do you think?” He points to the wall
of windows. “Could you look at this view forever?”

“I could,” I answer breathlessly. Only I am
not looking at the windows.   

The candlelight gives his pale skin an
ethereal glow. I notice for the first time that Lucan has a tattoo on his upper
arm, a crest. My thoughts betray me and he tosses a towel at my head.

“Oh, you meant the lights. Yes, they’re
beautiful.”

“Abri, dear, for a lawyer, you are a
horrible liar.” He is unbuttoning his jeans. I try to think of a clever retort
but my brain is foggy and retarded like I’ve just been amped by a dozen
vampires. I want to form a thought about how I am about to get naked, about how
Lucan is nearly naked, but I can’t. I am nervous and excited. Something I
haven’t paid attention to in a long time wakes up and gives a languid stretch
in my belly.  

“Towel?” He has his hand out for the towel I
am still clutching. We are both adults, I tell myself. The old rule about
waiting until the third date has no place here. I can count the elevator rides,
my office, dinner last night and now, can’t I? I hand him the towel and he drops
it unceremoniously on the marble floor. The stereo in the living room switches
to something seductive. Middle Eastern guitar and drums.

Lucan is standing there in his boxer briefs
with the candlelight bouncing off the chiseled angles of his chest. I am
standing here melting in my expensive suit. I grip the cool marble with my toes
in an attempt to ground myself. 

Lucan frees the edge of my shirt from the waistband
of my skirt and his hands skim along my sides. Obediently, I raise my arms over
my head. Our eyes lock as he lifts my shirt the rest of the way off. In one
swift move he tosses it to the floor and releases the zipper on the back of my
skirt. It glides down my skin and comes to rest on the floor. Brazenly, I steady
myself with a hand on Lucan’s hip as I kick the fallen skirt away. He gasps at
my touch; it is the first time I’ve initiated such intimate contact.

We are now both in our underwear. I hook my
fingers inside the waistband of his boxer briefs intending to continue my
brazenness but Lucan beats me to it. My bra and panties have now joined my other
clothing on the floor thanks to his quick hands. 

“No fair,” I protest. “I’m naked and you’ve
still got your knickers on.” Lucan and the candlelight are having some sort of
weird effect on me. I cannot muster a single negative thought about myself at
the moment, in spite of the fact that I am naked in front a very large mirror.

He motions for me to get into the tub. There
is a step wide enough to sit on below the water line. I obey and sink down into
the warm, bubbly water. Lucan doffed his boxer briefs and climbs into the
enormous tub. He is right, no amps in the water. Lucan positions himself on the
step so that he is facing the windows with his back is against the tub. He
motions for me to come to him. I lean back against his chest and he wraps his
arms around me. The bubbles rise around us and I can feel tension releasing
from his limbs. He is completely still, including not breathing. I can’t feel
his heart beating either, but I expected that. Mine is beating wildly enough
for the both of us. 

“Sorry, I don’t have to breathe, but I
usually do. If it weirds you out, I’ll make sure to do it all the time.” The
way he replies to my thoughts out loud is no longer odd, but I wish I could
hear what he’s thinking about too. He has unbridled access to me and I only
have benefit of the Vulcan mind-meld trick if he lets me. “All you have to do
is ask,” he adds, smoothing my hair away from my face.

I’m not sure if he’s referring to the
breathing or the thinking. “No, it’s fine. Just an observation, that’s all,” I
reply. I’m not sure which one I am referring to either.  

Lucan kisses my shoulder. His touch sparks a
thought in my head. He is marveling at my unyielding acceptance of him. I am
taking this remarkably well, aren’t I? I lean against him again and he rests
his chin on my shoulder. There is a connection between us that I can’t deny and
I doubt Lucan can either. The languid stretch begins in my belly again, I feel
like I’m coming undone.

“Would you be totally offended if we took
this kind of slow,” I blurt out. “I’m not really a jump-into-things kinda girl,
in spite of the fact that I just jumped naked into your gigantic bathtub. I
haven’t been in a relationship in a really, really long time. Everything I have
done with you in the last twenty-four hours is completely uncharted territory
for me. I don’t even date much because of work and I never go home from bars
with men. Ever. ” I am rambling.

“Whatever you want, Abri. I have waited many
lifetimes for this; time means little to me when you think about it.” I hadn’t
thought about it that way before but it’s true. Lucan has nothing but time.

“Speaking of work, I should probably go home
sometimes tonight. I have four hearings tomorrow and I’m out of fancy designer
suits.” I want to stay but I don’t want to be that girl that doesn’t know when
to go either. “I need to check my messages, my mail, make sure my houseplant is
still dead.”

“I can take care of the clothing issue if
you want. I could send someone to your apartment or I can call Versace again.
Or another designer, if you wish.” He intends the words to come out neutral and
accommodating, but I can sense the fear in his voice. He is afraid I am saying
goodbye. 

Not goodbye, just good night. I don’t want
to be the needy girlfriend only twenty-four hours in no matter what kind of cosmic
connections are at work between us.