Stealing Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 5) (25 page)

Ella’s heart broke at the question, and she shut her eyes to stop any tears from escaping.

Lucian knelt next to her on the floor. “The day I came back here is the best day of my life. Hands down. Followed closely by today because I got to spend all afternoon hanging out with you. You had fun, right?”

She nodded so subtly it was barely noticeable.

“I promise that, from this day forward, I will be the best dad imaginable. I’ll be so awesome, you won’t even remember the time I wasn’t here.”

Clara’s small hand lightly touched Lucian’s jaw, her fingers running over the rough stubble. “I believe you.”

For a few heartbeats, no one moved. Ella was entranced, watching Clara stare into her father’s eyes while Lucian looked as if he were in heaven having Clara touch him. Acknowledge him as her father.

Then she took her hand back. “I’m tired. Can I go to bed?”

Ella snorted at the question. “You don’t have to ask permission for that, baby.”

Clara smiled and pushed herself off the couch; Reno quickly followed.

Lucian stood and looked at the three of them awkwardly. “Can, um, can I come up?”

Clara reached up to him and grabbed a few of his fingers. “Come on.”

He obediently followed, shooting a smile over his shoulder at Ella.

She gave him a thumbs-up sign, making sure to keep her distance as he got to tuck his daughter in for the first time.

So many firsts. Ever since Lucian let her go, she never once allowed herself to feel sorry for him until now. Not until she saw how genuinely happy being with Clara made him. The look of awe on his face every time she said or did anything that caught his attention.

He even shot her a huge smile when she’d coughed in the backseat on their way back to the house.
A cough!

She thought Lucian would see her as a pawn or as a means to furthering his species. That she could deal with. She had no idea what she would do with Lucian, the loving father.

He pulled the covers over Clara as Reno settled into his customary spot. Soft words were exchanged, but Ella couldn’t hear them from the doorway.

A few seconds later, Lucian turned toward her.

Ella shook her head. “Nightlight,” she whispered as she walked over to the corner of the room to switch it on, filling the room with a soft blue glow.

He nodded as he watched her; then they both moved into the hallway and shut the door behind them.

“Is she afraid of the dark?” whispered Lucian.

“She just likes the color.”

As they went to the kitchen, Ella picked up a dirty plate from the table to take to the sink while Lucian checked his phone. “You weren’t kidding when you said she sleeps a lot.”

“What can I say? We lucked out with the easiest kid ever.”

“Ella,” said Lucian softly from behind her.

She turned to find him just inches away. “Lucian,” she murmured.

“Thank you for taking care of her.” He leaned in closer, forehead almost brushing hers.

“As I said, she’s easy
.
”
God, why did he have to smell so good?

“No, she isn’t. She’s different. That has to be terrifying. Looking over your shoulder and carrying silver mace with you wherever you go isn’t an easy way to live.”

She sighed and leaned into him, allowing their foreheads to touch. “But if anyone’s worth it, she is. Right?”

Lucian brought his lips to hers, a feather-light touch. The barely perceptible contact sent warmth to the deepest core of Ella’s body.

But she still pushed away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He clenched his jaw and took one tiny step back. “I want you.”

“You had me.”

“I want you again.” He lowered his head to her neck and kissed the sensitive skin where throat met shoulder.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of all the reasons this was wrong. “We need to think of Clara. We can’t just be getting together and breaking up.”

He kissed his way up to her earlobe. “But you do want me.”

It wasn’t a question.

One of his hands touched her knee and she jumped at the shiver that ran through her, the thin material of her pajama pants not seeming to dull the sensations at all. “Lucian,” she breathed.

He moved his hand up; his fingers lightly traced random patterns along the inside of her thigh. When he reached the apex of her thighs, he cupped her mound. The steady pressure sent waves of pleasure through Ella and pushed her on her tiptoes.

“Lucian,” she repeated as her hands clenched his biceps for support.

“You want me just as much as I want you.” He covered her mouth with his again, tongue plunging into her mouth as his hand rhythmically rubbed her through the soft cotton.

The rawness and crudeness of the gesture was strangely erotic as his lips chased all sense away. Just as she reached up to pull him closer, completely forgetting any reason she should be pushing him away, the doorbell rang.

She tightly shut her eyes as she tried to control her breathing.

Lucian seemed completely passed the episode as he jerked away. “You don’t think he woke Clara?”

She rolled her eyes. He might have his hands all over her, but he was still firmly in new dad mode. “That girl could sleep through a plane crash,” she said. Then his words sunk in. “He? How do you know it’s a guy at the door?”

He almost hid it, but for a split second, a look of guilt flashed in Lucian’s eyes.

“What did you do?”

“I am keeping you safe,” he muttered as he strode to the door.

She huffed. “I think somehow you confused the phrase ‘I’m keeping you safe’ and ‘I’m being a dick but don’t care’ confused. They mean very different things.”

He reached the door and turned to face her before he turned the knob. “Just don’t get pissed until I can explain.”

“Famous last words,” she muttered under her breath as she reached around him and opened the door herself.

And looked right into the eyes of the vampire who bit her. “Oh hell no.” She slammed the door in his face. She turned her angry gaze on Lucian. “Are you kidding me?”

Lucian squared his shoulders. “I can’t be here at all times. Dmitri can watch out for you when I can’t.”

“That’s great. Who’s going to keep me safe from him? You expect me to let him anywhere near Clara?”

“What happened before was a misunderstanding.”

“He put me in the hospital!”

“A
serious
misunderstanding.” Lucian took a deep breath. “I was there. You saw how pissed I was. How close I came to killing him. Don’t act like I didn’t take it seriously.”

“I don’t care how you reacted then. I care about now.”

A shout came from behind the door. “You guys know I can hear every word you’re saying?”

Ella groaned and swung the door back open. “Hear this: Go away.” The vampire’s eyes shifted to Lucian, and Ella snapped. “Don’t look at him. This is my house. If I tell you to leave, you damn well better turn into a bat and fly away.”

His brow creased. “You know that doesn’t actually happen, right?”

Ella rolled her eyes and threw her head back. “Yes. Doesn’t change my point.”

Lucian slid past Ella to stand in the doorway between her and Dmitri. “What happened to you was an accident. He wasn’t expecting a struggle and tore something important. I beat him much more severely than he hurt you. He’s a vampire and it still took him weeks to get back to full strength. Even so, he has stayed with me through a lot of crap. I trust him and I can’t say that about many people.”

Ella looked past Lucian to the vampire. “Is that true?”

“That I accidentally almost killed you and then Lucian beat the shit out of me? Yeah, not one of my proudest moments.”

She sighed. “What exactly are you asking me to do? Spend the night with a virtual stranger who I still don’t completely trust?”

Lucian shook his head. “No, no. Vampires can only get in if you invite them, but they can still blackmail you out with a loved one or just burn the place down with you inside. So I want you to invite Dmitri in and he will hang out on your porch and make sure no unwanted visitors stop by.”

“You want me to let some guy—who I know basically nothing about, by the way—sit outside my house all night?”

“You can get to know him better. For instance, he’s in love with his stepsister but she’s a raging bitch and hardly gives him the time of day unless she wants something from him.”

Dmitri whacked Lucian in the shoulder, and based on the sound of the hit, it was painful. “What the fuck, dude?”

“It’s true and you know it,” said Lucian, not looking away from Ella.

Dmitri ground his teeth. “Does knowing I’m completely whipped help you trust me?”

Ella looked over the big vampire, trying to imagine some woman having him at her beck and call and not even wanting him. He was textbook tall, dark, and handsome. “It makes you seem less villain-y.”

“I suppose that’s a win,” muttered Dmitri.

“So, can you please invite him in?” asked Lucian.

“Why can’t you sit outside my house all night?”

“Last night Charlie’s apartment was raided by someone or something. We’re assuming it was vampires. We’re going to see if we can track down where they’re hiding out during the day.”

“We? Who’s we?”

“Dean, Charlie, and me. I should have some more guys arriving in town tomorrow. They are all finishing up their jobs before heading over and they can’t teleport since they’ve never been here.”

“You’re dragging Charlie into this?”

“Well, I’ve been informed that locking humans in their homes and posting a guard outside the door is a dick move.” Ella just glared at him. “He said he wanted to help. He’s a good fighter and willing. I saw no reason to say no.”

“So if I order you to keep Charlie somewhere away from all this crap, you’re just going to use that against me. You’re a bastard, Montclair.”

He didn’t look sorry. “Please invite Dmitri in.”

Ella turned from the doorway. “Please come in, Dmitri.”

“Well, that wasn’t awkward at all. I’ll be outside if you need me,” he said.

She didn’t hear him move, but he was out of sight when she looked back, probably hiding in the shadows as the last bits of sunlight disappeared.

“Isn’t it too light for vampires?” she asked Lucian.

“Just before dusk is a dangerous time. Everyone assumes the vampires are still in hiding, but they are more than capable of using the long shadows of buildings to move through. But even in full daylight, they can use mind control to turn any human into a weapon.”

“Well, there goes any hope of me feeling safe, you know, ever.”

––––––––

L
ucian looked into his rearview mirror just in time to see Charlie rolling his eyes. “You got a problem back there?”

Charlie met his gaze through the mirror. “No. I just assumed you would have some way of tracking these guys.”

“We’re not magic,” said Dean from the front seat. “The last few hotels were a bust, but there are only two more to check.”

For the last five hours, they’d driven aimlessly around the surrounding towns, checking all motels and hotels in the vicinity. Usually the desk clerks would have their memories of the vampires ever checking in wiped, but the maids could tell whether someone was always in their room during the day and out all night.

Usually they traveled in packs but didn’t like to share rooms, so there would be a huge block of big men with the same unusual habits.

Of course, this was assuming they were staying at a hotel at all and hadn’t “commandeered” someone’s house. They wouldn’t always kill the owner right away. If they were hiding from Earth’s resident vampires, they would keep the human owner alive and contained so no uninvited vampires could enter.

Charlie turned to look out the tinted window. “Can we stop by the gym? I want to make sure Courtney closed up right.”

Dean laughed. “She the cute one?”

Charlie narrowed his eyes. “She’s seventeen. I don’t care what species you are, it’s still illegal.”

Dean held up his hands, twisting in the front seat so Charlie could see. “Hey, man. My cutoff age is twenty, so we’re good.”

“You’re still over a hundred years older than them. How is that less creepy?” As annoying as Charlie could be, he had balls. Even with Dean and Lucian in full myotis form, he didn’t back down from giving them shit.

As brave as it was, it was also getting damn annoying.

Lucian shrugged. “They’re adults. I’ve never met a woman who regretted spending the night with Dean.”

Charlie narrowed his gaze at Lucian. “What about you?”

“Well, there have been a few women who regretted sleeping with me. I just don’t have the charm Dean has.”

Charlie scoffed. “So I’ve heard.”

Fuck you too, buddy.
Lucian bit his lip. It would take more than a few jokes to become best friends with this human, and at the moment, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to be acquaintances with the man.

They drove the rest of the way to the gym in awkward silence. One of the good things about driving at two o’clock in the morning was that there were no cars to get in his way.

Because they were visiting so many places they’d never been to, teleporting was out of the question. Not that Lucian minded the drive. It was actually relaxing after such a hectic few days.