To Love a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (115 page)

“And Wesley?  You remember him?  He offered to give me extra lessons,” I said sweetly and was satisfied when it took Lucian longer than usual to reply.

“Really?”

I smiled up at him.  “Jealous?”

Lucian blinked then shrugged.  “What do you think?”  But he was smiling and the smile said it all.

It was all I could do not to throw my arms around him.  Would he push me away if I did?  But he was just so darn gorgeous, and it felt like forever—well, okay, more like twenty-two hours and fifteen minutes—since we were alone with each other.

“Lucian?”

He gazed down at me with dark eyes that hid so much.

When was he going to tell me he cared for me?  When could I be his girlfriend—his real girlfriend and not just some fake girlfriend from down under?

“What is it?”

“When do you think you’re going to be comfortable enough to tell me you like me?” 
Love me,
I wanted to ask
but it was too soon.

He choked.  “I beg your pardon?”

“Never mind.”

He touched my cheek, startling me.

“Lucian?”  This time, my voice filled with wary hope.

“I can’t say it.”

My shoulders sagged but I rallied valiantly.  “It’s okay, I didn’t—”

“But I can do this.”  And the next thing I knew his lips were touching mine and my feet were no longer touching the ground.

I’d kissed Lucian many times…in my dreams.  But none of them could ever compare to the reality of having Lucian’s lips finally touch mine.

“Turn invisible,” Lucian whispered against my lips.  I shifted to obey him, but his arms tightened around my waist.

“No, don’t move.”  My entire body shuddered as his lips nibbled mine, shaping and molding mine to his.  His skin turned icy cold, and I forced my mind to focus on doing the same.  He laughed softly when I only succeeded after several failed attempts.  His kisses were too much of a distraction.

Lucian is kissing me. 
The words played over and over in my mind.

His hands held my face, moving to dig through my hair, gripping to pull me closer to his.

I love you. 
The words jumped out of nowhere.

A slight tremor shot through Lucian’s body, and he pulled me even more tightly against him.

I love the way he makes me feel.  I love his kisses.  I love—

“Deli,” he groaned against my lips before kissing me so deeply he bent me completely backward.  I gasped in fright, aware that we were a few hundred feet off the ground.

But he only chuckled.  “Relax.”

My body responded by softening, instinctively trusting him.

He covered my face with light, sweet kisses, and every one of them made my skin sizzle.  His lips traced my hair.  He breathed against my neck, nuzzling the sensitive skin.  It was weird having someone you couldn’t see kiss you.  Weird but good, I thought dreamily as Lucian uncurled one arm from my waist to hold my nape and pull me forward, making the kiss more intense and mind-blowing.

Lucian steered for us both and—clasped in his arms, with his never-ending kisses—our flight back home was very much like dancing in air.

I was very, very close to fainting when he lowered me gently onto the ground.  My knees wobbled.  He chuckled, supporting me as he materialized into view.

The same transformation took me longer but only because I was still woozy over Lucian’s kiss, my head in the clouds even though we weren’t flying anymore.

He unlocked the door, leading me inside.  I stared at our entwined hands, my mind still blanketed in a euphoric haze.

I bit back a protest when he gently unclasped his hand from mine and headed for the study.

“Dyvian?” I called but there was no answer.  I ran to the kitchen and a note magnet-pinned on the fridge immediately drew my gaze.

I read the note with widening eyes.  Dyvian was out?  He didn’t want us to wait up?  Lucian and I were alone—

A pair of hands settled on my waist, whirling me around.  I opened my mouth to share the good news—sorry, Dyvian—but was unable to because I was too busy being kissed.  By Lucian.  Again.

~~~

“Do you know just how beautiful you are?”

Lucian simply rolled his eyes.

He was in my bed, and I was curled right next to him. 
Nothing
happened and I hadn’t fooled myself into hoping that something would.  Lucian just didn’t seem to be the type to do that on the first date.  Or, technically speaking, right after the first kiss.

I giggled.  “I’ve always wanted to ask you that.”  The TV was on but neither of us had paid attention to it in the past two hours.  We had simply been too occupied kissing and talking.

My fingers traced his face.  I couldn’t get enough of him.  I couldn’t even believe I was allowed to touch him.

“Tell me about your family.”

He tensed against me.  “Why would you want to know?”

“Why are you being so secretive?  I just want to know more about you.”

He relaxed again, startling me when he bent down to kiss my hair.  I was still amazed that he could be this…
affectionate.

Lucian sprang away and accidentally threw me off in the bargain.

“Hey.”  I rubbed my head gingerly, which had bumped hard against the headboard at his sudden move.

“Sorry.”  He returned to my side, his face twisted in a combination of embarrassment and exasperation.  He checked my forehead.  “Are you hurt?”

“Of course not.  This is a tough Evren chick you’re talking to, remember?”  I ignored his little eye-rolling response and touched his face, concerned.  “But what about you?  Why did you—”

“Nothing.”  He hauled me right back into his arms.  “I was just thinking.”

“What-e-ver.”  But I wasn’t about to be sidetracked, so I demanded again, “Tell me a little bit about your parents and how you and Dyvian grew up.”

“There’s nothing good to tell.  We weren’t a happy family.”

“No family’s completely happy or perfect.”

“Trust me, Deli.  My family’s completely deranged.”

The coldness in his eyes appalled me.  It chilled me to think he had so little care for his family.  My hands curled against his chest.  “Don’t be so harsh.  I’m sure—”

He cut me off.  “My mother was a bitch.”

His body was again rigid with tension.  I reached out to soothe the tension away, kneading the muscles in his neck.

“She raised me with tender loving care at first.”  But his biting tone contradicted his words.  “It wasn’t real but it was very convincing, enough to put me into shock when I realized that she had left me for good.”

“
Left
?”

“Abandoned in a Paris alley,” he spelled out.  “I starved right next to crooks and drug junkies.  If I was lucky, I’d find a crazy man to stay next to and snatch a few hours of sleep.  It’s always better to be taken for a lunatic.  You get bothered less because you’re not the ideal victim.”

“Helpless, you mean?”

Lucian seemed reluctant to speak.  “No.  Insane people generally aren’t aware of what’s happening to them and around them, and some men…women…creatures, some like their victims to be completely sane because they draw more pleasure from seeing them confused, wondering why they are being tormented—”

“I get it now,” I said shakily, having heard enough.  I blinked back tears, knowing how allergic he was to them.  But my heart ached at how much he had suffered.  What had happened to Lucian wasn’t unheard of, but it was my first time meeting someone who actually went through such agony.

“Tell me the rest only when you’re comfortable about it or when you need someone to talk to.”  I hugged him tightly, wishing I could erase the ugliness of his past with hugs and kisses.  It was a silly thought, but the world would’ve been so much better if life worked out that way.

“At least I understand now.”

He raised a brow.  “Understand what?”

“Why you think your mother was a bitch.”

It coaxed a startled laugh from him.  “I expected you to tell me that maybe she had some good reason for it.”

“How did you survive?”  My voice was muffled against his warm chest.

“I did what I had to do.”

“And Dyvian?”

His voice became colder.  “My mother came back when he was seven years old.  I suppose Dyvian and I should be thankful she took enough effort to find me.”

I sprang upright, a confusing thought occurring to me.  “Wait…you’re just a year older than Dyvian, right?  But you only knew about him when you were eight?  Are you saying she had Dyvian and you didn’t know about it?”

“There were…times…when she was gone for a long period…”

I scowled.  “So, basically, she gave birth to Dyvian and gave him away, too.  Then she had this tiniest moment of guilt and decided that it was better if the two of you were together so she gave Dyvian to you before disappearing for good.  Is that how it happened?”

“Something…like that…”  Lucian looked like he was regretting telling me the truth, probably because he couldn’t bear to remember his mother’s cruelty.

I couldn’t blame him.  He was completely right.  She was a bitch and another name had just been officially added to the list of people I wanted to kill.  Or at least there would have been if I knew her name.  How could their mother bear to leave these two beautiful beings? 

I went back to Lucian’s arms and hugged him tightly.  “Was she Evren, too?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“How about your father?”

“We know nothing about him.”

I sat up.  “Have you tried looking for him?”

He pulled me back down just as quickly.  “Stop worrying too much about me and my family,” he scolded, but there was a smile in his voice.  “And, yes, we tried our best but found nothing.  We believe he’s dead.”

It was getting harder and harder to stop myself from crying.  Life could be so unfair.  He had an unknown Mr. X for a father and a bitch for a mother.  “I wish I had known you before,” I whispered fervently.  “I’d have adopted you and Dyvian right away.”

“Then we’d be siblings.”

“Oh.”  I scowled at my stupidity.  “I didn’t think of that.”

He chuckled.  “It’s okay.  I have you now.”

I blossomed with those words.  It was impossible not to hug him again.  Very, very tightly.

“Are you trying to crush my ribs?” he teased.

I ignored that and said instead, “Thank you for sharing a little about yourself, Lucian.”  I knew without being told that what he had revealed to me was to be cherished, a confidence he didn’t just share with anyone.

I also knew I had his mother to blame for Lucian’s coldness.  He was probably so hurt by his mother’s insane cruelty that he refused to trust anyone—

“Tell me something you haven’t told anyone,” Lucian urged in sudden haste, distracting me from my thoughts.

“Anyone?”  I fussed with the bedcovers, not meeting his eyes.

His face was grave.  “I know it’s a challenge, considering how you tell everyone everything.”