"Ah ha!" She turned on him with cold satisfaction. "I just knew that was what it was all about. Pudge! You want me to lie and claim he kidnapped me."
"It's the best way to deal with the matter," he said solemnly.
Rachel snorted in derision. "You mean, it's the most expedient for you people. But he didn't kidnap me. He didn't even really try to kill me. I just got in the way."
"He's dangerous, Rachel."
"Oh, please. Your uncle just finished threatening me with extinction. He would terminate Pudge in a heartbeat."
"Yes, he would," Etienne agreed. "But my family prefers to use death as a last resort. And in this case it isn't necessary, for a simple lie would see Pudge alive and well but locked up and no longer a threat. Or would you prefer to see him dead?"
He felt a modicum of satisfaction at the guilt that crossed her face. He'd scored a point. Bravo for him.
"I can't lie, Etienne. I mean that literally. I'm a rotten liar. I kind of grimace and get this nervous giggle."
"You could at least try. You hold the man's life in your hands. You can lie and see him alive, or you can refuse and force his termination."
Rachel gaped. "Now I'm responsible for his life? Like it's my fault? Next you'll be blaming me for starting Armageddon."
"Well, if you live long enough you just might be the cause of it," he snapped.
"Oh!" She turned back to slam some more clothes into her bag. "You're so charming. It's a wonder you weren't able to woo me into doing what you wanted."
"I never asked you to 'do what I wanted.' " Etienne ran a hand through his hair with frustration. "And this is exactly why. I didn't want to ruin what was happening between us."
That caught her attention, and Rachel stopped packing. She even turned to stare at him. "What?"
"I like you, Rachel. And I want you. Constantly," he added dryly. "I wasn't sleeping with you to get you to do what I wanted about Pudge. In fact, our... relationship is the reason I didn't push the Pudge issue. My family kept urging me to. Bastien even did it in front of you the day we were locked out in the garden, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want to. I kept putting it off. Unfortunately, I put it off long enough that Uncle Lucian caught wind of it, and now it is a serious issue."
Rachel shifted on her feet, her mind in an uproar. She distinctly recalled Bastien's asking Etienne if he'd talked to her about... He'd never finished the statement; Etienne had interrupted, assuring the man that he would. But he hadn't. Not that day or the ones that followed. Perhaps he was telling the truth. She wanted with all her heart to believe he cared about her, but her mind was in such turmoil she didn't know what to think. She needed time away from him. His nearness had the unfortunate side effect of confusing her.
Etienne added to her confusion by pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. "I don't think I'll ever be able to resist you, Rachel. You stir my blood like no other woman has managed to do in three hundred years. You make me hunger. You're beautiful."
He drew her into his arms, and Rachel was helpless to resist. She would think in the morning, she promised herself as she kissed him back. Everything would be clearer in the morning.
Etienne was a beautiful man. Rachel had known that from the beginning, but lying there watching him sleep by the light spilling out of the bathroom, she took the time to look him over minutely.
Etienne had made love to her through most of the rest of the night. Rachel had fainted as usual, but with her thoughts troubled as they were, she hadn't slept long. She had never been able to sleep at such times. It was now ten in the morning and she was wide awake, her thoughts awhirl as she stared at her lover.
He claimed to like her and to be truly attracted to her. Rachel had no problem believing the former--she thought of herself as a likable sort. But attracted to her? Did he really find her beautiful and desirable? She sighed and rolled onto her back to stare at the shadows spilling across the ceiling. Rachel could look in the mirror and see that she looked better than ever thanks to the turning, but she didn't really feel attractive inside.
She'd been the tall girl during her school years, the gawky carrot top more prone to being teased than flattered and asked out on dates. Her fiancé Steven had been her first real boyfriend, and that hadn't been until University. With him, she'd finally felt pretty and wanted... until she'd caught him in bed with her roommate.
She hadn't had much success with dating since. Some of that could no doubt be blamed on the hours she worked, but not all of it. No, Rachel wasn't confident in her attractiveness. The last few weeks had been like some sort of dream come true, having a handsome, sexy man like Etienne paying attention to her. But dreams were hard to believe in, and it was far too easy to believe he had been wooing her to get what he wanted.
Etienne sighed and shifted in his sleep, drawing her attention. Her gaze drifted over his na**d body, pausing at the sheet twisted around his waist. The man was a distraction even now. She needed time away. Heck, maybe she needed therapy.
Grimacing at the thought of how that would go, Rachel eased out of bed and began to gather her clothes. She'd go walk through his garden or something. It would mean consuming more blood later, but she could do that easily enough now that she could use straws.
She would rather go home. It was her safe haven from the world, where she had always done her thinking. She also would have liked to at least call her family, so that they wouldn't be left worrying--but she was reluctant to risk either just yet. Not until she'd resolved all this.
Rachel managed to collect her clothes and make it to the bathroom without waking Etienne. Once the door was closed, she relaxed a little and quickly dressed. She ran a brush through her hair, washed her face, and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
"Pudge kidnapped me," she said experimentally. Her lips immediately twitched into something between a grimace and a grin. A nervous giggle slipped from her throat.
Rachel's shoulders slumped. She'd always been a rotten liar. It was inconvenient at times, but mostly made life simpler. If you didn't lie, you never got caught. Honesty was the best policy. Those were phrases she'd had drummed into her head repeatedly as a child. Rachel had always believed them. But now, faced with the problem of Pudge, she couldn't help thinking that in this instance a lie would serve everyone much better. And that included Pudge.
Turning away from the mirror, Rachel moved to the door and eased it open. Her gaze shifted immediately to the bed. Etienne was still lying in the same position as when she'd left. Smiling at how adorable he looked lying there with his hair all ruffled, his chest bare, and the sheets tangled around his waist, she turned off the light and eased into the room, then tiptoed to the door to the hall.