I scowled at him.
He burst out laughing, this time not in my head but out loud.
This was, to all those around him, for no apparent reason and they stared at him, stunned. But I knew the reason.
My scowl was joined by my nose wrinkling in irritation.
He shook his head, a smile still tugging at his beautiful mouth.
Stephanie brought me to a halt right in front of him.
He was taller than he seemed from a distance, bigger, more powerful, completely overwhelming. He made me feel small.
I wasn’t small, not by any stretch of the imagination. I was five foot nine, over six foot in my blood red shoes. I wore a c-cup bra. My ass was my nemesis, it always had been. It was completely impervious to every diet known to man.
Your normal, average, every day guy couldn’t pick me up, not for more than a couple of seconds anyway.
This man, even if he wasn’t a vampire, could have done it. No doubt.
I felt fragile in the face of him. Breakable. Delicate.
All conversation in the room had again died.
The entire room was silent. Everyone was watching.
I opened my mouth to say something, likely something foolish, when Stephanie spoke.
“Lucien –” she began, her voice impatient.
He cut her off, eyes locked on mine, he didn’t lead into it, he didn’t even say “hello”.
Instead, his deep, strong, throaty voice announced loudly, “I declare my intentions.”
Oh shit.
“Thank you, God,” my mother breathed happily from behind me.
Chapter Two
The Contract
“Get out,” Lucien growled.
This was not going well and he didn’t like it.
Leah glared at him.
Her mother, Lydia, stared in horror, at her daughter’s behavior or Lucien’s break with tradition he didn’t know. He also didn’t care.
Cosmo, who had been smiling until the moment Lucien growled, now frowned with concern.
Avery stepped forward. “Lucien, you know the law. You need consent. Your second must be present as must the Uninitiated’s Distinguished. Even you can’t –” Avery started.
Lucien lifted a hand and Avery ceased speaking.
He knew. He’d been f**king well living the nightmare for five hundred years. He bloody well knew.
This was also something about which he didn’t care.