Shortly after, the sleek, high-performance sports car eating the miles serenely beneath me, I fell asleep.
Chapter Nine
The Lesson
I woke for the first time since I’d been in my new bedroom knowing exactly where I was.
But something wasn’t right.
I opened my eyes and saw the big, wide bed empty in front of me.
Lucien wasn’t there.
Elation and disappointment crashed against each other and they caused a very strange sensation that I didn’t like one bit.
Then my mind traveled back to the night before.
I thought about The Feast and all I’d seen.
Then I thought about Lucien’s behavior and the conflicting emotions it made me feel. Most specifically that I liked being out with him. It wasn’t what I’d call a fun date but it was interesting and being on his arm was weirdly thrilling. He acted a complete gentleman (well, mostly) and I hadn’t had that in a long time (as in, never). Not to mention his possessive-protective streak, which made me feel safe and if that wasn’t enough to screw with my head, nothing was.
Lastly, I thought about falling asleep in the car after Lucien assured me he was the kind of vamp who didn’t…
I went solid and then whipped up the bedclothes and stared at my semi-naked body before pulling the covers back down.
I was wearing nothing but a pair of black, lace panties. I fell asleep in the car and that damn vampire carried me upstairs, took off my clothes and put me to bed.
In all that he’d done, and there was a lot that he’d done, taking off my clothes while I was asleep seemed like the worst (well, at that moment it did).
Only I was allowed to show my body to who I wanted to show it to when I was in the mood to show it.
Okay, so it could be argued that he’d had his tongue in my mouth (more than once), and his hand in my pants (again more than once), and he’d sucked my blood (also more than once), and he controlled my mind (way too many times, which meant twice, which was two times too many).
But this was taking it too far.
While my head was preparing to explode, the bedroom door opened and Lucien strode in.
When I saw him, I was so shocked, my fury vanished and I came up on a forearm to get a better look.
He was wearing faded, well-worn jeans and a tight-fitting, long-sleeved white t-shirt.
I’d never seen him in anything but a suit (and his pajamas, of course). And, I’d never seen him in anything but dark colors.
I didn’t think he was the type of guy to wear something as everyday normal as jeans and a tee.
And he looked good in them. No, great.
Even better than the suit.
Phenomenal.
My mouth started watering.
His eyes went lazy and he grinned.
My heart skipped a beat at seeing that look I liked way too damn much about one second before I remembered I hated him and he’d taken my clothes off me the night before.
“You’re awake,” he commented, walking around the bed while I watched him.