Lucien kept his sunglasses in place as he studied the patrons in the diner. His fingers drummed on the tabletop until Callie rested her hand over the top of his.
“Stop that,” she said.
Lucien turned to smile at her, but it felt strained as he kept his ears attuned for any hint of a threat. They were in broad daylight, no one would attack them here, but his body still thrummed with tension as he shifted his attention to the plate glass windows running along the front of the diner.
Callie released his hand and sat back as the waitress arrived with her plate of pancakes, bacon, and sausages. Her stomach rumbled again, and her face reddened when the woman set the plate in front of her.
However, she forgot about her embarrassment as she lifted her fork and knife. Her hands hovered over the plate like a surgeon about to make their first cut.
“Do you need anything else?” the woman asked as she topped off Callie’s coffee.
“No, I’m good,” Callie said.
The woman vanished, and Callie lifted the glass container of maple syrup from its tray beneath the window. With glee, she poured the thick, brown liquid onto her stack of pancakes with its whipped butter melting in the center of them.
She was acutely aware of Lucien watching her, but she didn’t care. She was starving, and she was going to devour every last bite on her plate. Besides, she’d watched him feed on blood; he could watch her eat this gooey plate of deliciousness.
They sat in silence while she ate, but the drone of conversations sounded around them. From what she could gather, most of the people there were men who met up with their friends to discuss the local gossip while they ate and flirted with the waitresses. She suspected most of the men were widowed or divorced as she saw few rings on their work-worn hands.
Lucien admired the old-fashioned, fifties motif of the place with its stools lining the counter, black-and-white-tiled floor, and pictures of old celebrities adorning the walls. A small jukebox sat on the table, and he pushed a couple of buttons to look at the songs. While the music wasn’t his favorite, he’d enjoyed the fifties even though he despised poodle skirts.
Before coming here, he’d taken some money from the woman in the office so he wouldn’t have to keep taking control of people’s minds to get what they required. Not only would it weaken him, but he risked someone else seeing him do it, especially in a place like this.
He fished out some of the change he took from her and put a couple of quarters into the machine. He pushed a couple of buttons and selected some Elvis songs. Music drifted from the small speakers as he returned his attention to the large window facing out onto the main street.
Outside, a couple of cars cruised down the road. Further down the street, a couple of people from the motel jogged across the road. Once they were safely on the other side, they started walking toward the diner.
He watched them until they were close enough to deduce they weren’t vampires, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a menace. A Savage could take control of anyone’s mind and turn them into the enemy.
His hands opened and closed on the table as he strove to control himself. There were too many possible threats against her, and he was still too weak to protect her from a full-on attack.
Callie finished her breakfast, pushed her plate away, and patted her full stomach. Lucien didn’t look at her. She studied his profile as he stared out the window with his hands on the table. She had no idea what had him so worked up, but he looked like he was about to blow.
“You like Elvis?” she asked, even though it was obvious. Why else would he select Elvis songs? However, she was eager to distract him and learn more about him.
“I do,” Lucien said, but he didn’t turn away from the window.
Leaning across the table, she rested her hand over his again. He relaxed a little beneath her touch and turned toward her.
“It’s okay,” she said.
“It will be, once you’re safe.”
She started to reply, but the waitress’s return stopped her. “Would you like anything else?” the woman asked.
“No, thank you,” Callie said.
The woman left the check on the table, and Lucien pulled it toward him. “Let’s go.”
They rose from the booth and started toward the cash register near the door. Callie’s step slowed as she stared into the glass case at the end of the countertop, running most of the length of the diner.
There was no way she would be hungry by lunchtime, but she and that cherry cheesecake had a date for dinner tonight. Despite being stuffed, her mouth watered in anticipation.
They left the diner, and Lucien took her hand as they walked down the street toward the motel. Callie smiled at his hand on hers, and the natural way he’d taken possession of it.
She had to guard her heart against him, but she couldn’t stop herself from leaning against his side and wrapping her hand around his arm as she rested her head against it. Being with him felt natural and right, even if there was nothing natural about their situation.
When they returned to the room, she collapsed on the bed.
“Are you okay?” Lucien asked.
“Stuffed,” she said as she patted her belly.
He laughed as he sat beside her. He lifted a strand of her silken hair and admired its black hue as he twirled it around his finger. “I can think of a fun way to burn off those calories.”
“As tempting as that sounds, I might throw up on you if I tried moving right now.”
The bark of laughter that escaped startled him. He couldn’t recall the last time he laughed, but it flowed from him now. She seemed as astonished by it as he was; her eyes widened, and she smiled.
“I like your laugh,” she said. It was warm and deep and masculine, like him. She vowed to make him laugh as often as possible so she could hear it more.
“I’m glad,” he said and kissed the tip of her nose.
They talked for a little while, and when she was sure she wouldn’t throw up, she rolled on top of him and kissed him.
They spent the next couple of days learning more about each other, where they grew up, their families, and past relationships. As she’d expected, because he was centuries old and gorgeous, there were many women in his past. However, she was amazed to discover he’d never had a serious relationship. Actually, according to him, he never had a relationship.
It was a giant red flag waving in front of her, but she didn’t care. Given what he was, she couldn’t expect him to have the same kind of relationships as humans. Maybe, in all his years, he should have had a couple of girlfriends, but who was she to judge his life when it was so different than hers? Maybe he found her having had past relationships weird.
And she’d had three relationships in the past. One was her high school boyfriend. They dated until the summer before their senior year when his dad got a different job and they relocated to California.
Heartbroken by their separation, they’d tried having a long-distance relationship for a couple of months, but it didn’t work. He was the one to end it, but by then, she already knew it wasn’t going to work.
Originally, they talked about him coming home for college, but he met someone new and never returned. They reconnected through Instagram a few years ago, but it had been years since they last talked, and then he was single and living in Japan.
Their breakup was difficult for her; he’d been her first everything, and she’d pictured them getting married one day. However, once she got to college, she was glad they went their separate ways. She’d experienced many things that she wouldn’t have if they were still together.
In college, she dated another guy for her sophomore year, but she ended it when it became apparent partying was more important to him than school or her. Worried about his drinking, she tried to talk to him before breaking it off, but he wouldn’t hear it. She had no idea what became of him after he failed out of school.
And then, there was Carter. Although, she didn’t know if she could consider someone she only dated for three months and never had sex with a relationship. Yet, despite their short time together, he had become the most significant relationship in her life.
However, she told him about her high school and college boyfriends, but she didn’t tell Lucien about Carter. She didn’t know how he would react to the revelation, and she preferred not to recall that horrible time in her life while locked in his arms. Their lives were at risk, and they were hiding from Savages, but she was inexplicably happy with him.
As the days passed, he fed on the men who arrived, and they took some clothes from a couple of travelers. Every morning, they went to the diner for breakfast. She usually brought something back to the motel for lunch, and they returned for dinner.
When they were in the room, when they weren’t having sex, they slept or talked for hours. She’d memorized every detail of his body, and some of the things he did to her were probably illegal in a few states, but she relished each discovery they made about each other.
Their time together would end soon, and she dreaded when it did, but until then, she chose to enjoy every second they shared.
Though it hadn’t even been a week since they escaped the Savages, he’d already put on a lot of weight. With every passing day, he became more handsome as his face filled out and color returned to his skin. His eyes were mostly black now, but whenever they left the room, they shifted back to red, and he became as alert as a guard dog.
On their fourth day in the hotel, it was almost lunchtime as they lay in bed together. He ran his fingers up and down her body while they talked about their favorite music and the festivals she’d attended.
Music festivals sounded like a circle of Hell to him, but her eyes sparkled while she gushed about them. He’d learned she loved all kinds of music while he leaned toward Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and the music of that era.
Callie’s voice trailed off in the middle of her sentence when Lucien’s hand stilled on her belly, his head lifted, and he stiffened against her. When his eyes turned red and latched onto the door, a chill caused the hair on her arms to rise.
She turned her head to look at it too. Holding her breath, she waited for a monster to rush into the room.