Page 50 of Hell's Gator

“This is your fault. All I’m doing is laughing!”

“Stop it.”

“You can’t be mad at me for just laughing.”

“Why are they all doing that?” she demanded, swinging an arm out to indicate the women standing around watching him and her own friends and family watching him like he was their favorite treat.

“I have no idea. Always been like that. But, you’re forgetting, I told you I’m not even seeing what you do. I see you, Hellen. Just you. And that is not even the way I usually operate. What have you done to me, female?”

“I saved your ungrateful ass, that’s what I did.”

He laughed again. “This ass is becoming more and more grateful.”

“So are theirs,” she grumbled.

Lucien sat for a second, looking at her, realizing what she was feeling was insecurity where he was concerned. And honestly he understood it. He’d not given her a lot of reason to believe in him so far. And furthermore, he felt a shit-ton of insecurity where she was concerned and that irritated him to no end because he usually didn’t give a damn what a female did in his absence. This one, though, was different. This one would never know the touch of another male. NEVER. He leaned close to her and whispered her name in her ear. “Hellen?”

Though she knew he was right there, staring directly at her and so close she could feel his breath fluttering her hair, she didn’t expect him to whisper her name. She jumped and turned quickly toward him.

The moment she looked his way, he held her head in both his hands as he slowly kissed her, taking the time to learn her taste and feel, and little pressures and nips that brought her strongest responses, before pulling away just a centimeter to look into her eyes. He waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him, before he went back in for another kiss.

This time, though, she lifted her hands and laid them over his where he was still holding her head, moving her just slightly here and there to better angle their heads to deepen the kisses. When she was breathless, he pulled away from her just an inch or two. “Regardless of whether or not you accept me, from this day forward, no one will ever know what it is to be kissed by me except you. You’re it, Hellen. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, or you wanted it to be a lie. You’re it, and you can’t scrape me off with a stick.”

The edge of her lip twitched just a bit, letting him know she was about to say something smart-ass to him. “Not even a big stick?” she asked with a slight smirk.

“Not even the biggest stick. Now be good and eat your food. I want to go home and rest for a while.” He let the shield he usually kept in place drop for a second so she could sense the pain he was dealing with, before slamming it back up again.

“I’m never good,” she said.

“Oh, I bet you’re so damn good. But even so, I couldn’t take advantage of it tonight. I gotta lie down.”

“Okay,” she said, trying to stand up.

“No. Eat your food. I’m going to eat mine, too. Then we’ll go.”

“You’re sure? We could take it to go.”

He shook his head. “Won’t take long to eat.”

She nodded and started eating, as did he.

He lifted his chocolate shake, making a slurping sound when he tried to drink it. “Damn,” he muttered, then reached for hers.

“Hey!” she objected.

“Excuse me!” he shouted as he awkwardly turned in his chair. “Another chocolate shake, please.” He turned back around and smiled at her. “You really like those shakes, huh?”

“You just stole my second one! I only had one, technically.”

“Yeah, they’re good aren’t they?”

“They are so good. My favorite thing ever.”

“You haven’t had me yet.”

“Nor you, me!” she countered.

“Can you two please stop?” Christian asked.

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