Free Lure of Forever by Doris O'Connor Page B

she
thought him to be, fucking her semi-conscious self in the shower was not the
way to go about it. Instead, he cleaned every inch of her luscious curves and
dried her off with infinite care. He lit the hitherto unused fire and wrapped
her up in one of the fluffy dressing gowns every room was equipped with, then
settled Coralie in front of the warm glow and waited
for her to come back to him.
     
     

 
    Chapter
Eleven
     
    It was the smell she noticed first.
The sweet aroma of burning wood surrounded Coralie .
Heat suffused her toes and crawled slowly up her legs and over her torso, until
it reached her neck. She moaned softly and huddled closer into the softness
surrounding her. Cool hands framed her face and a familiar dry scent surrounded
her. Her eyes fluttered open on a soft exhale. Slowly Lucas's concerned face
swam into focus. Why did he look so worried, and where was she?
    "Welcome back, Chere ."
    The gravelly, accented tones wrapped
themselves around Coralie like a protective cocoon
and she smiled. Her eyelids weighed a ton and she struggled to keep them open.
Why was she so tired?
    " Oh non , stay with me. Coralie , wake up."
    She responded to the urgency in his
voice and slowly the fog cleared. Memories returned with sickening clarity and
his expression darkened when she scrambled away from him.
    "Stay away from me, you…
you…monster."
    "You're confusing me with
Carmen and Bughar ."
    "Crap, you just stood there and
let her bite me, and you…" Her hands went up to either side of her neck
and she winced at the soreness there. Come to think of it, every bone in her
body ached as though she had been run over by a truck…or a massive fairy. She
shuddered and resolutely pushed the memories of Bughar's heavy body on top of her away. She was going to be sick if she allowed herself
to think of him.
    As if reading her thoughts Lucas
shook his head at her. "Don't, Chere ,
just don't. The fucker is never going to lay a finger on you again or I'll
drain him where he stands."
    The fury and barely controlled
violence radiating off Lucas made Coralie swallow
nervously. He watched her warily, hands pushed into the back pockets of his
jeans, his muscles straining the material of his tee.   Damn it, it just wasn't fair. Even after
everything that had happened her body reacted to him
instantly. She straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms over the soft
robe and glared at the man watching her with an unblinking gaze.
    "Where the hell are my clothes?
How dare you…" Heat rose in her cheeks, when she realized it must have
been him undressing and washing her. And why the fuck didn’t she have any
memories of that? The last thing she remembered was Lucas fighting with the
fairy and Carmen's cruel laughter.
    "They reeked of fairy, as did
you. Forgive me for taking care of you and saving your life – again. How dare I
indeed? Next time I happen to find you in deadly peril, I'll just leave you to
it, shall I, Chere ? "
    The growled endearment settled
somewhere perilously close to her heart and Coralie's conscience chose that moment to whisper in her ear. Shame flooded her and she
dropped her gaze to the floor. Her mum would be turning in her grave right now.
Lucas's frustrated sigh and mumbled words of French made her bare toes curl
into the plush cream carpet. She could almost hear her mother berate her.
"It doesn't matter one iota what somebody looks like, what race he is or
what his reputation is like. Sweet words are easy and mean nothing. What
matters is inside, and actions speak louder than words. Remember that in
future, Coralie ."
    Her mother's wise words increased
her discomfort. Vampire or not, he had saved her life twice. Shit, he almost
killed himself trying to convince her that he hadn't turned her. And as
despicable as his actions in Carmen's presence seemed, Coralie was still alive and relatively unharmed, the chunk of lost time and the big
black hole in her recent memory notwithstanding. Had he caused that