Lucan waited in the shadows as she wobbled back around the corner of the building to find her companions. He sucked in a deep breath through teeth and fangs, every muscle in his body tense, tight, pulsing. His heart was hammering in his chest. Just thinking about what Gabrielle's blood might taste like in his mouth had given him a raging hard-on.
His physical appetite might be calmer now that he'd fed, but he was hardly content.
He still... wanted.
With a low growl, he stalked out into the street once more, surlier than ever. He set his sights on the roughest part of town, hoping he'd meet up with a Rogue or two before dawn started to rise. He suddenly needed a fight in a bad way. Needed to hurt something - even if that something ended up being himself.
Whatever it took to keep him far as hell away from Gabrielle Maxwell.
Chapter Eight
At first, Gabrielle thought it had just been another erotic dream. But waking up late that next morning, naked in her bed, her body spent, parts of her aching in all the right places, she knew that Lucan Thorne had definitely been there, in the flesh. And God, what amazing flesh it had been. She'd lost track of how many times he'd made her climax. If she added up every orgasm she'd had for the past two years, it probably wouldn't even come close to what she'd experienced with him last night.
Yet she'd been wishing for just one more as she dragged her eyelids open and realized with disappointment that Lucan hadn't stayed. Her bed was empty, the apartment was quiet. He'd evidently left sometime during the night.
As exhausted as she was, Gabrielle could have slept a full day, but lunch plans with Jamie and the girls got her out of the house and downtown about twenty minutes after noon. As she wandered into the Chinatown restaurant, she felt heads turning in her direction: appreciative glances from a group of advertising types over at the sushi bar, half a dozen suited young executives watching her stroll past them as she made her way toward her friends' booth near the back.
She felt sexy and confident in her dark red V-neck sweater and black skirt, and she didn't care if it was obvious to everyone in the place that she'd just had the most incredible sex of her life.
"Finally, she graces us with her presence!" Jamie exclaimed as Gabrielle reached the table and greeted her friends with quick hugs.
Megan bussed her cheek. "You look great."
Jamie nodded. "Yeah, you do, sweetie. Love the outfit. Is it new?" He didn't wait for an answer, just plopped back down into the booth and wolfed down a fried dumpling in one gulp. "I was starving, so we already ordered a few appetizers. Anyway, where've you been? I was just about to send a posse out for you."
"Sorry. I slept in a little today." She smiled and sat down next to Jamie on the paisley vinyl bench. "Isn't Kendra coming?"
"MIA again." Megan took a sip from her teacup, and shrugged. "Not that it matters. She's all about her new boyfriend lately - you know, that guy she picked up at La Notte last weekend?"
"Brent," Gabrielle said, weathering a jolt of unease at the mention of that terrible night.
"Yeah, him. She even managed to switch her shift from graveyard to days at the hospital so she can spend every night with him. Evidently, he has to travel a lot for work or something and is generally out of touch during the day. I can't believe Kendra is letting some guy dictate her life like this. Ray and I have been dating for three months, but I still make time for my friends."
Gabrielle raised her brows. Of the four of them, Kendra was the most free-spirited, unapologetically so. She preferred to maintain a stable of ready dates and was committed to staying single at least until she turned thirty. "You think she's in love?"
"Lust, honey." Jamie pinched the last dumpling with his chopsticks. "It can make you do crazier things than love sometimes. Trust me, I've been there."
As he chewed on his appetizer, Jamie's gaze held Gabrielle's for a long moment, before it swept over her loosely tousled hair and suddenly flushing cheeks. She attempted a casual smile, but couldn't keep her secret from betraying her to him in the happy gleam of her eyes. Jamie set his chopsticks down on his plate. He cocked his head at her, his bobbed blond hair swinging around his chin.
"Oh. My. God." He grinned. "You did it."
"Did what?" A soft laugh bubbled out of her mouth.
"You did it. You got laid, didn't you?"
Gabrielle's laughter dissolved into a blushing, girly giggle.
"Oh, sweetie. You're wearing it well, I must say." Jamie patted her hand, laughing along with her. "Let me guess; Detective Dark-and-Sexy of the Boston PD?"
She rolled her eyes at the silly nickname, and nodded.
"When?"
"Last night. Practically all night."
Jamie's whoop of enthusiasm drew attention from some of the surrounding tables. He simmered down, but beamed at her like a proud mother hen. "He was good, huh?"
"Amazing."