Synching With the Devil's Son

Chapter 29

Lucien's P.O.V.

I'm slipping on my clothes when I hear Bella call out to me. Perfect timing. I want to jog back to her, but I don't want to look too eager, so I walk toward her at a deliberate pace. I'm thinking about the fact that she followed me to the river just to check me out, and when I reach her clearing, I look knowingly at her. I almost laugh out loud at her widening eyes and guilty look, but I'm not going to make her feel embarrassed about something so natural. In fact, I don't want her to feel embarrassed about anything ever again.

She tells me she wants to wash her hair and thinks the river is the only option. I can see there is plenty of water still in the pot, and I can't stop myself from offering to help. As I am reaching for the handle, she stops me and tells me it's too hot to touch. She shows me the burn on her fingers from grabbing the hot lid, and I curse silently. Since I forgot to use a shirt or something to 'protect' my skin from the hot iron, she hurt herself thinking it was safe to touch. Shit, she's going to have blisters because of me, and the knowledge I hurt her, unintentional or not, makes me feel nauseous. She's quietly waiting for me to tell her how I can help, so I make a show of sampling the water temperature and tell her I can pour it over her head. I can see the questions behind her eyes, but the idea of clean hair overpowers her desire to understand how I carried the hot metal in my bare hands, just as I hoped it might. Then she starts unbuttoning her shirt...shit...I'm caught staring, the white lace of her bra barely covers what I so desperately want to see. When she leans over a rock with her hair over her head, I walk over with the warm water and wet her hair down. When she groans, I almost drop the heavy pot on her head. Please don't groan like that anymore...please. Not when you have your shirt off and your perfect ass is pointing in the air. Despite having just found my release, I'm rock hard again and try to find a discreet way to distract Bella while getting my libido under control. 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no,' I chant in my head, but I cannot take my eyes off her. She wraps her clean hair in her towel and starts buttoning up her shirt. I see her glance at my zipper, so now she knows exactly what she's doing to me. She doesn't seem phased, in fact, I would use the word sanguine, but despite the vibe she's sending out, we have to remain platonic. I am not going to touch her until I tell her who, and more importantly, what I am. For the first time in centuries, I need my father's advice. How did he get my mother to accept the fact he is the actual Devil and agree to spend the rest of her natural life with him? I need to keep my hands off Bella until I speak with him. Shit, this is going to be a LONG weekend.

I can feel the blush creeping up my face as I watch her button up her shirt, the last glimpse of lace finally hidden from view. She looks at me like I'm on the menu tonight, so I begin to fantasize how we can pleasure each other without having intercourse. She won't be that mad if we fool around before I tell her I'm part demon, will she? My subconscious taps me on the shoulder and tells me I am, in fact, part angel, not part demon, but the way my thoughts are transpiring, that is completely up for debate. There is nothing angelic about what I want to do to her and with her. I mentally slap myself and focus on Bella, standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest, looking at me with a soft smile on her face.

I help collect her things while she shakes out her hair from the towel, and we start heading toward the delicious odor of cooking bacon. I'm surprised when she hooks her arm through mine, so I transfer everything I am carrying to my left hand so I can hold hers with my right.

Before we get to the camp I stop her and lean towards her face. She licks her lips right before I capture them in mine, probing the inner recesses of her mouth and sucking on her lower lip. I hear her moan as I continue to plunder her mouth, causing my pants to get tighter. I pull back, tucking damp strands of hair behind her ear, and stare into her beautiful eyes. Before she can say anything I whisper, "I want you more than you could possibly fathom," I tell her, pulling her against my body so she knows I'm not kidding, "but we need to talk about something before we progress to anything beyond kissing." I look down at her as she stares at me in confusion, offering her a small smile because that's all I can give her right now and I know it.