The Breed Read Free Page B

done?”
    “Of course not.” I crossed my arms over my
chest protectively. “I’ve just been…having some problems
lately.”
    “Problems? What kind of problems?”
    “Nothing you’d understand.”
    He frowned. “You might be surprised.”
    “By you? I doubt it,” I snapped, moving past
him. Fond childhood memories not withstanding, our moment was
officially over. “Was there something else you wanted, Lukas?” I
asked. “I’m tired. I want to get a shower and go to bed.”
    “Just wanted to see you. And talk to you.” He
frowned. “But if tonight isn’t good…”
    “It’s not,” I said. I poured myself a scotch
from a crystal bottle on the rosewood bar and knocked it back. Fire
bloomed in my stomach and I looked up at him, my eyes watering from
the stinging alcohol. “It’s really not.”
    He shrugged. “All right then—another time.
You go on to bed, I can let myself out.”
    I felt suddenly guilty. “It really is nice to
see you again,” I said grudgingly. “And about what I said—I know
you didn’t get along with Mom and Dad. I just could have used some
support.”
    “I know.” Lukas’ voice had gone soft and deep
again. “And I’ll never forgive myself for not being there for you,
Lexie.”
    I sighed. “It’s too late for apologies
now—just forget about it. And now I am dying for a shower.
So if you’ll excuse me…”
    “I’ll go.” He started for the front door.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
    Sure you will. I probably won’t see you
again for another whole year. But aloud I only said, “Sure. We
should do lunch.”
    “It’s a date.” He flashed me a blindingly
white smile and I found myself smiling back. It was easy to forget
how charming Lukas could be when he put his mind to it. Especially
since I saw him so rarely.
    Giving him a little wave, I headed for the
bathroom. But as I heard the front door thunk softly shut, I
couldn’t help feeling a little sad. Who knew when I would ever see
my big brother again?

Chapter Three
     
    The minute I got into the bathroom I couldn’t
wait to get out of my restrictive clothes. Popping open my suit
jacket I pulled it off and then yanked the white silk blouse I was
wearing out of the waistband of my black pencil skirt. I slipped
the little pearl buttons free of their loops and shrugged off the
blouse before turning my attention to my front-hook bra.
    This was the hard part.
    Unclasping the hook, I pealed the cups of the
bra away from my breasts as carefully as I could. But though I
tried to be gentle, the pain was still excruciating. God, why did
it hurt so much? My nipples were dark red and throbbing and
the strange honey wasn’t just leaking from them—it was flowing . Thin shining trails of the sweet, sticky stuff made
their way down the undersides of my full breasts and dripped to the
hand cut tiles below. The sight was both frightening and obscenely
beautiful somehow—as though I was some kind of a fertility goddess
unable to control her overflowing fruitfulness.
    “God,” I whispered, looking down at myself.
“What is wrong with me? What’s going on?”
    “They need to be sucked.”
    The familiar masculine voice made me look up
and clasp my arms over my naked breasts protectively. To my horror
I saw Lukas in the mirror, right behind me. His eyes met mine for a
moment and then flickered down to my full breasts.
    “Lukas—what’s wrong with you? What are you
doing here?” I demanded, whirling to face him, still trying to hide
my breasts with my arms. The feeling of anything rubbing against my
tender nipples was excruciating but there was no way I was going to
let him see me naked.
    “They need to be sucked,” he repeated, coming
closer. “By someone who knows how.”
    “What are you talking about?” I wanted to
take a step back but the edge of the countertop was right behind
me, making it impossible.
    “You have to relieve the pressure. It’s the
only way to ease the pain.” He was standing right in front