by Tara Sampson
“So,” he drawled out lazily with a devilish grin that could devastate any woman, “would you like to make a bet on it?”
Chapter 10
Ric watched the confrontation between Leo, Shelby and Tatiana, with great interest from the top of the stairs. He had hoped that once Leo had seen Tatiana for the first time in decades that he would finally come to his senses and stop this marriage foolishness with his little human pet.
Unfortunately, Leo seemed to be just as enamored with her as before. Ric couldn’t understand what in the hell Leo was thinking. For eleven years he had followed the disgusting human and stalked her like a measly peeping tom. Year after year, Ric kept his thoughts to himself, believing that when the time came, Leo would realize how insane the idea of taking a human bride would be.
How wrong I was, he thought mundanely.
He should have figured that Leo would be stubborn in that particular matter. He was always a man that got exactly what he wanted and would settle for nothing less. Leo wanted the puny human so he took her and to hell with tradition and propriety. A man with his credibility and power needed a strong blood born partner like Tatiana to stand by his side for eternity, not a feeble human that he’d turned.
He continued to watch as both Shelby and Leo disappeared under the cloak of night. He hadn’t realized how tight he had been holding onto the banister until they were gone and the wood beneath his fingers began to crumble into sawdust in his hands.
Tatiana looked up at him and for a moment and their eyes met. Understanding seemed to flash between them. Something had to be done.
Luckily, Ric had already started to put a plan in motion—a plan that would eliminate their little problem. He made the call and the cavalry was coming. Soon enough, Shelby would be no more.
A smile lifted at the corner of his lips. He was more than happy to rid the household of the likes of Shelby Tanner. There was no way that he would ever serve the human female that Leo was so determined to consort with. Whether she was turned or not, it made no difference to him; she would always be nothing more than a filthy human. In his book, she was a food source to be used and tossed aside and that was that. He would taste her, he had decided with certainty. He wanted to see the fear in her eyes as he drained the last of her life force from her body. That was a moment that he was looking forward to with great anticipation.
“You’re thinking too hard up there, Ric,” Tatiana said from her place at the bottom of the stairs.
“Perhaps,” he replied. “You look like you have a thing or two on your mind as well.”
Tatiana let a slow grin creep onto her face. She pursed her lips and glanced back over her shoulder at the spot where the new couple had just disappeared from before turning back to Ric.
“Perhaps,” she responded in kind. “Your master has seemed to have lowered his standards by quite a bit.”
“That he has,” Ric agreed and finally released his tenuous grip from the railing then began his descent from the stairwell to the landing where Tatiana waited.
There was something about the woman that Ric felt drawn to; something in her eyes that was inexplicably beautiful and drew him to her like a magnet. He was but a step from her now and her spicy apple cider scent engulfed him. He had to fight the incredible urge to take her in his arms and kiss her with all the hunger that he was feeling inside.
Tatiana could clearly see the need in his eyes. She wanted this vamp almost as bad as he wanted her but his social station was beneath her. She could never publicly claim him for it would be almost as bad as Leo and his pet. The backlash in their paranormal society would be horrendous; but…she could play with him. There was always time to play.
She stepped up to him so that their bodies were flush together and leaned in. She let her tongue softly glide over his pulse point where the blood flowed freely. She smiled when he shivered in response.
“So, Ric,” she whispered with a hint of huskiness filling her tone, “what exactly are you going to do about it?” She let her teeth descend and nip at his lobe. A single drop of blood welled up and she greedily lapped it up, savoring the taste that was so deliciously male.
Ric fought the moan that had built up in his chest. With the quickness of a viper, his hand darted out and pulled her even closer to him. Riding the edge and close to loosing all of his control, he leaned in and licked a trail of fire from the base of her neck, all the way to the sweet spot behind her ear. He could feel the tiny points of her breasts pressing against his chest and a sense of male satisfaction filled him.
“My dear Tatiana, you know me all too well,” he breathed out. “I simply plan to eliminate our little problem,” he divulged with confidence and gently nipped at the silky skin at the base of her neck. He felt an incredible high come over him when he was rewarded with a small sample of her sugary sweet essence. The drops were minimal but a taste of heaven nonetheless.
Pulling back just enough so that he could see the red circle of hunger rimming her dark eyes, Ric traced her jaw line with the tip of his finger and added, “Permanently.”
Tatiana stared back at him for a moment, searching his face and then threw her head back and laughed.
“You, my friend, are a genius,” she told him and tangling her hands in his hair, she pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him with ardor. She may never be able to partner with Ric or even take him as a bridegroom that was what Leo was for as soon as the waif was extinguished, but there was nothing stopping her from enjoying the hell out of his body and taking all of the pleasure that it promised.
Ric didn’t need anyone to tell him what to do next. He picked up Tatiana without once ever disengaging from her mouth. Taking the stairs two at a time, he carried her to his room where for just a little while, for once in his life he was going to do something for himself. Everything else could wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow would be another day.
Leo wanted to smile at his bride. She looked as mad as a hell cat and that was an incredible turn-on for him. Temper flared in her eyes as they narrowed into tiny slits. He had thrown down the gauntlet and waited for her to accept his challenge.
“You can go screw yourself,” she taunted him.
There was no way that she would go hunting as he so casually put it. She would starve herself before she ever let herself drink another drop of blood again.
Quicker than lightning, Leo was there. His arms wound themselves around her, restricting her from going anywhere.
“You will do no such thing,” he warned her darkly after hearing her threat in her mind, “and there’s something that I do plan on screwing, my sweet and I can tell you one thing, it isn’t me.”
He was so close to her that for a moment, Shelby almost forgot who was holding her and what it was that they’d been discussing. She was so inundated by his presence that she had this uncontrollable urge to touch the man who was so close to her; the very sexy man that towered over her and smelled deliciously good.
In a very cat-like motion, she rubbed her cheek alongside the crook of his neck. Something in the back of her head was screaming all kinds of warning bells but all she could comprehend was the fact that the temptation so close to her was absolutely irresistible.
Unable to stop herself, she pressed her mouth to the base of his neck and pressed the most tentative of kisses to his perfectly made skin. One kiss led to another and before long, her tongue had slithered out and tasted him.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” Leo cooed. He held Shelby to him, keeping her totally intoxicated by him.
It was good to know that she was as lost as he was when they were close together. He felt the gentle scrape of her teeth as they feathered over the pulse point in his neck and held her tighter to him.
“Take it Shelby. Take what it is that you need.”
Her teeth melted into his skin, causing a hiss of pleasure to escape his lips. The gentle sucking of her small mouth started to arouse him. It made him hotter than he had ever been before. No woman had ever made him feel l
ike that and oddly enough, he found that he liked it—a lot.
But, he refused to take his bride for the first time in a trashy darkened alley and there was the other small fact that he would need to feed too before they returned home. Pushing back his fierce arousal, Leo strained his senses until he picked up on a human that was nearing the alley’s entranceway.
Perfect, he thought to himself.
It was an older female, mid-thirties maybe and very convenient. Stretching out his mind, he called to the human female and beckoned her to him. He wouldn’t leave his Shelby or interrupt her feeding. The devil knew how hard-headed his female could be at times and he was more concerned with taking his nourishment and getting her back to his bed where they could finally consummate their marriage. That was a prospect that he was highly anticipating.
Come to me, he repeated his command when the female stopped at the entrance of the alleyway. Come to me now.
The tall slender woman with the wavy shoulder-length black hair didn’t hesitate. She headed straight for Leo and stopped when she reached his side.
Give me your wrist, Leo commanded. He still had one arm wrapped tightly around Shelby’s waist as she continued to drink her fill but freed his other hand so that he could take the woman’s wrist and bring it to his mouth. His fangs had already extended in preparation. His needs were already heightened with Shelby so close to him and his mouth was dry with a voracious hunger.
He took no time in sinking his teeth into her skin and took what it was that he needed. The entranced woman just stood there during the process as Leo began to drain her of her life essence. It wasn’t nearly as sweet as Shelby’s but he didn’t dare take from her, not yet at least. She needed to gain her full strength before he allowed himself that treat again.
Shelby pulled back from Leo’s neck and instinctively licked along the two puncture wounds that she had made, sealing the wounds. Dropping her head back, she breathed in some of the cool night air and some of the previous haze that had fogged her brain had begun to clear.
The first realization that dawned on her was that she was entirely too close to Leo for her own comfort. The second was the fact that blood coated the inside of her mouth. With an unnatural speed that she had not realized that she possessed, she jumped back out of his arms and glared at him.
“You,” she accused and pointed her finger at him, “You did it again!”
Leo lifted his mouth from his prey at the sudden loss of her body heat. He stared up at Shelby curiously who was glaring hard back at him.
“Shelby?”
Shelby saw Leo’s fangs clear as day, glistening in the moonlight. She saw the red blood that trailed down his chin and then she saw the poor woman slumped by his side.
Then it seemed as if everything else happened at once. She charged Leo, knocking him several feet back so that he crashed into the metal dumpster behind them. She was stunned by her new-found strength at first and then remembered the woman.
She dropped to her knees by the woman’s side and checked for a heartbeat. It was faint but it was there. She breathed out a sigh of relief.
Leo was back at her side in a second and placed both of his hands on Shelby’s shoulders. He could sense her tumultuous emotions and wanted to let her know that everything was going to be okay.
“Sweetheart, this is the way of our life,” he tried to tell her. “We are the hunters and they are the prey. It’s kill or be killed. Only the strongest will survive.” he explained quietly, willing her to understand him.
Shelby shook her head wildly from side to side and covered the woman protectively.
“No!” she said with fierce determination, “You may be a killer but I am not. I refuse to be what you are and I hate you for making me this way!” she screamed at him.
She heard Leo’s sad sigh and fought the urge to go to him. Tears were running down her cheeks freely now and they clouded her vision. She didn’t want to be a monster. She never asked to be like him.
Why couldn’t he have just let her die that fateful day all those years ago when that car hit her?
Why did he have to be so noble?
“Why?” she cried out on a broken sob.
Leo closed his eyes at the sound of the pain in her voice. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss in her hair and breathed in her scent to give him some measure of comfort that she was in fact there, with him. After several long minutes had passed, he finally told her in a tone that brokered no argument, “Because you are mine, my sweet, as I am yours. That’s why.”
Chapter 11
Leo gathered up Shelby into his arms and cradled her to his chest. She didn’t protest his touch and he was taken aback by how small she looked in his arms. Her eyes were closed and her hands clutched her middle. The sadness drawn on her face was almost too much for him to bear.
More than anything, he just wanted to see her smile, a small smile that would light up her face as bright as the morning sun. He would gift her with the universe if she would only smile for him.
Glancing around the alley, Leo got ready to wave his hand and teleport them back to his bedroom when he remembered her earlier warning. She didn’t care for that mode of transportation and she had made that fact more than clear to him.
Only wanting to honor her wishes, Leo lamented. He felt, for her sake, that it would be better if they just walked home instead. The cooler night air welcomed them and after being cooped up in his chambers for three days, some exposure could only do Shelby some good.
With his bride in his arms, Leo stalked with purpose out of the alley. Many eyes were drawn to them as he walked down the sidewalk in the city. Leo carried an air of danger and mystery around him everywhere he went. Many who crossed his path, instinctively fled out of his way.
It only made sense that as he moved with the deadly grace of a predator, that they would draw attention. Leo kept his focus though. He cared naught for the weak humans that gawked as he walked by. His only concern was the angel nestled in his arms.
An hour later, Leo strode into his home. It was unusually quiet and if truth be told, he was glad for the silence. He really wasn’t up to entertaining Tatiana or his mother for that matter. His only desire was to take his bride to their chamber where they could be alone and hold her, to comfort her while their hearts beat in perfect synchronization.
He wanted to bond with his bride; to meld with Shelby in the most elemental of ways. Leo had waited so many years for her and now that he had her, it was burning him up inside to be with her. He needed the blessed physical union between them so that she would know exactly what she meant to him.
He walked up his spiraling stair case, taking great care not to jostle and wake Shelby. At some point, on the walk home, she had drifted off to sleep. Her sweet breath escaped in short puffs that fanned over his neck and it amazed him that something as simple as breathing could strike him so deeply.
Once he reached the top of the stair case, he paused whence he came face-to-face with his mother. Their gazes caught and for an interment amount of time, the two faced off with each other. Two sets of midnight-black eyes bore into each other, waiting for the first one to break.
Isabella broke first.
“Leo,” she sighed and frowned at the small bundle he held in his arms. “Please think about what you’re doing. Tatiana would be so much better-”
“That’s enough!” he snapped, furious that she would bring this up again. “We are bound, Mother. We are blood bound and she is mine. Get it through your thick head.”
Isabella reached her hand out and touched her son’s cheek.
“Son, it can be undone and you know this. She’s not worthy of you, Leo. She’s but a mere leech. If you insist on having her around then keep her as a pet but for the love of all that is crimson, do not make her your life partner. Tatiana is much more suitable.”
Leo had never been one to hit a woman but his own mother was sorely trying his patience right now.
“Mother, this is my only warning,” he
said, biting back the anger that was threatening to break loose. From the way that his mother flinched back, he had no doubt that his face had contorted and his eyes were rimmed with red, revealing his true nature. “Back off or leave my home. That isn’t a request, it’s an order.”
Leo turned around and started down the hall, effectively dismissing her. He had enough for the night.
Walking into his room, he flicked his hand, bringing to life the candles that lined the walls of his chambers. He closed the door behind him, being careful to not make too much noise and wake his bride. He took her over to his bed and gently laid her in the center, positioning her so that he could slide in beside her and hold her to him.
He tucked her into his side, wrapping his arm around her waist and buried his face into her hair. Her enticing scent called out to him. It set off every nerve cell in his body. He felt alive when his Shelby was near and now he wanted to show her another one of the blissful perks of their kind.
Dream Walking.
He closed his eyes and let his mind wander, drawing on the ancient magic of their kind and setting the perfect scene to seduce his bride. It was time.
Shelby knew that she was asleep but the warmth of the sand underneath her body felt so real. The sun above her, heated her face and the sound of the waves rolling in the back ground were blessedly calming.
If it was all a dream, Shelby didn’t want to ever wake up. For the first time in a very long time, she felt so languid and free; like she was floating on a cloud of air and nothing in the world mattered. She was at peace with herself. No fangs, no vampires, no knights in shining armor riding in on his great steed to supposedly save the day.
Shelby snorted at that last thought, save the day, what a crock!
