Chapter 20

Anais

I had to focus to calm my breathing and get control of my heart rate. Leo was acting strangely since I'd fallen asleep, yet we had made progress with our mission. Having to pretend to like Ludis had made my skin crawl, but I couldn't deny that it had led to Butch talking a bit more.

Leo had the information as well and I had to hope that it was enough for us to begin getting this plan wrecked. Killing Ludis without a hunter team was going to be harder than I thought, however. I was going to need Leo to help or keep teaching me at the very least.

There was dinner first, however, and then apparently I could spend some time enjoying this vampire I found myself thrown in with. I had no idea what the academy would make of me teaming up with a true-blood, but if it got the task done, it got the task done and I couldn't deny that I was enjoying going beyond the rules and figuring this out my own way.

Now and then, I had wondered what it would be like to do this differently, and what kept the stronger vampires from taking over the world when the academy only tended to go after weaker trouble makers, but I had assumed that hunting teams who proved themselves took on more difficult vampires.

Since then I had learned that vampires policed themselves a little bit and it made them a sort of ally I'd never known I had. The big question I would have if I succeeded, was how much I put in my mission report to the academy.

I had no idea if we could succeed yet, however. We were playing a very dangerous game.

By the time I had picked out one of the dresses from the pile, a pastel purple dress that came down to just below the knees, with one strap and an off the shoulder vibe, I curled my hair up into a bun and fixed it in place with some extra sharp hair pins.

It was a simple, but elegant look that helped me conceal another possible weapon about me. I grabbed the purple boots again, even though it was a striking look with the dress and put a blade in each. Finally I used a bracelet to conceal a thin wire around my wrist. The last wasn't a very good weapon, but more than once I'd been taught that with enough force and the right moment, it could be used to behead a vampire.

Just like anything else, a vampire couldn't live without its head.

"You look gorgeous," Leo said as soon as I was ready to go again. I didn't know if it was true, but I appreciated his enthusiasm as he offered me his arm.

He'd tidied himself up as well and put some cologne on as well as a fresh shirt. The crisp look made me want him all the more and I knew that if we worked together much longer I was going to be in danger of not being able to walk away.

Not that he wanted me to. He'd made it very clear that I could have a life as his enthralled if I wanted. But there was a lot about this world that I wasn't sure I wanted.

For now, I knew I could relax and enjoy dinner, however. I didn't need to think about anything else and I didn't need to worry about Ludis from the sound of the earlier conversation.

Leo led me all the way to the dining room where we found the same waiter who had helped me earlier. He smiled in recognition and I thanked him.

"What was that all about?" Leo asked when we were sitting at our table, two of eight potential people to come and dine.

"He helped me figure out whether I was late for dinner or too early," I said.

Leo lifted an eyebrow, but before he could say anything else, some company arrived. Of the other three couples sitting with us, two of them were elderly and retired and enjoying their retirement to the full and the other couple were young and pre kids.

I tried not to say too much about Leo and I and I was careful to call him Drew, but it was nice to relax a little and have a sort of normal moment.

The food was amazing and there was plenty of choice, allowing me to relax in that regard as well. Leo didn't eat a lot, but enough to appear as if he was enthusiastic about trying the options.

With people I'd never met before to talk to and plenty of life experience from some of them, it was never a dull conversation. One of the couples in particular had clearly led an interesting life. She was an author and he was her narrator and they'd teamed up after meeting due to work and then traveled the world together.

It was adorable in many ways and it gave me some hope that people who were right for each other could find each other in interesting ways and find out how to make it work for them. Romance wasn't dead and even after many years together, they were clearly a happy couple.

No matter how much they tried to engage Leo in conversation, he didn't seem to want to talk much, however. As much as I had enjoyed his company up until now, I appeared to like social engagements far more than he did.

Not for the first time, I wondered if he was doing this entirely for my benefit and contrary to his normal patterns and decisions while he was on board a ship like this. I was getting special care, but not all of it was to Leo's liking. He clearly wasn't happy with being at dinner.

It put me on edge, and I opted to leave the meal far sooner than I might have done otherwise. Although I had a mission and the sooner it was done, the better for everyone, I was also very aware that I didn't want to go back to the vampires. It was exhausting in some ways, even if it was enjoyable in others.

Before now I had never shied away from focusing on a mission until it was done, and I couldn't bring myself to hesitate now.

"I think I'd like to retire if you're done?" I said to Leo when it was finally polite to step away from dessert and do so.

"I'd be more than happy to do so," Leo replied and immediately got up and offered me his arm. It made some of the others smile at him being such a gentleman to me and I couldn't deny that I liked the attention a little.

After so long of scraping to get by, I could get used to having a decent hot meal where I could choose whatever I wanted, eat all the food I wanted, drink all the drinks I wanted and have as much clothing and all the accessories I could ever hope for.

It was a wonderful life to lead in many ways, but I knew I ought to appreciate that I was getting it this once and take the memories back to my old life with me. I wasn't in the kind of work that led to this level of wealth. Not normally. My parents had been poor and the academy had paid for little.

The payment on this job was far higher than it normally was and I knew it was to attract good hunters if possible. But for some reason none of them had taken it and it had been shoved my way. I should have had a team and this should have been done already.

All I could do now was be thankful that I still had a mission and a much more powerful ally to help me with it.

I didn't say much to Leo as he was lost in thought on the way back to our room. The boat was more quiet now, a lot of the humans at dinner, a show, one of the late night lounges or in their rooms. I knew that it wasn't going to be the case for the vampires, but my body was very confused with what time of day it was.

Because I had flown at a strange time of day and had several naps but no long sleep of any kind, I was beginning to feel as if my body just didn't understand what was happening and when to feel tired.

Leo took me all the way to the suite and I only let go of his arm once we were inside. I didn't know what to do now. The tension between us was high and I wasn't sure if I wanted to walk up and kiss him or go back out of the suite and get on with the mission.

It was as if Leo was equally unsure. He came and sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room and stared at me. I walked closer, not liking being under his gaze for so long.

"What now?" I asked, hoping he had some way of ending this stalemate.

He reached out to take my hands and I let him take both of them. "I have pulled you into a dangerous mission. Do you understand how deadly Ludis is?"

"I do. And I took this mission from the academy. Ludis is... stronger than I expected."

This made Leo frown, but he also got up, bringing his body close to mine. I went to step back but he wrapped his arms around me and stopped me.

"I'm going to do everything I can to keep you alive, but I need you to take all this seriously."

"I've not stopped taking this seriously. I know how dangerous your kind are."

" My kind aren't as dangerous as you'd think." Leo's expression darkened. "True-bloods care about the human race in ways you'll never understand. We've made a pledge not to eradicate you."

"Only because you need us to eat," I replied, pulling back. Anger rose in me at his indignation. "True-bloods might not be turned, but you still eat us and treat us like we're lower than you."

"Is that how you feel I've treated you?" Leo demanded.

I opened my mouth to say no, but hesitated. Was that how he had been treating me? He'd given me choice at every stage, but he had definitely been enjoying me and doing all sorts to me when I wasn't at liberty to object properly if I didn't want it. He'd been taking advantage of me.

"Why didn't you have an enthralled before me?" I asked instead.

This took away some of his anger and he paused to think about the question. It gave us both time to calm and consider what we were really saying to each other.

"Partially because I often end up outside of vampire society, partially because as Leo, I can barely trust one, and because I didn't want one as Drew." Leo shook his head and reached for my hand again. "I don't want you to feel like my slave. But we have... unspoken rules. I want you to feel cared for, protected, safe. Set free to explore desire and passion and pleasure."

"All for the price of my blood," I said with a sigh, no anger, but a sort of resigned, unspoken cost.

Leo frowned again. "I can't help what I need to sustain me. Believe me, not all vampires want this. One of the true-blood clans in Oxford is trying to make a sort of synthetic source."

"Can we start this evening all over again?" I asked Leo, trying to relax. "I think the tension and danger is getting to me. I want to get this mission done so I can rest at ease again. Even if you are promising to protect me, we both know Ludis and his henchmen would kill us both in a heartbeat if they knew what we both were."

"They would. But I will do everything in my power and my clans to keep you safe. It really does mean a lot to be an enthralled to us and I will see that honored." Leo pulled me into his embrace again and before I could stop him, he kissed me. Once more, all my resolve melted away and I leaned into him.

After a couple of seconds that seemed to last far longer, he pulled away again.

"Okay, if we're getting through this and I am being true to my word, we need to go through some more defense moves with you and you can then practice them and get them into muscle memory." Leo put a little distance between us and pushed the coffee table out of the way.

For the next half an hour he had me run through several defensive moves designed to protect me but built on the few he had taught me earlier as well. When he was pleased that I had some of the motions fluid and correct, he started to attack me in slow motion and show me how they actually worked.

It made a lot more sense to see it all together and feel how I should be responding and very quickly I was defending myself well as he sped up and pushed me harder.

The muscle memory would take time to develop, but the moves were fresh enough in my head and my own hand to hand training had begun to build on each other. Leo was teaching me a technique that wouldn't just help today or tomorrow, but in the years to come.

Before long I was panting and feeling the tiredness and I had to step back and hold up my hands. Leo relaxed and then came closer.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

I nodded. "Just need a breather. I'm not able to keep going all day and night like a true-blood."

He let out a chuckle and reached up to tuck some stray hair back behind my ear. The feel of his fingers as it brushed my cheek was like electricity. I grew hotter instantly, remembering some of the earlier part of the day and how it had felt the first time he had reached across the plane to pull me into his arms.

As if the thought had crossed his mind at the same time, he pulled me in close and kissed me again. Before I knew what was happening, he lifted me off my feet and carried me to the nearest sofa.

His hands roamed in a frenzy and I responded in kind, pulling at his shirt to try to get it off him. The moment I was on the sofa he pushed my legs apart and pulled up my dress, exposing my panties. I instinctively tried to close my legs, but he was already kneeling between them and I couldn't.

With a growl he grabbed my panties and tore them off me before flinging them aside. I hesitated, his desire turning him into a wild beast. Could I cope with being devoured like this?

As his mouth plunged down on mine again and his hands explored, I knew my answer. I wanted him as badly as he wanted me.

All the tension between us broke as I heard the zipper on his pants. He pressed his erection against my opening, finding me wet and eager for him. I'd expected him to thrust into me without restraint, but he held back until I bucked my hips up against him.

Chuckling in my ear, he pulled back just enough to keep himself out of reach and drive me wild. "I want you to realize how much you want me. How much you want this before I give it to you."

I could have sworn, not sure I could bring myself to beg him, no matter how much I wanted it. Thankfully, he decided that he had proved his point already and soon thrust his hard cock into me. I met his desire and wrapped my legs around his body to try and bring him in deeper.

As he took me we continued to kiss and I ran my hands over his back and shoulders. It was frenzied and desperate and drew us closer and closer together. We hit our peak as one, moaning into each other and holding each other tight until he'd finished inside me.

Finally sated, we came down together, his head resting on my shoulder and our bodies still entwined.

For the first time in my life I understood the passion I could feel for another and how amazing it felt to let it out and satisfy it completely.