9. Leigh

NINE

LEIGH

L eigh went to work at Embraced with Claude three days after they'd had sex. They'd been texting back and forth, but it only pertained to the construction, the hiring process, and overseeing the internal and external decor.

Not that she hadn't been thinking about it. Images would pop into her mind, and the sensations came flooding back. Usually at the most inopportune moments when she tried to busy herself at the Sassy Wolfe , or while writing out plans for a grand opening of Embraced.

On more than one occasion, in the depths of the night, she toyed with the idea of calling him up – him creeping over to her place in the dark. Finding her naked in bed. Taking her again with the savage passion that he had taken her before. The mere thought sent her body into a carnal blaze, and she had to clench her thighs together to keep from slipping her hand between them.

The drive for him was outrageous. Even though it was only one time that he had been inside her, he made her feel sexy. Sexy was a feeling Leigh had reserved for work, mostly, for the last few years. It earned her extra tips. Sometimes she could have a sexy rendezvous, but it usually wore off the next day. Hell, sometimes it wore off instantly.

But not with Claude. He was coated all over her like a sheen layer of dew. And she didn't have any urge to wash it off.

Her wolf was profoundly insistent too. And Leigh was far too intelligent not to notice the difference between what she felt for Claude compared to any other man she'd ever met. He was doing something to her that was cosmic. Cosmic, but ridiculous and insane.

She had to go on with her work. The Wolfes trusted her inherently, and she couldn't betray that trust with some infatuation. She rose that day, set on compartmentalizing her mounting and inconvenient attraction to a vampire.

They met on a sunny day outside the new building that would be Embraced. The construction was ninety percent done, and so she and Claude had decided to get started on the decor inside. They planned to have meetings with several different salespeople to select the proper lighting, tables and chairs, lounge furniture, wallpaper, and accents that best suited the Embraced aesthetic.

Things were going great at first. Claude approached each interaction with poise and solemness. His every move was graceful, but his proximity to her still felt astronomically charged.

Not that he was actually allowing himself to get too close at all. Leigh found her wolf snarling inside at the platonic way he was acting – making sure to keep at least three to six feet apart, barely maintaining eye contact, and consciously busying himself with conversations with salespeople and decorators.

Leigh began to wonder whether he was regretting the sex they had. She was sure he knew that a wolf-vampire partnership wasn't a prudent path to walk. Sex was one thing, but a lifetime dedication? That was something else entirely.

Logically, she agreed with that sentiment, but in her heart, she tensed with indignation. She mirrored his behaviors until it became all too much for her mind and body to handle.

The liquor delivery arrived in the evening. They made their decision on decorating options. Startlingly crimson backlighting to the bar, leather-bound seating for the lounge, accented with charcoal gray chandeliers, drapes, and curtains for the private sections. Navy blue tiles lined the walls of the bathroom with gold lace trimming, reflected in other sections primarily focused on the wolf patrons.

The two of them carried in the boxes of liquor and began to stock the shelves. Two other delivery men wanted to help, but Claude waved them off, saying they could handle the unboxing. The meeting with the salespeople was finished that day, and the construction was as well.

There were three sections of the club where alcohol would be served. The main section of the lounge, in an area that connected the private rooms, and a rooftop patio. The rooftop patio was the last piece of construction to be finished, so they began to stock in the main rooms.

Claude started in the private section, carrying boxes of booze and glasses and disappearing into the dark. Leigh was irked by his silence. She decided to follow him in with a box of her own and began to stock the bar with liquor bottles while he unboxed the glasses.

"I'm good here if you want to start in the main room," he said softly.

Leigh grunted. She couldn't help it. "Am I really that appalling to you?"

They were standing back to back under the gleam of fluorescent lights, the kind that construction services installed before the electrical was wired in, and turned to face one another at the same time.

Their heads nearly collided, and Leigh felt herself move toward him like a gravitational pull. Her eyes closed, and she felt him draw backward like a slingshot.

Her eyes snapped open.

"Apparently I was right," she hissed. "I'm not needed here. The employees we hire can do this shit."

A funnel of embarrassment and outrage passed through Leigh like a harsh breeze. She tried to turn away, knowing that no good would come from facing her rejection head-on, when Claude grabbed her by the wrist.

At first, the touch was abominable. He pulled her back, and her chest nearly smacked into his. It was forceful, but there was compassion behind it. The delight came next like fireworks in a milky sky.

"Let me go," she snarled instinctively.

"Leigh, listen to me for a second, please."

The desperation in his voice gave her pause.

His eyes had gone flat and dark like small slices of onyx. It held her still, stable.

"Leigh, you're needed here. Please believe me. I'm not good at this kind of thing. I'm not a social creature in the slightest. Being a vampire already makes me naturally predisposed to the quieter, more observational side. And my personality makes it worse."

His voice cracked with frustration, and his fingers slipped from her wrist. Leigh stood frozen in the entryway of the bar, watching him with the curiosity of an explorer watching the majesty of a bald eagle. Her heart raced maddeningly fast.

"Go on," she muttered.

"I wish I was some suave, charismatic, lady's man," he said, rubbing his face with his hand and chuckling. "But I'm not at all. I've been trying to find time all day to say something to you. But clearly, I failed."

Leigh sighed. It wasn't in her nature to be patient, especially with men. But whatever was going on inside her, it was winning. And she really didn't mind at all. She was surprised to hear the delicacy of her own voice when she spoke.

"What do you want to say about what happened between us?" she asked. "I'm assuming you regret it. That it was an astoundingly stupid idea in the first place."

Claude smiled. His teeth were staggeringly white, and she imagined the elongated blades of his canines when the bloodthirst took over.

"Absolutely not. Leigh, that was the best sex I've ever had in my life. And vampires live a long, long time. I can't stop thinking about it. You've bewitched me."

He chuckled. Leigh swallowed, the words like sugar on her tongue.

"Then why did you pull away?"

Claude tilted his head. She stared at him, eyes trailing over the clean, smooth surface of his jawline and brawny cheekbones. She imagined touching it would be like grazing over marble.

"Because how I feel about you is so strong. I feel possessed. I know that once I kiss you, I won't be able to stop at just that. I need you. I need all of you. "

His voice sank into a sultry bite that she recalled from their first entanglement. It straddled the border of aggression and romance that Leigh knew she could no longer resist.

She approached him with unyielding resolve. Her hands crawled up to the collar of his shirt and began to slowly unbutton it. He watched her with gentle eyes, his own certainty palpable throughout the dim room.

"That sounds perfectly all right with me," she said.

"Leigh…" he growled.

"Fuck me now. Fuck me right now. I need you to."

Claude pushed her hands away from his shirt and took her face in his hands. He crushed her mouth with his own, and the two let out an animalistic moan. All at once, Leigh's clothes were being stripped from her, as were Claude's, their mouths gnawing with anguished arousal.

"God, Leigh, I fucking want you," Claude snarled as he ripped the shirt off her back.

"Then fucking have me," she grunted back.

Outside, the world went dark, their salacious little secret thriving.