16. Nic

Chapter 16

My head pounded like it might explode, and my gums ached as my fangs pressed against them, threatening to rip through. I couldn't even speak to Leia to express my rage—I just had to stand there, watching her, considering all the words I wanted to say.

Her eyes widened, her fear obvious. I could smell it, and fuck…it aroused me. My cock pressed against my pants as my fangs pressed against my gums, and I groaned at the pressure. I closed my eyes briefly, and when I opened them again, Leia still looked terrified, an expression I hadn't seen on her face the whole time we'd been together. Maybe not even with Sebastian.

I forced myself to draw a calming breath. Then another.

"This is my private space," I ground out.

She nodded, the movement quick and bird-like. "Yes."

The word came out on a breath, and I clenched my fists, angry with her for being scared of me, furious at myself for making her that way.

"You shouldn't have come here."

She shook her head this time. "No. No, I… I…"

I glanced again at the open fridges behind her. Fuck. She could have ruined everything by coming in here and opening those. She'd have questions now. Too many.

How the fucking hell would I answer her questions? Damn Sebastian. He set all of this shit in motion.

I leaned toward Leia, and the scent of fear grew stronger. At the last moment, I slammed the fridge door closest to us, and she flinched, her knees buckling as she slumped harder against the wall. I whirled away and slammed the remaining doors, releasing her from the wall at the same time.

"Sit down." My words were a growl, and she flinched again but bolted toward the open door instead of the low sofa I'd pointed at.

"Leia." I reached for her and hauled her back as I snapped her name, and she squealed as my arms wrapped around her. "I said to sit. Not run away. You will not run away from me."

I boomed the last words, the volume driven by a sudden spike of dread.

She was running. I was the monster I'd never wanted to be to her. And I needed her, craved the power only she could bring me. But need had started giving way to want, and a little spark of reliance glowed in my chest. I wanted to be around her and for her to want to be with me.

I sat next to her, and she squashed herself to one end of the couch, taking up half as much room as she probably needed to be comfortable.

"I need you to stay so I can explain," I said, trying to make my voice reasonable. Gentle, even. I reached for her but retracted my hand when she shifted away, not even meeting my gaze.

"Don't touch me," she spat, and I almost smiled at the fire that still blazed in her despite any fear or uncertainty this room had caused.

"What are you doing in my private wing?" Okay. That was good. I'd asked a reasonable question in a reasonable tone of voice. Ten reasonable points to me.

I glanced at her, but her gaze darted to the door, and her posture was tense like she was spring-loaded and might take off running at any point. I didn't want to chase her through the house, but I was faster than her, and I would catch her.

I sighed. That kind of behavior would scare her and raise even more questions for me to answer.

"Please stay," I murmured. "Please don't run away. I know you have questions, so ask them and I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Oh my God." She closed her eyes and rocked a little, and it didn't even look like she was talking to me. "Oh my God." She pinched the inside of her arm. "Wake up," she murmured. "Fucking wake up."

I waited, just watching her. My breathing calmed even as her breaths increased, and I focused on regaining my control. I could handle this. It was a curve ball, but I could handle it.

Finally, she looked at me. "Not a dream." Her voice was flat, expressionless, and her eyes were without the usual light.

"Not a dream." I shook my head as sadness wound through my thoughts. "Where's Jason?"

Leia's eyes narrowed. "Don't even try to make this his fault. I assume he's not the one with a wall full of the world's oldest selfies and fridges filled with more blood than the local blood bank."

I shrugged. "I couldn't presume to comment on Jason's taste in art or the contents of his fridge."

"Nicolas."

I sighed. "What are your questions?" It was better to let her lead than risk saying too much.

The sound she made was somewhere between a frustrated huff and a strangled chuckle as she threw her arms up and we both bounced a little on the cushions of the loveseat. "Just…" She looked around. "All of it. Why? What is this?"

I took a breath to form an answer, but she wasn't finished.

"All the damn questions, actually. Who, what, how, where, when, why? Are…are you a criminal? A serial killer? What the hell was with that bedroom that someone had torn to shreds? Why do you have a treasure room with freaky pictures of you dressed up? And for the love of all that's holy, why do you have fridges and fridges of blood? Trophies?"

When she finished, a mixture of confusion and pain blazed in her eyes, but the pain gave me hope. I could work with hurt. It would have been harder if she felt nothing.

Hurt feelings could be soothed. They could be turned.

In my experience, hurt feelings led to make up sex, and I'd be happy to get halfway back to that. Fucking Sebastian. All of this shit was still his fault. If he hadn't inserted himself into my business, I might have claimed Leia last night.

That had been my plan after finding her so willing in the car, anyway. I should have just done it. I should have had Jenkins just turn the car around and take us home. My time would have been so much better spent between my sheets, over Leia, inside her, my cock moving to the same rhythm as her blood spilling down my throat.

I shifted, adjusting my pants discreetly.

"Well?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Once upon a time…" I deadpanned, and she flinched.

"Do all Dupont men begin stories that way?" She moved farther away, stealing a hair's breadth of space to put more distance between us.

Fucking Sebastian.

I tried again, spreading my arms, my palms upturned, to show I had nothing to hide. This still needed to work. Maybe I could keep Leia and secure my throne, or just keep Leia safe. I had to try something, anyway. She was in too much danger now that I'd revealed her to our society. But it wasn't exactly the easiest story to tell a human, and I'd expected to have more time.

"I'm very old," I started. "Impossibly old. I was born in France, and those portraits are me. Truly me. Not in period dress. Not random flights of fancy. Me. Accurate. Of my time, in historical context. Do you understand?"

She nodded, but the bewildered edge didn't leave her expression.

"My father was a king among my people. He's still thought of that way. But there was a battle between clans, and my family had to flee France. We travelled to the new world to start afresh—like every immigrant before us and since, I guess." I shrugged, because the reason we'd travelled to the land of the free was no different than anyone else who'd stepped foot on America's shores. "Like many, we began our journey in Virginia, but the colony was small, and we quickly moved on because my family fares better in isolation or in a large crowd where few people are truly noticed and fewer still are missed. We spent some time in Roanoke, but that went badly." I almost chuckled at some of the older memories. Badly was an understatement.

Fucking Sebastian.

"When the French claimed Louisiana, it seemed like the perfect solution. We could be back among our people, some of our old ways."

Leia wasn't saying anything or registering much awareness, so I reached for her hand. Her skin was like ice beneath my fingers, but when she didn't immediately pull away, I started stroking my thumb over her, reflexively trying to encourage warmth back into her.

"We were familiar with the language and the customs, and despite the jungle-like conditions and the sharp-toothed, reptilian inhabitants, we could hold our own. Father saw potential here for his new kingdom, and he was right. Louisiana has been home for many years, the constant change and evolution providing the camouflage we needed to blend in."

She looked at me then, her gaze seeming to focus. "You've been here many years?"

I nodded, taking comfort in entangling our fingers together as I told my story. "I've known your maternal line for longer than I can remember, from when they first came to Baton Rouge and settled here. I've protected your ancestors, commiserated their losses, celebrated their wins over the years. The women of your family have always been strong, each powerful in their own way. Like you."

Her eyes widened a little, but she clenched her jaw and tipped her chin up a little. "Did you know my mother?"

A smile captured my lips as I remembered Camille. I'd always admired her and regretted the way Jean treated her with so much casual disrespect, but I could never have imagined she would leave me a gift such as Leia. I hadn't even thought of that all the times I extended Jean's tab and granted him more and more outlandish items as collateral against his debt.

"Yes. Camille was…" How could I sum Leia's mother up for her? "On the one hand, she was fae-like and hard to capture, but she had an inner strength and light that no one could dim. Your father lived and breathed for her."

I shook my head as I recalled their early marriage and matched that up with Jean's later descent into the bottom of the nearest bottle of bourbon.

"And then she died." Leia's eyes welled with tears, and one slid from the outer corner of her eye.

I caught it on the pad of my thumb.

"And then she died," I agreed sadly, and guilt washed over me because I hadn't been there. "I… I lost touch with your mother because my own father was dying and I needed to maintain his rule while he couldn't. I didn't pay as much attention as I should have. I wasn't there."

Leia folded in on herself, her hands over her face, her shoulders shaking, and I waited a moment before I drew her against my chest, unsure of my welcome, unsure if this crossed the boundaries I'd set for myself.

My move from tolerating this human to actively comforting her had been a big step. And it was one that could potentially earn me a swift elbow to the balls after all she'd seen in my personal wing of the house.