17. Leia

Chapter 17

Too many thoughts tumbled through my head, and no matter how I tried to arrange them, they were an impossible jigsaw puzzle. Nothing made sense. Nicolas was impossibly old? Old? What the hell? The guy in front of me wasn't old.

But the comments about Mom. About Dad. Was that just cruelty? Another game from the man who'd contracted to own me for one month?

I'd faked being sick earlier, but I was truly sick now. Sick and completely exhausted.

But I couldn't walk away. I couldn't fucking walk away, no matter how much I longed to.

Nicolas seemed to know just which button to press, and the Mom button was a doozy. Whether he was full of shit about whatever fucking immortality and knowing her or not, she was the reason I was even here.

I needed to make her proud. And that reminder of her was enough to keep me in this house as long as I needed to be here to achieve all of my goals.

My head was heavy, my eyes felt full, and my face ached. Nicolas wiped another tear from my cheek, the gesture so tender my heart cramped at all that could have been if we hadn't gone to that party.

He watched me, an unusual uncertainty in his gaze like he was laying everything on the line, like maybe this wasn't something he did, and that gave me confidence.

"I asked a bunch of questions."

He nodded. "You did." His mouth didn't even twitch. This was a serious conversation with no high-handed amusement.

"But you didn't answer any. You only introduced more."

His expression didn't change. He merely watched me like he was waiting for the next words out of my mouth. And I was waiting for a prompt. Something that would let me know it was okay to ask the things I needed to know.

Even pondering the questions in my head made me question my sanity, but currently one of us was insane…and I called dibs on being the one who… Hell. I didn't even know what I wanted.

"One of us is crazy," I moaned as I drew away from him, back to my safe space, almost on a cushion just for myself. He was so big and took up so much room. And he might have been magnetic. I wanted to touch him, for him to touch me. When he held me, he soothed me. Despite everything.

"How so?" His question took me by surprise.

"Really? We're having this whole conversation about you being impossibly old in a room filled with blood bags and one of us isn't crazy?"

The amused twist to his lips returned, but he inclined his head in acknowledgement or concession. "Put that way…"

"So?" I lifted my chin toward him, prompting him to answer the question I hadn't asked, the one I didn't even want to think.

"So?" His voice was soft, a little of the deadly predator I'd come to recognize in him evident.

I released a long slow sigh, a hiss of air as I finally deflated and let go of any confidence or certainty I was holding onto in this situation. Feeling as crazy as I'd joked about being, I asked, "So, Nicolas Dupont, the impossibly long-lived man…what are you?"

His eyes flickered like he was surprised I'd put the question into words, that it was finally free in the space between us. Then he held my hands, his grip soft but still strong.

I looked into his eyes, and they took on a red hue, almost glowing. For a moment, he looked like Sebastian, but I couldn't draw away. Something inside me wanted to press closer.

"Vampire," he whispered.

"For fuck's sake," I blurted as I yanked my hands from him and whirled away to stand a short distance from him. "You could at least take me seriously."

But my stomach clenched and my legs trembled as I squeezed my eyes closed. Vampire. The word echoed in my mind, and the truth of it resonated deep inside me, even though the logical part of me was screaming about how absolutely insane that was.

I shook my head. "You can't be. Vampires are just stories. Fairytales. Things we talk about to frighten our children and our women into behaving."

"Do I frighten you?" Nicolas's voice was no more than a seductive rumble behind me as his chest pressed against my back and his warmth seeped into me.

A strangled sound escaped my throat at his proximity. "If you are what you say you are, you should."

His hand drifted down my upper arm, and heat flared through me before coming to settle between my legs. He drew a breath.

"Jesus Christ," he groaned. "You're aroused."

"Ha!" I spun around and jabbed my finger in his chest. "You're not a vampire. How did you say Jesus Christ?"

He clutched a hand over his heart and staggered before standing straight again and grinning, the effect maddening in its attractiveness. "Because holy hell, Leia, churches, crosses, and religious words don't affect me."

"Okay." I looked around the room. "Okay then." My tone turned challenging. "Well, there's no way a fucking vampire would arouse me."

His grin intensified, and his voice grew soft again as he stepped closer and looked down at me. "Well, I am very sexy, Miss Boucher."

I took a breath and stepped back, looking away from the gray eyes I suddenly wanted to be whirled away in. They were turbulent today, like a storm was coming, and I shivered. "But I've seen you eat."

He nodded. "Yes."

I laughed. "Well, vampires don't do that."

He examined his nails for a moment then glanced at me. "Really? All vampires or just the sparkly ones?"

I folded my arms and tapped my foot. "All the vampires I know."

His gaze darkened. "Do you know many vampires?"

I huffed out a groan. "You're making me as crazy as you are. Didn't you hear me when I said vampires are fairytales? They're not real."

Nicolas moved so fast he was a blur in front of me as he carried me backward until I bumped against the wall. His arm was wrapped around me, cushioning the blow, but I gasped at the unexpected impact.

"Vampires aren't fairytales, Miss Boucher," he growled, low and menacing. "We're nightmares."

As I watched him, his cheekbones sharpened, and the dull red color I'd noticed in his eyes before returned but glowed like the ruby gems I'd worn on last night's necklace, and fangs descended from his gums.

My heartrate kicked up until I thought my heart might explode right out of my chest, splattering both of us with blood, gore, and the remnants of my lifeforce. My ribs squeezed and I tried to draw breath, but it stuck.

I closed my eyes, needing space, needing Nicolas to back away from me, but he didn't. He leaned closer until the ends of his hair grazed my cheek and those impossible fangs grazed my neck.

"Leia." My name was almost a groan of pain as he held himself still. His warm breath skimmed my skin, and I stayed perfectly still, waiting.

I felt each inhale in the way his chest broadened and the soft sounds he made so close to my ear, and desire uncoiled inside me, lazy and filled with memories of the way he'd already touched me.

He held perfectly still for just a moment longer before his tongue swiped delicately up my neck, and I shivered. "You tempt me." Then he pressed soft, open-mouthed kisses along my jaw. "Do I tempt you?"

I breathed out a quiet moan of protest. I didn't want to be tempted. He had fangs. He was a vampire. He shouldn't even have existed outside folklore. And he'd had his fingers inside me. I'd enjoyed his kisses. Craved more.

He drew away from me, his eyes a soft dark gray, facial features no longer as harsh, fangs retracted. "Do you believe me now?"

I nodded. The dangerous air that clung to him made sense now. My stomach roiled as he turned from me and walked away.

Nicolas Dupont, casino owner.

My owner for one calendar month.

Vampire.

It didn't make sense. And maybe we really were both crazy, standing in a room of blood, believing in creatures of the night.

I walked shakily back to the loveseat, even though I wanted nothing more than to stride confidently out of the door. But fear or lust had weakened me—and I didn't want to examine those choices too closely because I didn't feel good about either of them.

Nicolas approached the fridges, opened them all back up, and stood for a moment like he was considering the contents. Then he shut two of the doors and reached into the third to extract one of the bags. He put it in the bottle warmer and grabbed a mug from the cabinet I'd been about to explore when he walked into the room.

The mug had a cartoon picture of a Venus flytrap on the front, but the plant had eyes and two huge fangs. I want to suck your blood was written in a dripping red font underneath the plant, and Nicolas laughed when he saw where I was looking.

His cheeks reddened, like this moment—out of all the things I'd just seen and he'd just said—embarrassed him. He lifted the mug in my direction. "This is an ironic gift from my sister because I'm the only one of us who doesn't take blood directly from the vein."

He poured his warmed blood into the mug, and a slightly stale coppery smell filled the air. When he took a sip, he grimaced, and I watched him as I pondered his words.

"You have a sister?" I blurted the question.

He laughed, the sound of genuine amusement sudden and unexpected. "That's what you took from what I just said?"

I wrapped my arms around myself, warding off a chill, and nodded. "I mean, I have other questions, but I'm still digesting."

He laughed again before he took another sip from his mug. "Fair. Yes, I have brothers and sisters. Not sure how many. Every now and again, a new one pops up from nowhere. They're all made. But I was born to my parents."

He said that like it was an important distinction, so I nodded.

"Was she at the party?" I couldn't help the shudder that ran through me as I thought of the party, and Nicolas's eyes tightened as he noticed it.

He shook his head. "No. I don't see many of my brothers and sisters very often. Sebastian is only here for the—" He broke off and looked into his mug like he'd said too much.

It was the first time I'd seen Nicolas Dupont look truly uncertain, and that vulnerability looked good on him.

"For the what?" I must have been in shock. I was currently sitting in a vampire's lair, and we were having an actual conversation. But I couldn't escape the feeling he was so much more than a vampire.

Something much more important.

He cleared his throat as he swirled his mug, the same movement I frequently made with my coffee, or that killer hot chocolate I occasionally allowed myself to buy from the boutique coffee shop tucked away from the tourist areas of the city.

"For the challenge." He sighed. "The difference between a made vampire and a natural one is that my siblings were created when one of my parents turned them from being a human. I was born into the family—grown in my mother's womb. My brothers and sisters aren't full-blooded siblings, and they know that. In the hierarchy of the family as it currently stands, I will always be above them. I was always the heir to my father's reign, always destined to be vampire king after him, but Sebastian would like to be in my position. He likely won't make a formal challenge to my position, but if he thinks he can ascend the easy way, he'll probably take it."

Nicolas spoke as if a weight had been lifted from him now that I knew his secret. He was more open, more approachable. More…human. Some of the shadows he seemed to draw around himself were no longer there.

"So if your parents were running around creating vampires…" I almost didn't have the courage to finish my question as I took in his raised eyebrow, but after fangs and glowing eyes, how much damage could an eyebrow really do? "Have you ever made a vampire?"

Even though I'd asked, his quick nod of affirmation surprised me. "Once."

"But I've just watched you drink a bag of blood. How could you make a vampire? That seems a bit like a vegetarian killing and butchering a cow."

He chuckled uneasily. "I'm not sure Jason would see it like that."

"Jason?" My voice came out as a high squeak.

Nicolas nodded. "Think of it as a mercy turn. Jason was dying, and I was the only one who could help him."

I made an effort to close my gaping mouth. But what the actual fuck?

"Let me get this straight." I sat taller in my seat. "You decided that the absolute safest person you could think of to guard me in your house was an actual vampire?" I'd watched movies with Jason, spent time with him. "He could have killed me!"

Nicolas shook his head. "He wouldn't dare. I am his sire—he wouldn't disobey or displease me."

I nodded. His imperious attitude amused me, but I didn't believe a word he said. "So you could magically stop a vampire attack in your house when you're at work in your casino? That sounds likely."

Nicolas growled low, the sound of frustration playing over my nerves and starting an ache in my core. I crossed my legs.

"I don't think you quite understand," he muttered. "This is my house. I'm the boss. I'm the first word and the last word, and my staff obey me. Jason most of all."

"Your staff?" My mouth hung open again, and this time I didn't bother to clack my teeth closed. "What do you mean, your staff?" But I didn't need him to answer. I already knew what he was about to say, and I started shaking my head even as he nodded his.

"All my staff are vampires." A fleeting smile played across his face, and I resisted the impulse to touch his cheek and press my mouth to his to capture that amusement. "I don't tolerate humans well. My staff is a loyal group, and they've been with me many years."

I patted my neck almost like I was searching for sore spots or bite marks. "But I could have been killed at any time. Mr. Baldwin could have gone crazy and ripped my throat out!" But even as I spoke the words, they sounded ridiculous.

Nicolas took them at face value, though. "I assure you, Baldwin would never do something so improper to a guest."

I closed my eyes. This was all so crazy. A house full of vampires, and I hadn't known a thing. "Wait a minute… The casino?"

Nicolas nodded. "Yes."

"There too? Oh my God. What is this? A hostile takeover, or something?"

He propped an ankle on his knee, the posture casual as he fiddled with the mug that was probably empty by now. "Hardly a takeover when we were here first, don't you think?"

Damn. I had to concede that point.

"Okay." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Okay, but I don't understand then. If you're all vampires here, and you're all vampires at the casino, then I assume you were all vampires at your family's party, too?"

He nodded affirmation again but didn't speak as he watched me. Maybe he knew I was trying to work something out.

"So I don't get why you need me. I saw your friend and heard what she said about being your mate, which I think must be like a vampire girlfriend." I glanced at him again, and his jaw tightened. Not acknowledgement of my assumption being correct, but not negation, either. "And if that's the case, I don't understand why I'm here. You've just told me you don't play well with humans…" I grinned. "Although with the length of your fangs, I can't imagine why."

My words came out more suggestive than the tease I'd intended, and he inhaled sharply as his eyes flashed red. I hurried on.

"I guess I just don't understand why you'd need me for events… And—" A thought occurred to me. "Was I ever in danger while I've been with you? Sometime not at the party?"

"Once." His answer was hoarse, his eyes haunted. "But I sorted it. The threat is neutralized. With me is the safest place you can be. Never wander away, never move from where I tell you to stay. I will always protect you, Leia."

"But I really don't understand." My tone verged on desperate. "I don't understand what's going on. Being a casino owner's arm candy was strange enough, but I was willing to do it for all that you offered me. But you're a vampire. You don't need me, so why am I here?" I took a deep breath and met his gaze. "What could a vampire possibly need with me?"