10. Leia

Chapter 10

One week later, life had already settled into a predictable routine. I woke in Nic's arms, offered him my neck, and he fed a little, sometimes while he finger-fucked me, but often while he just created networks of goosebumps over my body by stroking his hands across my skin, weaving a fragile net of bliss around my body. It was almost my favorite part of the day.

Almost. Except our nights were even better. So many orgasms, even more bliss.

I floated from moment to minute to hour to day…thoroughly annoying Aimée every time I zoned out on our conversations, I was sure. But I couldn't help it.

Nic filled my thoughts and my senses.

"Hellooooo," Aimée waved her hand over my face. "I assume Flight Nicky-Forever has already departed this morning, with you well and truly onboard?" But she smiled indulgently as she tapped the cover of her book. "We're supposed to be undertaking a serious discussion into why Mr. Darcy couldn't reveal his true feelings for Elizabeth and you're behaving like you're somewhere in orbit."

I sighed, trying to release my lingering thoughts of Nic. "Sorry, sorry. I'm back in the game now." I'd started to treasure my time with Aimée. She was like a sister for me, too, and my first proper friend. "I'll do better."

She laughed. "Oh my God, no. You're going to be insufferable for at least a couple of years. I'm a fucking vampire already, and I was exactly the same over Tomas. I can only imagine how he would have affected me if I'd met him as a human. Plus, you and Nicky have the whole true mates thing going on."

She fell quiet for a moment then put her book aside. "As much as I love this whole meeting in the library, book club vibe, how about we go poke around Nicky's big house for a while? I'm sure there are rooms here you haven't discovered."

"Sure." I put my book on top of hers, smoothing my hand over the cover as I did. A fucking first edition.

I could hardly believe he'd let me touch it. But he wasn't as hot and cold with me anymore—he was attentive and gentle, even though power and authority radiated from him, his presence more commanding now than when I'd first come here. I shivered as I thought of it, and the way he looked at me in the bedroom. Underneath all the command he demonstrated for others, though, he cherished me.

"You've gone again," Aimée said. "Come on, let's go snoop around."

"Are you sure Nic will be okay with it? I mean…" I gestured uselessly as we walked up the staircase, taking in the grand furniture and the fittings. "It's his house."

"And you're his mate." She shook her head, tossing blonde curls from her face before they fell back into the exact same position. "Besides, there are places in this house I've been wanting to look for years." Her clear blue eyes sparkled with mischief, and I huffed a laugh.

"You're going to get me in trouble."

She laughed this time. "And I have every confidence you know how to get yourself out of any trouble you find yourself in. Tomas responds very well to certain things when I need to make up for something." She winked. "I can give you some tips, if you like?"

I stifled a small shudder. "Uh, no thanks. I still have to look at your guy over the dinner table tonight and not think about those kinds of certain things."

"Okay." She shrugged. "I think it's really cute that Nicky arranges dinners for you, and we all just sit around pretending to eat. He's obviously started to tolerate at least one human very well indeed."

She pursed her lips like she was considering something and led me to a door I'd never paid much attention to.

"Attic?" She opened the door without waiting for a reply and shot me a wicked grin. "I say totally attic."

As we walked up the narrow set of stairs, she waved her hand in front of her to clear the cobwebs stretching between the walls.

"What's up here?" I asked.

"Aside from way too many spiders? Storage rooms full of years and years of useless crap that my packrat brother can't bear to get rid of, apparently. Well, I hope. How will it be interesting otherwise?" She waved her arm again and coughed. "Maybe servants used to sleep up here? Or should have? But I think Nicky has had the same staff forever, and they've never used these rooms. But it gives us lots of scope to explore. Shit, I hate spiders," she mumbled as she swept away yet more webs. "Too many of them bite."

"It doesn't look like Nic's been up here for a very long time." I took in the dust-coated surfaces in the first room we stepped into.

Aimée grinned. "Then it's perfect for looking around." She made her way to the back of a room and opened a box. "Lots of dust."

I sat in a rocking chair off to the side and watched her systematically open and discard boxes, not even fastening them closed again when she shoved them aside. "There has to be something more interesting up here than 1980s technology," she muttered. "Let's check one of the other rooms."

"Aimée?" I asked her name as a question as she opened the doors of a large cupboard in the farthest room from the stairs. A dim bulb glowed and flickered from the ceiling, and half-light made its way through a shaded window.

"Hmm?" She was almost bent into the box she was searching, and that made it easier to talk to her.

I could say almost anything while she wasn't looking. "I overheard Nic talking to some of his guys the other day…"

She lifted her head, her face now streaked with grime, and raised an eyebrow. "You overheard?"

My face heated. "Yeah. He was on the phone in the other room…"

She'd disappeared back into the box and started taking out books that looked like they needed delicate handling and just allowing them to thump to the floor. "You were waiting outside a room while he was on the phone?"

"Yeah." I'd been eavesdropping—Aimée and I both knew it—but I just needed to style it out. "And it sounded like the war with New Orleans, against Francois, is escalating. Do you know anything about what's going on?"

She paused again, long enough to cast me a skeptical glance, her eyebrow raised. "Don't you think that might be a question for Nicky?"

I huffed out a sigh. "He won't tell me anything. Just keeps saying to stay out of it and let him handle it. But…"

"But what?" Her tone was muffled now. "You think your weak human bones will somehow be strong enough in a fight against a vampire? Or that you can resist compulsion? Or that Nicky would ever forgive himself if you got hurt or worse?"

Every one of her words made sense, but they still chafed. I wasn't used to backing down from a fight and I certainly wasn't used to sitting one out completely. Especially not one like this. One that could be my…

"I think I caused this, though," I blurted. "I think it might be my fault."

Aimée chuckled. "Aw, honey, Nicky and Francois are always looking for a reason to go to war. Sometimes, I think they built their reasons for even being alive into an age-old fight for dominance in the region… And with Francois succumbing to madness and his father in stasis for at least another…" She checked her watch. "Hell, at least another fifty years—with no real guarantee he'll emerge at all—what better time for Nicky to make his play? He can be vengeful and purposeful all at once."

I opened my mouth to reply, because surely there was some role I could take, make things easier for Nic, but Aimée squealed excitedly. "Pay dirt. I knew this old thing still existed somewhere."

She used two hands to haul a huge book out of the box.

I looked at it for a moment—old and grimy and bound in flaking leather. The pages were choppy and different sizes, and something was embossed on the cover. "What is it?"

Aimée hugged it to herself, a huge grin on her face. "Nicky's Book of Gray. He needs it now more than ever. A war, a true mate… It's all going on. I bet he's forgotten this thing even exists. It's been so long since any of my family has needed to check the old lore." She glanced at her watch again. "He should be home soon. Let's go back downstairs and wait for him."

I nodded and stood, my excitement level already rising at the thought of seeing Nic. My stomach grumbled, too, and Aimée laughed. "I'm sure Chef will be very happy to hear that sound."

I flipped off lights as we left the attic and shut the door to the stairs behind us, but Aimée stopped suddenly in the upstairs hallway, her nose tilting up.

"Vampire blood," she growled. "Something's wrong. You need to wait in your bedroom while I check things out."

She almost pushed me through the door as I rolled my eyes. But I'd listened to her earlier words about my fragile human bones, and part of me agreed.

"Lock it," she murmured, and I turned the key, suddenly all alone in the quiet of my room.

No noise seeped here from the rest of the house, and I had nothing to do but wait. I didn't wait with good grace, though. I tapped my foot and paced a little, then finally leaned against the wall right by the doorframe, my arms folded and ankles crossed.

Finally, there was a knock at my door. "It's me."

Nic! I twisted the key and ripped the door open, wrapping my arms around him. He winced and drew away.

"What?" I pulled back and looked at him properly. A tear in his shirt exposed part of his side and abs, and I reached out tentatively to get a closer look. Blood was starting to congeal around the wounds but those were definitely…definitely… I lifted my gaze and met his. "Claw marks."

He nodded briefly, affirmative but not explanatory.

Panic rushed through me, burning like the coldest of icy flames, as I tried to draw him to the bathroom. "Let me clean your wounds. We've got a medical kit, right?"

"I've got it." His voice was gruff, and I blinked back tears.

"Please, Nic."

He met my eyes again and his gaze softened as his brushed a thumb under my eye. "Don't cry, Leia. I heal quickly. There probably won't be anything for you to see by the time you find the medical kit."

I sniffed, feeling ridiculous. Of course he healed quickly. But still… "I can clean your skin. And you shouldn't be hurt in the first place. Is it because of me? Because of what Francois did?"

His jaw tensed, but his eyes were blank, and he didn't resist as I stood him in the bathroom and began to unfasten his shirt. When it hung open, I soaked a washcloth in warm water and wrung it out before dabbing gently at Nic's skin. Soon, the water was a pale shade of pink, but he'd been right. There was little of the original wound left.

I trailed my fingertips over his smooth skin, away from the healing marks, and his muscles contracted.

He hissed a breath and closed his eyes. "Leia."

"Do you need blood to help you heal?" I automatically offered myself to him as I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his tattoo then followed the paths of some of the lines with my tongue.

"Leia." He groaned my name and cupped the back of my head, his fingers threading into my hair. I kissed his chest gently before sucking experimentally at his nipple, probing the tiny nub with my tongue, and he hissed again. "We'll never make it down to dinner with Aimée and Tomas, if you keep teasing me."

I glanced up at him. "Do you think they'd mind?"

He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Aimée takes very little pleasure in nursing a goblet of warmed blood while we watch you eat. She'll take even less in nursing that goblet and simply looking at your empty place." He dropped a kiss into my hair. "Raincheck on the teasing and the blood?"

I nodded. "I guess."

He strode to the closet and shrugged out of his jacket and shirt as I tried to ignore his obvious arousal, directing my attention back to his overall appearance. The usual black clothing hid most of the blood but the shirt was ruined. "I'm really okay."

His movements were quick and efficient as he reached for a clean shirt then put it on and buttoned it up.

I nibbled my lip briefly as I watched him, anxiety jangling my nerves and buzzing in my head. "But was it my fault? Were you hurt because of me?"

He looked at me. "I was hurt because of me. I wasn't quick enough."

I sighed. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"Not you." He walked past and dropped another kiss into my hair. "Now let's go down to dinner or Chef will be complaining we let his food go cold."

Aimée glanced up as we entered the informal dining room. "We'd started to wonder if you weren't coming."

I had no idea how she and Tomas communicated—I rarely heard them speak to each other, and Tomas rarely smiled. He was like a heavy-browed, dark-haired bear. But he clearly doted on Aimée, always listening attentively to the things she said, or reaching for her hand to hold.

He smiled occasionally and briefly, but rarely took part in our conversations unless someone asked him a question. But it didn't matter. He and Aimée were a perfect complementary pair. She was light, and bright, and reminded me of a butterfly, and he seemed solid and strong and dependable. From the look of him, he'd be able to crush her one-handed, with no real thought or effort, but she clung to his hand often, like she was used to using that strength as her shield.

I relaxed as I watched Nic take a bite of his food. He glanced up and met my gaze, eyes sparkling. He always ate a little so I wasn't alone. Tomas, too. Aimée rarely because she was still young enough that food made her sick.

"What do you think of Chef's efforts tonight?" Nic asked.

"Amazing as always. Chef's food is always amazing."

Nic chuckled. "But I hear he makes a special effort on date night."

Date night. It sounded so settled down and suburban, like a serious, grown-up life. But when had that happened? I'd arrived at this house on a month-long contract to accompany Nic to social events. And I'd been so clear on my terms.

Only, I'd definitely slept with him. So that term was broken, and maybe I'd killed someone, if this war was actually my fault… and the month was nearly up, but what did that mean to me? Nic had always said he'd release me free and clear of obligation at the end of the month, but I was no longer sure what I wanted.

The longer I spent with Nic, the more I fell for him and became enmeshed in his life and his world, and things were complicated now. Complicated in ways I never could have imagined when I'd looked at the man with his contract spread over the bourbon-sticky table in my rundown home.

"What are you thinking? You look so serious this evening."

I looked up at Nic's gentle voice but shook my head. "Oh, nothing important. A little tired, I guess."

I returned my attention to my plate, skewering a piece of beef and popping it into my mouth.

Nic narrowed his eyes briefly but nodded. I knew that look. We'd talk later, but whatever. We already had a raincheck of a different kind, and I was pretty sure that was more important.

"Oh! Nicky? I found your Book of Gray." Aimée took a sip from her overly fancy goblet, but all of the vampires used them around me like they could somehow maintain the illusion of being anything less than blood drinkers. "I've left it in the den."

"Oh?" Nic arched one eyebrow and waited for his sister to continue.

Puzzlement flashed briefly over her features. "I thought it would be useful right now. With…" She nodded toward me like she didn't think I'd notice. "With, you know, a huma—"

Nic raised a hand, suddenly all business as he cut his sister off. "Thank you, Aimée. Thanks. I'll take a look."

Baldwin appeared at the door just then and looked at Nic. "Sebastian Dupont, sir," he announced formally before Sebastian entered the room.

"Thank you," Nic said. "Oh, and Baldwin, could you take the Book of Gray to my room in the west wing? I believe Aimée left it in the den."

I frowned. The west wing? The one area I was still technically not allowed to go? It was an unspoken rule now and largely unenforced, more of an honor system, but that was very much Nic's space, and I didn't disturb it, even though the doors were no longer closed and locked.

He knew that, so his delivery of the book to his room there was definitely significant. It was as good as hiding it from me.

Sebastian swiped a French fry from my plate as he passed. "Thank you, Leia."

"Manners, brother." Nic sounded long-suffering, and Sebastian grinned.

"But I said thank you."

Nic grumbled but didn't chastise him further.

"I came to see how you are, to see how you left things…" Sebastian glanced at Aimée and Tomas and me. "Earlier." Then he looked at Aimée again and inclined his head. "Sister."

It was a very polite, neutral greeting and I filed it away as one of the things to explore about this mysterious family one day. None of them seemed to truly get along, but then how could I expect them to if they'd all been plucked from their human lives and just lumped together?

I shuddered at fresh thoughts of becoming a vampire. So far, nothing I'd seen presented it as a good lifestyle. They couldn't enjoy Chef's food, for a start.

"I found Nicky's Book of Gray," Aimée said conversationally as she watched Sebastian.

Nic rolled his eyes. "Aimée," he started.

"No, no, I think that's a really good idea. Well done, Aimée." As Sebastian praised his sister, she preened a little, and I held back a chuckle. Their family dynamics really were insane. Then Sebastian turned to Nic. "After what the wi—"

"Thank you, Sebastian," Nic boomed. "Your opinion is duly noted." The vampire king was firmly in control this evening, and part of me just liked to watch him.

I cleared my throat as I glanced between the two brothers, at eyes that suddenly had a dull gleam of red. "I'm going to go find a new bottle of wine."

"Let me get Baldwin." Nic didn't even look at me as he spoke.

I bristled a little. I didn't need his king attitude directed at me. "No, thank you. I need some fresh air away from this sudden testosterone surge, anyway." Besides, I could find my way to the wine storage room, and I didn't really want anything expensive like Baldwin usually chose.

Aimée had made Nic bring home a couple of low-value bottles so we could drink with impunity, if the mood took us, without depleting Nic's collection—and the wines were almost guaranteed to taste like vinegar and turn my teeth, lips, and tongue purple, but I was happy with that—and was used to it well enough from years at The Pour House, when we'd had wine at all.

I'd just selected a bottle and set it down on the aged-oak table in the middle of the room when Sebastian appeared, and my adrenaline spiked but I forced my movements slower. He'd know if he'd spooked me. I focused on calming my breathing and hoped my heart rate held steady.

"Leia, I'm glad I caught you."

I glanced at him and frowned. "I'd said this was where I was going, Sebastian."

He flushed slightly. "Yes, but I wanted to apologize. For…" He hesitated. "For angering Nic just now and for the first time we met. My behavior was abhorrent in a lot of ways and not befitting of a Dupont royal."

I nodded slowly. "Okay. Thank you. And thank you for the part you played in New Orleans. Nic said he didn't do it alone."

Sebastian bowed his head. "It's an honor to have you join this family as Nic's bride. You'll bring greatness to the House of Dupont. I have no doubt."

I nodded again, unsure what to say in return to such grand declarations. Then I started to reach behind him for a second bottle of wine in case Aimée wanted to join me in drinking the cat piss we'd decided was good enough for a boozy evening, but Sebastian grabbed it before I could, a grin on his face as he held it just out of my reach.

"Sebastian." Irritation sparked inside me, and I pressed a palm to his chest as I stood on my tiptoes to grab it from him. Damn tall vampires.

His head dropped forward, and he buried his face into my hair, inhaling deeply before he stumbled backward, and the wine bottle thunked onto the table as he set it down.

"Forgive me," he mumbled as he turned, his eyes wide, his cheekbones sharp. "Such power now. So alluring."

He hurried from the room without another word.