11. Leia

Chapter 11

I walked past Nic's home office on my way to breakfast, and glanced in as I always did, then did a double-take.

"Nic?" He wasn't usually there at this time of day. "Why are you here?"

He glanced up. "I live here."

I paused and leaned against the doorpost. "But why here now? Don't they need you in town? At the casino or Vibrer?"

He shrugged, his pen still poised over whatever paperwork he had in front of him. "I shuffled a few things to work from home. You going to the dining room?"

I nodded. "Yep. Time for breakfast."

"I'll come with you." He stood without hesitation and moved around his desk. Even though he was only working from home, he wore well-tailored pants, and a button-down black shirt that clung across his shoulders and chest, hinting at his muscular physique.

When he reached me, he draped an arm around me and kissed my lips, the gesture tender. "Good morning," he murmured. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good." I glanced around, but there was barely a sound in the quiet house. "No Jason or Aimée today?"

"Nope." He kissed the side of my head. "I want to be with you today."

I cast my mind back. "Okay… And yesterday and the day before that?"

His eyes flickered for a moment, becoming cloudier before he smiled at me, and as always, that smile was like the sun coming out. "I want to spend more time with you."

"Hmm…"

His words were sweet, his body language attentive, all of his touches warm and as possessive as ever but that look in his eye before… There was something he wasn't telling me, and there'd been a number of hushed conversations, as well as Kyle's name being thrown around when they thought I couldn't hear them.

I was used to that after all of his closed-door war meetings with the guys, but this was bigger somehow. When I had any sense of him at all, he felt…guarded. There was no other word for it.

The aromas of beignets and bacon scented the air in the dining room, and I inhaled appreciatively. "Smells amazing as always."

"Mm." Nic agreed with me, but he pulled out his phone like he was distracted, his attention divided.

I waited until we were sitting down and Nic had dismissed Mr. Baldwin before attempting an actual conversation. And even then, I paid excessive attention to scooping up the powdered sugar from my plate with the bitten edge of my beignet, attempting casual. "Nic?"

He looked at me like I'd startled him, his eyes slightly wider, and something like trepidation flickered through his gaze.

Yeah, something was up. Something he didn't want me to know. Or something he didn't think I needed to know, perhaps. But I was done with other people's actions controlling my life.

"Yes?" He took a sip from his goblet after he prompted me.

I inhaled a short breath. "When you sent Aimée and me to the safe room, what happened?"

That night, even Aimée had been frustrated, listening at various walls, but her vampire hearing was no match for the solid walls designed to prevent mortals and immortals alike from detecting the room.

She'd even tested for weak spots on them before giving up and declaring that the entire room was as close to bombproof as she'd ever seen.

"It's like we've been walled up in a tomb," she'd moaned as she flopped onto one of the ridiculously comfy sofas.

I'd chuckled as I grabbed a book. Nic had stocked the room with all of my favorite things—which did kind of make me wonder how long he expected me to be locked in here.

I was contemplating between breaking open the mini-bar—an actual mini-bar—and asking Aimée to tell me what she knew about turning, when the skin at the nape of my neck prickled in awareness.

"Nic's nearby," I murmured.

"Oh, thank fuck for that." Aimée jumped up and studied the screens showing the CCTV feeds from parts of Nic's plantation home. Then she blew out a long, gusty sigh of relief. "He's at the door right now." She hurried to open it.

"Wait." I held out a hand. "Do vampires use glamour?"

Aimée barked out a laugh. "Do you think anyone would dare glamour themselves to look like the King of Baton Rouge? And do you think any glamour anyone could create would make them feel like Nic to you?"

She didn't even wait for my reply before she wrenched the door open and Nic strode into the room, his face more ashen than I was used to seeing it.

Without even speaking, he'd gathered me into his arms, and clutched me to his chest as he turned and left the safe room before taking me to my room.

From that point, he'd barely left my side.

I looked at him over my breakfast. "I know something happened." I paused but he said nothing. "I think it might have been something bad."

Too many thoughts fought for prominence in my head. Had Francois come back? Did Nic know his location? Whatever the issue was, it was to do with the war, and it was something I couldn't help with.

My continued humanity made me redundant and useless.

"Tell me?" I whispered. I closed my eyes and hoped, but when I opened them again, Nic shook his head, the movement slow.

"There are things to do with vampire politics that you don't need to worry about. You're my mate, and I will always protect you. That, I promise." His eyes practically shone with his earnest words.

I almost shook my head to disagree with him, but I knew this Nic—the one who thought he knew better than everyone else, the one who commanded everyone's attention and who everyone obeyed. So I stayed quiet for now.

His words didn't change the facts, though. I needed to turn, and thanks to the things Sebastian had said and the Book of Gray, I knew how to become a vampire. How I would be made.

I sighed and looked at my mate. He loved me. I didn't just know that, I could feel it, and he showed me in the way he looked at me or held my hand. He just knew what I'd need or want, and he made it happen. Like it was his pleasure to do things for me.

But he needed to make everything right with his conscience or whatever the fuck was holding him back and turn me already. I needed him to. First, because I didn't want to be this thrall thing and die, but also because I wanted all the things being a vampire and Nic's true mate would give me.

But I'd been self-reliant way too long to just hand all control over to Nic. I had to trust in myself to see my way ahead and shape my future—the way I'd always trusted in myself. I'd needed to do that then, and I still needed to do it now.

Especially if it meant I didn't have to be helpless anymore.

I glanced up from the book I was barely reading anymore and caught sight of Nic in the doorway of the library. Something about him still exuded worry. His shoulders were a little less straight, and he vibrated a kind of low-level anxiety I wasn't familiar with in him. "Hey."

He smiled, and it bought him back to me, painting confidence back into his expression, and giving his eyes their usual mischievous glint as he roamed his gaze over my body.

"Hey," he said softly in return.

"You okay?" I wasn't used to him being this available to me during his workdays. It was weird having him so close, especially when I didn't technically need him, or he shouldn't have been worried about my state of mind.

"Just feeling undercharged today. I'm going to go feed, and I didn't want you to think I left." He tapped the door frame like his subconscious didn't know what to do with some excess nervous energy.

"Okay." I smiled at him. "You may go."

I waved him away loftily, but his smile turned wistful before he walked away. His footsteps echoed away over the hardwood floor, and the desire to follow him drew me to the door, like our connection had pulled taut.

I crept after him, unsure whether he'd pick up my approach. I hadn't been in his wing since Sebastian had nearly turned me—I'd actively avoided it, even though I no longer felt like such an intruder here.

I found Nic in his blood room, the place I'd first thought might be evidence of serial killer tendencies but where he'd revealed his true nature instead.

A shiver crept through me as I remembered that first dart of fear intermingled with the disbelief I tried to cling to…then the confusion later on when I'd still found myself attracted to him.

Today, there was a distractedness to Nic as he swirled the contents of his ridiculous novelty mug. I didn't think too closely about either the mug or the contents as I stepped into his field of view.

"Leia?" He put his mug down on the counter beside the sink and stood, something about him suddenly compelling and commanding.

Thoughts of thralls and begging to be turned vanished, and all I saw was Nic, my mate, and I wanted him.

His nostrils flared, and his face tightened. "You're aroused," he whispered, and I stood perfectly still as he moved toward me with the grace of a deadly predator. Stalking me. About to claim me as his.

My heart rate accelerated as anticipation wound through me, and my throat dried.

"Leia," he murmured again, as he reached me, and his eyes glowed that dull red of heightened emotion.

I didn't wait for him to move any closer, instead launching myself against him as I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him.

He wobbled slightly under my sudden weight, but soon steadied, and I rested my hands on his hips as I explored his lips with mine. A groan rumbled through him, and his kisses were quick and passionate. Demanding.

And I wanted to give him everything he asked for. I was already wet for him. Wet and needy and wearing too many clothes. I reached between us, but unfastened my own pants this time, breaking our kiss only long enough to push them down my thighs.

"Please, Nic." Maybe I'd always beg this man. He was like a drug to me.

Perhaps I'd never get enough.

Heat raced through me to gather between my legs.

"Please," I whispered again as he pushed his hand up my T-shirt to cup my breast over my bra. His possessive hold spoke of strength and ownership.

But it wasn't enough.

"Nic." I spoke urgently as he dropped his head to trail kisses along my jaw and down my neck.

I pushed my hands into his hair and tugged at the short strands. I was on fire for him.

He maneuvered us so my back was against the table, the one that held the warmer for his blood, then he swept that out of the way and lifted me so I was perched on the edge of tabletop. His attention returned to my neck as he swept my hair over my shoulder.

"Leia." He mumbled my name between kisses, and I arched against him, an ache inside me only he could take away.

I worked his buttons free until his shirt hung open, and I smoothed my palms over his heated skin. His belt jingled as he unfastened it, his lips never leaving my throat. Then my panties were gone, ripped away by a hand I couldn't see, and cool air whispered over my clit, heightening my desire further.

He trailed his hand up my thigh, higher and higher until he dropped his forehead to my shoulder and groaned. "You're so wet."

"I need you now." I didn't want to waste time with teases and touches and waiting. I only wanted us. Connected. Joined. Intimate.

He nodded like he understood and the sound of his zipper being drawn down filled the room, the click of each tooth separating fueling my arousal.

Then the head of his cock nudged against me briefly and I drew a deep breath as he thrust quickly inside. No warning, no unnecessary touching… Just all of Nic inside me, where I wanted him.

I inhaled again as he thrust forward, rocking his hips steadily. His mouth captured mine again, his tongue commanding as he took possession of my mouth. I wasn't just his prey. I was his. Heart, body, and soul.

I drew back. "Bite me, Nic."

The request felt so natural. I wanted to give myself to him, for him to take me.

He hesitated, all of his movements freezing, and I offered him my neck, teasing him. Hoping to tempt.

"Please," I whispered, begging again. "Bite me… Turn me."

He moved closer to my neck, until his hair tickled the skin there and his warm breath fanned over me, making me shiver in anticipation. He wanted to do it, I could tell. And for the first time, I wanted to bite him back. The impulse rocketed through me, taking me by surprise, and as if he'd felt the same thing, Nic jerked forward, sinking his fangs into my neck. I surrendered to the familiar rush of desire that lit each of my nerves on fire, and almost immediately my breathing became ragged and my muscles began to tighten as Nic brought my release.

But the instinct to bite him back didn't leave me, and as he drew away after lapping his tongue over the puncture marks, I urged him back and kissed his pulse—then bit down.

Human teeth weren't made to break skin like fangs, and Nic grunted but then he gasped and pushed his fingers into my hair, urging me closer. The first touch of his rich, coppery blood against my tongue was like an elixir, and my clit throbbed with desire.

I'd never experienced anything so erotic. I hadn't known it would be like this. I sucked greedily as I touched myself, rolling my clit beneath my fingers, and Nic rocked gently inside me, not even pulling away from my mouth. It was like I'd bespelled him.

His blood brought an awareness of change. Something different. Stronger, and I sucked harder as a second orgasm crashed over me, leaving me weak as I sank against Nic's chest and he gave one last thrust.