Page 48 of Lured

It was as if Leo was equally unsure. He came and sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room and stared at me. I walked closer, not liking being under his gaze for so long.

“What now?” I asked, hoping he had some way of ending this stalemate.

He reached out to take my hands and I let him take both of them. “I have pulled you into a dangerous mission. Do you understand how deadly Ludis is?”

“I do. And I took this mission from the academy. Ludis is... stronger than I expected.”

This made Leo frown, but he also got up, bringing his body close to mine. I went to step back but he wrapped his arms around me and stopped me.

“I'm going to do everything I can to keep you alive, but I need you to take all this seriously.”

“I've not stopped taking this seriously. I know how dangerous your kind are.”

“Mykind aren't as dangerous as you'd think.” Leo's expression darkened. “True-bloods care about the human race in ways you'll never understand. We've made a pledge not to eradicate you.”

“Only because you need us to eat,” I replied, pulling back. Anger rose in me at his indignation. “True-bloods might not be turned, but you still eat us and treat us like we're lower than you.”

“Is that how you feel I've treated you?” Leo demanded.

I opened my mouth to say no, but hesitated. Was that how he had been treating me? He'd given me choice at every stage, but he had definitely been enjoying me and doing all sorts to me when I wasn't at liberty to object properly if I didn't want it. He'd been taking advantage of me.

“Why didn't you have an enthralled before me?” I asked instead.

This took away some of his anger and he paused to think about the question. It gave us both time to calm and consider what we were really saying to each other.

“Partially because I often end up outside of vampire society, partially because as Leo, I can barely trust one, and because I didn't want one as Drew.” Leo shook his head and reached for my hand again. “I don't want you to feel like my slave. But we have... unspoken rules. I want you to feel cared for, protected, safe. Set free to explore desire and passion and pleasure.”

“All for the price of my blood,” I said with a sigh, no anger, but a sort of resigned, unspoken cost.

Leo frowned again. “I can't help what I need to sustain me. Believe me, not all vampires want this. One of the true-blood clans in Oxford is trying to make a sort of synthetic source.”

“Can we start this evening all over again?” I asked Leo, trying to relax. “I think the tension and danger is getting to me. I want to get this mission done so I can rest at ease again. Even if you are promising to protect me, we both know Ludis and his henchmen would kill us both in a heartbeat if they knew what we both were.”

“They would. But I will do everything in my power and my clans to keep you safe. It really does mean a lot to be an enthralled to us and I will see that honored.” Leo pulled me into his embrace again and before I could stop him, he kissed me. Once more, all my resolve melted away and I leaned into him.

After a couple of seconds that seemed to last far longer, he pulled away again.

“Okay, if we're getting through this and I am being true to my word, we need to go through some more defense moves with you and you can then practice them and get them into muscle memory.” Leo put a little distance between us and pushed the coffee table out of the way.

For the next half an hour he had me run through several defensive moves designed to protect me but built on the few he had taught me earlier as well. When he was pleased that I had some of the motions fluid and correct, he started to attack me in slow motion and show me how they actually worked.

It made a lot more sense to see it all together and feel how I should be responding and very quickly I was defending myself well as he sped up and pushed me harder.

The muscle memory would take time to develop, but the moves were fresh enough in my head and my own hand to hand training had begun to build on each other. Leo was teaching me a technique that wouldn't just help today or tomorrow, but in the years to come.

Before long I was panting and feeling the tiredness and I had to step back and hold up my hands. Leo relaxed and then came closer.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

I nodded. “Just need a breather. I'm not able to keep going all day and night like a true-blood.”

He let out a chuckle and reached up to tuck some stray hair back behind my ear. The feel of his fingers as it brushed my cheek was like electricity. I grew hotter instantly, remembering some of the earlier part of the day and how it had felt the first time he had reached across the plane to pull me into his arms.

As if the thought had crossed his mind at the same time, he pulled me in close and kissed me again. Before I knew what was happening, he lifted me off my feet and carried me to the nearest sofa.

His hands roamed in a frenzy and I responded in kind, pulling at his shirt to try to get it off him. The moment I was on the sofa he pushed my legs apart and pulled up my dress, exposing my panties. I instinctively tried to close my legs, but he was already kneeling between them and I couldn't.

With a growl he grabbed my panties and tore them off me before flinging them aside. I hesitated, his desire turning him into a wild beast. Could I cope with being devoured like this?

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