Léopold's Wicked Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (20 page)

“He’s right. There’s no excuse,” Léopold agreed. “It’s not sleeping with a woman that’s a problem, it’s the fact that I can’t…I won’t have a relationship. It’s not happening. And now that we’ve made love, well, it adds complications to our situation. Ones we didn’t need.”

“It would be one thing if you actually cared about anything besides yourself, Devereoux. But you don’t. That’s the thing. If you fucking hurt her…” Dimitri began.

“Why do you care about her anyway, wolf?” Léopold’s eyes narrowed on Dimitri.

“Because, Leo,” Dimitri stared at his friend. “She seemed kind of nice. And she stood up to that asshole, Luca. And for some reason, unbeknownst to me, she seems like she might actually care about you. Why is beyond me. And she cares about Ava too, and she has no reason to. We are the ones who sought her out. Now, not only have we upturned her life, we’ve brought a demon to her…right here to your goddamn house.”

“I think we’ve established that I fucked up. I just said so. Can we just move on?”

“She’s okay with one night? Because I know that you never have women sleepover. You’ve told me as much.”

“I told her that I don’t do relationships. I can’t become involved with her. But you’re correct in that we do need her. We need to find that knife.”

“This isn’t going to go well, you know that, right? I mean, I don’t know Laryssa, but I saw the way she looked at you yesterday, and I have a hard time believing she’s a one night stand kinda girl. Could be wrong? But damn, it was as if she had ‘innocence’ stamped on her forehead,” Dimitri said.

“Please stop already. Okay?” Léopold tilted his head backwards, closed his eyes and wiped them with both of his hands out of frustration. “I get it. I’m a dick. I shouldn’t have slept with her but I did. I can’t take it back. I promise you that I’ll do my best to repair this…’relationship’ I’ve irresponsibly put at risk.”

He choked on the word.
Relationship.
No, no, no.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that he was developing feelings for Laryssa, now Dimitri had him filled with guilt for what he’d done. Damn wolves. Damn humans. For a moment, he wished he could go back to not caring about his new friend. But no matter how he tried, what was done was done.
Merde.
I’m truly fucked.

Laryssa heard shouting coming from the great room and thought to give them fair warning she was approaching. Dimitri had mentioned her name, and she suspected that whatever they were arguing about, it had to do with her. As curious as she was, she was still reeling from her night with Léopold.

Earlier, she’d gone to take a shower to wash away the memories of her night with him, hoping it’d make her forget the way he’d stirred passion within her. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t felt his heat mere inches away from her body as they lay in bed. She’d known that even the slightest brush of her skin against his would have broken her resolve to leave. She’d been awake for hours, sensing that he was watching her. But not a word was spoken, nor a caress exchanged. The heavy tension had strangled her, causing her to flee.

The hot spray of the shower had matched the tears that fell down her face. As a vampire, she’d known that he’d hear her. So with every heaving breath, she stifled the sound. Thirty minutes later, she’d convinced herself that her good old-fashioned cry was due to the stress of keeping her secret for so long. Her intense reaction to making love was simply lust, nothing more. She told herself that she needed to think with her head, not what her heart told her it wanted. He’d been up front about his intentions, unbending in his ways. She supposed she’d just have to accept it. She wasn’t foolish enough to try to change a man. It’d never work, she knew.

Still, as she stood drying her skin, disappointment washed over her, as she realized he hadn’t come after her. The reality of the situation was that she’d just had a one night stand. Whatever she thought she felt, she swore to bury it so deep that she wouldn’t feel a thing the next time she saw him.

But as she walked into the room, her eyes flashed to Léopold’s and a rush of excitement tightened in her belly.
No, Laryssa don’t.
Struggling to get control over her reaction, she averted her eyes to the two good-looking men who sat at the kitchen table. She remembered the tall man with the goatee and tattoos as the person who’d driven her to Logan’s home. Dimitri, beta of Acadian wolves. The other man looked as if he was a soldier, with his square jaw and tightly cropped hair.

“Good morning,” Laryssa said loudly, interrupting their quarrel.

“Laryssa,” Léopold sighed, giving her a small smile.

“Léopold. Um, hi.” Hearing her name on Léopold’s lips startled Laryssa. The last time he’d said her name with his French accent in that low smooth tone, he’d been buried deep inside her.

Léopold, at a loss for words, let his eyes roam over Laryssa. With only a touch of light pink gloss to her lips and very little makeup, Laryssa displayed an innate beauty he suspected she didn’t realize existed. Loose brunette curls fell unrestrained over her shoulders, complementing the tight white shirt that clung to her curves. Her black jeans with matching leather riding boots gave her a contemporary look, tempting him to run his hands over her hips and buttocks. A hungry smile emerged across his face as he wondered if she’d enjoy a riding crop.

He sniffed into the air, enthralled with the ambrosial aroma of her essence that he’d remembered from the night before. Only now she smelled like soap and almonds. Underneath it all, her natural scent remained ingrained in his mind. The urge to taste her overwhelmed him and his gums tingled in response, his fangs begging to release. He glanced to the wolves, who had been watching him like a hawk. Slapped into reality by Dimitri’s grimace, he broke out of his spell, and quickly concealed his reaction to her.

“You remember Dimitri and Jake from yesterday, no? Let’s see, I have breakfast for you. Arnaud brought it. I’d texted him while you were sleeping. I hope you like fruit. Some pastries. Let me see what he brought.”
Merde, I sound like a love-struck fool.
Léopold cringed at how he was speaking to her in front of Dimitri and Jake. Quickly, he rummaged through his refrigerator, retrieving the items he’d asked Arnaud to bring and set them on the counter. He pulled a plate, flatware and napkin out of his cupboards and placed them on the breakfast bar, away from the wolves. “Here you go. Dimitri brought coffee.”

“Thank you,” she quietly replied. Giving a small smile to Dimitri and Jake, she sat down on a stool and stared at the feast that was big enough for ten people. “There’s plenty here. Maybe we should put it all on the table. Would you guys like some?”

“Thank you, Laryssa,” Dimitri said, thoroughly enjoying watching his friend squirm. “At least someone here has manners, huh, Jake?”

“Hey, why didn’t you serve us? I’d love some mango,” Jake added.

“Because if I’d offered it to you first there’d be nothing left for the lady. Dogs get scraps,” Léopold countered.

“Hey, hey, hey. No need to get nasty, bro. We brought coffee. Just sayin’,” Dimitri teased.

“Yeah, right.” The truth of the matter was that Léopold had simply forgotten about the food. As he pulled out extra plates from a cabinet, he glanced over to see her taking a bite of a strawberry and nearly dropped them. The juice dripped down over her pink lips and she caught it, licking her finger.

“Don’t you love fruit?” Dimitri asked, smiling like a Cheshire cat. Léopold had it bad, and it was even funnier that he kept saying that he didn’t want a relationship. Maybe this wasn’t exactly a relationship, but Laryssa was definitely having an effect on him.

“Tais-toi,” Léopold scolded, annoyed that Dimitri and Jake were practically undressing her with their eyes as she ate. The more he told himself he shouldn’t care, the closer he was to throwing her over his shoulder and taking her to his bedroom.

“Come on, man. You know I’ve got this thing about watching girls with food.”

Laryssa looked over at Dimitri, hearing his comment and laughed.

“Come sit with me. Please. There’s plenty here for all of us. Ya’ll are making me self-conscious watching me stuff my face.” She patted the seat of the chair next to her.

“I’d love to,” Dimitri said and obediently sat down. “See how nice your girlfriend is. You could teach him some manners.”

“I’m not his girlfriend. We barely know each other,” she stated calmly with her eyes pinned on Léopold’s.

“Really?” Dimitri inquired. He glanced at Léopold who stood smoldering across the counter.

“Really,” Léopold agreed. He detected a flash of hurt in Laryssa’s eyes as he confirmed her statement.

Laryssa glared at Léopold then forced herself to look away. There was no way she’d let him see how angry she was, at him, at herself. She’d known she’d set him up when she denied being his girlfriend. She’d told the truth, obviously, because he agreed that she wasn’t. What was worse was that it was apparent that her shower had done little to tamp down her attraction to him.

“We have much work to do today. I’m going to go get ready. Can you two conduct yourselves like gentlemen around her while I’m gone?” Léopold asked, walking away toward the hallway.

“From where I’m sittin’, I’m not the one she has to worry about.” Dimitri laughed as the vampire spun around and gave him a scowl.

“Behave,” Léopold ordered right before he slammed his bedroom door.

“He’s got issues. Treats people like they’re house pets. Seriously,” Laryssa noted.

Jake and Dimitri broke up laughing.

“It’s true,” she smiled, taking another bite of her danish.

“Amazing how you can spend a short amount of time with someone and get to know them so well.” Dimitri put some fruit on a plate and began to eat. “I understand you had a run in with a demon last night. How’re you feelin’, cher?”

“I’m good. The marks are gone.” She rubbed her hand above her breast where it’d scratched her.

“Glad to hear you’re okay. That’s some pretty quick healing, though. Now I know you’re not a wolf. Or a vampire. You seem a little like a witch but that’s not it either. Maybe a fae?” he guessed.

“Didn’t he tell you already?” Laryssa asked.

“No. Despite spitting tacks and needles, Leo’s got a sense of honor. He said he promised you that he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“A sense of honor, huh?” Léopold had kept her secret. Why couldn’t he have just betrayed her? She wanted a reason to hate him, to make her feel anything other than what she was feeling. Not only had he thought of her, getting her breakfast, he’d kept their conversation in confidence.

“He did tell us what happened last night,” Dimitri told her, his expression growing serious.

“Everything?” she gaped.
What exactly had he told him?

“Well, yeah, the bit about you going off to the lake.”

“He was busy,” she said coolly, recalling how she’d seen him biting his donor, her moans of pleasure. Foolishly, she had given into her own primal urges and she’d been the one making similar sounds hours later.

“Yeah, about that. You do know he’s a vampire, right?”

“Hard to forget.”

“I just want to make sure because I’m not sure what we’re gonna be doin’ today or where this is going to lead us, and he is what he is. You can’t be runnin’ off when he…” Dimitri’s words trailed off as he took a few minutes to think of the best way to say what he was thinking. He didn’t want to scare her, but not only did he turn wolf, Léopold was nothing short of deadly when he perceived danger.

“When he what?”

“When he becomes who he is. Obviously, you’ve seen the fangs and well, it just is in his nature. The women and men, the donors…he needs to feed. Now I’m not sure what you think you saw him doing with that woman last night, but he really does try to make his bite painless.”

“And you would know this how?” Jake asked, grabbing a donut from the plate. He smiled and walked over to the windows.

“I know, okay?”

“But that woman…” Laryssa began.

“Let’s just say that I’m experienced in the way of the bite,” Dimitri explained.

“You let a vamp bite you?” Jake laughed.

“Yeah, I did.”

“You let
him
bite you, didn’t you?” Laryssa inferred, shocked at what he was telling her.

“It was out of necessity. Trust me. He was in bad shape and well, yeah. But believe me, he didn’t want to do it. I guess I should’ve listened to his warning, because the way it felt…”

“Please stop talking,” Jake urged. “My virgin ears don’t want to hear this. You and Léopold. No.”

“Fuck you. We didn’t have sex. That is exactly the presumptuous attitude that causes problems. My point is,” he turned to Laryssa, “that vampires have two ways to bite. Pain or pleasure. And he’s gotta eat. So there ya go.”

“I can guess which way he went with you,” Jake jibed.

“Shut it, Jake. Can’t you see I’m trying to clue Laryssa in on my vast knowledge of the vamp world so she doesn’t freak out again?”

“You’re a real doctor Phil.”

Laryssa laughed.

“Seriously. The guy has to eat,” Dimitri argued.

“If she didn’t like the sight of his fangs, just wait until she sees yours, wolfman,” Jake said.

“Jake brings up a good point….even if he’s being kind of a dick.” Dimitri glared at him and then continued talking to Laryssa. “I know you have kind of kept yourself out of the supernatural world and I’m sure you have your reasons, but he’s right. At the first sign of danger, there’s a good chance I’m gonna strip down and go wolf. I may not be able to respond with words, but I’ll be able to understand you.”

“Did you just say you’re going to strip?” A huge smile broke across her face. She looked at Dimitri and then Jake, and couldn’t help but picture them naked. Laryssa’s face heated and began to turn pink.

“Yeah, we love to go nudie, baby.” Dimitri laughed. “Seriously, though, you can’t run off when you see my wolf. I won’t hurt you. And neither will Jake, here.”

“Thanks for letting me know. It’s not every day that I see men taking off their clothes and turning into little furry animals,” she giggled.

“Wolves. Big ferocious wolves,” Jake insisted. “Jeez, this woman knows how to hurt a guy’s ego. Maybe she wants a demonstration right now.” He began to unbuckle his pants.