This was the first time in two weeks he’d been fully clothed, so he felt he finally had some sort of defense in place. He swung his legs over the edge of the mattress and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. His head was killing him, and that could only mean one thing.
Alasdair and his vanishing act.
He scanned his bedroom, and when he saw no one else, he frowned. Maybe Alasdair was some sort of nightmare. But it was the thought that followed which was truly perplexing. Then who the hell is in my apartment?
With that in mind, Leo stood and cursed as something sharp dug into the bottom of his foot. His mouth fell open when he saw a metal chain attached to an open cuff lying on his bedroom floor.
Oh shit. So nix it all being a nightmare. Crouching down, he picked the cuff up. Clearly he hadn’t imagined all of it.
“Oh, listen. I think I hear him now.”
Leo froze as that silky voice drifted into his room.
No…it couldn’t be.
But as a chair dragged across the kitchen tiles, Leo ordered himself to move, not wanting to be trapped in his bedroom with the vampire who’d taken him hostage, if that was who was coming for him.
He dropped the cuff to the floor with a loud clang and kicked it under the frame. He then scanned the room, desperately trying to find some kind of weapon or deterrent to use against Alasdair when he finally opened the—
“Leo, it’s about time you woke up.”
Leo rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, and when the figure remained the same, his head began to spin as if he were about to pass out again.
Instead, he managed, “Elias?”
ALASDAIR SAT IN the tiny kitchen of Leo’s apartment and stared at the man seated opposite him. He was irritable and hungry as hell.
Fuck, it’d been way too long since he’d fed, and sitting in a house full of potential meals wasn’t helping him overlook the issue. Add in the tiny detail of all the curtains he’d shut and that there’d be no chance of a witness and the idea of feeding became extra appealing.
No…now isn’t the time.
The human across from him had introduced himself as Paris when Alasdair had first opened Leo’s front door. And where the other man, Elias, had seemed impolite and skeptical of who he was, this Paris guy had merely given him a friendly smile—much like the one he was now aiming his way.
“So, you said you met Leo at The Dirty Dog.”
“That’s right,” Alasdair said, as he kept an ear on what was happening down the hall.
Leo had just opened the bedroom door and whispered his friend’s name like a prayer—a prayer he’d imagined the past two weeks, no doubt. Pity he was shit out of luck on that front.
“And you two hooked up and decided to take off into the sunset? Without telling anyone?”
This guy needed to stop with all the questions. Alasdair had let the two men inside begrudgingly, wanting to see if they were…odd like Leo.
Who did he associate with?And did they possess the same kind of abilities he did? It was something he was in the process of discovering for himself.
Focusing all of his attention on Paris, Alasdair leaned in to place his arms on the table. Then he lowered his voice, letting the timbre of it stroke over the other man’s senses.
“That’s right. Haven’t you ever done anything…impulsive?”
Paris nodded and shifted in his seat. Then he reached up to push a loose strand of hair that had escaped his hair tie behind his ears.
“Hmm, Paris?” Alasdair practically purred, willing the compulsion to take over the glassy-eyed man.
Paris’s mouth opened, but a voice down the hall captured Alasdair’s attention and he held a hand up, indicating silence—and he got it.
“Leo, we’ve been so worried about you. Where the hell have you been? And who is this Alasdair guy making us coffee?”
Speaking of coffee, Alasdair reached for his mug and brought it to his lips, curious as to how Leo would respond to his friend’s questions. He wasn’t particularly worried about him spilling his secret. After all, even if he did say he’d been taken by vampires, who in their right mind would believe him?
“I… He’s…”
“Yes?” the Elias guy demanded, and Alasdair decided right then—he didn’t like the guy. “He’s what? Please don’t tell me you did all this because the guy’s hot. I get it. He’s pretty wow, Leo. But to disappear with him? We thought you were dead, for fuck’s sake.”
Alasdair dropped the compulsion and peered over his mug at Paris, who was now leaning back in his chair with a relaxed expression on his face. More than happy he was unlike Leo, in that he was none the wiser to what had just been done to him, Alasdair placed his mug on the table and got to his feet. While he made his way down the hall, Elias spoke again.
“I can’t believe you of all people pulled this shit this week. You knew how important this was to us. We’ve been working on it for years. Years. And you were going to throw it away for a good fuck? Awesome.”
“Elias, listen to me,” Leo finally said. “I’m not fucking him. He’s…he’s...”
“Why bother lying now? He already told us you gave him a key to your place.”
Alasdair stopped by the corner, out of sight, and waited for—
“He said what?”
Despite his hunger practically gnawing a hole through his stomach lining, and that he’d no doubt pissed Vasilios off tonight, Alasdair found a wicked grin stretching his mouth at Leo’s rage. That sure woke the human up.
“Where the hell is he?”
Not one to ever hide from a demand, Alasdair stepped into view and when Leo saw him, he pushed a simple thought inside his mind: Miss me?
LIKE A TOOTHACHE, Leo thought as he brushed by Elias and marched over to the infuriating vampire. So I didn’t dream him up. Good to know I’m not delusional at least.
The menacing male currently leaning against his wall was very real, and he looked as sinful as he did deadly. With his long legs crossed at the ankles and his arms mirroring the pose over his chest, he appeared as normal as the rest of them. Except for the small fact that he could kill us all in the blink of an eye.
Choose your next words very carefully, file mou. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to your friends.
Coming to a stop opposite Alasdair, Leo crossed his arms and held his ground. He was in his apartment now, damn it. On his turf. And he wouldn’t be—
What? Intimidated? Don’t forget what I am, Leonidas. Just because I haven’t killed your friends yet doesn’t mean I am not imagining them as my next meal. Now, turn around and tell the stubborn one over there that you fell madly in love with me two weeks ago and lost your head. Well, not literally. But there’s always time for that later.
Leo glowered at him, and as Alasdair’s eyes creased around the edges, he was amazed by the way his lips tipped up into a sexy curve. Add one more weapon to Alasdair’s arsenal—that seductive smile was killer.
“Did you think I’d left? I was waiting until you woke up. I thought you needed the extra sleep. You know, especially after the last two weeks we spent together.”
When Alasdair added a flirty wink to accompany the outrageous words flying from his mouth, Leo clenched his teeth together so hard he was surprised they didn’t crack.