“That’s nice of you,” he forced from between tight lips.
Alasdair pushed away from the wall and took a step towards him. “Your friends here were telling me how worried they’ve been about you.”
He remained rigid as Alasdair placed his hands on his shoulders.
“I thought you called them. You told me before we left that you had contacted everyone you’d needed to.”
Shut up, Leo stressed inside his head so only Alasdair would hear.
“Leo?” That time, his name was said behind him—from Elias.
Alasdair released him, and Leo pivoted back around to face his longtime friend and employer. The man who’d made him fall in love with history back when he’d been in college.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
Leo didn’t know what to say. No matter what he said, nothing would excuse what Elias thought he’d done.
“Because you knew I’d say no to taking time off at the moment. Correct?”
Leo remained silent as Elias stormed over to where they stood.
When he stopped, he cast a suspicious eye over at Alasdair. “We already contacted the police to tell them you’re home safe and sound. Not that I know what the fuck to think about your mental state.” He sighed in disappointment and ran his fingers through his short, black hair. “I expect your ass to be in my office tomorrow morning no later than seven thirty a.m. Which is when I’ll decide if you still have a job or not.”
Leo swallowed as Elias aimed a steely glare at Alasdair.
“I would like to say it’s nice to meet you, but I don’t trust you. So let’s say this has been interesting. If he doesn’t show up tomorrow, expect to see your face plastered all over the news by noon. Got it?”
Leo tensed, expecting to see Alasdair’s fingers wrapped around his boss’s arm and his fangs sinking into his neck. Instead, Alasdair was offering his hand. When Elias took it, Alasdair nodded once and said quite seriously, “I will make sure Leonidas is at work on time tomorrow morning.”
Elias looked his way one last time and muttered, “See that you do,” before he strode back into the kitchen. “Come on, Paris. We found who we were looking for. Not that he seems to care too much.”
Leo winced at that, and then a chair scraped across the tile floor. As his friends left his apartment, he realized, with something bordering on murderous rage, that even though Alasdair hadn’t killed him, he’d still managed to effectively fuck his entire life up.
LEO QUIETLY WALKED over to the kitchen sink and braced his hands on the counter. They were shaking he was so livid. His back was still facing Alasdair, and for the last several minutes, tense silence had filled the small space.
He wasn’t sure what had happened between now and when he’d been standing amongst the crowd of hungry vampires back at the Walk. But he knew one thing: He’d be damned if he would go back there without a fight.
“Who said I was going to take you back?”
Alasdair’s voice closing in had Leo rounding on him with a glare.
“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” he finally asked as Alasdair came to a standstill by the kitchen table. “First, you terrorize me, then you kidnap me, and now, you’re hell-bent on destroying my life. If this is your version of playing with your food, I think you’ve taken it far enough.”
Alasdair’s brow rose as he studied him. “Haven’t you awoken in a particularly spirited mood? Thanos was right. I like it,” he said, his tone dropping a few octaves. “It’s more fitting of you.”
“You know nothing about me. And I’m positive you care even less,” he grit out, his anger rising inside him now as he bravely stepped closer. “Why haven’t you killed me? I don’t get what your deal is. Are you bored? Defective? Or something else I haven’t thought of?"
The words fell off his tongue and hovered in the air between them like a provocative dare. He wasn’t sure how Alasdair would react, but before he could continue, he was crushed back against the sink. His hands were trapped behind his back, and the counter dug into his hips as Alasdair held him in place.
“I assure you I am certainly not defective. And you should stop talking. Your words, they will get you—”
“What, killed? You said you liked my newfound spirit. Now, all of a sudden, you don’t?”
“We vampires, we’re fickle creatures. We change our minds every split second,” Alasdair said. “And right now, I’d prefer you to shut your mouth. Or I’ll do it for you. Permanently.”
Leo narrowed his eyes, refusing to back down. “You keep issuing deadly threats, yet here I am, alive and standing in my apartment. Right back where I started.” Straining against the hand holding him captive, he pushed his face in closer to Alasdair’s. “The only difference this time? I know you can’t feed from me or something happens to you. You get all locked up, don’t you? So. You going to snap my neck instead?”
The fingers around his wrists constricted, making it clear Alasdair could do whatever he wanted with him right then, but…
“I don’t think so. I also think you have no idea what happened the night you tried to kill me. And that pisses you off because you think you know everything. But you don’t, do you? You’re a little bit scared.”
“Stop talking. Now.”
The smart thing to do would’ve been to heed the warning, but Leo was on too much of a roll to stop now. “I think it’s even more than that though. You find me…” His voice trailed off as Alasdair’s top lip retracted.
“Oh, don’t stop now. I find you what, Leonidas?”
Just like the previous times Alasdair had threatened him, Leo’s body reacted. His breath came in rapid bursts, and a warm flush hit his cheeks. He was aroused by this side of Alasdair.
This intimidating I-can-kill-you-with-my-bare-hands side.
For some reason, it got him off and gave a whole new meaning to wanting the bad boy.
When Alasdair pulled him close, Leo’s heart began to trip all over itself, and his cock made it crystal clear he was undeniably attracted to the male snarling at him. That was when he was struck with another truly baffling thought—he wanted Alasdair to crush his lips against his and kiss him.
“I asked you a question. Now answer me. I find you what?”
Leo’s eyes fell to the lips issuing the demand, and he replied, “You want me. I can tell. You find me as fascinating as I find you.”
“And what makes you think that?”
Leo raised his eyes, and his breath caught at the light in Alasdair’s. “Your eyes. They were glowing that time you were with the other male, Vasilios. When he was kissing you and sucking you. They’re glowing now. They do that because you’re turned on, am I right?”
Alasdair lowered those eyes down his body, and Leo’s erection ached under the inspection.
”You also said as much,” he continued, not to be dissuaded. “You never attend that thing we went to tonight. But then, when we arrived, you told everyone I was yours. And what about that cuff lying on the floor in my bedroom? You know, the one you used to parade me around like I was your latest—”
Alasdair shifted and leaned in the distance separating them to whisper, “Fuck?”
“Yes.” Leo barely breathed as the tips of those frightening as fuck teeth grazed across the curve of his lower lip. And when Alasdair stroked the back of his fingers down his cheek, a shiver of pure lust snaked through Leo’s veins.
He was sure he was about to remember how to speak when Alasdair moved his mouth to the corner of his and asked, “Is that what you want, Leonidas? To lie on your back, spread your legs, and let me inside you whenever I desire? Or how about we skip the bed altogether and I take you against whatever is near? Hmm? Are you sure your cock isn’t speaking for your head, file mou? Because, yes. Se thelo. And if I have you, I will not let you go until I am done.”