“Blood Bound”
2011 Copyright All Rights Reserved
Chapter 7
Leo lifted Shelby into his arms. She succumbed to the darkness once again and it confounded him to no end as to why she was awake in the first place. During a conversion, a newly made vampire would typically sleep through most of the seventy two hour process with the exception of the required feedings.
So why did she wake in the first place?
Leo tucked his little bride to be back in the bed and sat down beside her. Taking his hand, he lightly caressed her cheek and reveled in the simple softness of her skin underneath his fingertips. It was such a small pleasure, one that he would have never gave a second thought to in the past but one that he yearned for now.
The beautiful blond had changed Leo. Changed him in ways that he had never thought about before. He had always thought if frivolous and silly when his siblings found their life partners and then there was the way they always seemed to look into each others eyes as if the other hung the moon. Before he thought it was all non-sense, a devil’s trickery.
But now.... now he got it. Having Shelby in his bed has changed his entire perspective on life, what was important and what was not so important. Shelby was his life now. She was the one soul that his heart beat for and there wasn’t much that he would not do to make his bride happy.
Bending over her still sleeping form, Leo gently pressed a kiss on her forehead and caught the heavenly scent of her blood calling out to him. It was such a earthy rich scent that Leo suddenly had to force himself to stand up and back away from Shelby.
He had yet to feed himself and the enticing scent was so strong that if he lingered he knew that he would not be able to stop himself from taking what he wanted and that would not be good. Feeding from his sweet Shelby right now would be detrimental to her, she was still too weak and there was no way that he could chance taking too much from her at this point.
Not when she was so close to finally being his.
But the scent was so irresistible. It was tempting him, calling to him and his fangs elongated at the prospect of just taking a small sip from her vein. One sip, his inner beast taunted, just one small sip to wet the pallet. Swallowing hard past the fire that was now burning in the back of his throat and then blowing out a deep breath, Leo knew he needed to get out of that room. He needed to distance himself from his dark Angel before he unknowingly did something that he would come to regret later.
His control was hanging by a thin thread and for a moment that lack of restraint caught him off guard. He had always been one of strict composure and perfect countenance.
So what's wrong with me now?
The lithe little blond lying in his bed had somehow broken through those carefully composed walls and quickly shattered all of his reasoning in one felt swoop. He had no control when it came to her and that scared the living hell out him.
With a wave of his hand, Leo dissolved into the shadows of the darkness and went in search for his servant. Ric had to have corralled him some food by now, at least he better have if he knew what was good for him. Leo was not a man of patience, especially the way his hunger was currently riding him so damn hard right now.
“Ric,” Leo called out when he reappeared in his true form down in the foyer of his home. He cocked his head to the side and listened for an answer. He was met with nothing, silence. Leo then quickly made strides from one room to the next in search of the one man who was supposed to be as his beck and call.
Not finding him when he needed him the most was starting to really piss him off.
“Ric, where the hell are you?” He called out much louder this time with irritation flooding his voice.
“You called?,” Ric asked coming up from behind him.
Leo turned around and stared down at Ric. “Yes, several times in fact. Where have you been?” He asked impatiently.
Ric stepped forward but was careful to keep his gaze adverted. “I have been in the basement sir. Is there something that you need?”
Eyeing Ric, Leo released a breath and closed his eyes. Yeah, he needed something alright. he needed his little bride in every way imaginable, both casual and intimate.
But alas, it was too soon.
Opening up his ink black eyes Leo pinned his gaze on Ric and in a cool tone that he wasn’t really feeling in the least little bit he asked, “Did you get me a feeder?”
"Of course," he replied swiftly. "That is why I was in the basement." Ric lifted his head up to Leo and watched him through cautionary eyes. He sensed that his master was on edge and that wasn't like him. Leo has always been the epitome of impenetrable demeanor. But right now, he was nothing like usual self.
His eyes were continually darting this way and that. The constant disappearances to his room where he sat vigil over a repulsive human of all things was inebriating. Humans were the bottom links of the food chain. They were only good for one thing and one thing only, sustenance for their kind. They were the almighty rulers of the night and yet Leo has made plans to marry one. He was already bringing her over to the other side and to top it off, Leo expects him to bow down at her every wish and command.
Well, his master was sorely mistaking if he thought that Ric would bow to any human, his pet or not. It would be a cold day in hell before he lowered himself to that level. A cold day indeed.
Leo grunted but said nothing else in passing as he swept by Ric and headed for the basement. He needed to sate his hunger so that he could get back to his Shelby and the sooner that it happened the better off he'd be.
Ric stared at the back of his master while he retreated down the stairs and knew exactly why he wasn't himself. The human must of somehow bewitched him. She must possess some type of dark magic, a different type of mind control. Why else would his master, the man that he has looked up to all these years fall for such a meager excuse of a being.
That had to be it, Ric mused, it was the only reasonable explanation. Ric knew then that he had to do something. Being his faithful servant, there had to be something that he could do in order to help his Master before he took that sniveling witch as his life partner.
Turning on his heels, Ric rushed up the steps. He had an idea but he needed to make a few calls to see if he could pull it together. His master needed him now more than ever and he would not fail him. Not this time, not with with his reputation on the line. He would save Leo and his family the disgrace that the puny human would surely bring, somehow he would find a way.
Leo opened the heavy steel door that led to the holding room he kept in the basement. There were times when he needed this room in order to hold certain people, or rather beings and the stainless steel door was a strong deterrent to most of the "others" that walked the earth.
Stepping into the room he immediately spotted the bald headed man that was furiously pacing back and forth like a caged lion ready to attack. The simpleton rounded on Leo and with malevolence etched in his face and angrily said "Who the hell are you?"
Leo wanted to smile. He could feel his underlying fear and could imagine what the human was seeing. Although the balding man covered with the poorly made tattoo's probably weighed around two hundred pounds, give or take a pound, he was no match for Leo.
Leo towered over the man and in any other instance he would have enjoyed playing with his food, engorging himself not only on the blood that would nourish his body but also feeding his soul with the mans fear and anxiety. It was a power trip that vampires tended to indulge in but now was not the time. This time, Leo needed to get right on down to business and then return to his lovely.
"I," Leo stated and casually walked towards the man who tried so hard to look big and bad but failed in comparison, "Am about to be your worst nightmare."
With those words being said Leo grabbed the man by the neck and slammed his back against the wall. The balding guy's eyes flew wide open as he struggled to reach out for the assailant holding him. It was a lost cause though, his strength paled in comparison to that of Leo's.
"Please," the man begged pitifully. "Don't hurt me. I will do anything for you, I'll...-I'll kiss your feet, Just please, let me go." The man bawled like a baby and for a second Leo thought about how this was such a disgraceful way to go. Why couldn't the man suck it up and die with some dignity.
Leo then let out a dark laugh that would probably haunt the balding man into his next life just before taking his free hand and splaying it across the mans face. In one quick movement he roughly turned the mans head to the side, exposing the throbbing pulse of the balding mans neck.
This was exactly what he needed right now, the thrill of the kill, the taking of a life. It was what a vampire lived for. The utter control over another being, the hold over one's life. The choice was his to make, live or die, and for this particular man, Leo chose death.
Opening his mouth wide Leo felt the lengthening of his fangs and wasted no time in biting soundly and deeply into the balding mans jugular. There was a faint scream that echoed in the room for several minutes while Leo drawled off the mans life force until eventually there was no sounds other than the gurgling of his own swallowing.
When Leo had finally drained the last drop of hemoglobin and there was nothing left to the balding man but a shell of an existence, he dropped the man to the floor with a thud. Using the back of his hand he wiped the red evidence from his mouth and was already feeling a hundred percent better.
Now he could gift his little bride with an offering of sustenance and that brought on a true simile to his face. Nothing made Leo more happier than providing for his Shelby. Giving her the gift of immortality was his pleasure and soon enough she would thank him for the special gift that she had received. When that time came he knew that all of the patient waiting and all of the wanting would be well worth it.
Leaving the room, Leo didn't even look back. He had been gone way to long from his Shelby and soon it would be time to rouse her and let her feed once more. He was also still slightly bothered by the fact that she had waken earlier and even though he had not sensed any other distress coming from her, he didn't want to take any chances, not when it came to his Shelby.
Walking down the hall, Leo had found himself in a much better mood, more light hearted. He even found himself whistling as he approached his bedroom door. Just as he got ready to open the door, Leo placed his palms on the wood and took a quick inventory on Shelby's current state. He didn't want to walk in on anything and be un-prepared as he was earlier.
Satisfied that she was in fact asleep, Leo opened the door and tip toed in the room. As soon as he walked in the room his eyes fell on Shelby's sleeping form and that was all that he could see. As quietly as possible he went to her side and carefully took a seat on the bed beside her. For several long moments, he was content to just sit there and watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest. It was when he went to brush some of the loose strands of her hair back off of her face that he was suddenly startled.
"Do you want to explain to me what the hell you are doing?"
Leo jumped back off the bed and whirled around only to face the darkness in the corners of his room. A moment later he watched on as his mother emerged from the shadows. For all of the arrogance and pomposity that Isabella Risso possessed, not a stipend of it was showing now. No, from the look on her face she was incensed and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.