He tugged and she nearly tripped in the tight-fitting skirt. Still keeping her voice low, since she had no idea if the rooms were soundproofed, she ordered, "Let me go. I can walk on my own."
His gaze raked her from head to toe. And unlike with the ogling males earlier, it wasn't revulsion but heat that surged through her body. "Well, you won't be able to run away in that dress, so I suppose I should thank Nora for dressing you in it."
Nora took a step toward them. "Go back to work, Leo. I can watch over her. We just want to relax in the female area."
He raised an eyebrow at that, and some sort of nonverbal communication passed between the brother and sister before Leo finally spoke again. "I'll let you show her the female areaafterI talk with her."
Since Nora didn't protest, Yesenia guessed that she was going to be alone with Leo, whether she liked it or not.
He released her hand and she stupidly almost reached to take it back. However, he motioned toward the door he'd just come from, preventing her from doing something stupid. "Follow me, Yesenia. I think we need to lay down a few more rules for you, given what you've already managed to do in such a short time."
Biting her tongue to keep from saying something she might regret—she was going to have to let the male fuck her, after all, and she didn't want him super angry at her—she followed him through the door and back into a more public area of the building.
And despite her best effort to notice the gilded decorations on the walls, or the gas lamps, or all the other pieces that really did scream Victorian England, her gaze was drawn to his long legs, trim hips, and broad shoulders. She couldn't see his ass because of his jacket, but for a split second, she was tempted to lift up the jacket to check him out much like he'd done with her a few minutes before.
He stopped suddenly and she crashed into his back. She righted herself by putting her hands against him, and she felt Leo tense under her fingers.
This close, she could feel his newly reacquired body heat, smell the mixture of male and citrus, and fully took in just how much taller and broader of shoulder he was than her.
The sudden urge to press her breasts against him and rub her hard nipples on his delicious firm back flashed through her mind, but she instantly stepped back, severing contact.
She would sleep with him once, and only once, and then she'd find a way home. River and Meadow needed her again, more than ever. She didn't have time to grow attached to anyone, no matter how sexy he might be.
Leo never turned around to check on her but merely unlocked the door and entered, pausing just inside the room. She stood tall and walked past him and finally stood behind the fancy sofa—something maybe a grandmother might have in their living room with embroidered material and long wooden legs—desperate to keep some sort of small barrier between them.
He shut and locked the door, and Yesenia's heart rate kicked up.Remember, he can't physically hurt you because you're his bride, Yesenia. Remember the steel. He reacts well to that.
Except when she'd stood up to him earlier, she hadn't just touched the strong muscles of his back or been inundated with his scent. But somehow she managed to tame her hormones and kept her shoulders high. "Are you going to scold me again or actually talk with me this time?"
He raised a dark eyebrow. "You're in my building, alone and helpless, if your earlier demands are any indication. What I say goes. However…"
At the intensity of his gaze, followed by another slow perusal of her body, her face flushed and nipples tightened. She pressed her thighs together, trying to suppress the sudden ache there, as she asked, "However what?"
He took a step toward her. "If you want a few more boons from me, you could give me a sample of your blood."
She placed her hands instinctively over her neck. "No claiming me until you meet my conditions."
He took another step forward. "No, not from your neck, not yet." His gaze moved to her hands. "For now, I'd merely like a taste from your finger."
On the surface, it sounded like nothing. It was much harder to drain someone to death from their finger.
However, Yesenia had heard stories of what grazes from a vampire's fangs did to a person. Some sort of secretion from them caused an orgasm. On top of that, some people even grew addicted to the feeling. Especially since a vampire's saliva closed wounds and helped them to heal, making the entire process nearly painless, if done right.
Her eyes moved to his fangs, which had lengthened slightly. What would one prick feel like?
To feel the instant high, the rush of pleasure, and supposedly some of the strongest orgasms a person could ever have. The pulse at her neck throbbed, as if begging to be nicked and sampled. After all of the shit she'd put up with in the last month or so, she could definitely do with coming by something other than her own hand or favorite vibrator.
No.She quickly tamped down her curiosity. The last thing she needed was to give in to him, lose her current upper hand to get what she wanted, and derail all her plans.
Because no matter how strong the pleasure or orgasm, it wasn't worth her brother’s and sister's lives.
Her voice wasn't as strong as she liked when she answered, "No."
He finally walked around the sofa and stopped right by her side, never touching her, but his heat and scent still made it damn hard to concentrate.
His voice was husky as he said, "What would it take to get you to say yes?" He raised a hand and brushed a stray lock of her hair back from her face, and Yesenia nearly leaned into his rough, warm touch. She wondered why his hands were rough and not soft before he continued, "Neither one of us may have wanted this connection, but there's nothing that says we can't enjoy it a bit until we part ways."
His words broke through her addictive male musk haze and she frowned. "You're just hoping I give in, then you kiss me, and next thing I know, you're biting my neck, stirring up my lust, and claiming me without meeting any of my conditions." She took a step back. "No. I want the things I asked for. Then, and only then, will I let you fuck and bite me. Not before."