"Blood Bound"

2011 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 12

Shelby opened her eyes and quickly swallowed a gasp.  

Leo lay asleep mere  inches from her face.  His arms wound tightly around her waist, holding her to him.  His inviting warmth surrounded her smaller frame and with his hypnotic scent engulfing her, she felt slightly light headed and dizzy.

What was it about this man that called to her, she wondered as she watched him sleep.  In this state he almost seemed- human.  His face was so majestic in stature but yet there was a delicate balance in the lines that evened it all out, making him much more approachable. 

He was an extremely  handsome man, she thought to herself.  He had not changed at all from the first time that she could remember seeing him.  She was only ten years old at the time but his face was one that she would never forget.  Even now, eleven years later, he was the mirror image of the Knight that saved her all those years ago.  He hadn't aged a single day. 

Before she could think about it, Shelby found herself lifting her hand to his face, tracing the tops of his brows.  His skin felt so smooth under her fingertips, smooth as silk and yet hard as stone.  She let her fingers follow the lines of his cheek all the way down until they settled on his lips.  

She lightly ran her thumb across his plump lips; her dream from the night before burning bright in her memory.  The things that they she had imagined they had done together, the intimacy, had color rising in her cheeks. 

Before Leo, Shelby had not even kissed a guy and now, just after a short time of being with him, she was having the most indecently erotic dreams about the man. 

But it felt so real.  So real in fact, that her body was still tingling from the after effects.

Leo's dark eyes opened, his midnight stare trained solely on her.  Shelby was so lost in her own thoughts, focused on his tempting mouth,  that she had not realized when he had awakened.

He smiled at first.  Her eyes flying up to his at the slightest movement.  She startled, quickly pulling her hand to her chest.

"I'm sorry," she apologised and looked down.  After that dream she found it hard to meet his stare.

Leo pulled her even closer to him, leaning in and lightly brushing his lips against hers.  "Don't be sorry," he whispered.  "I like when you touch me."

Shelby tried to pull out of his arms.  "I shouldn't be this close to you,' she insisted.  Her body was going crazy.  That small kiss was nothing but a tease to her. She wanted more, so much more.  She wanted his lips all over her body, his hands exploring her most feminine parts. 

"Oh god," she muttered, covering her eyes with her hands.  She pulled herself up into a sitting position and turned away, completely stricken by the way her body was reacting to him. 

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, genuinely perplexed by her sudden withdrawal.  He placed a hand on her back only wanting to calm her.

Shelby flinched at his touch.  She needed to leave, put some space between them so that she could figure out what was going on in her own mind.  It was hard for her to process what he was, what she now was.  She just wanted to be alone to figure things out.

"Forget it," Leo growled, reading his brides thoughts.  He slumped back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling.  "You are not going anywhere."  There was no way that he would let her leave him now.  She was his.  After last night, he had hoped they had finally crossed this bridge.

Shelby whipped her head back around, pinning him with his stare, "How did you know what I was thinking?"

Leo tapped his head with his finger.  "Another perk of immortality my sweet.  We can read minds."

Her eyes widened with intrigue, "We can..."

"Read minds," he sat up and finished the sentence for her.  Leo, seeing her curiosity, sat up and grabbed her hands, enfolding them in his own. "Close your eyes and imagine that your mind is an onion."

Shelby dropped her chin and gave him that 'you have got to be kidding me' look.

Leo sighed, "Trust me," he told her and squeezed her hands before adding, "Close your eyes for me......pweasse." He even pulled out the puppy dog eyes.

Shelby wanted to laugh but huffed instead and closed her eyes.  "This is crazy," she murmurred more to herself than Leo.

He chuckled.  "Alright, now picture your mind as an onion and slowly start to peel it back, layer by layer until you get to the core and your mind is totally blank."

She did as he asked, pictured an onion and imagined herself peeling it layer by layer.  She felt pretty stupid doing it but his voice was was strangely compelling and soon enough she felt like her mind had been stripped bare and there was nothing there but - complete emptiness.

"Are you there yet?" He asked, his tone as charming as a snake.

Shelby nodded her head, enjoying the blissful nothingness of her mind.  

"Now, imagine that you have tentacles and reach out to me.  Try and read what's in my mind.  What am I thinking my sweet?"  Leo let his thumbs work in small circles on the back of her hands, soothing her into a trance like state.  Soon enough she would be able to do this as easy as she could tell time but that first time was always a bitch.

She did as he told her.  She stretched out her tentacles, aiming for his mind but it was like reaching out into a deep ocean.  Something was out there; out in the distance but she couldn't reach it.  Her tentacles only floated through the air with no destination in sight.

Frustrated, she jerked her hands away from his and opened her eyes.  "I can't do this," she snapped.

Leo grabbed her stubborn chin. "Yes you can," he told her, his eyes boring into hers.  "Now try again---close your eyes Shelby."

She stuck out her bottom lip in an adorable pout and dang if he didn't want to kiss that pout right off of her face but he wanted her to learn how to do this more.  He wanted her to learn something advantageous about her nature so that maybe she would quit fighting him at every turn.

Taking a deep breath he released her chin. "Close your eyes and imagine the onion.  Clear your mind sweet and reach for me.  I'm right here, all you have to do is come and get me."

"Finnnnne," she groaned.  Closing her eyes, she brought back up the onion and meticulously peeled back the layers.  The tentacles rose up from the center and she pushed them out, stretching them as far as she could.  They wound through space and this time, this time the fog didn't come, instead she pushed straight through a barrier and scenes like a movie flashed in her mind. 

The same scenes from her dream.  The sandy beach, Leo''s hard body covering hers, them moving together in perfect synchronization.  Shocked, she pulled back, opened her eyes and jumped off the bed. 

"How..what....did- but that was my dream," she stuttered, not understanding at all what she had just seen.

Leo stood up as well, in all his glory, naked as the day as he was born.  Shelby, beyond shocked now and quickly heading for the hill of humiliation, turned her back on him.  "What the hell are you doing?" She quipped.

"I'm coming to you," he answered, standing behind her.  He was so close that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.  "You're my bride Shelby, that was our dream and it was very much real to me."

She glanced over her shoulder, Leo's face right there, next to hers. 

'Sshh," he said, turning her around to face him. 

"But;" she started to protest and Leo shook his head, placing a finger to her mouth.  "It's done and you're mine my sweet.  No more fighting me."

Shelby's body thrummed with excitement from him being so close to him.  She craved him, that much she could not deny and that scared the living hell out of her.  She had never been dependent on anyone before and to suddenly feel like she had to have this man like she needed air to breathe was a rude awakening.

She tried to step back but Leo only followed her movements.  He would not give her the space that she was looking for.  The battle was warring in her eyes and he could see that she was on the precipitous of acceptance.  

Her back hit the wall.  There was no where else for her to go.  Leo didn't hesitate, he dipped his head and took her mouth.  She instantly obliged him in a passionate kiss that was scorching hot and had both of them panting breathlessly at the end.

"Say it Shelby, tell me that you are mine," he growled.

Shelby tired of fighting it and drunk off of his taste, looked up into his inky black eyes and whispered those words that he had so longed to hear, "Yours Leo, I am yours."

His heart swelled with utter joy as she laid her head against his shoulder.  She accepted him.  If he never received anything else in his life, he would be happy.  Shelby was all that he needed.  She was his lifeline, his soul and he would do anything to ensure that she experienced nothing but happiness throughout the rest of eternity.  Anything. 

For several long minutes they both just stood there, holding each other, in the quiet of the room.  Shelby looked up and placed her hand on his chest, "Leo?"

He looked down at his beautiful bride, her dark eyes radiating back up at him, "What is is my sweet?"

Shelby swallowed nervously, unsure of how he would react to what she was about to ask him.   "I want-- I mean can I get some things from my apartment."

He shrugged, "Okay."

"Really?" She hadn't expected him to be so cooperative.  She thought, well hell, she didn't know what she thought.  Maybe that he would jump down her throat and leave her locked in the room all night.

"I would never do anything like that," Leo replied after reading her thoughts.  He was actually offended that she thought he would do something like that to her.  "If you want to go and retrieve your things, then we'll go.  I only want to see you smile my sweet.  Your smile is my Sunshine.  It brightens up both my days and nights."

Shelby couldn't stop the grin that spread on her face, it started at the corners of her lips and went clear up to her ears.  "That is the most romantic thing that anyone has ever said to me."

Leo touched her cheek and grunted, "Babe, you ain't seen nothing yet."  He snapped his finger and in the blink of an eye he was fully dressed. 

Shelby had briefly forgotten that he had been standing there so close to her in the buff .  Cocking her head to the side, she eyed his fitted black jeans, matching black tee shirt that was drawn tightly over his chest and the shit kickers on his feet.  She had to admit to feeling a tinge of regret after seeing him all covered back up.

"Ready?" Leo asked, clearly amused by the way that she was watching him.

Shelby shook her head, "Huh?"

He laughed and pulled her into his arms.   "I asked if you were ready to go to your apartment and get some of your things?"

She blinked up at him, "Now?"

Squeezing her to him he placed a kiss on her temple. "Why not?" he leaned back and asked, "But, we'll have to travel my way."

She looked at him and furrowed her brow.  She was pretty sure that he was referring to the flashy thing that he had done the night before and she was not looking forward to that.

"Do we have to?" She looked away from him, her stomach already starting to do back flips in anticipation.

"Afraid so.  Your apartment is in Paris and we're in Italy.  It's the only viable way."  He looked at her sheepishly and noticed that she was a little green around the gills.  "Close your eyes," he told her, "And hold your breath."

Shelby glanced up, giving him a questionable look.  "Trust me," he urged and pulled her head down to his shoulder. 

"Three.... two..... one...." he counted aloud, waved his hand and shrouded them in a cloak of darkness.  Seconds later they reappeared in the center of her apartment.

"Dammit-" Leo cursed when something nailed him in his midsection.  With his breath knocked out of him, Leo was forced to release Shelby and stumbled backwards, clutching his throbbing side.

Two males, shifters, from what he could tell grabbed Shelby roughly by the arms and jerked her back, pushing her up against the wall.

Leo's sanity snapped.  He crouched on the floor and curled back his lips, baring his fangs.  A deadly hiss escaped his mouth and that was his only warning.

A second later, all hell broke loose.

A/N  First off sorry for the delay-  hit a road block on this one, but think I unblocked it :)  Think is the operative word in that sentence.  Not sure how I feel on this chapter....It's a coin toss for me... What do you guys think?? Keep or scratch and try again???