Page 20 of Sassy Embrace
Leigh grunted. She couldn't help it. “Am I really that appalling to you?”
They were standing back to back under the gleam of fluorescent lights, the kind that construction services installed before the electrical was wired in, and turned to face one another at the same time.
Their heads nearly collided, and Leigh felt herself move toward him like a gravitational pull. Her eyes closed, and she felt him draw backward like a slingshot.
Her eyes snapped open.
“Apparently I was right," she hissed. “I’m not needed here. The employees we hire can do this shit.”
A funnel of embarrassment and outrage passed through Leigh like a harsh breeze. She tried to turn away, knowing that no good would come from facing her rejection head-on, when Claude grabbed her by the wrist.
At first, the touch was abominable. He pulled her back, and her chest nearly smacked into his. It was forceful, but there was compassion behind it. The delight came next like fireworks in a milky sky.
“Let me go,”she snarled instinctively.
“Leigh, listen to me for a second, please."
The desperation in his voice gave her pause.
His eyes had gone flat and dark like small slices of onyx. It held her still, stable.
“Leigh, you’re needed here. Please believe me. I’m not good at this kind of thing. I’m not a social creature in the slightest. Being a vampire already makes me naturally predisposed to the quieter, more observational side. And my personality makes it worse."
His voice cracked with frustration, and his fingers slipped from her wrist. Leigh stood frozen in the entryway of the bar, watching him with the curiosity of an explorer watching the majesty of a bald eagle. Her heart raced maddeningly fast.
“Go on," she muttered.
“I wish I was some suave, charismatic, lady's man," he said, rubbing his face with his hand and chuckling. "But I'm not at all. I’ve been trying to find time all day to say something to you. But clearly, I failed.”
Leigh sighed. It wasn’t in her nature to be patient, especially with men. But whatever was going on inside her, it was winning. And she really didn't mind at all. She was surprised to hear the delicacy of her own voice when she spoke.
“What do you want to say about what happened between us?” she asked. “I’m assuming you regret it. That it was an astoundingly stupid idea in the first place."
Claude smiled. His teeth were staggeringly white, and she imagined the elongated blades of his canines when the bloodthirst took over.
“Absolutely not. Leigh, that was the best sex I’ve ever had in my life. And vampires live a long, long time. I can’t stop thinking about it. You’ve bewitched me.”
He chuckled. Leigh swallowed, the words like sugar on her tongue.
“Then why did you pull away?"
Claude tilted his head. She stared at him, eyes trailing over the clean, smooth surface of his jawline and brawny cheekbones. She imagined touching it would be like grazing over marble.
“Because how I feel about you is so strong. I feel possessed. I know that once I kiss you, I won't be able to stop at just that. I need you.I need all of you."
His voice sank into a sultry bite that she recalled from their first entanglement. It straddled the border of aggression and romance that Leigh knew she could no longer resist.
She approached him with unyielding resolve. Her hands crawled up to the collar of his shirt and began to slowly unbutton it. He watched her with gentle eyes, his own certainty palpable throughout the dim room.
“That sounds perfectly all right with me,” she said.
“Leigh…” he growled.
“Fuck me now. Fuck me right now. I need you to."
Claude pushed her hands away from his shirt and took her face in his hands. He crushed her mouth with his own, and the two let out an animalistic moan. All at once, Leigh’s clothes were being stripped from her, as were Claude’s, their mouths gnawing with anguished arousal.
“God, Leigh, I fucking want you,” Claude snarled as he ripped the shirt off her back.