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The sound, one he hadn’t heard for a thousand years, was a thunderous boom in his ears.

No. You’re fucking shitting me.

Chapter Three

WaitinginBlackmore’soffice,Leah resisted the urge to fuss with the edge of her skirt. They’d taken the elevator back up to the top floor, which housed Blackmore’s office and living quarters.

The corridor outside was lined with soft and thick carpet. Paintings she’d only heard about in the art class she had impulsively taken in college hang on the walls. She wished she could get a chance to take her time to properly enjoy those paintings.

Blackmore’s office had a heavy wooden shelf propped against the right wall. It carried large leatherbound books interspersed with intricate-looking sculptures. The seating space was inviting, with a leather sofa and a coffee table, perfect for a lazy conversation, maybe even letting your guard down, not something you’d want to do in a vampire’s office.

She took up Clement’s offer to sit when they arrived, testing out the sofa’s plushness, but not giving in to the comfort. After a few seconds, she stood up, unable to stay sitting in anticipation of meeting one of the most powerful vampires in the States, if not the world.

There was a small fridge beside the sofa with a microwave on top. It confused her, since vampires didn’t eat, until she realized it must hold bottled blood for whenever they needed a quick drink.

Shivering, Leah turned her attention to the large mahogany desk in front of the floor to ceiling windows, which framed the city’s beautiful skyline. The desk was empty except for the small slit for the screen projector.

She couldn’t imagine Julian Blackmore in this office, with its expensive, modern furniture. He belonged on a battlefield in armor, wielding a two-handed broad sword or claws, as he preferred those, to cut down his foes.

Despite her calm exterior, her insides were twisted in knots. After that little show underground, only a crazy person would want to meet Julian Blackmore. She had no desire to die if she could help it.

The vampires could rip her into pieces in the blink of an eye if she wasn’t careful. Somehow the danger of this assignment hadn’t truly registered until she’d witnessed the bloodbath. Now, the survivor in her, the part that refused to give up, raised its baleful head.

She would survive. She had to.

The door to the adjoining room slid open. Leah’s heart jumped to her throat, then pounded a million times per second as Julian Blackmore stalked out.

Before she could process the beautiful and lethal creature before her, he raised his eyes. A stunning icy blue.

That was all that crossed her mind before the blue flashed red. Blackmore’s lips peeled back in a guttural growl, his fangs flashing.

The hairs on the back of her neck bristled.Run! Run!Her survival instincts screamed.

She didn’t know she’d dropped to her knees until she found herself glancing up at Blackmore, who was only inches away from her. Vaguely, she noticed Clement was in the same position. Forced to his knees by a strength he couldn’t resist, his body trembling. Seeing a vampire in a similar position didn’t lessen the humiliation. Her face heated as shame and anger fought for control.

Now she understood why the Organization existed. Why it wanted to eliminate vampires.

These creatures, these things, had the strength to bring humanity to its knees. If they wished, they could enslave the entire human population.

That flash of power was proof enough. A power so menacing, so raw and all-consuming, it was beyond her comprehension. Her body had reacted while her mind had been unaware.

That power shouldn’t exist in this world.

When the pressure lessened, she struggled back to her feet.

He was big. Massive. His muscular frame vibrated with restrained power. She was certain Blackmore had lost control for that one second.

Feeling crowded and suddenly very hot, Leah stepped back. She didn’t want to study the flawless male specimen before her, didn’t want to consider the meaning of the heat coiling within her. Though she’d felt desire earlier with the other vampires, it had been weak, a byproduct of the vampires’ nature.

With Blackmore, it was different. Her skin was stretched too tight across her body. Her clothes too constricting. She wanted nothing more than to strip and pleasure him and receive pleasure in return.

Leah scowled at herself. Pleasure? Where was that coming from? She’d had sex with Dmitri, but that was out of necessity. It hadn’t been enjoyable.

“Welcome, Miss Davis.” The innocent words, spoken in his sensual voice, caressed her skin, bringing images of two bodies tangled together in a dance as old as time, of nights filled with nothing but desire and endless pleasure, jerked her out of her thoughts like a hammer bashing in her skull.

It was impossible to resist. As if in a trance, Leah lifted her gaze to the striking face before her.

It was harsh, with a conqueror’s savageness that instilled fear. His hair was trimmed short on either side except for the thick, dark-blond locks brushed back atop his head. The haircut emphasized his strong bone structure. Thick brows arched over a pair of deep-set eyes the color of Arctic ice. Wild emotions roiled within them that reminded her of a storm at sea. The neatly trimmed beard did nothing to hide his square jawline and only made his mouth seem crueler. If you passed him on the street, you’d give him a wide berth and pray that he was not coming for you.