Page 22 of Claim of Blood (Blood Bound #1)
Adam guided them back to Leo’s rooms and gestured to a low lounger. “What’s troubling you?”
Leo’s laugh had a desperate edge. “What’s wrong? Everything’s wrong. My family is just gone. Not just gone—deliberately gone. No hunter sightings in PDC at all?” He shot to his feet, pacing the length of the lounger. “They’ve abandoned me.”
Leo paced like a caged animal, his bare feet whispering across the rug, fingers flexing and curling as if itching for weapons he no longer carried. His voice had shifted—no longer sharp, just raw. Bruised.
Adam said nothing, letting the storm run its course, cataloging every fractured breath and every tremor that passed through Leo’s frame.
Leo’s hands raked through his hair, movements growing more agitated.
“I never—I didn’t even want to be a hunter.
But it was something I could do. Something I understood.
It gave me purpose, direction.” He spun to face Adam, his eyes bright.
“And now what? I’m here, with you, and I can’t—I can’t even think straight sometimes.
My body just wants to submit, to yield, and part of me wants to, and I don’t understand why.
But there’s another part of me that wants to punch you in the face! ”
His voice wavered. “Everything I knew, everything that made sense—even if I didn’t love it—at least I understood it.
And now...” He gestured helplessly. “Now I’m sleeping with a vampire.
Not just any vampire—one of the most powerful vampires in existence.
And I can’t even blame mind control, because I want to be here. And that terrifies me even more.”
Leo sank back onto the lounger, the fight seeming to drain out of him.
“Nothing makes sense anymore. Not what I was taught about vampires. Not my family’s reaction.
Not my own feelings.” His voice dropped to a whisper.
“At least as a hunter, I knew what I was supposed to do. Who I was supposed to be. Now I’m just..
. adrift. What am I supposed to do? What is my life now? ”
“The past few days have been overwhelming—” Adam began.
“Overwhelming? You think?” Leo cut in sharply. “Did your family abandon you to monsters?” He flinched at his own words. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Actually,” Adam interrupted quietly, “they did.”
Leo stilled.
“Our village had been without rain for months. They blamed my... preferences. Called it a condemnation from the gods.” Adam’s voice grew distant, remembering.
“They tied me to a rock as a sacrifice. That’s where Merytre found me, slowly working my way free of the ropes.
I had no intention of dying there. She freed me, took me in, taught me what she knew.
Together, we attempted the first conversion, to see if it would work. ” His lips curved slightly. “It did.”
“I didn’t know that about you,” Leo said softly. A harsh laugh escaped him. “No hunter clan knows anything about you, do they? Finding you in Porte du Coeur was just luck on their part.”
“Apart from my oldest siblings and the other first-generation vampires, no one knows this story,” Adam confirmed.
“And that’s all right. I’m old, Leo. I’ve long since forgiven my family their ignorance.
” He paused, studying Leo’s face. “I am sorry you lost your life, but I’m offering you a new one—just as I was given a new one beside Merytre. ”
“You’re forcing a new one on me,” Leo shot back, his amber eyes flashing with stubborn defiance.
Adam was quiet for a moment, taking him in.
In just days, Leo had upended centuries of careful routine.
The pull that had drawn them together from the first moment in the coffee shop wasn’t simply desire.
It was something ancient and magical, something that resonated in Adam’s blood like a forgotten melody suddenly remembered.
“We both felt the pull,” Adam said finally, his voice softening.
“Neither of us chose it. But here we are.” He shifted slightly on the lounger, angling his body toward Leo without crowding him.
“I’ve existed for millennia, Leo. I’ve watched empires rise and fall, seen wonders and horrors your history books have forgotten.
And in all that time, I’ve never felt a connection like this. ”
Leo’s pulse jumped, but he didn’t look away.
“I can offer you things your family never could,” Adam continued.
“Freedom, for one. Freedom to be exactly who you are.” He let the words hang between them, knowing Leo would understand what he meant.
“No more hiding your writing. Your novels. No more pretending you were someone you weren’t to meet their expectations—expectations chained to blood and doctrine. ”
Leo’s gaze dropped to his hands. “Freedom in a gilded cage is still a cage.”
“For now,” Adam acknowledged. “But this doesn’t have to be a prison sentence, beauty.
It could be an opportunity.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, hands loosely clasped.
“You’re more than what they made you. I see it.
The Court will see it too, if you let them.
You could be a weapon. A shield. Something new entirely. ”
“An opportunity for what?” Leo asked, wariness and curiosity mingling in his voice.
“The Court needs new perspectives. Fresh eyes. We’ve existed for centuries—some of us for millennia.
It’s easy to become... stagnant.” Adam let his hand fall.
“You see things differently. You ask questions we’ve forgotten to ask.
Your books—yes, I’ve read your mysteries—show how keenly you observe the world.
How well you understand people’s motivations. ”
Leo straightened beside him, surprise flickering in his expression. “You’ve read my books?”
Adam’s lips curved. “I bought them all after we spoke in the coffee shop.” His smile faded. “Your family underestimated you. They never recognized your true value.” He lifted his gaze, voice steady. “I do.”
“As what? A pet hunter? A trophy?” Leo shifted on the lounger, the cushion dipping between them.
“As a partner,” Adam said simply.
He watched the conflict play across Leo’s face—doubt, temptation, fear, hope.
“We’re bound together now,” Adam said. “We can fight it and make ourselves miserable, or we can build something meaningful from it. The choice—at least in part—is yours.”
Leo looked up, meeting his gaze. “And if I choose to leave?”
“You can’t,” Adam said, his voice low but honest. “Not yet. Maybe not for a long time. The claim won’t allow it—neither will I.
” He turned fully toward Leo on the lounger, their knees touching.
“But you can choose how you live within these walls. As a prisoner, bitter and resentful. Or as something more.” He reached for Leo’s hands, covering them with his own.
“I don’t want your submission from fear or compulsion.
I want your partnership. Your mind. Your heart. ”
Leo’s pulse fluttered beneath his palms. “You’re asking a lot from someone whose family you just tore them away from.”
“Your family abandoned you, beauty. I claimed you,” Adam corrected gently. “There’s a difference. One you’ll come to understand.” He squeezed Leo’s hands before letting them go. “Think about what I’ve said. About what we could build together—if you’re willing.”
The silence between them stretched, full of unspoken questions and possibilities.
Adam could hear Leo’s heartbeat gradually slowing, his breathing deepening as he processed everything.
The pull between them hummed like a live wire, but Adam forced himself to stand.
Despite what his instincts demanded—to stay close, to soothe, to claim again—he knew Leo needed space.
Time to adjust without his constant presence pressing at every thought.
“I need to attend to some work matters,” Adam said. “You have free run of the house, though you won’t be permitted to leave the grounds. You may enter the vampire court below, but you will have a guardian.”
Leo’s head snapped up, the momentary vulnerability replaced by a flash of anger. “Not a prisoner, right? Just a partner who can’t leave and needs constant supervision.”
Adam paused, recognizing the contradiction in his own words. “The restrictions are temporary. Necessary.”
“Necessary for whom?” Leo challenged, rising to face him. “You talk about partnership while giving me house arrest and a babysitter.”
“For your protection,” Adam said evenly, though possessiveness threatened to slip into his voice.
“Your family may be gone, but there are other hunters. Other threats. And members of my own Court who might see you as leverage.” He stepped closer, meeting Leo’s glare without flinching.
“I’ve made enemies in four thousand years, Leo.
Until I know you can protect yourself in our world, these precautions stay. ”
Leo’s jaw tightened. “So much for choice.”
“You have choices,” Adam countered softly. “Just not that one. Not yet.” He reached out, brushing a lock of auburn hair from Leo’s forehead. He was pleased when Leo didn’t flinch. “Earn my trust. Learn our ways. Your leash will lengthen.”
Leo’s gaze held his, defiance flickering. But beneath it was something else—resignation or perhaps the first fragile seed of understanding. He looked away, sinking back onto the lounger. “Go attend to your ‘work matters,’ then,” he muttered, the words brittle but lacking their earlier heat.
Adam lingered a moment longer, weighing whether to press or retreat. The bond pulled at him, urging him to stay, to soothe, to claim. But centuries of discipline held. Leo needed time. And Adam needed distance to think clearly.
With a nod, he turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him.