Page 28 of Claim of Blood (Blood Bound #1)

Chapter Fourteen

Leo

Leo leaned against the paddock fence, watching two geldings chase each other in playful circles.

The evening air carried the scent of hay and leather.

Stable hands moved efficiently through their routines, barely acknowledging the vampire lounging nearby.

The horses cared even less, focused on their games and the promise of feed.

At least someone around here had a purpose.

Behind him, Lander’s fingers tapped against his tablet—a constant, irritating reminder that he was never alone. Two weeks of this. Two weeks of being watched, followed, babysat like he might spontaneously combust if left alone for five minutes.

The first few days, Leo had told himself Adam was simply busy.

Important vampire business, negotiations with some Belgian company that should have wrapped up quickly but dragged on and on.

Lander apologized constantly. Adam sends his regrets.

He’ll be back late again. The words started to ring hollow.

Especially when Adam returned only after Leo had retreated to his rooms, when Leo pretended to sleep rather than face the awkwardness between them.

What was the point? Adam had claimed him, fucked him senseless in front of Lander, then disappeared into his corporate world like Leo was just another item checked off a list. He was starting to suspect he’d been nothing more than an interesting weekend diversion.

The Night Court hadn’t been unkind. If anything, they’d perfected polite indifference—treating him like an expensive piece of furniture: valuable enough not to damage but too impractical to engage with.

They nodded when he passed in the halls, stepped aside with careful courtesy, and seemed to forget he existed the moment he was out of sight.

Even Lander, for all his dutiful attention, maintained a careful distance. Leo noticed the way the vampire’s jaw tightened when he moved too close, the near-imperceptible step back whenever their hands brushed. Another mystery he wasn’t allowed to understand. Another reminder he didn’t belong here.

The pack had reported hunters passing through Porte du Coeur a few days ago. For one pathetic moment, Leo’s heart had leapt—maybe his family was finally coming for him. Maybe they’d spent these two weeks planning his extraction.

But the hunters moved on. Not his family. Not anyone who gave a damn about Leo von Rothenburg. No rescue, no scouting, no dramatic standoff at the gates. Just... nothing.

The worst part was how much it stung. Two weeks since he’d been taken—joined, he corrected himself bitterly—and they hadn’t even bothered with a token gesture. No message, no sign he mattered enough to warrant concern.

Was he really so expendable?

The question twisted in his gut, competing with the persistent ache that only seemed to grow stronger the longer Adam stayed away.

He didn’t miss most of his family—cold, calculating, varying degrees of cruel—but Felix.

.. Felix, with his quiet curiosity and careful notebooks.

Leo had expected at least a word from his cousin. Anything.

Instead: silence.

Leo exhaled and pressed his forehead to the cool metal rail.

The hollow feeling pulsed stronger, a constant reminder of the bond he barely understood.

According to Lander, separation from a blood match caused pain that only worsened over time.

He was starting to believe it. The dull throb had sharpened into something that made it hard to sleep, hard to focus on anything but the need to seek Adam’s presence.

But Adam was busy. So Leo stayed hidden, nursing hurt pride, even as his body ached for contact.

“You know,” Leo said without looking back, “for a babysitting assignment, you seem pretty miserable, too.”

Lander’s typing paused. “I’m not miserable.”

“You act like being near me is a chore. You flinch when I breathe too loud. And don’t think I haven’t noticed all the Adam’s busy excuses.

Like I should be grateful he remembers I exist.” He turned to face Lander fully.

“So either you drew the short straw on Leo-sitting duty, or there’s something else no one’s explained to the hunter. ”

For a moment, Lander looked like he might answer honestly. Then his expression settled back into professional neutrality.

“Adam values your safety and comfort,” he said evenly. “The negotiations require his full attention.”

“Right.” Leo turned back to the fence, swallowing his frustration. “I’m sure that’s the whole story.”

Silence stretched between them, broken only by the soft sounds of the stables, and Lander’s resumed typing. Leo focused on the geldings, trying to ignore the ache under his breastbone.

“You’ll need to return to him soon,” Lander said eventually, his voice lower. “The pain you’re feeling—it gets worse.”

Leo’s hand went automatically to his chest. “How much worse?”

“My father once tried to travel during the early stages of a claiming bond.” Lander’s jaw tightened. “He made it three days before the pain became... debilitating. For both of them.” He gazed at Leo. “I’ve watched you rub that spot for a week. It’s not going to stop.”

Leo didn’t lift his head. “It’s been two weeks.”

“Adam is powerful,” Lander said. “You need to return to him. Or it will get worse.”

“I can’t think around him,” Leo admitted. “I just become this... submissive thing.”

“Do you hate it?” Lander asked.

The denial hovered on Leo’s tongue, automatic. But then he really considered the question. The way his body responded to Adam’s touch. The certainty. The quiet that came over his mind when he let himself yield.

“No,” he muttered. “I don’t hate it.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I just don’t understand why it doesn’t scare me like it should.”

And that was the problem. When Adam touched him, Leo’s world narrowed to nothing but Adam—his scent, his voice, the hunger in his eyes. It should have terrified him. Every hunter instinct should have screamed in alarm.

Instead, some traitorous part of him craved it. Craved the simplicity of existing only for Adam’s pleasure, of having every decision made for him, of being claimed so completely that nothing else mattered.

“What you and Adam have? That kind of pull is rare,” Lander said. “Most of us—it’s mild. Manageable. What I feel for you—that’s the normal version. What you feel for Adam isn’t.”

Leo closed his eyes. “So I’ve been told. Multiple times.” There was no fighting this. He could stay here, nursing his pride while his body tore itself apart. Or he could face the inevitable.

It wasn’t like the sex was bad. Far from it. Adam had shown him pleasures he hadn’t imagined. The problem was the mindless part—losing himself so completely, becoming nothing but sensation and need.

But maybe that wasn’t the problem he’d convinced himself it was.

He rubbed the ache in his chest and straightened from the rail. The words came out quieter than he intended, almost a plea.

“Take me to Adam?”

Lander didn’t look surprised. He just nodded and started walking toward the golf cart.

Here goes nothing , Leo thought, then amended, Here goes everything.

At the mansion, the energy felt charged, humming along his skin. The moment they stepped inside, everything exploded into motion.

Adam appeared out of nowhere, slamming Lander against the wall. Fangs extended, eyes gone dark and feral. Lander went limp in his grip, toes barely brushing the floor.

“What the fuck!” Leo shouted.

“You took what was mine off the grounds,” Adam snarled, voice guttural.

“He wanted to see the horses,” Lander managed, his throat working.

“I wanted to see the horses!” Leo protested. “Put him down!”

“He is mine,” Adam growled, and his hold tightened.

“He is yours,” Lander whispered. “I am yours.”

“I am yours,” Leo echoed, voice ragged. “Please, Adam.”

The sound of it seemed to reach something behind the hunger. Adam shuddered, drawing in a sharp breath. But the power pouring off him didn’t abate—if anything, it thickened, saturating the air.

Leo’s pulse hammered. His body swayed toward Adam of its own accord, heat spreading low in his belly. This wasn’t the calculating man who’d courted him with careful attention. This was something older. Something that owned him in ways he was only starting to understand.

“Please,” Leo said again, softer.

Adam’s gaze snapped to him. The feral edge softened just enough. He shoved Lander aside and reached for Leo instead.

And Leo didn’t flinch this time.

Adam’s hand closed around Leo’s wrist. Not rough but unyielding. The moment their skin touched, the tension in the room shifted—less violence, more raw, possessive hunger.

Leo’s breath stuttered. His body lit up like a live wire. Every nerve ending felt primed, attuned to the smallest shift in Adam’s expression.

Adam raised a hand to his face, rubbing roughly, as if trying to force himself back to something more human. His elongated fangs scraped his palm. When he lowered his hand again, his eyes were still dark, pupils blown wide.

“I will not let this control me,” he rasped. But the smile that curved his lips said otherwise—something wicked, something inevitable.

He called out, voice steady even as it rumbled with barely leashed power. “Maja.”

She appeared almost instantly, her expression wary. She dropped something into Adam’s waiting palm—a small vial of slick oil—before vanishing back into the shadows without a word.

Leo could fight this. He knew he could. He could shove Adam away, demand explanations, cling to whatever shreds of pride he still possessed.

But the thought dissolved the moment Adam stepped close again. His scent—dark musk and something older, elemental—filled Leo’s lungs. The bond flared between them, dissolving hesitation.

He didn’t want to fight it.

The instant Leo stopped resisting, everything changed. The world blurred around the edges, like he’d stepped out of time. He felt buoyant, weightless, every nerve thrumming with a singular, all-consuming need.