Page 44 of Claim of Blood (Blood Bound #1)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Leo

Time had become strange since becoming Adam’s claim.

Leo found himself marking days by Adam’s departures to Nocturne, rather than anything resembling a calendar.

Thursday, he realized, shifting on the window seat.

Another morning, Adam slipped away to tend to acquisitions, leaving Leo aching in more ways than one.

This week marked Adam’s second back at the office.

The Belgian deal demanded his presence—something about CEOs needing to show up in person, though Adam had admitted, with dark amusement, that Leo was “terribly distracting” and his productivity had been slipping.

Leo hadn’t seen that as a problem. Especially when “distracting” meant Adam spent hours buried inside him.

But the acquisition mattered. Even Maja had insisted Adam return, though Leo suspected that had more to do with preventing him from being claimed on every surface than actual business concerns.

He might have handled the separation better if Lander hadn’t chosen this exact moment to vanish.

Three days since the parlor incident, and Leo still flushed thinking about how it had ended—Johan bringing Elisabeth to a climax while Adam fucked Leo deep and slow.

Lander had fled before it reached that point, and he hadn’t been back since.

The blood compatibility had been manageable at first, but now each day apart wore him thin.

Elisabeth had noticed how he paced, how tension built around his eyes when Adam ran late.

With academic calm, she’d suggested more frequent claims to ease the symptoms. “Especially at night and before he leaves in the morning,” she’d said.

“It won’t fix the bond, but it will help.

” Adam had actually taken notes, treating every suggestion like a holy text.

So now their nights had structure: Adam would take Leo at least twice, drink from him with careful reverence, then sleep with his cock still buried inside.

Every morning began with another claiming before Adam left for the office, leaving Leo sore, marked, and filled.

It helped—dulling the ache, keeping the craving from becoming unbearable.

Like the difference between a pulled muscle and a stab wound.

Leo shifted, the forgotten leather-bound book still in his lap. Sunlight filtered through the windows, catching fresh bite marks on his throat. He’d chosen the parlor deliberately—Lander hadn’t set foot in it since the incident. That made it a quiet place to think.

“My son is being ridiculous,” Elisabeth’s voice materialized behind him, making him jump.

She had an unnerving habit of appearing silently, a skill honed over centuries.

She perched on the opposite end of the window seat, effortlessly elegant in a flowing silk dress that shimmered in the afternoon light.

“He’s always been dramatic, but this is excessive even for him. ”

It had been three days of catching only glimpses of the younger vampire—a flash of blond hair vanishing around corners, the whisper of doors closing just as Leo entered a room.

The mansion felt larger, emptier, despite Elisabeth’s and Johan’s continued presence.

Or perhaps because of it, considering how expertly Lander managed to avoid them, too.

Leo had been watching Adam’s mounting frustration with a confusing mix of concern and desire.

The way Adam’s fingers tightened around his phone until the case cracked, the twitch in his jaw when another call went to voicemail, the restlessness he brought home from acquisition meetings—Leo felt it all in the way Adam claimed him: harder, deeper, more often.

Not that he minded. If anything, Adam’s frustration translated into intensity, a need to mark Leo until there was no doubt who he belonged to. The bite marks were deeper. The claiming more urgent. Leo craved those moments when Adam’s iron control slipped.

He understood Adam’s confusion over Lander—because he felt it too. That inexplicable pull between them neither of them could name.

Elisabeth traced patterns through a sunbeam with her fingertips.

“I should apologize. The distance pains might be easier if he were around, though I can’t be certain.

” Her smile turned wistful. “Johan and I didn’t meet Andreas until those particular challenges had passed.

But something in me tells me a third would help ease the bond. ”

Leo touched his throat without thinking, fingers grazing the fresh bite marks. “You mean... that night?”

The glint in her eyes sharpened. “Oh, precious boy. How did it feel, sitting in Adam’s lap while Lander watched from across the room?” Her voice dipped, almost teasing. “The tension between you three was delicious. Poor Lander, trying so hard not to react…”

Leo groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Wait. Can you—can you smell that Lander and I…” He gestured vaguely.

Elisabeth’s laughter rang out, utterly unbothered. “Of course. Vampire senses are very precise. I could tell when it happened, how recently, even how thoroughly he claimed you.” Her tone turned analytical. “Biologically fascinating, really.”

“Oh god,” Leo muttered. “So everyone knows—”

“That you’ve become intimate? That there’s a third in this bond?” Elisabeth shrugged. “Yes, dear. Though I suspect Adam hasn’t quite realized the full implications yet.” She tilted her head. “Tell me, did Lander’s presence help? Even when you weren’t sleeping together?”

Leo blinked. “Yeah. Actually, yeah. When Adam first left me with him—just to babysit, really—the need was... duller. The ache wasn’t as sharp. I didn’t get why.”

“And after you were intimate?”

Leo thought back to the bedroom—the intensity of being between them. “I came back to myself faster,” he said slowly. “Usually, I get stuck in this pleasure-fog for hours after being claimed. But with Lander there, it was like I had something to hold on to. I felt... clearer.”

Elisabeth beamed. “Exactly. With Johan, Andreas, and me, we found the third anchored things. Balanced the energy. Especially in moments of emotional intensity.”

Elisabeth’s expression suddenly shifted, her head tilting toward the doorway with predatory awareness. “Maja, darling, do stop lurking. It’s unbecoming.”

Leo startled as Maja appeared in the doorway, her platinum hair scraped back in a severe bun. Where Adam went, Maja followed—except Adam wasn’t due home for hours. Her presence during business hours made the hairs on his neck rise.

“I wouldn’t be lurking if Adam wasn’t acting like a fledgling with his first blood high,” she said, heels tapping over hardwood as she crossed the room. Every step was crisp, composed. But her voice—it cracked just enough to betray her worry. “I’ve never seen him like this, Elisabeth. Not once.”

Elisabeth’s smile faded. “What happened?”

“He snapped an oak conference table in half.” Maja sat beside her, movements fluid but tense. She clasped her hands in her lap, holding them still. “Yesterday. After Lander canceled their lunch meeting.”

Leo’s face burned. “He what?”

“Right down the middle.” Maja shook her head.

“The look on our human CFO’s face...” Her eyes turned icy, unfocused.

“He’s short-tempered, restless, hostile.

I had to reschedule half the day—he nearly took someone’s head off for mislabeling a financial chart.

I’ve seen him furious, calculated, dangerous.

But this? This is something else. He’s unraveling. ”

“And it began after Lander withdrew?” Elisabeth’s tone sharpened, her brows lifting.

Maja nodded. “He was already tense since—” her eyes flicked to Leo, “—but it spiked after that missed meeting. He’s furious, confused... and I think it’s scaring him.”

Elisabeth hummed softly. “Johan was the same when Andreas first pulled away. They don’t know what to do with rejection. Especially from someone they’ve already begun to see as theirs.”

“But the claiming,” Maja said, eyes shifting to Leo. “Shouldn’t that stabilize him?”

“It helps the physical symptoms,” Elisabeth said. “But emotional destabilization is... harder. Especially when your son is flinging himself into avoidance like it’s an Olympic sport.”

Maja’s eyes narrowed. “So what do we do?”

Leo found his voice. “How do I fix it?”

“You’re his claim,” Maja said simply. “His perfect match. There has to be something...”

Elisabeth gave a small sigh. “Time helps. Johan and Andreas sorted themselves out, eventually. But I’d warn the staff. Adam’s already snapped one piece of furniture—more may follow.”

Maja stood, jaw tight. “Maybe someone needs to beat sense into him.”

“No!” Leo jumped to his feet. “I’ll do it. I’ll talk to Lander.”

She paused, gaze raking over him like she wasn’t quite convinced. “Fix this, little hunter,” she said. “Before I do it my way.”

Her heels disappeared down the hall. A moment later, Johan entered, his presence quiet but commanding. He didn’t speak. Just crossed to Elisabeth and pulled her into his arms.

“How bad is it?” he murmured against her hair.

Elisabeth leaned into him. “Our son’s being impossible, Adam’s unraveling, and Leo’s apparently in charge of emotional triage.”

Johan’s chest rumbled with quiet amusement. “As usual.”

Leo took that as his cue to leave.

His heart slammed against his ribs as he approached the first servant he saw—a young woman arranging flowers with the delicate focus of someone trying very hard not to hear anything else happening in the house.

“Lander?” Leo asked, forcing his voice steady.

“The basement, sir. In one of the alcoves.” She didn’t look up.

Leo swallowed hard.

The alcove.

His pace faltered as memories surged—Adam’s hands on his thighs, Lander’s mouth between them, being made a display, a claim. His face burned. He forced himself down the stairs.