Page 17 of Sassy Embrace

“Leigh,” she said, giving her a thoughtful look. "I may not know that much about wolf ways, but I know that the mate aspect is pretty cut and dry. If you think he’s your mate, then he’s your mate, babe.”

Leigh ran her hands through her hair. There was a fair amount of relief, but a vampire? Their kind had been feuding for millennia. How could she possibly pursue something that went against everything her kind stood for?

“There's something else too…”

Leigh told Karla about the fight with Kim. The club wasn't very busy, so they talked at the bar, serving patrons every now and then. Karla agreed that Kim sounded like trouble, and they each hoped she would stay away.

But something stirred ominously inside Leigh. Mating with a vampire didn't sound like the best idea, but ignoring her wolf sounded just as dire.

EIGHT

CLAUDE

Claude felt like he was floating as he drove off to Aria’s house. The sex rattled off in his mind like a stunning orchestra, painting images with vivid reimagining. Claude had his fair share of dalliances and escapades—but nothing as intense and primal as it had been with Leigh.

Vampires were thirsty not only for blood, but for everything else that felt divinely pleasurable. With their long lifespans, sometimes sex grew dull. For some, it became as customary as picking up fast food. A good fuck each day, but nothing nutritional, nothing that really stuck to your bones.

Leigh really was sticking to Claude’s bones. The way she moved with him was like a harmonious, dark dance. Her cries of rapture when she reached her climax. He wanted to hear it again, to feel the sounds rumble from the depths of her diaphragm, through that beautiful throat.

He wanted more of her, and soon. Claude was insatiable for the wolf woman, which struck him as concerning when he considered it with a clear mind. But every part of his body ached for her, making it difficult to take the very obvious issues seriously.

Seeing Kim with her jaw hanging open and canines glistening under the swinging lamp had ignited something in him. It had taken everything within his self-control to keep from killing her. He knew the situation. Her mate was dead, and she was furious. Furious with grief.

Killing her would have caused a tidal wave of bullshit. And an internal conflict between vampires was the last thing he needed, especially when trying to mend fences between his own kind and the wolves.

She had fled fast enough for him to let her go. The sight of Leigh, defenseless but snarling and ready for a fight to the death had stolen all of his attention.

She was utterly riveting. The sex that followed engulfed him.

But then the haze of lust had dissipated. But only slightly. Claude was a practical man and knew that with everything he had on his plate, he had to delegate, and he had to delegate efficiently.

First, he had to talk to Aria about Kim. Warn her and seek counsel.

He drove through yet another dreary day in Blue Creek, the grass lush with moisture, flowers sprouting with the promise of spring. He was showing up unannounced, but that wasn't uncommon for him. Aria was his cousin, after all, a powerful leader of his kind, and he was working directly under her leadership.

Plus, it wasn't a conversation he wanted to have over the phone. So he pulled into the driveway of the magnificent mansion, appropriately embellished in Gothic architecture and ruminating gargoyles perching overhead.

When Claude rang the doorbell, it wasn’t one of Aria’s housekeepers that answered. It was Trevan, Aria’s mate.

He internally cringed as a mist of rain rolled in by the hillside.

“Claude,” Trevan said with a faint, polite smile. "What brings you here at this hour?"

Claude didn’t think it was too late or too early. He frowned and peered at his watch.

“This hour?”

Trevan's smile grew bigger. Claude wasn’t one for sarcasm. He found it wasted time. Trevan seemed to be teeming with it, and it often made their interactions clunky.

“It’s a joke. No, it’s fine, but Aria is asleep. This third trimester is really kicking her ass."

“Oh."

Claude shifted from one foot to the other and considered disappearing until Aria was well enough to chat. But then he thought about Leigh and remembered that Trevan was half-vampire, half-wolf. That, along with Aria’s encouragement to aid in the merging of wolf and vampire relations, made him think again.

“You can come in, if you'd like. I just made some tea. It’s a chilly one this morning.”

Claude stifled a grunt, then took a step inside. He would try to ingratiate himself with the wolf, for Aria, and for Leigh.

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