Page 9 of Sassy Embrace

Claude gazed at Leigh and noticed how her lips had thinned out and her forehead creased magnificently. The transparency of her expressions was refreshing.

“I’m sorry,” she said, scoffing. “I’m not very good at masking my emotions, and I mean no offense to Aria. But that sounds a little insane to me.”

Claude took his hands from his pockets and raised them into the air, feeling somewhat relieved.

“I’ll level with you, Leigh. It sounds quite risky to me as well. But change does have to start somewhere, I suppose."

Leigh sighed, then brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Claude felt compelled to approach her.

“I mean. I don't think she's wrong,” Leigh said, shaking her head slightly. “I think it could be dangerous is all. But I’m not the one who's going to run the club."

The exasperation Claude had spotted earlier made its triumphant return. There were bags under Leigh’s eyes the shade of bruises, and a heaviness to her stance. He felt an urge to comfort her, for what he didn’t know, and reached out a hand to graze Leigh’s wrist.

Her skin was warm and so very soft. He could feel the slightest hint of a pulse beating through her veins and up his arm, mingling with his own. He silently reveled when he felt it pick up, feeling distinctly as if this was a sensation that was as easy as breathing.

Leigh’s eyelids flickered for a moment when their skin touched. Time stood still for Claude as gentle electricity surged through him. He had a vision of a lightning storm with dreamlike colors painting the sky.

“Maybe it’s time that our people start getting along?” he said, feeling possessed. "Not that I’m the leader on the matter. But Aria is wise for her age. It would save a lot of headaches if we all tried a bit."

Leigh was at a loss for words.

“Uhh, yes, I mean, I don’t think you’re wrong, like I said…it’s only that I…”

Suddenly, Claude realized what he was doing, and snatched his hand away. He cleared his throat in both embarrassment and bewilderment.

“Sorry. I just remembered that I have to pick something up. For the club, I mean…" Claude stuttered.

“Oh?” she asked.

“Yes, for one of the other clubs. I’ll be back though. I apologize for having to leave so quickly. Thank you for the tour."

Claude spun on his heel and rushed to the door. He pushed it open, smacking into the tarp that drooped overhead and splashing rainwater into his face. It felt like a slap.

“Fuck!” he muttered.

He continued the rushed movement back to his car. He reeled from what he had just done. How foolish he had been to reach out and touch her like that. He didn’t even know why he’d done it. They’d just met, why did he think he had any right to put his hands on her? And why did he want to?

Claude jumped into the front seat and shoved the keys into the ignition. He really didn’t have anywhere to go. But he ran anyway, an intimidating vampire brought down by a mere woman.

He looked back at the establishment. He wondered if Leigh was thinking of him, what she was doing. Was she giggling, adorable, and soft? Or was she offended?

Claude forced himself to drive off. There was no point in going back in. He had no idea what was going on inside himself. He had to regain control again before he saw her.

He had to speak to someone in authority about it.

FIVE

LEIGH

Leigh was left alone after Claude raced out of the structure, her hand frozen in place. She wasn’t bothered by the fact that the vampire had touched her. What was bothersome was that she actually enjoyed it.

She clenched her fist closed, the phantom sensation of his hand on hers burning like an invisible shackle. The second he’d done it, her wolf had crooned. She saw a flash in her mind of him taking her right there in the unfinished building, fucking her into near oblivion till her wolf howled on the precipice of unimaginable pleasure…

“Fuck off."

It was legitimately insane. She tried to shake off the arousal of his proximity. The chill sent blankets of goose bumps over her flesh, not from disgust but from purely crystallized magnetism.

The scent of him lingered where he stood a moment ago. A subtle sort of cologne mixing with a natural headiness that made her heart pound faster. Her inner wolf practically begged her to wash in it, cover herself in the scent. As if doing so would make Leigh finally understand.

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