But he’d never felt a protectiveness like he did when he skidded to a stop in front of her apartment building, as if the world would fall to pieces if she so much as cut a finger.
He figured he’d have a fight on his hands when he told her she would need to lay low with him for a while, but it didn’t occur to him that she’d scamper away from him immediately. Luckily for them both he’d thought to make a special stop before he earlier in the evening to pick up what he’d need to make sure she never ran away again.
The man smoking on the street gawked at him but didn’t protest as he stormed through the apartment building’s doors.
Normally he did his best to know next to nothing about his partners. He didn’t send guards to stalk them or hack into their bank accounts to secretly deposit money or send outrageous gifts likesomepeople he knew. It helped keep everything impersonal. Almost businesslike. The less he knew, the less chance his instincts would begin to stir.
But he’d broken his own rules with Francesca. One of them, anyway. Early on he’d found her address.
That was why he wasn’t at all surprised by the less than luxurious accommodations and how he knew to take the stairs rather than try the elevator. She lived in a speck of a studio on the third floor at the end of a long, musky hallway, which he barreled down like a thunderstorm.
He spied her immediately.
Dressed in all black, her hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her neck, and wearing smoky shadow around her eyes, she looked almost unrecognizable from the woman who’d been his housekeeper for months and in his bed just that evening. He watched her dig around in her purse for a moment before she retrieved her key and inserted it into the lock.
A vampire, even one caught in the rage of protectiveness for his anchor, could be very stealthy. She didn’t hear him until it was too late.
Luis wrapped his arms around her waist. Dipping his head to breathe against her ear, he growled, “You’ve been bad.”
Francesca jumped. A shriek nearly tore from her mouth before he covered it with his hand. Breathing hard, he closed his eyes and sucked the scent of her into his lungs, reassuring himself that she was well, that she was untouched by another vampire, and that she was his.
His heartbeat slowed but the persistent, burning ache in his gums and roof of his mouth didn’t.
“You shouldn’t have left the house,” he told her. A nip of his fangs to the corner of her jaw made her tremble against him. “Unlock the door. We’re going inside.”
He could almost feel her rolling her eyes as she turned the key and opened the door. They stepped inside as one.
Shutting the door with his heel, he looked around curiously. It wasn’t a bad place to live. Small, maybe, and a little drafty, butFrancesca obviously took care to make it inviting. When she had the time, he couldn’t even imagine, but she did.
She liked creams, marigold yellows, and deep greens. Little touches of natural woods and leafy plants gave the tiny space an earthy feel he hadn’t thought to expect.
He normally would’ve found it quite calming, except for the fact that he was still running on adrenaline.
Releasing her mouth, he spun her around to demand, “Why did you leave?”
Francesca looked up at him like he’d grown a second, less attractive head. “I’m sorry, was I being held prisoner there and not informed? Because I was under the impression I could still do whatever I wanted to.”
“And youchoseto go to work?”
She waved her hands in the air. “I wanted a bit of normalcy after everything that happened yesterday. And I explained to you why it’s important I keep my options open.”
“Keep your—” Luis stopped himself before he could finish the sentence. It didn’t bear repeating, anyway. Sucking in another calming breath, had to consciously unclench his fists. “You shouldn’t have left. Do you have any fucking idea how dangerous it is for you to be wandering around the city alone now?”
Francesca really did roll her eyes that time. “Not much more than it was two days ago. It’s not exactly safe here, is it? I can look out for myself on the train, Luis. I’m not going anywhere shady.”
Incensed by the very clear message that she didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation, he hissed through his fangs, “Rule number three: You never leave our home alone. From now on, you leave with me, one of my cousins, or a guard. No fucking exceptions.”
She sputtered, outraged, and took another few steps back. “Okay, the other rules were tolerable, but that is outrageous! You can’t keep me captive, Luis. I didn’t agree to that!”
“You signed the contract,” he challenged, stalking her across the studio until the backs of her knees hit the foot of her small bed. “You agreed to follow all my rules no matter how over the top or outrageous they sounded, remember?”
Her big brown eyes tracked the movement of his hand to his pocket, where he’d hastily stuffed some of what he’d picked up that evening. Her voice came out squeaky when she spied the tightly bundled length of white silk rope in his hand. “What are you doing?”
The silky glide of the rope unfurling in his hands was enough to regain his composure. It was a physical reassurance that he was in control and that no harm would come to her under his watch. She was his to protect, his to pleasure, and his to punish.
“I’m teaching you a lesson in actions and consequences,” he calmly informed her.
She scrambled backward onto the bed, babbling, “Wait! It wasn’t a rule! You never told me I couldn’t leave!”