Blood Bound- Book 1 of the Bonded Series- Complete

Chapter 14

“Blood Bound”

2011 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 14- Part 1

     Leo looked down at the sleeping form of his beautiful bride.  He wanted to tan her hide for disobeying him back at her apartment but he also couldn’t help to feel a sense of pride at the  innate fierceness that she showed.

    A curtain of blond tendrils shadowed Shelby's face as she continued to slumber.  Gently he brushed back some of those silken locks, revealing the milky white skin of her cheek.   He let his thumb lightly graze the skin, completely mesmerized by how soft it was.

    He then let his fingers trail the frame of her face, taking in every nuance and cataloguing it to his memory.  She was such a fascination to him; a beautiful red rose blooming out of the murkiest of pits of hell.  That was what his bride had come to mean to him.  His life, once so cold and dark was now brightened by her mere presence.

     His fingers continued their easy exploration, soaking up her impassioned softness.  They caressed the minuscule lobes of her ears and moved along to the strong line of her jaw.  The entire time, Shelby's face remaining unchanged.  His hands dipped further, brushing the bare skin of her collar bone.  Leo splayed his fingers there, comparing his olive colored hand to the ghost like flesh of her breast bone. 

     He stroked her there, teasing the crest of her breast when his fingers ran over a thin chain. What the.....

   

     Mildly curious, he pulled the delicate chain out from where it was tucked under her shirt and stared in disbelief at the pendant in his hand.  His eyes flitted between the necklace and his brides dreamless face.

     To be shocked would only be describing his state mildly.  He was more like flabbergasted.  The necklace that Shelby wore was no ordinary necklace.  No, this necklace was one made of power, real power.  It was a consecration pendant, made up some of the strongest power that he had ever sensed.  It was a pendant for protection and an extremely rare one at that.

     Leo tucked the necklace back under her shirt, wondering how in the world his bride came upon such a prize.  Even in their world, a piece like that was to be highly coveted.  She had to of come by it before he brought her home and for a human to have something like that was just unfathomable.

     Well that explained her ability to take down the shifter as if he was no more than a newborn babe, Leo thought to himself.  And still the burning question remained, how did his innocent bride come by something so extraordinary?

     Now his interests were piqued.  He kept tabs on Shelby, starting from the day that he first found her broken body lying still in the middle of the road.  He always knew where she was, whom she was with and what she was doing.  So how did she manage to obtain a damn concentration necklace without him knowing?

     Going mad with questions, Leo needed to get some answers.  The longer that he sat there in the bed the more he stewed over the possibilities.  Leo finally couldn't take at any longer.  Hissing out a breath, he very carefully slid out from underneath Shelby and lifted himself off of the bed. 

     For a long minute, he just stood there, towering over his beautiful bride trying to put many pieces of a gigantic puzzle together.  The only problem was half of the pieces were missing.  He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated and turned away. 

     Closing his eyes, he mentally searched out his servant.  He was going to get some answers, one way or another.  He was going to find out why shifters were in Shelby's apartment, how did she happen to come in possession of such an invaluable necklace and more importantly why in the hell he didn't know about it. 

     Locating Ric down in the main dining room hall, Leo waved his hand and dissipated into a thin mist, solidifying in the hall just outside the door.  He placed his hand on the door handle, ready to open it when he caught the low murmur of voices. 

     Pausing, he listened and realized that it was distinctly Tatiana and Ric's voices that he was hearing.

     At first he thought it was odd that the two of them would be together.  Tatiana was never the type to consort with anyone below her social class, especially a servant.  She was more likely to look down her nose at them as if they were no better than the scum on the bottom of her shoe.

     So, what exactly are they doing? He asked himself.  With his ear pressed to the door, he strained his hearing, attempting to pick up the conversation when everything suddenly got quiet.

     Frowning, Leo waited another long minute before deciding to barge in.  Something just didn't seem quite right about the situation.  It was a gut feeling that warned him that all was not as it seemed and after the day that he had been through, he was sick and tired of surprises. 

     Making a split second decision, he pushed open the door and strode in with determined steps only to come to a freezing halt.

     Standing in the center of the room, Leo folded his hands over his chest and narrowed his inky black eyes on the pair as they shared a indecently passionate kiss.

     "Now, isn't this interesting," he drawled with a face as cold as steel.