Bloodbound: The Alliance
Chapter 94 - 96

Chapter 94: Chapter 96

Avara POV

Alec shadows us like a deranged stalker, not contributing his voice but consistent in the incessant sounds he makes as Landen leads me to wherever we’re going. His commentative sound effects to the tune of mockery with a wry scoff there and a scornful snort here.

"I’m sorry," Landen says, more like an announcement than a sincere tribute of remorse.

I look back at him questioningly.

"For whatever reason you’re upset at me," he adds.

I nearly bring us all to a halt, my composure struggling to wrangle free from anger’s grip.

"You know exactly what you did," I hiss back.

"I know what I didn’t do," he corrects with a smug twist of his brow. "You’re acting as if I spiked your drink—which I never did—for the record. The first time, I ordered our drinks in front of you. And this time, you chose to eat what was in front of you," he says, glancing over his shoulder to share a wicked grin with Alec.

"Which you knew I wouldn’t have if you did the right thing by telling me that it was laced with an opioid!" I yell back as my head snaps forward. "But am I to expect from the likes of you?"

"My heart bleeds," he says dryly.

Alex snickers behind us, meeting my glare with an indifferent grin.

"Where are you taking me and why is he following?"

"He’s going to be our photographer."

It’s a journey of its own to exit the main house from the back. Welcomed into the warm starry night sieving the world in silver. Even the shadows shimmer, alive under the celestial light. We follow the paved path, weaving through the manicured gardens and intricate maze, past the open field that stretches toward the private dock.

There, a superyacht looms, its colossal silhouette barely shifting on the glassy, undisturbed surface of the lake. Landen and I step onto the pier, where the world opens up to an obsidian mirror of water, softly rippled with starlight.

I turn to face him, ready to question his motives, but his gaze is already locked on me. The playful mask he wore moments ago has vanished, in its place something unreadable, almost intense.

"Is this your idea of a spectacle? A kiss under the moonlight?"

His brows lift, a mischievous glint sparking to life. "We could do a lot more than kiss."

He moves closer, too fast. I retreat, faster still, but he advances relentlessly. The pier narrows beneath me until, with a sudden misstep, I lose my footing. My scream slices through the quiet night just before I plunge into the icy water, arms flailing, and even before I can register what happened. Landen dives inside and my head whips away with my hands raised as a wave slams into me, my mouth agape, forcing me to spit out lake water.

When he resurfaces, I splash him in his face, water like shards in his eyes as he blinks erratically, his biceps bulging as his both hands rise to drive his hair back, plastering the blonde slick back to his head as his eyes fall below my chin. My eyes drop to my exposed chest with my strap hanging off my shoulder, the loose neckline droopy beneath my one breast hanging free. A high-pitched shriek escapes me as I adjust the strap and neckline furiously.

"You’re acting as if neither of us have seen boobs before?"

"Then why were you gawking?" I see with my arms crossed over my chest in pure discomfort.

"Because I’ve never seen yours before," he says with a devilish smirk. "Smaller than I imagined."

I splash him again, the water sparkling in the starlight as he jerks his chin away, his grin teasingly wide.

The pier looms tall behind us, the edges far out of reach. Better not give Landen the chance to grab and drag me back into the water. Turning away, I swim toward the shoreline, the cool water clinging to my skin as my feet finally find the lakebed. Wading forward, I slosh through the black water, my gown swirling around me like liquid silk.

"You’re disgusting—despicable and disgusting!" I snap.

"You said ’disgusting’ twice," he points out, his tone maddeningly calm.

"That’s how disgusting you are!"

Just as I break free of the waterline, his hands grip me from behind. I whirl around, shoving at him violently. The sudden movement unbalances us both, and I fall backward, the edge of the shore colliding sharply against my back. Before I can react, Landen lands over me, his hands planted firmly beside my head, caging me in. The shallow water pools beneath us, and my soaked gown fans out, its white fabric ghosting into the darkness.

A bright light slices through the intimacy of the moment. I don’t need to look to know—it’s Alec. He stands at a short distance, his phone raised, capturing everything.

"I promised them a show," Alec calls, his tone smug. "Now deliver."

Landen’s gaze burns into mine, unrelenting. Before I can protest, his lips crash onto mine with a fervor that steals the air from my lungs. The kiss is fierce, unyielding, igniting a fire that scorches through the cold water below. My hands, almost against my will, snake around his neck, pulling him closer as the world dissolves into heat and chaos. His face dips away to nibble at my neck as his tongue strokes the column of my neck in a way that makes me arch against the waters. As he goes lower, a stab of panic makes me grab his jaw and his face lifts with a heady look in his eyes, as if the motion kindles intrigue as droplets glisten on his face, shimmering on every strand of hair.

"That’s enough."

With his thighs wide open and in between them, he heaves his torso upright, and I waste no time scrambling out from under him as my forearms fly to my chest, covering myself as Alec stares after me.

***

"Wake up!"

Kelsey clasps my shoulder and shakes me wildly as I voice my protest with a series of tortured groans, but that only makes her rattle me even more zealously until I have to force myself around to face her as she shoves her iPhone screen in my face. I bolt upright as shock vaporises every trace of sleepiness as I snatch her phone for a closer inspection of the Instagram carousel that already has millions of views, photo slideshows of Landen and I on the shoreline. I hand her back her phone and I liberate a pent-up breath as I flop down on my back, grabbing a pillow to cover my face.

"For a charade, you two really be getting into it."

I whip the pillow away to glare back at her as she snaps her lips together, making a motion with her fingers by zipping her mouth close, and I respond with a quick and foul smile before I turn myself onto my side and away from her. To my surprise, she grips my shoulder and pushes down until I’m flat on my back again as my brows leap to my hairline.

"I’m not about to chase after you, okay, my last name ain’t Vacheron."

Despite my annoyance, a laugh bubbles out. "You were there when Allison debriefed us. You know the truth behind it."

"What I do want to know is if you liked it?" she asks, and interjects warningly, "and I dare you to try and lie to me."

My eyes narrow at her before I tear them away to look elsewhere. "Landen has had a lot of practice so obviously... he knows what he’s doing."

"What a diplomatic answer," she remarks with an amused smile.

"Will you let me go back to sleep or are you going to ask me another outrageous question?"

"Is Landen or Vance bigger?" she asks without skipping a beat.

My jaw almost breaks from the speed at which it snaps open.

She laughs at my expression as I lift myself halfway. "You know what, Kels—"

A knock raps on the door with deliberate purpose. A courtesy warning as they do not wait for my invitation before the door opens and Allison pokes her head around.

"Good, you’re up—she’s up!"

A team of stylists walk in, hair, make-up, designer all trail into the room as I sit back upright, clutching the sheet to my chest as people begin flooding our room, some even towing in a rack of dresses concealed in garment bags.

"And what’s all this?" Kelsey asks.

"Photoshoot," Allison says in a sing-song voice. "I’m talking Vogue, Vanity Fair all here for the Vacheron special."