October 11th

I woke the next morning with the blazing sun shining through the window flooding the room with bright light. I glanced over at the alarm clock situated by the bed- 10:30 am.

Leo was still asleep.

This was my chance.

His grip was still tight around my waist but I decided it would be safe to try and wiggle free without waking him.

"Don't even think about it," He growled as if he had read my mind.

I sighed, "But I need a wee."

"For sure," He murmured, subtly moving one of his hands further down my leg.

"Keep your hands to yourself," I said sternly moving his hand off me.

"I'm just touching what's mine," He said, teasingly putting his hand back.

I felt the tingles and they were hard to resist but at the same time for some inexplicable reason, his touch made me nervous and embarrassed.

"The only thing my leg belongs to is me, I don't see you using it to walk every single day!"

I shot him a scowl before I sat up. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and he rested his head on my shoulder.

"I'll let you go to the bathroom in exchange for a kiss," he whispered in my ear, his voice sending me shivers.

I swallowed, "I don't even know you, Leonardo."

He let out a short laugh, "So?" he asked.

I then felt his lips draw closer to me and my eyes widened. All I could think to do was grab the pillow from beside me on the bed and force it between us, creating a safe blockade.

"No," I snapped. "Don't you dare."

He laughed to himself before untangling me from his arms and rolling onto his back.

"I thought you needed to go to the bathroom?" He asked with a handsome smirk after I hadn't moved.

With that, I quickly slithered off the bed and into the bathroom, where I slunk to the floor.

His advancements were unwelcome, there was no doubt about that. But then why was I feeling so flustered by the concept of nearly kissing him? Why did I wish he hadn't let me stop him?

After a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that it was totally unfair of him to put me in this situation and therefore it wasn't my fault.

After allowing myself to have one more cringe at my life, I got up, put on my 'I'm a mature adult' face and opened the door.

The first view I saw was Leo- shirtless Leo stood by the window where the early morning sun shone it's golden rays across his abs.

I slammed the bathroom door again and took my designated seat for the day.

"You can't stay in there forever Ella," he said through the door after 20 minutes.

"I can. There's water, a toilet...I can eat the toothpaste if it comes to it," I replied.

"You're fighting a pointless battle."

"If I come out will you try and kiss me again?" I asked.

There was a pause.

"No," he said in the most unconvincing tone possible.

"At least try to sound believable," I replied. "I'm staying in here."

"I will break this door down if you don't come out in the next 30 seconds."

Okay, that I can believe. I stood up and unlocked the door refusing to make eye contact.

"Don't even look at me," I said walking past him and towards the door. "And don't come closer than a metre."

"So we're just gonna coexist today?" he asked.

"Precisely. Glad you're finally understanding," I said nearly reaching the door handle.

But then he took my hand and pulled me back, "I'm not satisfied with that, sweetheart. I want more than just a lodger in this house."

I leant back away from him as he wound his hands around my waist. But there was no escaping him. He could do anything right now and I'd have no way of stopping it.

"Let me be honest with you, Ella," he began, his voice soft and mellow, "I will not make you do take anything you don't want. But I am not afraid to make you want it."

He then brought his thumb to my lips once again. Even that was enough to send a warmth radiating through me. Just imagine how blissful his lips on mine would be.

"But there's plenty of time for this later," he said taking his hands off me, leaving my mouth watering, "For now, we will just have breakfast unless you want to just cut the chase and fuck this second?"

I swallowed and paused, "Breakfast," I said as I nodded.

He smiled and pinched my cheek, "I'll see you down there."

When I got downstairs, there was a man in the kitchen.

And I know what you're thinking.

Not a male stripper. Just an ordinary man. Or actually...maybe those pants could have been velcroed and perhaps that was the faint outline of a mankini under his shirt. But no. For the purpose of this story, he was just a man.

(If you want a rewrite where this takes a different turn, comment here).

"Leonardo, who's the guy?" I asked as he appeared in the kitchen behind me.

He looked up at me and gave what could have been a smile but it was hard to tell. His eyes were green and bright and his hair a chocolately brown but that's about all there was to say. He gave very little away.

"Ella, this is Blair, my beta," Leo said putting a hand on my shoulder. "Blair, this is Ella. My mate."

Blair stood up, revealing his incredible height and approached me. I leant back a little, out of his shadow, feeling slightly intimidated but he just held his hand out.

Oh.

I shook it.

It was then that I noticed his features were much softer than they first appeared and much softer than Leo's (by a long shot). He smiled, this time in a more convincing way and I instantly warmed more to him.

"Buongiorno, Ella," he said.

"I don't know what the fuck that means..." I whispered to Leo.

"She doesn't speak Italian," Leo told him.

"Why would I-"

"Apologies," he said examining me. "You look like you're from this pack."

I opened my mouth, realising no one was going to have the courtesy to explain what the fuck they were talking about but Leo beat me to it.

"Where's Luca?" he asked.copy right hot novel pub