9781936653027BorntobeWildArsuaga (3 page)

“What are you doing?
Seducing me? I’m not falling for it. I’ve got to go.” Returning to the bar, she
grabbed her handbag, and walked toward the exit, forcibly pushing the door open
and storming out of the building. Once out in the open, she quickly ran toward
her Mustang, parked around the corner on a side street from the club.
Stupid,
Alex.
Stupid.
Violating the Rules of
Engagement.
Do not let the Vampires use mind control on you! Stupid!
You’re blowing your cover Alex! Jeez. Get control.

Sensing Stefan’s presence
behind her, she ran faster. Needing his help tonight and blowing it by letting
him seduce her was not a smart move. As the hunter, she needed to stay in
control, not the other way around. The vamp wasn’t supposed to be in control of
the situation. Not this vamp named Stefan, anyway.

Stefan followed her and
moved at vampire speed to catch her.

“Hey,
Alexandra.
Wait. Come on. Wait a minute,” he said upon approaching her
at the candy apple red Mustang convertible.

Frantically searching in
her handbag for the car keys, she found them as he appeared beside her. The
effects of the beer, whiskey, and the cognac concoction, on an empty stomach,
not to mention, the effects of Stefan on her mind and body, made her feel
dizzy.

Resting his hands on her
shoulders, he turned her around.

“I don’t think you should
be driving in your condition. Let me drive you where you need to go,” he
suggested in a low-pitched, soothing voice.

“Do I have
stupid
written across my forehead? I don’t know you and you expect me to get in a car
and go to a hotel with a stranger. I’d violate Rule Number Ten.”

Stefan smiled and placed
his hand under her chin and slightly lifted it. “I don’t know what Rule Number
Ten is and no, you don’t have
stupid
written across your forehead. I
think you have
k
iss
me
written on
your lips though.” He brushed his fingers across her plump, pouty mouth.

Alex grew weak in the
knees. Long lashes fluttering as she closed her eyes. He was right, she
did
want to be kissed and the words were
written on her lips, figuratively speaking. Stefan cupped his hands on her face
and gently kissed her. Like liquid hot dark chocolate, she melted into his
arms.

His touch sent pulses of arousal through every nerve-ending in her body
which could not be ignored. The sensation drove her crazy. Her belly tightened,
her panties were wet and her pussy throbbed, wanting to be plundered. Why did
she react this way with him, not only a stranger, he was a vamp!
Good God
Almighty, Daddy
help
me. Which rule am I breaking now?

Reaching up, she clasped
her hands around his neck, and parted her lips to receive his tongue. Their
embrace became tight and intense. Stefan released his embrace. Opening her
eyes, noticing the expression on his face, and eyes, she released the hold
around his neck. The dark, red-ringed eyes screamed his true intent—he wanted
her, he wanted her body, and blood.
He
wants my blood! And the son-of-a-bitch is reading my mind!

“You did it again! Well,
that certainly sobered me up. Good night, Stefan. Thanks, but no thanks.” She
pushed back from his chest and turned away. A confused look swept across
Stefan’s face as she unlocked the car door and quickly slid behind the wheel.

Before shutting the door,
he leaned down, resting his elbows on the door frame, and asked with a velvety
tone, “Will I see you tomorrow night?”

“I don’t think so.” As
soon as the words left her lips, she realized it was a lie. To find the rogue
vamp, his help would be essential.

Damn! Pull yourself
together Alex. I’m not here for a roll in the sack with a tall, dark, sexy guy.
I’m here to work, this is a job and he’s a vamp! He’s not interested in someone
like me. Get a grip! This is what they do. Seduce humans into thinking
it’s
okay to have their blood sucked out of them. Not me.
It’s a disgusting and repulsive habit for weirdoes to enjoy!

The engine turned over as
she glanced up at Stefan and met his smile. The Mustang pulled away and sped
off down the road.

Chapter 2

Stefan watched Alexandra drive away. His first
inclination was to follow her, and immediately thought better of it. She’d be
back. They always came back. He had a compelling effect on women, vamps and
humans alike. Women bent to his will either by body or mind. Yes, Alexandra
Carlton would be back. The fiery redhead with a sexy body would be his to
possess. For the first time in a long, long time, he felt alive.

Over the past five hundred years, his life, if one
could call a vampire existence a life, became darker, more morose. The years of
killing, constantly surrounded by death and blood, the lack of real feelings,
made for a life almost unbearable. He had the physical and emotional scars to
prove it. There were times he thought of ending his existence, walking into the
sun or purposefully provoking Gregori into fighting with him to rip his heart
out. Gregori probably would have seen through the ruse.

Nothing existed inside him except emptiness, no
joy, no love, and no emotion. He was an indifferent, bitter creature who used
humans for what they were, sustenance, nothing more. Even the sex didn’t
interest him anymore. His heart became granite, hard, cold, and lifeless. And
yet, he could make the women do what he pleased and feel nothing in return for
the pleasure given them. They thought he was the man to give them what they
wanted—sex and the thrill of having a strong and handsome bloodsucker relieve
them of blood. He was none of the above, simply an illusion.

A chimera, a hulk of flesh
surrounded by more death than life.

Killing was no
different
¾
without
feelings of remorse, probably
why Gregori hired him as the Enforcer for the Mid-Atlantic Region Blood Family,
a branch of the Vampire Syndicate. Stefan made the perfect enforcer of the Vamp
Laws, specifically Gregori’s edicts. When any vamp got out of line, Gregori
enlisted Stefan to take care of the situation, swiftly and quietly. The
reputation he established in the vamp world became known far and wide, with
both the ancients and newly transitioned.

Tonight, he made the decision to end his
life–honorably, to go out with dignity like his ancestors. There were no more
holy wars to fight, no great causes to support, and no barbarians left in the
world to vanquish. The global governments ran everything with the assistance of
influential private corporations. The Vampire Syndicate, formed in 1905,
offered some of the influence, although not enough to gain complete dominance
over the human conglomerates. Stefan shared in the profits of the Syndicate as
one of the original contributors, and the money meant nothing to him. Nothing
did anymore.

Until tonight, and the reason just drove away in a
red Mustang.

Alexandra Carlton captured his imagination.
Something about her intrigued him in a way he hadn’t experienced in many, many
years. At least for one more night, he’d stay around.
I know she’ll be back,
I feel it!
 
He laughed tonight,
smiled, kissed her, and felt his heart slam hard in his chest responding to her
embrace. Even now, his face hurt from smiling. She affected him in a way he
thought he lost a long time ago.

Stefan instantly was drawn
to the charming human woman, with her feisty attitude and curvaceous body,
round and soft, unlike the anorexic women who normally frequented the vamp
clubs. He wanted to know more about the tough little vixen. Possess her. Have
her submit to him, giving her pleasure beyond her wildest dreams. Smelling her
sweet blood, young and fresh, aroused his own sanguine fluids pulsing through
his veins. Watching her down the cognac and whiskey shot like a man was amusing.
Yet, womanhood exuded from every pore in her body. When departing for the
ladies’ room, he scanned every inch of her sexy, fuller body. Long tapered legs
went on forever under the tight leather mini-skirt and he wasn’t a leg man.
However, he became a convert after watching her hips sway with a rhythmic
action as she walked across the room. The roundness of her ass filled out the
black leather just right, tight enough to know it must be a thong or nothing
underneath. He liked slim hips ordinarily, except something in the way hers
moved made his cock painfully hard, pressing uncomfortably in his slacks. Damn,
and the way the sequin top fit snug across her voluptuous, beautifully formed
breasts. To call him a breast man would be a mistake too. More than a handful
was a waste he thought, but he wanted to fondle and hold her abundant flesh in
the palms of his hands. The long auburn hair fell in sultry streams of curls
about her shoulders, wanting to run his fingers through the silky strands, to
nuzzle his face in the tresses and smell her essence. Her light green eyes
complemented fine facial features and he could get lost in them forever. The
women who normally frequented
The Black Rose
didn’t have the same feistiness
. She seemed different and quirky,
and he wanted to know more about her. A light shone around her or was it his
imagination?

When she peered back at him
on her way to the ladies’ room, his heart pounded hard against his ribs, and
quite possibly his soul was lost as well. Both stood no chance when the edge of
her mouth turned up and she smiled at him from across the room. A split second
in time, a life-time altered forever.

He was spellbound, time
suspended.

Walking back to the club from the parking lot,
slowly, he wanted to take in the evening sounds and smells, to feel what he had
hungered for and missed for a long time. Alexandra, in the short period of
knowing her, gave hope back to him, a reason to continue his existence one more
night.

Nodding to the bouncer, he stepped back into the
club, and weaved through seated customers, heading back toward the bar. The
band played another session and a couple gyrated in tandem on the dance floor
to the rhythm. He motioned to Derek to bring him a Cognac Paradis.

Stefan turned in his seat to check out the other
patrons—vamps and humans. For a weekday, the tourists generated a steady
business. Weekends usually brought more humans, especially the young women.
They were always searching for a fix, sex or blood, or both. His thoughts
slipped to Alexandra, wishing she’d stayed longer. The taste of her lingered on
his lips and he wanted more of her, be it sex or blood. Why did she panic and
run away?
Why the fast exodus?
Is there a secret I’m not seeing, perhaps?

A hard pat on his shoulder jerked Stefan out of
his thoughts. “Gregori, I thought you were at the
Transfixed
club
tonight?” Stefan’s eyebrows wrinkled as he turned to face the Master and
Commander.

Dressed in black jeans and a short-sleeved black T-shirt,
he appeared dark and sinister as he did every night, exuding a swagger of
confidence. His hair was slicked back, and several chains hung about his neck,
he seemed more the bouncer than the owner of the club.

“Nothing was happening, so I thought I’d come play
here tonight, but I see not much action is going on here either.”

“No, it is quiet. Do you think those virus rumors
are true and keeping the regulars away?”

“Stefan, they are rumors, nothing more. I’ve
contacted the other Masters and the only confirmed death can be attributed to a
bounty kill, not a virus. We need to ride out this gossip story like the ones
in the past. I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either.”

“If you say so.
I don’t
know, this one sounds different to me. I can’t shake it, there’s something too
familiar about it. Like the Black Plague. I lived through those horrors and
this one could end up the same way.”

“You are Mister Doom and Gloom these days my
friend. What are you drinking?”

“My usual.”

“I don’t know how you indulge in the harsh liquor,
and for your information no one orders the House Special anymore.”

“Someone did tonight sir,” Derek said, obviously overhearing
the conversation.

“Really?
Some unsuspecting tourist?”
He laughed.

“A rather fine young woman Mister Marin took a
fancy to.”

Gregori leaned in closer to Stefan, flaring his
nostrils. “Really, was it good for you?”

Stefan turned toward Derek, glaring at him. Derek
grinned and walked away. “I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to taste her.” He
did, but not in the way Gregori implied.

“Stefan?
You?
Hmm, this
woman must be different. I’ve never known a woman who could resist your charms.
And she escaped without you having her?
Interesting.
I
do smell her on you, though. You must have been close for her to leave a scent,
and
brand you with lipstick, but you didn’t take her blood?”

“I only kissed her.” He brushed his fingertips
over his lips in fond remembrance. “She’ll be back tomorrow night. I have no
doubt. The game isn’t over yet.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Sounds to me you have
a contest on your hands with this one. I haven’t even met her yet to know this
fact.”

“You may be right. There’s something different
about her I can’t figure out. There’s more to her than meets the eye and I’m
going to find out what it is.”

“Ah, a challenge and a mystery.
Just what you like.
Don’t get so involved you forget
your duties to me.”

“Gregori, are you questioning my loyalty?”

“No, as your boss, I want your full attention with
your brain and brawn when it comes to business matters. As your friend, I say
your dick can make any decisions it wants just don’t involve your personal
quests in my affairs. Keep the two separate.”

“I’ve always kept my dick out and this time is no
different. The woman will not come between us. Humans are good for only two
things, blood and sex, and not necessarily in any particular order.”

Gregori patted Stefan on the back and smiled.
“Good, exactly what I want to hear.”

Stefan wanted Gregori to hear exactly what he told
him, his undying loyalty. However, he felt more for Alexandra, more than her
blood and sex. For the first time in a long time, he wanted more than nameless
bodies for pleasure. This fiery vixen’s life essence had a vibrancy he wanted
to be a part of. To bask in her light, her life, and her brightness could balance
his darkness. He felt alive and needed more of her.

Tomorrow night, he would have Alexandra Carlton.