Steal the Night (Thieves)

by Lexi Blake

  Neil and Chad moved in together one floor down from us. Since he’d pushed the beast down to save my life, Neil had reported no further incidents, but I was nervous. He didn’t want to investigate further, preferring to enjoy his new, settled life with his lover and I hesitated to disturb his peace. I worried that we would have to deal with it eventually. These problems didn’t just disappear.

  The door opened and Danny and Dev walked in.

  “There you are,” Daniel said with a dimpled smile.

  Dev went over and picked up his sleeping son and settled into the rocking chair beside me. Daniel sank into his and the three of us rocked, passing the babies between us. We sat like that, peacefully watching the light grow in the sky.

  As for me, I learned a lot over the last few years. I learned to really accept the love that is given to me. I have learned to accept myself for who I am. I’ve realized that I have many names and many titles.

  I am the Queen of All Vampire and in Fae society they call me Your Grace, but those fancy things don’t hold a candle to my favorite titles. I am my father’s daughter. I am Daniel and Dev’s wife. I am Lee and Rhys’s mom.

  Because I am all of these things, I am the one thing I never thought I could be—happy.

  * * * *

  Zoey, Daniel, Dev and the whole crew will return in a series featuring a brand new heroine with ties to them they can’t imagine. Join me for Hunter: A Thieves Series starting in January of 2015.

  Author’s Note

  I’m often asked by generous readers how they can help get the word out about a book they enjoyed. There are so many ways to help an author you like. Leave a review. If your e-reader allows you to lend a book to a friend, please share it. Go to Goodreads and connect with others. Recommend the books you love because stories are meant to be shared. Thank you so much for reading this book and for supporting all the authors you love!

  Ripper

  Hunter: A Thieves Novel, Book 1

  By Lexi Blake

  Coming January 20, 2015

  Click here to pre-order!

  Kelsey Atwood is a private detective with a problem. She came from a family of hunters, growing up on the wrong side of the supernatural world. Tracking down bail jumpers and deadbeat dads may not make her a lot of friends, but it’s a lot safer than the life she turned her back on. She was hoping to escape from the nightmares of her past, but her latest case has brought them right back to her door.

  A young woman has gone missing, and she didn’t go willingly. When Kelsey discovers that the girl is actually a shifter, she knows she should drop the case and walk away. But this shifter was a sweet kid, and she’s in serious trouble. More females are missing and the evidence points to a legendary killer. Bodies are piling up, and her case is becoming center stage for a conflict that could shatter the fragile peace between wolves and vampires.

  As the hunt intensifies, she finds herself trapped between two men—Gray, a magnetic half-demon lawman, and the ancient vampire Marcus Vorenus. Both men call to her, but when a shocking secret about Kelsey’s family is revealed, it could ruin them all. To stop the killer, she will have to embrace the truth about who—and what—she truly is.

  * * * *

  “They make a beautiful family,” a voice said from the doorway. He was backlit from the blue light coming from the club and I only saw his silhouette.

  I turned quickly, hoping he wouldn’t catch me crying. I wiped away the obnoxious evidence of my self-pity. “Yes, they’re lovely.”

  One minute he was behind me and the next he was right in front of me. His hand cupped my jaw, his thumb gently rubbing across my cheek, sweeping away the tear caught there. I should have backed away, but I was too surprised to move. Vampires are fast.

  “Did Devinshea make you cry?” the vampire asked with a melodic accent. Italian, I realized as I recognized the man from last night. “He can be rude though not usually with a woman. Should I talk to him?”

  “Marcus Vorenus.” It came out as a breathy revelation.

  In the dim light of the office, I saw a smile break over the vampire’s face. It tugged his lips up and caused his dark eyes to crinkle appealingly. It took him from a gorgeous work of art to something far more dangerous. He was just a handsome, approachable man when he smiled.

  “You’re the girl from the club.” He sounded like he was happy to have found me again.

  “I am.” I had to wonder if I would be crying if I’d followed through on my initial instinct and taken Marcus up on his invitation that night. I probably wouldn’t be standing here crying over Grayson Sloane.

  He stepped back and dropped his hand. He seemed a bit wary now. “You came to look for me?”

  “No.” I wished a little I could lie to him. “I’m a private investigator. I’m here on a…murder case. Mr. Quinn just kind of became my new client. He said I needed an escort so I suppose he picked you. And I wasn’t stalking you or anything. I was staking the place out and you just happened to be there.”

  He looked amused as he leaned back against the desk. “An investigator? Very interesting. You must be a good investigator since you already know my name. Why don’t you tell me yours?”

  “Kelsey Atwood.” I wondered if someone was laughing at me. I’d just gotten dumped by one guy out of my league. Now I was standing alone in a room with another too beautiful man, and I was determined not to make an idiot of myself over this one.

  “Kelsey. An interesting name for an interesting girl,” the vampire said. “It used to be a surname. Old English, I believe.”

  “I have no idea. I think my mom just liked the sound of it. Are you really two thousand years old?” He looked like he was maybe thirty-five.

  His head moved ever so slightly, an aristocratic gesture in the negative. “Not quite. If you include the twenty-two years I walked the plane as a human, I have one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four years.”

  I stared at him, thinking about what that meant.

  “Tell me, Kelsey.” His mouth turned down as he stared back at me. “Give me the first thought you had when I told you just how old I am.”

  He seemed really interested, so I gave him my honest answer. “I thought that was a lot of time for regrets.”

  He was in my space again. “Almost all humans have a different reaction. They say how much I must have seen and how amazing it must be to never have to die.”

  “I guess it says something about me.” I wished I’d given him a less than honest answer, but it was me and I didn’t see a reason to hide it. “I think about what you must have lost along the way. I don’t think I’d want to be immortal.”

  He didn’t touch me. I knew all I had to do was ask and he would. “Do you belong to the demon, little Kelsey?”

  “No,” I said quietly. “He doesn’t want me now.”

  “But you want him.”

  All I had to do was say no and I knew the vampire would offer himself to me. We had a strange connection, Marcus Vorenus and I, and if I hadn’t met Gray when I did I would have been all over him. But I had met Gray and even though he’d walked out on me, it seemed too soon to consider anyone else. “Yes,” I said and I heard the longing in my own voice.

  “He is a fool.” The vampire backed up. His face was once again pleasant, but without the emotion that previously lit it. This was Marcus as he wanted the world to see him—cool and regal, distant. “But then aren’t we all? I thought, for a moment, that Devinshea was doing me a favor. I thought, perhaps, I was reading too much into our situation. I see he’s still playing a game with me.”

  The vampire sounded bitter, and I hated the fact that I’d made him feel that way. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying…”

  “It isn’t your fault, dear girl. You must be careful around the fertility god. He always knows what he is doing when he puts two people in an intimate situation. He knew I would be attracted to you. He knew you’re precisely the type of female to catch my attention. He also knew you’re involved with another man. It
’s his way of telling me it is time to go home, that there is nothing here for me.”

  A wave of disappointment rolled over me. I’d been looking forward to his company, but I didn’t want to hurt him further. He seemed sad enough as it was, as though the world had turned on him. I didn’t want to add to his troubles. “I’ll ask Mr. Quinn for another escort. I’m sorry to have taken up your time. I’ll just wait here for him. I’m sure he’ll be back.”

  I sat down again in the chair where I’d talked to Quinn and tried to hold myself with as much dignity as I could muster. I prayed the next vampire he sent me was obnoxious and unattractive.

  Marcus kneeled at my side. “I’m sorry, Kelsey. I shouldn’t have tried to drag you into my troubles with Devinshea and Daniel. My only excuse is that I’ve been thinking of you ever since I saw you last night. I’m a bit tired of wanting women I cannot have.”

  Now I was the slightly bitter one. “Well, Vorenus, then stick by my side. I can assure you after you spend a little time with me, you’ll change your mind. They all do after I pull a gun on them or yell too much. And this,” I gestured to the dress and shoes, “ain’t me. This is someone else’s magic. I’m a jeans and T-shirts kind of girl, and I don’t do relationships well, obviously. I drink too much, cuss too much, and can be very unpleasant to be around. I think you’ll discover your heart is perfectly safe around me if you give me the chance to annoy you.”

  Marcus’s eyes closed and a rueful smile took over his lips. “He knows me so well.” He sighed and opened his eyes, holding out his hand for me. “Let us forget this portion of the evening and begin again. I am Marcus Vorenus, your escort. Consider me your knight and your guide. So, tell me, Kelsey, how may aid you? I am entirely at your service.”

  For more information or to pre-order, click here.

  A View to a Thrill

  Masters and Mercenaries, Book 7

  By Lexi Blake

  Coming August 19, 2014

  Click here to pre-order!

  A Spy without a Country

  Simon Weston grew up royal in a place where aristocracy still mattered. Serving Queen and country meant everything to him, until MI6 marked him as damaged goods and he left his home in disgrace. Ian Taggart showed him a better way to serve his fellow man and introduced him to Sanctum, a place to pursue his passion for Dominance and submission. Topping beautiful subs was a lovely distraction until he met Chelsea, and becoming her Master turned into Simon’s most important mission.

  A Woman without Hope

  Chelsea Dennis grew up a pawn to the Russian mob. Her father’s violent lessons taught her that monsters lurked inside every man and they should never be trusted. Hiding in the shadows, she became something that even the monsters would fear—an information broker who exposed their dirty secrets and toppled their empires. Everything changed when Simon Weston crossed her path. Valiant and faithful, he was everything she needed—and a risk she couldn’t afford to take.

  A Force too Strong to Resist

  When dark forces from her past threaten her newfound family at Sanctum, Chelsea must turn to Simon, the one man she can trust with her darkest secrets. Their only chance to survive lies in a mystery even Chelsea has been unable to solve. As they race to uncover the truth and stay one step ahead of the assassins on their heels, they will discover a love too powerful to deny. But to stop a killer, Simon just might have to sacrifice himself…

  * * * *

  Chelsea looked at the bed that dominated the room. The only bed. Somehow she’d managed to find the shitty motel that didn’t have two queens. No. It was way worse. It was a single queen and there was no couch. And she was pretty sure the floor was covered in disease. “I think I should sleep somewhere else. We need to find another room.”

  Blue eyes stared a hole through her. Somehow his eyes managed to be cold and hot given his mood. The color shifted, lighter, icier when he was angry. As warm as the Caribbean when he was happy.

  They often seemed so cold when he looked at her. “Your contact said to meet here. We’re staying here.”

  “He told me to meet him here. I’m sure they have another room, Weston. You don’t have to sit up all night.” Because there was no way they could share that bed. It was too small. He would take up all the space.

  He locked the door and set down his duffel bag on the table. He shrugged out of his jacket because the man wore a three-piece suit on the run. She couldn’t help but stare at his broad shoulders and the way his dress shirt tapered down to perfectly pressed slacks. He tugged at the silver tie he was wearing, pulling it free and working the buttons at his throat until she could see the start of his truly impressive chest.

  God, she hoped she wasn’t drooling.

  The shoulder holster was the next to go in his inadvertent striptease. “You should get settled in. We have to be up early in the morning. I’ll take the side closest to the door.”

  He couldn’t be serious. “Simon, there’s not enough room on that bed.”

  He threw that gorgeous body down, making the springs squeak. “Of course there is, love. You Americans just like to take up an enormous amount of space. When I was a child, my brother and I slept in beds much smaller than this.”

  “I’m not your brother, Simon.”

  “I understand that fully. Believe me.”

  She needed to take charge or she would make a complete fool of herself. “Look, Weston, you turned down my offer.”

  He turned lazily, one hand coming up to balance his head. He looked like a pinup in a women’s magazine—all lean and predatory lines. She could see the write-up in her head. Simon likes tea, Scotch and eating subs for breakfast. His turn-offs include everything that comes out of Chelsea Dennis’s mouth. “Are you talking about your very charming offer to use my body to lose your virginity?”

  She hadn’t put it like that. “You don’t want me. I get it. So let’s keep things simple. I hired you. I’m the boss. I’m going to see if I can rent the room next to this one and that can be yours.”

  He didn’t move. He didn’t have to. She saw the way his eyes narrowed and then his voice came out, low and in that perfect upper-crust British accent that made her nipples hard. Her nipples were really stupid and she wished they didn’t like him so damn much. “You’re under a grave misapprehension, Chelsea. You are not my boss and you did not hire me. You came to me with a problem and I told you I would solve it. I believe I also mentioned that I was in charge and that was the only way I do this for you. So you will take off your clothes and you will get into this bed and you will sleep beside me tonight. I explained this to you when you signed the bloody contract. Do I need to explain what the word submissive means?”

  Tears pricked her eyes. He was so damn unfair. She had to wonder if she would ever find a man who didn’t want to punish her. “You forced me to sign that contract.”

  Now he moved, rolling to the side of the bed and getting to his feet with pure predatory grace. “I did nothing of the kind.”

  He seemed very willing to revise history. She wasn’t about to let him forget. “If I hadn’t signed your contract, you would have let me die.”

  He sighed, a long-suffering sound. “I certainly would not and if you think that’s true then you don’t know me at all. Perhaps I should do exactly what I should have done in the first place, what I would have done if you hadn’t signed the contract.”

  That was worse than letting her die. “Please don’t call Ian.”

  His shoulders weren’t so straight as he turned and stared at her. “You’re reckless, Chelsea. If I give up even a moment’s control, I’ll lose you and I can’t stand the thought of that. The only way to save you is to be your Master and the only Master you’ll accept is not the kind I want to be.”

  “And what kind do you want to be?”

  “Indulgent. Loving. Kind. I want a sub who obeys me in the field because she understands I would never let anyone hurt her. I want the play to just be play. I want a sub who trusts me with her body, who
wants me and not just some faceless Dom who’ll work her over and then walk away. And I certainly don’t want to be a curiosity.”

  She felt embarrassment flash through her system. If she could take back that first night’s utter idiocy she would. She should have known he wouldn’t want her. Not like that. “I get it. I got it when you turned me down the first time. I can get into bed with you because you won’t touch me.”

  He was suddenly in her space. He’d moved so quickly she wasn’t sure how he’d gotten there. One minute there was a bed between them and the next she was backing up until she hit the wall because he was stalking her. She’d gone as far as she could go, but he kept coming. He loomed over her, using every one of his six feet two inches. “I’ve tried to be polite about this, but you don’t want that, do you? You don’t want me to be a gentleman about this. You want me to take you because then you’ll bloody well get it over with and you can put me in the same box with all the other men who hurt you and used you and cast you aside. I would be just one more villain who did something to you.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You don’t have to. I understand you, Chelsea. You can’t comprehend that, but I do. I understand you like no other man will. So I understand that I have to explain certain things to you.” He moved closer until his mouth hovered above hers, his heat sinking into her skin. “I’m going to tell you how this is going to go. We’ll get into that bed and I’m going to put my hands on you and I’m going to put my mouth on you. I’m going to taste you. I swear by the time you get out of that bed in the morning, you’re going to know what it feels like to come against my tongue. That screaming you heard as we walked in, you’re going to make that girl’s orgasm sound like the squeaking of a mouse. But the one thing you won’t get is my cock. You won’t get that because I’m not going to take your virginity because you’re curious. I’ll take it when you can’t think about anything but me. I’ll take it when you cry out my name and tell me there’s no other man you’ll ever love the way you love me. Then and only then will I take what belongs to me. Am I understood?”