by S. K. Yule
Darkest Risings
S. K. Yule
When Wilhemina Jenkins returns to her hometown after being away for years, the last thing she expects is to find a tall, sexy stranger with stormy turquoise eyes who will fan the flames of her desire.
Aldin Aleksandrov has spent most of his long existence as a vampire protecting humankind from shadowdrifters. The violence and loneliness has all but made him lose hope of finding his life mate.
However, once he meets the beautiful Wilhemina, irresistible chemistry and circumstances toss them on a path riddled with danger, twists, turns, surprises, and ultimately a love that neither can deny.
Darkest Risings
Copyright © February 2013, S. K. Yule
Cover art by Mina Carter © February 2013
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
ISBN: 978-1-937394-82-0
Amira Press, LLC
Charlotte, NC 28227
www.amirapress.com
Dedication
As always, to my husband who has believed in me from the start—even during those times when I didn’t believe in myself. To my mom for being brave and reading my books even though some might be a bit too spicy for her taste. To all the rest of my family for their support.
To my publisher for believing in me, and to all of the wonderful, talented people behind the scenes—editors, artists, formatters—who lend their expertise. Thank you. You are much appreciated and never forgotten.
Chapter One
No matter that he’d give his life for any one of his close-knit family members who meant more to him than anything. No matter that they’d do the same for him. He’d gotten shafted on the social gene. He’d always be an outsider.
While he was happy that his brothers Ashe and Aiston had both found their viata amants—hell Ashe even had a baby—Aldin couldn’t quite squash the tinge of jealousy that had sunk its ugly teeth into his heart.
His dominant, overbearing, sometimes rude nature didn’t exactly make him the settling down type. He was confident without being egotistical about his looks, had no trouble attracting potential bedmates. It was what he wanted to do behind closed doors where things got complicated. Not all women enjoyed his need for dominance, at least not the take-home-to-mom kind.
Though he was quiet by nature, he had no qualms about expressing whatever came to mind, no matter how crude, when he had a beautiful woman naked and underneath him—or pinned against the wall, or face down on the floor, or…
He was big, and was aware that he intimidated the hell out of most of his bed partners, yet he’d never physically hurt any of them. He liked to let his darker side rule him during sex, but he’d never hurt a woman. Women were to be protected, not brutalized. As twisted as it may seem given his sexual preferences, he respected women.
For years, he’d thought something was wrong with him. But after countless hours of contemplation, he’d come to the conclusion that sex was an outlet for the calm, cool exterior he maintained around others. When hunting, fighting, or protecting humans from shadowdrifters, emotions were always kept on a tight leash. The bedroom had become the one place he could let go and release those pent up emotions, which resulted in mind-blowing ecstasy.
Thus the reason he’d never find his life mate. He served his own selfish needs where sex was involved. No woman would love someone who wasn’t willing to love them back. However, he now found himself in love for the first time in his long existence with the georgous Alaina Czernik. Ashe’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who had betrayed his family. Ebony had forgiven Alaina when she’d apologized for what she’d done--convinced Ashe to forgive her as well. That didn’t change the fact that she had hurt his family.
Alaina had secretly come to him and asked him to train her to fight the drifters. Vowed that she’d changed. He’d been skeptical, and was worried that by helping her he’d be being disloyal to his family. Unfortunately, one look at her slender body and shiny, platinum hair had turned his insides to putty. He’d been reluctant to tell his brothers what he was doing—especially Ashe. When the time had finally arose to come clean, things had gone smoother than he’d ever thought possible.
Ashe had been pissed, but had trusted his judgment without question. Aldin had been humbled by his brother’s unwavering faith in him, and had vowed that he’d never let his alliance with Alaina harm anyone in the family. Now he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep that promise. The funny thing was, it was he who was going to be hurt because he’d been slowly falling in love with the beautiful creature for quite some time now.
Since she was a vampire, too, he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting her during sex. He wouldn’t have to hold back, be wary of his superior strength. He could be as dominant as he wished. He’d never had the balls to make a move on Alaina, but he would rectify that tonight. He wanted her, and he meant to have her.
For the time being, he needed to focus on his research. The drifter problem had continued to intensify over the past several months. Their once expected cowardly behavior had turned aggressive, even to initiating fights and setting ambushes for the hunters. The increase in activity had been mostly centered on his family in the St. Louis area. The drifters had claimed to have a new king, more powerful than the legendary Vampyre King—V-a-m-p-y-r-e deriving from ancient times—Ragnor, who was readying them for a war against the hunters.
As far as he was concerned, Ragnor was nothing but a myth. Aldin was nearing seven hundred years in existence, and to his knowledge no one had ever come face-to-face with the legendary king. Nonetheless, he and his brothers had been running themselves ragged fighting the drifters and trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
The only break they’d gotten came a few months back when Malachi, a back-up hunter they’d brought in, had been kidnapped by this new leader of the drifters.
Although that run-in only provided them with minimal information. One, the new leader’s name was Trinidad; Two, he was rumored to be an ancient true blood; Three, he was adept at witchcraft and had succeeded in making a tranq that could take a vamp down which was particularly disturbing since nothing that existed was known to subdue a vamp; and Finally, he was unbelievably powerful having survived being torched by his brother Aiston. Something no vampire should have walked away from.
Shortly after the stand-off, his baby sister’s head had been delivered to their doorstep, courtesy of Trinidad. Pain tore through his chest. Estril had been the epitome of kindness, had never hurt anyone. The anger that boiled in him at the thought of her suffering at that bastard’s hands nearly drove him insane.
His fingers flew over the keyboard looking for a pattern in the area that could point them in the direction of Trinidad’s new hideout. Unfortunately, most of the articles about any crime sprees proved too random to pinpoint any specific area to start a search. His hacking into the police data system came back with the same useless results.
He grunted when a tap sounded at his door. Even the vastness of the Aleksandrov estate, the private wings he and each of his family members had, was no guarantee against interruptions.
“Come in.” Aldin leaned back in the leather chair, stretched his legs in front of him, and linked his hands behind his head while Aiston entered the room and closed the door behind him.
“You find anything?”
“Nope.” Aiston sat in the chair next to Aldin’s desk. “You?”
Aiston shook his blond head. He had the trademark Aleksandrov turquoise eyes, but he and his brother were as different as night and day. Aiston was the prankster, pain-in-the ass brother. Over the countless years, Aldin had
been on the receiving end of one too many of those pranks.
Hell, Aiston had even suckered Avril, his wife, in on one of his pranks when he’d given Marcus a mohawk. Ebony, Ashe’s wife and Marcus’ mother, hadn’t been the least pleased, but had let go of the grudge after Ashe had laughed it off. Aldin was pretty sure that had been due to the reason that the baby’s hair would grow back within a couple of days.
While vampires didn’t come into their full powers until the age of eighteen, they still healed quickly. For some reason, the body perceived a shaved head as an injury that needed to be healed. If a vampire got a buzz cut, the hair grew back at a normal speed. Shave it bald? The shit grew back with a vengeance.
“It’s getting thick, bro.” Aiston stared at the floor.
Aldin could almost hear the thoughts churning in his head without reading his mind.
“That’s saying it mildly. I can’t find any solid leads, not even a hint of where Trinidad might be hiding. It’s as if he’s disappeared off the face of the fucking earth. He’s still close. I can feel it in my bones.” Aldin ground his teeth together.
“I agree. He’s keeping a real low profile, though. I should have listened to Malachi in that warehouse and cut his damned head off. But son of a bitch, no vampire should have survived a torching by me.”
Aldin nodded. Every vampire had a special ability, fire was Aiston’s. And he was right. Trinidad should not have survived an ass burning from Aiston.
“How did Malachi take it when he found out Trinidad was still alive?” For some reason, Trinidad had been enamored with Malachi.
While Ashe and Malachi had assured them all that Trinidad would be more than willing to take the bait—the bait being Malachi—neither had explained why. Aldin hadn’t pressed the issue at the time, knowing his brother would never agree if there hadn’t been a good reason.
Aldin wasn’t blind to the fact that he’d always been perceived as the scary brother—and didn’t really mind one bit since everyone left him alone because of it—Malachi wasn’t lacking in the scary-as-shit façade himself. At six-foot-six, the biggest Aleksandrov brother, Aldin was no slouch. Yet, Malachi had him by a couple inches, a good thirty pounds, and a few hundred years.
He snorted inside. Hell, that fucked up son-of-a-bitch had even found his life mate. Aldin doubted he could be any more intimidating than Malachi so was it out of the question that he’d have a chance at happiness with that one woman destined for him? Get over it, dumbass. Ain’t gonna happen. Besides, if he had anything to say about it, he’d soon be spending some quality time with Alaina.
Aiston shook his head and sighed. “Ashe said Malachi was…less than pleased. He and Geri are coming back out in a week or so. They just got settled into their new place and are planning on getting married soon.”
“Seriously? I never thought they’d get married.”
“Why not?” Aiston cocked one brow up. “She’s his viata amant and was human. He’ll do it if only to make her happy. That’s the way it is, bro.”
“Still. He doesn’t strike me as the traditional type in any sense of the word.” Aldin rubbed at his stubbled jaw line.
“He is an intense dude. Not to mention that underlying psychosis that seems to bleed through his pores.” Aiston chuckled.
“He’s a hell of a fighter. Thought he was going to pop my head off that day in the training room when Geri thought we were really fighting. She came in and I almost called her a bitch. Of course, I was only referring to her as such in a casual way, not actually calling her it because Geri’s far from it. Still, he didn’t take it lightly.” Aldin smirked.
“Not wise to call someone’s life mate a bitch, kidding or not. But I know you, bro. I know you didn’t mean any disrespect by it. You’ve never dissed on women like that, but you are kind of rough around the edges sometimes where what is and isn’t appropriate is concerned.”
“Thanks for the lesson, Mom.” Aldin growled.
“Don’t get your panties all in a bunch.” Aiston stood. “Good God. You’re so touchy. Lighten up, man.”
“Uh huh. I don’t think I want to lighten up, especially if it means being like you, Mr. Whoopee Cushion.”
“Hey. That was classic!” Aiston whined.
“Making someone sound like they fart when they sit down in a room full of people is not classic. It’s crude.”
“Whatever. Catch ya later.” Aiston left the room muttering something about Aldin not knowing the meaning of classic.
He glanced at the clock. Time to meet Alaina at Drake’s. Drake’s was the favorite vampire hangout. It had been demolished during a drifter invasion a few months back, but had recently been rebuilt.
He took a quick shower, donned his normal attire of black leather pants, black silk shirt, and black boots. Then strapped his sword to his back before covering it with his floor-length, black leather duster, and shimmered to the entrance of Drake’s.
Chapter Two
Alaina drummed her red fingernails on the surface of the smooth, dark table she sat behind in a dim corner of Drake’s as she waited for Aldin. He was her best friend, the brother she never had. She could never repay him for giving her a chance to prove herself, especially after what she’d put his family through.
She and Ashe had been a thing many--too many to count--years ago. When they’d split, she’d been bitter to put it nicely. She’d turned his first viata amant, Shara—the one that had betrayed him and had almost gotten him killed, unbeknownst to her—into a drudge. She grimaced. Changing the newly dead into slaves, hell, intelligent zombies for want of a better definition, was something that turned even her stomach now days.
Even worse, when Ashe had gotten a second chance at love with Ebony, she’d kidnapped the woman and tried to blackmail Ashe into coming back to her.
To her amazement, Ashe hadn’t killed her and Ebony had forgiven her when she’d apologized. More than thankful for a second chance at life, she’d vowed to get her shit together.
Aldin was one gorgeous, sexy-as-hell man. His tall, muscled frame, dark hair, golden skin, and turquoise eyes were enough to make any girl squirm in her chair. But she would not go there. She’d already fallen in love with one Aleksandrov, and she’d never do it again. Not to mention, Aldin was a bit scary at times. His quiet intensity kept her on the edge of her seat. He reminded her of a panther in captivity waiting for the moment its cage was opened to claim retribution on its captor.
Over the past few weeks, she’d noticed changes in him. Like the way his once neutral gaze slowly turned heated as he watched her from under half closed lids. She prayed he’d never act on his attraction to her. .
Not two seconds after that thought had flitted through her brain, Aldin walked through the front door of Drake’s. Every woman craned her neck to get a better look as he walked by. All of the Aleksandrov brothers had that affect on women. Within moments, he slipped into the seat beside her.
“Hey.” She smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back. Merely nodded, which was too bad since he had a nice smile, even if she’d only seen it a couple of times.
“Anything new on the drifter front?”
“Nope.” Aldin nodded his head in thanks to the waitress when she set a bottle of beer on the table in front of him.
“I need to talk to you, Alaina.” He took a long swig then set the bottle back down.
“What’s up?” She frowned. He’d never been a talker.
“Let’s go someplace private.”
After a moment, she nodded and followed him from the bar. Once outside, he took her hand and shimmered them to his bedroom.
Alaina had been in his room a couple of times, but only to help him do research on the computer. It was as breathtaking as the rest of the estate. Nothing but the best. Dark hardwood floors, state of the art electronics, leather furniture, big screen television with every gaming console available to man. He liked his toys, that was a given.
“Well?” She watched as he shrugged out of his duster, pulle
d the sword from his back, and tossed them both onto the leather sofa.
He approached her like a wolf might approach a bunny it was about to devour, and she couldn’t help but give an inward shudder of appreciation for the fine specimen of male in front of her. Then it hit her. She had been right. He was going to make a move on her. She sighed, hoping that their friendship wouldn’t be the price of her rejection.
* * * *
Aldin watched Alaina’s lovely brown-green eyes as he approached her. She was gorgeous. When he reached her, he lifted his hand so he could rub his fingers gently over the smooth skin of her cheek and sighed.
“What are you doing?” Alaina’s brows drew down in confusion.
“You must know that I want you. I think I’m falling for you.” He didn’t miss the way her perfectly pouty lips frowned.
“Oh,” she whispered before taking a step back.
“Oh? That’s all you can say is ‘oh’?” He took another step toward her and bent his head toward her mouth. Finally, she’d be his.
Before he could kiss her, her palms came up flat against his chest and gave a gentle but firm shove.
“Aldin, you know I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I can never thank you for training me and for giving me a chance to prove that I’ve changed for the better. I will never forget that, but this can’t happen. You and I can’t happen.”
She was going to refuse him? Had he misjudged her so badly?
“No. I’ve seen the way you look at me, Alaina.”
She sighed. “The only way I’ve looked at you is in awe of your skill. And I would be a liar if I said I hadn’t appreciated your physique on more than one occasion. Hell, Aldin, you know you are gorgeous. I love you.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. She loved him? His heart soared.
“I love you like a brother.”