A Promise of Passion

by Felicity Heaton

  She checked the stake that was hidden in her jeans pocket and then zipped up her black jacket.

  The wind caressed her throat as gently as his kisses had, stirring the memory of his touch and her desire. She buried her neck in her coat collar and frowned. Hopefully the cocktails would zap dead the brain cell attached to that memory.

  ****

  Chapter 2

  Kassian surveyed the busy room with a lazy smile. The dance floor was crowded, full of hot bodies grinding against each other to the loud beat of the music. A switch in his focus and the tempting sweet melody of one hundred pounding hearts replaced that beat. His eyes moved to single one out amongst them, his hunger rising by the second, driven by the swirling fragrance of blood in the air and the rush of it through their veins.

  So many beautiful women here, but for some reason none of them appealed tonight. Usually he could come here and find one to lure away within seconds. Something was different. The delicate features of the vampire hunter, Alicia, rose to the front of his mind. A taste of her sweet cherry lips had sent desire surging through him in a way he hadn’t felt in centuries. The smell of her blood, the beat of her heart and the fragrance of her skin had only heightened their effect. It seemed that no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t erase the sensations she’d stirred.

  He stretched his arms out along the back of the curved red velvet covered couch and leaned back. When the bar tender looked his way, he raised a hand. The man nodded. It was a matter of seconds before another drink was in front of him, the empty glass whisked away. The vampire who ran the club knew him and knew he’d conduct his business quietly, unlike some of the younger vampires that frequented it. Discretion was something a lot of the new generation lacked. Their frivolous behaviour had made the humans notice his species. Right now it was only a small percentage of the population and they had taken up arms against his kind. If the youth continued to flout the rules, it was only a matter of time before more learned of vampires and then they’d have a war to contend with.

  A tall blond man leaned against the wide entrance to the curtained booth, his smile broad and charming.

  “Ashton,” Kassian said, saluting him by raising his glass. “It has been a while since I saw your face. There are many gathered tonight that have been away.”

  “It is for Seth’s party tomorrow,” Ashton said and slid his slim frame into the seat opposite Kassian.

  Kassian raised a brow. “A party, tomorrow?”

  “You hadn’t heard?” There was a laugh to Ashton’s voice. It had been a long time since Kassian and Seth had been on good terms. “I am sure he meant to inform you. You are, after all, the second eldest resident vampire in this city. Second only to him.”

  There was malice in those words. He hadn’t been second to Seth at everything. Alice had been his, even though Seth had wanted her for himself.

  “I hear he even has a guest planned... some human sport. It sounds delightful.”

  Kassian’s frown deepened. Human sport. He’d seen firsthand what those words meant. Some unfortunate girl was about to live a nightmare, chased by vampires in a sick and twisted game. By the end of the night, she’d be dead, drained by multiple vampires, drugged to comply.

  “I will expect to see you there,” Ashton said with another charming smile and slid out of the seat, easing his way across the room. Kassian watched him until he disappeared from view.

  He hated the idea of attending Seth’s party, but to be here tonight and then not attend would only increase the tension between himself and the elder vampire. He had to go, whether he liked it or not. He would keep to himself. Perhaps he’d stay long enough to show his face and then leave to find Alicia.

  Alicia. She had been beautiful tonight, the moonlight playing gently on her delicate features. It had made her chocolate brown eyes darker and set them sparkling like black diamonds. He ran a hand over his shoulder length dark hair, smoothing it back into the neat ponytail, and imagined the feel of her hair beneath his fingers. Always so soft. Everything about her was soft and warm, enticing him to touch and taste.

  Shunning thoughts of Alicia and forcing her to the back of his mind, he focused on the matter at hand. Feeding. It had been weeks since his last feed. Since the night he’d met Alicia, in fact. He frowned at the way she’d crept back into his thoughts and pushed her out again.

  His gaze moved around the room, slow and steady, assessing everyone. It stopped when it fell on a woman at the bar. Short cropped chestnut hair, slim figure with all the right curves, and an empty cocktail glass in front of her.

  Alicia.

  Either he had driven her to drink or she was a figment of his overwrought imagination.

  It had been wrong of him to control her tonight. He’d overstepped the mark. It was a mind control of sorts, an ability to slip into your target’s head and take over. Many vampires never spent the required time perfecting it and barged their way in, damaging the delicate human mind beyond repair. Done properly, it was a handy defence against humans and vampires alike.

  Regardless of how desperate he’d been for her to listen to him, he still shouldn’t have used it on her.

  It had betrayed what little trust she had in him.

  Curiosity got the better of him and he reached across the room to her mind as he sipped his martini. It was easy to slip in unnoticed this time. The resonance of his mind was still within hers. Each time a vampire controlled another’s mind, they left behind a trace of their own, a gateway back in that would disappear over a matter of hours. It made things easier if you were forced out and had to re-enter. Breaking into someone’s mind took a lot of effort. He made no attempt to control her this time and left again, as quietly as he’d entered.

  A man tapped her shoulder and motioned to the empty barstool beside her. Kassian leaned forwards and lowered his glass to the table. Alicia nodded and smiled politely. No, more than polite. It was verging on congenial. She’d never smiled at him like that. How could she smile at this new vampire that way? His own smile rose to his lips. She hadn’t realised that the man wasn’t a man at all. She leaned back on her stool, revealing a row of empty glasses. Too many. With that much alcohol inside her, she wouldn’t notice the man was a vampire until it was too late.

  He’d risen to his feet before he’d even thought about what he was doing and was crossing the room. The vampire laughed at something she’d said and hailed the bartender. Kassian growled. There was no way he was going to sit by and let some other man buy her drinks.

  The crowd parted before him and he slid through without touching anyone, intent on his destination. Alicia. Now that he was closer, he could smell her delicate fragrance of lilies. It caressed his senses, sending warmth through him and bringing back the taste of the stolen kiss.

  Her shoulders tensed when he was within a few feet, betraying the fact she’d sensed his approach. His hand came to rest lightly on her bare shoulder. She turned slowly and looked up at him with wide eyes.

  “There you are, Alicia, I have been searching for you everywhere,” he said with a broad smile and then looked at the man. His smile widened until he exposed the tips of his half-extended canines. “It was kind of you to keep my Alicia company. Come along now.”

  One hand was against her back before she could regain her senses and protest. His other took hold of hers, forcing her to turn and slip from the stool, barely giving her time to grab her jacket from the bar. The man regarded him coolly. Their eyes remained locked for a moment, a silent challenge and battle passing between them. The man looked away. Kassian’s smile broadened. Alicia was his and his alone. He’d never let another man touch her.

  He led her across the room and into his booth, drawing the curtain with one hand while he guided her into the seat with his other.

  The small oil lamp on the middle of the table struggled to light the booth. The black curtains stole the light. It only remained on Alicia, warming her skin and adding to her beauty. He slid into the couch opposite her, stayin
g close to the exit in case she tried to escape him. The curtain opened a moment, long enough for one of the waitresses to deposit Alicia’s drink, and then closed.

  He held her gaze across the table. Her blood reeked of alcohol. What had she been thinking? Coming here was dangerous enough, but drinking was just suicide. Surely she knew that vampires used this place as a hunting ground?

  Her eyes held a silent accusation. It told him that she was angry with him for his abuse of her trust earlier this evening and she wasn’t impressed with what he’d just done. At least on that front he could defend himself.

  “He would have killed you,” he said and leaned back into his side of the couch. He pressed the tip of his index and middle finger against the base of his glass, one either side of the stem, and drew it across the table to him. He raised it and then frowned at her. “Is that what you want?”

  She blinked slowly and looked at him as though she didn’t understand a word he’d said. Either that or she didn’t care.

  He shot forwards, his hand grabbing hers and holding it tight enough that her face screwed up in pain. It was a rough tactic, but one almost guaranteed to make her come to her senses. Nothing cleared the human mind like panic.

  “Is that what you want!” There was a growl to his words that made her flinch. When she opened her eyes again, they were brighter and there was fear in them at last. He lowered his voice so as not to startle her. “I cannot let that happen, even if it is what you want.”

  She snatched her hand back. “It’s not what I want.”

  Her hand went to her head, fingers raking shakily through her hair, clawing it from her face. She rubbed her eyes and face. Had she only just realised the danger she’d placed herself in?

  “You’ve had too much to drink,” he said and stood, extending his hand to her. “Come along.”

  She stared at it and then up into his eyes.

  When she showed no sign of taking his hand, he took hers and hauled her onto her feet.

  “Get off me,” she muttered and shoved against his chest. He caught her other hand. She struggled. “What do you want?”

  “I am going to take you home,” he whispered and pulled her close. Before he could restrain her hands, she’d twisted free of his grasp and pushed him backwards. His backside hit the edge of the seat.

  “You’ll do no such thing. I’m not twelve. I don’t need a babysitter.” She scooted around the table, placing it between them.

  A sigh escaped him. She was difficult enough when sober. Now she was bordering on impossible.

  “Would you rather I’d left you out there with that vampire?”

  The penny dropped.

  Her mouth formed a pretty O at the same time as her eyebrows rose.

  There was a soft thud and she was sitting on the couch, her hands planted firmly into it beside her knees. Her eyes never left his. Taking her silence as a sign that she wasn’t going to fight him, he sat down again and waited. She grabbed her drink. He took it from her.

  “I don’t think you need any more of that,” he whispered.

  She swallowed hard.

  “Vampire?” she said in a quiet, strained voice.

  “It takes one to know one, clearly.” He leaned back into the couch again and stretched his legs out, resting his feet on the opposite side of the horseshoe shape and barricading the exit. Her head hit the table and she groaned.

  So she’d made a fool of herself. He’d been here to see her safe. There was no harm done and no need for being overly dramatic. She’d learn her lesson and he’d step up his watch over her. Ensuring her safety was paramount. He wouldn’t lose her again.

  Her head turned to the side so her cheek was pressed against the dirty sticky black table top. Dark chocolate eyes looked up at him. She looked positively miserable.

  Without thinking, he reached across the table to her and pushed her hair behind her ear so he could see her face better. She surprised him by closing her eyes when his fingertips accidentally brushed her cheek. A sigh broke free of her lips, drawing his attention there. Brave fingers danced lower, trembling with anticipation and the feeling of her soft skin and her warmth, until his thumb swept along her lower lip. His insides lightened but became heavy at the same time, his mind dizzy with the feel of her and the growing tightness coiling inside him. He opened his hand and covered her cheek with his palm, his fingers resting along the line of her jaw. His thumb continued to caress her sweet lips. They parted slightly, enough for him to feel her hot breath against his skin.

  His heart whispered that any moment now she’d come to her senses and realise what he was doing, and then she’d be fighting him again.

  “I died... I mean... she died in your arms,” she whispered against his thumb.

  His hand left her and curled into a fist against the onslaught of the memory her words had released. A frown knit his dark eyebrows and his eyes narrowed on her.

  Her eyes opened, full of questions and fear when they met his. “She did, didn’t she?”

  His mouth felt horribly dry. The glass was at his lips and drained before she could blink. He closed his eyes against the images of her, her whispered pleas and dying words. So much blood. There hadn’t been a damn thing he could do to save her. He’d failed.

  “Didn’t she?” Her voice was probing, unrelenting. She wanted an answer.

  He managed a nod. It was more like a hanging of his head but he knew she’d read it as the answer because she sat up.

  “Does that mean I’m really her?” Her voice trembled now, fear lacing it.

  When he opened his eyes and met hers, she looked as frightened as she’d sounded.

  “No,” he whispered, too afraid of stirring his memories and in too much pain to raise his voice any louder. “It is purely resonance of my memories from my earlier attempt to make you listen to me.”

  “Oh.” Her gaze fell to the table. Delicate fingers traced patterns on the dark top. “So I’m not her?”

  There was hope in her voice. It cut him deeper than any stake could. She didn’t want to be Alice.

  Her hand reached for her drink again. He pulled it towards him. “I meant what I said.”

  He couldn’t let her continue drinking. He had to protect her, just as he’d promised.

  He’d protect her from anything and with his life if it came to that.

  ****

  Chapter 3

  Alicia stared longingly at the drink. She was nowhere close to sober, but it was best to keep the alcohol coming anyway. It was the only way she was going to make herself remain here with him and get some answers to her questions. She’d promised herself that if he was here she would ignore him, and she had for a while, but then he’d rescued her again. If he kept doing that, she was going to have to do something about it. She just didn’t know what. In a way, it was charming, a chivalrous act that made her think of romantic heroes, and in another way it was irritating and made her feel weak.

  “So I’m not Alice?” She tried again.

  Again, he said nothing in response, giving her the impression that he didn’t want to admit the possibility of that. Whoever Alice was, he had loved her. Was that reason enough for him to see only signs that she was Alice and ignore the ones that said she wasn’t? If she were in his place, and had lost someone she loved only to find someone similar years later, would she believe him to be the one she’d lost?

  She sighed at the table. Probably.

  Love wasn’t her forte though. She’d never been any good at it. Normally an unfortunately timed vampire attack was all it took for a man to realise he didn’t want to be with her anymore. What kind of man would want to be with a woman stronger than them who fought demons for a living? Her gaze strayed to Kassian. He was watching her, ice-blue eyes pale but intense in the low light. He’d stay with her if she let him and if she wanted him. She reminded herself that she didn’t want him, and he didn’t want her. He wanted Alice. She wanted all vampires dead.