Bitten

by Kim Faulks

  I followed his lips to the inside of my thigh. “I could spend hours between your legs, teasing… sucking, tasting you.”

  The whip left me, replaced by his tongue. His lips followed, taking in my throbbing nub. Tremors rose as his tongue skirted my flesh, drawing me deep, making me forget who I was.

  “Beg for me, my good little girl. Beg for me.”

  I pierced the soft chaise lounge with my nails and clenched tight. My hips rose, meeting the draw while my pussy quivered. My knees dropped wider. I needed… I needed. “Please, Kol. I can’t…. “

  His fangs scraped tender flesh. “Oh, my sweetheart I think you can… I think you can very nicely.”

  My foot left the floor, finding cool skin. I drove my hips into the air, whimpering as his teeth marred my flesh. His hands were under me, lifting, curling me. I opened my eyes and stared into his.

  His mouth glistened wet and hungry. The vein in my neck throbbed with need. I angled my head, exposing my neck as his cock moved against my entrance. White fangs peeked from under his drenched lips. He dropped his gaze to the wound at my neck.

  I wound my legs around his waist and dragged him deeper, breeching my defenses. A hiss escaped him. Power pulsed through my veins. I craned my neck, tendons pulled taut. My vein throbbed, calling, while I pressed my feet against the small of his back, driving him deeper.

  The mask slipped. The stone cracked… my vampire moaned. Stars sparkled in those ocean blue eyes. He gripped my hips and surged, riding the crest of the wave. I’d never felt more at home adrift in his sea.

  The tease turned to urgency. His steely muscles clenched, tightened and I felt every delicious quake. His hand pressed against my back, holding me steady as we slid to the floor. The soft rug tickled my skin and warmed my back. Warmth and comfort faded form my mind as he rose over me like a god. His hands braced his weight. His cock pinned my body—but it was his bite I craved the most.

  A brutal thrust tore a gasp from my lips. My feet slipped, taking him to the hilt.

  “My good little human.” He growled. “Cum for me.”

  My body bowed. I stretched, taking in every delicious inch, until he withdrew. My channel ached, needing him. I squirmed, clutching the rug and rode the wave. I arched my neck. I was a junkie… high on this man… needing more.

  The impact was brutal, needles pierced my vein. Heat flooded me, fire, flames, pain and pleasure all melted into one. I grasped his shoulders, my fingers trailed rock hard muscles and I was his.

  He grunted, driving deeper as warmth spilled from my neck and between my legs. His teeth withdrew. With a surge of possession he shuddered. I gripped him, holding tight as he plunged one last time, then stilled.

  My breast heaved, my nipples rubbing against his smooth chest. He waited, staring at me with a mixture of conflict and longing. He rolled, and hit the rug beside me with barely a whisper of a sound. I curled my body, moving under his arm as he reached for me.

  A word hung between us… a simple word… a tender word. I nestled against the crook of his shoulder. I didn’t need to whisper love. In this moment I needed nothing more than what we had right now. He dragged his wrist to his mouth and bit, blood trickled. I opened my mouth to catch the drops.

  Not too much… he whispered. Not yet anyway.

  The slow trickle hit my tongue. I swallowed, taking him deeper. We melted into one, flowing… forging. The skin at my neck tightened. I trailed my fingers along the line of my vein. The puncture wounds closed, and my skin smoothed.

  “What does it mean if you turn me into a vampire? Do I belong to you forever?”

  He turned his head, blond curls tumbled. “Only if you want to.”

  My stomach tightened. I hadn't thought that part through. Forever was a long time. Did he want the same?

  “Why worry? We’ve got plenty of time. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. So let’s enjoy this.” He rolled onto his side. “Let’s enjoy each other. Tell me your secrets Nova Flynn. Let me be the center of your world.”

  I stilled. My heart sped. Could he not see it in my eyes? Could he not hear it in my body?

  This man… this vampire, was my world. I was falling and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it. I was weak when it came to him, powerless to control even my own body.

  He leaned close, dropping his head to kiss my cheek. I turned my head. Cool lips trailed like ice to meet the warmth of my own. In the last week I’d known pain. I’d felt betrayal, but I’d also found passion.

  We’d escaped from the world and the mess we’d left behind. Our needs became simple, food, sleep, sex… I felt heat rush to my face and smiled. There’d been plenty of sex.

  His breath tickled the edge of my lip. He opened his mouth, dragging the soft flesh inside his mouth. Warmth spread out from my center. My senses came alive, sparking, flying.

  “I love it when you blush like that. I love the feel of life thrumming in your veins and the scents as I spill from your body.” He lifted his head and stared into my soul. “I’m a killer—it’s why I was turned. It’s all I know, it’s all I’ve ever known. But when I’m with you, I think maybe, just maybe I can wash the blood from my hands and walk away. You make me weak, Nova. You make me so damn weak I’m half-insane. But you also make me strong.”

  Something shadowed his eyes. Fear. The steel door slammed down. A part of me whispered, there’s something’s wrong—something he’s not telling me.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “Leave this place. I don’t have to collect my stuff from the apartment. We’ll leave tonight. I’ll call my sister, cash in everything I have. We’ll move to Rio and live in a one-bedroom shack near the beach.”

  Stars danced in his eyes. “You’d do that? You’d sell your inheritance for me?”

  I’d sell my body. Hell, I’d sell my soul for this man. “In a heartbeat.”

  He stilled, staring at me for a long time before he spoke again. “I’d never ask you to abandon the keepsakes from your mother, nor her money. It’s all you have left.”

  I dropped my gaze as desire turned to desperation. My mother was gone, my sister barely spoke to me—and Jared… oh God, Jared. I was glad he was dead. I was glad he was gone from my life. Only now I was adrift—anchored to no one and nothing.

  I lifted my head, searching for the right words. “I feel so lost. And I don’t know where I belong. Here with you, or out there with them.”

  His brow furrowed and the corner of his mouth twitched. “If you’re talking about being either vampire, or human I can’t answer that. It’s a decision you shouldn’t make lightly. I want you to agonize over it. I want you to toss and turn in your sleep. I want you to be consumed with understanding what it means to be a monster like me, so when the time comes—if the time comes—you’re sure about what you want. Then, and only then, we can take that step together—no matter what you decide.”

  “You know they’ll find us, don’t you? The police, I mean. They’ll come for me. I bet they’ve already been to the apartment. They’ll see I’ve run. It won’t look good, not for me… and not for the Blood Courtesans.”

  The sparkle dulled in his eyes. After days of hiding in this house, I’d broken the spell.

  “I’m not concerned about the police, Nova, and you shouldn’t be either.”

  A fist wrapped around my gut. I tried to find hidden meaning in his words. Had he done something without me knowing? Had he threatened the police, paid them off? Was this Kol’s way of protecting me?

  He’s a killer. A vampire enforcer. What did you think he’d do?

  I wanted so badly to walk this tightrope between his world and mine, but the drop was a long way down, and I had two left feet. “Is there something I should know?”

  His smile came a little too quick.

  His chuckle a little too loud.

  He leaved in to kiss me, and fear bloomed like a deadly flower inside.

  Kol was hiding something….

  Click here to grab your copy of Taken />
  About the Author

  I’m an Aussie girl who grew up in the bush and one day found a book in the library… a book that changed my world,

  Bram Stokers, Dracula.

  And I’ve been searching for that magic ever since.

  Find out more at my website and join my mail list click on the link below to take you to Haunting Fiction and grab a copy of my dark werewolf romance story—Savage.

  Connect with me here

  @AuthorKimFaulks

  AuthorKimFaulks

  www.hauntingfiction.com/

  authorkimfaulks@netspace.net.au

  Also in the Blood Courtesan Series

  Welcome to the world of the Blood Courtesans—where blood is money and sex is the prize.

  Find more exciting stories set in this world, click the link and be swept away in danger and lust.

  Visit www.bloodcourteseans.com

  Reborn

  I have to sell myself to the vampires. I know it's not safe, but there's no other option. Not for the amount of money I need. It's either become a blood courtesan or watch my mom die while we lose the only home I've ever known.

  So I leap before I look and soon I'm sharing a bed with vampire Kristos Anastos. He's hot, rich and his fangs hurt so good. The courtesan thing is better than I thought it would be...until bullets start to fly.

  Find it here on Amazon

  Reborn

  Continued

  Wanted

  I don't care about the money I'll make as a blood courtesan. I need the vampires to protect me from other humans. And more than that, from myself. Any time I think about getting revenge against the bullies who've tortured me, the thing I imagine happens. I have no way to control it. And the latest incident has put me in the middle of a murder investigation. I have to convince them to turn me into a vampire. I can't be tried for murder if I'm already dead. Or...undead.

  Find it here on Amazon

  Wanted

  Marked

  Being the baby sister in a family chock-full of slayers isn’t easy. My entire life, I’ve watched my brothers venture out into the darkness to hunt the things that prey on the innocent. Vampires are evil, they tell me, but they refuse to let me fight.

  Now, my best friend’s life is in danger. She’s racked up quite the debt, and the vampire she owes has come to collect. To save her, I need to go undercover as a blood courtesan and sell myself to the highest bidder.

  Find it here on Amazon

  Marked

  Continued

  Ensnared

  I'm working as a cocktail waitress in a shady club when my boss accuses me of stealing a hundred thousand dollars. There's no way I can pay him back. But if I don't, I'm dead.

  Then Remy de la Lune steps up to pay off my debt. Now I owe Remy instead--one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world.

  Become my blood courtesan, he says. One month, and then I'm free. He'll even pay me a bonus--if I satisfy him.

  What can I do? I sign the contract.

  Find it here on Amazon

  Ensnared

  Taurus - Guardian of the Stars

  They thought they'd live forever, but living and existing are not the same.

  Marcus Kane is the first of twelve. Dragon-born in the sign of Taurus he carries all the traits of the bull--the good and the bad.

  He's strong-willed, unbreakable. Deadly on land and in the sky, but when Marcus falls in love, he falls hard.

  He wasn't meant to fall for the wolf, Abrial. His only job was to protect those he loves--his family.

  Abrial is Alpha-born. The daughter of the Bloodstone's pack Alpha, she will stop at nothing to defend what's hers--every wolf--and every inch of her new found territory--and she'll break all the rules to do it.

  But when a rival pack moves in ready to spill blood, Abrial comes up against an enemy deadlier than she understands. So she turns to a stranger for help--a man who drove into a tree to save her. A man who smells like danger, but looks at her with fire in his eyes. Marcus Kane.

  Family. Honor. Love.

  What happens when those three collide?

  Who will be left standing?

  Who will be left heartbroken?

  Chapter One

  A woman’s scream tore from the cabin. The haunting sound lingered before it was swallowed by the howls and hoots of male laughter. I strangled the bone-handled blade as images filled my head.

  Ten out of the seventy-strong wolf pack had entered, and so far, none had come out. The open barn door revealed no movement and no sounds, and the row of pig pens that sat between the cabin and the woods was empty. That left sixty of the scum out here.

  The headwind had carried their scent for miles. I’d followed the stench west from where my pack had made camp. If I listened, I could almost hear them thrashing through the trees—hunting.

  But it wasn’t deer they were after—it was women.

  A scrape wrenched my head toward the lodge and harsh yellow light spilled from the doorway. The thunder of footsteps filled my ears. A frantic pulse followed. The sour stench of fear was suffocating. Run, fight… or die.

  The woman was a flash of white. I tracked her in the soft silver glow of the full moon. Her torn white shirt flapped like wings as her feet left the ground. For a second my heart took flight, until a shadow reared behind her, then slammed her to the ground.

  Tall silhouettes smothered the light. Something slipped from the doorway, moving without a sound. Something that made my skin crawl, and it wasn’t a wolf.

  The female shifter rolled over to drag her ass along the ground. I caught the heady scent of blood and the darkening collar of her shirt. She lifted her hand in self-defense as the shadows moved closer. “No, please no more. I’ll do anything. I’m a good cook. Please, I’m a good cook. I’ll clean. I’ll… mate with you.”

  “I paid for you.” The emotionless voice of an undead filled the air. “You belong to me.”

  Vampire. A growl escaped my lips. The cold bastard’s head jerked upwards. I felt its slimy gaze scan the trees. “Shackle her and put her with the others.”

  Sold. Just like that.

  “What about the child?” A voice ripped through the darkness, stilling my breath.

  “No!” The woman screamed. “Not my Bella. Please, not my Bella.”

  Her movements were frantic. She crawled on hands and knees toward the white-haired shadow, and the hackles between along shoulders of my wolf rose.

  I knew that voice. He was the reason I was here. Sol was second-in command of the Echo pack and a manipulative, disease-ridden sonofabitch. I dropped my head to gaze at the glint of steel in my hand. I’d sooner run the blade through him—but Sol had stolen something from me—something I’d do anything to get back, something I’d even kill for—my sister, Rowen.

  The stench of male saturated the air as the remaining eight wolves spilled out of the cabin to surround the vampires.

  “She stays with me. Please, Sol. You know me. You know my Bella.”

  “The child?” Sol growled.

  The bones in my neck cracked as I flinched. No. Goddess, please no. And for a second, I was five-years-old all over again.

  I punched my fist into the ground as the undead spoke. “Let the demons have her.”

  “No! Please, Goddess no! I won’t let you take her. I’ll kill her. I’ll kill her myself. I’d rather she die than be touched by a demon!”

  “Margaret, that’s enough! Your daughter won’t be harmed… not physically at least. Demons do love an innocent mind.” The snigger that followed made my skin crawl.

  “Is that the last one?” A bass-filled voice echoed from the cabin.

  I lifted my head as the Alpha of the Echo pack filled the doorway. I licked my lips and inhaled the sour scent of his disgust.

  “Yes,” Sol answered. “This is the last one, for tonight.”

  The Alpha took a step onto the porch. “So, we’re done. Nyx County belongs to the wolves.”

  The va
mpire nodded. “As long as you keep your end of the bargain. Twenty blood-bags a month and the land is yours.”

  The alpha made a sound of disgust. “And the Guardians, what about those?”

  “Are you telling me you believe a myth?” The undead’s voice rose an octave. He’s lying.

  “Yes, I believe the myth.” The Alpha snapped.

  “Fine. They’re weak and docile. They don’t care about this world anymore. It’s ours for the taking.”

  “But they still live?” The Alpha growled. “The dragons could voice their displeasure. This is their land.”

  “Displeasure? No one’s seen them. No one’s heard from them. They aren’t like us. They don’t care about survival. They’re as good as dead.”

  The Alpha barely made a sound as he strode toward the undead and held out his hand. “Then we’re good. Twenty a month, wolves and humans.”

  Palms smacked as the vampire muttered. “Yes.”

  The click of chains rang out in the night. The shackle snapped, feet scraped as the undead moved.

  The woman bucked and fought as one of the vampire brood lifted and swing her over his shoulder. “Let me go! Bella. Bella!”

  “Shut up.” Sol spat. “Be a good bitch and I might just keep little Bella for myself.”

  A breeze buffeted my face. Trees rustled to my right. I tracked the female shifter’s heart-beat through the brush and the trees as the undead left.

  “Leave us.” The Alpha ordered. Half of the wolves slunk into the trees. The others back tracked through the cabin. I caught a door open and close from the other side.

  Silence lingered before the Alpha spoke. “They’ll come with guns. They won’t like us taking their women and children.”

  “Mortals treat us like fucking animals and you care about what they like?”