The Vampire's Mate

by Zara Novak

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Title

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  Epilogue

  Also by Zara Novak

  Mailing List

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  Epilogue

  Also by Zara Novak

  Mailing List

  Copyright © 2017 by Zara Novak

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  The Vampire’s Mate

  By

  Zara Novak

  Tales of Vampires Book 3

  1

  Kat stared out the window as the passing landscape rolled by in moonlit darkness. The train carriage rocked gently as it rumbled over sleepers in the night. Before her there was an endless sea of ink tipped pines, rolling hills, and the distant mountains on the far stretch of the horizon.

  She set her quill down into its pot, deciding that was enough writing for the night. Placing the title page back on top, she squared the papers together and sat there in silence, listening to the sounds of the train.

  A Short History of Vampires in the Mid-West, by, Kat Summers.

  What was she doing still writing this thing, anyway? This all started because of that darned college assignment. Write about an aspect of your town’s local history that interests you. Nothing about her hometown of Dead Rest interested her, but she’d always had an infatuation with vampire lore, so she looked into that. Despite living in Dead Rest her whole life, she’d never even dreamed that vampires might have existed there. She discovered that she couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Her search led her into the arms (literally) of a runaway vampire named Ansel Draco. Ansel, that perfect specimen of a man. Twinkling red eyes, washboard abs, a face handsome enough for Hollywood. Bumping into him might have been the best or worst thing that ever happened to her, she still couldn’t decide. She was now on the run with Ansel, hiding from a vampire organization that sought to destroy him.

  Their adventure brought everything she'd ever wanted. Love, romance, danger. After living through it all, a small part of her wished it had never happened. She’d fallen in love with a killer. A creature that needed the blood of humans to live. Ansel was danger in a pretty package. There was no denying he was leagues above her, she couldn’t pretend to understand why he would be interested in her in the first place, but she wasn’t fighting it either.

  Her relationship with Ansel wasn’t the problem, it was the chaos left behind in the aftermath. Her father, who she thought had been long dead, turned out to be the vampire that had ordered Ansel’s execution. Her sister Ruth was now a vampire too, turned at the last minute to stave off death. It all came to a head at Rubago’s cabin. Her father was dead, her sister kidnapped, and now they were on their way to the castle of a great vampire family.

  The Belmonts.

  For some reason, she was writing everything down—and in a way she’d carried on writing her college assignment. Everything that happened recently brought out a myriad of confusing emotions and writing was the closest thing she had to therapy. She slid her papers back into their sheath, took a cigarette from the table and lit it. A long drag caused the cherry to burn bright red.

  And just what the hell was she doing smoking, anyway? Just another bad habit she’d picked up from being in the company of vampires, just another way to distract herself from the permanent guilt for her sister Ruth.

  A small gas lamp on the table in front of her was the only source of light in the wood paneled room. She blew out smoke and it gathered in thick tendrils, filling the room with a cloudy orange haze. Nicotine pumped through her veins as a cold and refreshing tingle. It took her mind off everything that kept her awake, that was for sure.

  A knock came at the door.

  “Who is it?”

  “Johnny Carson. Open up before I get my axe.”

  Kat rolled her eyes, took a quick drag and tucked her cigarette into the butt filled ashtray on the desk.

  “Gimme one sec.”

  She jumped up to check her reflection in the mirror. A tired looking girl stared back at her, confirming what she suspected: she looked like crap. She was short for her age, shorter than most others, and she was plump too. Her mousy blond hair fell at her shoulders, somehow both dry and greasy from a few days of neglect. She wore an old t-shirt and a pair of panties. For the most part, Kat didn’t like the way she looked, but she liked her face. With her large blue eyes and her small pointed nose, it had a cuteness to it.

  Fuck it, this would have to do.

  She slid the door open, and saw Ansel stood in the hallway. He wore black from head to toe. Boots, jeans, and a tight t-shirt that hugged his muscle strapped torso, wrapped in a worn leather jacket.

  His white skin glowed like marble underneath the pale gas light.

  “Howdy Miss Summers.” He said with his irresistible smirk. He raked a hand through his messy black hair, brushed it over the sweet kiss of stubble on his square jaw, and flashed his twinkling red eyes up and down her body.

  Kat leaned against the door, crossed her arms and pushed her tongue against the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t help but smile when she was in his presence, his boyish charm got her worked up in all the right places. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him now, proving tonight was no exception.

  “I’m good. Finished my writing for the night. Where have you been?”

  “Drinking in the cabin with Edmund. We played cards with Rubago, but you know what that damn witch is like. She’s almost as bad as you, you're both terrible cheats.”

  “Hey, we both have a tendency to sense things. Doesn’t mean it’s cheating.”

  During this whole ordeal, Kat had uncovered something else about herself that was curious, she was Cognizant. Cognizance was a psychic second sight. Clairvoyant images flashed through her mind at random moments, and as she grew more accustomed to the power she realized it had given her a great sense of intuition. Rubago had a natural tendency for such things as a witch, and in their week on the train, she had shown Kat how to hone her powers, to gain an advantage in poker.

  “So what do you want big boy?” Kat asked. “I guess you’re not standing in my doorway for no particular reason?”

  “I was wondering if you’d invite me in.”

  “Oh really? But what if you’re a big bad man? I hear there are vampires on board. A little innocent girl like me… I wouldn’t want to go inviting someone like that inside.”

  Ansel smiled and walked into the cabin. “Too bad it’s my room as well.”

  Kat closed the door and turned into the room, watching Anse
l as he removed his jacket and boots. She walked over to the writing desk, picked her cigarette up again and took a drag.

  Their cabin wasn’t big, but it wasn’t a bad size considering they were on a train. With Ansel in there beside her, things were cozy. Kat stubbed her cigarette out, his hands brushed around her waist, his lips against her neck. Something hard formed in his crotch, nestling against the line of her butt.

  “We have to take it slow you know,” she whispered in a shaking breath.

  He pulled one hand up her shirt and brought it to her breast, palming softly, rolling the broad pads of his fingers against the milky flesh of her hardening nipples.

  “I know.” He purred as his other hand slid down the front of her panties. Kat closed her eyes and bit gently against her bottom lip. Her sex flooded with want. He pressed the pad of his middle finger against her clit, rubbing in hard and firm circles. “I remember what Rubago said… doesn’t mean we can’t do other things though.”

  Kat nodded her head as spasms of want flickered through her, bucking her hips against the iron in his trousers. Sex with vampires was a difficult thing—if you were human anyway. They had slept together several times, and the sex was always amazing, but Kat’s pains afterward suggested they were moving too fast.

  “Take your time with vampires.” Rubago explained after Kat had gone to see her. “You can’t just rush into it, especially a mortal girl like you. You’re moving too fast. Dial it back. Tease each other, take things slow. The more you want it, the more your body will be ready.”

  It had been a week since they’d had full intercourse. As much as Kat absolutely craved to have him inside of her, she had to admit that the distance had helped. The cramps had subsided, the pains had disappeared. In a few weeks they could be together normally again. He just had to tease her within an inch of her life first.

  “I want you,” she said with a juddering breath as his finger slipped inside of her. Her whisper was permission enough for him to act. He wrapped his hands around the waist bands of her panties and yanked them down to the floor. They dropped to her ankles, and Kat stepped out of them. His hand clasped around hers, and he pulled her over to the bed.

  She lay back and he pulled his shirt off to reveal a wall of hard muscle. Kat opened her legs, mewing as he crawled over her, pushing his lips against hers. She pulled her hands over the muscles on his chest and back, pulling his crotch against her bare and dripping skin.

  His lips slipped from hers, wandered down her neck, kissed her nipples through the thin fabric of her t-shirt. He kept moving down until he found the bare flesh of her stomach. Kat closed her eyes and a breathless smile spread over her face. She shifted her body against the bed covers. He placed his hands on the insides of her thighs and pushed them apart gently.

  “Total abstinence is just something I can’t do baby girl, not when you taste this good.”

  With a gentle stroke, he pulled the hard point of his tongue up the line of her sex firmly. Kat’s eyes rolled back and closed. In one hand she took a palm full of bedding. The other, she raked through his hair and squeezed down hard, as his tongue drew endless circles of pleasure over her.

  A crest of warmth burst through her hips, and they bucked up, pulling the small of her back away from the bed. She pulled him tight against her, and his palms held steady on the insides of her thighs. He kissed and lapped at her milk white skin with unbroken affection. The first couple of orgasms sprang up inside of her, pushing from her mouth as long and protracted moans of want. At some point he must have removed his trousers, because he was crouched over her now, naked from head to toe, his erection pointing up, firm and solid.

  Small gasps of want bubbled from her lips. Ansel pushed a finger inside of her, curling it up until it found the right spot. His pad rolled there while his lips clamped around her clit, sucking and flicking at it with her tongue, driving her pleasure to a maddening crescendo.

  “Ansel!” She cried, probably loud enough now for others in the carriage to hear, but she didn't care anymore. Pleasure was her sole focus. “Oh God, Ansel!” She came again, hard, squeezing her eyes so tight that stars swam in her vision when she opened them. Ansel moved up her body, dragging his lips up her torso once more until they were on her neck.

  “How bad I want you baby girl.”

  His tongue pushed inside of her mouth, and she rolled her own against it, mewing as he ground his naked crotch against hers. They were so close, all she had to do was clasp her hand around his throbbing oak and pull it against her. How could he resist her like this? How was his discipline so high?

  She reached down and grasped him, his cock burning in her hand like branded marble. Kat slid the wide bottom of his shaft against her open sex, pulling it back and tipping the rock hard head against her folds.

  “Ah, ah.” Sucking her lip between his teeth, he pulled back and slid his cock from her hand. “You know what Rubago said. We have to take things slow. I don’t want to go hurting you again.”

  “But I need you.” She purred, pulling her hands down his back and squeezing his perfect ass in her grasp. “I need you so bad.”

  “I want you too baby girl.” His lips sucked against the flesh on her throat. “But I can’t allow myself to hurt you. There’s plenty else we can do my little kitty cat. I’m sure we can get inventive.”

  Oral and teasing was good, but it didn't compare to full sex. Her body ached to feel him inside of her once more.

  “On your back,” she said. “It’s my turn to torture you now.”

  He lay back on the sheets, with his weight propped up on his elbows. Kat straddled him below his crotch, her thighs resting against his. Ansel stroked a hand up and down his cock as he stared at her naked body. Kat grasped her breasts, rubbing small circles over her sex with her other hand as she stared back at him.

  She tied her hair back and shuffled down his legs a little further until her crotch was at his knees. Kat lowered herself, keeping eye contact with him as she came level with his throbbing cock.

  “This is mine now.” She said as she pulled his hand away. His eyes sparked with want momentarily, and he moved both his arms up and put them behind his head.

  “That’s fine with me.” He said. “Do as you want my princess.”

  She started at his base, working her tongue to the tip, until her lips folded around his solid head. The sweet salt of pre-cum rolled onto her tongue, and she slid her mouth all the way down, as far as she could go. His body responded almost instantaneously, lifting off the covers, raising to meet her as she had with him. She pulled herself all the way up his shaft again, kissing the tip as she did so. Her eyes stared into his, his lidded lust stared back. Kat wrapped her hand around the bottom of his shaft, pumping up and down while sinking her lips back onto his cock.

  The night ahead was long, and she was just getting started.

  2

  Kat slept, Ansel planted a kiss on her forehead and pulled the covers over to keep her warm. He dressed, taking care not to wake Kat, and made his way back down the train to the main dining carriage.

  They had been on the train for a week now, traveling eastward across the country. Located on a private network owned by powerful vampires, the line transported blood, slaves and goods across the northern tip of America. They’d boarded at a blood town, a vampire settlement which didn't appear on mortal maps, and been on board ever since then.

  Slow and heavy, the old steam engine took its time getting anywhere. It appealed to Ansel, and he enjoyed its romance and adventure. They made routine stops at other blood towns, known as 'Sanguis' to his kind. All vampire settlements bore the Sanguis name, followed by a unique number. They embarked at Sanguis 11, a small and dirty town one hour south of Dead Rest. The last week consisted of traveling eastward at a slug's pace, snaking around mountains, winding through forests, and veering around lakes. On the way, they’d made frequent stops at many vampire settlements. According to Milo Prince, the head conductor on the train, the Belmont family owned
this line in particular. Rural vampire settlements depended on the line for blood and supplies, without it, they would perish.

  On an average night, the train stopped at two or three towns. At each stop, staff loaded goods on and off the train, and passengers had an hour to explore the local area. Most Sanguis towns offered little for the eye, and passengers rarely disembarked for the sights. Though comfortable, the train's cozy compartments became claustrophobic after a while, and most passengers just wanted to stretch their legs.

  On board, Kat found herself outnumbered by vampires.

  The staff, and the rest of the passengers were all vampires. Kat had been afraid at first, thinking every other vampire on board was dangerous. She assumed every vampire had powers like Edmund and Ansel.

  “Very few vampires have super strength and speed.” Edmund explained one night as Kat and Rubago utterly trounced him at cards. “Most vampires are mostly like humans. They have a slightly longer life expectancy, they can go into daylight, and perhaps have a little more strength. Vampires like Ansel and I… we’re not so common.”

  Why? Who could say? Mystery shrouded vampire and their origins. Ansel swore he would find an answer one day, determined to understand more about his kind. Only a small percent of vampires had heightened powers. On the surface they all looked the same, but the eyes held all the answers. Bright red eyes indicated a vampire had power. Regular vampires had dull red eyes. Few vampires had those bright reds. To his knowledge, only one other traveler on the train had bright reds, and he didn’t seem bothered at associating with them at all.

  The rest of the vampires were regulars, and they kept to themselves. They seemed fearful of Ansel and Edmund, avoiding their gaze and keeping their distance. Regular vampires didn't like attention. The bulk of interaction from the other vampires came as wayward nods of respect. This suited Ansel just fine.

  He walked into the carriage, finding it was mostly empty. Milo Prince, the conductor, smiled at seeing Ansel and walked over to greet him. Milo had the dull red eyes of a regular, shiny black skin and silver hair cut close to his head. He dressed in the blood red uniform of the train staff, with a white badge on his chest.