Blood Entwined (Blood Enchanted, Book 2): A Vampire Hunter Paranormal Romance Series

by Nicola Claire

  He nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck and scraped his teeth over my skin in answer.

  “Mhachkay is too generic,” I said on an indrawn breath of delight. He rocked his hips up to meet me. I arched my back.

  A heated tongue licked down my chest, soft lips wrapping around a nipple. Teeth gently nipped.

  “Warrior,” I said on a gasp. “What’s the Mhachkay word for warrior?”

  “Savaşçı,” Hakan purred.

  “Savaşçı,” I repeated, letting the sound of the word roll off my tongue. I liked it. It worked.

  Hakan sucked harder on my nipple, his hands eagerly stroking down over my hips and thighs as his cock rocked against my aching core seeking entry.

  “Savaşçı,” I said, breathless. “My Savaşçı.”

  My warrior’s lips fell away from my nipple, his teeth scraped over the sensitive tip, and then his mouth was melded to mine. Tongue seeking entry, hands holding me pressed against his hard body. Two hearts entwined.

  I shifted my hips, raised up on my knees, and guided him inside.

  We both cried out as he entered me completely, stretching me beyond anything I had ever experienced before. My walls contracted around him, my breaths came in stutters, tears stung my eyes, as our chests heaved together.

  “Hayatim?” he said, a question in the one word.

  “No one was worthy,” I whispered, and he growled.

  It took a moment or two before I relaxed completely, and then the urge to move had me rising and tilting my hips. Hakan groaned, his hands two bands around my waist, trying to slow my movements or speed them up, it was hard to say.

  The water sloshed against the side of the tub, the steam rose and slicked our flushed skin, our tongues tasted, and lips kissed, and teeth scratched. When I came, I drew nails down his back. When he came, he bit into my neck, Sanguis Vitam swirling, and had me climaxing all over again.

  We stayed locked together for an eternity, or maybe just several frantic heartbeats. His arms wound around my body, holding me close. His face was buried over where he had just left his mark. My hand came to rest above his heart. Light swelled in my palm. Hakan’s eyes lifted to mine.

  “I always thought I’d join with a man I loved,” I said, letting the Light burn into his skin ever so slightly. He grunted, but held still, taking what I offered. “Not only have I not joined with a kindred Nosferatu,” I added, “but I find myself tied to someone I have only recently met.”

  Hakan offered a twitch of his lips in answer, silver eclipsing the ice-blue of his eyes.

  “I’m not sure if you deserve this,” I whispered, letting my Light brighten enough to almost blind him. “But our blood is entwined, and my life is bound to yours.”

  The Light burst apart beneath my fingers.

  “I woke you,” I growled. “I called you to me. I fought your vampyre.”

  Hakan’s lips parted, breath panting as he let me mark him.

  “You are mine,” I said, lifting my hand and letting the Light dissipate.

  Where my palm had rested, an iridescent tattoo-like design stood out; directly above his heart. Or as the Mhachkay believed: his two hearts. I stared down at the Sigillum I’d given my warrior and smiled.

  Two crossed swords. A Svante and a Kilij. My weapon of choice and the one I had chosen of his.

  “Two hearts. Two souls,” I said. “And now two swords.”

  Hakan growled low in his throat and then kissed me. It was hard and hungry and divine. It led to glorious things. Heart pounding, body quaking things. It led to paradise.

  A long time later we climbed out of the bathtub and helped each other get dressed. Neither of us could keep our hands to ourselves.

  Miraculously, or unsurprisingly considering where we were, my weapons waited beside our clothes. With languid limbs and secret smiles, we donned our warrior garb.

  Luc and Alain waited. Kindred with too much Dark.

  As we left the Dökkálfa chamber Aliath had provided, I could only pray to my goddess that time on Earth had passed slower for my brother. I lifted my chin, squared my shoulders, and prepared to cross back to our realm.

  I’m coming for you, Luc, I promised as we stood before the entry back to our world.

  Hakan slipped his hand into mine and squeezed tightly. Mhachkay magic wrapped around my body, syncing our hearts.

  We’re coming for you, Luc, I corrected and stepped through the portal.

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  Kindred: Preview

  Read on for the first chapter in book one of the Kindred Series: Kindred

  I knew things weren't quite going according to plan when his fist connected with my jaw. The pain sent a sharp stab up through my skull, making me grit my teeth, hear bells ringing in my head and my vision begin to blur. But, for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why. Never one to dwell too long on the morose, I decided the best course of action was to come out guns blazing. As I don't actually own a gun, I settled on a taunt instead.

  “Is that the best you've got?” I managed to squeeze out between my still clenched teeth. I shouldn't really have been antagonising the nasty stinking creep in front of me, especially as I was still down on all fours spitting blood out of the side of my mouth, but I just could’t help it. Call me a sucker for punishment. It's just how I work. Never let them see fear, that's my motto. So far, it's worked.

  Not so sure about that today, though.

  “Oh sweet Hunter, you think your witty repartee will distract me?”

  Huh? Why did all the bad guys sound so freakishly prim and proper all of a sudden? Where was the good old, take that you bitch gone? I don't know about you, but I kind of liked the simplicity of an evil bad guy dropping his H’s and missing his T's. It just goes with the territory, you know wo’ I mean, Luv?

  And there was the foot again, straight into my ribcage. I heard the crack this time; it sounded like a gunshot in the alley we were in. It reverberated around the brick walls on either side or was that just inside my head? I couldn't tell, but breathing was suddenly a challenge. Oh God, though, it hurt. And how did this upstart get the drop on me? I mean it all seemed so easy.

  There he was, down the far end of the dark alley, against a dirty brick wall, like all good evil vampires should be, with his arm casually over the blonde's shoulders, looking into her eyes and mind fucking her, fangs down and glow on. It should have been a walk in the park; he was distracted, about to get his fill, nowhere to run, but somehow here I was on the ground struggling to inhale, and there he was with a cocky grimace and the upper hand. What the?

  “They told me you were stronger than this, more clever too. Hmm, I guess they were wrong, my sweet. You are nothing but a little girl, playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Where is the big bad Hunter I have heard so much about, hmm? Where indeed.”

  Where indeed sweetie? That's just what I was thinking. Not trying to be egotistical or anything, but usually, my hunts go a hell of a lot better than this. And usually, I don't have to battle more than one bloodthirsty vampire in a night. This, however, was the third numbskull vamp to cross my path trying to feed off the innocent. I'd have to ask Michel about this influx of careless vampires, eating in such a public way, disregarding all of his rules when entering his city.

  That's if I could get out of this little encounter alive. So far, the jury was still out on that one.<
br />
  I rolled onto my back, feeling the wet muck of the alley seeping in through my light chiffon blouse. The stars were out tonight, no clouds in the sky from the earlier downpour, almost a Full Moon, but not quite. Old evil face was slowly stalking closer; if you could call it stalking. It's always more of a glide with the older vamps, and this one was about 150 years, judging by the power level oozing off him like thick syrup. I could almost reach out and touch it, so thick and sweetly smelling. With a hint of rot underneath.

  I had to stall him, get back on my feet. He’d disarmed me as soon as I had approached; a simple flick of his wrist, a magical brush against my fingers and the stake was gone. It was now down the far end of the alley, by the entrance, where all of a sudden, not a single soul was walking by. Go figure. Not that I'd want a Norm to get involved in this, but I did kind of feel alone right now. Even just the sound of late night “clubbers” would have been welcome, but no such luck.

  Still, I haven't honed my skills over the past two years without arming myself with more than one weapon. I shifted slightly to my right, casually slipping my left arm into my belt at the top of my skirt, all the while making full eye contact with fang-face.

  “You seem awfully sure of yourself. What makes you think this isn't some trap?” I hedged, watching him stalk ever closer; so slow, so predatory, so sure.

  He glanced over his shoulder quickly at that, though. I must have managed to ruffle his feathers or cape. It was enough of a distraction to slip my little silver knife out of its sheath at my waist and hide it behind my wrist and arm.

  “I don't think so, Hunter. You work alone. I know a lot about you; you could say, your name is on the most wanted list of my kind. An all-points bulletin. We even study your moves.”

  Huh? It was just one of those nights for surprises I guess. I didn't know I was that popular amongst the otherworldly nasties, but there you go.

  “It's always nice to be recognised for my efforts,” I replied while lying perfectly still and taking small shallow breaths to ease the pain. It was just a constant ache now, no longer that sharp stabbing pain, as though a rib was about to pierce the side of my skin.

  He noticed, of course; they always do when you're injured. Something about the predator in them. They sense the weak; they sniff out the pain to use it against you. I'd have to time this just right. One shot and one shot only.

  There's one thing you can count on when it comes to vamps, though, they're arrogant sons of bitches. This vampire may know all my moves or thinks he does, but he wouldn't believe for a moment that I could succeed in using them on him, could succeed in getting the drop on him. I'm betting he'd be wrong there. Pride before a fall and all that.

  He leant over me, fangs obvious in the glint of the moon streaking down the alley above us. There was a fat drop of blood hanging off the right one, threatening to spill on my shirt. He'd either bitten himself accidentally, or more likely, he did manage to get fang to neck on the now unconscious blonde in a pile over by the dumpster. Bastard!

  “I'm going to enjoy teaching you a lesson, Hunter,” he whispered as he moved in for the strike.

  “That's what they all say,” I countered as my arm arced gracefully across the front of him. I knew I couldn't get the heart from the angle I was at. That wasn't what I was aiming for, but that beautiful face of his would certainly feel the silver as it sliced into his cheek.

  A howl rent the night air. An intense sound of anger and guttural, visceral pain. He sprang back against the far wall, with his hand covering the slash from his left ear to mouth, already healing, despite the silver of the knife. It takes a lot to damage a creature of the night permanently.

  I used the distraction and distance to get to my feet, not as ladylike as I would have liked, but hey, no one was watching. Well, no one who mattered. Old sweetie pie hadn't taken his eyes off me for a second. They can be very focused when they need to be.

  “You shall pay for that!” he spat. “I've been holding back, toying with you, but no longer, Hunter. The game is up.”

  Indeed, it was. We began slowly circling each other, me with my now somewhat pitiful slender silver knife, him with his fangs which only seemed to be getting bigger and longer the more I looked at them. Oh, what big teeth you've got, I thought bizarrely. Losing it now was not an option. Luckily for me, since my first encounter with a vampire, my strength at resisting their spell-binding gaze had increased. To such a point that only the rare higher level master vamp had any effect on me. This guy was only a level four on the Sanguis Vitam scale, strong, but not strong enough. So, I could look him in the eye when I said, “Right back at ya, Sweetie”. And then I forced a grin.

  I've always felt confidence in a retort could only be achieved when making direct eye contact, somehow the effect is lost when you have to look at your shoes.

  He came at me in a flash. I was expecting it, but still, they can move, and you don't even see it. Especially when they want to and this chap had had it with me. Anger poured off his skin in waves. I only just managed to raise the knife enough to glance the sleeve of his shirt and knick the skin ever so slightly - I might as well have been a mosquito for all the good it did - but his arm crashed against the side of my face, throwing my head and body around and against the hard and unforgiving brick wall. I tasted blood and felt my vision blur again, but the hit hadn't been a straight hand punch, thankfully.

  I used the momentum of springing back off that solid mass of brick and concrete to roll away and under his approaching bulk, sweeping out my leg as I passed him. It only made him stumble, but still... go me!

  He rounded on me in that lightning speed. But I rolled to the left, closer to the entrance of the alley, making what would have been a killer blow, into a somewhat lesser one. Pain in my back erupted like a burst balloon, shooting up my spine into the base of my head. I thought my back would snap; it was so bad. Tears started rolling down my face, my fingers tingled and then went numb. Now, I was mad.

  I rounded to face my killer. No way was I going down without a fight. He grinned; a typical evil bad guy grin, all teeth and smirk. He hardly had a scratch on him. Some reputation I've got. I took a step back, towards the entrance and light, towards the safety of a crowd. He cocked his head as though to say; you think you can make it?

  I couldn't, and we both knew it, but I could reach my stake. I moved, right before he flew through the air towards me. I rolled head over heels, transferring my knife to my left hand and picking up my stake with my right, as I sailed over it. All those hours play-fighting with my best mate Rick's shapeshifter Hapū was paying off. I landed in a crouch; half twisted towards him. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. His arms came out around me, his head and face over my left shoulder, he grabbed my hair and jerked my head to the right, lifting me off my feet. I felt a few hairs come loose, and my back was screaming for release, but his hold was slack, not crushing. Stupid. Never lower your guard.

  I twisted with the pull of my neck, not resisting it. I brought my right arm across my chest and up under my left armpit, directly towards the vamp's chest. The angle wasn't great, but it was close enough. As soon as he felt the silver of the stake breach his skin and enter his chest wall, he froze. I took my advantage and pushed the baby home.

  There was a sickening squelching sound as the stake slid further in, resting on the edge of his heart. His arms fell away, no longer responding to his commands and he crumpled backwards towards the ground. I went with him, twisting around to face him completely, not letting my grip on the stake release, or the stake move anywhere but further in. Lying on top of him, looking into those red-rimmed glowing eyes, I twisted the stake minutely, feeling the moment it touched the chamber of his heart.

  His eyes widened slightly, a look of utter incredulity on them. I smiled and said, “Night, night, Sweetie” as the stake finally sunk home. For an instant, nothing happened, and then I was face first in a pile of dust, coughing and choking on vampire residue.

  I rolled away, gr
asping my side, trying to stop the racking coughing from tearing my already tender ribs further apart. Finally, after several minutes, I managed to control myself and slowly sat up.

  It took a moment for me to get my bearings. There was still a low-level humming in my mind, the last of the vamp's Sanguis Vitam seeping into the night, but there was no other indication of power in the vicinity. I took as deep a breath as I could manage, then hauled myself over to the blonde.

  She was coming around, groaning. There was a slight mark on her neck, not deep, he hadn't managed to penetrate her vein fully. Thank God. “You'll be all right now,” I said. She opened her eyes and looked at me.

  “Who the hell are you?” she demanded, speech a little slurred.

  See, here's the thing. When a vamp glazes you with his gaze, he can have you thinking any number of things. Hell, he could make you jump off the Harbour Bridge if he wanted to, but most of the time, they're not that inventive. It's usually a vision of utter happiness if they're kind, or in Sweetie Pie's case, a feeling that you're drunk and just having a quiet moment in the alley to yourself. Waking up and finding a dishevelled female leaning over you is not the most pleasant of visions, even if you think you're smashed.

  I pulled back. “There's a taxi stand down the street by McDonald's,” I said, indicating the direction with a nod of my head. “You fell over, must have been a good night, huh?”

  She struggled to her feet, still glaring at me, but started to take a shaky step away. I wanted to reach out and help, but vampire induced psychosis is not something you can easily get involved with. The glazing just doesn't allow it. She'd be all right, though, no real harm done.

  Me, on the other hand, I ached. From head to toe. I haven't been that badly beaten up for months. This was going to take some getting over.