by Lia Slater
He’d been intrigued by the unusual hue of her fiery amber eyes when she’d glared at him. And the fullness of her pale lips as she pouted. He imagined that with a good bath and brushing, her light brown locks would cascade in curls down past her breasts.
Yes, she was small in stature but her body had everything it needed for her to be considered a woman. A voluptuous woman.
Damn it all. The last thing he wanted was to be attracted to the Were. He regretted walking into his cousin’s cellar more with each passing second. He’d only come to drop off the bushels of oranges that Orleff had requested. What an idiot he was for exchanging his best horse just so Lord Kerdy and his flatulent brother wouldn’t get their grubby hands on her. She’d seemed so helpless, so innocent…until she opened up her mouth. He figured her foul language was a defense mechanism. The bite marks on her neck told him she was used and she’d been through this before.
And he just couldn’t stand to see her—or anyone for that matter—passed on to Lord Kerdy.
Worth’s temper boiled at the mere thought of his history with the vile Vamp. Lord Kerdy stood in the lower circle, the lowest level, of the High Council, the ring of powerful Vampires who led the Okantalor coven.
Okantalor, his homeland, prided itself on having one of the wealthiest, most influential covens in the world. And the High Council thanked themselves for that feat. The three tier leaders held the most power. And Lord Kerdy, on the bottom of the circle, held close to no authority in the group. But that didn’t stop him from flaunting his position and using it as leverage over the common Vamps.
Vamps like Worth. And Marta, at one time, before she left him to seduce her way up the High Council circle, starting with Kerdy.
The memory used to make him ill, heartbroken. He’d lost his One, his wife, because she’d wanted power and wealth, something he couldn’t give her no matter how hard he’d worked. At present, Marta sat aside the throne of Bartholomew, the Premiere of the High Council. She was now Bartholomew’s One, having denounced any ties with Worth.
Worth shook his head free of the memories and lifted the Were femme over his shoulder with ease. He intentionally squeezed the soft flesh of her ass as he held her securely. The feisty beast hadn’t been the least bit appreciative for him coming to her rescue. Then again, she probably hadn’t known any better.
The Were wouldn’t have lasted long under Kerdy’s control. He and his brother were infamous for the way they treated their blood slaves. Most died from starvation or dehydration. Over time, no one could survive that, not even an otherwise-immortal Were. This was probably why Worth’s cousin had such a prolific slave trade. Those two slobbering mammoths were in constant need of another blood supply.
If Orleff, his greedy mercenary cousin, weren’t his only Vampire relative, Worth would have nothing to do with him. But in a world where family was scarce and friends were limited, Worth couldn’t be choosy. One needed allies.
Especially when the High Council continued to breathe down his neck for taking in the sun’s power. No matter how painful, Worth knew it was the better option. Perhaps the moral choice. Or maybe he was just too damn stubborn to follow the unwritten code. In any case, he’d never owned a Were before today.
Which led to the question of what he would do with her now that she belonged to him.
Orleff led the way up the cellar stairs. “What are you planning on doing with her?” he asked, speaking aloud what Worth was thinking. “Did it finally occur to you that keeping a blood slave is a perfectly acceptable way of life?”
Worth didn’t answer. With his cousin, with anyone, it was better to say as few words as possible.
Orleff sighed as he pushed open the door that led into his home, his dark, windowless home. “I can see we still have a communication problem. One would think you’d conquer the skill of socialization, given that you’ve had over two hundred years to practice.”
Worth bypassed him and headed toward the front door. “I rode Tobias in,” he murmured, hating that he was giving up his stallion. “He’s tied up outside and now he’s yours to auction off.” He stopped to look Orleff in his eyes. “But if I hear that you’ve sold him for meat, consider yourself decapitated. Understood? He needs a decent owner. Someone with some land. No one from the city. Got it?”
“Fine, fine. That shouldn’t be a problem. I was planning on keeping him for a bit. Like you, I used to own a few horses when I was human.” Orleff winced as Worth pushed the door open, sending in a flood of light from the rising sun. He backed off into the safety of his shadowy home. “Have fun with your new toy. If you plan to keep her, you might want to take her blood to monitor her. She’s a fiery one. The Vamp who sold her to me couldn’t wait to be rid of her.”
Not bothering to respond, Worth tugged on his gloves and stepped out into the early morning sun, slamming the door behind him. The blazing rays burned his skin immediately, especially since he was now shirtless with no barrier to protect him. Oh well. It simply meant he needed to get home faster. And, with the sun’s nutrients, he’d have enough blood flowing through him to last him another day.
He could handle the pain. If only the other Vamps were as reasonable then he wouldn’t be rescuing a Were from blood slavery. The sun allowed their bodies to produce a decent amount of blood. What Worth didn’t get from the sun he made up for with the human women who graciously volunteered their services now and then.
He’d always had a weakness for protecting women. He supposed that’s why he hadn’t blinked an eye before giving up Tobias in exchange for the defenseless Were. He’d seen her naked and vulnerable and he’d forgotten his brain. The woman needed him and, like the gullible idiot he was, he came to her rescue. He just hoped the spontaneous decision didn’t cause him more grief than he could handle.
His faithful horse whinnied as Worth passed by. He hated leaving Tobias outside, tied to a post, but no doubt Orleff would soon be outside pampering him and getting him ready for the highest bidder.
“Goodbye, Tobias.” Worth kept his gaze to the ground and started into a run across the mostly barren prairie that made up a large area of Okantalor. He’d make better time on foot anyway. Then, once he was inside his home, he could heal from the burns scarring his skin.
It was all worth it, he reminded himself once more, and made his way.
* * * * *
Blanca blinked her weary eyes and glanced around the bedroom. She had no idea where she was but she knew it wasn’t home, which meant she was in the wrong place. Still. She turned over on the mattress and gave out a sigh of relief when she saw she was alone.
How odd that she felt the urge to fall back asleep. Absently she cuddled her body up in the soft linen fabric of a man’s shirt, wrapping her arms around her legs. It would be so easy to just close her eyes. The shirt and the blankets on the bed hinted of their owner’s scent. The smell was mild but it reminded her of relaxing summer evening, walking along the bank of the Paqualette River. Outdoors. Wildlife. Grass and the sun’s warming rays.
Focus, Blanca. Her captor was near, no doubt.
She forced herself to sit up, causing her head to pang in that annoying, throbbing beat—the kind that always followed after losing blood to a Vamp. The pain wouldn’t last long, she reminded herself. Whoever had put her in this room had made the mistake of leaving the window open. The moon’s glow lit up the room and penetrated her body with its energizing glow.
She could shift if she wanted. Run away from this place. If only she knew where exactly this place was. And whom the home belonged to. The owner hadn’t taken her blood. She’d know if that was the case. She’d feel him, be under his constant mental surveillance. Any Vamp who wanted to keep her as a slave would’ve chomped their teeth into her the very moment they claimed the rights to her just so she couldn’t escape. And they certainly wouldn’t lay her on a cozy bed in a clean, quaint bedroom with the window propped open. No, she’d had just the opposite experience when she’d been forced to be a blood slave long a
go. This was different. She’d never heard of a Vamp who didn’t severely mistreat an enslaved Were.
With her mind still hazy, curiosity led her to the window. She breathed in the night air and instantly smelled the scent of farm animals and oranges, a strange combination. Three horses were grazing in a pasture up the hill, to the left was a barn and to the far right was an orchard of oranges.
What would a Vamp want with horses when travel by foot was faster? And where the hell was her captor anyway? Her thoughts quickly detoured back to before she’d passed out. She remembered the odd one, Worth, who had loosened her from the shackles. Was this his home?
She shook her head as her mind finally came into focus. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except getting out of there and finding her way back to Paqualette. Back to her pack.
The sound of a floorboard creaking in the next room startled her and she turned toward the closed door. Her heart pattered madly but she tried to control her breathing.
It was now or never. Escape or be held captive.
The doorknob turned and she did the only thing she could think of. She shifted into her wolf form and within a fraction of a second she leapt through the window. Quickly, she headed in the moon’s direction, leaping over a wooden slatted fence, her paws pounding at the dirt. She entered the orchard, the tree branches filled with ripe oranges. The pungent scent assaulted her nose.
She ran as fast as she could, which wasn’t her optimum speed since she was still healing from her blood loss. Damn it.
Someone followed close behind her. She heard him gaining speed, closing in on her.
No. No. No. Run faster, Blanca. You can’t let them get you again. This is your chance.
Something whirred over her head and landed with a thwap around her paws. Before she had time to react, her paws were yanked into a tight bond and she hit the ground with a thud.
A rope. He’d roped her. All four paws were in its tight grasp and she lay vulnerable on her back. Oh, fuck.
She panicked and thrashed her legs trying to loosen the rope’s grip but with each move she made, he tugged harder, making the hold tighter while dragging her across the dirt toward him.
“You bastard. Let me go.”
Seeing no other choice, she began to change back into her human form. The transformation made her bones fluid and she was able to release herself from the rope’s grasp. But by that time, he was above her. She remembered his large frame and how he’d crushed himself against her body in the mercenary’s cellar. This time was no different. With efficient speed and agility, he straddled her wriggling body and pinned her wrists to the dirt.
Blanca kicked and squirmed but her efforts were useless. He held her securely without a problem.
“Fuck you, you bloodsucking asshole.” She spat at him, desperate to try anything.
He didn’t flinch. Instead, his lips curved up into an annoying grin. “Well, that was fun. But you shredded my shirt when you transformed.”
“I don’t give a shit. I hate you.” She said it with all the rage she’d built up over the years for this leech of a species. Still, her body reacted to the feel of his strong legs braced at her sides. The handsome curvature of his lips. The gentle twinkle in his eyes. The blunt layers of his straight, dark hair as it fell around his long, angular face. Her heart beat wildly as she took in the solid width of his shoulders and the muscles coiling underneath his unbuttoned shirt. His chest expanded with heavy breaths.
Good. At least she’d given him a run. She cleared her mind of the effect he had on her and glared up at him.
His grin faded as he studied her, his eye color matching the sky above his head as his gaze raked along her face and then quickly skimmed her breasts. “I’ve been wondering what the hell I’m going to do with you. Now I think I know.”
“What? Suck my blood and then use my body? It’s been done before. You might want to come up with something more original.” She kept her tone snarky. Unimpressed.
His face melted into a deep frown. The grasp his large callused hands had on her wrists loosened just enough for her to notice. “What is your name?”
“Let me go and I’ll tell you.”
To her surprise he released her arms, though his weight still held her down. “Tell me now.”
What did it matter? “I’m Blanca Reble from Eastern Paqualette. And my pack will find me soon and take me back home. If you stand in the way, I can’t guarantee your survival.”
“Your pack hasn’t found you yet. With the security the High Council built up at the border, I doubt they’ll be able to get through alive.”
Blanca wanted to smack him or beat at his brawny chest or do something to cause him pain. But she didn’t want to touch him any more than she had to. “You underestimate my friends and my leader.”
“I’ll tell you what, Blanca.” She hated his deep, rumbling voice and the sensual way her name sounded playing off his lips. And she hated how her body responded with a deceitful thrill that shot down her belly, warming into a sweet pool of heat between her thighs.
He continued, hopefully oblivious to the scent of her arousal. “I’m not a wealthy man and I gave up one of my biggest assets in order to save you from some less than altruistic people.”
Blanca bit back the sarcastic remarks bubbling at the back of her throat and listened. Did he really think that she would believe he was some sort of savior?
“You stay here on my ranch and help me with the daily grind to make up for my loss and when your pack members show up, I’ll let you go without a fight. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like bullshit. When do the fangs come out?”
His face was expressionless as he ran his tongue over his straight white teeth. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I can trust you not to run.”
“Smart Vamp.” Shit. She cursed herself for provoking him. Her and her big mouth.
He cocked his head and studied her again. “I apologize but I have to take some of your blood.”
She tensed and a new round of panic pulsed through her.
“Don’t worry. I’ll only do it as often as necessary to keep you under surveillance.”
“If you’re so much better than those other Vamps then why don’t you just let me go?”
He blew out a breath and scratched his head. “There are things you don’t understand. Maybe I’ll explain some day if we end up learning to trust each other.”
She shook her head. “To hell with you. You’re out of your mind if you think I’ll ever trust you.”
He leaned over her and the light of the moonlight glinted off his teeth as his fangs distended. Blanca pushed at his chest with all her might. She used her sharp nails to pierce into his skin. She jerked body to and fro, fighting back as best she could.
The weight of him paralyzed her, crushed into her body. He captured her arms and held them down.
His hot breath swept along her neck as he spoke. “Don’t move, Blanca. You know it hurts if you fight it.”
Chapter Three
Blanca held her breath and attempted to avert her attention to a half-rotten orange that had dropped from the tree above. Her eyes burned with the threat of tears but she refused to let him see her cry. She did remember how much it hurt when she fought a bite. Yet she also remembered that sometimes feeling the pain was better than dealing with the unwelcomed desire. It was certainly less humiliating.
She clenched her eyes shut and stiffened her body, straining her muscles, readying for the effects of being drained. What was taking him so long?
He hesitated, his lips lightly brushing the sensitive skin just under her jaw. Her skin prickled from the tender touch, a tickling sensation skittering down her limbs. Heat rushed up her chest to her cheeks. She yearned for him. And he hadn’t even bitten her yet. She couldn’t help but wonder how she would feel after—
All thoughts were lost when his cool, moist lips pressed a kiss to the taut column of her fevered neck. Her chest heaved as she sucked in much-needed o
xygen. This wasn’t what she remembered from her previous experience as a blood slave. There were no gentle kisses, no tenderness at all. She’d been passed around between three Vamps and none had wanted anything from her but blood and sex. This Vamp, Worth, was confusing her.
“Do it,” she said between jagged breaths, hoping he didn’t equate the huskiness in her voice with desire. “Get it over with.”
The weight of his cock hardened beneath his pants and crowded against her thigh. She tried to hate how his full length felt against her naked skin. Solid, thick, long. Powerful. But despite her efforts, wet lust poured down her belly and bottled deep inside her needy pussy.
No. She curled her toes and battled the desire as best she could. He was teasing her, probably enjoying the control he already had over her. When all he had to do was bite and suck, he took his time and lingered. All the more reason to hate him.
“I apologize,” he said and took in an audible breath. Still hesitating, he parted his lips and primed her skin with a lick of his velvet tongue. And then sank his sharp fangs into her neck.
The pain of the pricks faded quickly—as did any rational thought—as he drank her blood, sipping in her essence.
Worth felt her arch up into him, her breasts mashing against his chest. A lusty moan rumbled up her throat and out her rosy lips. The sound was sweet and it allowed him to forgive himself if only for a moment as her thick, piquant blood seeped onto his tongue.
Her legs wrapped around his thighs and the hot moisture from her pussy rubbed against his unwanted erection. He dug his fingers into the cold, rich dirt to keep from digging them into her supple flesh. The urge to free his burgeoning cock from his pants and drive into her slick pussy was overwhelming. But he resisted. He wouldn’t take advantage of her that way. He refused to.
Really, he hadn’t wanted to take her blood at all. The act of owning a blood slave and using them for sustenance was against everything he stood for, everything he’d fought against. But he simply had no other choice. There was too much at stake. Lord Kerdy would surely tell the High Council about this morning and how Worth had barged in on the auction. They’d find out that he’d purchased a blood slave and they’d want to have her marked. If he released Blanca then Worth would pay the consequences. More time in the dungeon. With the way he disobeyed the code of the Vampires, he spent more nights in that hellish dungeon than he wanted to admit. And releasing a blood slave was a more serious offense than soaking in the sun’s nutrients.