Blurred Expectations

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Suddenly, Nevan was standing beside her, taking a cup to dry it. She jumped. “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Move without a sound.”

  He shrugged but didn’t look at her. “My brothers have very good hearing. I kind of grew up trying to sneak past them.”

  She laughed at the mischief in his tone.

  He fell quiet, making her glance his way. His gaze drifted over the scars on her right arm before meeting her eyes. “What happened?”

  Setting the cup in the drainer, she pushed her sleeves down and shook her head. “I…I’m tired. Sorry.” She walked around him and fled to her room. Heart pounding in her chest, she leaned against the closed door.

  She was a complete idiot. Damn him for raising hope that any male would find her attractive.

  http://www.authorliadavis.com/

  Blood Avenged - Excerpt

  Love sexy paranormal romance? Crave more Alpha males?

  Try Gabrielle Bisset's bestselling Sons of Navarus series!

  Blood Avenged (Sons of Navarus #1)

  Powerful and manipulative, Vasilije does as he pleases. A vampire beholden to no one, he takes what he desires, drinking deeply the pleasures this life has to offer.

  When one of his own is staked, Vasilije must travel to New Orleans to exact his revenge. There he meets Sasa, a beautiful woman who arouses him like no other has for centuries. Vasilije’s need for vengeance is equaled only by his passion for her, but what he finds in his revenge is just the beginning...

  Chapter One

  I am everything you desire.

  I am everything you fear.

  I am lust and appetite.

  I am vampire.

  The beat of the music slammed into his body like crushing blows from an angry attacker, each note reverberating in his bones. He sat perfectly still and let the beat thrum through him as he picked up the seductive scent wafting across the crowded room, carried by a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. Undetected by all but him, its subtle sweetness teased his nose with a promise of what was to come.

  Scanning the room, he watched like a bird tracking its prey. All of humanity seemed to file past him. Desperate, drunk, and powerless, the crowd was a smorgasbord laid out especially for him. With no effort at all, he could have any of them. The brunette dancing between two men, her movements telegraphing that her sex was needy for what they offered. If he chose, in seconds, they’d be gone and she’d be his for the taking. The tanned, muscular male eyeing him from three tables away, who he sensed preferred what hung between his legs to what the brunette offered. The barely legal blonde, whose wide green eyes betrayed just how much of life she hadn’t experienced despite the lies her body told.

  He could have any of them.

  Vasilije watched his victim at the bar. Every bat of an eyelash he felt. Every clank of the ice against the glass he heard as if he were there himself. The distance between them meant nothing.

  Through the tightly packed crowd, he saw the woman next to his target lean over, obscuring his view. He watched as she pressed her body next to the man’s, a not-so-subtle hint to her interest.

  The sweet scent remained, and Vasilije closed his eyes to enjoy it, not interested in the woman or her pathetic attempt to seduce his prey away.

  He had no idea the vampire waited patiently for his moment. Vasilije liked the idea that ignorance was bliss. For now. In a few short minutes, another bliss would take them both over, and he’d have what he’d eyed for days.

  The man made a move toward the door and every cell in Vasilije’s body came alive. Two steps and he was in the thick of the crowd, their bodies pressing up against his as he brushed by them. He weaved through the group like a dark secret whispered from one person to another.

  At the exit, he inhaled deeply, his sense of smell filtering out the putrid mixture of exhaust, perfume, and stale alcohol that hovered at the entrance to the street. Only his prey’s scent remained, imprinted on him.

  He was nearby.

  Closing his eyes, Vasilije let his other senses take over. The sound of the man’s shoes hitting the pavement echoed in his ears. The feel of his prey’s blood pumping through his body throbbed against Vasilije’s cool skin, matching his heartbeat.

  So healthy. So alive.

  He’d tracked him for days, his desire growing with each passing moment. It had taken little time for him to decide he would make him one of his kind. He stirred something inside that hadn’t been touched for years.

  Such a soul would be a perfect addition to his world.

  He moved away from the noise of the club into the streets of London as he gained ground on his target. Now in his view, the man moved much faster. Did he sense the danger that lurked nearby? But it was no use. He would surrender this night.

  Vasilije walked calmly, never losing sight of the man. He sensed his fear and took it into himself, relishing the sensation. How long had it been since he’d felt fear—true fear that stole one’s breath away and paralyzed the limbs?

  A quick left onto a darkened street and his prey broke into a full run, his fear morphing into pure terror that surged through Vasilije’s veins. In his ears, he heard the man’s heart pound faster and faster, his body reacting to his mind’s screams.

  Into the night air, he whispered, “Come to me,” and waited for the man to make his way back to him. With each step, Vasilije moved closer, but the man remained out of reach.

  Something or someone was helping him escape.

  Quickly, Vasilije scanned the area, his eyes darting left and right in the darkness. Was there another of his kind close? He sensed no one, but someone was interrupting his pursuit.

  Reluctantly, he accepted the situation and disappeared into thin air, reappearing just mere feet in front of the man. Stunned, he skidded to a stop against Vasilije’s chest.

  “No more running.”

  His hand moved to the man’s chin and gently held him. Eyes filled with a fear he’d seen a thousand times before stared back at him, pleading for mercy from a being that possessed none.

  His voice a deep timbre now, Vasilije began to hypnotize the man. “I’ve waited long enough for you.”

  To his surprise, the trick didn’t work. The man’s eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to speak, but only weak cries came out. Why was he able to resist?

  “Who are you?”

  “Alex,” he said, his voice almost a whimper.

  “Alex, I want you to look into my eyes. Listen to my voice.”

  “Please don’t kill me.”

  Vasilije stroked the man’s cheek and leaned in next to his ear. “I’m going to give you a life you’ve never dreamed of, Alex.”

  “Please! Take all my money. Just let me go. I have a girlfriend. Tatiana. I don’t want to die!”

  Vasilije thought back to the only Tatiana he’d ever known in his over four hundred year existence. Grimacing, he returned his focus to Alex’s eyes and pushed his memory of the past out of his mind.

  “Well, maybe I’ll let you have her.”

  “Please don’t do this!” the man begged, his blue eyes filling with tears.

  Cradling his face in his hands, Vasilije concentrated on Alex, and slowly whatever had been protecting him slipped away. His lids became heavy, obscuring his eyes, and the fear left his mind and body.

  “Alex.” Vasilije let the name rest on his tongue as he hissed out the last syllable. “Mine.”

  The muscles in Alex’s body gave in to his power and all fight evaporated from him. He slumped against the vampire’s body as his mind finally succumbed to his persuasion.

  Vasilije guided him to a building just a few steps away and leaned him against a stone wall. For a moment, he stilled to look at this human who had so captivated him, more than any other creature in years. His shoulder length blond hair shone like it had been touched each day by the sun. Vasilije gingerly touched the ends with his fingertips, feeling the sun’s long forgotten warmth against his fingers.
>
  His eyes moved over Alex’s face, past his mouth and cheekbones to eyes hooded by slack lids. Within those slits were blue eyes that stared out passively at him. Eyes that saw what Vasilije commanded as he silently inserted ideas into the man’s mind.

  Nothing about Alex was unique individually, and despite admiring his beauty, Vasilije couldn’t say that was what had drawn him to the human. It was something else, something about him that created the impression of the forbidden.

  But now he would be his.

  Vasilije’s fangs slid seductively into his mouth as he eyed the gentle throbbing in Alex’s neck. In just a few moments, they would sink into his skin and sweet blood would fill him. The thought of it made his mouth water.

  Unlike the rest of his fellow vampires, he wasn’t forced to live under the restrictions of vampire law and obtain permission to turn a human. His sire had been taken from the Earth years ago, and without her, he was free to sire anyone he pleased.

  He was truly a being beholden to no one.

  Alex would join the hundreds of others scattered across the globe who counted him as their sire. Inside, he knew where each one was at any given moment, like a piece of himself inside another. When he desired to have them around, they were. And when he preferred a life of solitude, the choice of many vampires, he sent them away.

  But they were never truly gone.

  He would keep Alex with him until he’d completed his initiation period. To do any less would be cruel. A newly turned vampire needed his sire for virtually everything to survive. His blood would nourish him, like no other’s could. A human might give him what he needed for a short time, but it could never be what his sire’s was. And his knowledge would help Alex learn how to be a vampire and how to grow accustomed to the new life he’d given him.

  Vasilije softly pressed his mouth to his neck, feeling the warmth of his skin against his lips. Alex turned his head in response, and Vasilije lifted his head. Staring deeply into his eyes, he silently instructed him to turn his head.

  His mouth returned to Alex’s neck. As he watched the rhythmic pulse just under his skin, he slid his tongue over his fangs, enjoying the feel of their sharp points.

  “Alex, from this moment on, I’m your sire. You belong to me.”

  Without moving his head, Alex moaned his unneeded agreement. For a long moment, the world around them stood still, as Vasilije pressed his fangs slowly into the tender skin. His canines pierced a vein and blood began to flood over his tongue. Its thickness oozed back toward his throat, the tangy taste sliding over his taste buds, exciting them.

  How wonderful he tasted! As Alex’s life flowed down Vasilije’s throat, he fastened his mouth on his neck and pulled at the vein, careful to take only as much as he should. He’d bring Alex to the point of no return and then, as he lingered between life and death, he’d give him the first of many gifts a sire could provide.

  Still human for the moment, Alex struggled against Vasilije’s hold, but it was no use. A vampire for centuries, he had the strength of a bull and reflexes of a wild cat. At the first sign of resistance, he tightened his hold on the man’s jaw and flung his leg over him, trapping his body between the wall and his own.

  “It’s futile to struggle,” Vasilije whispered low in his ear. “Let it take you.”

  “Please...” Alex’s voice faded to a groan as Vasilije’s mouth tugged at his vein with more vigor.

  “I want nothing else,” Vasilije chuckled as he closed the holes he’d made in Alex’s neck.

  He carefully laid him on the ground, and as Alex fought to hold on to the last shred of his human life, Vasilije wiped the corners of his mouth. Licking the blood from his fingertips, he savored the taste as he knelt down beside the man who was to be his newest vampire.

  Vasilije stroked the blond hair that would never again be touched by the warmth or light of the sun. His fingers glided over the sun kissed skin on Alex’s face, which in moments would be reduced to a pallor common to those of the night. Even now, the warmth that had been present in his skin was gone.

  Lifting his wrist to his mouth, Vasilije sunk his fangs into his skin to open a vein. Blood ran freely in a stream from his wrist, and he pulled Alex to him to begin the transition from human to vampire. Near death, his head had to be held to Vasilije’s wrist, but as if it were his true nature, Alex began drinking seconds after tasting his sire’s blood, eagerly sucking the liquid into his mouth.

  For Vasilije, this was the part he enjoyed. To feed from the neck of a human could sustain him for a short time, but to take from another like him and give in return was a far more satisfying experience.

  Alex’s mouth sucked greedily at his wrist, drinking his sire’s blood as readily as he’d drunk any liquid as a human. Vasilije watched the sensual scene, enjoying every moment. Blood stained lips pressed against his skin drew from him the most important gift a sire provided. As Alex swallowed every drop that spilled into his mouth, Vasilije watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down in his throat. When he neared the end of the first feeding, Alex instinctively looked up to his sire to guide him.

  Pulling his arm away, Vasilije let the ache in his wrist touch him inside, loving the sweet pain that accompanied feeding one of his own. Alex wiped his mouth and sat up next to him, unsure as all new vampires were.

  “Come, Alex. I want to give you something.”

  Completely under his spell, his newest vampire followed him back to the club. Vasilije saw the brunette he’d admired earlier, without the two men she’d had before. Remembering how her body had felt against his as he’d pressed through the crowd, he approached her and with little effort, he had her nearly begging to leave with them.

  By the time they arrived at his house, she had her hands all over Vasilije, but she wasn’t for him.

  Turning to Alex, he smiled. “She’s yours for the night.”

  He eagerly took his gift to the couch and began undressing her. Vasilije sat back in his chair and in the dim light of the parlor, he saw his vampire bend her over and ram into her until she screamed out her orgasm. Unsatisfied, Alex pulled her head to his still hard cock and fucked her again as she eagerly swallowed everything he gave her.

  Vasilije heard the familiar click of a vampire’s teeth dropping as Alex came and in a flash was standing over him.

  “No,” he said in a deep voice like a growl.

  “I’m hungry, and I know it would feel incredible to taste her now. You said she was mine.”

  “A vampire drinks from his sire whenever possible.”

  Before he could answer, Vasilije touched his wrist to Alex’s mouth and the new vampire began feeding again. The brunette watched with eyes full of fear.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let him drink from you.”

  Vasilije watched the fear leave her eyes, replaced with their earlier lustful stare, now fastened on his own cock. Leaving Alex to feed, she crawled up to Vasilije and began rubbing the front of his pants. With little encouragement, she freed his cock and slid the engorged head between her lips. As her hand cupped and squeezed his balls, her mouth sucked his cock while Alex sucked excitedly at his wrist.

  Looking down, Vasilije saw this was clearly not the first time this woman had sucked cock. Her tongue expertly slid under the crown, teasing the most sensitive part before she pushed her lips to gently clamp down on the base of his cock as her throat closed in around the head. The effect was incredible. Fighting the urge to come, he yanked her head off him and pulled her to her feet.

  He’d said she was Alex’s for the night, but now as his young vampire finished feeding for the second time in just a few hours, Alex grew sleepy and his head fell back against the couch. The brunette looked at Alex and then back to Vasilije before she went back to work on his cock, stroking him toward completion as she softly moaned next to his lips.

  “Come,” he whispered.

  Following him to the floor, she pulled at his clothes before he removed them with a mere thought. He ran his hands over her bod
y slowly and then ordered, “Get on your hands and knees.”

  She willingly did as he commanded, and in seconds she offered him whatever he wanted. Tonight he’d take simply fucking over anything else.

  Vasilije placed his hands on her hips and held her tightly in place. His cock found her drenched cunt and he slammed into her, his balls smacking off her skin. She fought against his hold, backing up to meet his hard thrusts.

  Fuck, she was eager!

  No matter how hard he pounded into her, she met his body’s movement equally with one as wanton of her own. Vasilije slid his finger and then a second one into her ass and began fucking her in both places, and she bucked against him like she wanted more.

  Roughly, he pulled her up to his chest and continued fucking her cunt. His fangs slammed into his mouth as he ran his lips over her neck.

  Alex may not be able to taste her, but there was no reason he shouldn’t.

  He bit into her and her moaning grew louder with each pull on her vein. The sounds of their fucking filled the room, and as he drew closer to coming, Vasilije slid his fingers down to her clit and began stroking her. His eyes closed, his mind focused on his cock filling her, his fingers teasing her, and the taste of her blood draining down his throat.

  She cried out some words before she came, but he was too focused on the feel of her squeezing his cock to understand or care. Over and over, her body milked him until he filled her with his cum and she filled him with her blood.

  When he finally slid out of her, she fell to the floor, her body exhausted from how he’d treated her. Hours later, after he’d fucked her until she begged to become his, a vampire like Alex, he dissolved her memory of everything she’d done and sent her home in a cab.

  As dawn approached, Vasilije made sure Alex was safe from daylight in his own bedroom designed to be secure from the sun and crawled into bed for the day. He’d had a productive night, and as he laid his head on the pillow, he smiled at how good it was to be a vampire.