by Renea Mason
The lead man allowed Baron’s words to sink in and then yelled, “Shoot!”
I peeked around Baron’s side the instant a volley of large wooden stakes were projected straight toward us.
Baron held out his hands and as if he conjured some sort of invisible barrier several feet in front of him, all of the projectiles hit the ground with a thud. “Now you’ve done it, you’ve frightened her. I may have let you live, otherwise.” In a flash, Baron was gone from in front of me. He moved so fast his actions were almost imperceptible. Blood was everywhere—on the asphalt, the brick facades, and even a peppering landed on my face. All but one of the men lay dead on the ground. Throats ripped open, blood spurting from their arteries. Baron held the last man from behind, one arm pinning the man’s arms to his side and the other clutching his chin to expose his throat. “Time for your next lesson, darling. I taught you how to feed without killing, now it’s time to learn what last moments feel like between your teeth.”
As he approached, I shook my head, trying to process what had just happened. He’d murdered those men and was now asking me to do the same. My hands trembled at my sides. I couldn’t reconcile my fear and disgust with his exhilaration. He reveled in the bloodlust. “I can’t.”
He bent the man, placing his neck near my mouth. “Oh, but you can and you will.”
The look of fear in the man’s eyes steeled my resolve. “No, I won’t. I refuse.”
“Look at me, Lillie. His end will be far more enjoyable than his companions’.” He stared into my eyes. “Drink from him. It is my command.”
I felt the saliva pool in my mouth at the smell of blood, nearly overwhelming. But I wouldn’t kill the man. “If this is what I have to become to be one of you, go ahead and kill me too. I’ll never be the monster you are.”
Baron raised an eyebrow. “Interesting… You can’t be compelled. You’re getting weaker, Lillie.” He contemplated me for a moment more while the man struggled in his grasp. “If you’re going to politely decline, I shall indulge. I’m going to need all my strength to protect you.” His lips pulled back to reveal his fangs and he sank them into the man’s neck.
The man fought until the bliss of the vampire bite overtook him. His eyes closed and soft gasps escaped his lips.
Baron’s eyes never left mine as he drained the man of life.
I looked on in horror as I finally understood what I had become. My hygienic controlled methods of dealing with my condition weren’t the reality. Would I become like him?
Baron dropped the man’s lifeless body to the ground. Something between a hiss and a moan left his lips. With his head tossed back, he licked the blood from his lips.
Lust built within me. It was his arousal breaking through the disgust and fear I felt.
“Lillie, you don’t know what you’re missing. Taste him on my lips.” He clutched my chin and tilted my head, preparing to share his crime with me.
A loud scream sounded from the street. Baron released me and stepped over the dead man. “Be right back, love. I have to work a little PR magic.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.
I had never been so relieved for the distance between us. I had wanted to resist his kiss, but I knew I would have allowed it in the end. He might not have been able to command me, but his impact was strong. The woman’s scream saved me.
Baron walked up to the woman, a lady with short-cropped hair and an oversized purse, spoke with her and then proceeded to do the same with several other individuals. Several minutes later the passersby began dragging the bodies of the dead assailants deeper into the alleyway.
As he approached, Baron’s swagger and smirk infuriated me. How could he find amusement in any of this?
“What did you do?”
“Glamour, love. I compelled them to help clean up and then afterward forget everything they saw. I told you, there are serious advantages to your full conversion.”
“Have you done that to me?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“No. I hadn’t tried prior to demanding you drink from that misguided soul, but you seem somehow immune.”
Panic rushed through me. “Why didn’t you just glamour those men instead of killing them?”
“Because it was necessary.” He grabbed my elbow. “Come on, we need to get out of here before I have to upset you more by killing more people.”
I planted my feet. I wasn’t going anywhere with him until he explained. “But why was it necessary?”
He stopped, cupped my face with his bloody hands and stared into my eyes. “You are my first priority. Nothing else matters. Those men were marked by the council to join our ranks. They would keep coming back for you. Those old fools on the council are handicapped by their own rules. Turning requires a license and to make sure things don’t get out of hand, only so many vampires are permitted to be made, so the council fills their armies with wanna-be humans who can go out during the day. You are still mortal. I will always do what is necessary to keep you safe. They will keep coming for you. I can’t have that.”
My bottom lip began to tremble and tears formed in my eyes. “But you could have deescalated the situation. You didn’t have to kill them. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Look here, little one. I will indulge your disdain for me anytime. God knows I deserve it, but when your life is at risk…when you are in danger, your feelings on the situation will always be secondary. After you’re turned and can properly defend yourself, you can challenge me all you want, but until then, expect to hate me a little more each time. Your life is more than worth your contempt. You wanted to know why I wouldn’t turn you. Why I wouldn’t take you as my own. Because this is who I am, Lillie, and it disgusts you.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him. “Come on. We have to get out of here and find Colin. We need a different strategy.”
9
Love
“You’ve been staying in the same hotel?” I gazed around the penthouse Baron occupied.
He pulled the tie off from around his neck, shrugged off his blood-soaked jacket, and then unclasped the first button on his dress shirt.
In the far corner of the room, a panel of windows provided breathtaking vistas of the city at night. I crossed the room to take in the view, giving Baron some privacy as he seemed intent on disrobing in front of me. My plan would have worked, but the glass reflected his image. Apparently, the myth about mirrors and reflections where vampires were concerned was just that—a myth. Because the ache between my legs grew stronger with each piece of clothing he removed.
He was beautiful. Lean and muscled. His long, thick, erect cock stood out from between his legs. It was as though time had surrendered its assault on his body at the moment he achieved perfection. Beyond his beauty was that strange connection we shared. Something on a chemical level forced us together like magnets. But Colin… Where did that leave things with us? Baron had told Colin to meet us back at the hotel after he was done at the theater, before whisking me away to the hotel to clean up. He glamoured the hotel staff into forgetting his blood-covered arrival.
“Join me in the shower, Lillie. Let me wash the night from our skin.” He walked toward me and placed his hands on my shoulders.
My back straightened with my willful resistance. My body would have followed any command he gave, but my mind managed to intervene.
“I will never leave you, Lillie, and I know my methods will not always please you, but I will do what I can to atone.”
I didn’t mean to sound curt, but my irritation with his declarations overshadowed the lust and longing that bombarded me from him. “Why is that, Baron? Why will you never leave me? If Allister is going to sire me, why are you in my life at all?”
Grasping my shoulders, he turned me to face him. “Because for the past eight hundred years, you have been my sole focus in one way or another. I have dedicated my life to first finding you and then protecting you. You are the reason I exist. I might have been able to walk away, but that night in the alley ha
s taken my quest and made it a compulsion. Once you’re with Allister, I will continue to admire you, but from a distance.”
“What about Colin? You know how he feels about me. What about respecting him?”
He traced a finger over my collarbone. “He loves you, Lillie, but he was not designed to be the only man in your life. He knows this. In fact, I’m sure he feels it even now that he can choose. Because of Allister, you will need to take a vampire mate or die. Colin knows the only way he can have you is to share you.”
“Yes, with Allister, not you. You’re not my mate, yet you’re saying we will always have a bond.”
“We exchanged blood. Though nothing like that of a mate, there is an attraction, a draw that will always be between us. It’s why there are strict rules for turning a vampire.”
I placed my hand on my hip. “Laws you don’t think apply to you.”
“Where you’re concerned, they don’t.”
Trying desperately to ignore his nudity, I swallowed hard. “But why risk it? I still don’t understand. You said I have been the focus of your life, but I wasn’t even born for most of that.”
He clasped my hand in his. “If I’m being honest, only the last fifteen or so years count. That’s when I finally found you. When I betrayed everything I had been and dedicated my life to you. The other eight hundred years had been nothing but foreplay, thinking of all the ways to capture you, and then..” Raising my hand, he pressed a soft kiss to the back. “Then I saw you. In an instant, I abandoned my mission. You were too important. I couldn’t allow them to have you, knowing they’d steal your life.”
“But you gave me to someone else?”
He closed his eyes and pulled me into his arms. His cock pressed against my stomach. “Yes… It’s necessary, even if it’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Does Allister know how you feel? Does his devotion run as deep?” I wanted to touch him so bad, but I could not encourage him.
Nuzzling his face in my hair, he breathed deep. “I honestly don’t know how he feels. But he is safer for you. He can disappear with you, hide you away. With me, you’d always be at risk and subject to my…lifestyle.” His hands clutched at my clothes, pressing my body even closer to his. “Touch me and know how I feel about you. How much I want you. My cock is aching to be inside you. I want to taste you again and for you to taste me with a desire like nothing else, but it’s not right. I’ll only have a stronger hold over you and risk turning you. I won’t do it, but I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.”
His need coursed through me. His nose caressed my neck. “The scent of your arousal is like a drug. When you were with Colin in the study, I imagined bottling your scent and dousing myself in your essence.” Teeth pricked the surface of my skin. His gasp echoed between my ears.
I reached down and wrapped my fist around his cock, stroking it, and was rewarded with a deep growl.
His hips bucked, sliding his cock deeper into my fist. “Oh, Lillie… Can I taste you? Just a sip.” He sighed the word against my skin, “Please…”
Something about when his skin touched mine—my only impulse was to surrender. I wanted him to devour me. Needed him to desire me, to fulfill our connection. Leaning my head to the side, I exposed my throat. “Yes.” It was impossible to tell where his lust ended and mine began.
Teeth penetrated me, feeding the erotic desire to be consumed by him. Moaning, I stroked his cock with long, fluid motions in time with each swallow of blood.
Deep masculine groans rumbled in his chest, producing a sound so sexy, it alone could make me come.
Through the haze of impending climax, I still managed to work my hand up and down his length. I came when he extracted his teeth from my skin. Digging my fingers into his shoulder, I clung to him, trying not to fall, as my legs quaked with ecstasy.
Pulse after pulse of his semen coated my hands when he cried out my name. “Lillie…oh, Lillie…” He rested his head on my shoulder, his cock continuing to glide through my fists, his tongue lapping at the wounds on my neck. His breathing labored. He spoke, the words disjointed by his halting breaths, “How am I going to give you up?”
I had to face the inevitable. My life had become more complicated on so many levels. “Maybe you don’t have to.”
For the first time, his lips covered mine. The kiss was slow and sensual, allowing me to swallow his gasp before our lips parted. “I can’t have you.” He kissed a path along my jaw. “I love you too much to be so selfish.” He rested his head on mine.
I hesitated, wanting to say more. Finally, I patted his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up, and then I need to go check on Colin.”
He straightened and nodded.
As soon as I opened his hotel room door, Colin pulled me into his arms. “Are you OK?”
I took a deep breath. “Yes. I guess… I mean… I’m good for someone who watched a man…no, a creature who claims to love me, commit multiple homicides.”
“Baron told you he loves you?”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s the part you decide to focus on?”
“Lillie, he’s a vampire. Did you think he plays house with humans? We’re food. Essentially cattle. So the killing… I guess I expected that to go with the territory. Now love, that’s a little more surprising.”
“Colin, I can’t do this. I can’t become a killer.”
He wrapped his arms around me tighter. “You won’t. It’s not possible. It hasn’t changed who you are so far.”
But he was wrong. It had changed me. So many things were different now. Colin. Baron. Everything.
Colin took my hand and led me to the bed. “You look tired. Let’s get you some rest.”
A frantic knock on the door sounded.
Colin slid his legs off the bed and called out. “I’m coming.”
I cracked open my eyelids to see Baron enter the room.
“I need you and Lillie to get ready. I’ve located Allister. It’s not good news. The council has him. I’m worried it’s a trap, but I see no other choice than to go after him. She will need to petition his release in person.” He paced the room. “The bloody council and all their pageantry and rules. We have to get our stories straight. They cannot know who and what she is, just that she was forsaken by Allister and needs to complete the ritual with him. Even if we can’t get him out of their prison, if we can complete the process, it will buy us time.”
Colin ran his hand through his hair and yawned. “Yeah, I’m still a little fuzzy on what exactly that is? What exactly are we hiding?”
“The less you know the better. There is most likely a complication because I’m fairly certain Allister didn’t get a license before he violated you in that alley. You’ll need to tell them you initiated it and be convincing, if they ask. But I’m hoping it won’t come to that.”
I sat up in bed. “So what? I have to fuck him and lie to get him out of prison? What if I don’t want to help him?”
Baron let out an exasperated sigh. “We’ve already discussed this. It’s not up for debate. He is your best chance, and you’re running out of time. Get ready. My driver will be downstairs waiting. And Colin...” Baron adjusted his cufflinks and stared at him. “Even though it may seem a foolish idea to drag you along because protecting one mortal will be difficult enough while trying to deceive the council, we can’t complete both the turning and mating without you. ”
Colin crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not sure what that means, but did you honestly think I’d let you drag her off by yourself? Would you allow it if you were me?”
Baron’s capitulation was barely audible, “No. Never.” He grumbled, “Thirty minutes. Downstairs, on the lowest floor of the garage. Don’t be late. We need to be in the limo before sun up.”
10
Negotiation
“So, your limo is sun proof?” I sat in the rear seat between Colin and Baron.
Baron, with one hand on my knee and the other holding his scotch, sighed
. “Yes, these modern times have many advantages. As humans begin to appreciate the dangers of UV light, our kind benefits.” He stroked his thumb over the seam of my skirt. “You’re quite fortunate, Lillie. You won’t have to know the inconvenience of sleeping in boxes or catacombs. In fact, the auction house you visited in New York is a favorite for our kind, because it gives the illusion of daylight without all the harmful side effects.” He raised his glass to his lips and sipped.
“Why did we have to stay in our rooms at night?” I glanced in his direction and watched as he bit his lip. His expression grew stoic.
“I’ll never lie to you, Lillie, but there are things about me I’m certain you’ll find exception with. One such thing would be the service I provide on select nights at my establishments.”
I studied his features. “Baron, if you really are always going to be part of my life, I need to know who you are. You say I’m at risk. I need to understand how so.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled. “Very well…” Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees. “As I’ve told you, I provide services for underserved niches in the human, vampire, and other supernatural worlds. After living for eight hundred years, my respect for human laws is, let’s say, fairly flexible. The vampire world is much the same with their love of codes and laws. To me, it all comes down to intention. There is no good or evil. The universe is not so simple. Laws tend to paint with broad strokes. My code is…how shall I say it? More exclusive? Forgiving, perhaps? Laws require order, but I’ve found that chaos can spur some of the most marvelous things.”
Colin chimed in, “Makes sense to me. Not sure where this issue is.”
Baron cleared his throat, “Yes, well… I’m getting to it. You see, my moral flexibility is appreciated by all, even those who aren’t deserving. I, of course, can’t knowingly let atrocities continue to happen at the hands of those who choose to do evil things, so I’ve killed two birds with one stone, one might say.” He turned his head just enough to make quick eye contact with me, and then returned to stare at his glass. “Lillie, you will evolve. You will become more than human. You will appreciate your rank over mankind. You will become a hunter with a formidable prey. You will learn to control your impulses, but a hunter you will always be. The hunt is exhilarating to many of our kind, but vampire law prohibits it. We don’t have to kill to live, but that is what we were designed to do, so I…” He clinked the ice against the side of his glass.