Vampires in America: The Vignettes, Volume 1

by D. B. Reynolds

  “Oh, I wasn’t,” Leighton agreed cheerfully. “Until yesterday. I’ve had my eye on the Karcher property for decades. I knew the heirs would sell the minute the old man stopped breathing. That property was a sort of private obsession of mine, the crown jewel, so to speak. Unfortunately, I was out of the country and rather deeply engaged in another acquisition when the bids first opened. My people dropped the ball and nearly cost me the prize.” His face took on a hard expression and Raphael understood that the people involved were now unemployed.

  “But fortune turns, yes, Raphael? Montagne realized somewhat belatedly that they would require an infusion of capital to make their participation possible. I provided what they needed . . . in exchange for the majority position, of course.”

  “Of course. However, the joint offer hasn’t been accepted by the Karcher heirs yet,” Raphael reminded him.

  “No, but it will be. I have it on good authority that we’ll receive word in the next few days.”

  Raphael raised his champagne glass, toasting the man’s inside knowledge, if not the man.

  “Dad?”

  Raphael spun, holding his hand out to Cyn and pulling her close, touching his lips to the worry lines marring her smooth forehead. “Your father and I were just discussing some property, my Cyn.” He turned back to Harold Leighton. “I’m sure you’ll be hearing from my people soon, then, Leighton.”

  Harold Leighton lifted his glass in a silent toast and drifted away without so much as a good-bye for his daughter.

  Raphael stared narrowly at the foolish human’s back and thought once again of how satisfying it would be to put a bullet through his heart. On the other hand, there were far more painful ways to deal with someone like Harold Leighton. He smiled.

  “Uh oh,” Cyn muttered.

  Raphael turned to find her studying him closely, her lips pursed in thought. He took advantage of the expression to kiss her, laughing when she slapped his chest lightly. “Uh oh, what, my Cyn?”

  “I know that look.”

  “What look?” he asked, schooling his expression to innocence.

  She exhaled dismissively and changed the subject. “I think I’ve done my duty here,” she said. “Let’s blow this joint.”

  In the limo on the way home, Raphael made a phone call. Had he been human, the timing might have been a problem. It was the middle of the night, after all. But since Raphael and all of his advisors, including his lawyers, were Vampire, the timing was just right. That is the timing of his call. The order he gave them was another matter.

  “I don’t care how much it will cost. Are you telling me I can’t afford it?

  “No, my lord, of course not.” His lawyer sounded vaguely shocked at the suggestion.

  “Then do it.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  He hung up the phone, reaching out to pull Cyn across his lap. She looked up at him, her lovely face pinched with concern. “It’s okay if you want to invest with my father,” she said, her voice shaking. “He’s very good at what he does. You’d make money on it.”

  “I have plenty of money. Besides, the man’s a fool. He’s already lost the most precious thing he ever produced and he doesn’t even know it.”

  “What?” Her brow wrinkled in confusion.

  Raphael tightened his hold on her, lifting her left hand to rub his thumb over the diamond ring that proclaimed her his. “You, my Cyn,” he said, bending to kiss her softly. “But you’re mine now.” He kissed her again, more deeply. “And I’m not letting you go.”

  Cyn leaned against him with a contented sigh as they took the elevator downstairs to their private quarters. It was still early and there were several matters demanding his attention. But those things could wait for the next night or the one after. His Cyn needed him tonight. And he needed to show her how much she meant to him.

  “Can I take the dress off now?” he asked, eyeing her hungrily as he stripped away his jacket and shirt. His tie he’d taken off in the limo before they’d driven through the ornate gates and back onto city streets.

  She pushed away from him as the elevator doors opened, laughing. “Let me. You’ll destroy it and this thing cost—”

  He scooped her up in his arms, burying his face in her neck as she shrieked in feigned surprise. He bit her gently and felt himself harden as he drew in the unique scent that was hers alone. It spoke to him at the very core of his heart and soul, telling him this was his mate, proclaimed by the mingled blood that ran in her veins.

  He lifted his head and growled, “I’ll buy you a new one.”

  Laying her on the bed, he stripped away the fragile dress, not bothering with zippers and hooks. Throwing it on the floor, he lifted each of her feet and slid off her spikey shoes with too many straps, tossing them over his shoulder to join the ruined dress. His eyes never leaving her face, he lifted her right foot and began kissing his way up her leg, sucking gently at the soft skin of her calf, licking behind her knee and then circling around to the tender skin of her inner thigh.

  Cyn was breathing heavily, her breasts bare but for the elaborate necklace, the band over her upper arm making her look like some barbarian’s gorgeous sex slave. He smiled at the image of his Cyn as any man’s slave.

  She caught the smile and scowled. “What are you smiling at, vampire?”

  “You, my Cyn. You look gloriously primitive lying there naked but for your gold.”

  She started to snap a quick response, sucking in her breath instead as Raphael slipped a finger beneath the silk of her tiny panties and gathered her wetness. He raised the finger to his mouth and tasted. “Sweet, my Cyn. Always so sweet for me.”

  “Raphael,” she breathed, desire heating her skin to a rosy glow.

  He snapped the narrow band of lace holding the tiny triangle in place, tossing it on the pile of discarded clothing and baring her to his hungry gaze. Running his hands up her thighs, he spread her legs wider and bent to taste more fully. He used his tongue to open the folds of her sex, savoring the taste of her, holding her hips as she bucked beneath him. She opened to him like a beautiful flower, wet and glistening, the pearl of her clit flushing a dark rose as it hardened in arousal. Raphael closed his mouth over that precious pearl and sucked, gently at first, and then harder, feeling Cyn’s fingers clench in his hair as she rolled against the waves of pleasure surging up from between her legs.

  Sucking hard on her clit, feeling her thrust against his mouth, he slipped two fingers deep inside her and heard her scream as he pumped them in and out of her satiny slick folds, feeling her hot, wet heat clench around him.

  He waited until he felt the first ripples of an orgasm, until she was trembling beneath him, her fingers all but tearing his hair from his head, and then he nicked a fang against her clit, releasing the sweetest blood of all into his mouth as she screamed once again and tumbled over the edge into climax.

  Raphael didn’t give her any time to recover. He wanted her just the way she was, flushed and hot, soaking wet with the juices of her orgasm, shuddering as tremors continued to ripple the walls of her vagina. He stood long enough to kick off his shoes and pants, drinking in the sight of her stretched out on the bed, her fingers deep between her own legs as she tried to soothe the ache he’d left behind, her full breasts pressed upward between her arms, almost as if she were offering them to him.

  Raphael growled low in his throat, lowering his body over hers, spreading her legs with his hips and thrusting forward, burying himself with brutal efficiency deep inside her with one long, hard stroke. Cyn cried out, convulsing beneath him as her hips rose to meet his, his cock sinking into her pulsing heat and pulling out again as he fucked her sweet, tight body. Bending his mouth to her breasts, he swirled his tongue over her sensitive nipples, sucking until they were swollen and hard, begging for attention, tempting him with the flush of blood that turned them a dusky rose in the dim light. Raphael scraped his fangs along the delicate skin, leaving trails of blood which only added to the intoxicating scent of Cyn
that surrounded him. He lifted enough to admire his handiwork, eyeing the wet, red lines curling over the roundness of her breasts, his cock continuing to plunder her body, their hips meeting with a slap of flesh as Cyn wrapped her legs around his hips and lifted herself, fucking herself on his shaft.

  Raphael roared as his cock went impossibly deeper, as the slick walls of her body began to spasm around him, squeezing his hardness, rippling along the length of him, from his base to his tip.

  “Raphael,” Cyn gasped, her eyes opening to reveal narrow green slits of desire, begging him for one final touch.

  He snarled and lowered his mouth to her neck, closing his eyes against the nearly overwhelming scent of her blood, warmed by the smell of her arousal as her movements quickened, flexing her hips against him until the friction of his cock moving inside her threatened to burn them alive.

  He sank his fangs into her neck, her scream echoing in every nerve ending, flowing with the warm gush of her blood as he drank deeply, as he felt his Cyn shuddering beneath him, her cries almost frantic as she was swept away on the tide of her climax. Her body jerked, her inner walls gripping him so tightly he could barely move, so hot it was like molten lava flowing around him. He felt his sac tighten, felt his orgasm pulsing down his cock, rushing to fill his mate, to mark her as his. He lifted his mouth from her neck and roared, blood dripping from his fangs as he howled her name.

  * * * *

  Two weeks later…

  Raphael leaned back in the limo, pulling Cyn against his side. She reached across him to push the button and open the overhead moon roof. It was a beautiful night. The weather was mild, and the skies were clear, with stars twinkling overhead as they left the city lights far behind.

  “Where are we going?” Cyn asked idly, her head on his shoulder, her fingers playing along his thigh.

  “I acquired a new property yesterday. My people have been out here, of course, and I’ve seen it on paper, but I thought it was a nice night for a drive up the coast.”

  “You have property up here?”

  “I do now. Several hundred acres.”

  She tilted her head against his shoulder, her silky hair sliding against his neck. “I didn’t know there were any privately held parcels left in this area. Not that big anyway, except for . . .” She sat up and stared at him. “The Karcher property? I thought you were going in on some sort of partnership for that? It’s huge!”

  “I was. I changed my mind. It’s all mine, now. Just like you.”

  She smiled, confused. “You’re comparing me to a hunk of dirt?”

  “It is a very big hunk, my Cyn,” he teased. “But I was referring to its uniqueness. Something, or someone, who is one of a kind. The crown jewel, so to speak. And now it’s mine alone. Just like you.”

  THE END

  VAMPIRE VIGNETTE #5

  THE QUESTION

  New York, New York – Manhattan

  Rajmund strolled through the lobby, his security team flowing around him in a well-orchestrated dance of lethal grace. He’d gotten used to all the security by now. It was just a part of who he was, Vampire Lord of the Northeastern Territory, with thousands of vampires under his rule. That those same vampires looked to him for protection, that they quite literally depended on him for each beat of their hearts … that was the price of power.

  Four of his guards piled onto the elevator with him, and he had a fleeting thought that it was a good thing the elevator was big. Because none of them—not him and not his bodyguards—were dainty. Well, except maybe for his lieutenant Emelie. Although he’d never dare say such a thing to her face.

  He grinned at the thought and gave her a sideways glance where she stood next to him. She caught the look and scowled. She knew him well enough to guess his grin was at her expense. Except that most women wouldn’t have minded being thought of as dainty.

  “You’ve got that political fundraiser this weekend,” she reminded him, no doubt intentionally trying to douse his good mood.

  And on any other night, it would have worked—he hated the necessity of playing nice to the human politicians. But not tonight. Tonight he was home at last, back in Manhattan after nearly a week away. He was putting aside business and spending the entire night with the woman he loved. Sarah was already his mate in the way of vampires, but very soon she would be his wife according to human law as well. He hated to be away from her, and usually took her with him when he traveled. But this trip had been a dangerous one—confronting a rebellious vampire, a holdover from Krystof’s destructive years of rule. Raj had known going in that he’d probably have to execute the rebel, and he hadn’t wanted Sarah anywhere near that.

  But now he was home and Sarah was waiting upstairs, so he nodded cheerfully at Emelie’s reminder of the fundraiser and said, “It’s on my calendar. I told Sarah to buy a new dress.”

  Emelie rolled her eyes in disgust and Raj laughed.

  The elevator doors opened. His guards exited first, two of them blocking him inside until the others verified the security of the penthouse floor. There wasn’t much chance that anyone could infiltrate this far into the building. It was well and redundantly guarded. And he would have sensed any intruder. But with vampire enemies, one could never be too careful.

  Finally, his men moved aside and Raj stepped out into the hallway, while Em stayed with the elevator. She’d ride it down one floor to her own spacious quarters and eventually lock it down for the daylight hours. He’d lived in this building for decades, long before he became lord of the territory. But he’d recently had his people looking for something else, something more easily controlled than a Manhattan high rise.

  But as with everything else, that was for later. Tonight was for Sarah.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, boss,” Em said, raising two fingers to her forehead in a casual salute.

  Raj nodded absently, his mind already listening for Sarah’s presence behind the big double doors at the end of the hall. He let himself into the suite, leaving everyone else outside. It was the one aspect of his security he’d insisted upon. Emelie would have preferred to have a pair of guards stationed inside the penthouse with him. But he’d refused. It was bad enough that he couldn’t move two steps without a phalanx of bodyguards shadowing him everywhere else. He needed someplace where he could be just Raj, not Lord Rajmund.

  He heard Sarah’s voice as he closed the doors behind him. She was in her office, talking to someone on the phone and pacing restlessly. He could hear the click, click of her heels as she walked back and forth on the hardwood floor.

  “I guess,” she was saying. “I mean, yeah, you’re right. I just wish—”

  Raj paused and listened, waiting to hear Sarah’s wish.

  She drew a long, wobbly breath and he frowned. “I wish I could be sure he really wants this.”

  She paced some more, clearly listening to whoever it was on the other end.

  “I know. I know, Cyn. But it’s different with you and Raphael. You don’t want to get married, so it doesn’t matter to you. But it matters to me!”

  Raj tilted his head curiously. Sarah was talking to her best friend, Cynthia Leighton, who was mated to Raphael, the Western Vampire Lord and Raj’s current ally. He slipped quietly down the hall, eavesdropping unashamedly. If Sarah was unhappy, he wanted to know about it.

  “He never asked me, you know. I told him I wanted a real wedding and he just went along. I don’t even have a ring.” Her heels clicked back and forth. “Well, of course, there’ll be a wedding ring, and I’m sure it will be gorgeous. Raj has excellent taste. But, Cyn, what if he’s only doing this because I insisted? What if he doesn’t want to get married at all?” Her voice dropped to a miserable whisper. “What if he doesn’t love me that way?”

  Raj rocked back on his heels, thankful for the thick carpeting that masked his movement. How could she not know how much he loved her?

  “I know,” Sarah was continuing. “It’s probably just the stress of planning the wedding and everything. Geez,�
�� she laughed somewhat desperately, “can you imagine if this was one of those full blown weddings? I’d probably be back in the nuthouse by now.”

  Raj scowled at the casual reference to her teenage years, when her parents had locked her away rather than deal with the reality of her psychic ability.

  “Bad joke. You’re right.” She drew a stronger breath and blew it out. “Okay. I’m good. A momentary bridal breakdown.” She resumed her pacing, heels clicking. “You’re coming a couple days before the wedding, right?” Click, click. “So, leave him behind then. The hell with vampire politics, this is my wedding, dammit!” She laughed. “I can’t believe I said that.”

  Click, click. “Right. I know th— Wait. Raj is here. No, not here here. But close.” Her footsteps hurried across the room to the window overlooking the street. “Yes! I can see his limo! I gotta go, Cyn. I’ll call you next week.”

  Sarah disconnected and threw the phone down, while Raj used his vampire speed to dash back to the front door. Once there, he called out her name.

  “Sarah?”

  She stuck her head into the hallway, her expression vaguely worried until she saw him all the way across the room near the doors. She smiled then, a beautiful, welcoming grin that warmed his cynical, vampire heart.

  He drew off his suit coat, tossing it aside just in time to catch her as she threw herself into his arms.

  “I missed you!” She curled her arms around his neck, her body warm and soft and full of curves as she kissed him enthusiastically.

  “Me too,” he rumbled against her lips before sinking into her mouth, exploring the delicious taste of her, his tongue twining around hers as his hands cupped the sweet, round curve of her ass. Sarah made a hungry noise and her arms tightened around his neck, pressing her full breasts against his chest until he could feel the hard pearls of her nipples despite the layers of fabric between them.

  She broke away at last, breathing hard. “How much time do we have?”