Tempted by a Vampire (Immortal Hearts of San Francisco Book 1)

by Susan Griscom

  I sighed. “Kellen loves me; he’d never cheat on me.” I lied about that because he already had. Two months ago, when Vanessa and I had taken a weeklong trip to a Las Vegas book signing, he’d gone to a frat party and hooked up with Caroline Snyder’s cousin who’d been visiting. I’d found out about the affair when she’d called Kellen’s phone. He’d asked me to grab the call for him while he’d been in the other room getting us some wine. He’d been surprised to see her name on the display when I’d handed him the phone, but he took the call anyway and then tried to talk his way out of how he knew her after he’d hung up. I finally got him to admit that he’d slept with her.

  But Vanessa didn’t know about that. I’d never told anyone after I found out. It was too humiliating. I’d almost left him then, but he’d been so apologetic and sincere about never straying again. I’d believed him because I loved him.

  “What about Las Vegas?” she asked, and my eyes snapped to hers.

  “What about it?”

  “He cheated on you when we went to Las Vegas.”

  “How…do you know about that?”

  “Everybody knows. Mags, when are you going to come to your senses and leave that guy? He is slime. A politician. Can’t trust him.”

  “A wannabe politician,” I corrected and finished the last of my martini.

  “Exactly. That’s worse. He has a lot of ground to cover.”

  “Are you insinuating that he’d sleep his way to the top?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  “Geesh, Vanessa. I had no idea you hated Kellen so much.”

  “I don’t hate him. I just don’t like the way he treats you, and I don’t trust him.”

  Just then, the waiter set two more drinks down on the table in front of us. Vanessa and I glanced at each other. “Did you order these?” I asked.

  “No. You didn’t?”

  I shook my head and we both looked up at the stage. Cian was back and strapping on his guitar. He briefly glanced our way, grinned, and winked before looking back at his brother. Two seconds later, they started playing.

  “He winked,” Vanessa said.

  “He did, didn’t he? Do you think he ordered these?”

  “Who else?” she said as we both looked around the dark, crowded club. No one stood out or looked as if they wanted to take responsibility for the drinks.

  I looked back at the stage just as Cian brought the microphone to his lips. Resting my chin on my fists, I watched him sing People Are Strange by the Doors in a deep, arousing baritone. He had an amazing voice. So smooth. Sexy. Everything about him was sexy. The way he stood, strumming the chords, closing his eyes gently, singing as he held the mic in his hand when he wasn’t playing the guitar. He didn’t look at me once while he sang, though. I began to wonder if maybe he hadn’t sent the drinks, and if, just maybe, Vanessa and I had both imagined the intensity of his stare earlier.

  The band began another number and a guy tapped Vanessa on the shoulder. “Care to dance?” he asked. Vanessa turned to me. “You mind?”

  “No. Of course, not.”

  Two seconds later, she was on her feet, jiggling her bottom on the dance floor. The band played for about forty-five minutes, and Vanessa and her new admirer stayed out on the floor the entire time.

  “Thank you!” Cian shouted into the microphone. “We’re the Lost Boys of San Francisco and we’ll be right back after a short break.”

  My eyes shot to the stage. The Lost Boys? Why would they name themselves after an eighties cult horror movie? I inhaled and braced myself for Cian’s all-powerful presence at our table. But he didn’t come by. In fact, none of the band members came out into the club.

  Vanessa came back to the table, laughing with the guy she’d been dancing with. I’d lost track of her while the band had been playing, my thoughts on Cian, dominating every single one of my brain cells. Vanessa had apparently had more to drink because she seemed a bit wobblier than she’d been an hour ago.

  “This is Tanner,” she giggled and then plopped down into the chair.

  “Nice to meet you,” he said, and I smiled politely as he sat in the chair next to Vanessa.

  A waiter came by our table, carrying a tray in her hands. “Your drinks are on the house tonight, would you like a refill?”

  I felt my eyes widen, and Vanessa gasped.

  “Sure,” Vanessa said.

  “Could I have a glass of water, please?” I asked.

  “Absolutely. I’ll be right back.”

  “Free drinks? I love San Francisco!” Vanessa crooned.

  A few minutes later, the waiter was back with two more martinis, a beer for Tanner, and a glass of water for me.

  “These drinks might be free,” I said, “but I need to pace myself. My legs are already numb.”

  Vanessa laughed. “Mine, too. But at least we can sleep in tomorrow. Dancing helps, you should get out there.”

  “Well, no one has asked me,” I admitted with a bit of chagrin at the realization.

  Just then, the Lost Boys were back on stage. Vanessa and Tanner went back to dance some more, and I was left once again with my own mentations. I’d thought somebody would come by and try to lure me out to the floor so that I could make a fool of myself. Dancing wasn’t exactly my strong point, so it was just as well that no one bothered with me. But still, it was a bit disheartening to think that I was undesirable. I sat alone for maybe another half an hour, and every once in a while I glanced around the room, wondering why no one ever approached me or even seemed to notice me for that matter. Not once. The entire night. Just as I had that epiphany, Cian pulled a stool to the center of the stage and sat on it. He strummed a single chord on his guitar, and then there was silence.

  “This will be our last song of the evening. It’s one Lane and I wrote a few years ago, I think it was even on the radio for a short time. I’d like to dedicate it to a rare beauty, Magdalena.”

  My stomach tingled at the wonderful way my name sounded flowing smoothly from his full lips. Sexy did not even come close to what he was. I had to wonder why he seemed so…so obsessed with me. He didn’t know me, and we’d hardly even talked before he’d gone on stage to play. I had to admit, though; the pulls and urges I’d been feeling all night were overwhelming.

  I just about swallowed my tongue when Cian began to sing.

  As if he knew my thoughts, his eyes locked on mine again as he crooned out the lyrics to my favorite song. The words were forever etched into the frontal lobes of my mind. I’d played it over and over for several months right after my parents passed away. Cian was singing right to me, as if he knew the song meant something to me.

  “Come hold my hand,

  I want to feel your life,

  Alongside me in this lonely land.

  Touching you, feeling you in my life,

  In my soul,

  In my veins.

  Be with me tonight.

  Be with me tonight.

  We may only have tonight so,

  Be with me tonight.

  Come hold my hand,

  I can’t make it in this life,

  Without you in my plan.

  Touching you, feeling you in my life,

  In my soul,

  In my veins.

  Be with me tonight.

  Be with me tonight.

  We may only have tonight so,

  Be with me tonight.

  Come and hold my hand,

  I’ve been too long in this life without you

  I need you to help me through all that this life demands

  Touching you, feeling you in my life,

  In my soul,

  In my veins.

  Be with me tonight.

  Be with me tonight.

  We may only have tonight so,

  Be with me tonight.

  I was frozen in my seat, as Cian’s hand extended out toward me and stayed there for a few seconds. I couldn’t move a muscle. He held my gaze throughout the entire song.

&
nbsp; When the song ended, the crowd exploded with cheers.

  “Thank you!” Cian said into the microphone. “Again, we’re the Lost Boys of San Francisco, and we’re here every Saturday night to entertain you.”

  Clapping and the buzzing sound of voices ensued as all the band members left the stage.

  “We should get home,” I said to Vanessa as she and Tanner came swerving back to the table.

  “We can’t leave yet. He said we should stick around. Remember?”

  “I do, but I also have a boyfriend. Remember?”

  “Oh yeah, that slimeball in Sacramento.”

  “What slimeball in Sacramento?” Cian asked, standing behind Vanessa before he took a seat in the chair he’d sat in before, the one right next to me. “Maybe I can be of some assistance?”

  “No, he’s not a slimeball,” I said, defending my boyfriend to this stranger.

  “Depends on your definition,” Vanessa said.

  Cian chuckled. “I believe you ladies are having somewhat of a disagreement. Is this someone important to you, Magdalena? Someone I should be concerned about?”

  I stared at him a moment. That was a strange way to put things. As if I belonged to him.

  “He’s my boyfriend,” I said, knowing I would be killing any chances of getting to know Cian. But I also knew that I loved Kellen, and getting to know Cian would be a huge mistake.

  “Your boyfriend, huh?”

  I nodded.

  “I could ask why he’s not with you, but I think the better question is, why does your friend here…” he said, gesturing with his hand toward V.

  “Vanessa,” she said and gave him her best smile.

  He flashed that killer grin back at her then returned his attention to me. “Why does your friend, Vanessa, think your boyfriend is a slimeball?”

  “He’s not. He just…sometimes…”

  “Forgets he has a girlfriend,” Vanessa finished for me. “So, half the time, he is a slimeball.”

  I hoped Vanessa could feel the daggers my eyes were shooting at her. She was not being fair to Kellen. At all. And definitely not helping with this tempting pull I felt toward Cian or his apparent attraction to me.

  “What’s up, bro. Hello, ladies. Hey, Tanner.” The guy who I guessed was Cian’s brother sat down and joined us at our table, too. “I’m Lane, Cian’s brother.”

  “This is Vanessa and Magdalena,” Cian supplied.

  “Maggie,” I quickly suggested, but wasn’t sure why since I adored the way Cian pronounced my name.

  “Magdalena has a boyfriend,” Cian continued, completely ignoring my prompt. It was clear he enjoyed using my given name. “But I’m not sure about Vanessa.”

  She shook her head. “Single.”

  “Not tonight,” Tanner supplied hastily.

  “Nice to meet you,” Lane flashed Vanessa that same sexy smile Cian had. Now I knew we were in trouble. Trouble in the form of two undeniably gorgeous and sexy musicians, and one hot guy by the name of Tanner.

  “We’re trying to establish whether or not Magdalena’s boyfriend is a whole slimeball or just a half of one.”

  “He’s not a slimeball at all.” I had to laugh. Here I was, defending my boyfriend, who had cheated on me, to these two beautiful men, wishing the entire time that I didn’t even have a boyfriend. What was wrong with me?

  “Well, one of you is right and one of you is wrong. A man who forgets he has a girlfriend doesn’t sound like a very good boyfriend. In fact, he sounds more like the slimeball Vanessa is talking about, wouldn’t you agree, Lane?”

  “Absolutely.”

  A waiter came over, carrying a tray with five shot glasses filled with something gold. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know what it was.

  “Shots, ladies?” Lane said, passing a glass to each of us.

  “Oh, no. Thank you, though,” I said.

  “You sure?” Cian asked.

  “Yes, positive. I believe I’ve reached my limit. One more drink and I’ll be sleeping under this table.”

  Cian leaned in close to my ear. His breath warm and intoxicating. “I can fix that,” he whispered.

  “What? No. I don’t do drugs.”

  “Not drugs.” He gently tugged my chin with his finger so that my eyes stared squarely into his gorgeous, silver-tinted blue ones. “You’re beautiful, Magdalena.” He spoke softly, his whispered breath warm and sweet and so close to my lips.

  “Yes,” I whispered back, believing he spoke the truth.

  His eyes were magnificent, beautiful. I’d never seen eyes like his before. I gazed into them, unabashedly. Without thoughts of guilt or deceit that Kellen might be upset about this. Only the beauty of Cian’s eyes, their mesmerizing color, and the sound of his voice engaged the functioning parts of my mind.

  “You haven’t had very much alcohol to drink tonight, have you Magdalena?”

  “No, I haven’t had much alcohol tonight,” I found myself repeating, believing it was true as everything became clear in my head and the room stopped spinning.

  “You haven’t had enough alcohol tonight to have much of an effect on you. You are completely sober.”

  “Yes. I am sober.” I couldn’t stop looking at him. I didn’t want to turn away.

  With our eyes still locked, his hand lifted mine, and his soft lips skimmed over my fingers. He turned my hand over and his eyes lowered. My eyes trailed his as the tantalizing pressure of his thumb registered where it gently rubbed tiny circles in the center of my palm.

  My breath hitched, and I found myself licking my lips. I looked back into his eyes. “There. Now you can drink more,” he said, drawing his hand away.

  I glanced over at Vanessa with a very clear mind and the fuzzy slurred feeling in my brain completely gone. All except for the heavy temptation of Cian, and the desire to be touched by him again.

  “How do you feel, Magdalena?” Cian asked.

  “I…I feel fine. Awake.” I looked at him.

  “Do you remember being a bit tipsy?” His smile was infectious.

  “Yes,” I grinned.

  “But now you’re sober?”

  “Yes. Completely. How did you do that? Was that some form of hypnosis or something?” I asked.

  “Yes, exactly,” Cian said.

  “You’re a hypnotist?”

  He shrugged. “We dabble, my brother and I. Amateurs at best.”

  “I bet you come in pretty handy at parties.” I laughed, but I had a weird feeling about the whole experience. Something wasn’t right. I just didn’t buy into the whole hypnosis theory, but every time I gazed into Cian’s eyes, my entire body tingled. I could actually feel the veins in my body throb and pulse with desire for him. Whenever he held my gaze with his, I became aware of only him. It was uncontrollable.

  “It’s a given. Now, how about these shots?” Cian suggested. We all drank the contents down. It was rather yummy.

  “That was good,” Vanessa said.

  “Just a little thank you for sticking around,” Cian said.

  Something across the room must have grabbed Lane’s attention. He nodded and placed his glass down on the table. “As much as I hate to leave this little party, I have some business to take care of.” He stood. “Ladies, I hope to see you again sometime,” he said directly to Vanessa then scooted his chair out and walked away.

  Cian frowned and watched Lane as he hurried across the room.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yes. My brother would have liked to stay, but he does have a…”

  “A girlfriend?” Vanessa’s sigh dripped with disappointment, even though she clung onto Tanner’s arm—another attractive man. The club seemed to be brimming with them all of a sudden. But Tanner didn’t hold a candle to Lane or Cian, and I knew she wanted to get to know Lane. He was just as hot as Cian, which brought me to the question of what the hell I was doing? I had no right to sit there with him when I had a boyfriend. I knew Kellen wouldn’t like it.

  “He has…an
obligation,” Cian said to Vanessa, making whatever commitment Lane had sound much like a forced relationship.

  “C’mon, let’s go dance.” Tanner took Vanessa’s hand as music played by a deejay boomed throughout the club.

  “Would you like to dance, Magdalena?” Cian asked.

  “Um…no. Thank you.”

  “Ah, is that slimeball boyfriend preventing you from dancing with me?”

  I laughed. “No. I’m just a horrible dancer.”

  “You can’t be that bad. Especially in my arms.”

  Wow, had he just said that? In his arms?

  Every muscle and bone in my body said: go dance with him. Let him hold you. Let him hold you until the sun comes up and then some more. God, I was pathetic. Being away from Kellen obviously made me lonely.

  “Come with me.” He stood, extending his hand. The temptation was too strong to resist, and I couldn’t help but smile. When I placed my hand in his, goose bumps skated up my arm as the thrill of his touch excited me.

  Chapter Five

  Cian

  I would never have been able to stay up on stage if I’d allowed anyone to approach Magdalena for a dance. It had been easy to put out a compulsion demand to all the male assholes in the room to stay away from her. She was mine. At least for tonight.

  I led the beautiful Magdalena by the hand to the middle of the dance floor. Her grasp was soft in mine. I felt her shiver when our skin connected. Cold or excitement, I wasn’t entirely sure. I decided to go with the latter, and pulled her in close, feeling her heart beat against my chest. Her pulse beckoned to me.

  Thump.

  Thump.

  Thump.

  I feared I might not have control over the annoying animalistic behavior every vampire struggled to overcome. Feeding until there was no more.

  “Your band is good,” she whispered as we weaved our way through couples, swaying together on the dance floor. “And you have a great voice.”

  “Thanks,” I said and reached up to run my finger through the long strands of her hair. I couldn’t help myself.