“It’s short for Katrina. But everyone calls me Kat.” Nervously she began to gather the playing cards from the table, but Stephan stilled her shaking hands by covering them with his own. Something akin to an electric current passed between them. The sensation crept from her hands up her arms to course throughout her body. Katrina gazed at Stephan, drinking him in. If a jaguar could wear leather, he might be mistaken for Stephan’s brother. Dangerous, magnificent, and so very beautiful.
“Where are my manners?” she asked, her voice quivering. “Would you like a drink?”
“You read my mind,” he replied as he rose, pulling her toward him. “I am a little parched, actually. “
Their eyes locked and Kat once again fell into his dark gaze. Her mind detached as if she watched herself from above, like an out of body experience. She watched him lean into her. Their lips touched and she allowed the sensation to take her.
The feel of his mouth registered on her lips, while the masculine smell of sandalwood engulfed her. His lips feathered kisses down her jaw, coming to a rest where her shoulder met her throat. She swooned in his arms. They closed around her like a set of steel bands, pulling her against his firm body. Kat moaned when his tongue flicked out to taste her sensitive skin. He inhaled deeply against her neck causing goose bumps to pimple her skin.
“Honeysuckle,” he murmured, his lips brushing against her flesh.
His fangs lengthened, scraping the skin where her pulse beat, sending her heart racing. He cupped her round bottom in one hand and tightened his arm around her waist. Her body stiffened only a little as he pulled her tighter against him, lifting her off her feet. Her bare breasts pressed against his chest, the material of his sweater rasping against her tender flesh.
This will not hurt, young one. You will feel nothing, he whispered to her mind placing her fully under his enthrallment. Kat’s momentary anxiety suddenly left, replaced by absolute acquiescence.
Chapter 2
As he walked the dancers to the door, Marcus replayed the recent events in his mind. Stephan’s intense stare, wholly focused on Katrina, was unsettling. He reminded Marcus of a lion stalking its prey.
He had known Stephan a long time, since Stephan converted him over two hundred and fifty years ago. They’d spent centuries together, become close friends. But there were times, like tonight, when Stephan seemed distant. More aloof mentor than pal.
Marcus hoped it was simply because they’d not seen one another in decades. Hopefully, they would quickly fall back into a familiar ease, because Stephan was a powerful vampire and Marcus greatly preferred the at-ease version of his sire. When Stephan became disapproving and sullen, as he seemed to be this night, he could be difficult to deal with.
His appearance at the penthouse had been a complete surprise. Marcus hadn’t sensed Stephan’s presence when he arrived, and that could only mean one thing—Stephan had purposely blocked him.
Being sired by Stephan created a special connection. They could always sense each other. They shared a mindlink, a kind of mental telepathy that allowed the two of them to communicate without saying a word out loud. In spite of all that, Marcus had not realized Stephan had come to town, let alone was in the penthouse.
Marcus tested the mindlink as he approached the door with his escorts. So what have you been up to lately, Stephan? His thought sounded weak, even in his head.
Stephan’s irritation at the interruption came across their link. I’d ask you the same thing, Marcus, but I think I already know the answer to that. I allowed you the use of my penthouse, and you turn it into a house of ill repute? I know this town has changed much since I’ve been gone. It has quite a reputation now, but I would have expected better from you.
Marcus flinched as his sire snapped a mental barrier down, blocking any further communication. Stephan’s contempt regarding what he had walked in on this evening was obvious through their link. Marcus knew he did not wholly approve of modern human women. To him, modern woman wore too little and cursed too much. They did have their purpose though, especially when Stephan had a hunger that needed to be sated.
The thought made his heart clench. Marcus fought to remain calm; though his insides felt like they were twisting so hard they would shoot from his mouth at any minute.
“You’ll have to come back soon so we can finish our game,” Marcus said, forcing a friendly grin, after he opened the door for the two women.
“Maybe your friend could play next time. I wouldn’t mind seeing him lose a hand or two.” Cathy winked at her boss.
“Hey what about me?” complained Dana, placing her fisted hands on her hips in feigned pique.
Cathy threw a friendly arm around Dana’s shoulders. “Perhaps we could make a Stephan sandwich.”
“Um…yummy. You always have the best ideas, Cathy.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Marcus said, forcing the lighthearted comment as he ushered them out the door. “I’ll see you at the club tomorrow night. Goodnight, ladies.”
Not waiting for their reply, he closed the door and locked it with his mind, then headed toward the kitchen. A sense of foreboding overtook him, and he put on a burst of preternatural speed. He got to the kitchen in time to see his sire lift Kat off the ground.
“Stop!” he commanded, with wide, panic-stricken eyes.
Stephan raised his head slightly, pinned Marcus with his intense stare. “Go away,” he muttered. His lips peeled back over his fangs before he lowered his mouth back to Kat’s throat, ready to pierce her creamy skin.
“No, stop! I beg you, please.”
Stephan raised his head fully, but retained his grip upon Katrina. “Why? Is she yours?”
“No. Not exactly. Look, I’ll explain. Please release her and we’ll talk…in private.”
Stephan took a deep breath. His fangs receded before he gently placed Kat on the ground and released her from his enthrall.
When she swayed slightly, Marcus took control, grasping her gently by the arm. “Kat, excuse us please. You have something to do in the bedroom.” He gave her mind a gentle mental push to emphasize his command.
“I think there is something I need to do in my bedroom,” Kat parroted. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll see you both in the morning.”
She stood on her tip toes and kissed Marcus on his cheek, earning the vampire a questioning look from his sire.
As she exited the kitchen, the leggy blonde grabbed her clothing off the table. She sashayed from the room while Stephan and Marcus were treated to the sight of her walking away clothed only in the boyleg panties that hugged her thin hips.
“That is something a male could really sink his teeth into,” Marcus murmured as he watched her disappear from view. He scrubbed his hand down his face and turned his attention back to Stephan.
“I was thinking that very thing until you came in here demanding I not drink from her. Explain yourself, boy.”
Marcus barely hid the flinch that threatened to hunch his shoulders. Boy. That was not a word Stephan usually used when referring to him. This was not going to be a fun night. He better explain. After Marcus gestured toward the table with a sweeping motion of his hand, he drew up a chair and straddled it, nodding for Stephan to sit across from him.
“It’s…complicated,” Marcus started on a sigh. “Kat is a friend. We have an understanding. She doesn’t want to be a donor.”
“Since when did you start giving humans a choice in the matter?” Stephan asked incredulously.
“Since I was able to start getting blood from ways other than the vein. In fact, I have some bagged blood in the refrigerator. Would you like some?”
Stephan waved off the offer. “Not now, finish telling me about this Kat. Why do you care if she doesn’t want to donate? I would have wiped her memory. She wouldn’t have remembered any of it.”
“I realize that, but I promised her I’d keep her safe. She was attacked several years ago. When she recovered, I swore a vow that I would never allow harm to come to her again—
that I would protect her from our kind. I keep my promises.”
Stephan’s eyes widened, realization dawned on his face. “You promised her you’d keep her safe from our kind? Does that mean she knows about our breed?”
Being an honorable male, Marcus could not help but admit the truth, albeit reluctantly. “Yes, she is aware that vampires exist, and she knows that I am one.”
“How did she take that information?”
“She attacked me.”
Stephan barked out a laugh. “I would have liked to have seen that.”
“It was bad.” Marcus shook his head, trying to keep the memories from settling in. It didn’t work. “I had arranged for a special dinner complete with candles on the table, champagne-soaked caviar, and lobster marinated in the finest Cognac. I made sure everything was perfect. It started off great. Over dessert I grabbed her hands, told her I wanted to take our relationship further, then confessed I was a vampire.”
“Why in the hell would you do that?”
“Because I didn’t want to start our relationship off with a secret between us.” Marcus folded his arms on the back of his chair.
“So you told her you were of the same breed as those who had attacked her?”
Marcus nodded his head. “Kat freaked out and took off for the door. Of course, I couldn’t let her leave, not as upset as she was, so I raced to the door in a blur to block her from leaving. That only made things worse.
“She thought I was going to hold her against her will and feed off her, so she attacked me.” Marcus rubbed his face at the memory. Kat scratched his face, and punched his chest. Her kicks landed hard on his shins. He had allowed Kat’s blows, for he knew she needed to vent her pent up anger toward his kind.
He really couldn’t blame her for her reaction to his confession. He knew all too well that some vampires were monsters, and he had spent his entire vampiric life trying to rid the evil from the world.
“I had to restrain her to keep her from hurting herself, which only made her anxiety and panic increase. I wrapped myself around her body, taking her down onto the couch. I held on to her until she was physically exhausted and unable to struggle any longer.”
Stephan shifted in his chair. “I take it eventually she calmed down enough to listen to you.”
“I reminded her of our friendship and that her feelings ran as deep for me as mine did for her. Ultimately, I calmed her down and made her understand that even the vampire world has good and evil.”
Stephan steepled his fingers, rested his elbows on the table as he gave Marcus an assessing stare. “You care for her, don’t you?”
Marcus could sense his sire riffling through his mind. “I do, but we are just friends.”
“But you have slept together. I can see it in your mind.”
“Yes,” Marcus readily admitted, knowing his sire could take the information from his mind with or without his consent. “We are occasional bed partners, but not lovers. Our relationship is…complicated, but it works for us. Over the past seven years we tried to become a couple, but it never seemed quite right, so our relationship grew into a strong friendship instead.”
Marcus had proven he could be trusted with her life and Kat gave him the love and companionship he so desperately wanted. Now content for the first time in centuries, he wanted Kat with him forever. Of course he knew forever would not come to be.
Humans were like beautiful butterflies, flying with delicate gossamer wings, full of beauty and color. But their lives were short, gone forever in the blink of an immortal eye. Marcus only hoped he could help Kat reach a ripe old age. He hated the thought of her flying away one day, but had resigned himself to the fact that day would eventually come. Until that time, he had vowed to do everything within his power to keep her safe, protected, and loved.
And that included making sure no one ever drank from her again.
“So drinking from her is off limits,” Stephan mused, easing back in his chair and crossing his thick arms over his chest. “I will respect that because of your promise to her. Are there any other promises I should know about?”
Stephan arched a dark eyebrow and smirked.
“If you are talking about sex, no. She is free to…um…see who she pleases. I have no claims on her. She can bring anyone here she wants to share her bed.”
“Bring anyone here,” his sire repeated. “You mean she’s living here?”
Stephan’s calm demeanor was replaced by a suspicious look on his face.
“Yes.” Marcus shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Stephan leaned forward, bunched his hands into fists on the table. “Let me get this straight. I’m gone for a few decades and come back to find that you have a human female living with you. A beautiful woman, who you do not drink from. Not only is she off limits to you, but you have promised that none of our kind will drink from her either. And to top it off, she knows about the vampire breed. Do I have this right?”
“That about sums it up.” Marcus braced for the reaction he knew would come.
Anger lit Stephan’s eyes. “Have you lost your mind?” he bellowed. “Marcus, I realize I have not been here to guide you, but you were under my tutelage for over two hundred years. You know that keeping knowledge of our existence from humans is vital to the survival of our breed, and yet you have a pet human living with you who knows about us.”
“We can trust her. She would never betray us!” Marcus banged his fist on the table to emphasize his point. “I trust her with my life.”
“You certainly have.” Stephan leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. His voice was softer when next he spoke, but Marcus could feel the tension radiating from Stephan’s body. “I hope she lives up to that trust.”
“She will,” Marcus said with conviction as he went to the refrigerator and withdrew two bags of blood. Casually switching the subject, Marcus shook the bags of blood and said, “O negative, your favorite. Want some?”
Stephan nodded and leaned back in his chair watching Marcus thoughtfully. “I will capitulate to your arrangement with the human for now. But I will observe the woman, watching for any sign of betrayal. If I find any threat, she can be taken care of easily enough.”
Marcus stilled, knowing Stephan did not make threats, he made promises. He turned to pin his mentor with a hard stare. “Kat is not a threat, Stephan. You will see. We can trust her.”
The vampires stared at one another in an old-fashioned game of bet-you’ll-blink-before-I-do. Both of them statue still, the air thickened between them. It was Stephan who broke the strained silence.
“I believe you said something about a drink.”
Marcus took the hint. The subject of Kat was closed—for now.
Emptying the bags into two glasses and adding some whisky, he handed one to Stephan and inquired about Stephan’s time in Europe. The two males drank their fill as Stephan shared his European exploits. With their hunger sated, they headed off to rest when dawn approached.
Marcus pushed a button on the remote, sending the special UV shades down over the windows. “What are you doing?” Stephan asked, his feet stilling on the stairs that led to his bedroom.
“Drawing the blinds,” Marcus explained. “They are made from special protectant material that will keep the sun from the room.”
“Only in Vegas,” Stephan murmured, shaking his head. “There have been so many changes to this town.”
Marcus smiled mischievously. “You have no idea.”
Chapter 3
Stephan put on his cotton pajama bottoms and lay between the smooth sheets on his bed, surrounded by the smell of honeysuckle. Obviously, Katrina had stayed in this bedroom. He found the redecorated master suite to be a grand room. The black lacquer king size bed boasted an ornately carved headrest adorned with silver accents. Covered with a white down comforter over yellow silk sheets, it was flanked on either side by identical lacquer nightstands. Across from the bed sat a matching chest of drawers that Stephan discovered contai
ned a large plasma TV which rose out of the smooth shiny chest with the touch of a button. Marcus had offered the room to him out of respect, partially because it was customary for a younger vampire to offer his sire the best room in the house and because this was his place after all. Of course, that meant Kat now slept in Marcus’ room, as his was the only other bedroom in the penthouse.
And for some unfathomable reason, that bothered him. Stephan crossed his hands behind his head and settled into the bed ready for a long rest. When his eyes closed, his thoughts turned to the past, in an attempt to block the woman from his mind.
Centuries ago, Stephan and his comrade, Demetri Romanoff, two of the oldest living vampires known to their kind, had become aware of the traitorous plan of a rogue vampire with designs on world domination. They formed the Alpha Council to stop Eldrich and his group of rogues called the Miscreants.
At that time, the Council, with Stephan as their leader, consisted of fifty powerful warriors, who were stationed throughout the world to fight against each of the numerous factions of the Miscreants. As the Alphas took down the Miscreant fighters in each country, Eldrich disappeared, and the world had become more stable. Team by team, the Council membership dwindled. Some left to start families; others were recruited by the policing agency for their kind. Now the Council only numbered seven. Referred to as simply the Alphas, they were the Special Forces for the vampire breed, and they dealt with those who became too violent, abusive, or demented to remain in civilized society.
Stephan smiled at the memory of when he brought Marcus to the Alphas. The young vampire learned to fight well, impressing the other members of the team. During a fight, he was somber, all business, someone Stephan could count on to follow orders. In stark contrast, during his down time Marcus blew off steam by acting outlandish and indulging his inner desires. Yes, Marcus might be what Vegas would call a playboy, but he could always be counted on. He’d proven that over the years.
A soft knock on the door pulled Stephan from his reverie. Perturbed by the interruption, a soft sigh escaped his pursed lips. His preternatural senses told him who was beyond the door. “Come in,” he spit out between clenched teeth.
Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) Page 2
