by Ella Frank
“Yes, umm, when you did that.” Leo nervously licked his lips, not really knowing his place. He’d just been caught in bed with this vampire’s... What do they call them? Lover? Mate?
First sired.
The words were pushed into Leo’s mind, and when his eyes flew back to Vasilios, he added, Alasdair is my first sired.
Oh wow. Okay. This guy’s voice in Leo’s head was like…like…nothing he’d known before. Alasdair’s was hypnotic, made his cock ache and his heart pound. But this male—his voice was like a shot of pure adrenaline, and the power of it rushed through his veins like nothing he’d ever experienced before.
The highest of highs.
“I also saw you with him one night at a ball, with a duke. I keep seeing you and him together. But I don’t know how. I swear. I’m not connected to anything—”
“Ahhh, but that’s where you are wrong, agóri. Because you see, I saw you too.”
Oh fuck. So that did happen. But how? It isn’t possible. Yet, in the dream, Vasilios had looked right at him.
“Yes. I knew you were familiar, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it until tonight. When you walked into the bedchamber and your eyes went as wide as saucers—I’d seen that startled look on you before. You’re connected to something much more powerful than you even know. And it is something we cannot allow to go unchecked.” His eyes left Leo’s and shifted back to Alasdair’s. “Move aside, Alasdair.”
Leo gulped and shut his eyes. The rush of blood in his head was loud and his hands trembled. If he was going to die anyway, there was no point in Alasdair getting hurt in the process. So he grabbed the sheet and pushed it aside before rising from the bed.
As his feet touched the floor, Vasilios was around the end of the bed and over to where he was now standing. His unforgiving fingers clasped his throat and held him in place.
Leo reached for the fingers even though it was no use. Then Alasdair appeared beside them.
“Let him go,” he said.
Leo struggled to push his words past his constricted esophagus. “Don’t listen to him. If you want to kill me, then kill me. But he’s done nothing wrong.”
“Neither have you,” Alasdair said and glared at him, and Leo’s eyes widened.
So the vampire does care if I live or die.
“Stop talking, both of you,” Vasilios demanded and then yanked Leo forward. This close, he could see the light reflecting off the pointed tips of his fangs, and when the corner of his lip tipped up in a smile, Leo didn’t know what to think. “You say you see these things when you put your mouth on my Alasdair.”
“Yes,” Leo rushed out.
Vasilios slowly tilted his head to the side, examining him. “And you defend him now, when you are to die.”
Leo’s eyes flicked to Alasdair, and he nodded.
“I think you want my agóri as your own. Is that what you want, Leonidas Chapel?”
Leo was about to say no when he heard, Do not lie to him, in his head—Alasdair.
“Yes, I want him. Who wouldn’t? He’s beautiful, and dangerous, and different from anyone I’ve ever met. He makes me feel things I haven’t felt before.”
Vasilios leaned closer and asked, “Is he worth your life?”
Leo squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t sure what Vasilios wanted to hear, but he couldn’t imagine going through life now knowing Alasdair was hurt or dead because of him. So, when a fang grazed his lower lip, he opened his eyes and said the only thing that came to mind.
“Yes.”
ALASDAIR STOOD TO the side of Vasilios and Leo, staring in disbelief at the fool human.
Had he really said that he was willing to die for him?
After all the threats, and all the violence, Leo was throwing himself at Vasilios’s mercy. He didn’t dare speak as the silence enveloped the three of them. The mood in the room was strange. It was ripe with fear, loathing, and…lust.
He could sense Leo’s emotions easily enough. He was terrified of Vasilios—and for good reason. His temper was not something any smart being would provoke.
Vasilios’s emotions, on the other hand, were harder to pinpoint.
Only seconds earlier, his intentions had been clear as day, but now, as he stood with his hand around Leo’s throat and his mouth over his lips, Alasdair sensed something else. Something he’d only ever felt directed at him—lust.
Not the everyday feeling of want and desire. But the driving need, the craving to be consumed by the one he was currently touching, and the erection Alasdair saw when he looked below his waist solidified it.
Vasilios wanted this human. He wanted Leo. As much as he wanted him when he was near.
“Yes, you say? Hmm.”
The sound of Vasilios’s contemplation rolled over Alasdair, and then Vasilios looked his way.
“I do love a good self-sacrifice. What say you, Alasdair? Should we keep him? Should we use him as he so blatantly offered only moments ago?”
Alasdair’s cock hardened at the sensual implications Vasilios attached to the word use, and then his eyes shifted to the human. Leo was watching him with the intensity of a hawk, and Alasdair wondered if that look was a plea for his life or a plea for death.
It didn’t matter though. It was too late now.
He was, after all, a selfish being at heart.
Alasdair nodded, and Vasilios had Leo flat on his back and pinned to the mattress in a flash.
“Vasilios, take care. His blood—”
“Oh, I remember, agóri. I’m not going to drink his blood. He’s going to drink mine.” He loomed over Leo, and all Alasdair could think as he walked to the edge of the bed was—if Leo lived through this, the three of them would be forever tied.
There was no turning back now.
ISADORA
Masters Among Monsters #2
January 12th, 2016
It has come to my attention that over the last three years my Special Thanks section seems to always include the same amazing people. This makes me one of the luckiest women on the planet, and if this is the only small token I can give, you will forever have a place in my Special Thanks.
I have been fortunate enough to not only find a wonderful group of people to help me achieve my goals, but I have also found a wonderful set of friends. The kind who are supportive, honest, and loyal to the end. They are women who have become my family and women I couldn’t go a day without checking in with.
While each of them knows who they are, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what they mean to me and praise them for their individual talents.
Candace Wood. Really, nothing more needs to be said about you than: you are irreplaceable. However, you know me. I can’t stop there. Not only are you the best friend and co-author a girl could have, you are an amazing editor, a brutal and honest critique partner, and one hell of a soundboard.
You also have the ability to talk me back from insane story plots that I come up with in the middle of the night. You know what I’m talking about. **cough cough mass annihilation**
Thank you for the many hours you devote to pouring over my stories, and thank you for loving each of them so much that you eventually hate them. It takes tireless hours and meticulous eyes to get books to where they can be published, and I couldn’t do that without you.
You teach me something new every day, and even if I complain about it, I promise deep down inside I’m thanking you for it.
Jen Gerschick. Cupcake. A woman who goes so far out of her way for others that she had five, yes, count them, five books of mine left unsigned after seeing me at a signing back in 2014.
Thank you for giving up your reading time to lend your eyes to my script before it hits e-readers. You are generous with both your heart and time, and I am so fortunate you fell in love with Cole Madison and found me to tell me so.
I also want to thank you for the many hours you spent running my street team so smoothly that it became an online “happy place” to everyone who went in there. Although we have s
hut the doors and moved on to a bigger adventure, I will always remember the Emporium for bringing many of our friends together.
Donner Byrd-Rodgers. My little antagonizer. I love that you always, for some unbeknownst reason, root for the underdogs in my books. Do you do that with other characters in books you read? Or am I the lucky one?
It reminds me daily that authors should always welcome constructive criticism. After all, that was what brought you to me—the honest question you had about one of my characters and the fact that you weren’t afraid to reach out and tell me your opinion. Then, in the same conversation, you asked if I had a street team, and we have been friends ever since. That was a great day.
Please don’t ever change your dry wit and unusual perspective on things. It always makes me think twice.
And, of course, thank you for reading my PNR book even though you are a scaredy cat like Candace. I expect a hug in Seattle and Florida, btw. Bye Felicia!
Stacy Wilkerson. Or should I curtsy, Queen Mary? Thank you for taking on the task of Alasdair. When I first came to you with it, you were one of the people who really encouraged me to dip my toes in the water of the unknown. You also had the same dirty thought in mind that I had, so I knew you had to be a part of this collaboration.
It makes me laugh so hard that when we first met I thought you were slightly insane. But over the last two years, I have come to learn that your emoticon addiction is just part of who you are.
Thank you for picking up Exquisite. Thank you for Twitter-talking to me when I had no clue what a re-tweet meant, and most importantly, thank you for being a kickass friend. I can’t wait to finally meet you in Seattle next year.
Judy Zweifel. Now this is a woman who has so many sisters I’m not sure she has room for one more, but hell, I’m gonna push through anyway! You have amazing eyes lady, and I appreciate you putting aside things…including vacation time…to help me out! I can’t wait to finally meet and hug you. I have a feeling 2016 is going to be the year I finally get to meet most of you. But for now I am beyond happy to call you my friend.
Renee Kubisch. Ahhh… I finally met you in the mother country. Getting to come back to Australia this year was the highlight of 2015. Putting a face to the name, a voice to the words, and a hug with a friend was more than I could’ve hoped for. You have two picky eyeballs in that awesome head of yours, and I’ve known it right from the beginning! Thank you so much for working your arse off for me on beta reads, and for the fantastic swag you made. You are one of a kind and a true professional. I am so fortunate to call you a friend.
Pavlina Michou. Or should we all call you the Greek Goddess? Thank you so much for your invaluable help with the names and phrases in this story. I literally could not have done this without you. I can’t wait to hear you actually say these words in the correct form, because right now this Australian is trying to pronounce them in Greek, and I am sure I sound totally wrong! Thank you so much. You rock, woman!
Mickey Reed. My wonderful editor. It was such a pleasure to meet you this year in my new hometown. I want to thank you for all the hours and hard work you put into my stories—and let’s face it, it’s a lot of hard work. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again—you are a rock star.
Hang Le. I cannot begin to tell you how it felt to receive the cover for Alasdair. I had visions in my head of what I wanted, and I knew exactly what I did NOT want, but when you sent it through to me…my heart just about stopped.
YOU NAILED IT!!!!!! Yes, it deserves all of those.
I still can’t stop looking at it, and I’ve had it for weeks. It just makes me eager to get my hands on the next two. You are an absolute creative genius, and I feel so lucky to call you a friend and colleague.
Chasity at Rockstar PR. Thank you for taking a chance on me and helping me spread the word about Alasdair. You took a huge weight off my shoulders and handled it with the utmost grace. Thank you for that. It has been a pleasure to work with you!
And last, but definitely not least, to my husband, who puts up with never seeing me except when I come out to eat. Thank you, Frank, for dealing with my irritable mood swings that often result in bursts of unreasonable behavior. Although you are a silent supporter and stay behind the scenes, you are my biggest cheerleader, and I truly couldn’t do this without you!
Much love to you all,
Xx Ella
About Ella
Ella Frank is the author of the #1 Bestselling Temptation series, including Try, Take, and Trust and is the co-author of the fan-favorite erotic serial, A Desperate Man. Her Exquisite series has been praised as “scorching hot!” and “enticingly sexy!”
A life-long fan of the romance genre, Ella writes contemporary and erotic fiction and lives with her husband in Portland, OR. You can reach her on the web at www.ellafrank.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ella.frank.author
Some of her favorite authors include Tiffany Reisz, Kresley Cole, Riley Hart, J.R. Ward, Erika Wilde, Gena Showalter, and Carly Philips.
Want to get to know Ella better?
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