Strong fingers grasped her chin and turned her this way and that, as though he was inspecting the merchandise.
This was it. Any minute now he would discard her, just like all the other participants had. His hold on her turned into a caress, and she lost herself in the deep timbre of his voice.
“Relax, little one. I’ll take good care of you.”
Chapter Two
What a delicious little bundle of curves this young woman was. Atlan took another deep breath of her intoxicating scent. A rare blood group, too. Hunger gnawed at his belly, and he forced his fangs to retreat. It wouldn’t do to show his true self this early in the game. Unlike some of the other, far younger participants, Atlan liked to savor his food.
It made the chase so much more interesting. This sweet young thing would bow to him in due course. They always did in the end. Atlan preferred his snacks willing and this one…well…
He nodded at the one-way mirror to confirm the purchase.
“Sold. Enjoy your evening.”
Evangeline trembled under his hands, and he nudged her chin up to make her look at him.
“It’s just us now, my angel. Open your eyes and let me see you properly.”
When she did so, the space where his heart ought to beat clenched in long-forgotten emotion. Eyes the color of the deepest summer sky assessed him, widened slightly, and Atlan suppressed a smirk at the way her pupils dilated. The pulse at the base of her neck sped up, and her sweet scent got stronger. Every fast beat of her heart tested his resolve. It had been too long since he’d last indulged. Which was the sole reason he’d come here tonight. Danny Tomlington’s games were the best in the country. Expensive for sure, but Atlan hadn’t had to worry about his finances in a long time.
There were some perks to being the undead, and accumulating wealth was one of them, especially when you’d lived as long as he had.
“Good girl, that wasn’t so bad now. First time at the games?”
Evangeline swallowed hard, and her nervousness hit him in the gut. She wasn’t afraid of him, but she was wary. Intelligent as well as beautiful. He liked that.
“Is it that obvious?”
Her husky voice drew him in further. Judging by the way she rolled her eyes that had not been the tone she’d been going for. Sure enough, she cleared her throat and tried again. While a slight tremble remained, this time her honeyed tones rung out loud and clear.
“I have no idea how this works. They wouldn’t tell me, so…” She bit her lip and dropped her gaze to his mouth.
“Well, there wouldn’t be any fun in the games if you knew what was to come, would there now, little one?” He stepped back, shrugged out of his suit jacket, and draped it over her shoulders.
“Here, that should prove adequate cover to get you out of here. As much as I enjoy the view, I don’t share what’s mine.”
He rather enjoyed the way her eyes widened, and she snuggled into the silk lining with a small sigh.
“That’s what I am then, your property? What do I call you anyway?” The slight hitch in her voice gave him pause for thought. Atlan held out his hand. She took it after a momentary hesitance and gasped when he pulled her to her feet.
Thanks to her killer heels, she was eye level with him or would have been had she not swayed and made a grab for his forearm with her free hand.
It gave him the perfect excuse to pull her up close into his frame, and another one of those cock-hardening moans came from his sweet little angel for the evening. Atlan inhaled sharply at the feel of her luscious curves connecting and fitting right against his hard frame as though she was made just for him. Which should have been a preposterous notion, but there was something about this young woman that pulled him in. Something more than the need to feed, to sink his cock into her sweet-smelling pussy, and to mark her pale skin with his possession.
“My name is Atlan, Evangeline,” he said.
She flinched and shook her head. “Evie, please. Only my mother calls me Evangeline.”
An inherent sadness clung to Evie, which made him want to protect her and take her away from this harsh world. A dangerous impulse at the best of times for a creature like him. His fangs ran out, and giving into the instinct to taste her, he dipped his head and bit down on the fragrant skin just under her ear. Evie tensed and groaned. Her fingernails dug into his skin, even through the layers of clothing. The musk of aroused woman hit his nostrils while her warm, coppery, life-sustaining fluid filled his mouth and made him hard as nails. He rocked his erection into the juncture of her thighs and was rewarded with another deep-throated moan. It would be so easy to take her right here and now, but Atlan didn’t want an audience and this room was watched. No doubt security would be getting off on this display as it was, and he didn’t want to share this bundle of curves in his arms.
Her nipples hardened and he loved the uninhibited way she rubbed the no doubt aching points into his chest. Atlan forced himself to release his bite, his immediate, gnawing hunger satisfied for now, and Evie went limp against him. Her sigh of surrender ghosted across his jaw, bringing more of her intoxicating, sweet scent with it, and he licked the tiny puncture wounds to make them close. Goosebumps broke out on her skin, and Evie trembled in his arms, as she slowly came back to herself.
He knew the moment she did because she stiffened and pushed away from him. He let her for now, and when their gazes connected, he smiled at the blush staining her almost translucent skin. She had to be a natural blonde, and his fingers itched with the need to explore her curves and to find out once and for all.
All in good time.
“Back with me, my angel?” he asked. Evie frowned, grabbed the lapels of his jacket, and wrapped them around herself in a defensive move, which would have normally pissed him off. As they were about to leave this room, however, he let her cover up go for now.
“Wh-what do you mean?” she asked. Her hand flew up to the spot his teeth had been lodged moments before, and she frowned. While the skin had closed residual tenderness would remain, and she had to be wondering. “I didn’t go anywhere, did I?” Evie looked around the room and visibly relaxed once she’d reassured herself that they were still here. Atlan resisted the impulse to reach for her and to read her mind. To do so would also erase her memory, and for now, at least, he wanted her to remember, to be fully with him as he took her any way he saw fit.
Excitement fizzed through his veins at the thought of her completely at his mercy, and some of that must have shown on his face because she took a step away from him and swallowed hard.
Atlan held his hand out again and simply waited for her to take it.
She glared at the appendage as though it was a poisonous snake ready to bite her, but eventually took it with a small sigh.
“Good girl. Let’s get you out of here so that we can really have some fun.”
Her eyes widened, and she bit her lips in a telltale of her nervousness which made him want to close the distance and bite that succulent flesh. It had been a mistake to taste her. Rather than take the edge off his hunger, it had increased it tenfold.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he pulled her along and out of the room. Her reluctance was a palpable force between them, yet something changed when they stepped into the foyer. Tomlington’s lackey, Brian, pushed off the wall and sneered at the trembling woman behind Atlan. Atlan’s snarl in response to this Neanderthal’s behavior made the other man blanch and nod his head in deference, as well he ought to. Brian might fancy himself with his gym-honed muscles, but Atlan would be able to snap this puny human in half in seconds if he chose. Something that he might well do, considering the disgust which he now sensed from his angel for the night.
Whereas she’d kept her distance before, she now crowded in close to him, and he recognized her instinctive move for protection. What the fuck had this asshole done to her? Atlan pulled her in close to his side and barked his order at the human.
“Don’t just stand there. Ensure my car is brought
around to the front. We’re leaving.”
Brian frowned, puffed his chest out, and sneered at Evie once more.
“That’s against the rules, but as it’s you. Shame though, I’d like to have seen her scream again. She’s a noisy cunt that o—”
It would have been comical, had Atlan not be so fucking furious with this upstart. One minute he was spouting off his degrading nonsense, the next his teeth were knocked back, his nose flattened, and the ape was a bleeding, grunting mess on the floor by their feet.
Evie gasped, and Atlan kicked the piece of filth in the dick for good measure. Heavy footsteps came running. Atlan swung his head around to glare at the human security and stopped them in their tracks. Evie was trembling again, but she didn’t pull away from him either. He took that as a good sign.
“Get rid of this piece of filth, will you? He’s lucky I didn’t gut him for talking about my date like that.” Atlan turned and nudged Evie’s chin up to make her look at him. Fear and uncertainty warred with grim determination in her cornflower gaze, and he forced his lips into the semblance of a smile for her benefit. “Unless you want me to?” he asked.
Evie blinked twice and then tried to shake her head.
“No, I…what on earth are you asking me?”
Atlan sighed, kicked the squirming fucker once more for good measure, and clarified his intentions.
“He hurt you. That much is clear. For that, I’ll hurt him. Kill him if you want me to?”
A murmur of protest came from the surrounding security, and one of them actually drew his gun. Atlan had him disarmed and flung across the room before Evie could blink, and then he was back in front of her, steadying her with his arm around his waist.
This time his smile was genuine because the way the rest of security stood dumbfounded and the fellow he’d bashed into the wall slowly slid to the floor was really too amusing.
“What? No, of course, I don’t want you to…what…who are you?”
Atlan chose not to answer that question. Instead, he picked her up, cradled her to his chest, and strode out of the hallway.
“Sir, you can’t just…Sir.”
He ignored the shouts behind him and dropped a kiss on his girl’s hair instead.
“You might want to close your eyes for the next bit. I’m told it helps with the motion sickness.”
“What…argh!”
Atlan smiled to himself as he jumped through the open window at the end of the corridor without hesitation.
Evie tensed and shrieked, but she also buried her head in his shoulder and hung on for dear life, as he landed heavily on a parked car. The shrill alarm hurt his ears, glass shattered, and folks screamed, but he didn’t stop to check the damage. Calling on his lightning-fast reflexes, he started to run. He’d have preferred a leisurely drive back to his place, but this mode of transport had the added advantage of keeping his woman close. Judging by the way she went slack in his arms, Evie had fainted, which was probably for the best. Not many humans could withstand the forces that battered them as Atlan gathered yet more speed. It had been way too long since he’d indulged this side of him, and the effects were exhilarating. He felt free, alive in a way he hadn’t done in ages, and it was with a certain amount of regret that he leaped over the iron gates guarding his property. Like the loyal retainer he was, Joseph opened the door as he touched down on his front steps.
Only the slight wriggle of his gray, bushy eyebrows signaled his butler’s distaste at Atlan’s disheveled appearance. He certainly didn’t seem fazed by the sleeping beauty in Atlan’s arms, and Atlan gave himself a mental note to increase Joseph’s pay. He and his wife ran Atlan’s country residence like clockwork and had done so for the last forty years.
It would be a sad moment indeed when he had to retire them. Absolute loyalty like this was hard to find these days.
“Did you have a pleasant evening, sir, and if I might ask, what happened to your car?”
Joseph glimpsed at one of Evie’s shapely legs on display, and then fixed his gaze at a point somewhere over Atlan’s shoulder.
“We had to make a quick exit, shall we say. I would be grateful if you could send someone to retrieve it for me, Joseph. Is the room prepared?” he asked.
“Naturally, sir. Everything is ready. Is there anything else you will require tonight?” he asked.
“No, thank you. That will be all.”
“Very well, sir. Agnes has prepared a light snack for your guest. You will find it in the fridge, should you need it, sir.”
With that, Joseph disappeared toward his quarters, and Atlan took the stairs three at a time. Having shouldered the door to his playroom open, he deposited his precious bundle on the king-size bed dominating the room and stood back to watch her sleep.
Chapter Three
Evie came to slowly. Disorientated, she blinked and tried to focus on her surroundings. Where in all that was holy was she now? She didn’t recognize this opulent room. Soft lighting bathed everything and made it look like she had stepped back in time. An antique chair caught her eye, and the four-poster bed she lay on had drapes of silk.
What the hell?
Her hair had come loose, and she blew a strand of it out her face, only for it to settle back over her nose.
Trying to brush it off her face achieved nothing because she couldn’t move her arms.
Why can’t I move my arms?
She yanked harder, but to no avail, and far worse she couldn’t move her feet either. It was almost as though she was tied, and…
A soft chuckle to her left brought her up short. An all too familiar dark, dry, and far too arousing scent tickled her nostrils seconds before the bed depressed and a cool hand stroked that annoying strand of hair off her face.
The man who had bought her at the games smiled down at her, and Evie blinked to clear her vision. No, it couldn’t be. With sudden clarity, the events leading up to her being here rushed back into her mind and she gasped. She tried to get away, fear coursing through her veins as he quietly studied her while rubbing that single strand of hair between his thumb and index finger.
Her breath stalled in her lungs when he lifted his fingers to his nose and inhaled deeply.
“Beautiful and you smell good enough to eat, my angel, but first things first. You must be in need of nourishment.”
With a smile that could only be described as wicked temptation personified, he shifted his hand to her nape, lifted her head up, and proceeded to hold a flute of champagne to her lips.
His eyes hardened when she shook her head, and try as she might she couldn’t look away from the almost hypnotic quality of those gray-blue orbs. Their swirling intensity pulled her into his will, and she drank the offered liquid. The sweet-tasting bubbles danced on her tongue and tickled her nose before she swallowed and moaned at the exquisite taste of the champagne. This wasn’t the cheap cava she was used to. Potent as well as delicious it spread heat through her insides, and she gladly took a few more sips, before he took the flute away.
“Easy, there, I do want you conscious for the rest of the evening.”
He blinked as he said that, and the strange spell his gaze seemed to have woven over her passed. Even so, when he wordlessly held up a strawberry she bit into the luscious fruit without any prompting on his part. He kept feeding her, his gaze growing in intensity as he watched her eat. His pupils dilated and his jaw tightened when some of the juice dribbled down her chin and into her cleavage. Ordinarily speaking, she ought to have been embarrassed, but his open admiration left no room for self-doubt, only the slow embers of arousal, which licked across her skin.
He swore softly under his breath, bent his head, and followed that sticky trail with his tongue. Evie gasped and arched her head to give him better access. The barely functioning rational side of her brain screamed at her that this was wrong. She didn’t know this man, thing, whatever the hell he was. Clearly, he wasn’t entirely human because no mere human could have done the things she’d seen him do. To to
p all of that, he’d kidnapped, her, tied her up, in this room, and now was taking liberties, but…
Oh. My. God.
The sensations he aroused in her, as his slightly raspy tongue traced her skin, awakening every erogenous zone she possessed and plenty she hadn’t known she had…that left no room for rational thought.
Besides, she was his for tonight, at least, had signed on the dotted line, and if he really was what she was suspecting him to be, then she wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning. She might as well throw caution to the wind and simply enjoy herself.
When Atlan reached the soft swell of her breasts, a growl came from the man licking her skin as though she was the sweetest lollipop, followed by a tug as he put his hands on the delicate lace of the corset and simply ripped it apart. Shivers of fear crawled up her spine at the effortless display of his superior strength, but the sure knowledge that this man could easily tear her apart with his bare hands also served to turn her on more.
Evie closed her eyes and let go. This right here was every dark fantasy she’d ever had come to life. Maybe that made her fucked up in the head, surely she had to be, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Not when he played her body like a fine instrument. Besides, he knew her limits. She’d spied the list she’d signed—what seemed like a short lifetime ago—on the bed stand when she’d woken up, so…oh god.
Cool air whispered across her breasts, made her nipples harden into tight needy buttons, and she arched her back in a silent bid for him to do something, anything. She hadn’t been aware of saying anything, let alone those jumbled thoughts, but she must have done because Atlan’s soft laughter skittered over her heated flesh. His large hands felt oh co cool where they rested on her rib cage, his fingers just touching the underside of her breasts.
Sold [The Vampire Games 1] (Siren Publishing Sensations) Page 2
