Red Knight Box Set (Books 1,2,3): Contemporary Vampire Romance

by L. C White

  We wait for a silver Bentley before us to be taken away by the valet parking staff. A tall skinny grey haired man, in a subtle green tartan suit, steps out of the driver’s side. He hands the keys over to a young girl with blonde hair, wearing a burgundy waistcoat. She quickly jumps into the luxury car and drives it over the gravel, as another member of staff takes her place.

  “Daniel,” Adrien gestures his head as he gets out of the car.

  Daniel offers me a sweet wink, then quickly follows Adrien, as a flutter occurs in my gut.

  I pull on the door handle, watching Adrien walk around the bonnet outside.

  “Maeve, don’t bother,” Liz says as Adrien opens the door for her, and Daniel opens mine. “The only door I’m allowed to open, is the toilet door. And it’s no good fighting over the handle, it gets tedious.” She smiles as Adrien takes her hand to help her outside.

  Daniel does exactly the same as Adrien, but I can tell he’s finding it over the top. It wouldn’t bother me if he dropped the whole gallant act. It’s not something I’m used to.

  I take Daniel’s hand and step out into the cool still air. My ears immediately pick up the jazz band inside. I hate jazz music. This isn’t my scene at all. My scene is more relaxed. Edinburgh nightlife is fantastic, something for everyone: from classy warm wine bars, to live indie rock bands. I know deep down Daniel is the same, and this is all an act to impress me. I’ll go along with it. Hopefully, there will be some point tonight when we can be alone together.

  Adrien hands the keys over to the parking assistant, and opens up his elbow for Liz to slip her arm through. They are so perfect together, and still completely in love. They always look amazing, even more so now. Liz is wearing a stunning dress. A tight fit black number, with a V-neck that finishes at her mid-back. Her wavy silk like hair cascades and swishes as she walks. And Adrien in his tuxedo, looks very handsome. They could easily pass as a celebrity couple.

  I unintentionally giggle down at the red carpet beneath my feet, noticing a large black and gold billboard advertising this event. The annual ball celebrates the successful return of Lord O’Donnell, from the battle of Langside, in the sixteenth century. Why on earth vampires want to attend, beats me. Perhaps vampires are just sociable, and can’t resist an invite to a classy event.

  “You okay?” Daniel asks as we’re greeted by a female waiter, handing each of us a flute of bucks fizz.

  I hold my glass to my chest, moving aside to allow an elderly couple through the great stone entrance.

  “Yeah,” I say in an unwanted squeak.

  I watch Liz and Adrien go inside as Nathan and Sara greet them.

  “Daniel,” Nathan yells over the crappy music. “Get your butt in here and give Aunty Sara a kiss.”

  He blows out a grumbling breath. “Come on, we’ll hover around in the background, find somewhere quiet to talk.” He turns and jogs up the red carpet covered stairs with his arms out.

  God, this is a shit date. I feel like I’m trespassing on some vampire gathering.

  The condensation from my glass drips down my hand as I make my way inside. Everywhere I turn, fancy looking folk are gathered. In the vast stone hallway. On the wide ornate staircase. All chatting and laughing.

  My eyes move around the walls in an attempt to somehow fit in. The castle is steeped in antiques. Large tapestries hang from the tall open ceiling, depicting accounts of history and coats of arms. Set out on a limestone wall before me, are a number of hunters trophies on wooden plaques: the head of a deer, a bear, and different freshwater fish.

  “Maeve.” Daniel threads his arm through mine and my heart drops a beat. “I need to get out of here. Sorry, but this date sucks.” His jaw tenses as he frogmarches me by the heavy tartan drapes, framing the window.

  We walk through a reception area. There’s an elaborate mahogany staircase with a large arched stain glass window on the first floor. He leads me by a wooden reception desk, and through the double doors the music sounds through.

  As soon as we step through the busy doorway, Dom jumps out at us.

  “Hey,” he says, pulling a cigar out from his inside jacket pocket.

  “Dom, where’s your date?” Nathan sniggers. “Vanessa isn’t it?”

  “Fuckin hilarious,” Dom sneers. “She’s busy banging some other poor guy. I’m done with women,” he says, making his way to the smoking zone with a drunken stagger in his step. “Good to see you, Maeve.”

  I smile as he walks by me, taking a silver zippo lighter out from his trouser pocket.

  Daniel takes my hand in his with a relief displayed on his face. I’m so glad to have some distance between the coven and us. It wouldn’t bother me if he wanted to call for a taxi to take us to McDonalds after all. I’ve been to a few events similar to this with my dad, and I hated every second of them. This is supposed to be a date. We are supposed to be finding out more about each other.

  Everywhere we turn, there are people. Daniel is now stomping impatiently, looking for somewhere private. I spot some tinted fire-exit doors and yank his hand a sharp left, to take the lead. I push the bar and we come out onto a red brick pergola, which spans the side of the castle. I breathe in the cool air and release Daniel’s hand to shut the fire doors, so no one knows we’re out here.

  “You couldn’t wait to get me on my own?”

  “I think this is one of the worst dates I’ve ever been on,” I smile up at him. “I can’t hear myself think over all those trumpets.”

  I thought he’d take that lightly. I didn’t mean it in a malicious way. But he’s got this disappointment in his eyes, and it’s bloody awful to see.

  “Okay, maybe I’m not the most experienced person to compare dates,” I say. “I just want to be able to talk.”

  His hand takes mine in a warm firm hold. We walk down some stone stairs and into a garden area. My heels crunch on the gravel, and the music is now so low, it’s bearable.

  We arrive at a tall rose clad archway and Daniel stops. He takes my drink and clutch bag, to set them down on a knee high wall. He comes to stand right before me, and gazes down with a serious gleam in his eyes.

  “Fire away,” he says. “Anything you want to know?”

  I laugh because he couldn’t possibly answer all the questions I have in one night. Jeez, it would take a lifetime to know him; his ways, the how’s and whys.

  “Okay, I’ll go first,” he says. “Maeve, what made you decide to pick up a pencil and draw the hottest images I have ever seen?”

  Fuck. I should have asked a damn question first. This has gone way off-topic. I’m nipping at the inside of my cheek with my teeth, desperate for my flushing face to cool. He hasn’t asked a simple question, such as, what kind of food do you like? He’s asked about the one thing that’s very personal to me.

  “I don’t just draw porn,” I utter.

  “I never said porn. I’ve already told you what I think. I’m just curious, why?”

  I suck in a breath and blink slowly. “I never wanted to work for O’Riley Estates. I love art, all art. I guess the pictures you like so much are my deepest, darkest, creative vibes coming out of me.” I blow out, ready to finish what I started. “Art is like love, you can lose yourself to it.”

  “So, it doesn’t turn you on?”

  “Oh god, really?”

  “Yeah, really,” he smirks, devilishly.

  “Yes.” My pupils roll in shame.

  “Me too,” he flirts. “Now, you have questions?”

  “Yeah, but you’ve kind of screwed that train of thought up for me now.”

  He gently moves me back a step, and pushes on my shoulders so I sit on the wall. I cross my arms as a swift chilly breeze whooshes over my bare skin. He quickly slips off his jacket and holds it out to me.

  “Will you take it now?” he says, insistent.

  Smiling, I take his jacket and hang it around my shoulders. The soft silk lining contains his body warmth and scent. My heart gallops a few beats as I enjoy the feeling of him.<
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  “There is something I need to explain to you, before we go any further.” I don’t like the sudden change in his tone, it’s sombre. “Maeve, I’ve not told anyone this, not even Liz. I’m changing, and there might come a point where I have to leave. This what’s happening to us, is the best I’ve felt for a long fuckin time. But you have to understand, there won’t be a forever for this.”

  I scowl up to his face. “What the hell!”

  “This is how it is with me. Always has been. I’m unpredictably fucked-up,” he exhales. “And I can’t be with you, if or when, the shit falls down on me.”

  Oh god, this is crazy. He’s blowing me off before we’ve begun. My gut is flaming and I’m choking up with anger. Why did he offer to take me on this date? I thought we came out here to talk, and have some fun. Now he’s more or less telling me, to enjoy the fuckin moment.

  I jump up to my feet and stumble. I regain balance, yanking his jacket off my shoulders to hold and squeeze it down by my side. I glare at him, and he seems stunned by my reaction.

  “Now I can see,” I say, holding in my upset. “I see it as plain as day. You really aren’t human. You’re cold and casual. You want this to happen now, but can’t see it through.”

  “I thought you’d appreciate the truth.”

  “You’re really strange. Maybe you think this is normal, but it’s not,” I yell. “It would have been better to just fuck me, instead of sending me messages, and bringing me on this stupid date. For what, to string me along, because anything other than fucking, is not possible with whatever you are.”

  I’m so mad I’m shaking. But the thing is, I still feel that need for him. I have to have him again. I guess it’s nothing but lust. He’s addictive to me.

  “I had to tell you. Isn’t that better than just disappearing?”

  “No, it’s not.” I thrust his jacket hard into his chest. “This is not forever, so we might as well say goodbye now. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. So it’s no big deal!”

  I look down at my shoes as he stands there, speechless. I mean, did he actually think I’d say, ‘Oh yes, fuck me whenever you want for now. I understand this is just a fling.’ Hell, I gave him my first. I gave my virginity to someone that isn’t human. Right now I just need my dad. He did warn me. Perhaps he knew the Knight’s were one messed up family.

  This is all I need, a goddamn tear dripping off my jaw. He’s going to see it. He’s going to see how much he’s fuckin hurt me.

  “Listen,” he says in an aggressive tone. “Do you think you can handle me, say, maybe dying, or killing another? Shit, maybe I will even hurt you.” I frown up at him. “Because that’s what I am. I just thought we could make the most of it.”

  “You’re a dick.” I push on his chest. “Just exactly what are you?”

  “Sit down,” he demands.

  I back up, noticing something unexplainable in his eyes, a flicker of red. His words begin to have the tiniest power over me, but I fight it, and stay right where I am.

  “I said.” His eyes do that real creepy thing again. “Sit!”

  Shit, my body is doing what he ordered, even though my mind is against it. My chest is so tight, my ribs rumble with the deep speeding beats of my heart. I gawp at his tall strong stance. He has no emotions to read right now. He’s so cold.

  I know it’s wrong to allow this dominating side of him, to turn me on. But it is, and I can’t explain what is going on inside my body. This isn’t the sensual Daniel who took me to bed. This is a darkness. A darkness I strangely want to see more of.

  “When I said I might hurt you, I meant it,” he says, deep and harsh. “I’ve trusted you with this and no one else. I might make love to you one minute, and the next I could have my fuckin hands wrapped around your neck.” He closes the gap between us, so I have to look up higher into his eyes. “I’m in love with you. Your innocent light, all wrapped up in my dark.”

  What the hell is going on here? His eyes are now glinting with red flashes. He’s just declared his crazy love for me. And I’ve never wanted anything as much as him in my whole life.

  Tears gather on my eyelids as I gaze up at his silent fury. He’s in this lost place, and he needs to come back. He needs me.

  I stand up before his rigid body, and against every warning circling my mind, I take hold of him and shake, as my tears flow over.

  “Daniel, this is not you. You’ve fought it before, so fight it now. Please!”

  I press my hands against his cheeks, and bring his face down to mine. I kiss him with my eyes closed tightly, my tears mounting between our lips. He doesn’t respond at first, but gradually his cheeks relax beneath the touch of my hands. His breathing becomes loud and raspy as he caresses my face.

  He grabs my wrists and suddenly pulls away. “No… Maeve. No.”

  “Okay,” I say, sniffling.

  “I’ll get Adrien to take you home.”

  He leaves me quietly crying beneath the roses. Those high expectations of something wonderful happening, now over.

  Chapter 13: The Cards

  Daniel

  “Do you mind telling me what the hell you did to that poor girl?” Adrien tosses his car keys in a huff, so they slide across the surface. “That was the most awkward ride, I’ve ever given anybody.”

  I smirk, shaking my head as Liz comes to stand in front of me. I’ve got plans, and she’s blocking my damn way.

  “Call Gwen, Elizabeth,” he orders, pulling a beer out from the fridge.

  “No fucking need.” I swoop up the keys for my bike and head toward the stairs.

  I quickly change out of the shit suit I’ll never wear again, and dress in something more appropriate for my bike: jeans, t-shirt, boots. I’m not taking anything with me other than my wallet. I’m out of here. For fuckin good.

  I jog down the stairs and open the front door, only to find Adrien’s hand holding the damn thing shut. I sweep his hand away, violently.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Daniel.” He eyeballs me.

  I march through to the kitchen to see the entire coven, gawping at me.

  “What’s this, an intervention?” I smirk.

  “Call it what you like. You’ve ruined our night, and turned Maeve into a complete wreck.” Adrien walks behind me to stand by Liz.

  Something is here that shouldn’t be. It’s an extreme energy, almost clouding my thoughts. My eyes search for it, and I see the possible cause; a red head sitting beside Dom. I frown right at her and she shuffles nervously on the stool.

  “Who’s she?” I dip my head in her direction.

  “Dom decided to give women another shot.” Nathan laughs as Dom gives him the evils.

  “I’m Lillian. Dom rescued me tonight.” She cuddles up to his arm.

  I hate her already. She’s very weird in that vampire clingy sort of way. She’s brushing her cheek against Dom’s jacket like she’s claiming him, putting her scent on him like a wild cat. Even for a vampire, she’s creepy as hell.

  “Lillian, would you mind giving us a few moments,” Liz says, noticing I don’t like her.

  “Sure.” She hops off the stool and trots into the lounge area.

  “Outside, if you don’t mind,” Liz calls out, rolling her eyes.

  As soon as the front door clicks shut, all eyes are on me. Fuck this. I’ve messed up Maeve, big time. Everyone in this room thinks I’m going mad, and they’re right to. But admitting that to them is impossible. I want out of this coven. And out of this shitty world.

  “I told you about Maeve,” Liz says.

  “Oh shut the hell up!” I snap.

  Adrien clips the back of my head with his hand. I really want to pay him back, but the coven will only see my true colours. The colours I’m trying my damn best to hide.

  The front door opens. I turn expecting to see the red head bumbling in, but it’s frigging Gwen with her bag of tricks.

  I roll my shoulders back in frustration.

  “Okay, let’s get this over wi
th while you’re still here.” Gwen pulls out her tarot cards. “Come on, you know the routine, three cards.”

  Wow, she really does want to get this over with quickly. I haven’t even shuffled the damn deck.

  “Are we going to do this, with this lot watching?” I watch as Nathan shakes his head down to the floor.

  “We do it now before you change your damn mind again,” Adrien states.

  “Honey, you’re surfing on strange territory.” Gwen reaches up to pat my cheek. “You’re going to fall if you’re not prepared.”

  I quickly whip three cards out from the spread pack. I need to know something. I frightened Maeve, threatened her, and still she tried to stick with me. I know exactly what I said. It’s as though I was inside my alter ego, listening. I know Maeve well, some past connection I can’t pin down, unless I seek the advice of the residential family witch.

  She sets the cards down and tells me to sit, but I refuse. I’d rather stand for this. Just as she’s about to turn the first card over, I get cold-feet.

  “Look, I’m agreeing to do this. But I can’t go through with it, unless everyone in this room leaves,” I demand.

  “Right, okay,” Adrien gestures his hand. “Everyone out.”

  “Including you and Liz,” I add.

  Gwen has her eyes closed tight, her hand hovering over the cards. I perch on the edge of the stool next to her.

  “You ready?” Gwen asks.

  I check the coast is clear. “Yeah.”

  She takes in a breath and turns over the first card. She holds her hand over it, while opening her eyes to reveal that psychic white.

  “Six of cups,” she says, her head tilting back as though she’s listening to the sky.

  “Well, are you going to read, or just sit there daydreaming?” I bark, impatiently.