by Chloe Adler
A VAMPIRE’S WICKED HUNGER
CHLOE ADLER
CONTENTS
Copyright
Chloe Adler
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Afterword
About the Author
Also by Chloe Adler
Copyright
A Vampire’s Wicked Hunger by Chloe Adler
Book 4 - the final book in the Love on the Edge Series
Copyright © 2017 by Signum Publishing
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming serial - Book 1 of The Vectum Chronicles by Chloe Adler. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.
*** there are some difficult themes in this book and there may be triggers - thus a trigger warning is appropriate.
© 2017 Cover Art by Cora Graphics
Editor: Elizabeth Nover - Razor Sharp Editing
ISBN: 978-1-947156-07-4
Chloe Adler
Dear Reader,
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Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy it!
XXOOXX ~ Chloe Adler
PREFACE
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for choosing to read my book. An author is nothing without her readers, truly!
The Distant Edge Romance Series can be read as stand-alones but they are best read in order since it’s a continuing saga with no cliffhangers! If read out of order there may be spoilers plus each book follows the delicious love story of a different couple and I’d love for you to get to know (and love) them all as I do.
All the books have happy endings but not always in the traditional sense. The characters range from monogamous to polyamorous. From heterosexual to bisexual to gay to pansexual.
The love scenes are very hot, therefore they are inappropriate for readers under the age of 18.
I hope you have as much fun reading as I’ve had writing!
XXOOXX ~ Chloe
Chapter One
A warm breeze rustled through the acacia tree outside, carrying the scents of fall through my partially cracked window. Rex and I were dozing on my bed, languidly enjoying the morning. It was one of the advantages of having a night job. A familiar knock sounded, the handle turning. Jared didn't need to be invited in. He had free rein.
“Good morning, Miss Burgundy Rosales.” He was carrying a bamboo tray laden with two cups of coffee.
I sat up in bed, the velvet comforter slipping down to my waist. I didn't bother covering my bare breasts. It was warm enough, and neither Rex nor Jared would care. I patted the space next to me. He handed me the tray, piled up a few pillows and propped himself against my lavish headboard, careful to avoid disturbing a sleeping Rex.
Jared sighed, taking his cup off the tray. “I love our morning ritual. And your room.”
“Your room is just as nice in a different way,” I countered. Jared Weks had fastidious tastes and had become my best friend the instant we'd met four years ago. He'd shown up one day outside the V Club with nothing more than a backpack and a look on his face like someone had just slaughtered his family, which was probably because . . . they had.
Nor was Jared the last stray I'd adopted. When I'd brought a spunky, red-haired witch home a couple of months later, Sadie Holt had claimed both our hearts. We were all still extremely close. I couldn't imagine that ever changing. Even after Sadie had met Ryder and Jared had met Alec, they were still my closest friends and occasional lovers—Sadie more than Jared because, well, Jared was gay. My tastes, however, were a little more . . . fluid.
Besides, I had Rex now. As if he'd heard my unspoken thoughts, Rex perked up out of his nap. He raised his head from my lap and gave my nose a delicate lick.
Rex really was the perfect man. Minus the four legs, the doggy slobber and the need for someone to pick up his poop. I scratched his head as his tail thumped happily against my leg. Oof, that tail packed quite a wallop, attached as it was to his 110-pound Rottweiler body.
“What happened last night?” Jared blew on his coffee.
Oh yes, last night. Since he worked part-time at the same club I did, there was nothing I could hide from him. Not that I wanted to hide anything. “I could ask you the same question.”
“You're the one who disappeared into one of the back rooms. Spill. I want to hear all the juicy details.”
Though the V in V Club stood for vampire, all Signum were welcome there—vampires, shifters and witches. Plus humans. The V was a combination bar, dance, strip and sex club, but a lot of people just went to drink and dance. It was one of the few places in Distant Edge open twenty-four hours. We stopped serving alcohol at two a.m. because, well, that was the law in California, but the place stayed open around the clock.
I playfully punched him in the shoulder. “One of my tasty donors was in town. She stopped by so I could feed.”
Vampires only needed to feed once a week. We could even go longer if we were willing to sacrifice some of our extraordinary strength and speed, but not me. I held too much too close. Most vampires rotated morsels so we didn't feed from the same human more than once a month. For those vampires who were gorgeous or even just entertaining, the supply of donors was endless. Vampires often had waiting lists. I certainly did. But for the stragglers or the assholes, blood could be more difficult to acquire, and it usually required cash. Luckily, there was at least one vectum per town—bars in which vampires could pay humans for a bite. One forward-thinking entrepreneur had even started a mobile vectum. Like a food truck, except no one but vampires would order their virgin Bloody Marys.
“I thought you looked particularly flushed this morning.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“Thank you.” I batted my lashes at him. It never hurt to practice. “Where's Alec?”
“Still asleep. He had a late night too.”
“I noticed.” I ran my tongue slo
wly over my full lips. Alec danced at the V, but his act was less stripper and more Chinese acrobat, bringing people far and wide to drool over his . . . skills. Alec had recently started training at the local circus too.
My phone rang.
Jared picked it up off the bed. “It's your father.”
“What?” I snatched it out of his hand so quickly he gave me a hurt look. I offered him a shrug and a smile. He knew how much my father meant to me.
“Dad. Hi, is everything okay?”
Jared moved to the foot of my bed to give me one of his famous foot massages, and I sank back into the pillows.
“Baby girl,” my dad purred in my ear.
I was over forty and he still called me that. It warmed my heart. Probably because vampires and witches aged differently than humans and shifters did. I didn't look a day over twenty-five, yet he still cherished the memories of my childhood.
“What's up?” I asked him. “You haven't called in weeks. I was starting to worry.”
“I'm in love, what can I say?” he responded. “Margery keeps me busy, and we're creating a life together.”
I sighed. My dad had left my mother several months earlier and though my mother was devastated, my father was happier and more vibrant than I'd ever seen him. “I'm happy that you're happy, Papa.”
“I don't think I've ever been happier.” His voice practically beamed.
Ouch.
“I can't wait for you to meet her,” he gushed. “And her daughter, Deenie. You're going to love them both. As much as I do.”
“I'm sure I will.” I wanted to. My dad's happiness was paramount to me, even if it did remind me of everything I didn't have.
Jared looked up from his perch, raising one eyebrow at me. I shook my head at him and he went back to work on my feet, expertly pressing and kneading. I stifled a moan.
My father's voice rose an octave as he pulled the phone away from his mouth. “One minute, sweetheart, I'm on the phone.”
“Can you come visit soon?” I asked.
“I'd love to, pumpkin, as soon as things settle down here. Margery is working on a big case right now and needs my support.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “How is your mother?”
“She's upset, Dad.”
“Naturally.” His voice turned stern. “She'll get over it and see it was for the best.”
“I don't know . . .” My mother was not a strong woman.
His voice altered again as he held the phone away. “Si, si, mi amor.”
I waited.
“I've got to go, Maria. I love you. I'll call again when I can.”
“I love—” But he'd already hung up.
An hour later we all sat at the kitchen table. Jared, Alec and I were drinking our morning coffee. Chrys—Sadie's witchy sister and my other roommate—was drinking tea, and her disgustingly gorgeous boyfriend Carter was drinking nothing. He, too, was a vampire, but he only drank blood. Not me. I couldn't resist human food, and all the wasted calories had given me the voluptuous figure to prove it.
For vampires, human food was nothing but junk food. We put on weight if we ate it, but I'd never cared about that, nor had I ever gotten any complaints from my many lovers or the patrons who watched me dance at the V.
“What does your dad's new girlfriend do?” asked Chrys.
“My mom told me she's a divorce lawyer.” I sighed into my coffee. “And apparently she's a really good one too.”
“She's not your dad's lawyer, is she?” asked Carter.
“No, but someone else at her firm is.”
“Is that legal?”
“In Nicaragua it is.”
“But didn't your mom say that he was cheating on her?” asked Jared.
I nodded. “That's what she suspects, but my dad would never do that. It must be easier for my mother to believe he's the bad guy. Plus you know how oversensitive she gets. So easily riled.”
“And yet,” said Jared, “he is living with this woman only a few months after he left your mother.”
“I don't think he knows how to be alone. Some people just like to feel taken care of and needed. I think the timing and the fact that she works in that law firm are coincidental.” I'd never lived by myself either. Though it was starting to look like I would soon. Here I was, in my early forties and still alone while my closest friends were all hooked up and in love. Stop this ridiculous internal drama; you have the perfect life.
“Isn't your dad a lawyer too?” asked Alec.
“Yeah.” I got up from the table to pour myself more coffee. “But he's a Signum-civil-rights lawyer and his girlfriend's firm are divorce lawyers.”
“Well, maybe they met in court,” Chrys shrugged, “or at the courthouse.”
“So what's everyone got planned for today?” I asked, purposely changing the subject. The last thing I needed was for my friends to suspect my father was something he most certainly was not.
“We were going to walk down to the boardwalk with Rex,” said Jared.
“Want to come with?” asked Alec.
“Sure.”
Rex trotted alongside as we headed toward the boardwalk. It was only a mile from my house, Casa Mañana, and the walk was lovely. Breezy but not too cold. Southern California had a way of remaining temperate the whole year round, unlike the hotbox I'd grown up in, Granada.
“Nice outfit.” Alec grinned at me as I held Rex at a heel.
I was a fashionista, no denying it. Probably because of my Taurean nature or maybe because my mother was not. I almost always donned tight-fitting skirts or dresses that hugged every curve, many made of velvet. Plus the cleavage was on full display. Why not flaunt it if I've got it? And if people got so hung up on the surface they didn't dig deeper, all the better.
Walking onto the pier, I was looking at my favorite storefront and all their bling when I hit something solid. Hands reached out to steady me.
“Burgundy,” said my employer in his clipped British accent.
“Benedict.”
The vampire scared pretty much everyone except for me. I appreciated how forthright and businesslike he conducted himself. He bent down to pet Rex and I waved the boys on.
“I'll catch up with you in a minute,” I called after them. Addressing Benedict, “Everything okay at the club?”
“Everything's fine there.” He stood and locked his menacing gaze on me. “It's the Council.”
I waited. He also resided on the city's Council and was usually transparent with me about their goings-on. He slicked back his already slicked-back, dark hair. “There are some uppity humans, and I proposed hiring a Signum-civil-rights attorney.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You know my dad is one?”
He nodded. “I do. I was wondering if he could recommend someone in San Diego County.”
“I can ask him but, well, why not offer the job to him?”
“Doesn't he live and practice in Central America?”
“He does.” I licked my lips. “However, things are changing for him at the moment, and it's always been my dream to have him live in Distant Edge with me.”
“Could work.” Benedict straightened his sunglasses. “He'd still have to pass the bar here first though.”
“Already has. He has his license to practice in three US states as well as Nicaragua and Spain.”
Benedict cocked an eyebrow at me.
“He's good at what he does and has been working around the world for decades.”
“That I don't doubt. Everyone's heard of him, he has quite the reputation, but rumor is he has quite a high fee because of it.”
“Yes, but he doesn't need the money anymore. The man's a billionaire. I can ask him. Maybe he'll volunteer just to be close to his little girl.” I flashed Benedict a smile.
“Let me know. I'll see you later tonight.” He threw me a curt nod and walked off.
“That would be a dream come true,” I cooed to Rex. He licked my hand in response. “Come on, let's find the boys.”
They were standing in line at the Harbor House Cafe, our favorite breakfast spot, and Jared was on the phone.
“Anything amiss?” asked Alec.
“All good.” I wasn't one to gossip but I was nosy. “Who's Jared talking to?”
“The girls. Sadie called. He's trying to convince them to join us.”
Good thing it was a Saturday, which meant Sadie was off work. Her new landscaping business was thriving, even after just a few months. I'd invested my entire savings to help her and I couldn't be prouder of my BFF. In a year, she'd be making enough to start paying me back. But then what? a little part of my psyche nagged, sinking its fangs into my neck. What would happen after she paid me back? She had her mate. She had a great new career. She'd no longer need me. But I wanted her to succeed. Didn't I? I was happy that my two closest friends had found their mates. Wasn't I?
“Iphi too?” I asked.
“Yeah, she's still sleeping on the couch there.”
“I wish she'd move in with us instead. We can easily make room for her. Sadie only has the one bedroom.”
“She's been talking about returning to Aurelia's soon.”
