Vampire Dreams Revamped (A Sons of Navarus Prequel)

by Gabrielle Bisset

  As he took her into him, he murmured against her skin, “Feel me as I take from you and give you myself.”

  With one last thrust, she came apart, holding his body to hers as waves of pleasure rolled over her. He was her sire, the one who'd first saved her human life and then had given her new life as a vampire. Everything she was she was because of him.

  "My sire..." she whispered into his ear. "It's time to rise and meet the night."

  Brandon kept his eyes shut but smiled. "I'd prefer to stay right here."

  "You promised me you'd take me back to Vasilije's tonight. He hasn't seen us since you sired me."

  Rolling over, he faced her and opened his eyes. "Why do you want to return to Vasilije's so badly? Why do you wish to see my sire?"

  Arden kissed him lightly on the lips. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice? Are you jealous of Vasilije?"

  "Jealous of him? No. Unsure of how you'll see him? Yes."

  Sitting up, she looked down at the man she loved completely. For weeks he'd shown her his world and shared everything he was with her. No corner of his life had been left in the shadows, except for the part that included his sire. Now she understood why. For as much as she adored him, Brandon feared he'd lose her to another man.

  "You are my life, Brandon. You are the moon and the stars I marvel at each night. Without you, my life would be empty because I'd be without the one I love. You have no reason to worry about Vasilije."

  "There's always reason to worry about Vasilije, Arden. He wanted you for his own."

  Brandon turned away from her, but she pulled him back to face her. "Do I have no say in who I want for my own?"

  "Of course you do. Even now, if you told me you wanted another, I would sever the bond I control as your sire and give you your freedom."

  "Then why do you dread taking me to see him?"

  Brandon hesitated. "It isn't you. It's him."

  "Do you think there's anything he can give me that would make me want to give up the life I have with you? Is he so wealthy that he can buy me? Is he so caring that I will forget the man I adore is you? What is it that this Vasilije has that is better than what you are?"

  "He has a way about him that women can't seem to deny him whatever he wants."

  Just saying the words seemed to make Brandon even more concerned. Arden barely remembered his sire, but no matter what he had it didn't matter. "Brandon, do you believe I love you?"

  "Yes."

  "And do you love me?"

  "More than I can express, Arden. You're my every wish fulfilled, my every fantasy come to life."

  "Then I can't imagine what your sire could possibly offer me to make me turn away from such love."

  Chapter Nine

  For the first time in his existence as a vampire, Brandon stood as a proud sire. As he waited to introduce Arden to his sire, he reveled in the tender feeling of having her by his side. But even now, as she squeezed his hand gently and smiled to let him know everything was going to be okay, he worried something would happen tonight to ruin the happiness he had with her.

  Drawing his hand to her lips, she softly kissed his fingers and whispered, "Brandon, I know he's your sire, but he doesn't deserve this."

  The door opened and as Stanton greeted them in his usual kind manner, Brandon remembered the dread he felt the last time he and Arden had come to this house. She was right. As his sire, he deserved his respect. Nothing more.

  At the entrance to the sitting room, he looked at the woman who had made his life so wonderful. It was time to show the one who'd made him that he was his equal now.

  "Brandon, you're here!" Vasilije said from across the room. "Come, please sit both of you."

  "Vasilije, I'd like to formally introduce you to Arden, my vampire," Brandon said proudly. If he'd expected his sire to be difficult, he was nothing short of stunned when he took her hand and led her away over to the window.

  His first instinct was to pounce, to protect her from the man he feared Vasilije would be that night, but Brandon watched in surprise as his sire was exactly the gentleman he should be.

  "Arden, you are lovely. I can see why Brandon was so eager to make you his vampire," Vasilije said in the voice Brandon happily recognized as the one he used when he wasn't trying to seduce.

  "Thank you, Vasilije. I'm very fortunate to have a sire like Brandon. You should be congratulated for having such a wonderful vampire."

  Vasilije smiled and turned toward Brandon. "She's delightful. And I can see she's perfect for you, Brandon."

  "Oh? How is that?" Arden asked in a voice tinged with sharpness.

  He saw Vasilije heard that sharpness loud and clear. Turning back toward her, he answered, "Brandon is one of my favorites. He deserves a vampire who is every bit as wonderful as he is."

  "Then may the two of us strive to be as great as the one who joins us, Vasilije."

  Turning to face Brandon, Vasilije flashed a devilish grin. "You may have bitten off more than you can chew with this one, Brandon. But I trust you'll do fine."

  More of Vasilije's guests began to file into the room and before long, Brandon and Arden were just two of many vampires enjoying a night out at his home. The usual fare of great food and sensual offerings were on the menu, but for Brandon, the best part of the night had come when Vasilije had been the sire he'd always wished he would be.

  As the night wore on and the guests settled in for a night of debauchery, Brandon quietly led Arden out into the night air, happy to be alone with her once again.

  "You were everything I knew you to be, Brandon," she said sweetly as they stood on the front steps to Vasilije's home. "I hope you don't mind that I spoke to him like that. I simply wanted him to know who he was dealing with in us."

  Tilting her chin up, he kissed her lips and smiled. "You were perfect. Even he was charmed."

  Arden wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his. "Brandon, I meant what I said to him. We can only hope we'll be as wonderful someday as the one who joins us."

  ***

  The house was silent, except for the sound of her footsteps across the floor above him. Brandon sat at his desk in his study finishing his work for the night. Another letter to write to the caretaker at his house in Cornwall, another bill to pay for the electrician who'd fixed the wiring last week. He could have done this all online, but he preferred the old-fashioned way.

  As he made his way up the stairs to their bedroom, as he had every night for one hundred and sixty-two years, he remembered the first night he silently climbed those very stairs to gaze on her beauty in the room that now served as her private spot where she wrote her children's books. He'd fallen in love that night and still adored her as much now as he had then. Even more because she had given him the life he'd always wished for—a life with that one soul in this world who meant more to him than life itself.

  "Did you get everything done?" she asked with a smile. How many times had she'd told him with that same little smile she wore to let the computer do the work or to at least call people on the telephone instead of handwriting letters?

  Nodding, he lay down beside her and took her in his arms. Still the same beautiful woman she'd been when he'd first turned her, she kissed him with the lips he'd adored for so long, and he silently gave thanks to be given such a precious gift. He'd made love to her so many times, but each night felt like the first time when she took him into her and gave herself to him.

  As they lay still joined together, she whispered, "Sire," and kissed him.

  Her pet name for him made him smile. The truth had always been that she was the one who held his heart and soul captive, never the other way around. From that first moment he met her, she'd been the one to save him. For as much as he was her sire, she was his life.

  "I love you, Arden. I always have."

  Rolling him onto his back, she rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. "I love you and I can feel your sadness tonight. What's wrong?"

  Vasilij
e's call hours earlier to tell him that Teagan had been staked weighed heavily on his mind. More and more, the world they lived in had become a dangerous place, and his desire to protect her clashed with her desire to be a part of the modern world.

  "Another one died. It's getting more dangerous."

  Arden rested her head on his chest. "I know. I promise I'll be more careful. I know that's what concerns you."

  He stroked her hair, loving the feel of its softness against his fingers, and prayed she would do as she said. Even the thought of losing her felt like a stone crushing his heart.

  "Brandon, I plan on being with you for the rest of time. It's one of the best things about being a vampire. Don't worry. I'm always safer than you think. In fact, it's you I worry about, Mr. Old Fashioned. You're the one who prefers to walk everywhere."

  Her teasing lightened his spirit, and when she slid up his body to kiss him, he couldn't help but smile. She always knew how to make him see the brighter side of life.

  "I want you to promise me you'll be careful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Arden."

  She kissed him on the tip of his nose and joked, "You'd stay in this house until Vasilije forced you to leave and attend one of his parties. You'd hate it and leave as soon as you can. Am I close?"

  "I'm not kidding, Arden."

  "I'm not either. You'd hate it, Brandon."

  "All I'm saying is..." He stopped and suddenly couldn't say the words. He couldn't say what he'd been thinking for hours as he sat alone in his study. That if she were to be taken from him, he couldn't go on.

  Holding him close, she said the words that would stay in his mind until the day he died. "I would never do anything to hurt you, but I pray every day I'm taken first so I never have to know a world without you. From the first time I felt your lips on mine, you've been my world, Brandon. You'd go on without me, you know that. Vasilije would force you to. But I have only you."

  A tear slid onto his shoulder and he squeezed her tightly to him. She was wrong. No matter what Vasilije or anyone else did, he wouldn't go on. What he felt for her would be too much to bear without her next to him. He placed a kiss on the top of her head and tried to put the thought out of his mind. For now, they had each other and that's all that had ever mattered.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Gabrielle Bisset's first book, Stolen Destiny, was published by Siren Publishing in 2011. Since then, she's published the original Vampire Dreams, Love's Master, and Masquerade, the novellas that make up the Victorian Erotic Romance Trilogy, and Destiny Redeemed. In December, 2011 she published the first book in the Sons of Navarus series, Blood Avenged, a book that grew out of the characters of Vampire Dreams Revamped. Book #2 in the Sons series, Blood Betrayed, was released in May 2012, and readers can look forward to more books about the eight vampire warriors that make up the Sons of Navarus. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania and loves to hear from readers. Contact her at gabriellebisset@gmail.com

  To learn more about Gabrielle and her writing, you can visit her at her website http://www.gabriellebisset.com/ and follow her blog at http://gbisset.blogspot.com/

  Also by Gabrielle Bisset:

  Love’s Master

  Masquerade

  Stolen Destiny

  Destiny Redeemed

  Blood Avenged (Sons of Navarus #1)

  Blood Betrayed (Sons of Navarus #2)

  READ ON FOR AN EXCERPT FROM BLOOD AVENGED

  Vasilije looked around the room he’d just appeared in, his body alert to any danger. He’d followed the sense he’d gotten before Teagan’s spirit had been extinguished and knew he was in his home in New Orleans. Everything about the place was Teagan—from the Turkish cigarettes he smoked, to the bottle of Guinness that sat on the coffee table, to the spicy, musky scent that identified him as one of Vasilije’s vampires.

  And the beautiful woman staring at him.

  “Who did this?”

  Big brown eyes stared back at him. “I don’t know. It happened so fast. I left to grab another six pack and when I got back, someone had a stake...”

  Vasilije stood watching the stranger as she cried, needing more information but forced to wait until there was a break in her tears.

  “Who are you?”

  The woman dried her eyes and sniffled. “Sasa. I was his girlfriend.”

  At the use of the past tense, she began tearing up again, but Vasilije didn’t have time for it. Whoever had staked Teagan couldn’t have gone too far and any more time wasted with Sasa’s crying may mean he’d lose the fucker.

  He moved to leave and her hand caught his arm.

  “Please don’t go.”

  She looked up at him with such a sad expression for a moment he didn’t want to go. But he couldn’t let Teagan’s murderer escape. Vasilije touched his hand to hers to remove it from his arm, but all this did was make her squeeze tighter.

  “Please,” she begged in a voice that matched the pathetic look in her eyes. “Don’t leave me alone now.”

  The urge to tear his arm from her hold and leave her to her misery spiked in him, but it was overruled by that small part of him that understood her sadness.

  “Fine. Follow me. And keep up. And if I tell you to do something, do it. Do you understand?”

  For a second, she looked surprised and Vasilije thought he was going to hear a string of irritating questions. None came, though, and when he turned to head out the door, she followed silently.

  At the street, he stopped and inhaled deeply, hoping to sense something that would help him find Teagan’s killer. Nothing came. But there’d been something in the apartment...something that he was sure he recognized from long ago.

  Eyes closed, he let his other senses take over, but he got nothing. “What did he look like?”

  “I don’t know. It was so quick. Blond, I think.”

  Vasilije snapped his head to the left to look at her. “Man or woman?”

  Instantly, Tatiana’s threat repeated in his head. Now I take something you cherish. Had she staked one of his vampires in retaliation over Alex? Vasilije doubted even Tatiana would stake a vampire herself, but she wasn’t above having someone else do it.

  “Man.”

  That didn’t mean Tatiana wasn’t behind Teagan’s murder. And who was this woman who claimed to be Teagan’s girlfriend?

  “Did you see which direction he ran?”

  Sasa shook her head sadly. “No, I’m sorry. Are you his sire?”

  “How do you know about that?” he asked, more suspicious than just a minute earlier.

  “Teagan was a vampire, and you just look like a sire would. That’s what you call them, right?”

  As she spoke, Vasilije studied her under the streetlight’s glow, still unsure she was who she claimed to be. Not bad looking, she seemed like someone Teagan could like. He’d always preferred brunettes with big eyes and bigger tits, and although she didn’t measure up to porn star level, she still had a nice body. He could see her as Teagan’s girlfriend.

  “Yeah, I’m his sire and right now I need to find the fuck who killed one of my vampires,” he said looking down the street.

  “What’s your name?”

  Turning to look at her, he raised one eyebrow. “You’re a curious one, aren’t you, pet?”

  “Well, I think I should know your name if we’re going to work together to find Teagan’s killer.”

  Vasilije continued to work on getting any sense of who he was looking for, but nothing came to him. Frustrated, he’d need time to think and find his way around this new place before he could search for the killer, and the last thing he needed was a weepy woman tagging along.

  “Uh, no. We’re not going to be working together to find anything. Just point me to the nearest place I can get something to eat and I’ll be on my way.”

  In a second, her hands were back on his arm and squeezing. “Please let me help. I want to see the person who did this brought to justice.”

  Justice? Vasilije smiled at the idea o
f justice, sure she would be appalled by what he intended to do to Teagan’s killer. Humans were always more squeamish than he thought they should be, considering their own history.

  “How long were you and Teagan together?”

  “Why?”

  Vasilije noticed her defensiveness immediately. Her body language screamed she was hiding something.

  “You just seem very attached. That’s all.”

  Sasa shifted her weight between her feet. “I was. I mean, we were. Attached. And even though we had problems, we were trying to work things out.”

  “Problems?”

  A sheepish look came over her face. “I forgave him and we’d have worked things out...”

  Sasa’s lip quivered for just a second, and Vasilije was afraid she’d begin crying again. Teagan hadn’t changed in his new home, it seemed. A notorious ladies’ man, his wandering eye had been the reason he’d moved three thousand miles away from the only place he’d ever called home. Obviously, that relationship hadn’t survived since Sasa stood next to him all dewy eyed over his death.

  “I see.”

  “It’s not like that. It doesn’t matter what you think anyway. I just owe it to him to find out who did this.”

  Vasilije smiled at Sasa’s words. She was probably completely unaware that the one she’d caught her boyfriend with was likely one of many. Such blind devotion.

  “Love, I don’t think you understand what’s going to happen when I find the guy who did this. My idea of justice and yours aren’t the same, I guarantee you.”

  Sasa’s eyes grew wide. “Why? Is there some kind of ritual you plan to perform when you punish him?”

  Vasilije’s fangs snapped into position and he grinned to show her the weapons he’d use to punish the motherfucker who killed one of his own.

  “No ritual. Just these and all the blood I can handle.”

  The shock at his words was written all over her face. “You plan to drain them?”