Vampire Marcus Dulcan had roamed the earth for more years than he cared to remember. On a whim, he’d settled in the small county of Transylvania, deep in the North Carolina Mountains. There, he’d been determined to live his life building homes where couples could raise a family and grow old together. Something he knew he would never have.
Then, late one night, he discovered that fate had not abandoned him when it sent a gorgeous curvy woman his way. But, there was more than one force at work as these two lovers soon discovered.
Chapter 1
“You freaking piece of crap!”
Out of habit, Sage Montgomery bit back the language she really wanted to use. She’d learned to do that in deference to the delicate ears of the children on the pediatric ward at St. Mary’s Hospital where she worked in southeast Georgia. Gripping the wheel of her rental car, she virtually willed the car to keep going. The high mountain road was not a place she wanted to be stranded with darkness approaching and the threat of a thunderstorm looming.
The car had given her trouble almost since the moment she’d turned the engine over. She should have followed her instincts and went back inside the rental place and demanded a new car. But it had been closing for the day, and all she’d wanted to do was get on the road.
She was on her way to Transylvania County, North Carolina. She’d always gotten a kick out of the name of the county where her grandmother lived. It made her dream of sophisticated older men who spoke with an accent. This was the second time she’d made this trip in less than two weeks. Her grandmother had passed away a week ago, and she’d attended her funeral along with her father. At the time he hadn’t been up to dealing with his mother’s estate. According to him, she’d been somewhat of a hoarder. Over her father’s protests, Sage had promised to return and sort through her grandmother’s things. Her father had insisted the attorney could handle it, but Sage felt she owed the other woman something since she hadn’t visited her much as an adult. She remembered the summers spent in North Carolina were some of the happiest of her life.
Now, Sage was almost regretting the decision to return as the sky darkened above her. Or, at least put it off for a few more weeks. It was nearly Halloween and for some unfathomable reason, Sage never did like to travel far from home during this time of the year. Weird and wacky things were always happening to here during the month of October. She remembered one year when she was in college and attended a costume party. A frat boy had become a little too amorous, and suddenly light bulbs were exploding throughout the fraternity house where the party was being held.
Sage would miss her grandmother and felt guilty for not coming to see the woman once she was an adult. She used to spend at least two weeks each summer in North Carolina with the woman. She’d been a wild child, exploring the mountains with her grandmother’s dog by her side or reading late into the night on the screened in back porch. It was a beautiful place, edging the Pisgah National Forest. The area also sported hundreds of waterfalls. She could remember going there and gathering herbs and plants with her grandmother. She frowned as a sharp pain raced through her head. She’d been getting those more and more lately. She told herself it was just the stress of her job. She’d been offered a promotion, but hadn’t given them an answer yet. It would be more money, more responsibility, but it would take her off the floor. She didn’t know if she could give up the contact with her patients. That was, after all, why she’d gone into nursing.
During her summers with her grandmother, she’d spent some time with the other children visiting their relatives, but had never quite fit in. That had become more than apparent as everyone had gotten older, and those friendships had turned into summertime trysts. She’d been, to put it kindly, pudgy as a teenager. She’d eventually grown into her curves but still carried more on her short frame that was socially acceptable or at least attractive to most men. She’d found her fair share that didn’t care, she just hadn’t found the one. The one that made her feel—
“Well, shit.” A cloud of white smoke escaped from under the hood and her check engine light flashed on. “Just. Fucking. Great.”
She eased the car over to the side of the road and cut the engine. Now, what? She didn’t even know if she could change a tire, much less figure out—and fix—whatever was causing the car to puff like a steam engine. For now, her only hope was that someone would come along and give her a lift. That was if anyone else was traveling this road in this weather. It wasn’t the main way into Transylvania, but she’d gotten lost about fifty miles back, and this was the closest way, according to the clerk behind the counter of the convenience store where she’d stopped for directions. That had been the last sign of civilization. Feeling the pressure building in her bladder, she regretted her decision to buy the big gulp and regretted, even more, having consumed it during the past hour.
Oh, well, she sighed, opening her car door. There was no getting around it. She had to use the bathroom. Better now while there was still some daylight, then if she did get stranded here after dark. She shivered at the thought. Stuck on the side of the road with no phone reception was how every horror movie she’d ever watched started out. And, it was usually the fat friend that got offed first.
Grabbing some tissues from her glove department, she climbed up the side of the hill until she found a line of small cedars that would make a good shield as she relieved herself.
After taking care of business, she buried the used paper. A pair of headlights came around the curve as she was pulling her pants back up. It slowed and stopped behind her stalled car. “Sweet,” she said, standing up and hurrying back down the mountainside. “Hello,” she yelled, waving her hands. “I’m so glad you stopped.” She came to a halt beside her car, holding her hand up to shield her eyes from the glare of the other car’s headlights.
The door opened, and she realized it was a truck. Again, she felt a shiver of unease. The day was fading fast, and the lights from the car seemed to shine even brighter. She heard the sound of booted feet on the asphalt.
“Hello?” Her voice quivered, and she had the almost uncontrollable urge to dive into her parked car and lock all the doors. The stranger continued to walk closer, and she finally made out the outline of his massive body.
“Do you need some help?” The stranger’s voice was dark and deep and for a moment the image of a man, dressed in a tux and wearing a black cape flashed in her mind. He seemed to be waiting for her. Calling to her.
“Yes, please.” She lowered her hand and waited to see what would happen. She waited for him to walk closer so she could see him.
She was not disappointed. As he cleared the front of his truck, his large frame blocked the light. She gulped at his size. He was taller than any man she had ever known, easily topping six five. His shoulders were broad, his arms as big as tree trunks. Of course, she knew that was all probably a trick of the light, but still, it made dampness quickly form in her girlie parts. A woman of her size appreciated—alright lusted—after a man built like an aircraft carrier.
Would he be big all over? Another shiver overtook her, but this time, it had nothing to do with the quickly chilling air closing in around her.
He continued to walk towards her, and she stood there, transfixed like prey, captured by an apex predator’s gaze.
“What’s the problem?” He came to a halt two feet in front of her, his face one big scowl that said he wasn’t happy having his evening disrupted. And certainly not by the likes of her.
She sighed inwardly. Naturally, he wasn’t one to get off helping a damsel in distress. That was just her luck. Always had been. He probably thought women were useless creatures that needed to be put in their place on a regular basis.
“I’m not sure.”
“You do have gas, don’t you?” His voice, the dark, deep timber that she’d thought so attractive now grated with its condescending edge.
“Yes, I have gas.” She used her nurse’s voice—the one she reserved for a doctor who was being a dick
head. They were usually so arrogant, they didn’t realize how condescending she was being. She knew this man wouldn’t recognize it either.
It was a pleasant surprise when one dark brow rose at her tone, indicating he knew exactly what she wasn’t saying. That he was a dickhead.
She let a small smile escape. “It lost power, and then steam started billowing from under the hood.”
“Let me take a look.” He huffed at her, and she backed up until she was at the front of her car. He stalked forward, pausing by the driver’s side door. He opened it, releasing the latch to the hood. As he passed by her, he walked closer than was absolutely necessary, pressing her back against the side of the car.
The car had already stopped steaming as he anchored the hood in the open position. She watched as he twisted off the radiator cap, bent down, and looked inside. She snorted to herself. What good would that do? There was no way he could see the water level inside. “It’s a rental car. I assume all the fluid levels are okay.”
He straightened and turned his head towards her. “Sometimes, it’s not safe to assume.” He bent back down and pulled out the dipstick. At least she knew what that was.
Next, he focused his attention back on the radiator. Which made sense since the car had been emitting white clouds of steam. He ran his hands down the hose and grunted. That didn’t sound too promising Sage thought, biting her lip.
He straightened up and slammed the hood shut. “The hose to your radiator is busted. I can’t fix it here.”
“Okay.” She stood there, the suddenness of his words freezing her, making her act like one of the helpless females he probably detested.
He walked around her, opening the driver’s side door again. Before she knew what was happening, he had her sweater and purse in one hand and was popping the trunk of her car. She hurried to him. “What are you doing?”
He lifted out her suitcase and slammed the trunk closed. “Do you have the keys?”
“Yes,” she replied automatically.
“Then lock it and let’s go.”
She did as she was told. “But where are we going?”
“Home. I’m taking you home.”
Marcus Dulcan had made some bad decisions in his time, starting with the day he’d volunteered to fight an unwinnable war. That decision had nothing on the one he’d made just now, taking the stranded motorist back to his home. Or should he say lair.
For Marcus Dulcan wasn’t simply a man. He was a creature. A creature of the night. A vampire.
The woman sat beside him in his truck, not moving. Had he scared her with his less than sociable ways? He’d distanced himself from people long ago, preferring the solitude. Avoiding the temptation.
Now that temptation was less than a foot away—and smelling so damn delicious that his fangs ached, and his cock hardened.
He wanted to sink himself inside her. His fangs into her throat as he tasted her blood and his cock into her pussy as he pumped his seed into her. Fucking shit!
He shifted in his seat, trying to ease the ache of his swollen body. It didn’t help. The friction against the leather seat just reminding him of what it would feel like sliding in and out of her wet pussy. By choice, it had been a very long time since he’d taken a woman. When you lived as long as he had, even sex became something boring and mundane. He’d heard that happened with humans, though, and hadn’t worried about it. Much. What male, especially a vampire, a creature of sexual fantasies everywhere, wanted to admit he no longer found the need to go out and conquer the fairer sex?
“What’s your name?”
“Sage.”
“Pretty. My name is Marcus.”
“Handsome,” she replied, giving him a small smile. The same expression had covered her face before. It hinted at her intelligence and softness all at once. He knew a full-blown smile would turn her almost ordinary features into a thing of beauty. He allowed his eyes to flow over her before turning his attention back to the road. Although he’d driven the two-lane highway for years and had excellent reflexes, he had no desire to plummet over the side, falling off the steep cliff on the right-hand side of the road.
“Where are you headed?”
“Rosman, it’s a little town in Transylvania County.”
He nodded. “I know it. I live a little before you get there.” Twenty years ago, he’d been looking for a new place to start over and the name of the county had caught his attention. Despite the popular believe that most vampires had originated in Transylvania, Romania, he’d never set foot in the country, having no desire to live where indoor plumbing and running water were considered modern conveniences.
Yeah, he’d traveled the world over, more than once. That’s what you did when you were over three hundred years old and rich as Midas. He didn’t want that anymore. He wanted roots. Routine. Thanks to the invention of synthetic blood, he’d been able to enjoy that stable lifestyle for years now. It was hard to be a good neighbor when you had to feed almost every day, and most of those meals were provided by your neighbors—unwillingly. Vampires were not the only species that needed blood to survive, just the only one at the top of the food chain.
Night had completely fallen, cocooning Sage and the stranger who had rescued her in the darkness of the truck’s cab. The silence should have been awkward. Two strangers forced together by circumstances. But, it wasn’t. For the first time in a long time, Sage felt at ease with a man. She cast a quick look his way. His profile was firm, his body a mass of bone and sinew put together in a package meant to fire any woman’s libido. Even one as non-existent as Sage’s.
She… oh, what naughty thoughts she was thinking. Her palms started to sweat when she realized what she wanted. She wanted to have a summer tryst with this man, even though it was closer to autumn than summer.
“Is something wrong?” He threw her a questioning look.
Sage realized with burning embarrassment that she must have moaned. “No, I. Um.” What could she say? I want to jump your bones? Or boner. She stifled a hysterical laugh. This was so not going to work. A femme fatal she wasn’t.
She’d only be here a few days, a week at the most. Then, once here grandmother’s estate was finalized, she’d probably never set foot in this part of the country again. Her father wanted to sell the house which would cut all their ties.
She never really understood what had happened between her father and his mother. All she knew was that one summer they didn’t go and visit her, and then they didn’t go the next year or the next. And then there were no more trips to North Carolina. It had happened when Sage had turned twelve. After that, her memories of her grandmother had seemed to simply fade away.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m just a little tired, that’s all.” She rubbed her temple where her head had started to throb again.
“Well, you probably have time for a nap.” He gave her another look, this time, longer. “You’re safe with me. I promise.”
“Okay.” Suddenly, Sage did feel the weight of the day settle over her. She closed her eyes, the image of him burned beneath her eyelids. In seconds, she was asleep.
Chapter 2
The next thing Sage knew, the truck was slowing down. The pattern of the wheels changed as he turned off the main highway onto a gravel road. She sat up, yawning. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
“No problem. I think you were tired.”
She stretched as best she could beneath the seatbelt, lifting her hands above her head. Her gaze flew in his direction at the sound of a sharply indrawn breath. His eyes were focused on her breasts. Breasts that were thrust forward by her movements. If she’d been caught in this position with any other man, she would have been hunching her shoulders to hide her body. But not with him. Not with this stranger who set her body on fire. Sage stilled, then slowly stretched again, arching her back like a lazy cat.
She thought she saw a flash of silver before he looked away, returning his attention back to
the road.
She settled back against her seat, surpressing the smile that wanted to curl her lips. It was so strange, this almost instant attraction—okay, okay, lust—she felt for him.
He drove for another quarter of a mile, the road cutting through a grove of trees that cast shadowy figures in the beam of the headlights. Another few yards and his house appeared.
“Whoa,” Sage exclaimed. “That was so not what I was expecting.” Before her was a two story house that should have been in an urban subdivision, not in the middle of nowhere. While it wasn’t massive, it was definitely bigger than any standard one-family dwelling. The outside was a combination of river stone and cedar logs. That was the only nod it gave to its rustic surroundings. The rest was made of glass and steel.
“Do you like it?” He cut the engine and turned to her, a certain note of expectation in his voice.
“Of course, what’s not to like?” Just then a streak of lightning flashed above the trees, followed quickly by a loud rumble of thunder. “Oh, no, here comes the storm.”
He reached over and undid her seatbelt, pulling her across to the driver’s side door. “We need to get inside.” He helped her from the seat, handing her the purse and sweater. “Get on the porch while I get your suitcase.”
He opened the door on the double-cab for the suitcase and followed quickly on her heels. Just as they stepped onto the wide wraparound porch, the skies opened up. “We were lucky there.” She stood on the top step watching it rain as he unlocked the door.
“Yes. It’s been a lucky night all the way around.” His deep voice filled the night, and she turned around, not expecting him to be standing directly behind her. She lost her balance and almost stumbled down the steps. One of his arms caught her around the waist before that could happen.
Taming the Vampire: Over 25 All New Paranormal Alpha Male Tales of Contemporary, Military, Shifters, Billionaires, Werewolves, Magic, Fae, Witches, Dragons, Demons & More Page 82
