Love Me Always: A Romance Anthology

by Peyton Banks

  “I’m at the beach.”

  Lawrence Sr. said things he’d never said to his son before. He made it clear how unhappy he was about what had happened.

  When Law hung up, Josie asked, “So, is that a yes? He’ll do it?”

  “No,” he said.

  All the color drained from her face as the realization set in.

  He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know what’s admirable?” She rolled her eyes. “You are dedicated to your community. That’s commendable.”

  For the first time since they’d met, she let her vulnerability show. She wiped her eyes.

  “Don’t cry. The fight isn’t over.”

  She shook her head.

  “It’s not. I don’t know if I’ll ever convince my father to sell this property or if Jay will hire me back. Time will tell. But I feel good about you and I finding a solution.”

  She wiped her eyes again.

  “You don’t have to cry,” he said.

  She took offense. “These aren’t sad tears. These are angry tears. I’m mad.”

  “At me?” He couldn’t see why.

  “No, at the world. All I want is for the people in my community to not be uprooted. Is that too much to ask?”

  Law’s phone beeped. “What is it now?” He hesitated to open the alerts.

  Josie checked her phone and gasped.

  “What is it?” Law asked as a news blurb came up. “The city council approved the plan.” The weight of his words were too heavy for him to digest. He read the story again. “They approved it. How can they do that? I wasn’t even there.”

  Josie placed a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. We knew it would happen.” She sighed. “We’ll… I’ll find another way. I must.” She hung her head and cried for real this time.

  Law didn’t hesitate to help her once again. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close, so she could rest her head on his shoulder. “As your unpaid lawyer, I must tell you I will stop at nothing to make sure it fully compensates your neighborhood and we find a new building, in the neighborhood, to build the community center with an attached park.”

  She sniffled as she looked up at him. “Are you allowed to make those promises?”

  “Probably not, but I don’t know. There’s something about you that makes me want to make sure you never cry like that again.”

  She couldn’t help herself. She jumped up and kissed him on the cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I promise you won’t regret this.”

  He hoped she was right, but if not, it didn’t matter. He’d deal with that when the time came.

  About the Author

  Ava Mallory was born to be a writer. As a child, she wrote on walls, windows, floors, her siblings, and any surface that sat still too long.

  Her love of the written word made up for her penchant for silence. That was difficult to find in the home she shared with five siblings, two (dare she say) loud parents, grandparents, and several dozen aunts, uncles, cousins, and long-time family friends who lived nearby.

  Growing up, Ava told everyone she would be famous. Of course, with all the noise, no one ever heard her, but that didn't stop her.

  After going off to university, marrying her then-Prince Charming, and having four children, her life went kaput, so she did what any irrational Spanish woman would do, she took it up a notch and sold her soul to the indie publishing world.

  When she's not writing, you can bet she's busy enjoying one or all of her many hobbies. They include: chauffeuring children, cooking for said children, finding all "lost" items for the children, recounting the days of her youth when she would walk five miles through the snow, up a hill backwards to go to school, running (after children or away from them), binge-watching true crime documentaries, streaming her favorite shows, scrolling through her social media feeds, or desperately looking for a quiet place in her house where she can take a nap.

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  My Vampire

  TAMI LUND

  Blurb

  My Vampire

  * * *

  Kiara Jackson has made a lucrative career out of giving her blood to vampires for a profit. Problem is, she hasn’t taken any time off in more than five years. When she mentions this to her favorite client, Amare Conrad, he suggests they vacation together at a nearby resort—as friends.

  No business expectations. No blood. Just relaxing and doing whatever she wants to do.

  But what if she wants to be more than just friends?

  1

  Kiara sat astride him, eyes closed, body gently swaying to some melody in her head. It sure as hell wasn’t coming out of the currently dormant speakers mounted onto the walls in Amare’s bedroom.

  In fact, the only sounds in the room were the occasional rustling of the sheets and—was she humming?

  Amare watched her, taking in the smooth, dark skin, the cluster of braids partially covering breasts that were jiggling slightly with her movements. And then he shook his head.

  Her eyes popped open as he grasped her hips and picked her off of his rapidly softening dick and placed her on the bed next to him. He really liked her eyes; they were big, brown, ringed with thick lashes. It was a giant turn-on when she actually looked at him while they were having sex.

  She glanced at his crotch as he tugged the sheet across it. “You’re done?”

  He shook his head. “Hard to get there when the other person in the room isn’t even in the room.”

  “I’m here,” she protested.

  “You were a million miles away. Tell me, what song was playing?”

  Her brow furrowed as she cocked her head. He sighed and swiped his wallet off the bedside table.

  “Look, I get it. We all have our off days.” He offered her a pile of bills. “Here. Go ahead and get dressed and get out of here.”

  She pushed his hand away and climbed off the bed, bending over to retrieve her dress from the floor. Amare unabashedly stared at her heart-shaped ass. His dick stirred, considered coming back to life.

  Of all the humans he’d fed from since he’d become a vampire, Kiara Jackson was by far his favorite. They had a standing date, every week, and he looked forward to each visit more than he probably should, considering their arrangement. She was a human who had figured out that offering up her blood and body to vampires was a damned lucrative living, and he was one of God only knew how many clients she had in her virtual Rolodex.

  “I don’t take money unless services are rendered.” She tugged her sequined, form-fitting red dress over her head, reaching behind her neck and pulling out her mass of tiny braids so that they draped down her back. She splayed her hand on the brown skin exposed above the rounded neckline of her dress. “Unless you still want to feed?”

  He had to admit, he was tempted. He wasn’t hungry, necessarily, as he’d gone to a party the night before and the appetizers had been willing human blood donors in all shapes and sizes. But when it came to Kiara, he was generally hard-pressed to say no.

  Instead of taking her up on her offer, however, he asked, “Is everything okay?”

  She stood at the end of the bed, running her fingers through her braids to untangle them, and offered him what looked like a sad smile. “You’ve never asked me that before.”

  “I should have. We’ve known each other long enough that we should at least be friends. Or friendly, I suppose.”

  “Oh, we’re plenty friendly. I’d say you’re as familiar with my body as I am at this point.”

  “I’m not the only one.” He didn’t mean to sound bitter. Or jealous. Even if maybe he was. Which was stupid. He knew what she did for a living; hell, that’s how they met. He had been looking for someone who would willingly offer blood on a regular basis. Bonus that she hadn’t been opposed to having sex as part of the deal. She was beautiful, cheeky, and—normal
ly—damned awesome in bed. Plus, her blood tasted amazing. It’d been a hell of a win.

  Until he started wanting more.

  She lifted one shoulder, let it drop again. “I was thinking about taking a vacation.”

  “Oh yeah? Where to?”

  She laughed and ran her hands through her braids again. “I don’t even know. Isn’t that crazy? I’ve been so focused on trying to figure out how I could fit something into my schedule that I didn’t even take a minute to figure out what the hell I would even do.”

  “Well, now’s a good time. We can brainstorm ideas.”

  She canted her head. “You want me to talk about my vacation plans?”

  He shrugged. “I’d like to know what you consider fun.”

  She sat down on the bed next to him. “To be honest, I’d really like to do nothing at all. No appointments, no commitments, no expectations.”

  “No sex. No blood.”

  “It sounds weird to say it, but…yes. Only because it’s work, you know? It’s my job. And even though it’s a job that generally leaves me pretty damn satisfied, it’s still a commitment. Requirement. Whatever you want to say.”

  “I get it.” He did. He didn’t like it, because no sex and no blood included no appointment with him, but he understood. Everybody needed a break once in a while. Work life balance and all that. “When are you planning to take this vacation?”

  “As soon as I can. My sister suggested I take an extra couple days off and take a long weekend, go to a spa or something.”

  “City or country?”

  She smiled and waved at his opulent bedroom. “Since all my work is in the city, I’m thinking country. As far from my everyday life as possible.”

  “So no vampires.”

  “That’s not a requirement. Take you, for example. I enjoy your company. I just don’t want to be obligated to feed you. Which sounds terrible, and I’m really sorry.”

  He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “No, stop. It’s not terrible. It’s completely reasonable. And I’m sorry I’ve not realized you needed a break sooner. I would have done something.”

  She snorted. “You aren’t my only client, you know.”

  Yes, he did. He pushed aside the jealousy as an idea began to form in his head. “What if you took an entire week? How many clients will you need to rearrange?”

  “Oh gosh, that’s at least a quarter of my roster. I could never take an entire week.”

  A couple of the human donors had slipped cards into his suitcoat at the party last night. He’d tossed the cards into the recycle bin as soon as he returned home, but he could always dig them out.

  “Are they on your phone?”

  She nodded.

  “Send me the list. I’ll reach out, make temporary arrangements for each of them for the rest of the week.”

  She stared at him, her already large eyes going even wider. “Why would you do that?”

  He smiled, and unable to resist, he tapped her nose. “Because I want to take you on vacation. Tomorrow. As friends.”

  2

  Kiara was actually doing this. She was going on vacation.

  With Amare.

  Just as friends, as he’d insisted. No sex, no blood. Totally platonic.

  The sleek, black Cadillac had pulled into the driveway at seven thirty sharp, Amare was walking up the path toward her front door, and she still couldn’t believe it was happening.

  She opened the door before he knocked and, for a second, forgot how to breathe. During their appointments, at least until the clothes started coming off, Amare was always elegantly dressed, often in a suit—at minimum in a button-down shirt and slacks.

  Today, his hair was closely cropped, as always, along with his perfectly manicured beard and mustache. But instead of an elegant suit or a $200 dress shirt, he wore a pair of baggy cargo shorts and a tightly fitted, V-neck yellow T-shirt, an attractive compliment to his smooth, dark skin.

  Amare in a suit was enough to make her blood sizzle in her veins, but this—this was an entirely different sensation. This was no longer work.

  She was almost disappointed he’d sworn there would be no sex or blood donations.

  “How are you going to do it?” she asked once she was settled into the buttery leather passenger seat and he’d backed out of the driveway and headed toward the freeway.

  “Do what?”

  “Go without blood for a week. Or are we going someplace where you can make a side arrangement with someone else?”

  “If necessary; however, it won’t be. I only need to eat once a week, and I’d partaken at a party the night before last.”

  “Wait, if you’d just eaten the night before, why did you keep our standing appointment?”

  “I don’t keep our appointments strictly for the blood and other benefits. I actually enjoy spending time with you, Kiara.”

  “Obviously.” She gave a nervous giggle. “Although we’ll see how you feel after a week straight together. So, tell me, what’s the plan?”

  “Well, I’ve kept the agenda fairly open, per your requirements. Although we are staying at a place where there are plenty of available opportunities to relax and have fun. Some do, I’m afraid, require appointments, though.”

  “I’m totally okay with scheduling fun. So how does this work, anyway? How do you know you’ll have a place to sleep during the day?”

  “That is why we are going to this particular resort. It caters to both humans and vampires. We’ll be staying at a lodge specially designed to keep my kind safe from the sun.” He picked up his phone and unlocked the screen, then handed it to her. “Open the last email. All the details are in there.”

  She did as he said. It felt intimate, like they really were the friends he insisted he wanted to be. Even her own sister had never let her look at her email.

  She read the terms of the reservation. A two-bedroom suite. Indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs. A full-service spa. Luxury restaurant onsite. The lodge was located in a remote area on the shores of Lake Michigan.

  “Wow. This sounds amazing. How long until we get there?”

  “About four hours. We should arrive shortly before midnight. Once we’ve checked in, we can go explore, acquaint ourselves with our home for the next week.”

  Four hours. Plenty far enough out of the city, which had been another one of her requirements. And with no requisite blood draw, she didn’t need to eat spinach all week.

  And he’d booked a two-bedroom suite.

  Funny how disappointed she was in that part of the agreement.

  “If you prefer to spend your days doing human activities and sleeping at night, I have no issue with that,” Amare remarked.

  “Why would you say that? We’re vacationing together, so shouldn’t we plan to spend time together?”

  “This is your vacation, so we are doing whatever makes you happy.”

  Impulsively, she patted his leg, but snatched her hand away because she didn’t want to come across as more than friendly. “I’m happy spending time with you.”

  He flashed her a smile, his canines slightly elongated, which normally indicated he was either hungry or turned on.

  She turned to face the window. Yes, she’d wanted—craved, really—a vacation for far too long. Amare was helping make that particular dream a reality.

  Was this the only dream she could pursue? Being a vampire whore—her mother’s words—certainly had its benefits, but it wasn’t a career she could sustain for the next fifty or sixty years. Eventually, she’d grow old, possibly develop health issues that would preclude her from donating her blood regularly. Sooner or later, she’d need to figure out a new career.

  Maybe this trip was her chance to clear her head and make a decision. Her chance to change her life.

  She glanced at Amare out of the corner of her eye. What a damn shame she’d have to give him up when she gave up this lifestyle.

  She was happy, which was all that mattered.

  Amare co
uld tell by the look on her face when, after they’d turned onto a tree-lined dirt road and drove for three-quarters of a mile, the lodge, with the lake in the background, had finally come into view. As it was the middle of the night, the place was lit up like a Christmas card. All it needed for the upcoming holiday season was a bit of greenery and some red felt bows, and it would be perfectly understated and elegant.

  Just like Kiara.

  About six years ago, shortly before he’d met Kiara, he’d spent an evening sitting on the deck, drinking whiskey with an old vampire friend. They’d been lamenting the fact so few places were vampire friendly outside of the metropolis areas. Somewhere they could go to unwind, relax, recharge.

  The next night, Amare’s friend Jackson texted him.

  * * *

  I have an idea.

  * * *

  He’d followed that text with a link to a real estate listing. Fifty acres of land and an old lodge, situated on the shore of Lake Michigan. The property had been owned by a local werewolf who’d died some years before; his heirs hadn’t paid taxes, and the state had finally caught up with them. Their poor management had certainly been Amare and Jackson’s gain. Within the first year of opening the doors, the Crimson Lodge had turned a profit. Quite the lucrative one.

  He, Jackson, and Kiara were not the only people who wanted to get away from it all on occasion.

  Amare guided the Cadillac underneath the canopy stretched over the front entrance and frowned as he parked behind a police cruiser.

  “The local police like to relax too, huh?” Kiara teased.

  “Not usually,” he murmured, climbing out of the car while the valet hurried over to open Kiara’s door.

  “Mr. Conrad,” the young man, a local human, said, his eyes widening. “Nice to see you again, sir.”