Table of Contents
Praise for D.B. Reynolds’s Vampires in America
D.B. Reynolds Vampires in America
Vampires in AmericaThe VignettesVolume 2
Copyright
Dedication
From the Author
Vampire Vignette #10 an Old Friend
Vampire Vignette #11 My Heart
Vampire Vignette #12 When Juro Met Lucia (and fell in love)
Vampire Vignette #13 The Christmas Present
Vampire Vignette #14 Natalie’s Dream
Vampire Vignette #15 Old Enemies
Vampire Vignette #16 Dessert
Vampire Vignette #17 Dear Diary
Vampire Vignette #18 Freedom
Vampire Vignette #19 Merry Christmas, Baby
My gift to you . . .
A Note from the Author
My interview with a vampire! Huff ‘n Puff Reporter
An Interview with Cynthia Leighton
When Cyn Met Emma
An Introduction to Jared
Huff ‘n Puff Interview with Raphael And Cyn
A Touch of Lucas for Halloween
The Kissing Booth
Halloween Memories
Aden and Sidonie’s First Christmas
A Council of War
A Visit to the Haunted House
Please visit these websites for more information about D.B. Reynolds
About the Author
Praise for D.B. Reynolds’s
Vampires in America
TOP PICK! 4-1/2 Stars. “This is a power read, and fans will not be disappointed in the latest installment of Reynolds’s tantalizing series.”
—RT Book Reviews on LUCIFER
“Captivating and brimming with brilliance, CHRISTIAN is yet another defining addition to the ever-evolving world of Vampires in America created by D.B. Reynolds.”
—KT Book Reviews
“Did I mention that the sizzling sex factor in this book is reaching the combustible stage? It is a wonder my Kindle didn’t burn up.”
—La Deetda Reads on DECEPTION
“D.B. Reynolds has outdone herself with this exhilarating story; and VINCENT is a worthy addition to Reynolds’s always excellent Vampires in America series.”
—-Fresh Fiction
“Terrific writing, strong characters and world building, excellent storylines all help make Vampires in America a must read. Aden is one of the best so far.” A TOP BOOK OF THE YEAR!
—On Top Down Under Book Reviews
“In one of the most compelling vampire books I’ve read in a while, Reynolds blends an excellent mix of paranormal elements, suspense and combustible attraction.”
—RT Book Reviews on LUCAS
“Move over Raphael, there’s a new Lord in town.”
—Bitten by Paranormal Romance on JABRIL
D.B. Reynolds
Vampires in America
Raphael
Jabril
Rajmund
Sophia
Duncan
Lucas
Aden
Vincent
Vampires in America: The Vampire Wars
Deception
Christian
Lucifer
The Cyn and Raphael Novellas
Betrayed
Hunted
Unforgiven
Compelled
Relentless
The Stone Warriors
The Stone Warriors: Damian
The Stone Warriors: Kato
Vampires in America
The Vignettes
Volume 2
by
D. B. Reynolds
ImaJinn Books
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or locations is entirely coincidental.
ImaJinn Books
PO BOX 300921
Memphis, TN 38130
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61194-832-5
Print ISBN: 978-1-61194-846-2
ImaJinn Books is an Imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.
Copyright © 2017 by D. B. Reynolds
Published in the United States of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
ImaJinn Books was founded by Linda Kichline.
We at ImaJinn Books enjoy hearing from readers. Visit our websites
ImaJinnBooks.com
BelleBooks.com
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: Debra Dixon
Interior design: Hank Smith
Photo/Art credits:
Background (manipulated) © Rfischia | Dreamstime.com
Couple (manipulated) © Arturkurjan | Dreamstime.com
:Mvvc:01:
Dedication
With love to my readers,
because you’re the reason I write these stories.
From the Author
I started writing my Vampire Vignettes in 2009, because my readers wanted more. RAPHAEL and JABRIL had just come out only a few months apart, but I knew there was going to be a longer wait for RAJMUND, because I was still writing his story. So, as a way to keep my readers happy while they waited, I wrote my very first vignette. “A Vampire New Year’s Eve” was a short and sexy story of Raphael and Cyn and their special way of celebrating the New Year. I published it on my website, and my readers loved it. The new books came out, but I kept writing my vignettes, too. They were little glimpses into my vampires’ lives—private moments that happened when they weren’t fighting for territory and destroying evil vampires, when they weren’t trying to win the hearts of the women (and man) that they loved.
In 2012, I put together Vampires in America: The Vignettes-Volume 1. It included all the stories that had been published on my website at that point, plus some new stories that hadn’t. I called it Volume 1, and the first question my readers asked was, “Is there going to be a Volume 2?” I said, “Yes, eventually.” Well, it took five years, but here we are at last . . . Volume 2.
I want to thank every reader who ever sent me an e-mail, a message, a card or letter, every one of you who left a review on Amazon, or who told your friends, “You have to read these books.” If not for your love and support, I wouldn’t be able to spend my nights doing what I love . . . writing stories for all of you to read.
xoxo
—D. B. Reynolds
Vampire Vignette #10
an Old Friend
Shortly after the events in DUNCAN, Book Five
Malibu, California
CYN TUCKED HER stockinged feet beneath her and curled into the corner of the oversized leather chair. The lights in the private suite she shared with Raphael were dim, and not just because he preferred it that way. He was upstairs, so if she’d wanted, she could have turned every light in the place to its highest setting, and no one would have cared.
But the lights were dim because it suited her mood this evening, and her mood was sad. She didn’t even know why she was sad. Or rather she did know, but . . . well, it was complicated. She was sad because Raphael was sad. She just didn’t know why he was sad. Not yet anyway, th
ough she had no doubt she would know before the night was over.
They’d just finished showering . . . and other things, since shower sex was a particular favorite of Raphael’s. She suspected he enjoyed the ambush quality of it, though he hadn’t ever had to work that hard at it. She’d been embarrassingly easy almost from the beginning. She took some solace in knowing she’d held out for the short time she had. She didn’t like to think about the months after that, before Raphael had finally admitted he couldn’t live without her.
She smiled briefly, the smile dying when she cast her gaze and her thoughts upward to where she could feel Raphael’s emotions as clearly as if they were her own. He’d been called to the phone right after their shower. She hadn’t been able to hear when Juro told him who was calling, but she had seen his surprise. Whoever it was hadn’t been expected. And now, he was sad.
The whir of the elevator mechanism alerted her to his imminent return, and she sat up expectantly, waiting for the doors to open. Her heart was tripping a little too rapidly, her throat dry. The doors opened, and Raphael stepped into the shadowy room, his gaze going directly to where she sat in her dark corner.
“Raphael?” Cyn was on her feet and moving toward him before she was aware of it. There was such pain in his face. She’d never seen anything like it, except maybe when Marco and Preston had died up north . . . was that it? Had someone else died?
“Raphael, who was it?”
He pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair with a deep sigh of relief. His entire body relaxed then, as if he’d been holding it all in, just waiting for the comfort of holding her.
Cyn reached up and stroked her fingers over the back of his head, soothing him.
“Come sit with me,” she murmured, and tugged him toward the huge chair which had been designed to fit his considerable stature. He came willingly, letting her lead him, letting her push him gently down, before she climbed onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him. His arms circled her immediately, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.
But she didn’t complain. She’d never seen him like this. Vulnerable. Even when Alexandra had betrayed him, he hadn’t been like this. He’d been furious, not sad, not lost. Something terrible must have happened.
“What do you need?” she asked gently, stroking his neck and shoulders with long, slow movements, designed to soothe and relax. “What can I do?”
She thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then his deep voice rumbled, “Just this, my Cyn. You’re the only comfort I need.”
Tears stung her eyes. She loved him so much. It hurt to see him in such pain, but at the same time, it touched her to know she could console him.
“Tell me what happened,” she urged.
“An old friend died.”
Cyn breathed a silent sight of relief. Part of her had feared that another of his children, maybe even someone she knew, had died. But he’d said, “old friend.”
“Not one of yours, then?” she clarified cautiously.
“No.” He shook his head. “My friend Andrei and I were brothers of a sort. We shared the same Sire. She turned him only weeks after she attacked me, and she abandoned us both.”
“Did you know him before?”
Raphael lifted his head enough to lean back against the chair, pulling her with him, so her head rested next to his. She could feel the slow beat of his heart against her ribs, the steady in and out of his breathing.
“No,” he said, answering her question. “We didn’t meet until she called us to her, decades later. I know now that she was weakening, that she needed our strength to bolster her own. Andrei wasn’t powerful, not in vampiric power, but he was physically unmatched, a true bull of a man. That’s not as useful to a master as the other, but our mistress preferred vampires like Andrei. He lent her his strength without question, never challenged her, no matter how cruel she became. And she could be very cruel when life disappointed her.”
He closed his eyes, as if too weary to continue, and Cyn ran soft fingertips over the sharp curve of his cheekbone.
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to,” he assured her. “It’s the only way I have of remembering him.”
Cyn nodded her understanding, and waited.
“By the time I decided to leave Europe, our mistress was long dead, and Andrei had been living for some years in the court of another. I asked him to go with me, but he refused. I was leaving to escape the old hierarchy of Europe, but he found comfort in its familiarity, and didn’t mind swearing fealty to another.”
“You stayed in touch?”
Raphael smiled sadly. “There was no staying in touch then, my Cyn. Letters took months, sometimes longer, to reach their goal. And that was assuming the recipient stayed in one place, which I certainly did not do for some time.”
“But later? Someone knew enough to call you tonight.”
He nodded. “Later, when communication became easier, I located him, and invited him once more to join me. But he was content.”
“So, what happened?”
“Things are unsettled in Europe right now. There’ve been many changes in the last twenty years . . . wars, changes in international boundaries, countries created, or should I say re-created, decades after the international community had consigned them to the history books. And humans aren’t the only ones fighting one another. There are too many old vampires, too many masters, and not enough followers, with no room for new blood. Andrei’s master was one of those old vampires. He was challenged, and he lost. But he didn’t go easily, and in the final battle, he drained any of his people who weren’t strong enough to resist him. And, as I said, Andrei was never strong. Not that way.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He lived a long time, longer than I would have thought, given his power. But then, he never challenged anyone. He offered his strength willingly to his master, and he was loyal to the end.”
Cyn sighed and pressed closer to Raphael. “What can I do?”
He turned his head slightly, his black gaze meeting hers. “Kiss me, my Cyn. Remind me that I, at least, am alive.”
A thin blade of fear stabbed her heart at his words. He sounded so tired, so defeated. She’d never heard him like this, and it terrified her. Threading her fingers through his short hair, she touched her lips to his. Gently at first, a brush of softness. Her tongue caressed the seam of his lips, then slipped between them to stroke the inside of his mouth, to tease his tongue into responding.
A low growl rose from his broad chest as his arms tightened around her, one of his big hands dropping down to squeeze her butt. She felt the growing ridge of his arousal and shifted closer, rising onto her knees and straddling him until the hard length of his cock was pressed between her thighs. Taking control, she tugged his head back as she plundered his mouth, her own excitement growing when she felt the first sting of his fangs as they emerged from his gums. More proof of his arousal.
“Raphael,” she whispered, her own need growing. “I love you. I need you.”
Raphael gripped her butt with both hands and pulled her even closer. Eyes closed, he thrust against her, grinding the seam of her denims into the vee between her legs, hitting her clit with uncanny accuracy.
Needing more skin, she reached down with both hands and tugged her sweater and camisole off together, leaving her in nothing but her bra—a bra which was little more than sheer silk and lace, something she’d donned earlier with the intent of tormenting Raphael. But now, she was the one being tormented, needing to offer solace, rather than seduction, to go slowly, lovingly, instead of ripping his button fly open and sucking him into her mouth like a length of warm, delicious candy.
She nearly groaned at the image that filled her head. She looked up to see Raphael’s eyes flash open. They were more silver than black as h
e bared his teeth and fangs in a predator’s grin.
He gave her ass a final squeeze with strong fingers, then traced a path up over her hips, circling her waist briefly before cupping both her breasts as he thumbed her already hard nipples. Cyn inhaled sharply as the soft lace scraped the swollen tips, then gave in and groaned out loud when Raphael unsnapped the front closure on her bra, freeing their heavy weight to fall into his hands.
“Beautiful, my Cyn,” he whispered. “Always beautiful.”
But he didn’t stop there. He released her breasts, leaving them aching and hungry, and slipped his hands up her arms until he was gripping her biceps. Giving her a sly look, he lifted her off his lap, then spread his legs until she slid between them to kneel on the floor, exactly where she’d thought about being a few moments earlier.
“Sneak,” she murmured, even as she shrugged out of her bra and popped the buttons on his fly one at a time.
Raphael only smiled slightly—still so sad, she thought. She reached into the open fly of his denims and freed his gorgeous, big cock. And it was gorgeous. Long and velvety, thick enough to be erotic, to stretch her wonderfully wide and tight, but still graceful in its beauty. She licked up one side slowly, sensuously, starting at the tight crease where it met his balls and stroking all the way up to the head, swirling her tongue over and around, dipping her tongue into the slit, sucking up the drop of pre-cum pearling its tip, before licking down the other side and starting up all over again.
Twisting her tongue around the tip once more, she raised just her eyes to look up at Raphael and found him watching her, his gaze molten silver as he stared back, his fingers reaching out to twist in her hair.
Maintaining eye contact, Cyn sucked his entire cock into her mouth, feeling it stroke the back of her throat before she lifted her head, her tongue swirling around and around as she moved up and down in a steady rhythm. Raphael’s fingers fisted in her hair as his shaft swelled, his balls tightening. Cyn cupped his balls in the fingers of one hand, caressing them firmly, scraping her nails along his tight sac, just on the edge of pain. With her other hand, she gripped the base of his cock as she pumped faster, sucked harder.
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