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by Tonya Nagle

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  The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais

  By

  Susan Hanniford Crowley

  TEASE PUBLISHING

  www.teasepublishingllc.com

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A Tease Publishing Book/E book

  THE STORMY LOVE LIFE OF LAURA CORDELAIS

  Copyright© 2009 Susan Hanniford Crowley

  ISBN: 978-1-60767-080-3

  Cover Artist: Kendra

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  Tease Publishing LLC

  www.teasepublishingllc.com

  PO BOX 234

  Swansboro, North Carolina 28584-0234

  Tease and the T logo is  Tease Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

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  For Lawrence

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  A lot of people deserve my thanks during the writing and publication of this book.

  Hopefully, I won't forget anyone. Here they are, not necessarily in chronological order: My best friend, Anne, who is my first reader. My close friend, Deb, who encouraged me.

  The science fiction and fantasy writers, at Critters, who saw and critiqued the earlier drafts of this book. Chet Gottfried, science fiction author, who did many critiques on this book. Jennifer Stevenson, who opened my eyes to the idea of writing romance -

  when that happened, I realized this book was more than a fantasy novel. Steve for critiquing the big fight scene. Debi for cheering me on.

  My dojo, Gabrieles Martial Arts, helped me to become physically stronger, which every writer really needs. Sensei Matt for the vigorous inspiration to keep going in all things.

  Rom-Critters (Romance Critters) and the authors there who critiqued the new, improved romance version of this book; especially a.c. Mason, who critiqued this book to the very last version.

  Kristan Higgins for her help with my query. Lori Avocato for her help with my query, synopsis, and coaching on pitching my book. To the authors of CTRWA, from whom I've learned a lot about the craft and business of romance writing.

  Stella Price, who pushed me, and I'm grateful she did. My editor, Jocelynn, who finds all my mistakes, so the world doesn't see them. My cover artist, Kendra, who has created a drop dead gorgeous cover. And my editor-in-chief, Tonya, who took a risk on a brand new romance author.

  Harold, who helped me believe in myself.

  My family, especially my father and my daughters, who believe in me. My husband Lawrence, who makes it possible for me to spend endless hours writing and is my inspiration of what love is.

  Thank you all.

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  Chapter 1

  "I wish I'd had a different life." Laura stood on the edge, gripping the metal railing. Tears fell down her face in a torrent, obscuring the reflection of New York's lights in the dark water beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. The brackish stink mixed with the rain stung her like a million needles, through her clothes, her hair. As her eyes fluttered closed and she took a deep breath, all the horrible events of that day crashed down on her like worlds colliding.

  "I found someone else. She's so exciting."

  When the wind whistled through the cables, Laura could swear she heard her aunt say, "I thought someone told you your Mom was in the hospital, honey. She rallied.

  Then died. Fast. She died fast. The funeral is tomorrow."

  Laura coughed as the rain pelted her harder and harder.

  "Hey, lady! Don't!"

  The deep, bass voice reminded her of that exact moment when she knew nothing mattered anymore. That voice shouting for her not to jump. Familiar. It sounded so familiar, much like the cab driver who took her here. After her life spiraled downhill.

  Mugged. Purse stolen. Her precious art strewn about. She had nothing left. Nothing, except the control of life or death.

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  Laura lost herself, lost her will to trudge another day, lost the hope she always saw in her mother's eyes. Her heart fluttered. I want to die. I don't want to be hurt anymore.

  She couldn’t stop crying, and the night sky opened up in sympathy. A police siren blared. Its rolling red lights blurred in the downpour like a watercolor painting. Life was washing away. Laura moved one foot into the air as if testing it. Her chest ached.

  I don't really want to die. An ember of hope still burned in her.

  She twisted, holding on with one hand, while the other reached. She tried to grasp the rail. Her foot slipped. Her hand released.

  Plunging into the darkness, fear rose inside while regret surged. She really didn't want to die! God, help me! When she hit the wetness, she grasped at nothing. Nothing while the black water engulfed her into its depths.

  Drowning hurts. She gasped and fought for air but lost her direction. As she floated down, her head filled with half images of family. Just as she focused on one picture, it would melt away. Her hands grew cold. She couldn't feel her feet. Her lungs burned.

  So this was dying.

  ***

  "Thanks," David said as he handed the driver his fare and watched the cab pull away from the curb into the rainy night. The cab's passenger, an attractive young woman, would wake the next morning with a slight feeling of euphoria but otherwise no memory of their evening together. David grimaced to himself. He could do with some euphoria.

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  Then he looked across the street and sighed. There it was. A hotel stood in place of the family home his father built in 1857. He missed his mother and brothers.

  William and George, his older brothers, died in the war. David was supposed to die at Gettysburg, but that vampire . . . He closed his eyes to push away the memory that hurt so much. His honor was robbed that night when his blood seeped into the battlefield.

  That ghastly, white face stole his humanity with a single bite.

  He shook his head studying the building. He took a room there once. He wanted to feel his mother's gentle presence. He had been desolate. He needed her so the loneliness wouldn't eat him. But David found nothing. No presence. No feeling the family ever existed.

  Heavy rain beat down on him, but David remained untouched by a single drop.

  Pain, however, still reached through time to touch him.

  "You are a deserter. You are no longer my son."

  The image of his little brother Thomas waving from an upstairs window. A hand-painted, wooden soldier David left on the back porch for the boy.

  It was over that fast.

  David walked down the street in the rain. While his hunger was satisfied, his longing was not. Blood was not enough anymore. Lust for strangers left him empty.

  David wanted love, and deep in his barely beating heart, he asked, God, take pity on a vampire.

  Pain seared through his chest. He fell to his knees. David shook his head knowing vampires did not have heart attacks. Trying to stand, he froze. A vision. A woman falling. Despite the pain, he heard her cries and took to the air, then plunged into the East River.

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  A million contradictory thoughts ran through his brain, one being that he shouldn't be in salt water, but he dismissed them all. He had to find her. A flash of gold caught his eye. He rushed toward it, found her, and pulled her to the surface. She didn't stir. He pressed her face to
his. She's so cold but so soft. He sighed. Her lips are blue!

  Holding her tightly in his arms, he exploded from the water and minutes later landed across the street from a hospital.

  I'll just give her to them. All I have to do is walk across the street. She'll be all right. But he didn't move. She stirred feelings inside him like no one ever had. David didn't want to let her go. More than anything he wanted her to live, but he sensed the massive injuries to her body. She had hit the water like concrete. Blood seeped from her ears. No. The moment he brushed her golden locks from her beautiful, still face, his heart broke. He cradled her against him like a child. I can't let her die.

  Her eyes fluttered. She coughed. He laid her on the small patch of grass between buildings. She puked, spewing out blood and black water. She wheezed, trying to breathe through shaky gasps.

  "Oh, God, how I hurt!"

  "I'm taking you to the hospital. It's only across the street."

  "No hospital. I'll try . . . again." Ragged breaths interrupted her words. "I'll kill myself . . . sooner or later."

  "Please, don't say that."

  ***

  He looked so hurt. Even as her life slipped away, Laura couldn't bear his pain.

  It's a shame I didn't meet you before the bridge. Her hands and feet were so cold now.

  She couldn't feel them. Her heart felt tired, so very tired. The rain had stopped. Even 9

  the stars were fading. Her heart slowed so she could measure every beat. The world no longer exists, at least, not for me. She welcomed the release. Maybe in the next world, someone will love me. Maybe in the next world people won't have to die. Maybe.

  ***

  When she fell unconscious, David took to the sky again. Dawn was near, and he had to get her somewhere safe. The cemetery on the other side of the river would suffice. In the sheltered dark of the city's ancestors, David embraced her. He understood the pain she held. As it radiated into him, he knew more and more about her. David could not let her die; he just couldn't.

  Her body was limp, beyond misery. If he didn't act quickly, she'd be gone. David ripped her blouse to bare her neck, and then pierced the delicate flesh with his fangs.

  He drew her blood slowly into him and closed his eyes to concentrate. He had to catch that last beat. One, two, three, four. Each grew slower and fainter. Five. Then there was silence. Withdrawing his fangs from the wound, he bit his lower lip and allowed some of his own blood to seep into her. Then he licked the wound to help it close. A tear slid down his face. He mourned for the loss of her humanity and hoped she would accept his gift. The sun came up beyond the mausoleum's walls, and David wrapped her in his coat. It would be hours before the change, but he would watch over her as if she might awaken any moment.

  She was the loveliest creature he'd ever seen with her flowing blonde hair, the pale blue eyes he'd glimpsed just before they closed, the delicate features, and rose petal lips. He so wanted to taste those lips. Was it possible to love someone so completely when you first meet? Was she the answer to his eternal loneliness? He took her sweet hand in his and kissed it. He would wait.

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  ***

  Laura struggled through the dark and burst through a great light. She gasped for breath and it filled her. Warmth spread through her every part, then a surge of energy she didn't understand. Her heart beat. Differently. Odd. Different from any feeling she'd ever had. Her eyelashes fluttered and then in the dim light of a strange windowless room, she saw a man's face.

  His dark, curly hair framed his chiseled features. What struck her most were his dark, fathomless eyes. I can get lost in those eyes and never want to leave.

  He smiled.

  She flushed. I hope he can't hear what I'm thinking.

  I can.

  She sat up, smiling with embarrassment. "You pulled me out of the river?"

  "Yes."

  "Thank you." Laura trembled. "I don't understand. I was dying."

  "You were very badly injured in the fall. I was going to take you to the hospital, but you said, 'No hospital.' That you'd keep trying to kill yourself." His jaw tightened.

  "I couldn't bear the idea of your death. Please, forgive me, but I couldn't let you die."

  He gazed deeply into her eyes.

  Laura moved her tongue inside her mouth and came across the fangs.

  "Oh, my God!" She tried to sit up, but he pushed her gently down.

  "Don't get up just yet. You're still healing."

  "You made me a vampire?" Every tale she'd heard as a child in New Orleans rushed back to her. Vampires were monsters. "Now I'm a monster!" Anger flushed through her. How dare he make her this! He had no right. She seethed.

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  "No. You are not a monster. Neither am I. I gave you a life. It's your choice how you live it."

  Then another emotion unexpectedly filled her, when she gazed up into his eyes . I couldn't bear the idea of your death. His tender words echoed in her entire being and soothed her broken heart, as if he'd kissed her lips without touching her. She looked at him with wonder, reached up and caressed the young beard on his chin. He smiled and she could see his fangs now. Strangely, she wasn't frightened.

  "We must do the last part." He bit into his arm just inside the elbow and put it against her mouth.

  "No." She pushed his arm away.

  "You need it to stop the hunger from possessing you. Just close your eyes and drink."

  The blood oozed into her mouth, as he pressed his arm against her lips. At first, she choked and sputtered but then finally accepted it. Laura tried not to think about what it really was. The warmth reminded her of ginger tea with a citrus tang.

  "Since I am your sire, my blood will give you a balanced mind. You will not need to feed again until tonight."

  After a few more minutes, she pushed him away. The wound on his arm healed before her eyes. Wide-eyed, she smiled. "I feel so strong and well. I don't ache or hurt anywhere." Then his reference to being her sire struck her. "So you own me now!" Her anger flared again along with her strength. She slapped him.

  "What was that for?" He held his hand to his cheek.

  "Oh, I don't know. You made me a vampire and now you own me. Take your pick."

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  David gazed upward. "This isn't going well."

  "Who are you talking to?"

  "God."

  Laura scoffed. "A vampire talks to God? Does God answer you?"

  David frowned at her and sighed. "God apparently has one hell of a sense of humor."

  "What does that mean?"

  "Never mind. Let's get back to the subject at hand. No, I do not own you. I have no claim on you whatsoever. You are free to decide where you want to be and with whom. I'll help you get started, that's all." With every word, he seemed more uncomfortable. "We do have a blood tie though, so if you ever need my help, just think of me and I'll come. I'll find you."

  Her anger dissipated. Laura enjoyed seeing him vulnerable. And he didn't hit her back. She smiled. "I don't know your name."

  "I'm David Hilliard."

  This time she gently touched his face. "I'm Laura Cordelais."

  He held her hand to his cheek and closed his eyes.

  Laura gasped as she realized her surroundings. "Do you live here?"

  "No." He chuckled. "I just needed to get you out of the sun. I have an apartment."

  "Well, that's a relief. I thought I'd have to live in a cemetery."

  They both laughed.

  Laura looked around at the grim tomb. A spider crawled up the stone wall nearest her, and she trembled. "I'm afraid of small, closed spaces. And bugs."

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  He enclosed her in his arms. "Don't be afraid. As soon as it's dark, we'll leave."

  Her mouth was so close to his, she could almost taste him. Then he pressed his firm lips against hers.

  Hmm. He tastes of honey. I love honey.

  Their fangs knocked together. Laura giggled nervously.

  "Shall we try that
again?" he suggested.

  She nodded.

  David gently took her chin and tilted her head slightly. Then his lips possessed hers again. Laura tingled from head to toe and wondered if a vampire was capable of love. She hoped David was.

  When their lips parted, Laura frowned.

  "I'm still angry with you."

  "Really? You don't sound that angry."

  "I'm furious with you. I mean you made me a vampire."

  "Are you furious?" He carefully pushed a hair off her face and kissed her forehead.

  "Now that's not fair. Are you using your hypnotic powers on me?"

  "No. I want everything between us to be real." He kissed her left temple and moved down her jaw line. His mouth caressed her lips. His tongue rubbed her fangs.

  "Whoa." Rubbing her fangs stirred a passion so hot, it was hard to ignore. Still.

  He had just made her a vampire. All his distractions were making her forget that. She should be angry with him, but his kiss stirred up a frenzy of desire.

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  He pulled back to look at her, and her fingers lingered, playing with his hair.

  Laura became lost in his deep, dark eyes, at first fathomless, but now as tantalizing and luscious as chocolate.

  ***

  David looked into her eyes and felt the strong attraction. Laura didn't look away.

  Her gaze was steady. She wasn't afraid and that pleased him. He would have to teach her how to shield her thoughts from others, but not now. Not today. He enjoyed knowing she felt the same way. He needed her love.