Her Vampire Hero (Midnight Doms Book 4)

by Nicolina Martin

  I howl to the night sky and keep running, the blocks blurring. I cross a street again, jump, laughing maniacally as I make it over a car with ease. I pass lit windows with normal people having normal dinners in their normal lives. As I reach the edge of the seemingly endless desert, I come to a halt. Tiny drops hit my face, turning into a light drizzle. I look up at the sky and inhale. I should be cold, but I’m not. I’m not hungry, not tired, my feet have pounded the asphalt for miles and miles, but they don’t hurt.

  So this is what it’s like?

  Why did Lou want to deny me this? Why did he want me to stay weighed down in my human form?

  Because his turning was horrible, a little voice whispers. Because he didn’t wish this upon his worst enemy. He didn’t want to hurt me. Well, in the end he did. He thinks I betrayed him, and his pain resonates in me, ripping me apart. Even across the distance, I feel him. At first I think I’m hallucinating, imagining things, then I realize it’s for real. I feel him.

  He fed me his blood. He gave me my new life. Will I always feel him? I stop, listen, reach. His pain is mine, and if I thought my newborn crazy emotions were strong, they’re nothing compared to a thousands of years old vampire’s mourning.

  I sense him moving through the city. I wonder if he feels me just as strongly. Suddenly my throat aches and my fangs snap down so fast that I cry out. He’s feeding! I’m miles from him, out in the desert, and he’s gorging on human blood, warm, straight from a neck. I spin, look around me in despair. He’s doing it on purpose, I swear. He’s teasing me, pulling me to him, showing me that I need him.

  Well, joke’s on him because I know where to go. I run again. I know where I can find blood without risking someone’s life. Steering toward the hospital, I look at my soaked, half-dressed appearance and stop flat outside a house where a woman sits alone by a kitchen table. I’m by the door, knocking, before I’ve even consciously decided upon it.

  She is reasonably apprehensive as she looks me up and down. “Yes?”

  I chatter my teeth and stutter out something about being cold. I’m not sure what I’m saying, I’m transfixed by the thudding of the carotid artery right beneath the delicate skin on her neck.

  “I’m… I’m calling the police,” she says.

  Not very helpful. I pull at the door and try to pass her, to get inside but something stops me. I can’t cross the threshold. I try again. She shouts something.

  “Shh,” I tell her and catch her eyes with mine. “Let me inside.”

  She snaps her mouth shut and takes a step to the side. I try again, but I can’t pass. Images of Lou at my apartment kicks the memory alive. Oh, crap. Well, good on the humans, I guess. On the other hand...

  “Tell me to come inside.”

  “Come inside,” she says, her voice faint, her pupils dilated and unfocused.

  I try again and voila! “Are you alone?” I’m getting hungry. Really hungry. Lou, the bastard is feeding again. My stomach aches and my throat is raw with thirst. Fuck him!

  “Yes,” she says.

  “I need pants. And a blouse.” I look at my bare feet. I don’t need shoes, but better to use them to fit in. “Shoes.”

  “Yes,” she says breathlessly.

  I crouch and grip my aching midsection. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I gasp. “Run!”

  The woman darts up the stairs and it takes forever. Human speed is impossibly slow. Finally, she comes back down with her arms full of clothes, her mouth hangs open and a dribble of drool hangs on her lip. I wince. Poor thing. I have no idea what I’m doing with this compelling thing.

  “Leave the clothes,” I groan. “Go upstairs and lock yourself inside your bathroom. Don’t come down until after I’ve left.”

  She stares at me, her face blank.

  “Go!” I shout. She pales and stumbles back up the stairs. I listen to the click of the lock, then I tear through the pile of clothes, pulling on the first items I get my hands on. God, I need Lou. I need him to stop eating.

  I need him to—

  I just need him!

  I was so angry with him. I think he’s angry with me, but I don’t care. He knows I feel him, and he’s coaxing me. I’ll freaking tear his throat. I wasn’t a violent human, but I have no control of the rage that wracks my vampire soul. I just need to take it out on the right creature, or I’ll regret my actions for the rest of my life.

  I find him in an alley, high on blood, his cheeks flushed, his eyes gleaming in the dark. He reeks of his latest feed, sweet and absolutely delicious. His every feature stands out to me, his squared jaw beneath the dark rich stubble, his high cheekbones, his deep brown eyes and thick tousled hair. Jealousy surges through me, like a red hot poker stabbing my heart. Sweet blood.

  “Did you—?”

  He shakes his head. “I just scared the crap out of him.”

  “You didn’t—”

  “Not without you.”

  I slap him, making him stagger back. “I hate you!”

  He laughs.

  “You teased me!”

  “I know.”

  “I’m hungry!”

  “I know.”

  “Bastard.”

  “Why didn’t you raid the hospital?”

  “I never made it that far,” I mutter. “I was in an unfortunate state of… undress. Also, thinking about it, I find it freaking unethical to take donated blood from the hospital. It’s there for a reason, and there’s always a shortage.”

  He regards me, his gaze traveling my body. “You’re still in an unfortunate state of—”

  “Shut up!” I look down on my hopelessly mismatched outfit and then at his expensive suit and coat, a striped scarf slung around his neck, his shoes black, polished to perfection. “I almost ate her.”

  He cocks his head.

  “Your fault.”

  Lou laughs, his serious features lightening. “But you didn’t.”

  “I’m a doctor. I don’t kill people!”

  He doesn't answer. I drink him in. I want to claw his handsome face, mark him as mine, tear those stylish clothes off his body and fuck until dawn.

  “I wanted it to be you,” I say. “Who took my human life.”

  Lou steps closer. His heart beats, and so help me God, so does mine. It slams harder the closer he gets.

  “I know,” he says.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I didn’t think you were ready. I judged you from my own experiences, but you are not me. You are your own.”

  “I’m stronger than you think.”

  “Definitely.” He puts a hand on my nape, threading his fingers through my tresses.

  I didn’t think a vampire could lose their breath, but it feels like I do. Warmth spreads through my chest, through my belly. His touch makes a heady, syrupy feeling settle between my legs.

  “You’re cheating,” I gasp.

  “Well, you’re easy, little girl.”

  I try to raise my hand to slap him again, but he catches it in a flash. “Are you calling me a whore?”

  Lou raises an eyebrow. “I’m saying that all I need to do is this—” He spins me around, pressing my back against his chest, holding my hands in one of his, secured behind my back, as he cups my breast with his free hand, squeezing hard. I buck and try to break free, but he is much stronger. Much stronger. I realize I had no idea how strong Lou is because when I was human that wasn’t something he could show. “And this.” He slides his hand down inside the hideous pants, finding my pantiless pussy, already hot and swollen. He thrusts his fingers inside me in a sudden brutal stab, making me cry out in pain that immediately turns to scorching need.

  Putting his mouth to my ear as he pumps his fingers in and out, he whispers, “See? Easy.”

  My groan doesn't sound human as I try to break free. He’s not having it. Pulling me deeper into the alley, past a couple of trash bins, into the shadows, he then shoots to the sky, the little drops of rain feeling like
needles as they prick my face at this speed. We land on a roof and then he’s all over me, pushing me down.

  “Did you want to know if you would still enjoy a good spank?”

  I try to break free, but I’m getting nowhere. “No. I wanted to know if I can take a really bad spank. Apparently I can take a nineteen story fall.”

  Lou pushes me forward and I land on hands and knees. Before I can get up, he straddles my back and pins me down. “You,” he says, and tears the fabric of the pants, baring my ass to the damp night air, “are nowhere near punished for that stunt yet.” He strokes my naked skin, slowly, tenderly, and then he smacks down so hard that I see stars. The burn shoots all the way to my scalp and I howl.

  “I broke every bone in my body!” I gasp. “How is that not being punished?”

  “You disobeyed me.” He slaps me again. I squeal and buck up, fighting to get him off me, but it’s like trying to move a rock.

  “I was angry!” I cry. The third slap feels as if it flays me. “God! How strong are you? I never knew!” My ass pulsates with pain and heat, and it sends tendrils to my pussy, like lava melting along my skin.

  “I,” Smack. “Am,” Smack. “Invincible.” Smack.

  “I hate you!”

  Lou leans forward, finds the cleft between my burning ass cheeks, and licks along my swollen slit, parting my folds, making me shake with want. He switches position in a flash, pulls me up by my hips, and pushes inside me in one rough thrust.

  To the humming of the air conditioning equipment, the irregular squeaking of cables from the elevator shaft, with the water cistern looming tall next to us, we mate. Ferociously, clawing, tearing, snarling. My every sense is heightened. I feel the city, smell it, hear it around us, the surface of the roof scratches my back, Lou pounds in me at a desperate pace, making my toes curl. I pull him close, lick his neck, and before I know what’s happening, my fangs snap out and I bite. Deep. He freezes in surprise and so do I. His blood tastes like heaven, like sin, like the night, the stars, and the eternity. I swallow, then I break free, gaping.

  “Oh my God.”

  Lou holds my gaze, his eyes expressing a need I have never seen before. “Do you know,” he says slowly, “what it means if two vampires drink from each other?”

  I shake my head, terrified I have done something unforgivable. His blood sizzles in me as if it has carbonated my every nerve ending.

  “It means we mate for life. We’re equals.”

  The night goes silent, holding its breath for us when neither of us have to. Then I turn my head to the side, presenting my neck to him, my heart slamming in my chest. What if he doesn't want me that way? I’m offering him my eternity. He didn’t take my life, but I pray to the God I hope is watching that he will want my unlife.

  I close my eyes when I hear his fangs snap out, then he leans in, sniffs my hair, along the edge of my ear, and then he buries his teeth in my neck, drinking deep.

  I arch up, my whole body spasming, electrified, and then I come in a release so strong that I make indents in the roof with my clawing. I slam my arms around him, reveling in the feel of him twitching in me. His heart pounds in pace with mine as he licks my throat clean and then falls heavy on top of me.

  “I love you, Katarina Donovan. I will show you my world, all the beauty, everything we’ve ever talked about. I will revere you, and protect you, share blood, my heart, my whole being.”

  “I love you, too,” I say and bury my face against his chest. “I have loved you since I first saw you, no matter how mad that sounds.” I move my hips, pulling a gasp from him. He’s still hard. He doesn't go soft until he wants to. “And don’t you dare revere me too much. I want you to do really bad things to me.”

  Lou pulls back, and then thrusts, setting me on fire all over again.

  “I promise that too.”

  Epilogue

  Kat

  ”You didn’t need to compel your dad.”

  Lou holds open the door to the little Porsche, a car that cost what I used to earn in a year, plus an arm and a leg. I never knew this nomad caveman had so much money. Apparently, if you live forever and manage to stay poor, you’re a dumb-ass. Well, okay then. I’m not objecting to a few pleasantries; cars, homes all over the world, travel, and charities.

  ”He asked too many questions,” I say and slide into the form fitted leather seat. “It was just a tiny nudge.”

  Hopping in behind the wheel, he starts the engine with a roar. We both wave at my mom and dad where they stand, crooked and aged, on their little porch, then we’re off down the winding gravel road.

  “No, he was fine.”

  “You didn’t hear him. He went on and on about my work, and since I haven’t worked since my turning, I had to lie through my teeth. Speaking of teeth, he freaking cut himself on his razor. My gums still itch. And I swear, he saw right through me when we ate. It’s not that I can’t eat, but everything tastes like sawdust.”

  “Aw, poor thing.” He strokes my cheek and I stick out my tongue at him. “The bigger issue, hon, and that’s why you feel he’s getting suspicious, is that you don’t age. It’s been ten years. This is when humans begin taking subconscious notice of vampires. This is the point when we move and start over somewhere else.”

  I wince as my chest tightens. “They’re aging, Lou. I’m their only child. I can’t just up and leave.”

  “Kat—”

  “I won’t!

  “I know. I’ll help. I’ll help with the nudges and make them forget what they think they’re seeing.”

  I throw my arms around my man and hug him. The car doesn't even swerve. “Where to now?”

  “I thought you wanted to head off for Zimbabwe, see Victoria Falls?”

  “Oh, yes! Are Lucius and Selene coming with?”

  “I don’t think Lucius is big on the ‘travel with friends’ thing.”

  “I don’t think I am, either.”

  It’s been a decade, and I still want Lou to myself. Spending the odd night at Club Toxic, playing the game, submitting to Lou, teasing some unsuspecting woman or man along for the ride until they are hot and sweet, sharing a neck, is depravedly good for a few hours, though.

  Lou leans in, one eye on the road. “You know, there’s a nightlife in Harare.” His voice is full of sinful promises and a shiver runs through me.

  “As in…”

  “On the surface everything is strict and regulated, but you know what happens when people are held too tight?”

  “They need an outlet.”

  “Exactly.” His smile is wicked, and a thrill runs through me at the thought.

  Sweetbloods. He has taught me how to perfect the art of submitting a human to the right amount of pain and pleasure and how to draw just enough blood so that I don’t damage them.

  “How will we sleep by the falls? Isn’t that far off in the wilds?”

  “There are caves no human knows about. Deep under the falls. No sun, nothing to bother us.”

  “Oh. When were you there?”

  “1682.”

  I gape. “There are still untold stories, aren’t there?”

  “I have lived three thousand years, maybe more. It will take some time to catch up.”

  “I want to know everything!”

  “I know.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “I’ll tell you everything. Every year. Every decade. Every turn of civilization. I’ll show you my whole life up until you.”

  Warmth floods my heart. There is no place I’d rather be than by his side.

  “I might have made a mess of it, but I’m so happy I never listened to you, wanting me to stay human.”

  “I hate to admit it, love. But I was wrong.”

  “Yes, you were, you stubborn vampire.”

  “Obnoxious woman.”

  “Am I behaving badly?” I flash him my fangs.

  “Very.”

  “Are you going to do something about it?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Good.”


  Bonus scene

  Lou

  “I’ll race you!” Kat takes off up along the side of the pyramid. “You’re a slow old man,” she shouts, already halfway up.

  “Just giving you a head start, love,” I shout back before I glance around us. It’s quiet and dark. A few lights in the distance, and not a human in sight. Then I run. I throw my arms around her waist right before we hit the top and pull her with me, tumbling to the roof, a few pebbles from the sandstone breaking loose.

  Kat kicks and screams. “Unfair!”

  I let my hands slide up along her ribcage, cupping her breasts, pinching her nipples. The Egyptian night is balmy and Kat has nothing but a skimpy little dress on. She ditched her sandals when she ran, rarely wears a bra unless she wants to tease me, and I saw her throw her panties halfway up.

  The day was hot, but we spent it in a tomb in one of the pyramids, deep in the ground, far from the tourists, away from the archeologists, and the curious humans.

  Day has turned to night. We’re up. It’s us and the stars, and it’s our turn to play.

  About the Author

  Nicolina Martin is a Swedish born author who escapes the long, dark winter nights by writing hot contemporary romance/suspense.

  She’s a mother of three teenage girls, a medical doctor, a quirky loner, and a social human being. She has traveled the globe, has had more lovers than she can count, has loved and hated, succeeded and failed, has gone through marriage and divorce. She has seen darkness and despair, as well as light and happiness.

  All these experiences, she pours into her tales, taking her readers for a wild ride while twisting their minds. She loves showing that stories can be different even if the trope is the same.

  Nicolina believes that life is too short for regrets and in looking forward, no matter what. She wants to enjoy every moment, and cherish life.