Resurrected: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance

by Kim Faulks

  I opened my eyes to stare at his pale skin, listening to the patter of his heart.

  “Take his hand, Nova,” Kol whispered in my ear, coming up close.

  I knew this guy, knew his words—Hell, I’d been these words. My hand was made of stone. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t bite his flesh, couldn’t take what he so freely offered.

  “There’s no other way, love. Turn your mind off, don’t think…just feel.”

  I sucked the cold, piss-stained air into my body, and searched for something else…some part of me that knew what it was doing.

  A tiny spark hovered somewhere in the darkness. A light that shimmered, enticing me closer. I reached for that spark and took a step. The guy’s hand buckled at the wrist as I pushed it aside.

  The twinkle glimmered, growing brighter the closer I neared. I reached for his face. His skin was warm, his body soft. I brushed my lips across his and growled with the impact. “Is this what you want?”

  He went soft in my hold, yielding with a whimper. “Yes.”

  My breasts brushed his chest, moving backwards until he hit the cold, damp brick wall. His pulse tripped and stuttered. I craned his head to the side, exposing the long line of his neck.

  “Easy, Nova, love. You have to be careful taking the vein…”

  Kol’s voice filled my ears, but I wasn’t listening to him anymore. I was doing exactly as he wanted…I let myself relax, leaving that spark inside to lead the way.

  My hips brushed the guy’s erection. I craned my head into his body and inhaled the sweet scent of life. His vein jumped under my lips. I slid my hand to the front of his throat, holding him still. There was someone else in the driver’s seat now. Someone else bigger than me, someone dangerous.

  “Don’t move,” I growled into his neck.

  He ground his hips against my thigh. His cock pulsed. This guy…this stranger was close to orgasm. I dragged my fangs across his skin, timing the upward thrust against my leg before I dragged my head back and struck.

  Warmth gushed into my mouth. I closed my lips around the wound as he filled me. Slick memories crested my tongue and slid down my throat. I saw his family, laughing, smiling…until the pictures darkened in my head.

  He jerked and shuddered in my arms as I sucked. Still it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t anywhere near enough. The spark inside my head dulled as he filled me. I drew deeper, sinking my fangs through the flesh when the warmth slowed.

  Kol was a low buzz inside my ear, but I couldn’t catch the words. Someone pulled me, wrenching me away. The glimmer called out, begging for more. I held on, fighting the roar of my lover’s voice—fighting everything—until in a second the sparkle died.

  Kol

  It wasn’t her fault. It was all mine. My knuckles grazed her arm. My blood was tainted, ruined, distorting even the purest of beings. Christ. What have I done?

  A venomous sound surrounded me. I flinched and pulled away. The fetid alley air came alive, slithering, hissing, deepening into a warning. Nova hunched over the dead, like a lion with a fresh kill.

  A tremble leaked into my words. “Let him go, love, he’s gone.”

  She shook her head. The inhuman rumble deepened. White fangs flashed in the night. I eased to the side and circled the woman I loved. “It’s me, Nova. It’s Kol.”

  Nova lunged, ivory teeth gnashed with a brutal grind. I glanced to the mortal, knowing he was already gone. His head rolled, slack lips parted as she jerked him close.

  And there was silence. A cold, empty silence where only the undead remained. My words somehow broke through. The sound trailed off, yielding to the night sounds.

  My step was careful, controlled. “It’s okay, love. Come on. There’s nothing you can do for him now.”

  Her spine straightened. She stared at the body in her arms. “Kol?”

  My heart twisted in the dark, empty pit of my chest. “I’m here love. I’m right here.”

  She dropped her arms and stumbled. The body hit the ground with a thud, one arm splayed out as though even in death this human reached for something more than this world had to offer.

  “What did I do? What did I do, Kol?”

  The answer was stuffed in the back of my throat like a filthy rag. I couldn’t voice the words, couldn’t burden her with the truth.

  She collapsed to the ground with a thud. “I thought…thought this was what he wanted.”

  She raised her head. “Wasn’t it?”

  I found the whites of her haunted gaze.

  “Wasn’t it?”

  “I don’t know.” I sank to my knees, reaching out to brush her hand.

  She drew away, and a whimper followed. “There has to be more…more…” She scurried like a rodent to the still form.

  Revulsion reared in my throat. “There’s nothing left, Nova…Nova!”

  I crawled after her. My hand slipped in something slick and a vile smell followed. I moved closer as she hunkered over the human. She grasped his hand, mumbling low, desperate words. A siren tore through the night behind me, and the human world closed in.

  “We have to go, Nova. Honey, we have to go.”

  She shook her head, choking sounds of her cries filled the alley as she pulled the body into her lap. “There has to be more. There has to be more. I won’t leave him…I won’t…give…up.”

  A sour smell saturated the air, turning my stomach. I searched the darkness as the hairs on my arms rose. The icy stroke of death trailed my spine. Something lingered in the shadows, something powerful. “Nova, come away, love.”

  I grasped for her, catching the sleeve of her shirt. My vision danced, blurring as I stared into the shadows. Danger whispered, clinging to the night, surrounding me. There was no way out. No way past whatever it was. “Nova, we have to leave now!”

  Her words were racing, blending into one another until there was no end and no beginning. “Won’tgiveupwon’tgiveup…”

  Something fell, glass cracked. The sound spiked the dead muscle inside my chest. I was soon craning my head, desperate to see…desperate to know.

  “Won’tgiveupwon’tgiveupwon’tgiveup.”

  A low tortured moan ripped through the dark. I shot to my feet and spun. Breaths…breaths filled my ears, followed by the strong sound of a pulse. I tripped, falling closer. I mirrored the jagged rush of air, swallowing the putrid stench of this forgotten Hell.

  “Where am I?” the human murmured.

  Nova sat silent as the human slipped from her arms and rolled onto his side.

  He reached for his neck and skimmed the smooth flesh. “What happened to me?”

  “Nothing,” Nova murmured, her voice raw with darkness and danger. “Nothing happened. Get out of here. Go!”

  The human scurried to his feet and lunged to the opposite wall. “You…you did something to me. You did something to me!”

  His shrill cries rebounded, trailing behind as he fled.

  A moan echoed in the alley. She clutched her belly and sank to the ground. “You were wrong.”

  She lunged forward, splaying her hands on the ground. A violent retch filled the air. The splash of something wet hit the concrete. Her body was fighting against her need for blood.

  This shouldn’t be happening. Her dark hair parted as she raised her head. She wiped spittle from her mouth with the back of her hand. Soulless eyes nailed me to the ground. “You said…everything would be okay.”

  I swayed under those words.

  Her voice shattered like the glass. Shards pierced my chest. “And, this…this is far from okay, Kol.”

  The ground blurred as I covered the distance. I grasped her crumbled form and lifted her. She didn’t fight, didn’t say a word, only buried her face against my chest as we left the alley with its secrets.

  Tiny shudders wracked her body. I clutched her close and grasped the door. I slid her against the seat and slammed the door shut. She was turning, curling up against the seat as I rounded the front in a flash and climbed into the car.

  S
harp, jagged sobs stole her from me. I brushed her thigh, taking glances as I started the car and floored the accelerator.

  “Nova, talk to me, love.”

  Her chattering sounded like broken glass. I handled the Camaro, weaving in and out of the night time traffic, and I punched the gas as soon as we were clear.

  She looked so small, so fragile and tiny. Nothing like the inhuman thing I felt…nothing like the raw power rushing to the surface.

  “Please talk to me. Tell me what happened. Tell me something. Nova…”

  She reached for me with tiny movements in the dark. I grasped her hand in mine. Her white knuckles shone in the dark. “I couldn’t stop…couldn’t even see what he was. I killed him Kol. I killed him.”

  Bright lights blurred. The dark pit in my chest could swallow me whole. “But you brought him back. You did that. You brought him back.”

  Desperation cut through me like a scream. I wanted to push her. I needed to know, understand what was happening here. And I would. So help me God, I would.

  But I loved her. The need to protect reared like a warrior. I’d fight anything alive or dead to keep her from harm—even from myself.

  The sharp, jagged gnashing of teeth eased. She raised her head. “I brought him back. I brought him back…”

  That empty alley came alive with the rush of sounds and smells. He was dead. I knew she drained him…saw it with my own damn eyes—heard his lifeless chest. There was no coming back from that. No fucking way.

  Christ.

  “What did I do, Kol? Please tell me. What did I do?”

  I yanked my gaze to her. Dark eyes sparkled, starving for an answer—an answer I couldn’t give. I manhandled the wheel, wrenching it to the left and descended the exit ramp. I dragged her hand over to the gears and downshifted. I had no answer to give.

  “We’ll figure it out. I promise you, Nova. We’ll figure it out.”

  She released my hand, and I felt the loss. I forced myself to concentrate, questions crowded my mind. First she drank my blood. No. She wanted my blood. Acted like a damn predator. The memory came to life, standing the hair on the back of my neck.

  She hid her need under the guise of sex, using it like a snare.

  “Kol,” she whispered. “Please don’t leave me.”

  Bones crunched in my neck as I wrenched my gaze toward her. Pain bled into my words, born from somewhere deeper than my soul. I would kill. I would maim. I would leave this world. I would leave it all behind…for her. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that to me.”

  A red light flashed on the dashboard, and seconds later the black iron gate opened. I eased the car inside and killed the engine, silence swallowed me…swallowed us. I’d never felt so cold…so dead.

  I searched for something to hold onto, something I knew. Something I could understand, fear echoed from the slippery dark depths.

  If others of my kind knew what Nova could do. Jesus. A weak inhuman sound slipped from my lips.

  “Kol…I need.”

  I closed my eyes, pushing aside the terror. Deep down I already knew the words.

  “I need blood.”

  They’d use her, force her, bend her until she broke. They’d corrupt her…my sweet Nova. She’d be ripped apart, torn from one horror only to be shoved into the next.

  My hands shook as I reached for her, grasping her arm and dragging Nova across the divide. Her hair cascaded over my cheek as I dropped my head to the side.

  The sting was instantaneous as her fangs sank. She suckled with deep greedy draws. I lifted my hand and brushed her hair while inside I rocked with revulsion.

  She shouldn’t want my blood.

  It isn’t natural.

  She thrashed her head side-to-side, savaging my vein, searching for more.

  “No one can know,” I whispered.

  Sparks of light danced in my eyes. The outside world seemed to slip away. I grasped her shoulders and shoved her away. “Enough.”

  An animal lingered in those eyes. Hungry for more. Unable to feel anything but hunger. I hated myself.

  Selfish fucking bastard.

  Hurting her was the last thing I wanted to do, but I had to make her understand. Each word was a razor to my heart. “No one can know. Do you hear me? Not Rurik, not Angelique—no one. We say nothing, we talk to no one. We’ll leave—go wherever you want, Paris? Yeah, how does that sound? We could go to Paris, or London. We could hide away, just you and me.”

  “You…you’re hurting me.”

  I flinched. The tips of my fingers gouged into her shoulders. Her bones crunched under my grip. I dropped my hold. “I’m sorry. Jesus, Nova. I’m so sorry.”

  She speared her fingers through my hair and leaned, pressing her body into mine. “It’s okay. Just take me inside. Help me find out what’s happened to me.”

  I gripped her waist, splaying my hands wide over the curve of her ass. We were out of the car and climbing the stairs before my brain kicked in. Track this back to the moment of her death. That was all I had to go on…that was where we had to start. “We will figure this out. I will find a way to get you through this.”

  She clung to my neck and skimmed my ear with her lips. The heady scent of blood lingered on her breath. Hunger mingled to whet another need. My erection thickened, rolling with every step. Her lips skirted the edge, then took my lobe into her mouth. My hard cock punched the front of my trousers, stuttering my step. I clipped the corner of the next rung and pitched forward.

  My hand found the rail. I clenched, cracking timber, stopping my fall as she worked her way down my neck. My voice was filled with bestial needs. “Keep going and there’ll be no talk, love.”

  Cool air fingered the slick trail her mouth left behind. I stumbled into the bedroom, threw her on the bed and then cast the rumpled sheets aside and dropped my face to the swell of her breasts.

  She felt so good, so real. I fumbled with the button on her jeans and shoved her shirt high. One caress of her body. One draw of her scent and the desperate hunger changed, enticing me to lick her skin. My lips trailed her stomach to the underside of her bra. My fangs lengthened at the barrier.

  Her thigh caressed my bulge. I moaned against her skin and struck, biting the material between her breasts. The lace tore with a jerk of my head. I grasped the hem of her shirt, shredding it from navel to neck.

  There was no waiting, no slowing. She speared her hand along her hips, shoving her jeans and panties lower, exposing her slit to my eyes. A smirk twisted my lips. I lowered my head, dipping the tip of my tongue into the delicious cleft. Her hips shot off the bed. Her body quaked, and a moan slipped free. That perfect flesh called for more.

  She opened her legs wider, until the denim stopped her. My good girl was learning fast…God, I loved corrupting her.

  “More,” she growled. “Harder, Kol.”

  I dipped my head and lifted one hand, placing it gently on her stomach, holding her in place. Her secret flesh glistened. A growl reverberated from the center of my chest at the sight. This woman…she undid me. I cleaved her body with the tip of my tongue, moving deeper, finding the ridge of her nub.

  A low tortured sound filled the room. Her legs twitched, snapping the denim taught. My cock was alive, straining against the zipper of my trousers.

  Mine.

  The word tore through my mind.

  Mine.

  I reached down, grasping the crotch of her pants and with one jerk tore them free. She parted her thighs. A tremble raced through her body and into my hand, dragging a smile across my lips. I lowered my head, taking more of her along my tongue and set to work, giving her exactly what she wanted.

  Nova

  You…you did something to me. You did something to me!

  I speared my hand through the sheets, searching for him, and rolled.

  You…you did something to me. You did something to me!

  Those words ricocheted like a stray bullet finding its mark. I backed away from the memories of that dark alley—
run, whispered a voice inside my head...run.

  My breaths deepened, drawing me away from the past. This right here is all I knew. I buried my face into the rumpled sheets. The musky smell of sex filled me. My body responded, growing warm between my thighs. Tiny pulses filled me. I felt boneless, empty and full all at the same time…but most of all, Kol made me feel loved.

  Love mapped the only path I needed. The only path worth treading.

  I cracked open my eyes and strained my senses. A smile tickled the corners of my mouth. “Kol?”

  Voices drifted into the room from downstairs. I caught the sound of my name. For a second there was nothing while my lazy brain put the pieces together. Kol was down there, talking to someone about me…

  No one can know what you can do. Do you understand me? Not Rurik, not Angelique…not anyone.

  My brain came online instantly, shoving the sex-sated moment to the side. I shoved myself up from the bed and swung my feet over the side, straining to listen. A familiar voice filled the air. Rurik.

  “Where is she?”

  My clothes were in a tangle on the floor. Blood spatter marred part of my shirt. I bent, and fingered the edges. Tiny rusted specks stuck out like a neon sign. I could smell it, low, dark, iron and pennies, life lingered—but not my life—not my needs. I cast the garment aside and stood. The floorboards creaked, downstairs the voices stilled.

  Then.

  “Maybe you and Nova can visit? I have willing humans.”

  “No,” Kol bit back. “I mean, she’s not feeding…she’s already fed.”

  “What aren’t you telling me Kol?”

  Kol’s reply was a growl.

  I grabbed a fresh shirt from a bag on the ground and yanked the price tag from the label. My bra was in pieces. One half lay on the floor at my feet. I turned my head, taking in the mess of bags and clothes, the remaining half of the bra slumped against the far wall.

  “You need to decide, and decide fast. If you elect not to take over the Holland Coven, then the right to do so will pass to me. Either way I need you to go, son, so will it be on your terms or mine?”