"Spencer is a hunter." Robert stared into his glass. "They do the bidding of the Elders, whom they refer to as Master. The house vampires, as he calls them, are our followers. They drink blood, as we do, but do not possess the magic of an Elder or a hunter."
"Magic?" She turned her head when she heard the door open, but she didn’t see anyone come in.
"Yes." He glanced toward the door before motioning for her to look over at him. "Keep your eyes on me, Miss Brown."
Ashleigh heard the sound of someone going through the cooler and glass bottles banging together. "Okay."
"Thank you." He took a drink from his glass then gazed out the window. "You will become an Elder. Hunters are loners, so there is no need for them to marry or take a partner."
"A partner?" She tried to hide her sour expression, but it was peeking out anyway, her eyes narrowing slightly on Robert as she took a drink.
"You refer to them as mates in your books. We call them wives, or partners, depending on the gender preference of the Elder. Our life span is the same as yours, but due to a generic mutation, only males are born from our women, so initiating a wife is very important step for a young vampire."
"Interesting." Holding her hand over the bottom of her bottle, she let it rest on her knee. "So, how do you initiate a—?"
"Now, I have questions for you."
"Okay." Licking her lips, Ashleigh was finding this interview easier than she thought it would be. The only thing bothering her was the fact that Robert wanted to make her his mate.
"You write the Nightwalker series?"
She nodded.
"Why did you choose to keep your identity secret?"
Ashleigh began to stroke the side of the bottle nervously, her eyes looking down at it briefly. "It was a mixture of a few things. At first, I was all excited to see my name on a finished book, but then my Gran read my rough draft, and after seeing the horror on her face when she read what I had written, I found that I wasn’t ready for that kind of reaction. There’s a lot of—"
Ashleigh paused, her voice lowering a little as she spoke. "Me in my books. My dreams. My nightmares. Putting those ideas on paper helped me deal with a lot of things, but also left me as open as my books. So…I guess…sometimes there are things we write, and even though they are fiction, they come from a place deep inside you."
"So, you’re trying to hide things about yourself in your stories?"
"Kind of…but it's not really hiding things, it's more like putting them out there and writing a new ending. A better ending."
Ashleigh laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood of the interview, but it really wasn’t helping. "Actually, the main story behind Nightwalkers came from my nightmares as a kid. I started having them after…" She paused, her mind wandering to her father's death. "A traumatic experience."
"Nightmares?"
She knew she needed to pick her words carefully because of her audience. "Nicolas came from nightmares. Drake came from good dreams. He was like the prince on the white horse that saved me from Nicolas. Like…umm…the sun that came when I woke up and told me everything was going to be okay. It's weird, but…." She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear then turned her eyes to Robert. "That’s how it happened."
"Ah…that must be why you make so many references to Drake being like the sun." He chuckled. "Very interesting."
"Not really." She tapped on the neck of her bottle. "The sun and moon have always been used to represent good and evil."
"You like vampires." Robert smiled as he watched her squirm in her seat, her reaction seeming to please him.
“Yeah.”
He glanced at the bar briefly then back at Ashleigh. "And this character…Lord Drake. Your perfect sun." Ashleigh turned to him sharply, her eyes opening wider. Her reaction made him chuckle. "I see you are sensitive on this subject."
She took a drink from her bottle as she looked down instead of into his eyes, trying to distance herself from the question.
“‘A prince with sky blue eyes, his hair a deep black, the silken hairs sweeping upward and forming a small peek near the start of his hairline. The sight of him made women swoon, a deep ache flowing through their loins, and yearn for one taste of this godly man’."
He had quoted a line from her books. Embarrassment washed over her face as she covered her forehead with her hand. She wanted to run, but she knew she couldn’t, so she tried to keep her voice as steady as she could. "You must be a big fan if you’ve memorized passages from my books."
"Oh yes." Robert chuckled, his serious voice becoming slightly lighter in tone. "Your books are beloved by my kind."
"So I’ve heard." Ashleigh tried to steer the conversation in another direction. "Apparently, some people find my interpretation of a vampire kiss hilarious." Her mind wandered back to the things she had heard Spencer and the others say about her books.
"Did you base your character on Caleb Mason?"
Her words came out very snippy and rude. "No." Looking straight ahead instead of at Robert, Ashleigh took a few very long drinks from her bottle. "My characters are not real people. Why would I—?"
There was a great arrogance in his next words, his nose turning up slightly as he spoke. "You like Caleb, don’t you?"
"Well, yeah, but…" Ashleigh still didn’t turn to him, her eyes burning into the fireplace in front of her as she tried to keep a lid on her anger. "I swear the similarities between them are pure coincidence. Lord Drake isn’t—"
"Coincidence?"
Cringing at the sound of Caleb’s voice, Ashleigh closed her eyes and wanted to disappear. Her face burned, a numbness flowing through her body as her embarrassment paralyzed her. Caleb had been standing there the entire time, and he had heard every sentence. Being confronted by the man she had written so many sexual fantasies about was worse punishment than a vampire’s bite.
"I liked that one line…" Caleb was pouring two bottles into a glass, watching the liquid mix together. “‘I hear your lips whisper I love you, but in my heart, I know those words are never for me. It’s just a recycled line you coo to your victims’." A small laugh escaped his lips as he sat down on the couch. "Sounds a lot like a rock star stealing the hearts of his fans."
"Are you going to sue me for copyright or something?" Ashleigh looked over at Caleb, who was smiling at her with a very cocky expression.
"No." He took a drink from his cup, the makeup around his eyes smeared a little, but he still looked amazing.
"Now that you’re done embarrassing me…" Ashleigh went to get up from the couch, but Caleb touched her knee, and she immediately sat down. Her arms crossed over her chest, and she glared off to the side as she tried not to cry. "Let’s please talk about something besides Lord Drake."
"Do you love me?" Caleb kept his hand on her knee as he leaned forward and set his glass on the coffee table. At those words, Ashleigh began to cry in earnest. Caleb wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry."
"Do you wish to be alone, Master Mason?" Robert stood up as Caleb motioned for him to leave. "As you wish." From Caleb’s arms, Ashleigh could hear the door shutting.
"I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I really didn’t." Caleb stroked her hair as he held her, but her body was tense, and her severe shyness around him didn’t wear off, even though he was trying to comfort her. "And I’m flattered you like me enough to base one of your characters on me."
"You’re not mad?" Ashleigh was stiff in his arms, and even though she would love to wrap her arms around him, she didn’t.
"No." His hands slipped from around her and went to rest on her shoulders. He pushed her away from him a little, so he could look into her face. She was still avoiding his gaze. "I want you, Ashleigh."
She looked up at him, not sure what he meant by those words, but knowing what she wanted him to mean by those words. "What?"
"I want to make you a vampire."
Ashleigh laughed nervously. "You’re kidding."
&nbs
p; "Why else would I pay to find you?"
Her jaw dropped as she took in his serious expression. "You were the one who paid Spencer to find me?"
“Yeah.” Caleb reached up to her face and pushed back some of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "And I never knew Victoria Allure would be so beautiful…perfect."
"Really?" She blushed at his touch.
"Really." He leaned forward and kissed her, guiding her hands behind his head.
After a few seconds, Ashleigh’s shyness quickly melted. She tried to pull him downward on top of her, but he pulled away. She watched his movements closely to see what she had done wrong.
"Wait." He reached into his mouth, pulled out a set of false teeth, and set them on the coffee table.
He sent her a smile, and she could now see a set of fangs protruding from under his upper lip. He pushed her backward on the couch, his movement slow and methodic. Being engaged in such an intimate setting with Caleb was incredible, and Ashleigh could feel the intense beat of her heart as she stared at him.
"I've wanted to meet you for a really long time. When my friends told me about your books, and about how Drake was so much like me, I had to read them. And then…" He lightly brushed the surface of her skin, his touch so soft, it made her skin tingle in its wake. "I couldn't stop. I loved every line, every word. Having you here is like a dream."
He planted a single kiss on her lips before hovering over her, his words more clear and sharp than any other conversation she had ever had. "Thanks for agreeing to meet me and loving me the way you have in your books. I've never felt connected to someone as much as I do you." The tip of his nose slid teasingly down the surface of her cheek and the curve of her neck. "How can I thank you for coming?"
"This is a good start." Closing her eyes, Ashleigh tried not to laugh, but a small giggle escaped.
"I like the way you think." He then recited a line from Nightwalkers, "‘You are my sun. Like forbidden rays, that if they were to touch my skin, I would die. My body melting as the cursed blood that flows within me burns me alive."
When his nose swept back up her neck and cheek, the quick action made her gasp. "‘But I would die to see a sunrise. To feel that warmth that I can only dream of. I want to bask in the heat of your kiss, even if it reduces me to ash. I love you’."
"Wow…" The anticipation building within her so intensely made her whole body shiver. "Those words sound amazing coming from your lips."
"You're amazing." His fingers slowly marched up her hips and toward her stomach, his action light and gentle. "And when you fall asleep, I will be here to wake you…" Her head began to feel very airy, his touches so tantalizing that she couldn’t even move an inch for fear of losing the intense feeling. "With my blood."
He began kissing her, his hands making slow passes up and down her curvaceous frame. With each kiss, he could feel her body go more and more limp. Pulling away from her, he let his nose rest against hers, his stare locking with hers. She gazed at him with a distant, dreamy expression.
He let the tip of his nose slide down her cheek again, his lips lightly kissing her skin and making her tremble. She couldn’t move, but her whole body felt as if it were in a state of pure pleasure, so great she had gone into a light unconsciousness. The world around her was watery, but the sound of Caleb’s voice was crystal clear. "My kiss is painful but worth every second."
Then, he bit her neck. Ashleigh’s mouth shot open, but no sound escaped it. A few hot tears fell from the corners of her eyes. Caleb took several bites, each one more painful than the last. This was not like in her books. This hurt. A lot. She could feel her flesh being torn, the wetness of her blood flowing from the wound, and Caleb’s taut lips pressing hard against her neck as he drank.
It seemed to last forever, though it was only a few minutes. When she closed her eyes, she blacked out, which was a welcome relief from the pain.
The next time she opened her eyes, she was lying in bed. The change of location, and her abrupt waking, made her body shoot up into a sitting position. It was dark, but she could make out the shapes of furniture as she scanned the room for any sign of life.
She could taste blood lingering on her tongue, a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. Fresh tears escaped her eyes. She felt shaky and weak in her own body, something she was not used to. Her hand shot up to her neck as she felt for a wound, but there wasn’t one. She didn’t know where she was, or even if she had dreamt the entire thing. But this wasn’t her room.
"Lay down." Caleb, who had been lying down next to her, grabbed her shoulders gently as he sat up. "The loss of blood will make you dizzy for a while." He eased her back into a laying position, their bodies facing each other, although neither of them could see each other. "Laying with me isn’t so bad, is it?" He stroked her cheek.
Ashleigh sprung forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and clinging to him as tightly as she could. "No." She could now feel his bare skin against her arms. This shocked her at first, but didn’t make her hold him any looser. "Everything’s spinning. I’m so dizzy."
"Eating something will help." Caleb’s familiar voice was like a siren song in her ear. As she listened, that nervousness around him began to flutter in her chest again. "Let me get you something." He pulled away from her and sat up in bed, waving his hand and turning on the light. He shielded his eyes at first, glancing toward the door.
Then, he turned back to Ashleigh, who had now sat up as well, a small smile on her face as she gazed at Caleb. She was eyeing his shirtless figure, and from the nature of her expression, he knew what she was thinking about. The thought made him laugh, but he kept it soft and light.
The door to the bedroom opened, and Robert came in wheeling a cart of food. "Good morning, Master Mason."
When Caleb pointed to the window, Robert went over to draw the curtains. The soft light of early morning burst into the room, still faint and easier on the eyes than the harsh glow coming from the bedside table. He poured a glass of juice and took it over to Ashleigh. "Drink this, Miss Brown."
Ashleigh took the glass from his hand, slowly putting it to her lips and taking a few sips. Caleb jumped off the bed and walked over to the cart. He grabbed some food and tossed it onto a plate before filling up another for Ashleigh.
"Is there anything else you require, Master?" Robert stood near the food cart, his hands held neatly behind his back.
"No." Caleb smiled at Robert, a great happiness in his voice. "Thank you."
"Do you wish for me to inform your father of your—?"
"No." Waving as he ate the pancake in his hand, Caleb didn’t turn to Robert as he spoke.
"As you wish. I will call for you in a few hours. Enjoy your morning, Master." Robert turned from them and walked out of the room.
"Here." Caleb set the plate on Ashleigh’s lap before jumping into bed next to her. "I’ve got…" He took another bite, speaking with his mouth full, "To leave this afternoon. I’m doing a concert in Delmar tonight."
"What time do you have to leave?" A small, but very cute, frown filled her face, Ashleigh scooting closer to him and playfully banging her hips against his.
"Why? You wanna come on tour with me? Because you can."
"I can't." She had already drank her large glass of juice and was feeling a little better. She reached over him and set her cup down on the table, purposely leaning as close to him as she could. Her body brushed against his, and Caleb watched her closely as he quickly chewed the food in his mouth.
"Well, you still have a while to decide. We're supposed to leave at noon." He set his plate down on the dresser near him then leaned his face closer to Ashleigh. "But if we get distracted, we might stay here until two." His eyes were locked with hers, both of them smiling at each other.
Caleb’s hand reached down to her plate and grabbed a piece of bacon. He quickly shoved it into Ashleigh’s mouth, his action surprising her, her hand reaching up to grab the end of it. "But you have to eat that whole plate of food first."
&nb
sp; Ashleigh narrowed her eyes on him, a playful anger in her furled brow. She watched him reach over the side of the bed, feeling under it for something. After a few seconds, he pulled up a black guitar, the surface of it scratched and nicked, showing its many hours of usage.
He set it in his lap, strumming the strings a few times before reaching over and grabbing a piece of toast from his plate. He took a quick bite before tossing it back. He started playing a song, his eyes watching his fingers move as his full mouth tried to chew his food. His cheeks were puffed, his attention focusing on the guitar instead of Ashleigh.
"Do you always sleep with that?" Ashleigh smiled as she watched him play, a piece of toast held delicately in her hands. She was still a little shy around him, but not as bad as she had been the night before. Caleb's playful, friendly personality made talking to him very easy.
"Yeah." Caleb watched her get up from the bed and walk around it to the food cart. "So you better get used to it." He laughed, grabbing his half eaten toast and letting it pause near his lips as he watched her pick up a bagel and slather it with cream cheese. "You look hot in that dress. Why don't you take it off?"
"What?" Ashleigh laughed as she turned to him.
His hair was now very messy and sticking up all over the place. There was playfulness in his devilish smile. "Get naked." He motioned toward her with his hand as he tried to keep a serious tone to his voice, turning back to guitar briefly and strumming a few cords.
"Here." Sticking out his tongue slightly, he captured it under one of his fangs. "I’ll give you some stripping music." He started playing, his eyes looking down for a few seconds then back at her, "Come on. I’ll do it, if you do."
Ashleigh was eating her bagel, her mouth full so she couldn’t respond. She just sent him a giant grin.
"Aww...you’re no fun." Caleb turned from her, playing his guitar as he sang softly. He wasn’t watching her, concentrating on his music instead. When he heard the sound of a zipper and quickly looked up, Ashleigh’s back was toward him.
Her hand was paused on her zipper near the middle of her rear, revealing her neon pink panties. She reached her arms up to her shoulders and pushed down her sleeves. Her shoulders were slowly exposed then her back.
Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) Page 7
