Venice Vampyr - The Beginning

It shouldn’t matter to him that this stranger, who didn’t shy away from the intensity of his gaze, inspired all kinds of desires, none of which were suitable for display in a public ballroom with hundreds of guests watching. The images currently charging through his mind were more suitable to a dark hallway closet where he could press the woman against a wall and fuck her until he’d slaked his lust and felt normal again. Already now, he knew it would take more than just one quick fuck. Maybe he’d have to have her under him for a few hours to get this feeling out of his system. And if she was any good, well, he could spare a whole night, but only after he’d taken care of what he’d come for. That didn’t mean he couldn’t go over there and get her phone number, though.

Before he could change his mind, Haven walked up to her, only stopping when he was a foot away from her. To his surprise, she didn’t back away but stood her ground: the sign of a confident woman. And why wouldn’t she be confident? With her sultry looks, she could have any of the men in this room panting at her feet. Licking them even.

“I’m Haven.” He turned on his charm and started counting. Thirty seconds was all he would need to get her number. And not a fake 5-5-5 number either.

“Odd name.”

He inhaled her scent. She wore barely any perfume. It rather seemed as if her skin smelled of oranges. He didn’t know of any commercial perfume of that scent. “My mother was into odd things.”

She nodded as if she knew what that meant. “You were working on the movie?”

Was she trying to figure out if he was a big producer who could help her career? He wouldn’t give her that satisfaction. No, when she submitted to his touch, she would do so because of who he was, not what he was. “Stuntman,” he lied. It was a job unimportant enough for a woman like her, yet would show off his physical prowess. And being a bounty hunter wasn’t that much different from being a stuntman. Only that danger was more up close and personal, more of a surety. For him, no safety nets existed. No ambulance was waiting when he got injured. No crew stood by to help him out if he got in too deep.

She gave a satisfied smile, her eyes traveling over his body. And damn it if he didn’t love the way she licked her lips at the same time. “I figured.”

Was it getting hot in here? “And you?”

“I’m not a stuntman,” she purposefully misunderstood his question. It didn’t matter. He didn’t really care what she was. All he cared about was where she’d be very soon: under his body.

“Didn’t think so.” He swept an appreciative glance over her body, lingering on her round breasts for longer than necessary. When he met her eyes again, the knowledge that he’d been assessing her female assets was on her face, yet she didn’t pull away or look at him with disgust.

“You think you’ve got what it takes?” The words rolled off her lips in a seductive sweep. Her pink tongue emerged, moistening her lips. “Many have tried. None have succeeded.”

Fuck, the sight of that tongue did things to him. His body temperature spiked several degrees. He tugged at his shirt’s collar, realizing he’d already taken off his tie earlier. He couldn’t very well take off his shirt. “I’m willing to give it a shot.”

Now it was her turn to look up and down his body. It didn’t escape him how she held her gaze at his groin, assessing its ever-growing package. And he wasn’t going to hide it from her. Might as well make sure she knew what she was in for.

“It might just do.”

He’d never met a woman who’d so openly propositioned him. Or was she merely responding to his offer? It didn’t matter. All that was important was that they were in the midst of negotiating the terms of their sexual encounter. The whether had already been confirmed. Now it was only a matter of figuring out the when and where. As well as the how long.

End of Excerpt





Excerpt of Gabriel’s Mate, Scanguards Vampires #3



The click-clack of her heels echoed against the buildings. Maya could barely see the pavement through the fog, which hung like a thick mist in the night air, amplifying every sound.

A rustle coming from somewhere behind her made her accelerate her already hasty steps. A chill so severe it felt as if an icy hand had touched her skin went through her. She hated the dark, and it was on nights like these that she cursed her on-call duty. Darkness had always scared her and lately it did even more so.

She opened her purse as she approached the three-story apartment building she’d been living in for the last two years. With shaking fingers, she fished for her house keys. The moment she felt the cold metal in her damp palm, she felt better. In a few seconds, she would be back in bed and get a few hours of sleep before her next shift started. But more importantly, shortly she would be back in the safety of her own four walls.

As she turned to the stairs leading up to the heavy entrance door, she noticed the darkness in the foyer. She glanced up. The light bulb over the door must have burned out. A couple of hours ago it had been burning brightly. She put it on her mental list of things to tell her landlord.

Maya felt for the railing and gripped it, counting the steps as she walked up.

She never reached the door.

“Maya.”

Her breath caught as she spun on her heels. Engulfed in the dark and the fog, she couldn’t make out his face. She didn’t need to – she knew his voice. She knew who he was. It almost paralyzed her. Her heart beat into her throat in a frantic tattoo as fear inside her gut spiraled.

“No!” she screamed and scrambled back toward the door, hoping against all odds she could escape.