THE CONSOLATION PRIZE

Barbara Elsborg

www.loose-id.com

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The Consolation Prize

Barbara Elsborg

This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or
existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by

Loose Id LLC

1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-2924

Carson City NV 89701-1215

www.loose-id.com

Copyright © August 2008 by Barbara Elsborg

All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this
e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing,
photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

ISBN 978-1-59632-749-8

Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

Printed in the United States of America

Editor: Maryam Salim

Cover Artist: Croco Designs

Chapter One

Luka leaned against the wall, his dark gaze cruising the crowded dance floor of his nightclub,
Rebellion. Half-naked, drunken bodies gyrated to the loud thumping music, sweat glistening on
their torsos. Hands caressed faces, fondled asses, and rubbed groins. Those who weren’t fucking
watched the ones who were. Luka felt a pang of jealousy. He was in the wrong business in so
many ways.

A slim, blond male sidled up and brushed against him, a provocative touch followed by a light
caress of Luka’s balls. “Like to dance?”

“No, thanks.”

Luka wasn’t looking for a partner; he was looking for trouble. In the only club in Yorkshire
where vampires danced with werewolves and mortals, trouble was never far away. Luka focused
on an old vamp sniffing a little too energetically at the neck of a young werewolf. It was better
not to interfere unless necessary. Weres flashed sweet to vitriolic in an instant. Blood would be
spilled and the vamps would freak out. When Luka failed to respond to his charms, the blond
wandered away. So did the old vamp, and Luka breathed a sigh of relief.

Less than ten minutes passed before he sensed an incident on the upper floor. Luka caught the
eye of Dan, his club manager, who came straight over. Taking the steps two at a time, they
paused at the top before heading right. Three men were in the washroom. One muscular bruiser,
with a shaved head and a heavily tattooed back featuring a tapestry of snarling faces, held the
arms and shoulders of a floppy-haired youth, keeping him on his knees while the other guy
prepared to push a thick cock into his mouth.

“Stop,” Luka said.

One of the standing men looked as though he was going to argue, then glanced at Dan and back
to Luka. The boy turned and retched. He was the one who’d asked Luka to dance.

“Buckle up and leave. Don’t come here again.” Luka’s voice was calm and compelling. It
worked on most mortals and some vamps, though not on the weres. He’d always wanted to try a
dog whistle but werewolves turned nasty when teased.

Dan escorted the two men out and Luka turned to the youth. He rose from his knees, choking
back sobs. Tear tracks glistened like snail trails on his cheeks.

“How old are you?” Luka asked.

“A hundred and twenty-three.”

The boy’s fingers fumbled with the buttons on his chinos, trying to fasten them. He kept his eyes
down, face averted. Luka wondered if he’d managed to take a piss before he was jumped. He had
to be a young vamp not to have sensed the mortals meant trouble.

“Try again.”

“Eighteen.”

The truth and a relief. Luka’s staff was supposed to check everyone’s ID on entry. The kid
looked as though he hadn’t even begun shaving, though now that he was a vamp, he’d never
need to. Luka felt a pang of pity. Whoever turned him needed staking. He couldn’t be more than
a few months old.

“Your first time at Rebellion?” Luka asked.

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Simon.”

He kept his eyes away from Luka’s. He might be naive, but he’d already learned deference to an
older vamp. Luka spoke with the same compelling tone he’d used on the others. “Don’t come up
here again. Stick to the lower floor.”

“I will.”

As Luka went back towards the stairs, the youngster came trotting up behind him.

“Would you like to fuck me?”

Good God. “No.”

Luka didn’t stop moving and wondered about the kid’s response to what had happened. Instead
of scurrying home, he was still looking for action. Luka sighed in annoyance.

“I could give you a blowjob.”

Christ. “No.”

Luka gave serious consideration to implanting the idea they’d already fucked so the kid would
leave him alone. He also thought about taking Simon to his office and giving him a lecture about
the seedier aspects of some of the men who used the club, but Luka decided not to do that either.
Something was off-kilter, though he wasn’t sure what.

Back in the main room, Luka leaned against the wall, his pose casual, his senses on high alert.

“You’re really good-looking.” Simon pressed against him. “Want to go for a ride on my bike?”

Luka could see he wasn’t going to give up. The kid was wasting his time. Luka might own and
run a gay club, but he had no interest in fucking men. He had no problem with it; he knew all too
well what it was like to be different, but he wasn’t gay.

“No, thanks. Enjoy yourself tonight, but be more careful.” Luka walked off.

He made his way to his office. Dan could supervise for a while.

The noise level had fallen, but the pounding bass still throbbed through the building, making the
pictures on the walls vibrate in an increasingly aggravating rhythm. Luka slumped at his desk,
scratched the persistent itch on his arm, and groaned. Tonight, he found everything annoying. He
needed a distraction. Sex would work. Luka might not fuck guys, but his dick purred at the
thought of getting some action. When he opened the club five years ago, he’d thought pretending
to be gay was a brainwave, but he hadn’t factored in the cost to his sex life.

His gay cover kept the female vamps away and Luka had no complaints about that. Having sex
with them raised too many questions. As far as they were concerned, there was no reason for him
to use a condom because it was a well-known fact that vampires were sterile. Creatures who
were made and not born could neither make another pregnant nor get pregnant. A well-known
fact that Luka knew was a lie because he’d been born to vampire parents, although he hadn’t
become properly undead until his teens.

In theory, Luka was potent enough to get an infertile vamp pregnant. Not that he ever had.
Without a special license from the VHC, the Vampire High Council, the penalty for doing so was
death. An insistence on using protection set alarm bells ringing. Vamps didn’t carry disease,
couldn’t get pregnant, so vampire partners wanted to know why Luka needed to wear a rubber.
With no way to explain without endangering his clan, he found it easier not to have sex with
vampires.

He’d been happy to stick to fucking mortals, the irony being they expected him to use protection,
when with them he didn’t need to. But to Luka’s dismay, over the last twenty-seven years, four
months, three weeks and two days, he’d developed a worsening control problem. Sex and
feeding had become so bound together that he couldn’t do one without the other. And every time
he thought about sex, his bloody arm itched like crazy.

The last time he’d risked touching a mortal was seven months ago. Apart from the fact that he’d
wanted to rip off his arm while he was in the middle of fucking her, his fangs had erupted. He’d
bitten her neck, began to drink and not stopped. Luka had been so close to draining her, it had
scared him into abstinence.

He could have joined Vampires Anonymous, except those who did had a tendency to disappear.
Killing a mortal by draining was an automatic death sentence. Not a quick “stake in the heart”
exit, but the “pin out in the sun” lingering variety. Luka was only two hundred and sixty-seven
years old. It was a little too soon to consider not existing, although faced with a future with no

sex, life looked less and less attractive. Over the last few months he’d grown increasingly
desperate to fuck someone, and to his dismay he’d become best mates with his fist. Basically, his
sex life was screwed in entirely the wrong way.

Luka unfastened the button on his chinos, eased down his zipper, and groaned with relief as his
cock sprang out of his boxers. At the rate he was going, he’d give himself a permanent pattern on
his dick from where it pressed against the metal zipper. His fingers encircled his swollen length
and he squeezed, letting the soft outer skin slide over the rigid core. Luka gave a quiet moan and
his gaze drifted to the door. He hadn’t locked it and could be disturbed at any time. It was better
that way because it made him come faster. Pushing back from his desk, he worked his hand up
and down his shaft, trying to picture some voluptuous blonde. Vamp or mortal, it didn’t matter.

“Luka?”

The knock at the door caused Luka’s hand to fly off his dick, fasten his zipper, and button his
pants. All in the blink of an eye. Sometimes vampire speed was priceless.

“Yeah?” Luka called, picking up a sheet of paper and trying to look busy.

Dan smiled when he came in and Luka had the uncomfortable feeling that his manager knew
exactly what he’d been doing. Luka blanked his mind just in case. Do not think about sex. That
lasted about two seconds. Breasts, soft handfuls with rosy tipped --

“Hey, boss. Am I disturbing you?”

Yes, you bastard. “No, it’s fine.”

Dan was a gay vamp who thought Luka was gay as well. Luka had spread the rumor that his
partner, Rio, wanted his sexual orientation to remain a secret so they were never seen together. It
had worked. So far.

Dan strolled over to the desk. Luka edged his chair forwards, though his cock had already
dwindled as expectations of a quick wank trickled away.

“That kid Simon is asking for you,” Dan said.

Luka groaned. “For fuck’s sake, why?”

Dan laughed. “Why do you think? For some strange reason, he likes the look of you. Probably
your luscious butt.”

Luka glared, but his mind lit up with an image of him sinking his teeth into Simon’s slender
neck, filling his mouth with thick, hot, delicious blood. Luka swallowed in discomfort as his
fangs shifted. Council rules said vamps were supposed to use bagged blood whenever possible,
unless they were in desperate need or had a SRL, a Stable Relationship License. That was one
rule that most vamps broke, Luka included. Bagged blood sucked big time.

“I can read your mind,” Dan said.

“Well, don’t.” Dan could only read what Luka wanted him to. As long as Luka wasn’t distracted.

“Think I’ll take a bite if you’re not interested. Jason’s not coming in until seven.”

Luka’s fangs finally dropped and he sighed. Jason was Dan’s mortal lover. The tall, skinny guy
with a dazzling smile and huge dark eyes had come to the club five months ago seeking work.
Dan had taken one look, fallen in lust, and begged Luka to give him a job. An extra mortal to
deal with daytime deliveries had solved one of Luka’s problems. Watching Jason and Dan
pawing at each other at every opportunity gave him a problem elsewhere. Luka shifted in his
chair as his cock twitched.

Dan smiled. “You sure you don’t want Simon?”

Luka’s fangs pricked the inside of his mouth. Now that the idea of feeding had entered his head,
along with a desire for sex, he was half thinking about it. At least the club was good for
something; he could feed off gay vamps and he never wanted to have sex with them. Ha ha. He
tried to keep his tongue away from the sharp tips of his canines. If he tasted blood, he was in big
trouble.

“How are things with Jason?” Luka asked, trying not to lisp.

Dan shrugged. “Good, except he’s pestering me to turn him. He doesn’t want to grow old when I
don’t. He has a point. ”

Luka raised his eyebrows. “So will you?”

“I’m thinking about applying for permission, but I don’t know if he’s the one.”

“If you don’t know, then he probably isn’t.”

Dan shuffled his feet and kept his eyes down. “I want him to be. It’s all right for you. You and
Rio are already vamps. It isn’t an issue.”

Luka felt a surge of sadness that in all these years he hadn’t found his partner. It was all very
well the VHC going on about commitment to lifemates, but with a population of over six billion
in the world, even if you took out guys, kids, and old people, there was still an awful lot to go
through to find your partner. Did you just trip over them? Did the fickle hand of fate really exist?
Luka had no idea.

“Be careful,” Luka said. “Getting a license from the Council to feed on a mortal is one thing; a
license to turn, something else entirely.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dan gave a heavy sigh. “Look, why don’t you make tracks? I can handle things
for the rest of the night. You’ll be back from your trip by Thursday, right?”

Luka nodded.

“I’ll let Simon down gently.” Dan winked and gave Luka a flash of his fangs. “By the way,
you’re holding that sheet of paper upside down.”

When he’d gone, Luka groaned. He needed to feed. Even Dan had begun to look appetizing and
Luka never snacked on employees. Despite his distaste for it, Luka mostly used bagged blood.
Delivered monthly by refrigerated van, ready meals were an innovation scorned by purists, but
the safest method of feeding, particularly for Luka. He got to his feet and rolled his shoulders. He
had nothing better to look forward to than going home and slumping in front of the TV with a
bag or two while watching some boring movie. Not much of a life for a vampire. He wished his
life was more exciting.

* * * * *

Luka stepped into the alley at the back of the club and walked towards the parking lot. Within a
couple of steps he sensed trouble.

“Luka! Help me.”

He turned to see Simon in the arms of one of the guys who’d been ejected earlier. Luka clenched
his teeth. He’d been distracted. Dan was supposed to have made sure the pair were well out of
the area. Luka took a step forwards, felt a rush of air, a sharp prick on his neck, and as everything
went black he thought, not this exciting.

Chapter Two

“And the winner is…Pete Turnbull.”

Chloe smiled and clapped her hands.

“Employee of the Year…Pete Turnbull.”

Chloe’s smile widened and she clapped harder. Forget that her hands hurt, people were watching.

“Our new director of marketing…Pete Turnbull.”

No, it was no use, if Chloe tried any harder her jaw would fall off and she’d dislocate her wrists.

Prize for the biggest idiot? Oh yes, that would be Chloe Lord for not realizing Pete would go
behind her back and steal her ideas.

After the office hunk had made his thank you speech -- and he’d included her, the rat bastard,
there had been a long wait for the rapturous applause to die down. Then Chloe’s boss, Helen,
called her to the front. Walking on red-hot coals would have been more enticing.

“And for all her hard work, I’d like to award Chloe Lord a consolation prize. Just a small token
of the company’s appreciation. Congratulations, Chloe, and enjoy your gift,” Helen said and
handed her an envelope. “Would you like to say a few words?”

Chloe shook her head. Speech was beyond her. Well, speech that wouldn’t have everyone in the
room running for cover. She returned to her table, put the envelope in her purse, and nodded to
acknowledge the congratulatory comments from those around her. The only joy in her heart was
the thought of the resignation letter she’d left on Helen’s desk a few hours ago. Though she
doubted her boss would be fooled into thinking Chloe hadn’t known what the evening would
bring.

An overheard conversation in the ladies toilet, a goldmine of office gossip, had told Chloe that
despite the boost in company profits having been solely due to her, despite her spending every
waking hour fighting to make Oceant a national brand, despite her being the best person for the
job as director of marketing, the position would not be hers.

Chloe stayed long enough to avoid being called a sore loser; long enough to hear the world, his
dog, and his dog’s fleas congratulate Pete, and then tried to slink out. Pete appeared from
nowhere and draped his leprous arm over her shoulder.

“No hard feelings?” he said.

Chloe smiled, if opening her mouth and baring her teeth counted. She had to force herself not to
gouge out his eyes. How come she hadn’t realized the man was a weasel in designer clothing?
His fingers twirled her hair and she jerked away.

“Leaving already? I thought we’d have a dance.”

She took a deep breath. “Why the hell would I want to dance with you? You nicked my ideas,
dumped me, and stole my job.”

He shifted from foot to foot. “We can still work together though.”

“You mean I continue to do all the work while you get the credit and you try to worm your way
into my bed?”

“I’m your boss now.” He glared at her.

“Right, well sleeping with the boss is against my rules,” said Chloe and walked out.

When the door banged shut behind her, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. She’d never have to
see the stupid prick again and she could try to forget what a mistake he’d been.

Spotting a soda can lying on the pavement, she let loose an exuberant kick and sent it flying into
the road, along with her new red high-heeled shoe. Before she could launch a rescue attempt, a
taxi rushed around the corner, swerved, and ran over it. Chloe stared in disbelief at the retreating
tail lights. Since when did taxis rush anywhere? And how come he swerved to hit her shoe? With
a lingering look at her squashed footwear, she limped three awkward steps before she removed
the other shoe and stuffed it in her purse.

Chloe turned the corner in time to see the bus pulling out and wondered what else was going to
go wrong. She’d probably arrive home to find her apartment had caught fire and her insurance
company had gone bust. A drop of water splashed her cheek. Ah, shit, it was going to rain. Just
great.

By the time she got home, she’d thought up so many doomsday scenarios she was relieved to see
the place still standing. Chloe left a trail of wet belongings all the way to the bathroom. One red
shoe, purse, jacket, little black dress, sexy red lace boy-pants -- she lived in hope -- and her
watch. In the shower, dirty water eddied around her feet before it disappeared down the drain.
Her tears went the same way.

Shower over, Chloe stopped feeling sorry for herself. Action was the key because it left her no
time to mope. She’d find a new job and a cheaper place to live, starting tomorrow.

She opened the door of her spare room, converted into a darkroom, and checked the photographs
she’d left drying. Chloe unpegged a couple and held them up to the light. Black-and-white
images of the Yorkshire Moors taken last weekend. The craggy land looked a little like the
moon -- with sheep. Not bad, though she’d taken better. She tossed them back on the counter and
closed the door.

Tucked up in bed, Chloe retrieved the envelope from her purse and stared at it. Whatever the
consolation prize was, it could be no compensation for being cheated out of a job that should
have been hers. She was tempted to throw the thing away without opening it -- just rip it up. An
attempt to toss the envelope to the floor left it sitting in her hand. Chloe sighed and flicked her
fingers but the thing stuck to her palm. What the hell ! She gripped it like a dart and pulled back
her arm.

“No,” snapped the familiar voice in her head.

Chloe froze. She waited to see if it was going to say anything else or if the other two would
chime in.

Silence.

Chloe let her hand fall to the side of the bed and tried surreptitiously to drop the envelope on the
floor. It remained in her fingers. Rubbing her hand against the mattress didn’t help. Damn. She
put the envelope between her teeth and tried to wrench it out of her hand. Hopeless. One final
attempt to launch it across the room almost dislocated her shoulder, but she still held onto the
bloody thing.

“Open it.”

Chloe sagged. Her sixth-and-a-half sense bossing her about. She called it that because it wasn’t
just a feeling, intuition, or gut instinct but actual voices that talked to her. Three different voices
that had gotten her out of a couple of nasty scrapes over the years and once saved her life, so
Chloe knew she shouldn’t ignore them. Not that she had much choice. They were pretty insistent,
a bit like a dentist’s drill. An aggravating whine you had to put up with because in the end it
would make your life better.

It was just a pity the voices weren’t of more practical use. They’d never whispered the winning
lottery numbers in her ear, nor had they woken her when her alarm failed to go off and she
missed her flight to Spain. Nor had they stopped her yesterday from soaking that good-looking
guy when she’d shaken her umbrella into the street without looking. Funny how he didn’t look
so handsome when he was wet and yelling. In fact, Chloe knew damned well that the only time
the voices talked to her was when she was in serious trouble. And even if they were trying to get
her out of trouble, her sixth sense told her she really didn’t want to open the envelope.

She edged across the bed, reached out as if she was going to pick up her book, and tried to let the
envelope fall to the bedside table. Didn’t work.

“Open it.”

There was no way she wanted to open it. Something horrible was going to fly out and screech at
her. Or was that in Harry Potter? Chloe watched in mounting disbelief when her index finger
slipped under the gummed seal and ripped along the edge of the envelope.

“Read it.”

No, she didn’t think so. What was so important about this anyway? It was just a prize from
Helen. Probably carwash vouchers or a free haircut at some dodgy salon where no matter what
picture you showed them, you came out with the style they wanted and not you. Chloe glared at
her hand as it shook the envelope. A card fell out. Equally treacherous fingers picked it up.
Whose body is this ? she demanded.

Chloe made a last desperate attempt to close her eyes, then gave up. No point fighting. Her sixth
sense might have told her not to open it, that extra half made sure that she did. Pity none of the
voices had intervened earlier and stopped her from resigning before she had another job.

You are invited to spend four days at Sunset Spa, Washburn Hall, Harrogate, West Yorkshire.
Accommodation and nourishment provided. All spa treatments included.

The card finally dropped from her fingers. Noise rushed into Chloe’s head as though she lay on a
pebble beach with waves crashing and retreating right in front of her. Her stomach clenched and
she thought for a moment she was going to be sick. Had Helen done this deliberately? Did she
know Chloe had once lived in Washburn Hall? If so, then she also knew that fifteen years ago,
Chloe’s parents, sister, and grandfather had died there.

Twelve-year-old Chloe would have died too, but the voices in her head told her something bad
was going to happen. Chloe tried to get everyone to go to a hotel for the night. Why would they
listen to a kid? After everyone went to bed, a voice ordered Chloe to go outside. She’d tried to
resist. Wrapped up warm, she was reluctant to leave her room but her feet had taken her
downstairs and out of the house. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she’d begun to
understand that something bad was happening and that the voices were warning her, trying to
help her. She’d gone back inside to get a knife from the kitchen and taken up a position outside
the front door, a teenage guard ready to repel whoever came to hurt her family.

The killer was a faulty boiler, leaking deadly gas that seeped under doors and wove unnoticed
through the house. Everyone died, except for Chloe, half-asleep on the doorstep, and Selena, her
grandfather’s new wife, visiting her relatives in Scotland.

Selena inherited almost everything, including the Hall but not her stepgranddaughter who went
into care. Chloe hadn’t been back to her family home since the night of the tragedy, though she
visited it often enough in her dreams, plagued by nightmares of what she should have done and
hadn’t -- like pretend she had appendicitis so they’d take her to hospital. That would have
worked.

Chloe sighed. This time the voices were wrong. She wasn’t going to do what they said. How
could going to the Hall save her from serious trouble? It would rake up every bad memory and
the nightmares would return. She’d be safer in her apartment. No, Chloe decided, there was no
way she was going back.

Chapter Three

Chloe emerged from sleep with a start and immediately pulled her arm from under the duvet. It
looked completely normal and she released a shaky sigh. She’d had the dream again, one that
started a few months ago, in which she dangled over an abyss trying to reach for the hand of Mr.
Right only for him to vanish before she could grab him. Chloe wondered if he’d been put off by
the sight of her arm because in her dream, a monstrous, entangled black vine stretched from her
wrist to her elbow. It was always a huge relief to wake and find she hadn’t been the victim of
some sneaky serial tattooist. Chloe’s dreams were always interesting and generally she could
interpret them to make some sort of sense, but this one had her flummoxed.

She rolled over, saw the computer screensaver shining in the darkness, and stopped breathing.
The computer had not been left on last night. Someone had been in her room. She shrank under
the duvet. Computers didn’t turn themselves on. She burrowed down a little further but nothing

leapt at her. She heard no voice telling her to run because a madman with an axe was about to
separate her head from her body. There was no sound at all other than her quiet snuffles. After a
couple of deep breaths, Chloe snuck a hand out to flick on the bedside light. She was alone.
Perversely she wished she wasn’t. Chloe rather fancied waking up with a good-looking guy lying
next to her, provided he didn’t have an axe. She sat up and swung her legs out of bed.

A few steps and one nudge of the mouse later, her stomach churned. Hard to figure how she’d
managed -- in her sleep -- to go online and make a reservation for a four-day stay at Washburn
Hall’s Sunset Spa, but the evidence sat on her screen. She tried to cancel. Her fingers wouldn’t
hit the right buttons. Chloe was tempted to bite them.

“I don’t want to go,” she said out loud. “Are you three listening?”

She lifted a suitcase from the top of her wardrobe. Oh damn.

“I don’t like spas.”

She took a swimming costume from her bottom drawer.

“I’ll go some other time.”

Bras and panties landed in the case.

“Anywhere with immediate vacancies has to be a dump.”

In went her flashlight.

Shit.

The camera was the only item she picked out herself.

Ignoring the fact that she’d just resigned, Chloe wasn’t a quitter. She’d taken her driving test five
times before she’d passed. She’d persevered with the violin until the other kids in care had
physically persuaded her to give it up. A broken finger. She kept looking for Mr. Right-for-her
even though she only ever found Mr. Wrong-for-her. But fighting with her sixth-and-a-half sense
was exhausting. She couldn’t quite understand why she was so determined not to go. Was it just
because the Hall held so many bad memories? Or was her sixth sense trying to tell her something
different to that extra half?

There had been several instances in her life when Chloe felt she had to go with the flow no
matter where it took her, even into quicksand. She’d turned down a job in London that seemed
perfect, to accept one in Leeds that wasn’t. The voices had been very insistent. Now, she didn’t
have a job at all. The voices’ fault or hers? Was she trying to fight fate? Had her life been
mapped out already? It was that thought that made Chloe fight so much. Awkward, stubborn,
pigheaded, and obstreperous were the words that appeared most often on her school report. She
hadn’t changed much.

But this current was pulling her to Washburn Hall, the suffocating compulsion to make the trip
as overwhelming as the one that dragged her outside the night she lost her family. Over the last
fifteen years, she’d never felt the urgency as strongly as this. Three different voices. One female.
The gentler one. The two guys were very pushy. It was weird trying to argue with voices in her
head, as if two sides of her personality vied for control. Chloe had told no one about them. She
had a feeling she’d be introduced to a nice padded room.

She’d spent fifteen years running from the demons that haunted her; maybe it was time to
confront them. Perhaps that was what the voices wanted, for her to face up to what had happened
at the hall and understand that it wasn’t her fault. She knew it wasn’t her fault, yet if she’d
thought of the appendicitis… Chloe also knew she was fooling herself into believing she had a
choice in this. Her three-voiced extra sense wanted her to go back, and the last time it had been
this insistent her family had died because she’d messed up.

* * * * *

The sixteen mile journey to Harrogate passed in a blur. The nearer she drew to her old home, the
more her head ached. She felt dissociated, disconnected, distracted, dis-everything. Apart from
the memories the place would trigger, Chloe wasn’t a health spa type of person. She didn’t enjoy
being primped and preened by perfect looking women who tsked about her nails, her hair, her
skin, then tried to sell her products that would change her life when she and they knew the only
thing they’d do was leave her short of money.

She pulled around the final corner and the gates came into view. They were new, curling black
twists of metal, topped by sharp, golden spikes. Chloe was tempted to stop and take a photograph
but when the gates opened at her approach she kept driving. She was impressed. They’d never
even closed the gates when she lived here because they’d have fallen off their hinges. The gravel
on the drive was new too; no need to swerve from side to side to avoid bone-jarring potholes.
Chloe followed the road through the wood, early morning skeins of grey mist weaving through
the trees and crossing her path like ghostly wraiths. She shivered even before the hall sprang into
view.

The three-story, three-hundred-year-old manor house with turrets and oriel windows filled her
windshield. Her heart clenched, torn between laughter and tears. She’d been happy here. Chloe
had told her school friends she lived in a castle and Rufus, her pet dragon, slept in the cellar, a
princess named Phoebe lived in one of the turrets, and in the stable was a snow-white steed
named Angel, who sometimes had a horn in the middle of his head. The reality was somewhat
different. Hugely expensive to heat and maintain, in winter months the family lived huddled in
one wing and Chloe went to bed, surrounded by her soft toys, dressed in more clothes than she
wore to school.

She followed the signs to the car park and then walked back to the front entrance with her bag.
The big iron door pull was gone, along with the double wooden doors. As Chloe approached an
expanse of black tinted glass, it parted with a whispering breath of cold air. She stepped inside.

No thunderclap. No voice of doom. No tears. An unmanned reception desk stood in front of what
had been the morning room. Low leather chairs and metal coffee tables decorated with precise
sprays of magazines sat in place of her piano. It looked nothing like the home she remembered.

Chloe tapped the bell. A head shot up from below the desk. A young woman with sleek,
asymmetrically cut blonde hair and a mouth full of wire stared at her with eyes that opened wider
and wider. Chloe wasn’t sure whether to try and catch them if they fell out of her head.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you,” Chloe said.

Miranda, according to her name tag, continued to gawp.

“I have a reservation for four nights. Chloe Lord.”

“But it’s only nine thirty in the morning.”

“What time was I supposed to arrive?”

“After nine.”

Keeping a straight face was difficult. “Er -- it is after nine.”

“Nine o’clock tonight.”

Now Chloe’s mouth dropped open.

Miranda consulted her computer and frowned. “I didn’t think we had any guests arriving -- oh,
we have you booked into room twelve.” She gave Chloe another puzzled look. “Doesn’t the sun
bother you?”

“I adore the sun.” Chloe caught the horrified expression on the woman’s face and backtracked. “I
always use a protective spray.” Nearly always. When she could be bothered. All right, only when
it was very hot. She looked so much better brown than white. Less like a corpse, more like a sexy
goddess. Ha, in her dreams.

“Is there a list of treatments on offer that I can choose from?” Chloe asked.

An information pack appeared on the desk.

“There’s a computer in your room you can use to book time slots. You’re on the second floor.
Turn left at the top of the stairs and it’s all the way along the corridor. Last door on the right.”

Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. That room?

“Do you need a hand with your luggage?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

She made her way upstairs. There was no one around. Chloe hadn’t remembered it being so dark
and gloomy. She had to squint to read the numbers on the doors, but she’d been right about
which room she’d been given. This had once been the playroom. She opened it with the key card.
It was pitch black inside. Not a chink of light from any source except behind her.

Chloe crossed the threshold and it was as though all the air had been sucked from her lungs. She
fumbled for the light switch and didn’t take another step until the room was illuminated; then she
closed the door. Chloe turned straight to the fireplace. The wooden surround with the carved
animals looked exactly as she remembered. She dropped her bag on the bed. Black metal shutters
covered the window, only they were inside rather than out. Weird. She unclipped the screens and
folded them back, letting light flood in and at once found she could breathe more easily.

On the wall opposite the fireplace was a door. Another black room. A tug on the cord revealed a
bathroom with floor-to-ceiling travertine tiles, a large white tub, and separate shower. An
artwork radiator curled like a shiny metal spider over one wall, towels draped on the arms. Her
grandfather, who had enjoyed seeking out authentic replacements in an attempt to restore the hall
to its former glory, would have choked on his false teeth, but Chloe liked it.

She sat in front of the computer with the folder of information and began to check what
treatments were available. Since everything was paid for, there was no point not taking
advantage of the facilities. She might find something she liked.

It wasn’t long before she understood why the desk clerk had been surprised to see her. The name
of the place should have given Chloe a clue. Sunset Spa. The hours of operation were sunset to
sunrise, and in mid-July that was around eight at night until four in the morning. Who on earth
would want beauty treatments at those hours? Shift workers? Insomniacs?

She tapped through what was available. Thalassotherapy, hydromassage, seaweed & mud packs,
aqua aerobics, aromatherapy, reflexology, shiatsu, snake massage. Chloe had no idea what some
of those entailed. Surely they didn’t use real snakes. The facial with nightingale excrement was
something else that didn’t appeal. There was also a swimming pool, fifteen treatment rooms, a
gymnasium, steam room, sauna, and a therapeutic waterfall. Damn, Chloe really fancied an
untherapeutic waterfall. She checked the free spots. Did she want a mud bath at three-fifteen in
the morning? No. A full body massage at one forty-five a.m. No. Shiatsu at midnight. Maybe if it
didn’t involve a small dog.

Chloe gave up and went exploring. She’d been dragged here for something; maybe her inner
voices would shout “Bingo” when she found it. Everywhere was quiet and gloomy. Discovering
locked doors in a place that had once been her home was disconcerting. But when she came
across the annex with the swimming pool, Chloe smiled at the sight of the sparkling, crystal clear
water. A childhood dream had come true fifteen years too late.

The restaurant was set out with glass tables seating four. Nourishment had been promised on the
card. She’d thought that was an odd word to use and there was no aroma of food. More metal

shutters covered the windows. The one thing that Chloe didn’t see, or hear, were other guests or
members of staff. She and Miranda appeared to be the only ones in the place.

This time before she rang the bell in reception, Chloe looked over the top of the desk. Miranda
sat on the floor on a cushion, reading a paperback and eating a Mars bar. She shot up when she
saw Chloe and dropped the book, but not the chocolate. The cover of the book showed a man and
woman entwined. Naked.

“I wondered about getting something to eat. There doesn’t seem to be anyone in the restaurant.”

Miranda did the thing with the eyes again and backed away until she hit the painting of a fat
horse that hung on the wall behind her.

“Eat?” Miranda muttered.

She rubbed her head as she stared at Chloe and with her other hand dragged up the collar of her
shirt, smearing chocolate on her neck. Chloe licked her lips. Her mouth watered. Maybe there
was a vending machine.

“I could manage with a snack,” she said.

Miranda went even paler. “There’s nothing available until eight tonight.”

“Oh.”

“Nothing,” Miranda repeated. Then in case Chloe hadn’t got it she added, “Nothing at all.”

* * * * *

Chloe went to get her camera, slung it over her shoulder, and escaped to the grounds from the
oppressive atmosphere inside. She wondered about driving into Harrogate and going to Betty’s, a
traditional tea room that served delicious food. Chloe wasn’t sure she could last until that
evening, but every time she tried to walk to her car, she found herself heading in another
direction.

“All right,” she said. “I get it.”

“Good.” That was the female voice.

Chloe burst out laughing. She was going nuts. What other explanation could there be? The
voices had pulled her here and wanted her to stay. Part of her was curious to know why.

The walled garden looked as well cared for as when her grandfather had tended it. Row upon
row of vegetables in a weed-free environment, frilly topped carrots next to curly headed lettuce
next to -- ooh peas. Chloe loved peas. She helped herself to a peapod and split it carefully with
her fingernail, scooping out the sweet green balls with one swoop of her finger. So tasty.

As she bent to pick her fourth pod, a hand clamped around her wrist.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

She looked up at a tall, blue-eyed man with tousled, sun-kissed hair. Apart from the scowl, he
was rather good-looking. Was he why she’d been pulled here? Maybe her voice had decided to
help her find Mr. Perfect, since Chloe was making such a mess of it.

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” She’d done exactly the same as a child. Her grandmother had stopped
asking her to pick the peas because there were never enough to shell by the time Chloe returned
to the house.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in a not very friendly tone.

Ah, maybe not Mr. Perfect. “I came out for a walk.”

“I mean -- here.” He nodded at the hall. “You’re trespassing. You shouldn’t be taking
photographs.”

“I haven’t taken any photographs. I’m not trespassing. I’m staying here.”

Chloe stared in a pointed way at the hand still clamped around her wrist. Lovely long fingers and
filthy fingernails. Ah, he was the gardener. No wonder he was pissed off. He let her go suddenly
and she rubbed her arm. The itch had started up again. She tried not to scratch for too long. She
didn’t want him to think she had fleas.

“Staying here?”

Chloe bristled. What was the matter with the flipping staff in this place? It was as if they neither
wanted nor expected guests. “Yes…I’m…staying…here,” she repeated slowly. Maybe he was a
bit thick. “I’m…booked…in…for…four…nights.”

He gave her a quizzical look. “How did you find out about Sunset Spa?”

“It was a consolation prize.”

“What for?”

“What does it have to do with you?”

He looked around and then bent his head to her ear. “Leave right now,” he whispered and walked
off.

Chloe watched him stride away. Nice butt. She lifted her camera and took a snap. When he got to
the gate in the wall, he turned and shouted, “And stop eating the peas.”

She broke off three more pods. By the time Chloe reached the gate, he’d vanished.

* * * * *

Back in her room, Chloe sat on the bed trying not to look at the fireplace. She should leave. If a
complete stranger told her she should go, then she ought to be out of here. There was just the
little problem of not being able to approach her car and she had the sneaking suspicion that if she
were to try and walk out, she’d go in a circle and end up back at the hall. But if there were
demons to confront, they were hiding. She’d come, seen the place without freaking out, and now
she could go.

Only she couldn’t. So why was she here?

She trembled as her gaze slid back to the wooden fire surround. Maybe the people who owned
the hall didn’t know how bizarre it really was. Chloe had to admit she was curious to see if the
passageway was still there, if the things she’d left as a kid were still around. Why else had she
brought the flashlight?

She stood up and walked across the room. Bad idea. Pack up and go. That wasn’t her sixth-and-
a-half sense; that was her common sense. But when her hand opened the drawer she took out the
flashlight, not her clothes. Chloe crouched at the base of the fireplace. It hadn’t been used when
she lived there, but it was a period feature in a listed building and not to be touched, which was
probably why Sunset Spa hadn’t ripped it out. She put her hand up the chimney and felt for the
lever. Still there. As she pulled, part of the carved wooden surround slid out. Chloe looked at the
wooden mouse standing proud of the other carvings and her heart beat faster.

Taking the mouse in her hand, she twisted left. The fireplace slid into the wall with a grinding
crunch, leaving a gap at the side. Chloe switched on her flashlight and crawled into the darkness.
An old habit made her press the lever inside to return the fireplace to the correct position.

The musty smell of stale air and dust held a familiar comfort. It had been Chloe, not her sister,
who’d found the passageway. Blabbermouth Lucy had told their mother and the sisters had been
threatened progressively with a cold bath every night for a week, no chocolate for a month, and
no TV for two months if they played in there. Chloe thought her mother showed a distinct lack of
imagination because the bathwater rarely rose above lukewarm, they could buy their own
chocolate, and their grandmother behaved like Gollum with the precious TV remote.

But then their grandmother had died. A few months later their grandfather had come home with a
dazed look on his face and the elegant Selena on his arm. Chloe’s mother had stressed the girls
were never to tell their new grandmother about the secret corridors. Nor were they to call her
Grandma. Ever. That instruction came from Selena. Chloe didn’t blame her. Selena was younger
than Chloe’s mother and was as far from a grandmother as it was possible to get. Short skirts,
high heels, and perky breasts. Chloe wondered what she looked like now.

Despite dire warnings about getting trapped, falling through rotten timbers, encountering family
ghosts or flesh-eating insects, the passageways were an irresistible lure to Chloe. She discovered

that the narrow channels wove throughout the walls of the house and had found five ways to get
into them. There were even hidden stairways between the attic and the basement so she could
move around undetected and spy through peepholes. It was unlikely that was still the case. The
alterations to the building had probably sealed up most of them. She thought back to the very last
time she’d played there. She’d heard her grandfather and his new wife arguing and it was her
grandfather who’d been crying. Something to do with sex and Chloe hadn’t listened to more.
What had been fun, suddenly wasn’t.

She’d never been able to figure out why the passageways existed. Lots of old houses in England
had priest holes where members of the Roman Catholic clergy hid from soldiers, but why have
secret walkways that roamed the whole house? Chloe wondered if the man who had it built
wanted to spy on his wife. She had visions of craftsmen being put to death after its construction,
like the workers who made the hidden chambers in the pyramids. She imagined skeletons hidden
behind the wooden walls and when she told her sister, Lucy hadn’t wanted to play there again.

Chloe moved carefully down the dark corridor, shining the light ahead as well as down. The
deeper she went, the more memories flooded back. She tried to look through the spyholes in a
couple of places to find they’d been covered over on the other side. Maybe that was just as well.
She was a grown-up now with a more developed sense of guilt.

She descended two levels to the basement and smiled when she illuminated the wider section of
passageway where she and Lucy had set up a den. Chloe shone the light around their secret play
place and stopped on a shelf of toys. She bit back the gulp in her throat, picked up the dragon,
and gave him a hug. A cloud of dust shot into her nose and she struggled to suppress a sneeze.
When she’d been carted off into care, she’d not been given the chance to retrieve the toys hidden
here. Her favorite trio, and she’d missed them for a long time.

“Rufus, you need a bath,” she said in a quiet voice.

She put him back next to Angel, the horse that was sometimes a unicorn, and then moved Phoebe
to another shelf.

“No fighting over the princess, guys,” she whispered.

There were more treasures in a shoebox: marbles, a compass, novelty erasers that crumbled when
she touched them, and a bag of candy.

As Chloe’s watering mouth and growling stomach contemplated whether fifteen-year-old lemon
sweets might still be edible, assuming she could break them apart, she heard a soft groan. Her
hand froze around the bag. There was no further noise, and she’d begun to convince herself that
the sound had been a creak -- timbers settling, maybe something she’d disturbed -- when the
noise came again. A definite male groan. Tiptoeing the few steps to the spyhole to look into what
had once been a storage area for garden junk, Chloe swung the hinged circle of wood to one side.

Darkness. She hesitated and then shone the flashlight through the hole and tried to peer in at the
same time. The beam caught something that almost stopped Chloe’s heart. She sprang back. No

way. That couldn’t be what she’d seen. Chloe leaned against the wall and rubbed the flashlight
on her itching arm, knowing that she’d have to take another look.

She wasn’t wrong.

Hanging on the far wall was a naked man wrapped in chains.

“Phoebe, get back up here. Angel’s annoying me.”

“Can’t you two behave for a single moment?”

“Rufus’s dust is choking me.”

“And you’re not dusty, Angel?”

“Guys, give it up. We got her here. Now how’s she going to get him free?”

Chapter Four

Chloe jumped away from the spyhole, her heart clamoring to get out of her chest and run back
upstairs to hide under her bed, with or without her. She took a deep breath. What was a naked
man doing chained up in the basement of a health spa? Chloe chewed her lip and looked again.
His eyes were closed, his head pressed back against the wall, the pain on his face unmistakable.
He was in agony and she couldn’t bear to look at him. She swung the slip of wood into place.

Then her shoulders slumped. She couldn’t leave him like that. Even if she didn’t currently have
the means to free him, she could at least reassure him that she’d try.

It took her a moment of shining her flashlight over the wooden panel before she found the lever.
Chloe exhaled shakily, then pulled and twisted in the unique movement that she hoped would
slide the panel open. It scraped across the floor as it swung forward. Before the coward in her
heart took hold and dragged her back upstairs, she dropped to her knees and crawled through.

“Hello?” she whispered.

No answer. Realizing rather late in the day that he might not be alone, Chloe swept the beam
around the room. The light came back to rest on his body. She squeezed her eyes shut, sure she
must be hallucinating, and then looked again. He still hung there, his tormented face framed by
dark hair. The chains were wrapped tight around his legs, waist, arms, and chest, pinning him in
place against the wall like some giant bug.

He didn’t have the body of a bug. Chloe got to her feet and moved the beam over him. Beneath
the biting restraints he had a pale, broad chest. His rounded pecs were topped by tight copper
nipples. Washboard abs tapered into a narrow waist and trim hips. She didn’t let her eyes drop
lower. Well, not immediately. A two seconds pause, quite enough for her to feel virtuous, then
she looked down. Wow. He was a big guy. His long, thick cock hung over a bed of dark curls.
Chloe knew she was staring but she couldn’t help it. What the hell was going on? Why was a
naked man chained up in the basement of a health spa? She needed to ring the police.

“No police.”

“No police.”

“No police.”

The words flooded her brain. Those messages from her extra sense couldn’t be clearer. Chloe
took a deep breath and one step nearer. Shit. His chest wasn’t moving. He looked dead. But he’d
groaned. Chloe searched for the light switch and after a momentary hesitation, flicked it on.
Instead of the bare bulb that used to hang from the ceiling, the room was illuminated by four wall
mounted glass cones. There were no windows. The piles of boxes and gardening equipment had
gone and been replaced by things normally found in a bedroom: a wardrobe, a washbasin, a bed,
and a rare occurrence in Chloe’s life, a good-looking naked man.

She took a few tentative steps in his direction. She was tall, five feet ten; he was taller. Maybe
six feet three. He looked even better close up with his silky dark hair, square chin, angular
cheekbones, and long black lashes over closed eyes, but his pale face was tight with pain and his
body -- Chloe gulped. His poor body. Where the chain touched him, his skin was red, raw, and in
places, bleeding. It looked almost as though the metal was eating into him.

“Er, excuse me?” she whispered.

No response. What could she say? Are you all right? Of course he wasn’t all right. She should
call the police.

“No police.”

The voice blasted into her head and echoed around her brain like a ricocheting bullet. Okay, no
police. She got it. Chloe tried not to look at the area below his waist, but her gaze slid down. He
was beautiful. Every part of him. Chloe turned her head. Much safer to look at the washbasin.

She could give him water only there was no cup, no means to wet his lips. She opened the
wardrobe and found a set of clothes. Dark chinos hung next to a creased pale blue shirt and at the
bottom sat black lace-up shoes with crumpled socks stuffed inside next to a pair of black shorts.
Chloe checked the pockets of the chinos, found a few coins but no wallet. Ah, a business card.
Black with white writing.

Luka Varek

Rebellion

Tonight

All night

Every night

Odd name. Maybe he wasn’t English. Chloe stripped off her T-shirt, soaked a corner under the
cold tap, and went back to him. He didn’t stir when she squeezed water onto his lips. Chloe
soothed the material over his face and down his neck. She did the best she could with the rest of
his body, trying to ease the areas of skin caught under the chains. There was no excuse to touch
his wedding tackle. The chains left that area rather neatly exposed.

Chloe could see no way to free him without cutting the metal. There was no padlock, even if she
had a key. In fact, she couldn’t see if there was any start or end to the chain unless it was hidden
behind him. It was looped through several rings attached to the wall and wrapped all over him.

“Who’s done this?” she asked, then mentally asked the question she wouldn’t voice. What did
you do to deserve it?

She didn’t want to believe such a dark, sexy angel had done anything really bad. Chloe wiped his
forehead. Who was she kidding? Not angel but devil. This guy looked born for trouble. Her
imagination slipped into overdrive and back to her childhood. He’d seduced the spa owner’s
young daughter, Phoebe. He was Rufus, a fairy king/dragon who’d tried to drag a guest into his
world through the therapeutic waterfall. Or he was into bondage and had asked to be chained up.
Chloe sighed. That was the most sensible thing she’d come up with. Maybe he liked pain.

“No.”

A spike of agony hit straight between her eyes. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out,
and for a few moments struggled to breathe until the pain faded. Her sixth-and-a-half sense
getting vicious? Pain didn’t usually accompany the commands. Chloe thought back to the night
her family died. Had the voice hurt her then? Had its insistence she leave, been an ache in her
head?

“Yes.”

But not pain. Chloe shivered. She’d been drawn here for a reason and it seemed clear that reason
hung in front of her. Chloe brushed her finger along his lips. “Wake up.”

Not a flicker.

“Luka? Is that your name? Luka Varek? I’ll come back, Luka. I promise. Just hang on.”

She winced. Under the circumstances, that was an unfortunate phrase.

* * * * *

Chloe drove to Harrogate and only after she parked did she realize that her inner voices had not
tried to stop her this time. So this was something she was meant to do -- rescue the hunky naked
man from the cellar. Chloe hoped he was grateful. Really grateful. It might seem the wrong place
and time but the idea of climbing into bed with him seemed to be occupying rather a lot of her
mind. Her mouth watered at the idea of giving him a blowjob. That soft satiny skin sliding over
the solid core of his cock. He’d taste -- What the hell was the matter with her?

She jumped out of the car and strode towards the town center. She had to stop thinking about sex
and start thinking about how to free him. Bolt cutters were at the top of her list, tricky to track
down in a genteel spa town like Harrogate, dominated by up-market fashion boutiques and
trendy restaurants. Chloe walked past Betty’s teashop, past all the clothes shops she’d normally
have explored, and kept going until she found a hardware store.

The tool purchased -- and she winced at the cost -- gee, she could have bought a shoe to replace
the one she’d lost -- she detoured to buy antiseptic cream, packets of sandwiches, cans of a sports
drink, and a couple of chocolate bars. Okay, more than couple. If he didn’t want them, she did.

As she pulled into the parking area back at Washburn Hall, she spotted the guy from the garden
striding towards her, a scowl on his face. Chloe stepped from the car and grabbed her bags.

“I thought you’d gone,” he said.

“I came back.”

He looked at the shopping looped over her arm. “Lander’s Hardware?”

“I need to do a bit of repair work.”

“I’ll give you a hand.”

“Not here. At home,” Chloe said.

“I meant I’ll give you a hand with your bags.” He reached for them and Chloe lurched away.

“They’re not heavy. Apart from the stuff from the hardware shop, obviously.”

Shut up!

Her sixth-and-a-half sense and her common sense chimed in together but too late. He frowned
and it was more a “what are you up to” frown than one cast in disdain at a stupid woman. Chloe
marched into the hall, his eyes burning holes in her back.

Reception was empty; presumably Miranda lurked on the floor with her book and chocolate.
Back in her room, Chloe locked the door and attached the chain. For all she knew, the gardener
could be part of whatever conspiracy was keeping the guy downstairs a prisoner. She’d decided
naked man was the good guy and whoever had chained him up was the bad. She waited. No
voice of disagreement.

Chloe made her way down the dark passageway to the basement. Her light caught the shelf of
toys and she stumbled to a halt. Hadn’t she put the princess on the shelf below? Chloe shook her
head. She had more important things to worry about. She wasn’t sure what she hoped for when
she lifted the flap. That she’d imagined the whole thing? That he’d still be there?

He was still there, hanging just as he’d been before. Oh God, and she’d left the lights on. Big
mistake. She crawled into the room and tried to keep her eyes away from the area between his
legs. Failed again. Oh God. If it was that length now, what would it be like erect? How would it
feel sliding into her? Would it reach a place none had reached before? Chloe gave herself a
mental slap. Where had her mind gone? This guy needed help. Thank God he didn’t know what
she was thinking.

“Are you still unconscious?” she asked.

No, you idiot, he’s sleeping standing up. Of course he was unconscious. He had to be really
uncomfortable. No wonder the chains were cutting into him.

Chloe took the bolt cutters from the bag. The chain was so tight against his skin it seemed
impossible to get the blades around the metal without nicking him. She located a free link by his
left ankle and forced the handles together. They bit around the chain and moved no further.
Using every ounce of strength she possessed, Chloe struggled to jam the blades closed. She
couldn’t do it. She could have wept with frustration. What the hell point had there been in letting
her buy bolt cutters that didn’t work?

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t do this. I’ll have to get help.”

“No.”

“No.”

“No.”

Chloe dropped the bolt cutters, clutched her head, and tumbled to the edge of the bed. Not a good
idea. It left her at eye level with his lovely equipment. How come there were no chains around
his crotch? In fact, it seemed it had been deliberately left exposed. Not that she was complaining
and neither would he, if he was aware of it.

She wanted to touch him, feel the silky soft length of him, pump until she made him hard. He
wouldn’t know. He was unconscious. Temptation surged, carrying Chloe on a torrent of rushing
whitewater in the right direction. One little touch. Just one. Who’d know? One stroke with her
finger. One kiss. She made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper. Nope, it was no
good. She’d know.

Chloe stood up and took a deep breath. Her panties were wet. She had that tingling between her
thighs that normally required a few moments of rubbing with her fingers to produce. Chloe
couldn’t remember the last time she’d been affected in this way by a guy and this one wasn’t
even conscious. It seemed wrong and yet right. She wanted him. You can’t have him. She spoke
to herself in a very firm voice. It made no difference. Every cell in her body wanted him, needed
him.

She peeled the tab from a can and held it to his lips, letting the bubbles burst under his nose.

“Hey, try and take a swallow.”

He didn’t move. Chloe wavered over tipping anything into his mouth. She didn’t want him to
choke. She wasn’t going to be able to drag him onto the floor and give him the kiss of life. More
was the pity. She stuck her finger in the fizzy liquid and wiped it across his lips. They were soft
and smooth but unresponsive. And a bit cold.

“Wake up,” she pleaded.

He didn’t.

In the end, she drank the contents of the can herself and ate one of the sandwiches. She sat
having a picnic on his bed, staring at his cock, eating chocolate, and thinking he was one of the
most beautiful things she’d ever seen. She was losing her marbles.

Chloe wiped his face and body with the cloth she’d brought from her room. She hoped it made
him feel better. Afterwards, she rubbed cream over the sore red lines, taking her time about it,
making sure she soothed every one. She couldn’t ignore the heat pooling between her legs.
Touching him, even in this way, turned her on and she felt terrible, as though she was taking
advantage. One thing she was proud of. Though it was a constant temptation, she never once
touched his cock. She gave him one last look and returned to her room.

“Rufus, you could have been a bit gentler. Yelling into her head like that.”

“I’m a dragon, Phoebe. I yell. It worked, didn’t it? No police. And no help. Angel, are you
asleep?”

“No, I’m just wondering how she’ll react when she realizes what he is.”

“He’s yummy. He’s got no scales and only two legs. She’ll love him.”

Chapter Five

Luka’s eyelids fluttered open, hoping for a nightmare, but when he tried to move and couldn’t,
he knew this was real. He strained against the chains and only stopped when the coppery tang of
his blood reached his nostrils. He licked his lips and grunted at the strange taste in his mouth.
What the hell was that? He needed to feed, though he wasn’t desperate. Hunger was a normal
accompaniment to waking, because while he slept, his body used blood to repair cells. Luka
could go a couple of days without feeding so long as he didn’t abuse his body by doing
something stupid such as pressing the boundaries of his exposure to light, or getting wrapped up
head to foot in silver chains. He looked down and frowned.

His chances of breaking free diminished every minute that he remained pinned to the wall
because as his body struggled to heal itself, he grew weaker. The silver was eating into him, his
flesh sealing around it. Without fresh blood, he would never be strong enough to break free. It
was not yet sunset. But it would be soon and then they’d come. He’d resisted last night, though
wasn’t sure he could hold out again. There was one tiny ray in the darkness because he’d sensed
someone near who wanted to help, but the feeling was hazy.

They’d darted him when he’d been captured, he suspected, with holy water. Injected into his
bloodstream it had been enough to render him instantly unconscious. Now they wanted to seduce
him. Correction. Not seduce. They wanted his seed and they were prepared to rape him to get it.
Luka grimaced. If they succeeded, he was as good as dead.

The door flew open and the two bitches walked in. Raven-haired Eve and the younger vampire,
Krista, whose long straight hair shone a luminescent silver in the dim light. Luka tried to picture
them ugly and spotty. It didn’t work. The pair wore transparent negligees, their nipples tenting
the sheer material.

“My turn first,” said Eve, pushing Krista aside.

“Not fair. You went first last night, I want --” One glare from Eve and Krista shut up.

It confirmed to Luka that Eve was in charge, though the pair were equally dangerous. Eve stood
before him, kept her eyes glued to his, and let the only thing she was wearing slide from her
shoulders to puddle on the floor. A puff of smoke flared in Luka’s groin and he snuffed it out
before sparks developed.

“Well, hello there, big boy,” she purred.

Luka wished he could laugh at the corny line. Eve moved her naked body as close to him as she
could without touching the chains. He wondered if they’d not thought of that problem when
they’d come up with this plan. Silver was as unpleasant to them as it was to him. Eve cupped her

breasts and licked her lips. Luka tried not to think about what she was doing and concentrated on
the metal cutting his skin. He tugged at his wrists, using the pain to distract him.

Eve wrapped her mouth around his nipple, sucked, then tore her lips away.

“Yuk! Yuk! That’s disgusting.”

Luka’s eyes opened wide. Eve pawed at her tongue as though she wanted to rip it from her
mouth.

“You taste foul.”

He didn’t know whether to be pleased or insulted. Krista bounded over, gave a tentative lick to
his other nipple and screwed up her face. “Shit. What the hell is that?”

“Probably something he secretes to repel unwanted attention,” Eve said.

First Luka had heard of it. What a great idea. Maybe he could -- the deluge of icy water hitting
his face broke his train of thought.

“Idiot,” Eve yelled at Krista. “What did you do that for?”

“I was washing it off.”

“With cold water? You want to send his cock into hibernation?”

Krista’s face fell. “I didn’t think.”

“You never do,” said Eve.

Krista giggled. “He looks even better wet.”

Eve dropped her head to a spot at his waist and licked. Luka tried not to shudder, and hoped she
could still taste whatever was on his skin. He felt the rasp of her tongue sweep lower. No, she
couldn’t. Shit. Instead of concentrating on his groin, Eve slithered to his feet and worked her way
up his body. She teased, caressed, licked any section of skin that was free of metal. Luka gritted
his teeth.

“You’re so beautiful,” Eve whispered. “I want so little, just for you to get big and hard.”

Luka saw Krista pulling a pathetic face behind Eve’s back and he let out a choked laugh. Eve’s
head spun round, her teeth barely missing his balls. Luka winced. He should have kept quiet.

“We agreed,” Eve said in a cold voice. “We work together on this.”

Luka wondered if he could encourage their disagreement and use it to his advantage. Krista
looked contrite for a moment, but as she stood twirling her hair in her fingers, her gaze locked in
on his cock and she bared her fangs. Not good news.

Eve’s tongue slid underneath his balls and Luka shivered. He struggled to think of something
unsexy. The time the toilets blocked at the club. Luka blamed the werewolves. They ate too
much meat. Heightened senses were another downside of being a vampire. The smell had been
fucking awful. Dan and Luka had both gagged.

Eve grabbed his dick and put it in her mouth. She sucked and Luka thought of the guy they’d
paid to come and suck out the backed up shit. It looked like brown porridge. Smelled somewhat
different. His stomach lurched. Eve let his flaccid cock drop from her lips.

“You are such a waste of space,” she said. “I bet you can’t get it up, can you?”

“He shuddered,” Krista said. “That’s a good sign.”

Luka sucked in his cheeks to stop the smile spreading across his face.

“How could shuddering be a good sign?” Eve said. “Krista, get over here. We’ll do this
together.”

While Eve sucked his balls, separating them in her mouth, Krista ran her tongue up and down his
cock. Luka couldn’t deny that it felt good. Too good. No, don’t think about how it feels. He
began a long division in his head. Two hundred and ninety six divided by seventeen. Christ, that
was tricky. Krista kissed her way up from his stomach, picking bare patches of skin, her long hair
brushing against him. He hardened a little and felt a frisson of excitement rush through the two
naked women. Eve kept sucking. One hundred and twenty-six divided by seventeen. Er…

Krista’s mouth latched onto his nipple, landing delicate kisses around it before drawing it
between her teeth. The bastard hardened and he saw the delight in her widening green eyes. Her
hands caressed his stomach and her mouth moved higher, skittering along his collarbone to his
neck. Luka willed his blood to stay right where it was, pottering around his veins and not go
racing for his dick. Krista’s fangs grazed his jugular. He could smell the dark, spicy scent of her
arousal summoning his. He was in trouble.

“I want you,” Krista whispered in his ear. “I’m wet for you.”

“Is it raining?” Luka forced the words out, the first he’d spoken since they’d taken him.

His dick and balls swung free as Eve sprang to her feet. Krista remained where she was, her
tongue tracing the pulsing vein in his neck. He knew she was close to biting him. Eve nodded
and moved her mouth back onto his dick. Luka groaned as Krista’s teeth sank through his skin.
The rush of pleasure that followed the pain was instant and irresistible. Liquid fire flashed
through his veins to every erogenous zone he possessed.

No, no. Luka imagined himself shriveling in the sunlight, which was what would happen if he let
them get his seed. The Vampire High Council was unforgiving. He’d be pinned out and the sun’s
rays would melt him. Forget pleasurable fire, this conflagration would be pure white pain. The
agony was said to be indescribable, but Luka was certain he could describe it in those long
minutes before the rays made his brain bubble in his skull. Concentrating on that kept his cock in
a state of distressed, indecisive panic. To grow or not to grow, that was the question. The pair
kept sucking.

Luka was one of the Trueblood clan, direct descendants of the original vampire family.
Truebloods had retained and amplified their fertility, passing on that genetic capability, and had
for centuries dominated vampire politics. Over time, a few powerful vamps stirred up resentment
against those who owed their elevated position to birth rather than merit. Truebloods were
blamed for everything, including drawing the attention of mortals to their kind through books
and film. Luka was fairly certain they’d pin global warming on them if they got the chance.
Although many older vampires still considered Truebloods a kind of royalty, once the VHC had
turned against them, they’d been forced underground. Considered a threat to the authority of the
Council, their rate of procreation was now under strict control. If Luka made another vamp
pregnant he was dead. Forget that he’d been captured, chained, and seduced. There was no
excuse.

“This is bloody useless.” Eve flung herself on the bed. “The limp dick is a pathetic excuse for a
vampire. He’s a disgrace to our kind.”

Luka felt a curious shiver of pleasure at her words.

“Krista, get off him,” Eve ordered.

The young vampire continued to suck at his neck. Luka thought briefly about dying. He
wondered if they’d kill him if they couldn’t get him to cooperate. The answer had to be yes. Was
that such a bad thing? Technically, he was dead already, but he didn’t want to stop existing. A
wave of despair engulfed him. He was doomed to this painful, chained existence until they got
what they wanted and then he was doomed anyway. How had they found out he was a
Trueblood? What had given him away? Who had given him away?

“Now, Krista,” Eve snapped, and slapped her around the head.

Luka winced as her teeth pulled at his neck. The silver-haired vamp licked the two puncture
wounds to seal the holes and stepped back. Luka sagged against the wall and the chains bit him
instead.

“We need his blood in his dick, not your mouth, you moron,” Eve said.

“I thought if he was weaker, he’d be less able to resist.” Krista pouted and kneaded her breasts in
front of Luka.

Giant marshmallows, he thought. He’d always wondered what mortals liked about those sickly
things. He’d tried a pink one once and it had stuck to his fangs. Worse than chewing gum. It was
a common misconception that vampires couldn’t eat. They could, they just didn’t need to,
although a lot of foods made them sick. Luka’s list included broccoli and peanut butter. He
didn’t bother with food now, but he thought about the times he’d thrown up. His cock sent a
message of disgust to his brain. He sent his cock a promise that if he got out of this, he’d find a
hot woman and fuck her socks off. A mortal. Less trouble. Even with the risk of biting.

Krista gave up and flopped on the bed next to Eve. “What are we going to do? I mean, we’ve
tried everything. How come he can resist us? We’re beautiful, sexy, available. What’s not to
like? He’s really annoying me.”

Eve glared at Luka. “I’ve never had any man resist me before, vamp or mortal. He’s not going to
be the first.”

Luka eyed the pair warily. There were other ways to hurt him, apart from the chains. He didn’t
know how far they’d go.

Krista fluttered her lashes at Luka and slid her hand between Eve’s legs. He knew what was
coming. It wasn’t going to work. He closed his eyes.

“Watch us,” Eve ordered.

Like that was going to make him. The idea that he’d be excited by the pair of them fondling each
other while he hung there, silver eating its way into his body was almost laughable. He might
have known they’d try fucking each other to arouse him.

“Open them or we’ll use a siltrane,” Eve snapped.

He hadn’t known that was coming. Luka’s eyes shot open.

The mere mention of the siltrane drove the laugh back down his throat. The sight of Eve
brandishing the long whip with the razor-sharp silver barbs was enough to scare his cock into a
hasty retreat somewhere behind his shoulder blades. The wounds inflicted by a siltrane whip
took longer to heal and continued to bleed when in contact with silver. Luka couldn’t afford to be
any weaker.

“Watch us,” Eve said.

She put the whip down and Luka dragged his eyes away from it to stare at the pair. Krista had
her face buried between Eve’s legs, while Eve’s tongue lapped Krista’s thigh. Their hands were
on each others breasts, pinching nipples into jeweled pebbles. His dick twitched. He looked at
the whip. His dick cringed. The siltrane scared him shitless, no point in denying it.

The pair were crazy, moaning and panting as they tried to turn him on. What the hell was he
going to do? What would they do when they got fed up of trying? He tried to persuade himself

that they might let him go. No, they wouldn’t. No one was coming to rescue him. No one knew
where he was. His eyes closed. Could he call to his father?

“I'll teach you not to resist, you bastard.”

Luka yelled as the siltrane wrapped its razor-sharp spines around his legs. He opened his eyes to
see Eve wielding the whip, her face tight with fury. Luka bit the inside of his cheek as the
siltrane struck his chest. The only consolation to this was knowing there was one place they
wouldn’t touch him. Not that his dick was convinced. It was shrinking, not growing.

“Whip him harder,” Krista yelled, bouncing up and down on the bed.

Eve obliged.

Luka flinched each time the barbs pulled at his skin. When he felt the whip hit his groin, he
screamed. So much for him thinking they wouldn’t touch him there. His whole body tensed in
agony. Beads of blood speckled his cock and balls. Then Krista was lapping at him and Eve
elbowed her way in. Luka could feel blood flooding out of his veins. The idiots were going to
kill him.

Chapter Six

Chloe lay on her bed, her mind racing like a French train, fast and furious. There had to be
something she could do to free him. Maybe she needed different bolt cutters, ones guaranteed to
cut through the hardest metal. Or maybe she wasn’t strong enough and whatever tool she used,
she wouldn’t succeed. She pondered calling the police.

“No.”

Ouch. Fire brigade?

“No.”

It was too late to go shopping again; the stores would be closed but would different bolt cutters
help? Chloe waited for a response. There was no answer. She fumed. What had been the point of
dragging her here, only allowing her to leave to buy bolt cutters and then not letting her be strong
enough to free him?

She decided to go for another look around the spa. Maybe she could find a tool box or someone
strong to help her. Chloe did a double-take when she stepped out of her room into the corridor.
The place was swarming with women, many of whom were stark naked. All young, they were
already gorgeous with flawless skin, toned bodies, and immaculate hair. What were they doing in
a spa? Chloe felt like a crane at a swan convention.

She made her way downstairs, casting little smiles at those she passed. Most smiled back and a
couple sniffed her. Not very nice. Chloe lifted her arm and pretended to scratch her back so she
could check she didn’t pong. Nope, she was fine. So what was that about?

The doors to a couple of the treatment rooms stood open. The therapists were all men. Good-
looking men. Bare-chested men. Strong looking men. Chloe’s heart gave a little jump for joy.
Suddenly booking a massage sounded like a good idea no matter what time of night. Only not the
snake massage, just in case it really involved snakes. Ha ha. Then she remembered the guy in the
basement. She needed to help him, not enjoy herself. It occurred to her that she couldn’t trust
anyone who worked here, but maybe one of the guests could help her.

“No.”

The word hit her like a hammer blow between her eyes. She cringed. What the hell was wrong
with saying “no” in a more gentle way? You’d think her own extra sense would be more
considerate. Chloe risked another thought. Ambulance?

“No.”

The pain made her stagger, but it faded fast. No emergency services then. More bolt cutters? No
response. Maybe that was the answer. He’d just have to hang on a few more hours.

Chloe screamed as something slithered over her foot. She looked down to see a green snake
making its way down the corridor. Oh shit, shit, shit. There wasn’t much that really scared Chloe
but snakes were right at the top of that list. Together with sharks. She stayed motionless even
though the thing was moving away from her. Her scream had drawn a guy out of one of the
rooms. He looked at her and she pointed a shaking finger. Moments later the snake was in his
arms and he was heading her way.

Why hadn’t she moved sooner? Was the floor covered in superglue? Why did this lovely looking
guy think she wanted a close up meeting with the snake curling around his arm?

“Ooh Betsy, you naughty girl,” he said.

“My name’s Chloe.” Damn, she was squeaking.

He laughed. “No, the snake’s name is Betsy. Have you got your name down? It’s a very
enjoyable treatment.”

Of course it was. As enjoyable as eating her own eyeballs. Chloe peeked through the door as he
went back into the room. A woman was lying naked on a table, snakes writhing all over her. Oh
fuck. Chloe forgot about going to get something to eat from the restaurant, forgot poor chained
up guy in the cellar, forgot to breathe. She fled to her room and locked herself in.

It wasn’t even worth trying to go to sleep. It just wasn’t going to happen. Two in the morning
and all she could think about was snakes on the loose and the guy downstairs and loose snakes.

Jeeps. She needed to do something, get them both out of there. Twice she’d picked up her mobile
to call the police and twice she’d switched it off when her head felt as though it had been put in a
vise. She picked up the bolt cutters. It wouldn’t hurt to try again.

* * * * *

Chloe sensed before she looked through the spyhole that something was different. Naked guy
had two naked women with him. A surge of jealousy rose to block her throat, but then he still
hung in chains. There was no way of knowing whether he wanted this or not. They each had a
hand on his dick. It looked bigger to Chloe though it wasn’t exactly hard. Fresh little cuts
peppered his body as though he’d been through a glass rainstorm and to Chloe’s horror, the pair
appeared to be licking off his blood. Gross!

As much as her stomach churned, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Maybe they weren’t licking.
More like sucking as they pumped his cock. The one with silver hair turned her head for a
second and Chloe saw her face. Blood dripped down her chin. Her teeth -- Chloe clamped a hand
to her mouth and shot back from the spyhole. Long teeth? Fangs? What were these sick fuckwits
doing?

She kept her hand over her mouth, just in case a scream made a leap for freedom and moved
forward again. Christ. They thought they were vampires. They were sucking his blood. The poor
guy. As she watched, he lifted his head and seemed to look right at her. His distress sent iced
water pulsing though her veins. He didn’t want this. How could she think he did? Then his eyes
closed and his head dropped.

Chloe tried to think of a way to stop them. Maybe she could burst into the room and tell them to
pack it in. Well, crawl into the room and tell them. While she gave that stupid idea more
consideration than it deserved, the women moved back. The dark-haired one took his balls in her
hand and squeezed. Chloe winced when she heard him yell.

“We haven’t given up, Luka. When we come back you’ll be even weaker,” the silver-haired one
said.

Her pal bent her head to his ear. “You’ll give us what we want. Why suffer pain when you could
enjoy pleasure?”

After they’d gone Chloe waited for a moment, in case it was a trick. She’d seen the movies, read
the books, and she wasn’t going to waltz in there to find herself facing two grinning, crazy
women. Nothing happened. He didn’t move and the women didn’t come back.

She twisted the lever and crawled into the room. His eyes were shut, his beautiful body a mess,
covered in nasty looking cuts, most of which still oozed blood. She patted her pocket. She’d
brought the cream with her, but this time she had to get him free. He wasn’t the bad person here.
He’d been captured by insane women masquerading as vampires. What idiots! Chloe knelt on
the floor, found a place to get the cutters round the chain, and squeezed until the veins in her
arms stood out like little blue snakes. Her head pounded with the effort.

Luka kept his eyes closed. He suspected this was a trick, letting him think someone was trying to
save him. The woman at his feet was mortal. He wondered if she was the one he’d sensed before.
She struggled with the bolt cutters, her face flushed, her muscles straining. She looked as though
she was trying, but maybe it was an act. An image flashed through his mind of him sinking his
fangs into the soft skin over her throbbing pulse. The sheer erotic delight of it made his cock
thicken. Damn.

When she got up and went over to the sink to get a drink of water, he opened his eyes to take a
proper look. Oh shit, she was cute. Short, spiky brown hair. Tall and slim. Long legs. Dressed in
faded jeans and a tight pink T-shirt. She was more appealing to him clothed than the other two
ever could be naked. As she turned to face him, he closed his eyes.

“Oh God. What the hell have they done to you?”

Her gentle strokes with the wet cloth felt good. It had been a long while since anyone had
touched him with kindness. Except maybe it was a trick to make him drop his guard. She swept
the cloth down his legs, returning to the sink to rinse and wet it a number of times. He really
needed her to scratch his arm. The itch was driving him insane. Luka almost whimpered when
her next stroke soothed the exact spot he’d wanted her to touch. He hadn’t thought he’d been
using mind control, but maybe he had. She never ventured into the area between his legs. He
sensed her hesitation and wondered if she’d been warned not to touch him there. Finally, she
reached his face. Luka felt her warm fingers, the cold cloth, and her soft, sweet breath on his
cheeks. He smelt lemon in her hair and his dick grew some more. Fuck.

“How I am going to get you free? I can’t snap these chains. I’m not strong enough.”

The tang of antiseptic drifted into his nose as she rubbed a cut on his neck. So the taste hadn’t
been something he’d secreted, it had been her. Luka laughed and looked straight at her. Her
green eyes opened wide and then she smiled. A huge, artless beam that lit up her face like
moonlight. Like sunlight. She was an angel. Luka was astounded by his reaction. Christ, he
wanted her. He didn’t know her, yet he had to have her. Every part of him responded as though
his molecules were compelled to merge with hers.

“You’re conscious. That’s great.”

The tug at his heart strengthened. She was so close. He needed to touch her, pull her into his
arms, and make her his. Whoa. What the hell was the matter with him?

“Do you understand me? Do…you…speak…English?” She spoke slowly. “I can speak a bit of
Russian. Well, actually, only swear words.” She grinned.

Her lilting voice made his heart sing. Luka opened his mouth and smiled. It didn’t have quite the
effect he’d intended.

She fainted.

“Rufus, you don’t know your own strength. There’s no need to hurt her.”

“Look, princess, she could easily call the emergency services, but if she does it will wreck
everything.”

“She needs to work this out for herself.”

“Well, thanks for that, Angel. When did you lift a hoof to do anything?”

“Guys, concentrate on the matter in hand. Our girl has fainted.”

Chapter Seven

Chloe’s head hurt. Something was in there, trying to batter its way out. Her brain? She groaned.
What happened? Why was she lying on the floor? Oh yes. She sat upright.

“Are you all right?” Mr. Freak asked.

Scuttling backwards across the stone slabs like a confused crab, Chloe finally hit the opposite
wall with a clunk and came to a reluctant halt. Oh God. Shit. Fuck. Bugger. She wanted to get up
and run but doubted her legs would hold her. Then common sense tweaked her ear, hard, and she
calmed down.

There were no such things as vampires, and in any case, the guy was chained up. If he could
have gotten free, he would have. So she was safe and he was an idiot who’d persuaded a dentist
to file his teeth.

“You fainted.”

Breathe deep. Exhale.

“My fault,” he said. “Sorry.”

She forced herself to look at him.

“I speak English. You don’t have to bother with the Russian swear words.”

Her heart juddered in her chest trying to regain an elusive rhythm.

“Christ, you think you’re a vampire too,” she whispered.

He screwed up his face, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. No sign of fangs. Maybe
she’d imagined it.

“Vampires don’t exist,” she muttered, as much to herself as to him.

He gave a quiet cough. “How’s your head? That was a spectacular faint.”

Chloe lifted her hand to the back of her head and felt the rounded lump. Oh, wet. She looked at
her fingers smeared with blood and heard a loud groan from the other side of the room. Forget
her injury, he needed help. She pushed herself upright but stayed where she was.

“Please wash the blood off your hand.”

Chloe swilled her fingers under the tap. She took a deep breath before she returned to stand in
front of him.

“Not scared of me anymore?” he asked.

“I guess if you could escape, you would have. But then, if you’re playing a game, maybe you
don’t want to get free.”

The teeth had to be fake. She couldn’t see them now. She’d obviously stumbled into some weird
club for freaky people who liked to pretend they were vampires and licked blood off guys in
chains. Helen was a bitch for sending her here. She must have known. Oh God, maybe she was a
member?

“Were you role-playing and it went too far? Did you forget your safe word?” Chloe asked. “Shall
I try and help you remember it?”

“You think this is a game?” he snapped.

“Well, yes.”

He stared straight at her. “I am not here because I want to be. I was injected with…some…drug,
kidnapped and brought here against my will. When I do get free, those responsible will very
much regret what they’ve done. But if any of them decide they don’t wish to continue and prefer
to free me, then I’d be eternally grateful.”

She glared at him. “Don’t take that tone with me. You’re talking as though you think I had
something to do with this. I’m trying to help you, Luka.”

His mouth tightened. “You know my name. You are with them.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not. Your clothes are in the wardrobe. I found a business card in
your pocket with your name and I heard them call you Luka.”

He continued to stare at her. “Tell the truth.”

“It is the truth.”

“What’s your name?”

“Chloe.”

He gave a deep sigh.

She didn’t want to be cross with him.

“Is there anything I can do to stop you bleeding?” Despite her efforts, blood still trickled down
his skin, thin red rivulets linking in a grotesque spider’s web. She rubbed the itch on her arm.

“If it’s not a game --” she began. He glared at her and Chloe winced. “Then what are you doing
in here? Why are they torturing you?”

“You were watching.” He gave her an accusing stare.

Chloe shifted uncomfortably. “Well --”

“You enjoy watching the infliction of pain? You think the siltrane was fun for me?”

She stepped back as he snarled, even though he couldn’t reach her.

“No. What the hell’s a siltrane? Look, I’m trying to help you. If you want to get free, we need to
work together.”

“How did you watch without them seeing?”

Chloe hesitated but if she managed to get him loose, the secret corridors would be his route to
freedom.

“This building has passageways hidden in the walls. There happens to be an access point in my
room and another in here.”

“And you know this, how?”

She heard the disbelief in his voice and bristled. “I used to live here.”

“What is this place?”

“Washburn Hall. It was my home and now it’s the Sunset Spa.”

He smiled. “What are you doing in a spa for vampires?”

Chloe groaned. He said this wasn’t a game, yet he was still pretending to be vampire like the
others. Everyone in the place must be in on it. It made sense now: the treatments through the
night, the receptionist aghast she’d turned up in daylight, horrified she wanted to go out in the
sun. What a load of weirdos.

“Well?” he asked.

“I won four days here as a consolation prize,” Chloe said. “How about you?”

“I think I’m lined up as one of the treatments.”

Luka had half-changed his mind about Chloe. He saw neither guile nor treachery in those big
green eyes, only innocence. She didn’t believe he was a vampire. She didn’t believe in
vampires -- period. He winced as she rubbed cream on his cuts.

“They want you as a treatment? What sort of treatment?” She pursed her lips into a shape that
made him think about shoving his dick between them. Christ.

“They want me to fuck them, act as a stud. I don’t want to.”

She blushed and he felt his cock twitch. Blushing was impossible to fake.

“Why do they want you to do that?” she blurted and then cringed. “Sorry. I mean I’m sure you’re
great at it. I mean you’ve got the equip -- um…why do they need to force you?” She gulped.
“God, it’s rape.”

“It would be if they succeeded, but I don’t intend to let them. I won’t let them make me come.”
He wondered why he felt the need to make her understand that.

“Why you?” Chloe asked.

Luka bristled.

“Sorry again. Nothing wrong with you. You’re really…er…” She waved her arms as though she
was trying to scoop a word out of mid air.

“Unless you accept I’m a vampire, you’re not going to believe what I tell you.”

“Pretend I do.”

Luka bit back a smile. “My ancestors are descendants of the original vampire family.”

Chloe grinned. “You mean like Lestat and Dracula?”

Luka curled his lip. “Neither of them existed. Both are figments of their creators’ imagination.”
Though he had to admit their creators danced close to the edge of the truth. “You look
disappointed.” And amused.

“A bit. I always wanted to meet Lestat. Such a sexy guy.”

Luka felt a ripple of something he thought might be hope.

“The women you saw in here want me to get them pregnant.”

“Vampires can’t get pregnant.”

She sounded so sure for someone who moments ago hadn’t believed in vampires, maybe still
didn’t, that Luka wanted to roar with laughter. “And how do you know that?”

“I’ve seen the films and I’ve read the books.”

He smiled. “You think if you wear a cross you’ll be safe. If you eat garlic I won’t touch you, and
that holy water will burn me?”

“And you can turn into a bat, disappear into thin air, and you’re brilliant in bed.”

Luka chuckled. “One out of those three.”

She blushed again and he wanted to kiss her flushed cheeks, hold her face to his chest, and let it
warm his undead heart. The pain of being unable to touch her was becoming greater than that
from the chains.

“So what’s the problem?” Chloe asked. “Why can’t you just give them what they want? It’s only
sex, right?”

“Because the price for fucking them is my life.”

In theory, every hundred years Luka was allowed to apply to the Council for permission to father
a child. Permission was rarely given and those who applied tended to disappear. So sensible
Truebloods stayed out of sight, didn’t apply, and only occasionally risked having a child who
they then had to keep very quiet.

“I don’t understand,” Chloe said.

“Notwithstanding accidents, vampires live forever. Our progeny would exist forever too, which
would make the particular clan I belong to very strong. That was the way it was for a long time.
We were the vampire royal family until action was taken to eliminate us. The Council won’t let
us rise again.”

“So you’re in hiding?”

“My clan went underground over two hundred years ago when the Council acquired a new
leader.” Luka had once been a prince; now he didn’t even have a family. “A handful of my kind
who can make a vampire pregnant are in hiding until the Council leader changes.”

“Except someone’s found you.”

“Yes.”

“Won’t the females be in trouble too, if you get them pregnant?”

Luka had wondered about that. There was something here he wasn’t getting.

“Six months ago, the Council passed a law allowing Truebloods to sire one child in this
particular year. Only one or the punishment is death. For the male, not the female. I thought it
was just a trick to draw us out. Now I’m not sure. Maybe they want our offspring for some
experiment.”

The only trouble with that scenario was that he remained unconvinced that Eve and Krista
worked for the Council, and even if they did, they couldn’t each have a child.

“Perhaps someone in the Council decided they wanted a child.”

She was smart as well as cute.

“What are they going to do to you?” Chloe asked in a quiet voice.

Luka sighed. “Keep trying to seduce me by whatever means they can.”

“And if they fail?”

“Probably kill me.”

Chloe gasped. “Is there anyone I can call who can help you? I’m not strong enough to cut you
free, but maybe you know someone who could snap these weird chains. Give me a number or tell
me where to go.”

Luka stiffened. “Oh, that was clever. To think I almost fell for it. You want me to offer a way to
contact another like me? I don’t think so.”

In the unrest that led to the appointment of the current Council, Luka’s clan had been hunted
down and slaughtered. His father had ordered the family to split up, scatter around the country,
change their names, and have no further communication with each other, not even mind links.
Luka didn’t know where his family was. He’d never tried to contact any of them, yet held on to
the hope that he could if he needed to.

Chloe’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t trust me. Okay. I’ll figure out a way to help you on my
own. I suppose you don’t want the sandwiches or the chocolate I’ve brought. You only drink
blood.”

He heard the sarcasm in her voice and knew that she still didn’t believe him.

Chloe shot him a look of disappointment. “For your information, this is a stupid game. I’ve gone
along with what you’ve said, but you must think I’m as crazy as you if you expect me to believe
you. I can see what’s happened here. This is one of those role-playing clubs, like the history
enactment societies, only instead of pretending to be Roundheads and Cavaliers in the Civil War,
you lot are pretending to be vampires. Now things have gotten complicated and you’re in over
your head. Why can’t you just admit it? I’ve tried to help you. I’ve spent money trying to help
you. Seems some people just don’t want to be helped.”

She backed away, picked up her things, and then turned and pulled the lever to open the wall.
Luka watched as she crawled through. She didn’t say good-bye. He started to tell her to wait and
then changed his mind. The hole closed up and he had a feeling he’d just made a bad mistake.

Chapter Eight

Luka knew they were coming before they entered the room. This time the pair wore white
toweling robes with the words “Sunset Spa” embroidered on the front. So Chloe had been telling
the truth about that at least. The robes were off before he could blink.

“Why is your body clean?” Eve demanded. “What happened to the blood?”

“I licked it off,” Luka said. “I have a long tongue and I’m very flexible.”

Krista giggled and put her head close to his. “Show me.”

Luka wished his tongue was hard enough to jab her between the eyes and knock her out. He
looked up as the door opened again. Simon, the floppy-haired guy from the club walked in and
winked. Luka sucked in his cheeks. So the whole thing with the little bastard had been a set up.

“Put on those gloves and then get him on the bed,” Eve ordered. “He’s weak but not powerless.
Be careful.”

But Luka was powerless. His frailty alarmed him. He tried to struggle as the restraints were
removed and his legs buckled. In places the chain had to be ripped out of his skin, blood spurted,
and he howled. Within moments, he was fastened again, this time with his ankles and wrists
secured to each corner of the frame so he lay spread-eagled. Krista pushed a pillow under his
head and stood back. Luka’s anxiety level went up another hundred points.

“Get on with it, Simon,” Eve said.

The blond guy turned and glared. “I’m not a performing monkey.”

“Forget we’re here.” Krista flipped her hand in a dismissive gesture.

Simon peeled off his T-shirt and unzipped his jeans. He wore no underpants. His cock was
already full and hard. He was a big guy. Luka gulped. The female vamps moved a little closer.
Simon knelt on the end of the bed, ran his hands up Luka’s thighs, and then licked the blood off
his fingers one by one. He lowered his mouth towards Luka’s dick.

“I’m not gay,” Luka blurted.

Simon faltered. “You run a gay club. How can you not be gay?”

“Ignore him, he’s pretending,” Eve said, waving a handful of banknotes in front of Simon’s face.

He smiled and lay down on the bed alongside Luka, snuggling against him, his tongue sneaking
licks of blood. Luka could feel Simon’s erection pressing against his thigh, rubbing against him,
coating his skin with precum.

“I like you,” Simon whispered.

Luka gritted his teeth as a hand swept down his chest and grabbed his cock. At the same time,
Simon’s mouth moved to Luka’s neck and licked a path to his chin. Luka shuddered, annoyed he
didn’t feel pure disgust.

Simon’s firm hands began to manipulate Luka’s flesh, sweeping up and down his cock, gentle at
the crown, stronger at the root, squeezing and twisting. Appalled by the flutters of pleasure
spiraling through his stomach, Luka wondered how come this guy was better at this than any
woman who’d touched him. The obvious answer that men knew what they were doing, brought
no comfort.

I am not gay. Luka willed himself to respond no further. Oh God, Simon’s mouth on his neck felt
good. Really good. Luka pulled against the chains, made them cut into his wrists. He could smell
fresh blood and knew Simon could too because the hand on his cock slowed and fangs grazed his
neck. Shit. Luka could feel his one-track-minded cock begin to react. The women exchanged
excited glances.

“Please,” Luka whispered. “Don’t do this.”

“You’re getting hard,” Simon whispered back. “You know you want me.”

Luka groaned, sank his teeth into his tongue, and swallowed the wash of blood. Simon’s fangs
pierced his neck and Luka flinched, then sighed as pleasure took over. He didn’t want to feel
good. He didn’t want this. He struggled to drag his mind back.

Was Chloe watching? He couldn’t tell; he had to concentrate on staying limp. As Simon
continued to fondle his pathetically eager dick, Luka threatened it with a bath of ice cubes if it
dared to grow harder. Hardly a practical deterrent but it worked. No brain in his cock.

Simon drew back. “You told me he was gay. He’s not.”

“He’s confused about his sexuality,” Eve said.

“I don’t want to do this.” Simon stood up.

“Yes, you do.” Eve’s voice changed, her tone sultry but commanding. After a moment the young
vamp moved back to Luka, his eyes glazed.

Luka knew he had one chance to stop this. Simon was young and still biddable.

“Kiss me,” Luka whispered, his voice a soft hiss.

As the boy’s slender neck came within reach, Luka sank his teeth into his skin and sucked hard.
He managed a few delicious teaspoonfuls before Eve jerked Simon away.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Simon demanded and tried to get back to Luka.

Blood dribbled onto Simon’s collarbone. Luka’s gaze followed the trail down his chest. He
ached with the need to feed. Krista wiped her lips across Simon’s neck and sealed the gash.

“Get dressed and get out of here,” Eve said to Simon.

“What about my money?”

Eve threw the notes at his chest.

Luka’s cock finally gave up in disgust and deflated like an old balloon. He couldn’t have been
more relieved.

* * * * *

Chloe was determined not to go anywhere near Luka again. If he wanted to play stupid games it
was up to him. Maybe he’d bitten off more than he could chew. Ha, that was a good one. He had
her going there for a while, making her wonder if vampires really might exist. But the guy was a
prick. A big prick but still a prick.

On the other hand, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, chained up, helpless. She’d have loved
to take a photograph of him. More than one. Okay, a whole film. One huge advantage of
developing her own pictures, no one to bat an eye at shot after shot of a naked hunk. She sighed.
Maybe he was so deep in his game he didn’t know what was good for him anymore. Maybe he

thought she was part of the game. Chloe sat up. That was it. The idiot thought she was
pretending.

She hadn’t even given him a drink, just made that stupid crack about him only needing blood.
The guy was crazy, seriously crazy and if she had any sense she’d be getting as far away from
this place as possible. Some people just didn’t know how to accept help.

“No, they don’t.”

Chloe didn’t miss that barb; only it was hard to see how dragging her back to Washburn Hall was
good for her. She chewed her nail. Not good for her, maybe good for Luka. Was that it? Was he
the reason she was here?

First thing in the morning, she was going to drive to a hardware superstore and buy a chainsaw.
Did chainsaws cut metal? Well, she’d ask an assistant.

Chloe lay down again. In spite of everything, she still fancied him. If she could get him to act
like a normal guy, she wouldn’t mind going out with him. She rolled over. Sleep was impossible.
She was wound tight as a violin string and she knew just how tight they were. Once the thinnest
string had snapped as she’d played and cut her face. Chloe turned on to her stomach. Maybe she
could watch TV.

There was no TV. She hadn’t noticed before. That was very odd. Chloe couldn’t think of
anywhere she’d stayed that didn’t have a TV in the room. So what else could she do? Her hand
already had a plan. It was sliding under her thigh. She’d feel more relaxed if she’d had a mind-
blowing orgasm. Ha. That would be a first. An everyday orgasm would work equally well and
she had the perfect guy to imagine with her. Okay, his brain wasn’t perfect but his body was if
she ignored the cuts.

Chloe shoved the covers to the end of the bed with her feet and shifted onto her back. She rolled
her hands down her body, sliding them over her thighs, reaching as far as she could without
sitting up, then swept them back up, featherlight caresses, circling her breasts, tormenting herself
until her nipples stood up in sharp relief and she could see them in the gloom.

She imagined Luka standing at the end of the bed, no marks on his skin, his eyes fixed on her,
wanting her, his cock rigid with blood, angled towards her, glistening with need. He crawled
onto the bed, focused on her breasts, his strong, muscular body pressing on hers as he leaned
over and took a nipple between his lips. Chloe’s hips arched off the mattress. She felt hot and
wild. The only thing to make this perfect would be Luka actually there.

His mouth teased her sensitive breasts, one after the other, swapping in a blur of motion that was
too fast for Chloe to control. She snapped her eyes open needing to check he wasn’t actually in
the room. Then his tongue traced a path over her collarbone, up the column of her throat until he
reached her mouth. Chloe licked her lips, sucked his tongue inside her mouth, pulled until she
could have dragged all of him inside her. One hand slid down to grasp his cock, the other to glide
lightly over her wet slit.

She ran her fist up and down his length as the fingers of her other hand began to play in her
folds, gentle strokes, little nips. He was so big. Would he fit? Chloe cupped his tight balls and
squeezed, coaxing a groan from his throat. She wanted them in her mouth, wanted to tease them
apart, suck them, feel them harden and draw up as his climax came on. But this was her fantasy
and she also didn’t want to move.

Chloe let him take her ankles and pull her legs further apart. One finger slipped inside her. It was
hers but then his joined hers, so they plunged together side by side. A whimper slipped from
Chloe’s throat. Deep in the thrall of passion, Luka became more substantial in her mind. She
could feel his finger inside her, feel his steel-hard erection pressed against her leg.

“You want my cock inside you, Chloe?”

“Fuck me,” she whispered.

The fingers pulled back and the smooth knob of his cock nudged the entrance to her body.

“Can you take all of me?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Her clit throbbed with need. She felt the little pearl emerge as the hood slid back and Chloe
flicked the sensitive mound with a finger. Two hands. One finger flicking, rubbing, circling. Two
fingers diving, thrusting, jerking. Now three. Oh God. Chloe could feel release coming. It was
there, lurking in the background but she had to stay focused. She was wet, dripping, desperate.

“Fuck me,” she gasped. “Luka.”

As she called his name, there was an explosion of sensation inside her. In her mind Luka touched
her everywhere. He kissed her toes, mouthed her instep, licked her knee, bit her hip, cupped her
breast, laved her stomach, and pumped inside her, his cock pounding into her as fire took hold in
her veins. Her hips bucked as rapture overtook her. Chloe stopped breathing and fell into the
inferno. Each burning ripple that cascaded through her body was echoed by the clenching of her
pussy. She wanted it to last forever even as it faded away.

“Ssshit,” Chloe hissed. Maybe she could do mind-blowing on her own. She rolled onto her side,
pulled up the covers, and fell fast asleep.

Luka watched in bewilderment as his dick thickened. The veins snaking along its length
darkened as they filled with blood. Within seconds he was hard as a rock. What the hell was
happening? He dropped his head back to the pillow and groaned. Maybe he was hallucinating.
He looked again. A tiny drop of precum slid from the tip. Oh fuck, this was not good.

Eve and Krista weren’t even in the room attempting seduction, so why was he aroused? The
answer came in a flash. Chloe. Her face appeared in front of him and he closed his eyes. He still
saw her. More of her. She had her hands between her legs and she was bringing herself off.
Sweet breasts and long, long legs. Luka wanted to bury himself between those legs and suck her
till she saw stars, constellations, galaxies. His balls drew up, hit the base of his cock, and he felt
the spurt of precum. Impossible. No one was touching him. What magic was this? What had they
done? Chloe was close to orgasm, her breath choppy as she rubbed her clit. She tensed and Luka
caught his own breath. She called his name, the climax crashed over her, and he almost came
undone.

For a while, Luka was afraid to open his eyes. When he lifted his head to look at his dick it lay
limp on his dark curls. No sign of precum. Had he been dreaming?

“He’s as awkward as Chloe.”

“Phoebe, no one is as awkward as Chloe.”

“But she’s beginning to get it, Angel. He’s the prince in the dungeon she has to set free. They’re
ideal for each other.”

“Get out the violin.”

“Shut up, Rufus.”

Chapter Nine

Luka smiled as Chloe crawled into the room. She dragged a set of bolt cutters that were almost
as long as her.

“You came back,” Luka said.

She got to her feet and walked across to him. “I decided you don’t know what’s good for you.”

The hint of a smile flashed across her face. She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair
out of his eyes. His miserable pulse fluttered. He could smell her need; it scented the air with an
unmistakable, irresistible musk; only it was resistible because there was nothing he could do
about it.

“They’ve taken off most of the chains, that’s good,” she said. Her fingers hovered over his chest
then fell away. “They didn’t manage to --”

“No.”

Another little smile and Luka’s heart began to warm.

“I bought more cutters.” She held them up. “I had to drive all the way to York. The guy said a
chainsaw wouldn’t be any use.”

“Chloe, they’re not going to work.”

“’Course they will. These are tougher and there’s more room to maneuver now.”

She trapped a link between the blades and squeezed. The muscles in her arms bulged with the
effort, but as Luka expected, there was no snapping sound, just Chloe’s heavy breathing and
rather inventive cursing. She really did know a lot of Russian swear words. After a prolonged
struggle, she gave up.

“There’s not the faintest mark. How can that be? The man said these would cut through
anything.”

“Not this chain.”

“Then I can’t free you?”

He shook his head. A tear formed in her eye and she wiped it away. Luka’s temperature
continued to rise. She cared. This wasn’t an act.

“Can I give you a hug?” she asked.

“A hug?” His voice was thick because his throat had closed up.

“You know, a feel better hug.”

He nodded, no longer able to speak. Chloe lay alongside him, not touching at first, and then
allowing her arm to slide across his chest. She snuck in a little closer and settled her body next to
his, resting her head against his shoulder. His arm started to itch.

“I’m sorry I can’t get you free,” she whispered. “If you don’t want me to tell anyone, I don’t
know what else to do.”

Luka held himself motionless. Her scent was intoxicating, the feel of her hair against his cheek
scintillating. The faint draft of her breath sent sparks flying to all parts of his body. He could hear
the blood pounding through her veins and wanted it pounding through his own. The touch of her
fingers against his chest made his heart throb. He didn’t want to believe this was a trick, another
ruse to make his cock swell. The trouble was, it had begun to swell. Brought to life by a fantasy
Chloe, it wasn’t going to stay down for the real thing.

With no small effort, Luka tried to send his mind on a different journey, pictured himself doing
his taxes. How could that be sexy? Only he couldn’t divert his brain. All he could think about
was Chloe, this green-eyed mortal with a kind heart, lying fully clothed next to his naked body.

He waited for her hand to creep lower, not sure what he wanted but calmed by the sensation of
being comforted. It might be the last pleasure he had. Any moment Eve and Krista would burst
through the door. They were probably watching through the hole they’d shown Chloe, frigging
themselves into a state of readiness.

When Luka heard Chloe give a quiet snuffle, he thought she was crying. A moment later, her
breathing even, he realized she’d fallen asleep. He gave a quiet laugh. Now he knew he was
wrong. Chloe hadn’t been sent by the witches of Washburn. She really did want to help him.

Since his father had told the family to hide, Luka had never fully trusted anyone, but he felt he
could trust Chloe. Blood surged into his groin. His cock filled and uncurled like a fast-action
sprouting shoot on a nature program. Luka glared at it. His dick continued to grow, swelling,
hardening, throbbing.

“Shit,” he hissed.

“What?” Chloe sprang upright. “Whazza matter?” Her gaze followed Luka’s. “Oops.”

Luka wasn’t sure he liked “oops” as a response to his erection. He preferred “wow.”

“It’s your fault,” he said.

“I didn’t touch you.” She paused. “Did I? If I did it was an accident.”

She stared straight at him, and he watched as her gaze lowered and focused on his hard-on.

“Wow,” she whispered.

Luka smiled and then frowned. This was not good. Then he looked at Chloe’s lips. Maybe it was
good.

“You’ve got to get rid of that.” She leapt off the bed.

“Leave the bolt cutters where they are,” he said.

“Oh, very funny.” She flapped her hands in the air in a haphazard semaphore. “Stop thinking
whatever it is you’re thinking.”

“What do you think I’m thinking?”

“How should I know?”

Luka stared at her until realization dawned. Her mouth opened, her shoulders and hands dropped,
and she gulped.

“Me? You’re thinking about me?” She looked horrified for a moment and then pleased.

“Only, it is a problem.” Luka watched the smile crumple. “Now that I have sex on my mind, it’s
going to be harder to resist them.”

She stared at his cock and Luka could have sworn he grew harder, longer. His balls tightened and
began to ache.

“How about if I…er…help you out. It takes a while to…er…regenerate, right?”

He could almost see her mind clicking into gear. His had been in the right place eons ago.

“I could make you…um…” She licked her lips.

“Come,” Luka said.

The prospect of Chloe putting her hands on his dick and massaging him to release almost made
starvation, being chained to a bed, lashed by a siltrane, and facing certain death, worth it. Only,
she had to hurry. Him hurrying was not an issue.

Chloe couldn’t look at him. Her shyness was endearing but he needed her to be bold. She raised
her head and put her shoulders back.

“Okay,” she said.

Another twitch from his cock. “I’d like that.” He’d more than like it. He had to come. He ached
with the need. His cock purred at the idea of imminent sex. If the vamps came in now, they’d get
what they wanted whether he liked it or not.

“Please,” he said, remembering his manners.

“Do you need me to strip?” Chloe whispered.

Luka’s heart did a backwards flip. “I’d love it, sweetheart, but I think you need to be ready to run
in case they come back.”

She sat on the bed and slid her hand down his chest, over his navel, and through the line of dark
hair. His skin quivered under her touch. Chloe caressed him as lightly as a butterfly but he felt
the warmth from her fingertips seep into his body and begin a journey towards his heart.
Watching her touch him was as much a turn on as feeling her. Those bright eyes and the way the
tip of her tongue flicked over her upper lip made him forget he was chained, and he tried to reach
her.

The word “hurry” was on his lips. Luka didn’t utter it. He knew he should, but this might be the
last time he felt that rush of pleasure, the last kind act anyone did for him. Suddenly her fingers
were tight around his cock, squeezing hard. They both gasped at the same time and then laughed.

“My heart’s dancing a jig in my chest,” she whispered.

“It’s dancing with mine.”

Luka knew their heartbeats matched, her blood pulsing at the same rate as his. He heard it in his
head.

She squeezed more gently and moved her hand to bring his wrinkled foreskin over the crown of
his cock. “You’re so soft.”

“And hard,” Luka added.

She grinned and drew her hand down his shaft.

“Very hard,” she said.

The fingers of her other hand grazed his hip as she began to pump his cock. Luka groaned when
her thumb rolled over the swollen tip. Then she swept her hand down again, tightening her hold
as she reached the less sensitive root. His mind was telling him the faster he came the better, but
his cock disagreed. Every inch of him reveled in her touch. Chloe drew her hand back up and
loosened off as she came to the head. As her fingers played with the top of his cock, Luka
watched a spurt of precum swell from the slit in his glans. This felt so good, he never wanted it
to stop, yet he had to come as fast as he could. The irony of it hurt.

When Chloe dropped her head into his lap, Luka stopped breathing. He hadn’t expected that.
He’d thought she’d use -- he groaned. Her sweet lips wrapped around him and Luka hissed
through his teeth. Her mouth was soft and warm. Her tongue flickered from the tip of his cock,
over his balls to the sensitive strip of flesh beyond, and his hips rose from the bed in newfound
energy. He trembled in delight.

“God, Chloe. I wish I could hold you.”

One of her hands stretched up to grasp his and Luka felt as though an arrow had hit his heart.
Pain segued in an instant to delight. Why was she affecting him in this way? Had he been
deprived so long he was ultrasensitive to the touch of an innocent woman? Luka entwined his
fingers with hers, rubbing his thumb against her palm. He watched as her lips moved back to the
reddening tip of his cock. When her tongue lapped at another pearl of precum, he gave a deep
groan. She looked up as she sucked and Luka felt the tug again in his heart, the one that told him
Chloe was his.

His?

Was she really the one? His love? Or the one he needed now? Luka tried to think but he couldn’t
get beyond what Chloe was doing to his body. She took him deep into her mouth, moving her
head up and down his cock, lapping and sucking, and every action made Luka’s balls tighten and
tighten. He wondered if it was possible to die from too much pleasure. Her touch was so delicate,
yet she knew when to be firm. Forget men knowing what they were doing, women knew better.
This woman did.

He was going to come. The orgasm built in his body, a fire being stoked, firing nerve endings,
sending his pulse jumping. One more suck -- then her mouth was gone and Luka’s heart lurched.

A trick? This was a fucking trick ? Were the vamps coming now? Were they waiting outside,
ready to rush in and impale themselves on his dick? He turned his furious eyes on Chloe.

“Is it okay to swallow?” she whispered, her fingers playing in the crease of his groin. “You don’t
have -- I mean, it won’t hurt me?”

Luka almost whimpered. He was wrong. She wasn’t trying to trick him. “Nomhhgsyygmy.” He
tried again. “No, my seed won’t harm you.”

She sucked once more. Her teeth teased him, her tongue, her lips dancing circles around his
cock, and then his balls. Her hair drove him mad because he wanted to sink his fingers into it and
pull her head down harder. Just as he finished the thought, she went down hard, a couple of deep
sucks so he was sure he felt the back of her throat, and Luka came, jetting into her mouth. He
squeezed his eyes shut as the sensation overwhelmed him, ripples of ecstasy flashing from his
brain to his groin and on to every part of his body with each wrenching spasm. The relief made
him boneless. If he hadn’t already been lying down, he’d have fallen.

Chloe continued to suck gently until he was spent, then caressed him with her mouth, licking him
clean.

“Kiss me,” Luka pleaded, angry that his motivation was as much to check she’d swallowed and
wasn’t about to rush off and spit into some turkey baster than it was to have her lips linked to his.

She crawled up the bed and kissed him. Luka’s tongue shot out and he tasted himself, a salty
tang. How could he have doubted her? He wanted to hold her, wrap his arms around her, bring
her pleasure, and instead she had to hold him. Chloe cupped his cheeks and pressed her mouth
harder against his, their tongues fighting for control. Luka was so wrapped in delight he almost
missed the warning signs. He dragged his mouth away.

“Chloe, they’re coming. Get out of here. Now.”

Chapter Ten

The secret panel slid closed behind Chloe a split second before the door opened. Eve was on her
own. Two steps inside the room she slammed to a halt and sniffed.

“Sex?”

Oh fuck. Luka watched her carefully. She sniffed again.

Eve strode to the bed, dropped her head to Luka’s crotch, and sniffed a third time. Wrinkles
creased her brow as she checked the sheet around him.

“What have you been doing?”

Luka went with the safest answer. “Nothing.”

“I smell your seed. But I don’t see it.” She lifted Luka’s dick between two fingers and let it drop
back to its nest of curls. “What have you done?”

“How can I have done anything? I’m chained to the bed.”

“You smell of sex.”

He kept his face expressionless.

“The light’s on.”

“Krista was here,” Luka said.

Eve raised her eyebrows. “Krista?”

She stripped off her pale blue dress. There was nothing beneath. Luka wished he could have seen
Chloe’s body. He’d imagined what it looked like under her T-shirt and jeans, imagined running
his hands, then his lips over every inch of her, especially that hidden jewel between her legs.
He’d suck that until she came on his mouth. No. Stop that. It was a mistake to think about Chloe.
He’d be hard in seconds.

He needed to distract himself, fill his brain with something boring. Immediately, his mind went
blank. Boring. Boring. He’d like to bore into Chloe, drive his -- shit. What was the name of that
awful book he’d read where a car dropped off a cliff with the hero inside and the vehicle
miraculously developed a parachute? Luka felt like he’d fallen off a cliff with Chloe, he’d --
damn it. Long division. Two thousand and -- that’s how many times he’d like to make love to
Chloe only it wouldn’t be enough. Shit.

Eve rolled a glass bottle down his chest and over his dick. “Massage oil. I’ve warmed it.”

Luka hardened his heart, hoping the hardness didn’t spread elsewhere.

She unscrewed the top and let the oil drip down his cock. It spread to his groin and ran down his
balls and inner thighs. Luka held his breath as her fingers smoothed the soft liquid over him.
Another long division. With decimals. Nine point three into five thousand seven hundred and
sixty nine…er…

Ten minutes later, Luka’s brain hurt but his cock lay limp despite Eve’s best efforts. She’d
sprawled on top of him, rubbed the oil over him with her breasts and then her body, and he made
sure not one part of him moved.

Luka sensed the rage building inside her. Her eyes darkened and narrowed; her face tightened.

“How dare you defy me, you pathetic worm!”

Her fangs were out. The simmer turned to a boil.

“You have to do this. I need your sperm.”

“Why?”

“None of your business.”

Her gaze was fixed on his throat. She was going to bite him and there was nothing he could do.

“Go fuck yourself,” he said.

When her fangs went into his neck, Luka flinched and kept his mind blank. Blood taken in anger
brought more pain than pleasure. But she sucked too long. He could feel his essence draining as
she fed in fury and not love. Luka’s limbs began to shake and a chill flashed through him. When
she pulled back, blood dripping down her chin, his vision was blurred.

“Give me what I want and I’ll let you feed,” she whispered.

“I can’t.” He hated how weak he sounded.

She raised one sharp fingernail and scratched an arc above her breast. A thin line of bloody beads
appeared, a tempting ruby necklace. Luka’s fangs tried to drop.

“Do you want to die?” She wiped her finger along the blood and rubbed it on his gums. He
sucked in a reflex action, the taste sending the muscles in his mouth into spasm.

“I’m already dead.”

She snorted. “You know what I mean. Look, if you’re impotent, give me the name of another
who can do this.”

“No.”

Eve stroked his hair, running her finger down his cheek. “You can’t survive much more.”

Luka turned his head and closed his eyes.

“Call to them. They’ll come for you,” she whispered.

“Never.”

Her fangs sank back into his neck.

“Be strong.”

Luka gave no reaction, but that voice had not come from Eve. Who was talking to him?

Chloe had watched the scene unfold with increasing horror. Several times she’d been on the
point of rushing into the room. But if they caught her, Luka would be trapped. Chloe was the
only one who could help him. Maybe she could have tackled one woman, hit her over the head
with the flashlight; only if the other had come in, Chloe wasn’t strong enough to deal with two.
The other thing that held her back was that Luka’s cock stayed unresponsive despite the woman
writhing all over his body. He was fighting back all on his own. When she’d seen the bitch latch
onto Luka’s neck and his body had trembled beneath her, Chloe began to think something was
very wrong.

Her theory about this being a place where people got together and played at being vampires only
worked if Luka wasn’t one of them. He’d told her all that stuff about his clan so either he was as
mad as the rest of them, or there really was such a thing as a vampire.

Chloe gasped as Luka cried out. There had to be something she could do. Rush in with a wooden
stake and scare her off? Pretend to be a ghost and tap on the walls? She sent a thought to Luka’s
mind with no hope that he’d hear her.

“Be strong.”

When the woman left the room, Chloe breathed a sigh of relief only to groan when moments
later the silver-haired one took her place. When she dropped to Luka’s neck and bit him like the
first, Chloe bolted back upstairs. The freaking idiots were going to kill him.

Chloe came straight out of her room and made for the sauna. Two minutes later the whole
building was filled with the ear-splitting sound of fire alarms ringing and Chloe was on her way
back upstairs. The place shot into immediate chaos. Screaming women ran everywhere -- naked,
wet, dry, oily, muddy, covered in seaweed, one with a snake around her neck – eek! -- and a few
lucky ones wrapped in towels. Chloe darted back into her room, put the chain on the door, and
dashed down the passageway.

She scrambled into the room. “It’s okay. There’s no fire.”

Luka didn’t respond. His face was pale as snow. For one heart-stopping moment, Chloe thought
he was dead.

“Luka!”

She kissed his cheek and when his eyes fluttered open, she wanted to scream with joy. One look
at his colorless irises froze the elation. At that moment, Chloe knew she’d been lying to herself.
She hadn’t wanted to believe because it seemed too fantastic, too over-the-top, too everything,
but she’d watched them suck blood from his neck. She’d seen Luka’s fangs. The women only
came out at night. No one would run a spa that operated from dusk to dawn. Santa Claus went
around the world in a twinkling. The tooth fairy exchanged money for teeth, and vampires really
existed.

There was only one thing she could do. She put her wrist to his mouth and swallowed hard. “Bite
me.”

A hint of a smile fluttered across his face, but his mouth stayed closed. Chloe pulled up his top
lip. His teeth looked normal. No fangs in sight.

“You have to have blood. What’s wrong with mine?”

“I use bagged blood.”

“Do you see any bagged blood?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Luka, there’s no choice here. You have to feed and if you feed on me, you might be able to
break free.”

He shook his head.

Chloe ground her teeth as an alternative to thumping him. “You can’t afford to be picky. Maybe
you’d rather I knocked a stake into your chest. Any particular size or wood type?”

He snorted.

Chloe got up, looked around the room, and picked up a nail from the floor. She could get tetanus,
gangrene. Before an overactive imagination could stop her she dragged the sharp end hard across
her wrist and watched in painful horror as a bright red line blossomed on her skin.

The scent of Chloe’s blood surged through Luka’s senses. His eyes opened and he groaned. The
noise of the fire alarm rang in his head, but the pulse of Chloe’s blood overwhelmed rational
thought. He didn’t want to feed off her, but his head rose from the pillow of its own accord.
Chloe pressed her wrist on his lips and he lost control. He was too hungry, too desperate. His
teeth slid out and he sucked so hard she toppled against him. Luka struggled against the chains,
wanting to hold her, wanting to sink his teeth into the top of her breast, into her neck -- oh God,
the inside of her thigh. Her warm blood flooded his mouth and Luka gulped in the same
desperate way he had when he was a child.

He could feel the power of her blood in an instant, streaming into his veins, arteries, surging to
every cell. More. He needed more.

Luka wasn’t sure what brought him back to his senses, but the noise of the alarm had stopped.
He pulled his mouth away from Chloe’s wrist and she fell off the bed. Shit.

“Chloe, sweetheart, put your wrist back on my mouth.”

He could hear her gasping. “You…took…enough.”

“Too much. My saliva will heal the wound.”

She pulled herself onto the bed and laid her arm over his lips. The trust in that gesture touched
him more deeply than she could know. One delicate wet caress and the blood stopped flowing.
Once the feeding was over, enzymes flooded his saliva to ensure any wound he’d made was
sealed.

“You’ve got another problem now,” she whispered, nodding at his groin.

His cock lay iron-hard against her thigh.

“I can’t help it. Feeding is very sensual.”

“Make it go down again.”

Luka smiled. “Not that easy when you’re here next to me, so luscious and tempting. Get outside.
They’ll be counting heads. They’ll look for you. Go.”

Chloe pushed herself upright.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said. “I thought you were a load of crazy people.”

“We are. Now go and make sure you drink plenty of water.”

Chloe vaguely registered that Rufus the dragon had changed places with Angel horse on the shelf
as she staggered past. She was delirious. Toys didn’t move on their own. The fireplace had
barely slotted back into position when she heard a pounding at the door.

“Chloe! Are you in there?”

She grabbed her iPod, stuck one earpiece in, cranked up the volume, and opened the door. The
gardener stood there.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

“What’s the matter?” She took the earpiece out and staggered slightly.

“Thirsty. Water. Drink now.”

Her sixth-and-a-half sense hammered the message home. She stumbled to the bathroom with him
in pursuit.

“Where are you going? Didn’t you hear the fire alarm?”

Chloe shook her head. “I was listening to music.” The water was wonderful, but it didn’t stop her
head spinning.

“Come on. We have to get out.”

“Drink water, Chloe.”

That wasn’t her pain in the butt voice, but someone else.

“Leave me alone,” she yelped.

“For Pete’s sake.” The guy grabbed her arm.

“Just a minute.” She finished the glass and poured another and took it with her.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked.

She tried to look worried. “Getting water for the fire?”

He rolled his eyes as she hurried to the door.

“Aren’t you going to take your camera?”

Shit. Chloe grabbed it. She hadn’t thought to check for a surveillance camera outside the sauna.
She hoped no one had noticed her activating the alarm.

Everyone had gathered on the gravel at the front of the hall. A fire engine, its lights flashing in
the darkness, stood nearby, firemen milling about. In all the confusion, it would have been an
ideal time to sneak Luka away. Maybe he’d been able to break free. Maybe he’d gone already.
Chloe felt a pang at the thought.

Women wandered everywhere. Were they all vampires? How could she tell? If she took a
photograph, would their image appear? She glanced at the gardener. He’d told her his name was
Matt. Not very vampire-like, though he’d been out in daylight so didn’t that prove he wasn’t
one? Why was he growing vegetables when vampires didn’t eat? As though he sensed her gaze
on him, he glanced at her and took hold of her hand.

“Stop that.”

That didn’t sound like her sixth-and-a-half sense either. Who else was in her mind? Chloe began
building a mental wall, brick by brick. It had never worked with her inner voices though maybe
it would with this one. Brick upon brick. It was a technique that allowed Chloe to tell her mother
with a straight face that she had not flushed the goldfish down the toilet, nor had she taken the
money from her charity box and spent it on sweets.

“Stop it.”

Chloe added another row of bricks.

“Get your hand out of his.”

Oops. Not working, Chloe thought.

When Matt began to stroke her wrist with his thumb, she pulled free and wrapped her arms
around her body. Which was why she must have surprised him a moment later by throwing
herself into his arms and pressing her lips against his. His shock didn’t last long. Chloe felt his
tongue push into her mouth, his arms pull her close. She had no choice but to pretend this was
what she’d been longing for because if she moved she’d be in front of someone she thought
she’d never see again. Her grandmother Selena.

Chloe’s heart pounded like a pile-driver, slamming into her stomach. When Matt increased the
intensity of the kiss, she tried to pull back.

“No. No. No.”

The words screamed in her head until she thought the top of her skull was about to blow off. She
felt terrible using Matt like this, but his hunky body was an effective shield. Chloe knew that in
theory, she and Selena could have had a nice little chat, then walked away from each other and
never spoken again. Just one problem. One slight, niggling difficulty. Only one little thing, but
Chloe couldn’t ignore it. Selena had been in her thirties when Chloe last saw her. Fifteen years

later, she looked younger than Chloe, which could only mean one of two things. She had a
fabulous plastic surgeon or she was a vampire.

The moment Selena moved, Chloe broke away from Matt’s embrace.

“Hey,” he said and gave a happy grin. “Where did that come from?”

“Fear.” Chloe shivered. Not a lie. “I could have died and you saved me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. How about we --”

“Matthew! You’re not paid to stand around talking,” Eve said. “Where have you been?”

“Making sure all the guests were safe.”

“Well, I need you. I’m feeling peckish. Come with me.”

Chloe sidled over to the fire truck. The firemen were trying to pack up but women were draped
all over their equipment. The arrival of a team of muscular men, otherwise known as free drinks,
had drawn the naked and half-naked women like bank robbers to an open vault. While everyone
was occupied, Chloe grabbed an axe.

“She noticed we’d swapped places.”

“Angel, that’s the least of our worries. Someone else is talking to her.”

“Rufus, you idiot, it’s him. He’s in her head. We told her to drink and so did he. They’re
bonding.”

“Don’t sound so smug, Phoebe. He’s still in chains and that axe isn’t going to work.”

“It might, Rufus. At least she’s trying.”

Chapter Eleven

“Luka, are you asleep,” Chloe whispered.

“No.” He opened his eyes, smiled at her -- then flinched.

“Brace yourself,” Chloe said.

She lifted the axe over her head and swung it down on the chain that lay along the metal bed
head. The shock went straight up her arm and rattled her teeth. She clung on to the wooden
handle as she staggered backwards.

“Christ, Chloe. I thought you were aiming for my head.”

She dropped the axe and bent over the chain.

“I didn’t even mark it,” she said in disgust and slumped at his side.

“Who kissed you?” Luka asked.

Chloe turned to look at him. “How did you know?”

Luka glared and pulled on the chains. “I can smell him. Who was it?”

She felt a flicker of joy that he might be jealous. “Was that you in my head? Vampires really
can --?”

“In your head?”

“I…someone told me to drink more water and to stop kissing Matt. It wasn’t one of my voices
so --”

“Your voices? What the hell are you talking about? And who’s Matt?” he demanded.

“A guy who works here.”

“You kissed him.”

Luka’s voice was flat. He was jealous. Chloe tried not to smile.

“I needed him as a distraction. I was trying to hide and he was the nearest big thing.”

“Why were you trying to hide?”

She didn’t want to tell him about Selena. Chloe had a horrible feeling that Selena was more than
a guest at Washburn Hall. Maybe she’d never sold the place and knew exactly what was
happening to Luka.

Chloe snuggled against him. “I didn’t want anyone to catch me with the axe.” She slipped her
arm across his chest, loving the feel of him, the spicy smell of him. “Only I didn’t make you
strong enough to break free and the axe is useless. What now?” She leaned up to look at him.
“Hey, where did those marks go? You’re healing.”

“Your blood did that.”

“Really?”

Her hand swept over his chest, teasing a nipple. It felt so soft -- no, that would be hard --
between her fingers, like a little hazelnut.

Luka groaned. “Chloe!”

“Oh God, I’m sorry.”

She whipped her fingers away, dropped them down to his flat stomach, and watched his cock
straining to reach her hand, the foreskin drawn back, the head the shape of a rosy mushroom. It
looked so good, but this was so bad.

“I wanted to help and I’m making things worse.” She moved off the bed.

“You’re too tempting.”

“Should I go? I mean, you need to stop it doing that.”

Luka sighed. “I’m not entirely in control of my cock. I’ve been holding back for so long, I think
it’s making a point.”

“A bloody big one,” Chloe said.

His chest shook as he laughed.

“Er…Luka? How about if you exhaust yourself with me? If I helped you out again, in a matter of
a few minutes you’d be back to your slightly less huge state.”

“Vampires can keep going for hours.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed. That’s supposed to be a good thing.”

“Sorry.” She sat down and absentmindedly returned to circling his nipple with her finger.

There was a long pause.

“But…I’m not opposed to the idea of you trying to tire me out,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Chloe lifted her head. Luka smiled and his eyes darkened. Oh God, vampire or not, he was the
most enticing man she’d ever seen. She’d be doing him a favor, right? It was partly her fault he
was in this state. So the decent thing to do was help him out, and if she helped herself out at the
same time, well that was just a bonus. Chloe pulled her T-shirt over her head. Luka stopped
smiling. When she stood up to unzip her jeans, he moaned.

“Oh God, I really want to hold you,” Luka whispered.

Before she lost her nerve, Chloe unclipped her bra and dropped it. Luka gave a rumbling growl.
Her jeans and panties followed her bra and he went silent, staring without blinking at her naked
body. The only thing that let Chloe know he wanted her was his rock-hard erection. His cock
seemed to get longer, thicker and more rocklike each time she looked, and more irresistible and
intimidating the longer she looked. She chewed her lower lip.

Dimly aware that she was about to deplete his energy and undo some of the good done by her
voluntary blood donation, Chloe straddled his body, kneeling up on the bed. She stroked his face
with her hands, running her fingers along his cheeks and down his corded neck to his shoulders.

“Your face is so --”

“Vampires don’t need to shave.”

“How did you know I was going to say soft? I might have been going to say ugly.”

“Were you?”

Chloe shook her head. “You’re the best looking man I’ve ever seen. That’s probably why I’ve
taken my clothes off. I’m not usually like this. I --”

“Chloe, it’s okay. This isn’t wrong. The way I’m being held against my will is wrong. The way
they’re trying to force me to give them my seed is wrong. You and I, we’re not wrong. I don’t
remember when something felt this right.”

Her arm started to itch like crazy. What if she was allergic to him? Too bad. She’d take
medication. As she leaned to rub her belly along his cock, still slippery with oil, she felt her body
tighten. Luka lifted his head, reached for her mouth, and Chloe dropped her breasts to his chest,
her mouth to his. The moment his lips touched hers, she was lost, swept away on a riptide of
delight.

Chloe didn’t think she’d ever been kissed like this. He sucked and nibbled, each touch of his
tongue and lips electrifying every nerve ending. He stole her air, but then she forgot to breathe;
he stole her control and she forgot she ever had it. Luka tasted intoxicatingly different. It filtered
through her mind she could be tasting her blood; then the thought washed away in the ecstasy of
the moment. He growled into her mouth and Chloe felt the echoing pull between her legs.

When Chloe dragged her head back to gulp air into her struggling lungs, she saw in the deep
pools of his eyes how much he needed her and knew this went beyond anything she’d ever
experienced. Not just sex, there was a connection between them.

“Chloe, my angel, I could spend a lifetime kissing you but if those murderous bitches turn up
now, they’ll get what they want from me. I have to be inside you.”

She knew that he wasn’t a let-someone-else-take-control kind of guy, but he had no choice and a
little bit of Chloe was glad that this first time everything was up to her. First time, huh, as if
there was going to be a load more. So this might be all she got and she was determined to enjoy
it.

Chloe wrapped her fingers around his hot, hard shaft and held it against the entrance to her body.
Ah God, he was big. She hesitated, rubbing him along her folds.

“Don’t tease,” he said with a grunt.

“Sorry.”

“Not when I don’t get to tease you back.”

Chloe took her eyes from his cock and looked at his face. He smiled. She eased herself down a
little further onto his silky cock. It was wet with precum, but she was wetter. She clenched
around him, and as she relaxed, let him sink a little deeper.

Luka gave a frustrated groan and yanked at his restraints. “I want to touch you.”

“Touch me with words.”

As Chloe eased her body down, she whimpered at the intrusion but her pussy gradually stretched
to take him, inch by beautiful inch.

Luka exhaled, a long noisy outrush of air. “You’re a precious gift, Chloe. I can hardly believe
you’re real and I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you, but if I don’t get all the way inside
you in the next half a second, my dick will never forgive me.”

Chloe gave one last push and groaned as he slid completely inside her.

“Luka,” she gasped.

“Chloe, sweetling, my angel.” He gulped the words. “Oh God, you’re my love.”

As her body adjusted to the size of him, Chloe began to move, slow at first, lifting her hips a
little and then pressing down. Everywhere tingled. Her heart pounded and her lungs struggled to
draw enough air. Her hands trembled on his shoulders.

“Harder,” Luka whispered.

He canted his hips up to meet hers as she began to drive herself down more firmly. Chloe
reached to lock her hands with his and Luka gripped her fingers. She could feel him swelling
inside her, every nerve ending responding to his cock’s steely caress. Ribbons of pleasure twisted
inside her, winding tighter. Chloe shifted position, changed the angle of her hips to rock and
grind her mound against him, allow him to press closer to her clit, and he gave a throaty groan.

“Come for me, my love,” Luka groaned. “Take me with you. This has to be fast. I need to come
inside you now.”

The words “inside you” slammed into her head and she dragged herself off him, holding herself
above his body, his purple-headed cock bereft beneath her. The look on his face froze Chloe’s
breath.

“You bitch. This was a trick?”

“What?” she gasped, alarmed at his words.

Luka’s gaze shifted to the door. “Are they out there waiting to take over? Are you priming me
for them? I’ve been tricked by a whore?”

“Luka, no, no. What the hell are you talking about? You were going to come inside me and you
can’t do that. I don’t have any protection. I’m not on the pill or anything. I don’t want to get
pregnant.”

Relief smoothed out his face. He dropped his head to the pillow, closed his eyes, and released a
choked sigh. “Oh God. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Chloe, you’re not going to get pregnant. You’re
not a vampire.”

“Are you sure?”

He opened one eye. “Do you drink blood and have to sleep in the daytime?”

She pretended to swipe him over the head and Luka laughed. “I’m sure,” he said.

Chloe dropped back into place, impaling herself on his length in one smooth movement that
made them both shudder.

“You feel so good,” he whispered. “So soft and wet and hot and I’d like this to last forever but
sweetheart, you have to hurry.”

Chloe put her hands on his chest, gripped with her thighs, and rode him. She could feel the coil
twisting inside her, the sensual tingling between her legs as the muscles in her belly began to
contract. Because she’d delayed coming, her body’s need for release was greater, the sensation
more intense. She jerked as a biting spasm gripped her uterus. The one following was stronger,
the one after felt as though her body was about to break apart. Chloe fell into a firestorm of
pleasure as he thrust his hips towards her, forcing her to completion.

She catapulted towards nirvana, her muscles clenching around him in a tightening spasm, and
Luka cried out, arching his hips off the bed. As he came, she felt each warm spurt. Her sheathe
wrapped around his cock in a perfect fit, milking every last drop of his cum before she collapsed
on his chest.

Neither of them moved. Chloe doubted she’d be capable of moving for quite some time.

“Oh, Chloe,” he whispered. “I wish I could hold you.”

She attempted to get her breathing under control. Her heart was beyond hope, pounding in her
chest as though she’d run up a mountain. Chloe felt as though she’d been wearing spectacles all
her life that blurred her vision and had suddenly taken them off. Sex had never been like this
before. Luka looked, felt, tasted different. She put her arms around him and held him tighter,
imagining he was hugging her.

His hair brushed against her cheek, silky soft, softer than hers. His mouth feather-touched the
line of her chin, then dropped to her neck and nuzzled there. He smelt so good. How could that
be when he’d been chained up for so long? It really felt as though Luka was touching her back
and Chloe knew that wasn’t possible. His hands and legs were tied to the bed, but she could
swear he had his fingers on her bum.

Luka’s mouth pressed more firmly against her neck. He was breathing hard, panting while
Chloe’s breathing eased. She lifted her hands to his head, ran her fingers through his hair, and
shifted her head.

“Give him better access to your neck.”

Her head buzzed. He was kissing her, licking, sucking, biting. Biting!

Chloe tensed and grabbed his ears. “Luka!”

“Hush, love. It’s all right. I won’t hurt you.”

“Trust him.”

Her extra voice talking, the female. She felt Luka’s lips at her neck, brushing her skin, then
something sharp.

“Ouch,” she gasped and began to struggle. Was he turning her into a vampire, killing her?
“Luka,” she gasped but an instant wash of pleasure swamped her fears and dissolved her bones.
Killing her was okay. His cock, still inside her, had hardened once more, and Chloe’s muscles
clamped around it. She couldn’t come again, not so fast and he definitely couldn’t, yet a wave of
rapture crashed over her body as she felt him surge inside her. She was imagining his hands on
her breasts, his fingers between her legs, but it still felt good. Oh God, she was going to come
and she could feel Luka tensing. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe vampire books were right. What
had he said? He could keep going for hours? Did he need that long to wear him out? Chloe was
exhausted already.

Luka couldn’t help it. He really couldn’t. He had to bite her. In part through a need to feed, in
part in a desire to complete the mating. His cock surged into her again and he shuddered as her
pussy contracted around him, a tight wet glove. She came as he jetted into her. It wasn’t enough.
He wanted her blood. It was beyond his ability to resist, though Luka knew he should. Once his
lips had brushed the vein in her neck, her blood began to sing to him, a siren call impossible to
resist. In some dim, distant part of his brain that was still capable of rational thought, Luka
pondered how this could be so, why he wanted her so much and then desire overwhelmed sense.

His tongue found her pulse and even as he made a desperate effort to pull back, his teeth sank
deep into her delicate neck and his cock surged into her pussy. He felt her resist, the little minx
pulled his ears, but nothing could have stopped him. Blood gushed into his mouth and Luka
drank as if it was the only means to save his life. Maybe it was. She was sweet and tangy, the
nearest he’d get to heaven, the most wonderful thing he’d ever tasted. In his mind, his hands
roamed her body as he drank; fingers caressed her breasts, her backside, slid to her clit, and
teased the sensitive nub. He wanted to hold her more than anything. He’d have died for the
chance to wrap his arms around her.

For the second time Chloe’s blood rushed through his body, renewing his strength, giving him
life and energy. He exploded into her, his cock making up for lost time and the feeling of her
body pulsing around his drove his desire even higher. He drank and fucked in an orgy of
sensation that he didn’t want to end.

Forget the fact that he knew they had to hurry. He could do this forever. The sensation of his
cock thickening yet again forced him away from her neck. Luka gave a mental groan. Shit. He
lapped the punctures holes closed and nudged her with his head. When Luka saw Chloe’s pale
face, his dick shrank. Too much. The knowledge that he’d drunk too deeply was an effective
damper to his ardor.

“Chloe! Love! You need to wake up. Go back to your room, drink a pint of water, and sleep.”

She stirred on his chest.

“Do you hear me? Chloe, do as I tell you.” He pushed into her mind. He’d tried earlier when he
knew she was in the arms of another man but something had tried to block him. He’d been afraid
to push too hard, not sure whether his actions could be detected by others. If Chloe had walked
away looking like a zombie, she might have attracted unwanted attention. Luka tried again to get
into her mind. “Chloe, leave me now. Go to your room.”

“Chloe, please hurry.”

She climbed off him and lurched to her feet, her eyes glazed as she swayed in front of him.

“Pick up your clothes, sweetheart,” he whispered.

Only when she’d closed the panel behind her, did Luka allow himself to relax.

The calm lasted two seconds.

What the hell was he playing at? This was juggling with fire and he couldn’t even juggle with
balls. He’d put her in grave danger. His body had overruled his head. He’d needed sex and used
her. He’d needed blood, taken it and left her too little. He’d endangered her life.

It might be some consolation if he was strong enough to break free.

Luka wrapped his hands around the chains at his wrists, ignored the stinging pain in his palms,
and pulled. The power coursed through him, Chloe’s blood commingling with his, surging down
every vein and artery.

The links stretched but didn’t break. He let go and relaxed. The wounds on his body had begun
to heal, cuts sealing and bruises fading. He needed to sleep for the regeneration to complete,
though there was no denying he felt better. Luka strained once more against the chains.

He was stronger, but not quite strong enough.

“Well, she did as you told her, Phoebe. She trusted him and he’s taken too much.”

“Typical male. Give them an inch and they take a mile. She needs to drink water. She’ll be fine.”

“They were sweet.”

“Rufus, are you mellowing in your old age?”

“Just remembering what you used to taste like.”

“Hah, that shut her up.”

“Shut up yourself, Angel.”

Chapter Twelve

Luka opened his eyes when the door opened. Krista came in carrying a large plastic cylinder. She
had a smirk on her face. Luka liked neither the look of the thing she held nor her expression.

“God, don’t you ever give up?” he asked.

She stripped off her gown, climbed onto the bed, and planted her feet either side of his hips, a
position intended to give him a view he didn’t want. Luka averted his eyes and thought about
Chloe’s sweet body, the mole under her left breast that he’d ached to kiss, the hollow above her

collarbone, her bright green eyes that clouded before she came, the little breathless pants she
made afterwards. Arrggh, not a good idea.

Krista crouched down, picked up his cock and tried to shove it into the lubricated tube. Luka
winced as her fingernails dug into his flesh. The one thing he didn’t want her to do had turned
into two. He didn’t want her to get her hands on his sperm and he didn’t want her teeth in his
neck. After only just emptying himself into Chloe, there was a chance he had no little
breaststrokers left. If he could avoid losing any blood before Chloe came again, he might be able
to feed from her once more and regain enough strength to break free.

He hoped Krista didn’t notice that his body looked less battered, yet he wondered how she could
fail to do so. He’d have to make up some lie about the healing capability of Truebloods.

“Why are you doing this?” Luka gasped as Krista eventually managed to force his uncooperative
dick inside the oily tube. “Why are you so desperate to have a child? You know you’ll be in
trouble when the Council finds out. And you know what they’ll do to me.”

“But not to me,” she said with a grin. “You’d be the one who gets to see the sun, but don’t
worry, that’s not what our mistress has in mind for you. Once you start producing you’ll be
protected and pampered.”

Producing ? Was the thought of being pampered and protected supposed to make him feel better?
He didn’t want to be milked like a cow or even put out to stud like a stallion. He wanted to be
free.

“Your mistress?” he asked.

“She’s wonderful,” Krista said loudly and muttered under her breath, “crazy bitch.”

When Krista began to pump, he groaned. “Don’t do this. Please.”

Not much scared Luka, but the tremors in his gut were most definitely fear. As Krista settled on
his thighs, she flicked her tongue in and out like a snake and grinned. She had about as much
appeal as a snake but Luka knew his dick was engorged. The poor fucker had no choice. Luka
had seen these pumps used though he’d never tried one himself. He didn’t need to. He had no
problem with the length of his equipment, nor with getting an erection. Until Krista had walked
in with that contraption, Luka had been fairly confident that he’d used up his supply of erections
for a while on Chloe. His supply of sperm however, was something else entirely. It was wishful
thinking that he’d have nothing left. Unlike mortals, his regeneration rate was very high. If Krista
kept pumping, he’d eventually supply her with his cum, whether he liked it nor not.

When Krista drew the cylinder away, Luka was as thick as he’d ever seen himself and around the
root of his cock sat a black plastic ring. Not good. As Krista began to lower herself onto his cock,
the door burst open and Eve stormed in.

“What the hell are you doing?” she screeched. “You know what she said.”

Krista let out a bellow of fury, but to Luka’s relief, she got off the bed. When he saw the way
they both focused on his erection, he felt like a slab of meat thrown between two tigers.

“Ooh, that looks nice. Go and get her,” Eve told Krista.

“You go.”

“What and leave you alone with that?” Eve turned to Krista. “Hurry, before I --”

The bickering stopped abruptly. Krista grabbed her gown and pulled it over her head just before
the door opened. Luka guessed the woman with the curly blonde hair was their mistress. She was
tall and elegant and had danger written all over her hard face. She looked around the room and
then at Luka -- or to be more precise, at his cock, still stiff as a post.

“We were just coming to tell you, Selena,” Eve said. “We managed to --”

“What a beautiful, beautiful cock.”

Luka repressed a shudder.

“What’s that?” the woman asked, pointing to the penis pump. “You were told no devices, no
drugs.” She turned from cold mountain spring to raging whitewater torrent in an instant. “How
dare you defy me! How dare you use your own initiative! You pathetic morons. I give you one
simple job, something that any vamp could do, any vamp with tits and a brain and you can’t even
manage that.”

“Krista did it,” Eve said.

“It was Eve’s idea.” Krista glared at her.

The dominant vamp reared up. She was already tall, but she seemed to grow taller. The air
thickened, bristling with malevolence and Luka could almost taste the evil seeping from her
pores. Shit, he was in big trouble.

“Get out of here.”

The two fled and his heart began to race. Dawn was approaching. Not quite such a problem for
him, he only had to hang on long enough and she’d be forced to retreat to her light-proof lair.
But she moved fast and was naked and impaled on him before he had time to blink. So much for
foreplay.

“Give me your seed, Trueblood,” she whispered as she rode him. “We’ll protect you from the
Council. When you’ve impregnated enough of us, we’ll be too powerful for them to ignore.”

Enough of them ? So this wasn’t just a few vamps who wanted a baby. Luka wondered what the
hell was going on. He knew he had to resist this woman, but he felt his cock responding to the

rhythmic friction. Shit. He pictured himself lying in the sun, the puff of smoke before he felt the
first ray burn a hole in his flesh. The red mark would spread, grow deeper, more painful, join up
with others until all of his body was a mass of excruciating pain. That vampire film about the
town in Alaska had got something right. Exposed to full sunlight Luka would crumble to ashes.

“Fuck me, Luka. I know you want to. Move your hips. Push into me. Feel me tight around you.”

Luka imagined his blood bubbling in his veins, his body swelling and…the pain, more pain than
he could bear. He gasped with another pain as she slammed a clenched fist into his temple.

“Stop thinking of death and fuck me. We’ll protect you from the Council. Give me a child.”

Luka stared at her as she raped him. How could he describe this as anything else? He was
humiliated, ashamed, and increasingly furious. Her fangs were out, her breath jerky as she
maintained the savage assault on his cock. He didn’t want her to bite him. He would not come.
He hoped his hatred was strong enough to make his balls listen to his command. But she came,
screaming her release into the air, her contractions dragging at his cock, urging it to respond.
Luka gritted his teeth. He refused to come, yet dawn would. He only had to hang on a little
longer.

His mind slid to Chloe and he hoped she wasn’t at the spyhole. He glanced over, heartsick at the
thought of her seeing this. Would she understand that he didn’t want it?

He yelped as the vamp tore herself from him. Luka pulled at his chains. He wanted to rip out her
throat. Time had run out for both of them.

“Tonight, Luka Varek of the Trueblood clan, you’re mine,” she whispered and drew a sharp
fingernail across his cheek. Luka felt his flesh part under her touch. She ran her finger along the
cut, lifted it to her lips, and sucked away a smear of blood. Then she was gone.

* * * * *

Chloe looked around her room in bewilderment. Why had she left Luka down there? Why hadn’t
he escaped with her? She remembered him feeding. Her hand wandered to her neck. It was hard
to think straight. Her head was foggy. Maybe Luka wasn’t strong enough to break free. She
glanced at her bed.

The idea of sleep was so appealing. She couldn’t -- not yet. She’d tried to free Luka by force and
failed. Let him drink her blood and still failed but she’d made some difference which was more
than she could say for her attack on the chains. He’d begun to heal after he’d drunk from her, so
more blood had to be the answer, only it was obvious there was a limit to how much she could
afford to lose. Chloe’s limbs were shaky, the black edge to her vision warning her she needed to
rest and allow her red cells to regenerate. The bed looked so good. Then she had a brilliant idea.

Adrenaline flowing, Chloe was suddenly wide awake. She stripped to her underwear and put on
a Sunset Spa robe. In the little wicker basket of freebies left in the bathroom was a face pack.

She ripped it open, squeezed dark brown gunk on her palm, and smothered her face in “Instant
Brightening Chocolate Sundae Delicious Delight.” When she’d finished, she looked hideous and
she smelt like a box of chocolates.

Moments later, as she scrubbed her tongue with a face cloth, Chloe wondered when she’d learn
that eating cosmetics was not a good idea. She blamed the manufacturers. Why make something
inedible smell good enough to eat and call it delicious? Her marketing brain kicked that idea
around for a time. Edible face treatments. Maybe only of interest if you had a partner to lick
them off.

Chloe pulled the belt of her robe tight around her waist and made her way downstairs. She took it
steady. Her legs were wobbling and head swimming. A vague memory of Luka telling her to
drink filtered through. It had, in fact, been something Luka had said that triggered her brilliant
idea. There weren’t enough members of staff to feed all the vampires and if all the women fed on
their therapists, the guys would be too exhausted for -- well, anything else the woman wanted
them for. There must be a supply of blood somewhere in Washburn Hall. Since she’d smelled
nothing cooking in the restaurant, it seemed the obvious place to look.

Three women sat in the dining room. Two of them had bags of red liquid pressed against their
faces. Yuk. As Chloe walked past, they dropped the bags on the table, and stood up. She
repressed a shudder and made her way to the serving hatch.

“What can I get for you?” asked a small, round, unattractive bald man with a pug nose.

Chloe couldn’t believe he was a vampire. If so, the books had got it all wrong.

“Well?”

Oh God, she had no idea what to ask for.

“Hard…speak,” she muttered through closed lips. “Face…pack…set…solid.”

The man smiled. “Clap if I get it right.”

“’K.”

“One bag of O positive?”

Chloe didn’t move. She wondered how many bags she was allowed.

The man raised his eyebrows. “O negative?”

What if she got it wrong? She had no idea if the blood group mattered. Obviously it did,
otherwise this guy wouldn’t be asking her. She was B negative which was rare. Luka had gulped
her down. Maybe he liked the taste. Eventually the man got to B negative and Chloe clapped
vigorously.

“Very nice,” he said. He walked to the fridge and came back with one bag.

Chloe held up five fingers. His eyes looked as though they were going to pop out of his head.
She put her hands on her hips and tried an imperious glare. Her forehead cracked and a brown
lump dropped off. Chloe stared at it for a moment, then picked it up and lifted it to her mouth. At
the last moment, she remembered the taste and stuck it back on her forehead. The man put five
bags of blood on the counter. She signed for them, gathered them up, and raced out of the room.

Time might be running out but there was no way she’d face Luka looking like a freak. She
scrubbed the mask off before she made her way down the passageway. She paused to stare at the
toys. Had Rufus changed places with Angel? Was that a smile on Phoebe’s face? Maybe she was
going mad.

A peek through the spyhole told her Luka was alone.

Chapter Thirteen

Luka opened his eyes as Chloe came to his side. He wasn’t sure how long he would have before
sleep overwhelmed him, though Truebloods could withstand the craving to close down for far
longer than most vampires. He also woke before the sun had set, a necessary advantage for a clan
in hiding.

“I thought I told you to sleep,” he said.

What the hell was she doing awake? He’d bombarded her head with the command. She shouldn’t
have been able to ignore him.

“What happened to your face?” Chloe asked.

“A sharp fingernail.”

Chloe winced. “Maybe this will help. I brought you a present.” She dangled the bags of blood in
front of his face.

His eyes opened wide in astonishment. “How did you manage that?”

Chloe grinned. “I just asked. It’s the same group as mine.” Her face fell. “Oh, do you need it
warm? Shall I microwave it?”

Luka’s fangs slid out. “Preth it againtht my mouth.”

Lisping. How embarrassing. One long slurp. Three seconds. That was a record. Luka burped.
“Pardon me.”

Chloe giggled and pressed another bag to his lips. He could feel the strength returning to his
body, an electrical current zinging through him. After five bags consumed at high speed, he was
drunk, intoxicated with power, with passion, with a sweet angel called Chloe. One tug, the chains
flew free and as he unraveled the restraints from his wrists, then his ankles, he watched her,
wanted her. If she’d look down, she’d see how much, but her eyes were fixed somewhere left of
his face. She looked -- embarrassed? That damned cock ring was still in place. He reached down
and peeled it off. When he stood, Chloe took a step backwards. Afraid of him?

“Chloe, I’d never hurt you.” He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek. Molten need roared
through his veins.

She raised her eyes to his. “Come to my room. Sleep there and I’ll find a way to get you out of
here tonight.” She grabbed his clothes from the closet and scooped up his shoes. “Do you want to
get dressed first?”

“No.” Luka wanted to hold Chloe in his arms, touch her, feel her, stroke her, fuck her.

He picked up the empty blood bags. Let them wonder how he got free. He crawled after Chloe
into the secret passage.

“What purpose did these hidden corridors serve?” he asked as she turned on the flashlight.

“I don’t know. I played in them all the time. Look, my toys are still here.” She shone the beam
on the shelf and yelped.

“What is it?”

“I thought the dragon was on the left.”

Luka saw the dragon glowering at him. He glowered back. Chloe moved on.

“Are any other access points still operational?” he asked.

“Not that I found but I was…er…distracted once I’d discovered this one. Oh God, do you think
there are more naked men hanging in chains?”

“One’s enough for you.”

The breath caught his throat as Chloe reached back, wrapped her fingers around his, and
squeezed hard.

“Keep quiet now,” she whispered. “Hold on to me and I’ll lead the way with the flashlight.”

Luka could see perfectly well in the dark yet he let her lead him through the passageways, up
wooden stairs, and finally stopped outside her room. She pulled him down to crawl through the
gap. The temptation to bite her backside was almost too much. So near, so delectable. Chloe

closed the fireplace and turned. They stood looking at one another. For a long moment, neither of
them spoke.

“Phew, you’re out of danger,” she said.

And she was in danger.

“Vampires are never out of danger. It’s an integral part of our lives. It’s okay for werewolves.
They only have a problem when it’s a full moon. Even then, they can take strong drugs and sleep
through it. It’s allowed them to remain undiscovered.” Babbling? How could he be nervous?

“You mean there are such things as werewolves?” There was a squeak of alarm in her voice.

Luka smiled and took hold of her hand. “You believe in vampires.”

Chloe gulped. “You’ll be safe here. I’ll get you out before they wake up tonight. Somehow. I bet
you’re tired. Sun’s just about up. Want to lie down?”

She sounded nervous too. He rubbed her palm with his thumb. “Lying down sounds like a very
good idea.”

“The shutters will keep out the daylight. I’ll look after you while you sleep.”

Luka laughed. “I’d rather you looked after me while I was awake.”

She gave a tentative smile. “Don’t you need to sleep?”

“Soon.”

He didn’t have that overwhelming desire to sleep yet. Luka wasn’t sure why. Perhaps the blood
had revived him sufficiently to allow him to stay awake a little longer. Maybe it was because the
chains were gone and an enticing Chloe stood in front of him. Luka sensed that he wouldn’t
sleep until he’d made her his. He reached out, unfastened the belt, and pushed the robe off her
shoulders so it fell to the floor. He watched her arms twitch as though she wanted to cover
herself, then let them drop to her side as she decided not to.

“Ah, Chloe, Chloe.” He sighed her name. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me, what
you’re doing to me? I want to go slow but time’s ticking away. You’re hardly going to be
impressed if I fall asleep in the middle of making love to you.” He reached out and caressed her
cheek with the fingers of both hands. “You are so beautiful.”

She snorted. “I’m so not.”

He gave a short laugh. “You so are. My beautiful, brave mortal. You saved me.”

“You mean I could be as ugly as sin, but the fact that I saved you makes me beautiful?”

Luka frowned. “Take the compliment I give you. To me you are the most beautiful woman in the
world.”

He smiled at the apprehensive look on her face.

“Because you want to fuck me,” she muttered.

And bite you. Luka growled. “Chloe! Stop it.”

His fingers ran along her lips and she caught his thumb, sucking the tip before she drew it deep
into her mouth. Luka’s cock twitched in response, urging him to hurry. He pulled his hand away
and without taking his gaze from her, he reached around and unfastened her bra. It fluttered to
the floor. Her breasts were perfect. Luka couldn’t remember seeing any more beautiful. Pert and
round, he longed to suckle, bite -- No! No biting. And that little mole on the left-hand side that
made his mouth water.

When his fingers touched her nipple it hardened in an instant to a miniature raspberry jewel.
Luka bent his head and swirled his tongue around it, sucking gently, careful to keep his fangs
retracted. Chloe moaned and her hands clutched his back, urging him closer. Luka’s body ached
for hers; she was so soft and sweet. He raised his head and pulled her tighter, molding her to him.
His hands caressed her; deprived of touching her for so long, now he couldn’t stop exploring her
body.

“I can’t go slow,” he gasped into her mouth.

“I don’t want you to.”

Luka claimed her lips in a desperate hunger. The first touch sent wildfire racing through his
veins. The second enveloped him in a conflagration. Their tongues parried, danced, united as
Luka crushed her breasts against his chest. Her hips snuggled up to his and his hands swept over
her back in a compulsion to find every dip and curve, to touch every last inch. Luka wanted to
kiss her everywhere, to touch her everywhere, bite -- No.

Slow down.

He knew he should, but it was impossible. His fingers returned to her head to spear her hair. Soft
locks slipped against his palms and he tilted her head to take his kiss more deeply. Luka’s balls
threatened to explode; his cock, ramrod straight, wept tears of frustrated precum.

Slow down.

His hands dropped to her hips. He ripped away her panties, tossed them aside, and lifted her so
she was poised over his cock.

“I told you I can’t go slow,” he said again.

Chloe’s hand moved his dick so the head nudged her folds. Luka heard the keening sigh escape
his mouth as she wrapped her legs tight around him. He slid deep inside her with one long, hard
thrust that took him in all the way to his balls.

Slow.

No, he couldn’t. Later.

Luka carried her the two strides to the wall and pressed her against it. Supporting her weight, he
pulled his cock almost all the way out of her pussy and then drove forward again, burying
himself to the hilt. Chloe gasped.

Slow. Take it easy.

Even as Luka reminded himself to be gentle, his movements grew more powerful. Chloe clung to
his shoulders, her eyes half-closed, her panting breaths shooting warm staccato jets at his neck.
He felt every one as if they were little bites. Arghh, don’t think about biting. Luka slid his hands
further under her ass, fingers digging into tender globes so he could tilt her pelvis forward and
could go deeper. Deeper. Oh God.

“Luka.”

When she cried out his name and her pussy began to clench around him, his balls tightened and
quivered in anticipation. Luka felt every one of her rhythmic spasms grip his cock. She was so
hot her fire set him alight. Now that Chloe had come, he could allow himself release. Ha, as if he
had that much control. Her climax was milking his climax out of him, dragging it from his toes,
the length of his legs, through his groin, until it erupted from his balls and surged down his cock.
Still he drove into her, banging her against the wall as she bucked against him. With every thrust
he made, his cum flew from his dick into her cunt. He wanted to fill her up till she overflowed.
He wanted no one else to touch her. She was his. His. With a roar, he shot the last jet into her and
stood clutching her tight in his arms, shaking with the effort of not biting.

A moment to recover and Luka lifted her from his cock, held her to his chest, his mouth on
autopilot nuzzling her neck, seeking the vein.

Don’t bite her.

“Did I hurt you?” he whispered.

She shook her head.

“Why do you smell of chocolate?”

“I disguised myself with a face pack to get the blood. I washed it off. Maybe I missed a bit.”

He smiled into her neck.

“Don’t lick it. It tastes horrible.”

“You could never taste horrible.”

Luka scooped her into his arms and carried her over to the bed. He pulled back the cover and laid
her down. He swallowed the lump in his throat at the sight of her glistening naked body. He
wanted to ignore the fact that she looked exhausted, but he couldn’t. It was his fault.

Chloe sighed. Wow, that blood infusion had worked. His cuts were healing and he had the sexual
stamina of a pig. Weren’t they the ones whose orgasms lasted thirty minutes?

“Are you tired? Do you ache?” he asked.

“A little.”

“I shouldn’t have fed from you.”

She held up her arms and he lay down, letting her hold him.

“If I’d thought to tell you sooner to look for bagged blood, I --”

“Hey, you were a little preoccupied and I didn’t believe you, remember?”

Luka put his mouth against her ear. “God, Chloe, I should be asleep and all I can think about is
getting back inside you. I feel like I want to fasten us together so we never come apart.”

“I like the idea of ties wrapped around us so you stay inside me.”

“Oh Christ, now I bloody well want to do it.”

Chloe quivered as he breathed into her ear. Luka smelt different, an exotic musk that filled her
head. When he traced the delicate curved edge of her ear with his tongue, twisting spirals began
to turn inside her once again, a complex mechanism of wheel turning cog turning wheel, and
each turn heightened her desire. She’d never come so many times in her life.

“I want to lick you all over,” he whispered, and his tongue dove into her ear.

It was as if he’d plunged his fingers into the folds between her legs. Chloe gasped, her hands
flailing on the bed, until he grasped her wrists and pulled them above her head.

“No way of tying us but I can lick you,” he whispered.

He gave her no choice. His mouth moved over her neck, his lips teasing her skin, making her
squirm with sheer delight. His tongue snaked across one nipple to the other, leaving a cool path
in its wake.

“Suck me harder,” she gasped, hardly able to believe she’d voiced the request, but his mouth
dropped over her breast. When he did as she asked, Chloe felt the pull all the way down to her
clit. Her body arched into his, her muscles clenched, and she stiffened. She was being driven
mad by a myriad of conflicting sensations -- the rasp of his tongue, his velvety lips, silky hair
brushing against her skin and his hands holding her firmly in place.

Luka’s mouth trailed down the center of her body to her navel, and Chloe’s hips rocked off the
bed when his tongue delved inside the little dip.

“Ticklish?” he asked.

She forced her eyes open and looked at his face, hair dropping over his forehead, his mouth
turned up in amusement. He looked so different compared to the first time she’d seen him in
those chains. Now he was relaxed and happy, no lines on his face. He pressed himself up on his
hands and powerful muscles rippled across his torso. Almost all the marks on his body had
disappeared. His chest looked sculptured, perfect curved pecs, chiseled abs.

“What are you staring at?” he asked.

“That kink in your nose.”

He frowned. “I don’t have a kink in my nose. One benefit of being undead, our bodies repair
themselves. We can’t catch diseases, can’t age. We don’t --”

“Know when to stop talking and keep licking,” she teased.

Luka laughed and dropped his head.

Chloe hissed when his teeth nipped her hip bone. “That’s not licking.”

His tongue soothed the place he’d bitten and Chloe forgot the hurt. He released her hands to slide
further down her body and settled his mouth on her belly, his tongue then his lips exploring
every inch of her. Except the inch or so where she needed him. Between my legs. She tried to
beam the thought to him and felt him chuckling against her stomach. He couldn’t have heard her.
Her bucking hips had given her away.

Then he was gone and Chloe began to sit up, only to collapse again as he sucked her toes into his
mouth. His fingers stroked her foot as he worked and Chloe had to clench hard to keep from
coming. The guy had magic fingers, a magic mouth. His tongue flickered along the inside of her
knee and Chloe squealed.

“You’re torturing me,” she gasped.

“Want me to stop?”

“Don’t you dare. You haven’t got to the good bit yet.”

He lifted her legs, bent them at the knee, and then settled between them. The first wet caress
almost stopped her heart. The second one did. The overworked organ faltered in Chloe’s chest.
Luka ran the tip of his tongue along the edge of her sensitive folds, delving deeper with each
sweep until he found the pearl within.

“Oh, Jesus,” Chloe whispered, torn between a desire to spread her legs as wide as she could or
maybe clamp them together to keep herself going a little longer. The spring was still winding
inside her. She knew the longer she held on, the better it would be.

Luka played with her clit, flicking his tongue back and forth, then circling the tiny nub before he
sucked it. Too good, Chloe thought as she was pulled into the current. Too much to stand. Too
much pleasure. She gasped when she felt his finger slide in with his tongue. No chance to hold
back now, Chloe let the wave take her, bring her into shore, and she shook and cried out as Luka
sucked the climax from her. The pleasure was so intense Chloe stopped breathing. Her heart had
already given up, but she felt as though every organ in her body closed down as her soul
climaxed. Luka lifted his head, his face wet with her cream, and Chloe remembered to take a
gulp of air.

Aftershocks snapped through her body, reverberating from her pussy, emitting their own tremors
of pleasure that gradually died away to leave her stranded, boneless on the shore. Luka’s fingers
twitched inside her and her overstimulated muscles spasmed again.

“No more,” she groaned.

“Yes, more.”

Chloe hadn’t thought it possible she could come again, but Luka buried his face between her legs
and sucked her clit into his mouth. Her climax grew like a winter storm that brooded on the
horizon, threatening from a distance before it began to roll in. It would break. Sooner or later.

Sooner, not later, and Chloe screamed her release.

“No more,” she gasped as she felt herself sliding to oblivion. “Not for a minute or two.”

Chapter Fourteen

Luka held Chloe as she slipped into unconsciousness. He was the one who should be asleep yet
felt no pull towards darkness. He didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t complaining. He wrapped
his hand around his rigid cock and squeezed. He needed to come again. He wondered if he was
in some sort of mating rut, possibly because he’d fucked her and not bitten her. His body was

telling him it needed that completion -- Chloe’s body and her blood. Luka was amazed he’d
managed to hold off from sinking his fangs deep into her neck, but he had.

He smoothed a lock of hair from her face and brushed a knuckle over her sleep-pinked cheeks.
While she slept and he wasn’t fucking her, he could at least think straight. The connection
between them was almost alarming. He’d heard her inside his head before he’d even tasted her
blood. He wasn’t sure if she’d heard him in hers. She hadn’t slept when he’d sent that command.
Was that because he was weak?

The only thing Luka knew for certain was that he wanted her to be part of his life, despite the
fact that she was mortal, despite the fact that she’d grow old and die. But was she his lifemate, or
just his savior? There was only one lifemate for each vampire -- at least that’s what he’d always
understood. If Chloe was his, then were the next fifty years the only true happiness he could
have? She couldn’t have a child with him. She’d grow old and he’d have to watch her die. He
didn’t think he could do that.

Luka shook his head. She wasn’t the one. She couldn’t be. This was merely his body telling him
what it needed now. If she’d been the one, he’d feel more certain. Wouldn’t he?

She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

“Did I fall asleep?”

He nodded.

“Oh God, I’m sorry. I thought you’d be the one to drop off and it was me.” She glanced down at
his erection and smiled. “Have you been waiting for me to wake up?”

“I was going to give you two more minutes.”

Chloe slid out of his embrace and scuttled down the bed. When Luka saw his cock go into her
mouth, he groaned. She sucked once and then pulled it out to stare at it. When she sighed and
smiled, a lump erupted in Luka’s throat. She kissed along the length of his tightening shaft, tiny
butterfly kisses that threatened to drive him mad, and he threaded his fingers in her hair, trying
not to pull. One long slurping caress with her wet tongue from base to tip and Luka heard a
strange, rather pathetic noise come out of his throat. He coughed and hoped that fooled her.

She licked the drop of liquid gathering at the head of his dick and rolled it around the top with
her tongue before teasing the ridge below with the edge of her teeth. Luka wanted to tell her how
good that felt but was afraid he’d be incomprehensible. Better to keep quiet except --

“Oh God, Chloe, what the -- did -- how --”

She’d sucked him so far into her mouth, he felt his cock hit the back of her throat. Her fingers
tightened around his base as she worked him backwards and forwards. How could she do so
many different things at the same time? Sucking, swirling, nipping, licking. Luka arched his

back, levering his hips up, knowing he shouldn’t force her to take more, even as he silently
begged her to do just that.

“That feels so good.”

He was pleased that came out right. Should he try for something more romantic? Suck harder.
Grip tighter. Bite me. Maybe not. He didn’t want her to bite him there -- oh, her mouth on his
balls. Jesus wept and went to heaven.

While he still had a brain cell left and they hadn’t all disappeared into her mouth, he pulled her
off.

“Chloe, I want to be inside you.”

He rolled her on to her back and nestled between her legs, pulling her thighs on his shoulders so
her pussy was open to him. He’d thought this time he’d last longer, but even on the first slide of
his cock against her, he realized he was a fool. Luka watched her eyes change color, grow darker
as he rubbed himself along her wet lips. He tormented her clit with the head of his cock and she
hissed at him.

Chloe looped her arms around his neck and lifted herself up so she could slide down on his cock
and Luka’s desire grew like a hungry animal. He was incapable of resisting her; he had to fuck
her until he could stop thinking about her. Fuck her out of his system. That was the only way
he’d ever be able to let her go.

Luka grasped her legs behind her knees and began to pound into her. He could see her clit each
time he withdrew, the hood pulled back to reveal the hard pearl within. She worried her bottom
lip, breathing through her nose as she concentrated. Luka could smell her arousal, smell his own
arousal, whipping the air into a hormonal frenzy. He almost expected to see objects twirling
around them.

Every time he thrust into her, she groaned and Luka felt the echo in his balls. He was coming and
he wanted to bite her. Shit. Even in the powerful thrall of lust, Luka knew he shouldn’t. He’d
taken enough blood from Chloe, and although the bloodlust was rising inside him as he fucked
her, he didn’t need to bite her. He didn’t. To touch her and make love to her was enough. But it
wasn’t.

Chloe moved with him, their bodies working in perfect harmony. She tightened around him, the
soft lips of her sex like oiled satin clenching and releasing his cock as he thrust and retreated,
speeds exactly matched until they were so in sync Luka no longer knew where she began and he
ended. His fingers moved to her clit and he rubbed her cream over the bare nub. She was so wet.
Luka moaned. His orgasm was on the rise all over his body, each cell tuned to the event that was
to come. Chloe was in his head, part of his body. He had no concept of where they lay, only that
they were together, one being, one life force. He powered his cock into her -- harder, faster,
deeper -- and felt her contract powerfully around him. Her nails raked his back and she
screamed.

Incapable of stopping when he knew he should, this time Luka was compelled to complete the
union. Drenched in sweat, he continued to pound into her, his mouth dropping towards her neck.
A tiny part of him urged restraint. Impossible. He couldn’t resist and that terrified and thrilled
him. Her blood sang the sweetest song imaginable. It pulsed in rhythm with his, called to his,
thundered in his ears, held him in its thrall. Her blood would feed him in a way no other could.

Luka murmured her name as his mouth wandered over her throat. “Chloe, Chloe.”

His fangs already elongated, he licked the perfect place over the throbbing vein; one bite and he
was in her. He heard her give a quiet cry as she stiffened. Chloe clutched at him for a moment,
then relaxed and moaned in his arms. As Luka drew her smooth, warm blood down his throat, his
cock swelled inside her and his orgasm seized him. His body convulsed into hers and he
jettisoned hot bursts of cum deep into her body.

“Luka, don’t bite…” she whispered.

He sealed the marks on her neck and slid his mouth over hers to capture her sob. Then rolled so
she lay on top of him, his cock still inside her.

“You’re mine,” he said and in one swift movement he sliced a line in his chest and brought her
face down against him. He pressed the back of her head to keep her still and made her drink.

As his blood entered her mouth, Luka’s world fell away beneath him. This was wrong. This was
right. He groaned in ecstasy. How could he have thought she was not his mate? They were one.
He’d waited so long but it was she who’d found him. Now the rest of his life would be spent
protecting and loving her. Their shared blood ensured it. The rest of her life, Luka thought with a
moment’s pain. Fifty years or however long they had must be enough. He wouldn’t turn her,
couldn’t without permission even if she wanted it, and Luka wasn’t sure he wanted it for her.

He pulled her away, sealed the cut, and held her tight in his arms, not willing to ever let her go.
Why was he still awake? He didn’t understand.

“What did you do?” Chloe gasped. “Have you made me a vampire?”

He sucked in his cheeks. “No, angel. I haven’t.”

“I’m glad I rescued you before they got what they wanted,” she mumbled.

Luka tensed and then winced when he realized she’d noticed.

“Didn’t I?” She lifted her head to look at him.

He wondered how much to tell her. She was the one who was tense now, trying to pull back.

“Who was it?” Chloe asked, her voice small. Luka could feel her shrinking from him. “Krista or
Eve?”

“Another. The one in control. Curly blonde hair, tall, dangerous. She --” His tongue was thick in
his mouth. Should he tell her?

“Tell me,” Chloe whispered.

Luka gave a deep sigh. “Krista used a pump, got me hard. The new one impaled herself on me. I
didn’t come, but she did.”

Chloe stroked Luka’s arm with her fingers, her heart stuttering. Selena had raped him. Christ.
She’d raped him! Chloe couldn’t tell Luka she knew Selena.

“Tell him.”

Chloe had no intention of listening to her extra sense. If Luka found out Chloe was Selena’s
granddaughter, what would he think? She felt sick at the idea of Selena doing that to him, of
anyone touching him. Anyone other than her.

“Tell him.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Chloe looked into his eyes. “You’ve nothing to be sorry for. It wasn’t your fault.”

“She’ll pay for what she’s done.”

The sudden coldness in his voice scared her and made her even more determined to say nothing
despite three nagging voices in her head. Maybe they were losing their power. Or maybe they
couldn’t make her say things she didn’t want to. Chloe felt guilty because Luka had been open
with her in a way she hadn’t been with him. But if she told him about Selena, he might think she
was involved. Chloe had put her mind wall in place the moment she heard Selena’s name. She
didn’t want Luka looking inside her head. She might never have met a vampire before, but she’d
read plenty about them. And he’d given her some of his blood. That made it worse. She’d tried to
say no, yet he’d done it anyway.

“Luka, why did --”

“You’re mine now, Chloe. I want no other. You belong to me,” he said, kissing her forehead.

Chloe bristled. She was no one’s possession. “Maybe I already have a boyfriend.”

She knew the moment the words came out she’d made a mistake. His muscles turned to granite
under her fingers. She was suddenly lying next to a powerful predator. His grip tightened, he
seemed twice the size, his presence so overbearing she found it hard to breathe.

“How many men have you slept with?” he demanded.

“What?”

Luka rolled on top of her. “Tell me.”

“What difference does it make? Luka, stop it, you’re hurting me.”

“Tell me.”

“Two and one was a mistake. Well, they were both mistakes.”

He moved to her side and loosened his grip. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not like that,” Chloe whispered. “I haven’t slept around. I’m a good person, but I don’t
belong to you. I don’t belong to anyone. I’m not a possession. I’ve had to stand up for myself all
my life and I don’t need to be owned and controlled.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated and stroked her arm. “It’s just that I’ve been alone so long.”

“No family?” she asked, her heart already beginning to break for him.

“No. What about you?”

She shook her head. Don’t think about you-know-who.

“You were alone like me. But not now,” Luka said. “Now you have me.”

Chloe had no idea how serious he was. She’d helped him and he was grateful, but he was a
vampire. A vampire. He’d given her his blood. Did that mean she was one too? He’d said no,
but…

“I’m not a vampire now, am I?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Luka smiled. “I’m sure.”

Fortunately, she didn’t remember what the blood tasted like, but the sensation of drinking had
been soothing, like floating on a lazy river. Chloe began to drift away.

“What am I to do with you, sweetling?”

“Uh?”

“Do you understand what we have between us?”

Chloe mumbled and snuggled deeper into the space between his arm and chest.

“I want to know everything about you,” he whispered. “What you like, what you hate.”

“I love taking photographs. Black-and-white ones. I’ve got my own dark room.”

“Is that what you do for a living?”

“No, I cut my nose off to spite my face,” she muttered.

“What?”

“Digital cameras make everyone an expert.”

Chloe knew she was rambling. Luka chuckled.

“Like some chocolate?”

Chloe turned over. “What?”

“Just checking you were listening.”

“You’ve exhausted me,” she mumbled.

“Then sleep, my love.”

“Supposed to be protecting you.” Chloe curled her hand over his chest. “I’ll look after you.”

Luka was awash with joy. It had been so long since anyone wanted to look after him. He
watched her as she slept. Her hair was short and spiky and looked as though she’d attacked it
with scissors. Her ears stuck out like a pixie’s and the skin under her eyes was smattered with
freckles. She looked…sun-kissed. Luka struggled to concentrate as the sun continued to rise and
the light in his mind faded. He loved her. Loved her. Loved. Her.

“He loves her.”

“Shut up, Phoebe. She should have told him about Selena.”

“Don’t worry, Angel. Everything will be fine.”

“The last time you said that, we ended up as stuffed toys.”

Chapter Fifteen

Awake in an instant, Luka opened his eyes, afraid chains still bound him before he felt the lush
curves of Chloe’s warm, naked body curled into him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d
fallen asleep next to someone. Luka swallowed. His mother. He had to be careful where he spent
the daylight hours. It was safer to be alone, though now Luka appreciated what he’d been
missing. The warmth from another’s body, their sweet scent, soft hair against his chest, the touch
of a hand on his. He slid his fingers over Chloe’s hip.

Luka wanted to wake her, make love to her again, bring her pleasure after pleasure, but in the
small amount of time they had until sunset and the vampires who’d captured him began to stir,
he needed to go exploring. Then he’d get the pair of them out of here.

The dominant female, Selena, had used the word “we” and Luka intended to find out who else
was behind this. Chloe’s comments about the possibility of others being in chains had shaken
him. He could at least check that wasn’t the case.

He had no knowledge of how many Truebloods had survived after the Council turned against
them, but Luka thought he’d have felt some awareness if his parents and siblings had ceased to
exist. There was irony in the fact that in order to protect his clan, he might have to tell the
Council what had happened to him. As much as he distrusted the Vampire High Council, Luka
knew they would be obliged to take action against his aggressors. Unless, of course, the Council
was behind it. He sighed. He’d be cautious. The first step was to question Selena, discover who
organized his kidnapping, and how he’d been identified as a Trueblood.

Luka pulled the covers over Chloe, his fingers lingering on her flushed cheeks. Her tousled hair
made her look even more appealing and his cock swelled as he stared at her. She stirred at his
touch and Luka send a command to sleep into her mind.

“Later, my love.”

He dressed and slipped out of the room. The last remnants of the day were fading away, but the
sun had not yet disappeared. Luka expected to see no vampires. Only Truebloods and mortals
would be afoot at this hour. Luka moved quickly, seeking information with his mind as well as
his eyes. He could sense only one other male vampire in the building, no one of importance and
he was sleeping, unchained, but he detected many females on the cusp of consciousness. The
doors to the bedrooms were locked and warded which prevented him from entering to find the
one he was looking for.

Frustrated by his failure to locate Selena, Luka returned to Chloe’s room. She slept on, sprawled
facedown across the bed, her bitable backside now uncovered, begging for his fangs. Her camera
sat on the table and he took a photograph of her butt, smiling at the thought of what she’d say

when she saw it. He wondered if she’d taken any shots of him. None would come out. He wanted
her again, felt the stirring in his groin and told himself to wait. Once he took her from this place,
there would be time to show her just how good vampires were at sex. It took a moment to work
out how to move the fireplace and then Luka was inside the secret passageway. Those in the hall
might have warded their doors but not the walls.

He moved quickly through the dark corridors with no need for a light. Luka sensed vampires
stirring as he searched and then one particular scent teased his nostrils. Selena. The scent grew
stronger as he moved to the highest floor. At the topmost point of the house, he found the vamp
who’d raped him. Through a spyhole, he saw her sitting at a desk in a thin red negligee, staring at
a computer screen.

“Good evening,” she said and for a moment Luka froze, thinking she was talking to him. “No
problems at all. Soon. We’re just working out the logistics. Discounts? Well, we discussed this
before. Three couplings for one million pounds. If no pregnancy ensues, then we have a bank of
sperm to sell for artificial insemination at one hundred thousand pounds a vial.”

Luka’s jaw dropped. Anger coursed through him and his fists clenched. Did these women not
care that he’d be subjected to repeated rapes to provide them with what they wanted? Selena
thought there were no problems? Luka narrowed his eyes. She had no idea how large a problem
he could be.

“I can book you in now if you wish. There’s a slot available next Thursday, 9:30. No, I’m afraid
he’s booked solid until then… Thirty minutes a session.” She laughed and Luke ground his teeth
together. “No, you can make him come as many times as you like within that period. Look
forward to seeing you. Good-bye.”

Booked solid? Christ Almighty. Luka wanted to shake Selena until the brain rattled in her head. It
would probably make a loud noise because the thing had to be pea-sized. What the fuck did she
think she was playing at? If it hadn’t been that he wanted to get Chloe out of there, Luka would
have burst through the wall and done a bit more than brain shaking, but instead he pulled back
his anger and stored it. The importance of getting Chloe out safely became a priority. She had
saved him and now he had to save her because if they found out what she’d done --

Selena suddenly gasped. Unfortunately, not because someone had broken her neck, driven a
stake through her heart or ripped off her head. It appeared to be because of something on the
computer screen. Luka wished he could see what she was looking at.

“Chloe?”

That one word froze the blood in Luka’s veins. Selena tapped on the keyboard, gave a short
laugh, and picked up the phone.

“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe… Yes…it’s me. You weren’t asleep were you? Well, that’s too bad. Stop
trying to annoy me. You know I don’t like to be called Grandmother. I need to speak to you.”

Luka’s nails pressed so hard into his palms, he pierced his skin. Aware the scent of blood could
alert Selena, he retreated the way he’d come, back to the person he’d trusted, back to the person
he thought he’d loved, back to the one who’d betrayed him. Chloe was Selena’s granddaughter.
She’d been in on this from the start. She’d fooled him into thinking she was helping him and all
the time she was part of the conspiracy. Had the bitch secreted something deep inside her to
catch his seed? Luka’s fury grew with every step he took. By the time he moved back into her
room he was shaking with anger, about to explode.

Chloe’s heart pounded and her hands trembled. She’d woken up, found Luka gone, his clothes
gone, and thought that no matter what he’d said, that was the last she’d see of him. Then the
phone had rung and she’d almost blurted out his name, thinking he was calling her.

It wasn’t Luka.

Selena had found out Chloe was staying at Washburn Hall and wanted to see her. Jumping into
quicksand held more allure. Chloe called reception, said that she wanted to check out and to have
her bill ready. She didn’t think there should be anything to pay, but she wanted nothing to tie her
to this place. Running away as fast as she could was the sensible option. The moment she put the
phone down, she saw it was a mistake. She should have just run.

The fireplace started to slide open and Chloe held her breath until she saw Luka emerging. She
blew out a sigh of relief.

“I thought you’d left me,” Chloe said and smiled, the worry about Selena driven from her mind.

Luka stood at the end of the bed and glared down at her. “Who were you talking to?”

The sharp edge to his voice alarmed her.

“When?”

“Just now on the phone.”

Chloe tensed beneath the sheet.

“Reception. About checking out. It was stupid. I didn’t think. We need to leave.”

She gasped as Luka ripped the sheet from her hand.

“Liar.”

Chloe shuffled backwards and hit the back of the bed. “Luka, what’s wrong? Why are so you
angry? What did I do?”

“You told me you had no family.”

“I…I don’t.”

He crossed his arms and gave a cold laugh.

“Liar.”

“I don’t have any family. They’re all dead,” she choked out.

“All?”

“The only ones that matter,” Chloe whispered. “We have to leave. Once they find you’re
missing, they’ll search for you. We need to go now.”

“We?”

The ice in his voice unmistakable and that one word cast her adrift in the middle of the ocean.
There was no “we.” Her heart sighed in pain.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You tell me.”

How could she when she didn’t know? With a speed that Chloe barely registered, Luka yanked
her down the bed, grasped her wrists with one hand, and pinned them over her head. He pushed
her legs apart with his knee and thrust his fingers inside her. Chloe yelped.

“What are you doing? Luka? Please.” She could see nothing in his eyes. They were black; the
color had bled from the pupil into the iris.

“Lie still. Don’t move.”

He probed inside her with his fingers, not in any sexual way but searching for something.

“What --”

“Shut up.”

“Luka, you don’t need to --”

“Shut up.”

He wrenched her hands higher, her arms at full stretch, and a tear formed in her eye. It slid down
the side of her face into her ear.

Chloe didn’t know what had happened, what was happening, but understood that if there had
once been anything between them, it was gone.

“You were speaking to your grandmother.”

Oh God.

“Did you cook this up between you? I just listened to her book a woman in to fuck me. They
have an appointment system. Thirty minute slots. I suppose I should be impressed how much
they’re charging. If I fail to perform or they don’t get pregnant, then they can buy my seed for
artificial insemination, like I’m some fucking prize stallion. Slightly cheaper for a vial of sperm.
Guess the old-fashioned way of making a child is the most popular.”

His fingers were still invading her, searching, hurting. Chloe bit the inside of her cheeks to stop
herself whimpering. She didn’t struggle, just let him do what he wanted. The pain in her chest
was worse now, spikes striking her heart. Luka suddenly pulled his fingers out. He scooted up
the bed to kneel by her head. His hand grasped her jaw and forced her mouth open, hard nails
digging into her skin.

“You want this, Chloe? Is this what you wanted all along? My cock? You’re just like the rest.
No -- you’re worse.”

He released her hands and unzipped himself. His dick thrust out inches from her face. Chloe
whimpered. She could make things right if he gave her the chance to speak, but he was holding
her face too tightly. Luka wrapped his other hand around his cock and pumped. Chloe reached
out and made one tentative stroke of his hip, wanting to calm him, trying to make him listen.

“Don’t touch me,” he said.

Her hand fell away. She looked up into his face and there was no sign of any emotion. He didn’t
care. Chloe closed her eyes. She’d made a mistake. If she found any more naked men hanging in
chains she’d walk on by. She was a good person no matter what he thought. She would not let
this hurt her. She wrapped her heart in velvet and put it in an iron case. Locked it tight, bound it
with chains. He released her jaw and pushed her head aside. Chloe opened her eyes to see him
pushing his still erect dick back in his pants. She lifted a shaking hand and rubbed her jaw.

“Anything to say to me, Chloe?”

She turned her head away. It wasn’t worth wasting her breath. There was nothing she could say
to make things right so why bother. She never wanted to see him again. As soon as he’d gone,
she was packing her things and leaving.

“Tell your grandmother I’m reporting her to the Council.”

He could tell her himself. There was no way Chloe was going anywhere near Selena. She started
to get up and Luka pushed her down, turned her head to one side, and held it against the pillow.

“This is what you wanted all along, isn’t it? You’re one of those mortals who gets off on a
vampire’s kiss. Maybe one thing you didn’t know, if we feed in anger then there’s no pleasure in
it for you. You betrayed me. I thought… You’ve endangered my family and for that I can never
forgive you.”

His teeth scraped over her neck and Chloe jolted as he bit her. Her limbs stiffened as the pain
shot through her body. Tears sprang into her eyes. She was sinking, her body slid from rigidity to
a heaviness that made her head ache. She had no strength to even try to push him off. Little gasps
of pain sprang from her mouth as she gulped air. She could feel her blood flowing into him, the
swift surge one way in her veins as her body drained. An agonizing spasm seized her arm and
she arched in agony before slumping back on the bed. Chloe’s vision wavered, white mist filled
her head. Luka continued to drink from her neck. She’d helped him and now he was killing her.

Chapter Sixteen

Chloe opened her eyes as the door closed. Along with her blood, Luka had sucked all the energy
from her body. She felt as though he still lay on her, an overpowering weight on her lungs
making it hard to breathe. A few hours ago he’d treated her as though she was the most precious
thing in his world. She thought he might have loved her and now she was sure he hated her. He
hadn’t listened or wanted to hear her side of the story. She deserved someone better than that.
Someone who wasn’t a vampire. Only, why did she want him to come back? Why did she want
his arms around her? Chloe shivered. She was so cold. She needed to get dressed, only she had to
rest for a while and muster up some enthusiasm.

He’d taken her car keys. She’d heard them chink when he picked them up. She supposed he’d
just try every car until he found hers. How was she supposed to get home? She had to leave
before Selena came looking for her, only her legs didn’t seem to work properly. They shook
when she tried to move. Her brain on the other hand was working overtime.

Chloe guessed that Selena had never sold Washburn Hall. She hadn’t been a vampire when
Chloe had last seen her, though Chloe and her sister had thought she was a witch. Prophetic, as it
turned out. At some point after the accident at the hall, Selena had become a vampire, and it
seemed likely that she controlled Eve and Krista, and that she was behind Luka’s abduction.
Luka thought Chloe was helping Selena, which was why he’d gone crazy. If Selena discovered
Chloe had freed Luka, then Chloe would be in deep shit.

The door burst open and Selena stood there in a transparent red negligee. Chloe’s heart jumped
into her throat and began to suffocate her. Yep, deep shit.

“Chloeee.” Selena drew out the word and smiled. Not in a nice way.

Chloe used every last ounce of her strength and yanked the sheet over her body. Waves of
dizziness be damned, she pushed herself up to lean against the headboard.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Selena asked.

“I won four days’ stay as a consolation prize.” It seemed a lifetime ago.

“How long have you been a vampire?”

Chloe’s brain slipped into panic mode, thoughts skittering around like mice. Why did Selena
think she was a vampire? Was she a vampire? Had Luka turned her into one? Christ. Slow down,
she told herself. She didn’t have a craving for blood. All she felt was exhausted fear.

“Not long,” Chloe said in a quiet voice.

Selena picked up the empty blood bags from where Luka had dropped them.

“I wouldn’t have known you were here if I hadn’t checked our blood supplies and seen your
name alongside five bags of B negative. Five bags! Most of our guests aren’t so greedy.”

“I’ve developed expensive tastes,” Chloe said, taking a guess that the rarer the blood group, the
dearer the product.

Was she really a vampire? Chloe felt very tired, but not that different. She looked at Selena’s
slender neck. Nope, no inclination to bite it, only to snap it. So how come Selena couldn’t tell the
difference? Was she making the assumption that Chloe was one of the undead because Sunset
Spa was a vampire retreat or was Luka’s scent masking her own? Or maybe Selena was just
stupid.

“Who turned you?” Selena asked.

Chloe searched her brain for a likely name. Dismissed Lestat, Dracula, and Spike. “Sebastian.
What about you?”

Selena had always liked to talk about herself and Chloe was counting on that still being the case.
She could feel her body beginning to respond to her commands. Just a little longer and she could
get up and dress. A tempting bottle of water sat by the side of the bed. Reaching for it would give
her away.

“Constantine Nevchek.”

She said it in such a way that Chloe knew she was expected to recognize the name.

“Ahh, Nevchek,” Chloe said and nodded in what she hoped was a knowing manner.

“I was traveling and when I returned I discovered someone had taken up residence in the hall. I
wanted him out but Constantine intended to stay. Over several nights he changed my mind. The
first time he bit me, I knew my life would never be the same again. He promised eternal youth,
everlasting beauty, fantastic sex. All of which I have, and I never liked eating anyway.”

Chloe listened in fascinated horror. “You like being a vampire?”

“Don’t you? Look at me. I’m young and beautiful. Not a wrinkle in sight.”

“But we can’t go out in the sun. Don’t you miss that? Not being able to eat chocolate? Drink
wine? Have kids?”

Selena tilted her head and gave her a curious look.

Shit. “I’m still adjusting,” Chloe said. “It’s very new for me.” Oh God, she hoped that wasn’t
true.

Selena smiled. “Soon I’m going to have everything I want.”

Chloe guessed that was a baby, courtesy of Luka. It seemed Selena didn’t yet know that Luka
had gone.

Selena sniffed and Chloe tensed under the sheet.

“Who’ve you been fucking?”

“They’re all such hunks that give the treatments,” Chloe said, her heart hammering under her fist
as she clutched the sheet to her chest. “Brilliant notion transforming the hall into a health spa. I
love the pool. Did you have to get planning permission?”

Selena continued to sniff and Chloe knew she’d not put her off. Don’t ask me for a name, she
pleaded silently. The only guy here that Chloe knew was Matt.

“Which hunk took your fancy?”

Oh God. “Matt.”

“The gardener. Be careful, he belongs to someone else.”

“I haven’t fed off him,” Chloe said. The last thing she needed was a jealous Eve rushing in.

“You look like you could do with a meal.”

Chloe nodded. “In fact, if you’ll excuse me, I think I better go and pick up another bag or two.
You know what it’s like when you wake. Thirsty, thirsty, thirsty.”

Selena gave her a curious look and then walked to the door. Chloe’s throat was parched. She
needed Selena to leave so she could drink the water. Was she going to get away with this?

As Selena reached for the handle, the door sprang open. Only her vampire speed stopped it
hitting her in the face. Eve and Krista stood there, pressed close together, in blue and green

negligees and quivering like oversized hummingbirds. Chloe’s heart slipped into hyperspeed.
There could only be one reason for their anxiety. They’d discovered Luka had gone. Chloe told
herself not to panic. There was no reason for them to suspect she’d had a hand in his
disappearance. No one knew about the passageways.

“What is it?” Selena asked.

“Luka’s gone,” the pair blurted in unison.

“He can’t have gone.”

She sounded so confident the two in front of her exchanged confused looks. Krista nudged Eve.

“The room’s empty,” Eve mumbled.

“We checked under the bed,” Krista said.

Selena seemed to grow in stature. Chloe tried to make herself look small.

“Did one of you idiots unchain him?”

“No. The chains are lying on the floor. He must have somehow gotten the strength to break them
or someone helped him,” said Krista.

“The door was still locked,” Eve added.

“How the hell could he be strong enough to break the chains?” Selena raged. “He couldn’t be.
He could barely lift his head. Someone must have broken them for him.”

“Or made him strong enough,” said Kristen. “But the door was locked.”

Oh shut up. Chloe didn’t want Selena picking up on that.

Eve scented the air. “What’s that smell?”

Selena glanced at Chloe and gave a grim smile. “I think she’s been helping herself to your
mortal.”

“Matt?” Eve moved further into the room and sniffed again.

Chloe was so deep in the shit she’d lost sight of daylight. This wasn’t the sort of distraction she
had in mind.

Kristen moved to her side. “Why does she need a bottle of water?”

Oh fuck.

“I can’t smell Matt,” Eve said. “But I can smell a mortal. What’s she doing here?”

Selena turned to face Chloe. “You’re not a vampire?”

Chloe was as surprised as Selena that she hadn’t been able to tell.

“Course she’s not,” Krista said. “Only an idiot --”

Selena’s killer glare cut off Krista’s comment and Eve’s snort.

“I can smell Luka,” Krista said.

Chloe cowered under Selena’s exploding malevolence.

“You,” she snarled. “You’ve been with Luka. It was you who helped him escape. Where the fuck
is he?”

Chloe was drowning, no swimming possible. She was going down like a stone, no way back to
the surface. She might as well tell the truth. Annoying Selena would make her feel better and that
might be the last pleasure she had. “He’s gone.”

Selena loomed over Chloe. “Gone where?”

Her eyes had done the same thing as Luka’s -- bled into the iris. Not good.

“No idea.”

Selena stared at Chloe. “Tell me.”

As the command trampled into her brain, Chloe flung up her mind wall, brick upon brick. “Fuck
you, Grandma.”

Selena screeched in rage. “You took blood from the kitchen to give Luka. That was how he
became strong enough to break free.”

Before anyone thought to stop her, Chloe made a grab for the water and took a long swig. Her
desert-dry throat tingled with relief. She might be going to die, but she she’d be damned if she’d
die thirsty.

“How did you know where he was?” Selena asked.

“I was exploring the hall, seeing what changes had been made. I stood outside the door of the old
store room and this voice told me to go inside.”

“Voice?” Selena eyed her suspiciously.

“In my head,” Chloe said.

“The door was open?”

Eve and Krista started backing out of the room.

“Yes,” Chloe said.

“Did I pick the most brainless vampires on the planet?” Selena screamed.

“We kept the door locked,” Eve said. “It was locked when we got there tonight.”

“It was open,” Chloe insisted. “Where would I get a key?”

“Get out, you imbeciles. I’ll deal with you later.” Selena waited until they’d gone and then
turned back to Chloe.

“Did you really think you could get away with this?”

But she nearly had gotten away with it. It would all have been okay if Luka had taken her with
him when he woke.

“Did he fuck you?” Selena asked, and didn’t wait for an answer. “Of course he did. That’s why
he was able to resist Eve and Krista for so long. He was fucking you.” She began to pace. “No,
that’s not right. Until he was flat on his back that wouldn’t have been possible. Well, unless
you’re acrobatic.” She moved around the bed. “You were sucking him off. Stealing his seed from
me.”

The look on her face was so venomous Chloe thought she was going to wet herself. She couldn’t
spare the liquid.

“Oh dear, now he doesn’t need you anymore.” Selena pouted and shook her head. “You fed him
and he’s gone.”

Chloe said nothing. Selena walked around the room as she spoke, picking up Chloe’s things,
looking at them and then dropping them again.

“Did he promise to turn you? He lied. He wouldn’t take the risk. The Council would fry him. He
doesn’t want you, Chloe.”

“I know.” The iron sleeve tightened around Chloe’s heart.

“I wish he did care about you, then I could use you to lure him back, but you’re worthless to
me.”

“I’ll go home,” Chloe said. “I won’t say anything.” Worth a try.

Selena moved so fast Chloe’s head spun. She knelt on the bed, her face hovering inches in front
of Chloe’s. “But you are home, my sweet. This place is yours.”

Selena pressed her finger on Chloe’s head to turn her face towards her, then ran a sharp red-
painted nail down her cheek. Chloe cried out as her skin tore and knew it was Selena who’d done
that to Luka.

“You were supposed to die too.” Selena’s voice was soft and melodic as though she was telling a
fairy story not a tale of horror. “How was I to know that you’d take it into your stupid, childish
head to sit outside all night?”

Chloe gasped.

“The boiler wasn’t difficult to adjust. A decrepit antiquity because your grandfather was too
tightfisted to fork out for a new one. A few knobs tweaked, a hose slid out of its casing, a pilot
light extinguished. I expected to come back from Scotland to find you all dead in your beds.
What a disappointment.”

“You bitch.”

Chloe bubbled with anger. She raised her fist and Selena caught her wrist before it moved off the
bed. One squeeze and Chloe writhed in agony.

“Twice in my life you’ve thwarted me. The first time didn’t really matter in the long run. When I
refused to look after you, the local authority care home had to take you. I didn’t even have to
forge the will. Washburn Hall was mine until you were twenty-one.”

Chloe knew she’d been better off in care than in Selena’s control. And the hall was hers? She felt
a surge of joy that her grandfather hadn’t entirely lost his senses.

“I’m well over twenty-one,” Chloe said. “Seems like you’re trespassing. Get out.”

Selena laughed. She released Chloe’s wrist and ran her hand under the sheet down the side of
Chloe’s naked body.

“Luka fucked me too. Did he tell you? I had his huge dick inside me, pumping and thrusting.
He’s quite an animal.”

“You raped him.”

“He fucked me,” Selena snapped.

“You raped him and he didn’t come. You didn’t get his seed. You’re not pregnant.” The words
hit like barbs and Chloe watched in satisfaction when Selena flinched.

“I might not be pregnant now, but I will be.”

“Not by Luka.”

Selena brought her face close to Chloe’s. “Why are you defending him? He left you here. He
could have taken you with him and chose not to. Why didn’t he?”

“It was like you said. He got what he wanted. He doesn’t need me anymore.”

Chloe kept her voice flat and willed her pulse to beat in a steady rhythm. She wanted to give no
hint to Selena that she might still be of use.

Selena shook her head. “No, that’s not true.” She furrowed her brow. “Why did he leave you?
You helped him, brought him blood. Why didn’t he take you?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said.

“I think you do. Luka is a member of an ancient clan. His sense of duty and honor are very
strong. If he left you, it means he doesn’t trust you.” Selena grinned. “He thinks you -- tricked
him.”

Damn. “He said he’d come back.” Chloe tried to edge away from her and failed.

“Oh dear, so I can’t let you go.”

Chloe knew Selena hadn’t been going to release her, but an idea had slipped into her mind, a
chance to save her neck -- literally. If she was of no use to Selena, she’d be killed. They wouldn’t
take the risk of her going to the authorities. If Selena kept her there, Chloe could use the
passageways to escape. As long as they didn’t tie her up.

“Why would he come back? Not for you,” Selena said.

“No, for you. He’s a proud man and you chained him up. He’s pissed off.”

Selena pulled away. Chloe hadn’t thought about it before, but she knew she was right. Luka
wouldn’t let Selena get away with what she’d done.

“If I went to the authorities, they’d either commit me to a mental asylum or send a load of police
out here to look around. Maybe both. Vampire authorities are a different matter. If Luka reports
you to the Council, you’ll be in trouble.”

Selena laughed. Not the response Chloe was hoping for.

“You think he’s going to admit what happened to him? No, he might come for me, but he’d
definitely come back for you if he thinks you’re an innocent in this. All I need to do is let him
know that you knew nothing about what was going on and he’ll return. He’ll walk right into my
hands.”

Shit. “Leave him alone.”

Selena smiled, this time her fangs showed. “Oh, how sweet. You think you love him.”

“I don’t love him, but I don’t like what you tried to do to him.”

“How could any man not want to spend his time fucking beautiful women? He must be the only
vampire able to resist the urge to come. No matter. I’ll find a way to milk him of his seed.”

“Why?”

“Because many of us want children. Why should we be denied? Luka would have surrendered
eventually.”

“Leave him alone -- Grandmother.” Annoying her was the only way Chloe could fight back.

“Don’t call me that,” Selena snarled.

“What would you prefer? Grandma, Granny, Gran? How about Nana?”

“Oh, Chloe. You really shouldn’t upset me.”

Chloe had a plan but as Selena’s mouth moved towards her, she had no time to regret not
thinking of an alternative. Selena bit down and Chloe screamed.

“She’s going to kill her!”

“Whose plan was this anyway?”

“Yours, Phoebe.”

“Was not. We need a new one. Now.”

Chapter Seventeen

An intense pain stabbed the front of Luka’s head, his vision blurred, and he slammed his foot on
the brake. He almost ran into the car in front. The pain vanished as quickly as it had appeared,
but the near accident didn’t help his temper. His mind was in turmoil. Should he approach the
Council and tell them everything? Confess that he was a pathetic idiot, because despite the holy
water injection, the silver chains, and the whipping with the siltrane, the truth was that he’d been
held captive by a few female vamps who wanted to hire him out to anyone who’d pay the fee.

If he wouldn’t or couldn’t perform, they intended to milk him like some prize bull. Luka had a
sudden image of him being attached to a contraption that wanked him off every hour, on the
hour. He shuddered. If he went to the Council with his story, he’d be a laughing stock, the fact
that his life had hung in the balance, irrelevant.

On the other hand, if Selena and her inept duo with the help of a more adept Chloe had managed
to get hold of his seed, they might already have been busy with the turkey basters. Just because
he hadn’t found a receptacle in Chloe didn’t mean there hadn’t been one. Luka’s little swimmers
could at this very moment be elbowing their way into receptive eggs and Selena would be one
rich bitch. The Council would accept no excuse for him fathering a child -- God, maybe
hundreds of the things. For all Luka knew, there were a whole load of vamps lined up waiting to
be inseminated. It sounded like that from what he’d heard Selena say on the phone.

How the hell had she found out he was a Trueblood? Why hadn’t he stayed long enough to ask
her? Luka was annoyed he’d left without getting to the bottom of his abduction. He was so
pissed off with Chloe he hadn’t been thinking straight. What was Chloe going to get out of it?
Money? She didn’t strike him as being materialistic. Luka groaned when he thought of her. She
was damned good, pretending not to believe vampires existed. Pretending to faint, even going so
far as to make her head bleed. Pretending to care about him and all that messing around with the
bolt cutters. An elaborate charade. Wasn’t it?

He tightened his grip on the wheel and the pain in his arm made him grit his teeth. He needed a
vacation to get over this. Some dark, gloomy castle in Scotland would do fine. Then he wouldn’t
think about Chloe. Her guile sickened him. He’d so nearly told her that he loved her. Oh God, he
thought he had. He couldn’t get her sweet face out of his head. Shit. He’d thought -- damn, what
he thought no longer mattered.

Trust no one, his father had said the night they parted and Luka had followed that advice. He’d
thought Chloe was different and she was, just not in the way he wanted. She was a conniving
little bitch. So why wasn’t that the face that haunted him? She was a sly, taunting witch. So why
wasn’t that the face he saw? Instead, his mind was full of pictures of the other Chloe. Her
innocent face, the happy, excited smile when she’d showed him the bags of blood, her teasing
grin, her gasp as she’d unraveled in his arms. He’d been taken in because compared to Eve and
Krista, Chloe had seemed like a breath of fresh air. She’d slipped in under his defenses. Luka had
to hand it to Selena -- she’d played a clever hand.

Luka parked Chloe’s car in the lot at the back of Rebellion. His keys had disappeared in his
abduction so he went in through the front entrance. He’d need to change the locks. Luka didn’t
miss the look on Dan’s face when he walked into his office. His office, not Dan’s, though his
manager sat on his chair, with his feet on his desk, playing with his remote-control mini forklift
truck.

Dan sprang to his feet. “You’re back early.”

“Yes.” Fuck, could Dan have had something to do with this? Luka swallowed hard.

“Anything the matter?”

“No.”

“Right.”

That “no” wouldn’t have convinced anyone. Shit.

“Anything I can do?”

“No.” That wasn’t much better.

Dan edged away. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” He shot out of the room like a rocket.

Luka stared at the door. He couldn’t trust anyone, a lesson he’d recently relearned. He slumped
on his chair, pulled up his sleeve, and looked at the dark stain winding its way up his right arm. It
looked a little like an ancient, twisted olive tree. It had been growing steadily since he’d driven
away from Washburn Hall and it fucking hurt. Luka rubbed at it, but it made no difference. He
had no idea what it was. Maybe Chloe had poisoned him.

* * * * *

Chloe only needed to survive until dawn. Easier said than done, even if it involved little more
than lying here. After Selena had finished feeding, she’d given her to Eve and Krista. Their
behavior reminded Chloe of killer whales playing with a seal. A game involving lots of nips by
sharp teeth, severe blood loss, the end sad and inevitable. Chloe’s thirst was desperate, her mouth
too dry for her to swallow. Her lips were cracked and swollen. At some point in the proceedings
she’d passed out and come round to find they’d gone.

For a moment, she hadn’t been able to believe she was alive. But her heart was beating, her lungs
drawing an occasional ragged breath, her body hurting. She lifted her head from the pillow,
looked down, and wasted energy on a groan. Covered in bruises, her skin was speckled with bite
marks and dark purple ovals where they’d sucked vicious hickeys as they’d drunk. Her lower left
arm was a mess, dark bloodred lines following the veins, twisting along her skin. She had no idea
what they’d done there and it was so much like her nightmare it scared Chloe to look at it.

Where was her sixth-and-a-half sense now? The bloody voices had dragged her here to die?
“Talk to me,” Chloe yelled in her head. What was the point? What had she done wrong?

She stared at the bottle of water next to the bed. It might as well have been on the moon. She
hadn’t the strength to lift her arm. Not even the energy to cry. Maybe if she rested for a little
while. Huh, as if she had a choice.

The door opened. Selena was back with a man Chloe had never seen before. Tall, dark,
powerfully built, and dressed in a black collarless shirt and dark pants. Selena threaded her hands
together, twisting her fingers. The fact that she was nervous did nothing for Chloe’s state of

mind. Selena’s gaze stayed fixed on the man Chloe guessed to be Constantine. He strolled over
to the bed and looked at her. Chloe’s fingers scrabbled against the sheet partially draped over
her, but she couldn’t pull it up to cover herself.

“You’re an idiot,” he said.

“Fuck you.” Chloe thought the words her mouth was too dry to speak.

“Not you, Chloe. I’m talking to Selena. What the fuck have you done to her?”

He bent over Chloe and she tried to sink down into the mattress.

“Go to him.”

Chloe had no idea who said that. Her inner voice or him? It didn’t matter. She couldn’t move.

“Go to Luka.”

His eyes narrowed and she knew it was Constantine in her head. Not a little angel on her
shoulder. A devil. Even if she could obey him, what was the point? Luka didn’t want her. He
thought she’d tricked him.

“What’s this?” Constantine lifted Chloe’s arm and looked at Selena.

Selena gaped. “I don’t know. It wasn’t like that earlier.”

Constantine turned back to Chloe. “Did he feed from you?”

Chloe nodded.

“Did he feed you?”

She shook her head. This man frightened her. She hoped to hide a lie among the truth.

“Did he fuck you?”

One nod.

“Did he come inside you?”

Now Chloe wasn’t sure of the right answer.

“Yes, he did,” Constantine said and smiled. He kept his eyes on Chloe and uttered one word.
“Out.”

Selena fled and perversely Chloe wanted her back. Constantine slid his long, lean form onto the
bed, leaned against the headboard, and pulled Chloe into his arms. His fingers stroked the skin of
her stomach and it fluttered under his caress, but with fear not pleasure. He touched one mark on
her body after another, circled them with the tip of his finger.

“Such nasty bitches. Not the bites of lovers. Did they hurt you?”

Chloe tried to swallow and emitted a strangled sound.

“Water?” he asked.

Chloe wondered what she’d have to do to get it, but he opened the bottle and held it to her lips.
She gulped and swallowed and could have sobbed with relief.

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry you were hurt.”

He sounded sorry yet Chloe knew he wasn’t. Every sense she had was screaming danger --
danger -- danger. Adrenaline surged in the pathetic amount of blood she had left.

His fingers traced the ugly black lines on her arm. “Did they do this?”

“I don’t know.”

It was the truth. Chloe had no idea where it had come from. Her nightmare had become reality.

He turned her head so she looked up at him. “Are you Luka’s mate?”

“He hates me.”

“Why, my sweet?”

His fingers continued to stroke her, his eyes staring deep into hers. Chloe picked up a brick and
shoved it in her wall. It fell straight through the other side. Oops.

“He found out that Selena is my grandmother.”

Constantine laughed. His shaking chest rocked Chloe up and down.

“You are the one in her family who survived? The little child who sat outside with a kitchen
knife to fend off danger.”

Chloe nodded.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t killed you.”

“I think it’s on her to-do list after filing her nails.”

He laughed again. “I see why Luka likes you.”

“Do you know Luka?”

“I know of him.”

His fingers moved to her breast and he fondled her nipple until it hardened.

“Why do you want his sperm?” Chloe asked, trying to shift his attention from her body.

“Why do you think we want it?”

“Money? Luka heard Selena booking a woman in to get impregnated. If it didn’t work, she said
she could pay for artificial insemination instead. That was a bit cheaper.”

Chloe felt him stiffen against her and wondered if she’d made trouble for Selena. Good.

“You are a little angel, Chloe. A battered one, but an angel nonetheless. Money is not the prime
mover here despite what Selena might think.”

She noted the change in tone in his voice and stayed motionless in his arms.

“Have you heard of Truebloods?”

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.

“They are special vampires, one of the ancient clans, and they used to wield great power. They
still could but they keep themselves hidden from other vampires and from the Vampire High
Council because they fell out of favor. Truebloods have a number of genetic qualities the rest of
us would dearly like. They claim they can stay out in the sun for a period of time after sunrise
and before sunset. Since the rest of us have to sleep in daylight hours, we can’t know the
absolute veracity of that statement, yet I believe it’s true. They are also fertile, but barred from
procreating at will. One child permitted every hundred years and this year, an exceptional year,
they are allowed another child. I suspect it’s a trick by the Council to tease them out of hiding.”

His hand slid down her stomach to the curls between her legs. He pulled them gently through his
fingers. Chloe couldn’t suppress her shudder.

“So, my little mortal, why do you think I might need the services of a Trueblood?”

If not for money, then it had to be for power. “You want to control the Council?”

“How would I do that?”

“By the time Trueblood babies were grown-up, they’d be the most powerful vampires. If they
could stay awake longer, then they could kill their enemies as they slept.”

“Bravo. So why didn’t Selena see that?”

“Because she sees only the benefit for her.”

Constantine kissed her cheek, one long lick along the cut Selena had made. It tingled under his
caress. “She’ll pay for marring your face. But don’t worry, sweet little Chloe, you’ll have no
scar.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said.

He nuzzled his face against her head. “You’d make a worthy mate.”

Oh God. Distract him, distract him. “Wouldn’t it be a long while to wait while these babies grew
up?”

Constantine laughed. “Do you know how old I am?”

He looked to be in his midthirties.

“Five hundred and thirty-seven,” she said.

He chuckled. “Four hundred years off.”

“You’re only a hundred and thirty seven?”

“The other way.”

Chloe gulped. “Nine hundred and thirty seven? That’s much older than --” Shit.

“Than Luka? Yes, I know. But he has what I want. The power to go out in the sun, the power to
make children, the potential to take control of the Council. You think twenty years to wait for a
child to grow is a long time in the scheme of things?”

She supposed not.

“Anyway, I don’t need to wait that long. Their blood is all that I require, not them.”

Jesus. He was going to use babies as blood banks ? Chloe needed to tell Luka.

His fingers slid between Chloe’s legs and she tried to clamp them together.

“Luka wants you,” he whispered as he forced her legs apart with little effort. “I curiously find
myself wanting you too.”

“I’m not worth the effort.”

Constantine pulled her down the bed and dropped his face to her breast. He licked her nipple.
“Don’t you want to live?”

“Not without Luka.”

Even as the words came from her mouth Chloe wanted them back. It was too late. He laughed
and sank his teeth into the top of her breast. Chloe felt the pull of every deep, gulp of her blood.
Not without Luka. Did she mean that? The pain faded and pleasure replaced it. Chloe was
helpless to resist. No matter what her mind told her, her body was reacting as if a lover touched
her. She felt the coil of passion turn inside her. No. No. Luka hadn’t come with Selena, Chloe
wouldn’t come with Constantine. She imagined he was a dog chewing her neck. A rabid wolf-
type creature with dripping fangs. She shuddered and the need to come vanished.

Constantine pulled away and licked her wound closed.

“Sweet blood, little angel. Yes, Luka will return for you. You’re his mate. The mark on your arm
signifies it; so does your resistance to me. I’d like to stay with you, fuck you for hours, and make
him mad with jealousy, but dawn approaches. Until tonight, little one.”

He kissed her lips and Chloe clamped them shut.

“Open your mouth.”

No, she wouldn’t.

Constantine bit a vein in his wrist and holding Chloe’s nose, he pressed the wound against her
mouth. Blood gushed everywhere, but one gasp for air and the thick liquid poured between her
lips. Chloe flailed with her arms, trying to push him away. Only after she’d swallowed several
mouthfuls did he pull back. He sealed the cut with one lick of his tongue and then laughed.

“Your resistance to my body and my blood tells me Luka fed you. Now, so have I. My blood
flows within you. You’re as much mine as Luka’s.”

“No,” she mumbled.

He smiled. “One last taste.” He pushed her chin to one side and buried his face in the side of her
neck. She felt the prick of his fangs and then nothing.

When Chloe regained consciousness, she turned her head and threw up. Rather tried to throw up
but nothing came from her mouth. She retched and her stomach churned, dry heaves that merely
exhausted her further. She had to get out. This was her chance while they slept. Somehow she
had to drag herself to her feet, get dressed, and leave.

Summoning every scrap of her energy, Chloe dropped off the bed, crawled to the blinds, hauled
herself up, and opened them. The room flooded with light. She’d never been more pleased to see
a grey sky in her life. Not morning though, late afternoon. Sunset was coming and she had to
escape before they woke.

“Go to him.” Oh God, who was that talking to her? She couldn’t tell one voice from another
now.

A crawl to the bathroom for water, another crawl to her clothes. A struggle to get them on but
finally she was dressed.

“Go to him.”

Chloe rang for a taxi to come from Leeds. She figured she needed the length of time it would
take a cab to reach Harrogate, for her to get out of the hall. She staggered from support to
support around the room as she packed up her things and tucked her camera safely in her bag.
Her legs shook like a newborn colt’s and her head whirled as if she was drunk. Chloe forced
three glasses of water down her throat. She’d lost a lot of blood -- not enough to kill her, just
incapacitate her. Strangely enough her face, though pale, was unmarked. Constantine said he’d
healed her cheek and he had. Her neck was a mess but her sweater hid the bruises. When she
reached for the door handle, it turned, but the door didn’t open. Chloe struggled for a few
moments, unsure whether it was locked or she wasn’t strong enough to pull it open.

One more tug and Chloe admitted defeat. She had to use the passageways. She’d go down to the
room where Luka had been held and make her way back upstairs from there.

“Go to him. Go to him.”

“Shut the fuck up.” She put her hands over her ears. The voice still came.

“Go to Luka.”

Chloe moved as fast as she could, afraid the taxi would leave before she reached the rendezvous
point. She’d asked him to wait at the bottom of the drive, guessing he might be sent away by
Miranda or Matt if he drove up to the hall. The long trek down the drive was going to tax what
little strength she had left.

Chloe picked up Rufus, Angel, and Phoebe on her way through the hidden corridors. It felt
wrong to leave them in such a horrible place. She stuffed them in her bag and then crawled out
into the room where Luka had been held. A slow climb back upstairs and a slide along the wall
through the reception. No sign of Miranda. Probably on the floor eating chocolate. Chloe had
forgotten about the swishing noise the doors made.

“Are you leaving?” Miranda called. “I thought you were leaving much earlier. I’ll have to check
you don’t owe anything.”

Chloe didn’t even have the energy to throw back a sarcastic retort. She stumbled outside. One
breath of fresh air and she almost keeled over. With her bag slung over her shoulder she made
her way down the drive.

“We’re out of Washburn Hall. We’re free. I can smell fresh air. I want to pound my hooves on
the ground.”

“She’s sick, Angel. We can’t leave her.”

“We have to help her show Mr. Stupid what a mistake he’s made.”

Chapter Eighteen

From climbing in the taxi to getting out at Rebellion, everything was a blur to Chloe. When the
cab driver commented on how sick she looked, she had a vague memory of telling him she’d
been attacked by vampires and he’d laughed. He thought she was crazy. Maybe she was. She
was definitely ill. Moving her arms and legs took conscious thought and each movement hurt.
Her head felt wobbly on her neck and the throbbing pain in her arm was driving her insane. She
rubbed and scratched. It made no difference.

“Go to him.”

One last time she’d listen to her sixth-and-a-half-sense. Then again, maybe it wasn’t one of her
inner voices talking, maybe it was Constantine. She had to warn Luka.

* * * * *

Luka had gone to sleep feeling ill and woken up feeling ill, and since vampires never got sick,
the sensation was somewhat worrying. The noise coming from the club’s loudspeakers annoyed
him more than usual, the beat pounding through his office so he could feel it rising through his
desk, through his chair, up his spine. His head throbbed, his forearm throbbed, and his dick was
in a jealous sulk.

He sat with his head resting on his arms on his desk trying to work out what to do about Selena
and trying not to think about Chloe. Each time he started to question her involvement and
wonder if he’d been wrong, he snapped his mind back to the way he’d been held. Humiliation
and fury hurtled round his bloodstream. Selena had played Chloe like a puppet and Luka still
couldn’t believe he’d fallen for it.

When the phone rang, he put it to his ear, moving nothing but his hand.

“What?” he snapped.

“There’s someone downstairs to see you,” Dan said.

“I’m very busy.”

“Her name’s Chloe.”

Luka sat up so fast it made his head spin.

“Send her up.”

Shit. Why did he say that? How did she know where to find him? Ah, she’d seen his business
card. Luka didn’t take another breath until she came into the room and the door was closed. Then
the breath he took was a deep gulp. She let her bag drop from her shoulder and tried to stand
straight. The struggle appeared genuine. She looked awful, her face pale, hair limp, and her lips
cracked. Dark circles underlined dull eyes. Her body seemed wrong, arms hanging as though she
wasn’t in control of them.

What was she doing here? Then he remembered he’d taken her vehicle.

“Your car’s in the parking lot around the corner,” he said.

He opened his drawer, took out the keys, and tossed them. Chloe was years too slow lifting her
hand. The keys hit her arm and fell to the floor. She looked at them for several seconds before
she bent to pick them up. Luka pondered snatching them back. She didn’t look fit to drive.

“That’s not why I came,” she said, her voice hoarse and croaky.

“So you’re sorry. Fine, now leave.”

She stood a little straighter. “What do you think I’ve done? What proof do you have that I
betrayed you?”

The questions rendered Luka speechless. He sat there with a death sentence hanging over him
and she asked what she’d done. How could he still want her? Fuck it, he did want her. When he
looked at her, even in the mess she was in, he felt a tug deep inside, a desire to protect her. His
cock tried to nod in agreement.

Chloe tottered a few steps forward. “I’ve done nothing to hurt you.”

Luka leaned back in his chair.

She raised her head and looked straight at him. “You’ve been cruel beyond belief to me. I helped
you and you left me to face -- I thought…I thought I loved you.”

The words yanked at his heart. He’d thought he loved her too. He watched a range of emotions
cross her face. Hope. Uncertainty. Then resignation when he failed to respond.

“If you didn’t come for your car, or to say sorry, what are you doing here?” His voice was
sharper than he’d intended.

Chloe’s sigh was so heavy, her body shook. “You don’t deserve my help, but I came to warn
you. Selena isn’t the one in charge. It’s a vampire called Constantine Nevchek. He’s nearly a
thousand years old. He wants to go out in the sun and he thinks the blood of Trueblood babies
will give him that ability. Seems he and Selena have different agendas.”

Luka didn’t hide his surprise. He pushed himself up from his chair and began to pace. He
recognized Nevchek’s name. An Ancient who’d fought for control of the VHC and lost the last
election.

“How do you know this?” he asked. “Was he the one who recruited you?”

A spark flared in her eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Luka, I’m trying to do you a favor here. You don’t
want to believe I had nothing to do with your abduction, then fine. I give up, but Nevchek won’t
give up. He told me why he wanted you. Bragging. He knows you fed me and he thinks you’ll
come for me.”

“And he let you go?”

“No one let me go. I escaped. They locked me in my room but they don’t know about the
passageways.”

She panted as though the effort of saying that much had exhausted her. Luka sat on the edge of
his desk, picked up a pen, and twirled it in his fingers. “Why would they think I’d come for
you?”

“Because I’m as much a victim as you in all this. They were going to find a way of letting you
know that you’d made a mistake so they could lure you back to rescue me.”

Chloe sagged and Luka had to fight the impulse to jump up and grab her.

“How did your grandmother find out I was a Trueblood?”

“I’ve no idea.”

A shiver of doubt trickled along Luka’s spine and he sat back on his chair. There was truth in
this, but how much? Selena wouldn’t need to tell her everything. He could see that Chloe had
been used too.

“How much were you supposed to be paid?” he asked more gently.

She shook her head. “Luka, I’m tired of this conversation. I’m tired of you not believing me. I’ve
never worked for them. I won the visit to the spa as a consolation prize. Selena didn’t know I

was there until I’d got you out of that room. It was the blood I brought for you. I signed for it.
When she found you’d gone, she took it out on me.”

Chloe pulled her sweater over her head, together with her T-shirt. Luka’s eyes slid over the
dozens of dark purple marks on her body and on to the crawling branch on her arm that matched
the one on his. Shit. His chair toppled backwards and he crashed to the floor. He jumped up, put
his chair right, and sat again. Her arm was much worse than his. The vines curling along his skin
looked gentle in comparison. Chloe’s were malevolent streaks creeping from her wrist, spreading
well above her elbow. He gripped his wrist, fighting the urge to drag up his sleeve and see if his
had grown too.

As he stared, Chloe looked down and it was almost as though she saw the marks on her body for
the first time. She rubbed a couple with her fingers and her head dropped.

“See what they did? Why would they do that if I was working for them?”

“Come here,” Luka said, his voice catching.

Chloe walked to the edge of his desk and as she stood there in her bra and jeans, battered,
bruised and broken, Luka’s heart hardened, not softened. What was she trying to do? Make him
feel sorry for her so he’d believe her? Was this a final attempt to harvest his sperm? They’d
given her one more chance, playing the sympathy card. It was a strong possibility. On the other
hand, he could have made a terrible mistake. He felt like a clawed hand gripped his heart. How
could he tell what was the truth? Maybe test how far she’d go.

“Take off your clothes.”

She didn’t hesitate and somehow that damned her further. Luka clenched his teeth when he saw
the vivid bite marks on her breasts. He switched his gaze to her legs as she stepped out of her
jeans. They were in as bad a state as the rest of her body. But he saw past the marks, remembered
only the smell of her, the taste of her, the way her pussy clamped around him. His lust grew like
a rampant weed, overwhelming his common sense. He had the urge to kiss every mark away and
stamped it down.

“They punished you for failing them,” he said.

She shook her head. “They did this because I helped you.”

He wouldn’t believe that. Maybe she wasn’t here because they’d sent her, but because she
wanted something from him.

“You want me to fuck you?” he asked. “Is that why you’ve come?”

Chloe looked right at him. “No.”

“Then why did you take off your clothes?”

Confusion flooded her face. “I wanted to show you what they’d done. I thought it would prove I
wasn’t working for them.”

“Come here.”

She moved to his side of the desk, her eyes downcast again. His cock was rock hard. Luka didn’t
understand it. His arm hurt, his head ached, and his cock wept with need of her. He couldn’t
stand the sight of her and he couldn’t bear not to look at her. Luka stood up, spun her round, and
pressed her face down over his desk. Oh Christ, she was trembling.

He needed her to tell him she was sorry, to ask him to forgive her because that was exactly what
he wanted to do. Goose bumps sprang up on her skin. Her back was a pattern of oval bruises and
scars where she’d been pinched, sucked, and bitten. They could have healed her yet they’d
deliberately left the marks. They wanted him to see, wanted him to feel sorry for her. Luka
bristled. This was another trap.

“I know Selena sent you.”

“No one sent me.”

Luka ran his hands down her arms and felt a prickling sensation in his streaked forearm as it
touched the mark on hers. Had they both been poisoned? He dropped his head to her neck and
scented another male vampire. Luka bared his teeth and hissed. Constantine had fed from her.
Had he fed her, fucked her? Yes. This was a trap. They wanted him to feel sorry for her, to fuck
her, to capture his seed.

“You’re a liar,” Luka whispered. “Liar. Liar. Liar. Get dressed and get out.”

Chloe had never lied to him, though she almost felt too ill to care what he thought. She’d wanted
Luka to believe her, yet she doubted he ever would. A burst of anger flared in her heart that he
hadn’t given her the benefit of the doubt, not even attempted to uncover the truth. She’d rescued
him. Why would she do that if she worked for Selena? She’d told him about Constantine, but he
didn’t seem interested. She struggled into her clothes.

Despite Luka’s cold disdain, a little part of Chloe wanted him to touch her, to made love to her --
well, to fuck her. There would be no love involved. When he finished, he’d drink from her. New
plan. He thought she’d tricked him and she hadn’t. Maybe the final trick could be hers. She’d
encourage him to keep drinking; then she’d go home and wait to die. Kill me.

Chloe trembled. Did she really want that? Had she given up on life? No. She didn’t want to die,
only something told Chloe the decision wasn’t hers. She was sick and no hospital could fix her.
The flame inside her faded. No matter what she did or thought, this was out of her hands. She
was already dying.

“Yes.”

That wasn’t the answer she wanted from her voices. “No,” she screamed back. She wouldn’t give
in.

“Hurry up and get out of my sight,” he snapped.

She let a cry of sadness escape, then clamped her lips together and bit back a sob. He hadn’t even
wanted her blood. Chloe pushed herself upright and turned to face him.

“Tell Selena she’ll have to come up with someone more tempting.”

Chloe’s head dropped, her humiliation complete. This had been a mistake. Her sixth-and-a-half
sense was wrong. He neither wanted nor cared about her, not even enough to kill her. As the
realization hit that she’d never see him again, her arm ached so much she’d have ripped it from
her body if she could.

One last look at him sitting behind his desk, then she picked up her bag and left. When she
reached the bottom of the stairs, she stumbled into the man who’d led her to Luka. He stood
guard by the main door. He pulled her to one side as she tried to slip past.

“Leaving so soon?”

Chloe nodded. She knew he was a vampire. How was that possible?

“Doesn’t Luka want you?”

Chloe shook her head. He reached out and smoothed down her hair.

“Will I do instead?”

His eyes darkened and his fangs extended. Chloe gulped. Another plan. Maybe Luka would
know what was happening and save her. She let the vampire guide her into a small dark room.
Chloe closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. She gasped when she felt his teeth pierce her
neck, then the pain faded. Chloe thought it might be the last time anyone held her and she clung
to him as he drank.

* * * * *

Luka stared at the door closing behind Chloe. Had he really heard kill me in her head? He strode
towards the door and then stopped. She’d left a toy on the floor. A green dragon. Accident or not.
Another trick? Luka remembered where he’d seen the thing before. On a shelf in the
passageway. He’d thought the dragon had glared at him then, but the look on its face now was
pure venom. Luka brought his foot back to kick it and missed. He gave a snort of disbelief and
stomped back to his desk.

He wished she hadn’t stripped. He wished he hadn’t seen the marks on her body, wished he
hadn’t scented another vampire. Luka banged his fist on the desk and knocked the mouse next to
his keyboard. A new e-mail message flashed onto the screen. He clicked on it and the breath
froze in his throat. A message from Syren. A man he hadn’t heard from in over two hundred
years. His father.

Just one word.

Congratulations.

Luka stared at it in disbelief. He scrolled up and down, thinking there must be something else but
there wasn’t. A sender address sat at the top of the screen. He pressed reply and typed:

What the hell does that mean?

He waited, desperately hoping it wasn’t -- congratulations, you’re going to be a daddy. Moments
later, the reply came back.

You found your lifemate.

Luka pushed the keyboard away in disgust. No, I fucking haven’t. Then he typed that, only he
omitted the word fucking. The “message couldn’t be sent” screen popped up. Luka checked the
address. It was the same as the one that had accepted the first response. He was surprised his
father had risked contact at all. Two hundred years and that was all Luka got? Five bloody
words? And Chloe was not his lifemate.

Your lifemate.

The pain in his arm was so bad he doubled over, gasping for air.

Your love.

She couldn’t be. She’d betrayed him.

Your love.

Luka clutched his arm to his chest as he struggled to breathe. What the hell was happening?

Find her.

By the time he got downstairs, there was no sign of Chloe. Dan stood by the entrance watching
the staff check the guests in.

“The woman -- have you seen her?”

“She left.”

As Luka moved closer, he knew Dan had just fed. He also knew on whom. Luka whirled round,
dragged Dan out of sight, wrapped one hand around his throat, and pinned him to the wall.

“She said you didn’t want her.” Dan hissed the words through his teeth.

“And you couldn’t have said no?” Even as Luka asked that, he knew it was a stupid question,
expecting a cat to ignore a mouse sitting on its nose and dangling its tail in its mouth.

“Let him go.”

The voice of Jason, Dan’s lover, came from behind Luka. Luka ignored him and kept Dan right
where he was.

“How was I supposed to know?” Dan choked out.

Jason stepped closer to Luka’s back. He carried no weapon and he was mortal. He stood no
chance, though defeating Dan would require more effort. Rage swirled inside Luka, a thick black
cloud smothering everything in its path. Before it swamped him, Luka dropped Dan and swept
out of the building.

Chloe’s car had gone from the parking lot. He stood for several minutes, his eyes closed, trying
to sense her. Nothing. As he turned to go back to the club, he saw Dan hurrying towards him.

“Luka!”

Luka pulled his temper under control.

Dan came to his side. “I know what you are.”

“So I’m not gay. Shoot me,” Luka snapped.

“I’ve known that for ages. I’m not talking about that.” Dan dropped his voice. “You’re a
Trueblood.”

A hand around Dan’s throat and his feet no longer touched the ground.

“Listen,” Dan choked out, trying to wrench Luka’s fingers off his windpipe.

Luka let him down, wondering if there was any way out of this. Could he mind-wipe Dan? Luka
didn’t think he had that sort of ability, not on a vamp of Dan’s age. Dan rubbed his hand over his
throat. Luka watched his fingers. He’d have to choke him to death instead. Shit. He didn’t want
to do that either.

“Let me finish before you decide whether I need strangling. I’m your friend, Luka. We’ve
worked together for years and I’ve kept your secret. You didn’t trust me enough to tell me you

weren’t gay, but I played along with it, pretended to envy your relationship with the fabulous,
fictitious Rio.”

Luka clenched his fists at his sides and said nothing.

“After you stalked off, Jason made a comment about you being arrogant because you could stand
a bit more light than me. That was something I didn’t know. I went into his mind, unraveled his
thoughts.” Dan sighed. “I should have done it before. It might have saved us both some
heartache. Fifteen years ago, when Jason was a kid, his sister killed Chloe’s family. She made it
look like an accident, a faulty boiler leaking carbon monoxide. Chloe only survived because
she’d gone outside.”

“Christ.”

“His sister’s name is Selena.”

Oh fuck. Luka’s world started to collapse.

“Jason’s sister was married to Chloe’s grandfather and she inherited the family home, Washburn
Hall. Chloe was looked after by the local authorities. Selena didn’t want her. They’ve had no
contact since.”

Why hadn’t she told him any of this?

“At some point after the family died, Selena was turned by Constantine Nevchek. When Jason
found out what his sister had become, he wanted to be turned too and he’s spent the last few
years trying to find someone to do that. His sister refused but Jason came down from Scotland
thinking if he persisted, she’d give way. Jason was talking to her about you, and Nevchek
overheard him say he’d seen you out after dawn, out before sunset, that you must be some
special kind of vampire.”

“It was Nevchek who guessed I was a Trueblood?”

Dan nodded. “Are you really?” he whispered.

Luka saw no point in denial now. “Yes.”

At that moment, Luka saw Chloe had been innocent. Everything she’d told him had been the
truth. What had he done?

Your love.

“Oh, fuck.” Luka clutched his arm. It burned like it had been dipped in acid.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to find her.”

“What do you want me to do, my lord?”

Luka cringed at the words and the look of awe in Dan’s eyes.

“For a start, don’t fucking call me that.”

He had to put things right with Chloe, but he had no idea where to find her. Luka stormed back
into the club, followed by Dan.

“Where’s Jason?” Luka asked.

“I told him to clear out his stuff.”

Luka ran downstairs to the staff locker room and flung open the door. Jason looked up and
dropped everything he was holding, his eyes wide with fear.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. “I had no idea. I wouldn’t have --”

“What’s Selena’s married name?” Luka asked.

As he strode across the room, Jason backed away.

“Selena Lord,” he gasped.

Luka spun on his heel. “Take care of this,” he said to Dan.

Up in his office, Luka used his computer to access the electoral register. He paid for the
minimum number of searches and entered Chloe’s name and the city where she lived -- Leeds.
He looked at the box for age and drew in his breath. She’d been born twenty-seven years, four
months, three weeks, and six days ago. The day his arm first began to hurt.

Her address came up. 14 The Tramline, Guiseley. About seven miles away. Luka had to get there
before Constantine. As he ran down the stairs, he realized the dragon had moved. He’d left it on
the floor of his office and it had been sitting by his computer when he’d gone back in. How the
hell had that happened?

“Is she really dying, Phoebe?”

“Yes, Angel.”

“Can’t we save her?”

“Only he can save her. At least he believes now. I don’t think scowling at him helped, Rufus.”

“Well, since I couldn’t breathe fire on his balls, it was the next best thing. He doesn’t deserve
her.”

Chapter Nineteen

Selena woke and wished she hadn’t. This had all seemed so simple when Constantine had
planned it and everything had gone wrong. She pulled the covers over her head and closed her
eyes. She lay like that for a long time hoping the situation would be sorted by the time she came
out of her room. She needed to feed but she didn’t want to run the risk of bumping into --

“Selena?”

Her eyes sprang open under the sheet. How had Constantine gotten in there?

“I know you’re not still sleeping.”

She emerged with reluctance.

“While you bury your head in the sand, Eve and Krista have fled and Chloe has disappeared.”

Oh fuck. Why hadn’t she disappeared too? She’d lain in bed when she should have been packing.

Constantine sat on the white leather couch in her room, his legs outstretched, crossed at the
ankle, hands behind his head.

“Chloe’s gone? But you warded the door.”

He raised one eyebrow. “So it’s my fault?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.”

“The ward was still in place, so what does that tell us?”

“She didn’t leave through the door.”

He took his hands from behind his head and clapped them slowly. “There is a spark of intellect. I
began to wonder.”

“It’s a long drop from the window. She must have been injured. Or…maybe someone put up a
ladder.”

“The window can’t be opened that wide.”

Selena swallowed hard. “Could someone have removed the ward and put it back again?”

Constantine tsked. “You’re disappointing me, Selena. Why bother to put a ward back once the
person it guards is free?”

He had a point. Though she’d had a ward on her own door. How had he gotten through that?

“Tell me, how do you think I came to be sitting in your room?”

Bloody mind reader. She looked at the door, figuring she needed to find a stronger barrier and
then noticed the fireplace was ajar with a dark space beyond. “There are passageways?”

He nodded.

“Why that conniving little bitch.” She reared up from the bed.

Constantine didn’t move. “Where does she live?”

Selena stamped to her computer and sat down. “She booked her stay online.” A few tapped keys
later she turned to risk a smile. “14 The Tramline, Guiseley.”

“Thank you.”

He stood and walked over to her. His hands slid through her curly hair and down her neck.
Selena stiffened as his fingers circled her throat.

“You were greedy, Selena. You could have had it all, but you couldn’t wait.”

“I could,” she choked out.

“I should have known that someone ruthless enough to kill her husband and his family wouldn’t
hesitate to put her own interests before mine.”

One twist of his hands and her neck snapped. Selena felt no pain but she couldn’t move. Surely
he knew that breaking her spine wouldn’t kill her.

Constantine spun her wheeled chair across the room to face the window. “Yes, I know that hasn’t
killed you but without blood you can’t heal yourself so you’ll just have to sit here.” He flung
open the shutters and fastened them back to the wall. “Ten hours to think about your stupidity
and as a final reward, one moment in the sun’s spotlight.”

Then he was gone. Selena opened her mouth to scream and only a strangled groan came from her
throat.

* * * * *

Chloe drove away from Rebellion at low speed. A couple of motorists tooted their horns to urge
her to get a move on, but she was petrified she’d fail to react in time to a drunken pedestrian, a
suicidal cat, or a herd of elephants. Within a few blocks, she knew she had to stop before she had
an accident. She found a parking spot around the corner from Leeds General Hospital and pulled
in. Since her sixth-and-a-half sense seemed to have stopped talking to her, she’d take finding a
parking place as a sign.

She had no hope that a hospital could do anything for her medically, but it was the safest refuge
Chloe could come up with and there was always a slim chance they could help her. The Accident
and Emergency Department heaved with people, most of whom appeared to be drunk and
bleeding. Chloe stood in line, her lack of interest in the blood reassuring. She felt no urge to lick
the forehead of the guy next to her, even though he was rather cute. So not a vampire yet.

Giving her name and address was no problem, saying what was wrong with her proved
somewhat trickier.

“I feel…ill.”

The tired looking triage nurse rolled her eyes.

“I’m exhausted,” Chloe added.

“Aren’t we all? What are your symptoms? How long have you had them? Are they getting
worse?”

“I’ve been like this for over a day. I ache. My legs and arms don’t work properly. My head’s
spinning. My vision’s wrong. I’m unsteady. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve never
felt this bad before. And yes, it’s getting worse.”

The nurse looked at Chloe over the top of her steel-rimmed glasses.

“Sleeping okay?”

“Like the dead.”

“Eating? Drinking?”

Chloe shook her head, pretty sure blood didn’t count.

“Any thoughts as to why you feel ill?”

The truth could work in her favor. They’d think she was crazy and look after her. Chloe lowered
her voice. “I’ve been attacked by vampires.”

Not even a raised eyebrow. This woman must have heard it all before.

“Take a seat.”

Chloe settled in a corner of the room on an uncomfortable plastic chair. On her right sat a guy
holding a bloody towel to his arm, and on her left a wide-eyed pregnant woman conducted a
fascinating conversation about snow with her knees. At least Chloe wasn’t talking to herself out
loud. She had a surge of hope that maybe the hospital could make her feel better. She shouldn’t
give in. In the meantime, until the sun rose in several hours time, she felt safe surrounded by
people. Even nutcases. It gave her time to think.

She sat with her eyes closed, half-dozing and waited patiently until her name was called. A
different nurse led her into a curtained-off cubicle.

“Sit on the bed.” She read Chloe’s chart and glanced at her. “Vampires?”

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Chloe said, wondering if she’d have been better off saying aliens.

A young, harassed looking male doctor with untidy hair pulled back the curtain.

“Who do we have here?” he asked.

“Chloe Lord. Age twenty-seven. Complains of feeling ill. Not eating or drinking.” The nurse
cleared her throat. “Says she’s been attacked by vampires.”

Chloe watched the doctor’s jaw tighten and the nurse bite her lip as they exchanged glances.

“How much alcohol have you had tonight?” he asked.

“None.”

He raised disbelieving bushy eyebrows.

“In the last twenty-four hours?”

“None.”

“Any aches and pains? Breathing okay?”

“I hurt everywhere, especially my arm. I think I’m still breathing.”

“Let’s take a look. Would you remove your sweater?” he asked.

By the time Chloe struggled without help to pull it over her head, the nurse and doctor appeared
stunned.

“Good God, what happened?” the doctor asked. “What are all these marks? Boyfriend get a bit
carried away?”

“I already told you,” Chloe muttered. “I’ve been bitten by vampires.”

He pulled her forward to look at her back as Chloe dragged the sweater off her aching arm. She
heard the sharp intake of breath from both of them.

“Her arm,” the nurse said.

When Chloe looked down, the dark lines seemed to be moving, creeping under her skin like tiny
black snakes and she gasped.

“When did that start?” the doctor asked.

“I don’t remember.”

The room had started to fade, colors drifting to grey. Chloe struggled to focus.

“Do you think I could have some blood?” she asked and passed out.

* * * * *

Once Constantine’s acute senses had ascertained Chloe was not in her apartment, he had
retreated to watch from a distance. All was not yet lost. She was the route to Luka’s cooperation.
Constantine was as much an expert on Truebloods as anyone could be who wasn’t one, and he
understood the significance of the mark on Chloe’s arm. That and her ability to resist his thrall
told Constantine she was Luka’s lifemate. They were bound together and Luka would die to
protect her. Therefore, if Constantine had Chloe in his grasp, Luka would be obliged to do
anything to ensure her safety. The only problem being Constantine didn’t have Chloe in his
grasp.

No more than an hour after he’d arrived at her apartment, a vehicle holding a vampire pulled up.
Luka. Chloe wasn’t with him. Staying as far back as he could in the shadows, masking his scent
behind a cat he’d killed because it had annoyed him with its constant purring, Constantine
watched. Minutes after Luka had entered the building, he came out again. He carried no bag and
his pace was slow. So he was looking for Chloe too. Luka got back into his car and waited.

Constantine could have attacked Luka, though not with a surety of success. Better to get his
hands on Chloe and use her to persuade Luka to cooperate. He’d whisk her off to his lair and
Luka would never find her. Constantine had nowhere else to be until sunrise. He waited.

* * * * *

Luka slumped in his car tempted to brain himself on the steering wheel. If he’d thought it might
knock some sense into his head, he might have done it. He’d been so sure he’d find Chloe in her
apartment. Where else did she have to go? He didn’t know. He didn’t fucking know because he
hadn’t taken the time to find out. Luka was filled with horror at the way he’d behaved, the way
he’d treated her. He’d let her down and he’d let himself down. She was the sweetest, most

kindhearted mortal he’d ever met and he hadn’t been able to allow himself to believe in her. Was
he so far gone that he could no longer see the truth, understand innocence?

When he thought of her poor body…his grip on the wheel was so tight, he cracked it. If -- no,
when he got hold of Eve, Krista, and Selena, he’d show them -- Luka gave a short laugh. Not
show them, he wanted to kill them for what they’d done. Nevchek too. Luka straightened out his
hands, tried to calm down. Sitting here railing about his stupidity helped no one. He had to think.

Would they still consider Chloe of use? If he was Nevchek, what would he be doing now?
Constantine still thought Luka wanted Chloe, so that’s who he’d be looking for. And Luka, by
coming to Chloe’s apartment had telegraphed his continued interest. Shit. Was the Ancient here
now?

Luka lowered his window and scented the air. The faint tang of blood. Not human. Was Nevchek
here, waiting for Chloe, just as Luka waited? Luka stepped from the car, his fury churning like
molten rock.

* * * * *

When Chloe opened her eyes, night was over. Sunshine poured through the window and she
blinked in the bright light. She turned her head and looked around. Hospital. In a room on her
own. Her arm lay on top of the covers, the black vine now stretching from her wrist to her
shoulder, but no longer moving. Chloe hoped she’d imagined that.

“We’ve tested for blood poisoning,” said a voice.

Chloe looked up. Another doctor. A middle-aged woman with short red hair and kind eyes, a
stethoscope looped around her neck.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Lee. How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” Not dead, anyway.

“There’s no trace of anything toxic so far in your blood tests.” She came up to the bed. “But
you’re suffering from chronic anemia. Your red cell count is the lowest I’ve seen and your blood
pressure had dropped off the chart. You’ve had three pints of blood transfused, your pressure is
better, but your red cell count hasn’t budged. You’re an enigma.”

“Oh.”

“So what happened? I don’t understand how you lost so much blood. The wounds on your body
are extensive but not severe.”

“I don’t know.”

“Last night you claimed vampires had done it.”

Chloe forced a laugh. “I was confused.” Last night she needed sanctuary, now she didn’t want
them to commit her.

“Could be you have a boyfriend who thinks he’s a vampire,” the doctor said, raising her
eyebrows.

“Should I put a stake through his heart?” Chloe asked.

“When someone treats you like this, you’d be better off telling the police. We’ll keep you in the
hospital while we get your red cell count back up and investigate that arm. But you need to think
about what you should be doing to sort out your life. There are plenty of people who can help.”

No, there aren’t. Only me.

The moment the doctor left, Chloe swung her feet out of bed and stood up. The lightheadedness
had gone. She felt -- hungry? Her clothes were in a side locker. She was dressed and out of the
hospital before anyone came to check on her.

Outside on the street, Chloe lifted her face to the sun and basked in the warm rays. No burning
sensation, no turning to ash. This had all been a bad dream. She was going to go home, make
herself a cup of tea and something to eat, and start looking for another job. She’d forget Luka
and Washburn Hall and that she’d ever believed in vampires. The sun went behind a dark cloud
and Chloe groaned. Wishful thinking wasn’t going to get her out of this. She wasn’t safe from
Constantine and Selena. Luka wasn’t going to help her so she had to help herself.

When she saw her car still sitting where she’d parked it, Chloe sighed with relief. The sight of
the ticket stuck to the windshield was far less inconvenient than if the vehicle had been clamped
or towed.

By the time she got back to her apartment it was after two in the afternoon. Chloe’s feeling of
wellbeing had worn off, along with her hunger, and she was tired again. Bed appealed. A short
rest and then she’d plan what to do.

She’d just laid her head on the pillow when the doorbell rang. The only person she vaguely
hoped might want to see her was Luka and it couldn’t be him because it was daylight. Anyway
Chloe didn’t think he needed to ring doorbells. On second thought, maybe she had to invite him
over the threshold. “You’re welcome anytime, Luka.” Chloe sent the message winging across the
ether. She felt disappointed in herself that she was still attracted to him after the way he’d treated
her.

Whoever stood outside held their antisocial finger on the bell for several seconds. Chloe swung
her feet out of bed. Why didn’t the “had to invite you in” work with murderers and rapists? Was
the threshold thing made-up, like the aversion to garlic and crosses? At least she knew silver
worked. She slammed to a halt halfway to the door. Silver worked and she had silver in the
apartment, in liquid form. She used silver nitrate as a sensitizer in the developing process. Would
it work as a weapon?

A voice called, “Chloe? Are you home?”

Not Luka.

“Chloe?”

Who was it?

“Chloe?” And louder still. Bastard Pete.

She flung open the door and he barged inside.

“I’ve been calling you. Why didn’t you answer? Oh God, what is it?” He ran his hand over her
forehead. “Are you ill? Your eyes look weird. What’s wrong?”

“Why would you care?” Chloe muttered.

“Of course I care. Do you need a doctor?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been attacked by vampires.”

Pete laughed. “Some hangover. Where’s your aspirin? I’ll make you something to eat.”

Chloe stared his back as he walked into her kitchen. She wanted to be extremely pissed off, but
only had the energy for slightly annoyed. She followed him and he handed her water and two
capsules. It grated that he knew where everything was. When she felt stronger she’d rearrange
her kitchen.

“How did you get through the main door?” she asked.

“I came in with one of your neighbors, the one with the twins.”

So much for being secure, Chloe thought. “What do you want?”

“Who says I want anything?”

Chloe sat at the table and watched as he worked. A lifetime ago she would have enjoyed this,
Pete looking after her, cooking for her. He rambled on about nothing and finally put a plate of
scrambled eggs on toast in front of her. “See, I remembered.”

“I don’t have a hangover,” Chloe said and she pulled the plate towards her.

Pete pushed a knife and fork into her hands and sat opposite.

“We need you to come back to work,” he said.

“We?” Chloe sawed at the toast.

“I need you to come back.”

She felt a rush of satisfied vindication. She was indispensable.

“You left us in the lurch. I know you had holiday due, but you can’t just walk out.”

She put a forkful of food in her mouth and chewed. It tasted weird. Chloe wanted to spit it out
and forced herself to swallow.

“So will you come back?” he asked.

“Does Helen know you’re here?”

Pete didn’t meet her eyes. “No, but I need you. She won’t argue about it.”

Chloe struggled with another mouthful and felt her stomach register a strong objection. “Where
did Helen come up with that consolation prize?”

She didn’t miss his wince. “Her brother found it under a table in a nightclub. Rebellion?
Revolution? Something like that.”

Chloe sighed. No plot against her, just bad luck and an opportunity taken by a mean-hearted,
tight-pocketed bitch.

“I think you better go now,” Chloe mumbled.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not going to come back to work, but I am going to be sick.”

Pete fled. None of the scrambled eggs and toast stayed down. Chloe thought she’d have to
remember throwing up as a way to get rid of unwanted visitors, though she doubted it worked on
vampires. Chloe bit into a chocolate biscuit and her gut clenched. She’d hardly swallowed the
last crumb before she was rushing back to the bathroom. She wouldn’t bother trying to eat
anything else.

Strange how a visit from a pain in the neck like Pete had given her a kick up the butt and made
her think of a way to defend herself. None of this was her fault. Until a couple of days ago, she’d
been blissfully unaware that vampires even existed. Now she was living proof that they did.

“He’s coming.”

Chloe jolted. Her sixth-and-a-half sense back again? Who was coming? “Luka?”

There was no reply.

“Couldn’t we have just put the idea in her head?”

“No, Rufus. Better that she think of it herself.”

“This could all go horribly wrong.”

Chapter Twenty

The moment his day-sleep was complete, Luka opened his eyes and sat up. The immediate and
severe pain in his arm dragged a cry from his throat, but only one thought choked his mind.
Chloe. He’d spent the previous night outside her apartment building, and she hadn’t come home.
He’d convinced himself Nevchek was in the vicinity, but as Luka had stormed around looking
for him, he realized it could be a trap to lure him away leaving Chloe vulnerable. The irony
hadn’t escaped Luka that in finally doing the right thing in trying to find her, he’d put her in
more danger. Now Nevchek knew Luka wanted her, Chloe would be his prime target.

While Luka sat in his car, he’d contacted Dan and told him to call his mobile if Chloe showed up
at Rebellion. As dawn approached and there had been no sign of her, rather than return home,
Luka retreated to the club where he’d spent the day in an emergency safe room. Luka rarely left
himself so vulnerable, but he wanted to be in a place to which Chloe might have returned. The
day staff had instructions not to let her depart if she did turn up.

Luka stood. He knew she wasn’t here. The sun had gone down on another day and his
desperation threatened to overwhelm him. His arm felt next to useless. He didn’t even have to
move for it to hurt. He washed, showered, and went downstairs to find Dan and a group of
employees huddled around waiting for him.

“We want to help,” Dan said.

Luka looked at their faces. Four vamps, three werewolves, and a mortal -- Jason. Luka tightened
his jaw.

Dan stepped forward. “We can spare this many of us from the club to help you look for her.” He
bent his head to Luka’s ear. “They only know that you were kidnapped and Chloe helped you.”
Dan nodded towards Jason. “I know what you told me, but I needed another night. Now I think
you’ll be glad I waited.”

Dan tugged Jason to Luka’s side and gave him an encouraging smile.

Jason took a deep breath. “I think Selena’s dead. I knew you were looking for Chloe so I went to
Washburn Hall this morning to see if she was there. My sister should have had a ward on her
door, but when I pulled the handle, it opened. The room was…full of light. There was…a chair
in front of the window and a red negligee lying in a pile of grey ash.”

Luka looked at his pale face. “No chains?”

“No.”

Set up to look like she was dead, Luka wondered. Or perhaps Constantine had been tidying.

“I checked the computer. The last thing she’d looked at was Chloe’s booking details. It gave her
address.”

Luka flinched. So Nevchek had been there last night.

“Thanks to all of you for volunteering to help, but I think there’s little you can do. Only Dan
knows what Chloe looks like and if she’s not at her apartment, I have no idea where to look.”

They dispersed, some patting him on the back, and as Luka turned his attention to Jason, Dan
moved between them.

“He’s sorry, Luka. It wasn’t like he did this deliberately. He didn’t know. He didn’t understand
the implications of what he revealed.”

Luka nodded and relief swept over Dan’s face. He didn’t want to lose his lover and Luka knew
exactly how he felt.

* * * * *

When Chloe heard the buzz of the intercom, the rhythm of her heart faltered. It was dark now
and she wanted to it to be Luka that stood downstairs. However after their last meeting, it was far
more likely to be Constantine, hoping to get at Luka through her and Chloe wasn’t going to let
that happen. She glanced around. Everything was in place. If her weapon didn’t work, at least
she’d done the best she could. She only needed a chance to use it.

She pressed the intercom button. “Hello.”

“Good evening, Chloe. Can I come in?”

Chloe knew she shouldn’t make this look easy. “Why? Want to take me out for a drink or did
you think you’d stay in for one?”

He laughed. “How’s your arm?”

“Fine.” Hurts like hell.

“I could make it better.”

“Really?” As if she’d trust him.

“Yes.”

“Then please come in.”

Chloe pressed the button to release the main entrance door and then unlocked her own. She set it
ajar and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Didn’t work. Adrenaline raced around her body,
her heart pounding in her head. Chloe retreated to the living room and wrapped her hand around
an opaque bottle of water spray she used on her plants. She pretended to be working on a
variegated box tree which stood on a unit near the TV.

Constantine stepped into the room and Chloe could have sworn the light dimmed.

“I was disappointed to see you’d left Sunset Spa,” he said.

“You know, correct me if I’m wrong, but I just didn’t feel very welcome.” Chloe kept her eyes
on him and her finger on the trigger.

“Are you expecting Luka?”

“No. He thinks I’m in league with the devil.”

“The devil? Oh, you mean me.” He laughed and moved around the edge of the room. “What’s
with all the shoes?”

They lay all over the floor. “I was having a clear out,” Chloe lied.

One of the shoes wasn’t a pair, its mate having been murdered by a taxi. It was the only one that
might be of use to Chloe, lying innocuously among the rest. It had a wooden stiletto heel.

“Would you like to live forever, Chloe? I could make you mine. I don’t think I’ve ever met a
mortal I’ve liked better. Funny, feisty, flirty.”

Flirty? When the fuck had she been flirty?

“We could do such a lot together. Be mine, Chloe. Take the gift I offer. Immortality. A place at
my side. You’re partway there already.”

Chloe hoped her deep disgust didn’t show on her face. “What do you mean I’m partway there?”

“You can’t drink, can’t eat. You feel almost too tired to lift one foot in front of the other. Am I
right?”

“I’ve had a trying ordeal. I need a few days’ rest.” Only she knew that wasn’t true.

Constantine tipped his head to the side. If he moved fast, it would be too late for Chloe to do
anything. He was tall and strong. She couldn’t let her guard down for one moment. Her finger
rested on the trigger.

“Luka has fed you and so have I. You’re linked to us both. Your blood has been changed -- will
continue to change and now Luka has abandoned you, if you don’t let me convert you, you’ll
die.”

“Maybe I’d rather be dead,” Chloe whispered. Hearing the truth from him confirmed what she’d
thought, but if she was going to die, she was taking him with her.

Constantine took a step towards her and though she hadn’t meant to do it, her hand came up,
holding the spray bottle between them.

The bastard laughed.

“Let me guess. Holy water? It will irritate but do little more. Come, Chloe, put it down and let
me hold you. I can make all your pain go away.”

“No.” Her hand shook from the effort of keeping the bottle raised. He was too far away, but she
wasn’t sure she was brave enough to step towards him, not even sure she was brave enough to
spray him. What if she ended up pissing him off? He’d rip out her throat. Chloe gulped and
hoped that wasn’t the last time she managed that action.

“Selena is dead.”

Chloe gulped again. Ah, she’d managed another gulp after all.

“She had her moment in the sun this morning. She’s finally paid for what she did to your
family.”

Not for an instant did Chloe think that was why he’d killed her. “What did you do?”

She didn’t really want to know but it was putting off the moment when she had to take action
and she still wanted him to come to her. Her feet were being pathetic.

“Broke her neck and left her in front of a window.”

He took another step. Run away, screamed her brain.

“One more and you’re dead,” she said.

Constantine grinned. “Oh, this is going to be such fun.” He licked his lips. His tongue
mesmerized her, a lizard’s flick, in and out. She shook her head. He really was trying to
mesmerize her.

Another step by him and Chloe moved back. Damn, woman, stand your ground. He laughed and
moved again. There could be no hesitation because she’d not get another chance. Chloe jumped
forward, squeezed the trigger as hard as she could and silver nitrate shot into his eyes.

Constantine screamed, his face contorted with rage and pain. He swept his sleeve across his face
and before Chloe could aim at his mouth, he was on her. He knocked the bottle from her hand as
she fell to the floor beneath him. His face was speckled with brown marks that grew larger as the
chemical ate into his skin.

“You fucking bitch.”

Chloe resisted with everything she had, trying to push him off, but he was too strong. She’d
assumed if she fired the stuff into his eyes, then she’d blind him. Maybe she’d miscalculated.
She searched for the container with one hand, while the other pounded his back. Constantine
wrenched her head to one side, sank his teeth into her neck, and sucked.

The strength of the suction sent her blood pressure into a massive slump. Her vision blurred and
her head began to spin. She had only moments before she blacked out. The spray couldn’t be far
away. Chloe swung her arm around over the carpet. If she could just… She lurched as he shifted
her in his arms, moving her into a different position. She felt every painful pull of blood through
her veins. Each mouthful left him stronger and her weaker.

Her red shoe lay within tantalizing reach though Chloe wasn’t sure she had the strength to drive
the wooden stiletto through his heart. Probably wouldn’t get through his shirt. Probably couldn’t
pick the damn thing up. The bottle had to be nearer.

Constantine ripped open her blouse and squeezed her breast. When Chloe felt the long, hard
length of his cock rubbing her belly she had another idea. She fondled him through his pants and
her fingers reached for his zipper. This had to work. Chloe pulled out his rigid cock and pumped
slowly. Please, she begged. He moved to give her more room. Typical man with a one-track
mind, and Chloe thanked God for them because he’d freed her other hand, allowing her to reach
the bottle.

Luka stared in disbelief at the scene in front of him. A half-naked Chloe in the arms of a vampire
he guessed to be Constantine. As he fed from her, she caressed his dick, a taunting drop of
precum clinging to the tip. Luka’s arm felt as though it was going to explode. Chloe was his. No
one else could touch her. Luka wrenched the vampire away.

“Noooo,” Chloe screamed and the word hit him like a dagger. She wanted this?

The moment’s hesitation gave her time to leap on Constantine’s chest and Luka’s rage rose like a
red mist. He reached for her, then saw the bottle in her hand, the nozzle pointed towards
Constantine’s open mouth. A stream of liquid shot out and Constantine screamed, an ear-
splitting screech of agony that stopped Luka in his tracks.

Don’t make the same mistake again, Luka told himself. This is not what it seems.

Chloe jerked back as Constantine struggled to his feet. She aimed for his mouth and when his
hands covered it, she fired at his cock hanging out of his pants. Brown patches appeared
wherever the liquid hit. What the hell is that ? Luka wondered. Holy water ? Constantine dropped
to the floor and began to writhe, his back arching far enough to break his spine. As Chloe backed
away, Luka stepped forward.

“Luka, don’t get near it,” she yelled, her voice spiraling in panic.

“Chloe, holy water stings but --”

“It’s not holy water. It’s silver nitrate.”

Fuck. He looked down at Constantine, who foamed at the mouth and rolled around in
excruciating torment. Luka shuddered.

Chloe continued to back away until she hit the wall. She was bleeding from the neck.
Constantine was convulsing now at his feet. Luka sucked in his cheeks when he saw his eyes,
crimson orbs with milky centers. Chloe had blinded him.

“’unt.” Constantine forced out through burnt lips. “’ucking ’itch.”

“But she’s my fucking bitch,” Luka said.

“I don’t belong to anyone,” Chloe yelled.

She stood clutching a red high-heeled shoe, shaking so hard Luka was amazed she stayed
upright.

“Why isn’t he dead? I’ve used it all up,” she gasped.

“Where did you get silver nitrate?” Luka asked.

“It’s part of my photography equipment.”

“Good idea,” he said. “Are you impressed, Nevchek?”

She took a step towards Constantine and Luka pulled her back. “What are you doing?”

“I need to stab him through the heart with the shoe. That will kill him. Oh God.”

She wobbled and Luka caught hold of her. Before she had time to register what he was doing, he
licked her neck and sealed the wounds. Even the small taste of her blood made his cock twitch.

“He killed Selena,” Chloe said. “He told me he’d given her a moment in the sun.”

And now Luka knew exactly what he was going to do with Constantine.

“Chloe, angel, I have a lot of apologizing to do to you, but it has to wait until I’ve dealt with
this.” He kicked Constantine in the butt.

The vampire had stopped convulsing. Luka guessed his body had already started the healing
process. It took a lot to stop a vampire and Constantine was an Ancient, able to withstand more
than most.

Luka brought a chair from Chloe’s kitchen, set it in front of the window, and tied the vampire to
it.

“’isten,” Constantine mumbled. “’ant to ’ake ’eal.”

Luka laughed. “Why would I want to deal with you?”

“’ower.”

“I don’t want power. I want the one thing that you tried to take from me.”

He shot Chloe a glance and risked a little smile. Shit, she was so brave. What the fuck had he
been thinking?

“Is this going to work?” Chloe said as Luka fastened another belt around Constantine’s leg.
“Won’t he be able to break free?”

“No,” Luka said. “Don’t look.”

He stood between her and Constantine, but he knew she heard the loud crack because he felt her
flinch. When Luka moved, the vampire’s head lolled to one side. He blinked sightless eyes and
opened his mouth, but no words came out, only a strange keening.

“It’s probably what he did to Selena. He can’t move now. His blood is working to repair the
damage to his body, though I’m not sure it can do anything about the silver nitrate. In any case,
by the time it tackles a broken neck the sun will be up.”

“What will happen then?”

“His body might have healed his eyes so that he can see the sun, but even if he can’t see it, he’ll
feel it. He’ll turn to ash.”

Constantine let out a gurgled groan.

Luka held out his hand. “Chloe, come with me, please. There’s so much I want to say to you, so
much I need to tell you. I didn’t trust you when I should have and I’m not sure you should
forgive me for that but right now, you need to trust me.”

Chloe put her hand in his. She hadn’t hesitated and her faith in him after all that he’d done, set
Luka’s undead heart on fire.

Chapter Twenty-One

Luka carried her down to his car, a warm, limp weight in his arms, and put her in the passenger
seat. He tossed her bag onto the backseat. Chloe’s fingers fumbled with the belt and he fastened
it for her.

“Do you really believe me?” she whispered as he set off.

Luka glanced across and met her gaze. “Every word.”

She was silent for a moment. “I’m a lesbian mermaid with homicidal tendencies.”

Luka chuckled. He loved the way she could make him laugh. After all she’d gone through and
she still managed to be funny. He was so awash with emotions he could barely think straight.
She was brave. She was stupid. She could have died. She was dying. Oh God.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To my house. You’ll be safe there.” From what? Death? Him? How could he save her?

“What from?”

He should have known he wouldn’t get away with that.

“Constantine may have friends.”

It was possible, but Luka didn’t like the way he’d made her shudder. Perhaps he should have
made sure Constantine couldn’t survive, not just left him. Luka decided to call Dan and ask him
to send Jason to Chloe’s apartment to check for a pile of ashes by the window.

“Why did you let him into your apartment? Why did you try to tackle him on your own?”

“I was hoping you’d come first only you didn’t.”

If guilt could kill him, he’d have dropped dead on the spot.

“How did you get in? I thought you had to be invited over the threshold.”

“But you did invite me.”

“I didn’t know you were there. I was too busy trying to trick Constantine so I could grab the
bottle.”

“I heard you invite me in.” Had she called to him in his head? He hadn’t known that would work.

“Why did you come?” she asked.

“Because I found out the truth and I realized how badly I’d misjudged you. I’ve got no excuses,
Chloe, I should have listened to my heart and I didn’t. I’ve spent so long on my own, not trusting
anyone that I forgot how to believe in goodness and truth. I’ll never let you down again.”

“Promise?” she whispered.

“I’d die rather than hurt you. I’m ashamed of the way I treated you. I don’t deserve another
chance. I don’t deserve you. Don’t forgive me too quickly.”

“I should wait for a few more minutes then?”

“I mean it, Chloe.”

“I know you’re sorry. If you want to make it up to me, I’d like tea in bed in the morning, the
newspaper and croissants on Sunday, you can do all the ironing and clean the bathroom while I
supervise.”

“Anything. I’ll do anything. Give you anything.”

When her hand crept onto his thigh and stayed there, Luka felt as if she’d wrapped him in a
blanket and cuddled him to her chest. He would not lose her. He drove fast, heedless of speed
cameras. She made no sound for the rest of the journey. Her eyes had closed and her head rested
against the window.

Luka wanted to roar with rage and grief. She was too ill for mortal medicine. He had no idea
how long it would be before she realized it. She would die without his intervention. Maybe die
with it. The choice was impossible. Let her die or try to turn her so she lived as he did without
the sun. He knew what he wanted, what he was desperate for, but it had to be her decision. He
couldn’t make it for her.

* * * * *

His house was an ultra modern construction, with curling walls and darkened windows. It was a
near fortress, controlled by a sophisticated electronic system. After the builders had finished, no
one but Luka had ever set foot inside. He wiped the minds of those who knew the details of his
security system. He hired no one to look after him. When cleaning needed to be done, he did it
himself. The same with any repairs.

The gates opened at the car’s approach and closed after it passed through. The same with the
garage. Once the door had rolled down, Luka scooped a sleeping Chloe into his arms, looped her
bag over his shoulder, and carried her to his bedroom. She stirred as he laid her on the bed. When
she opened her eyes, she panicked; her eyes widened and her breath quickened.

“Chloe, be calm. You’re safe. Nothing can happen to you here.”

She focused on his face and then relaxed, reaching up to put her arms around his neck. “Never let
me go,” she whispered and pulled him down.

Oh God, how could he keep that promise? “As long as you want me to hold you, I will.”

Luka lay at her side and held her in his arms. Chloe pressed her lips against his and he groaned
into her mouth. He should be looking after her, explaining things to her that he never wanted to
have to say, and all he could think about was making love to her. Was it wrong to want one more
time while her mind remained free of the truth? When he’d told her everything and destroyed her
world, she might never let him touch her again.

Her soft tongue slipped inside his mouth, hot wet silk teasing him, tempting him to respond. He
should tell her, but she eased her tongue deeper and he countered it with a tease of his own,
catching her lower lip between his teeth.

Luka’s mind swirled. Chloe’s taste and scent overpowered him as strongly as he’d imagine drugs
did a mortal. She was his addiction, his only reason for existing. When he felt her desire, scented
her arousal, Luka lost his head and forgot his worries. She kissed him as though she was
dragging life out of him and yet it couldn’t have been further from the truth. Every kiss, every
touch gave him life, warmed his heart, made him appreciate the depth of his stupidity. He wanted
to spend the rest of his life making it up to her, but he might not have the chance.

His tongue plunged deeper and his hands slid down to wrap around her body, pulling her against
him. His cock was on fire with need. She was his, only his. He would not let death claim her.

Chloe’s fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, but Luka couldn’t wait. He ripped it open
to give her access to his chest and caught her laugh with his mouth. Their lips loosely connected;
they stripped each other until they lay naked side by side. His eyes scanned the length of her
body from her feet to her eyes and the knowledge of how much she’d been hurt clamped his
heart in an iron fist, squeezing until the pain reverberated all over his body. All of this -- his
fault. He circled one of the worst marks with his finger, a dark purple oval on her beautiful
breast.

“I’m s --” he began and a small finger stopped his lips.

“I know I’m not pretty but --”

Now his finger stopped her words. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world.”

He’d never said words he meant more. Chloe opened her mouth and sucked his finger inside,
then two fingers, wrapping her tongue around them before Luka pulled them free. He reached for
her breast and she grabbed his hand, kissed his palm, nibbled the fleshy pad below his thumb,
and swept her tongue over his wrist. Desire rushed through him like a flash flood. Luka wanted
to impale her with one deep thrust, sink his teeth into her neck; instead he throttled back his
need.

“I love your hands,” she said and kissed his knuckles. “I love these broad, strong fingers that can
be as gentle and soft as feathers. I love your eyes all dark and mysterious. I love your lips that --”

“Not as much as I love your lips.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, running his tongue along the seam of her mouth, sucking,
nibbling, caressing until Chloe caught hold of the back of his head and pulled him closer. Luka
choked with the thought of losing her. Raw emotion rushed from his throat and he buried his face
in her hair, stroking his cheek against her soft locks while he brought himself back under control.

She bent her head to kiss his nipple and Luka’s cock swelled enough to burst. He would not rush
this, but his balls had other ideas, tightening and separating in their sac. Don’t you dare. Luka
clamped down on his desire and his body tensed.

“Oh, Luka,” Chloe said with a sigh and his control blipped out like a spent bulb.

He seriously considered a swift trip to the bathroom to relieve the pressure, but he couldn’t bring
himself to stop touching her. Luka cupped her breast, sighing at the soft weight of her, stroking
her nipple with his thumb as she caressed his shoulders. His cock might be weeping tears of
desperation, yet he refused to rush. He wanted to make love to every part of her body, but he let
her set the pace, let her touch him. He put her wellbeing before everything, even his own life.
Yet Luka knew sacrificing himself couldn’t save Chloe from her fate.

Her lips and teeth traced a delicate path down his chest, her hardened nipples brushing his skin
along the way, sending tremors through his body. Then her breasts encased his cock with their
velvety warmth and he moaned. His hands swept over her back, weaving patterns on her skin.
When her mouth reached his navel, Luka arched off the bed, lifting her too and she laughed
against his belly.

“Whoa, horsey,” she whispered.

His balls screwed themselves into a frenzied knot of tension as arousal began to overpower
reason. Her tongue bypassed his eager cock and ran down the taut skin of his groin. Luka’s

hands dropped from her head to grasp the sheets. He’d rather rip those than hurt Chloe. He could
feel her breath hitting his balls and then with one long slow sweep of her tongue up the length of
his cock, the pressure of his climax began to build towards detonation.

“Oh, Chloe,” he whispered. “I wanted to do this to you. You have to stop.”

“Let me.”

In a sweet, slow gulp she enveloped his cock with the wet heat of her mouth. Watching her face
as she made love to him with her lips mesmerized Luka. The sensitive blood-engorged head of
his dick brushed the top of her mouth, and as she let him slide between the hard and soft palate
Luka knew what torture really meant. The sensation had his fingers clawing the sheets, his hips
arching from the bed, his pulse pounding in his head. She explored every inch of him with her
tongue, lips, and teeth. Luka focused on every soft touch, firm pull, and teasing nip until his balls
issued a final warning. He was seconds from spilling between her beautiful lips before a
fragment of sense returned to the broken jigsaw of his brain. He was supposed to be loving her,
bringing her pleasure.

Ignoring his infuriated cock, Luka reached down and pulled her away, letting his dick slide from
between her lips.

“What?” she gasped, looking up at him through heavy lids.

“You.” Luka wasn’t sure if he could manage a whole sentence. Better not to try. Better to show.
He lifted her by the waist and settled her over his straining shaft. Her hands slid to his shoulders
as he pulled her down and at the same time drove himself up in one desperate, frantic thrust.
Mistake, mistake, mistake. How had he thought this could be better for her? His control
disintegrated. The feeling of her wet, tight flesh gripping his cock sent contractions racing up and
down his spine. Do not come. As if he had a choice. The only consolation -- that he could watch
her pleasure build with every thrust of his hips, every plunge of his cock. The need to make her
happy was the key to keeping him in check. This was for her, not him. All that mattered was
Chloe.

Although Chloe was on top it was Luka who did all the work. His firm hands gripped her bottom
as he thrust into her with long, forceful strokes, each one sending a pulse of bliss through her
body. Chloe was on the wildest ride of her life and every muscle knew it. Luka changed the
angle of her hips so that each drive of his cock rubbed her clit. He pulled her down for a kiss, the
movement of his tongue echoing that of his hips as he drove into her. Her arms looped around
his shoulders to hold him tight, she squeezed him with her thighs and he groaned into her mouth.
The sensation of his breath rumbling into her throat triggered her climax. Chloe felt as though a
lightning bolt flashed through her to grind on her clit. Her muscles clamped down around him
and she shuddered and convulsed as her body flooded with sweet waves of delight.

She loved him. The words moved from her brain to her mouth but she didn’t allow them out.
This time she had to make him love her.

The moment the contractions began to fade and Chloe began to reclaim her body, Luka spun her
over, sheltering her beneath him as he pulsed into her with short, ruthless thrusts.

“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” he gasped. “My angel.”

Chloe found herself coming again, twists of pleasure bursting in an accelerating rhythm until
stars exploded behind her eyes. Luka’s cock made one hard lunge and then his seed burst from
him, warm jets spurting from the end of his cock as he groaned and gyrated his hips against hers.
She bucked and heaved with a strength she didn’t know she had, her body swallowing his,
wanting him to lose himself inside her.

Luka’s eyes were jet black, his fangs out as he held himself above her, his body tense and
vibrating as the last spasms trickled away. Chloe pushed aside the thought that this might be the
last time he made love to her. If this was all she got, then at least it had been with the man she
loved. She could be happy now that Luka finally understood that she hadn’t, would never betray
him. She threaded her fingers in the black satin of his hair and ran her hands down to cup his
cheeks.

He rolled to his side and kept her tight against him, staring into her eyes as if she was the only
thing that mattered in his world. No one had ever looked at her like that before and Chloe gulped
under the intensity of his gaze. She lifted her hand to his mouth and ran her finger under the tip
of one of his fangs.

“Why didn’t you bite me?” she whispered.

“You can’t spare the blood.”

“I want you to bite me.”

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Christ, Chloe. Don’t tempt me.”

“It…it isn’t because Constantine --?”

He didn’t let her finish. His lips sealed her mouth, his hands pulled her close. He kissed her until
she felt safe, until she forgot what she’d been going to say, until she fell asleep.

* * * * *

Luka picked up the note he’d left on the pillow by Chloe’s head. He’d not wanted to leave her,
even for a second but he had no food in the house, nothing to give her. He’d driven to the nearest
grocery store and snatched items from shelves -- just a few things until she could tell him what
she wanted. When he got back, she lay as he’d left her, deeply asleep, curled up with her arms
tucked in tight to her body. Three soft toys lay beside her: a green dragon, a white unicorn with a

horn that needed sewing in places, and a fairy princess with long, curly brown hair. Luka
wondered how the dragon had ended up back in her possession. The last time he’d seen it was on
the floor of his office.

He stripped off to his boxers. When he lay down on the side away from the toys, she turned and
moved into his embrace, her face nuzzling his shoulder. Luka had been hard the moment he saw
her; now he thickened even more. The mark on his arm had stopped hurting as soon as he’d
brought her to his home. He wondered about the twin marking on hers. It had to be significant,
but how?

“Where’ve you been?” she asked. “I was cold.”

“To buy food. Come and see what I’ve bought.”

Chloe tried to push herself upright, struggled, and Luka had to help. He hoped he kept the worry
from his face. Luka grabbed one of his shirts from his closet and Chloe held out her arms for him
to help her. He rolled the overlong sleeves to the elbow and fastened the buttons from the bottom
as Chloe started from the top. He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and looked her straight in the
eyes.

Now, say it now.

“I love you,” he whispered and every cell in his body jumped for joy.

Chloe’s beautiful face opened in a smile. “I love you too.”

Luka pressed his vine-covered arm against Chloe’s.

“You are the love of my life.”

The same words came from their lips and their eyes opened wide. The room seemed to shimmer
and a blast of energy sent a bolt of molten heat flashing through their bodies. Luka gasped in
astonishment and as Chloe rocked, he caught hold of her and pulled her close.

“What the…?” he blurted.

“Luka -- look.”

What had been ugly black lines on their arms were now beautiful, delicate tattoos that circled
and twisted in spirals. Luka’s was a rich, dark purple while Chloe’s was much paler. He had a
feeling that wasn’t a good thing.

“Guess we’re meant to be together,” she said and her eyes shone.

Tell her.

Luka smiled and ignored his heart. He wrapped his hand around hers.

“Food,” he said. “You need something to eat.”

He sat her at the table in his kitchen and showed her everything he’d bought -- bread, butter,
eggs, milk, coffee, tea, cheese, steak, potatoes, strawberry jam, chocolate, and mint sauce.

“Mint sauce?” she asked.

“Can’t you spread it on the bread?”

“I’ll let you try it first. Can you eat?”

He nodded. “I just don’t need to, so I don’t bother.”

“Have you ever cooked in here?” Chloe asked.

Luka looked around his pristine kitchen. “No.”

“Do you know how to cook?”

“Well, yes, it’s not rocket science.”

“In that case, I’d like a cheese soufflé with dauphinoise potatoes.”

He chewed his lip. He could go and look it up on the Internet. Then he caught her smirk. That
made him determined to do it.

Luka tipped the burnt steak into the waste bin. Who knew something could shrink that much and
get so hard? The potatoes floated for much of the time they were cooking but when he came to
take them out, they’d congealed into something that resembled the contents of a cow’s stomach.
It reminded him of an unpleasant trick his brother Aleksei had played.

He turned to Chloe. “Sorry. Shall I go and buy more?”

“I don’t feel very hungry, Luka. Maybe I could eat a sandwich. Er…cheese, not mint sauce.”

The first slice of bread he cut was paper thin at one end and the thickness of a book at the other.
Three attempts later, Luka had two decent looking slices. He wiped his knife over the butter and
barely marked the surface. Chloe laughed. Luka loved seeing her laugh, loved making her laugh.
He hacked at the butter and left one slice of bread covered with holes when he tried to spread the
rock hard chunks. He had less problem with the cheese, and cutting the whole sandwich in half
he put it in front of Chloe with a flourish.

“Thank you.”

The moment Chloe took a bite, he knew she wouldn’t be able to eat it. He watched her
struggling, guessed she was persevering to please him, and then she pushed herself upright.

“Bathroom,” she gasped.

Luka pulled her across the room and through a door. Chloe dropped down at the side of the
toilet. The mouthful she’d eaten came back up.

Tell her.

Luka handed her a wet cloth.

“Was it that bad?” he asked.

“I don’t seem to be able to keep anything down,” she murmured and sat with her back against the
tiled wall.

Luka ran his hand along her leg. “I think we need to talk.”

Chloe shook her head. “It’s okay, Luka. I already know.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Watching Chloe fade was destroying him. Luka fought sleep, fearing she’d no longer be alive
when he woke. His little angel tried to eat, but never managed to keep anything in her stomach.
He forgot to eat himself until she reminded him he needed blood; then he quaffed the bags so fast
it made him queasy. At least Constantine no longer posed a threat. Dan had called to say Jason
had been to Chloe’s apartment and found a pile of ashes in front of the window.

As Chloe grew weaker, she spent longer lying in bed than she did out of it. Her periods of
consciousness grew shorter. Whenever he tried to talk to her about what was wrong, she
wouldn’t listen and tried to distract him with sex. In the end, she grew so pale he could see the
veins under her skin. In desperation, Luka tried to feed her his blood. She wouldn’t swallow.

He knew he had to make her listen. Maybe he’d waited too long, but he hadn’t wanted to force
this on her. She lay in bed, in his arms, her thin fingers wrapped around his arm, stroking the
twisted vine. It brought her some measure of comfort, and as hers faded his lost color too. Luka
understood the end was close and knew he couldn’t carry on without her.

“Chloe? Angel? It’s time for you to listen to me.”

“I don’t hear them now,” she muttered.

“Don’t hear what?”

“I have these voices inside my head sometimes. They make me do things.”

“Make?”

“They keep on and on until I do what they say. That night my family died, they told me to get
out of the house. I couldn’t make anyone else leave, but I knew I had to.”

Luka pressed his face into her hair.

“The voices told me to open the envelope with the consolation prize. I wanted to throw it away
and they wouldn’t let me. I packed and unpacked because I didn’t want to go but, I was drawn to
the Sunset Spa for a reason. And that reason was you. The voices wanted me to help you. I don’t
think they were always right. They told me to come to your club and you --”

“If you hadn’t come, I might not have discovered the truth about Selena. Your voices were right.
Maybe I’ve heard them too.”

Luka looked at the dragon sitting on the chest at the end of the bed. He was sure Chloe’s toys
had something to do with this.

She tilted her face to his. “I love you.”

“And I love you, my little mortal.” I want to make you immortal. Can your voices hear me? Can
they make you accept that?

“I know I’m dying.”

“I won’t let you.”

“Are you God, then?” She gave him a little smile.

Luka had no idea whether he could turn her, but he felt incapable of letting her die. At the same
time, he needed her to want to live. If she didn’t make the decision, he’d lost her anyway.

“Chloe.” How could he tell her? What could he say?

“The truth.”

“The truth.”

“The truth.”

Luka sighed. “Sweetheart, you’re right. You’re dying and I want to try and save you.”

“You want to make me like you.”

“I want to try.”

Chloe nibbled her bottom lip. “You’re not sure you can?”

Luka put his finger on her mouth, stopped her chewing. “No, I’m not sure. I’ve never done it. I
know the theory. I’ve just never --”

“Is this like your cooking? You’ve read about it, seen it done, but never tried it yourself?”

Luka realized the charcoaled steak might not have filled her with confidence. He had to be the
one who was strong. If he didn’t believe he could do it, then he would fail.

“I’ll die if you don’t, and I might die if you do?”

Luka wouldn’t lie. “Yes. Not everyone can accept the change, but I won’t let you die.” Without
me, he added silently.

Her eyelashes flickered. Luka kissed her cheek. It wasn’t just the blood loss; her organs had been
damaged by the continual assault, her defenses worn down. She would have survived what Luka
had done but not the attacks by the others and the feeding by Constantine. Luka had no idea what
effect the blood of an Ancient had on top of his own. Her death would be Luka’s fault. He’d
started this and then deserted her. It was his fault the others had damaged her body. Remorse
twisted through his body.

“Chloe, are you listening to me? You don’t have to die. You can be like me. I believe I can do it.
I won’t fail.”

She shook her head.

“Please, Chloe. I need you.” He clutched her to his chest. “I want you with me. We can be
together forever if you’ll let me turn you, but we’re running out of time.”

It wasn’t the moment to tell her that he didn’t know exactly how to do it. She sagged in his arms.

“Chloe!”

Luka was as much part of her as she was part of him. Without her, he had no future. She was his
love for all eternity. He’d failed her before. He must not fail her now.

“Please, Chloe, trust me.”

He knew the penalty for turning mortals without the permission of the Council, though in the
scheme of things, being put to death for that seemed irrelevant. Without Chloe by his side, he’d

die anyway. Luka hoped once the Council heard the whole story, this transgression would be
forgiven. If not, he’d take her away, find a place to hide.

“Chloe, I love you. Let me help you live.”

“I’ll never see the sun again,” she whispered and a tear fell down her cheek.

Luka’s heart clenched. “You might. I can stay out for a while. My blood is strong. You might
gain the same sort of power as me.”

She gave a deep sigh.

“Please, angel. It’s not so bad, is it, to spend eternity with me? Because if you don’t want to live
with me, then I can’t live without you. I love you. You’re the only one I will ever love. Don’t
leave me.”

She stared into his eyes and gave a little nod.

Luka heard a sound come from his throat -- a whimper, a cry of relief? Yet he still needed to hear
her say it.

“Tell him, Chloe.”

“Tell him.”

“You can do it.”

Three voices and Luka looked at the three toys watching them, their expressions different
somehow.

“Chloe, tell me it’s what you want,” he said.

“Make me a vampire.”

* * * * *

Luka knew the theory, drain the mortal to the absolute point of death and then let them drink, but
how much blood did he need to take and was it going to work when she was so sick? No more
time for thinking. No more doubts.

He lifted her in his arms and pressed his mouth to her neck. His cock sprang to life and Luka
groaned. Fucking, stupid dick. He licked along the vein in her throat, felt it beat under his tongue,
and his fangs slid out. His hand instinctively reached out to caress her breast, teasing her nipple
between his finger and thumb. Sending a silent prayer to whatever gods or devils might look
after vampires, he pressed his lips to her slow pulsing vein and sank his teeth into her skin.

Her blood flooded his mouth, a hot, sweet torrent that sent his cock into a frenzy of desire. Luka
groaned and sucked at the same time, feeling her pulse beat inside his own. Their heartbeats fell
into sync and he kept drinking. Luka’s balls ached. How could he be thinking of sex at a time
like this? God, how did he know how much to take? He stopped. She looked even more
translucent.

“She is not close enough.”

Luka’s heart swelled as the words filtered into his head. His father’s voice. He bent his head and
drank again, pulling her life force into him. It seemed wrong that he grew stronger at her
expense.

“How much shall I take?”

He sent the plea, but he didn’t need the answer. He knew. Luka felt her heart flutter, her pulse
struggle. A wispy gasp issued from her mouth and in an instant he sealed his bite, ripped a line in
his chest, and pressed her mouth to his wound.

“Drink, Chloe.”

Her lips were clamped so tightly together, they’d almost disappeared. Blood gushed, soaking
them both. Luka pressed his fingers between her teeth, rubbed her gums. She gagged, but he
wouldn’t release her.

“Please, love. You agreed. You must drink.”

There was blood everywhere, over his chest, over her face and none in her mouth. Shit.

“I can’t live without you,” Luka cried.

Finally, Chloe swallowed, then gulped and gulped and he sagged with relief. The sight of her
feeding on him was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. Luka’s eyes welled with
tears. He smoothed the hair from her face, trailed a finger behind her ear, and watched.

When blood started to roll down his chest, he guessed she’d had enough. Luka licked his fingers,
sealed the cut, and Chloe sank back unconscious. He continued to hold her for a while, willing
this to work, feeling in his undead heart that it had, that he’d made her like him.

Finally, Luka stripped himself, Chloe, and the bed. He wanted nothing to frighten her when she
woke. He was fairly certain that if she opened her eyes to find herself lying in an ocean of blood,
she’d freak out.

When they were both clean and naked, and fresh sheets were on the bed, Luka held her tight.
Now he had to wait.

* * * * *

Chloe lurched and yet she didn’t move. She felt odd. Something inside wasn’t right -- a shifting
sensation, a churning in her gut. She lurched again. Fear hit her like a bullet. She tried to move
and couldn’t. Her arms and legs didn’t work but her insides were having a whale of a party. She
vaguely heard Luka’s calm voice reassuring her though she couldn’t make out what he was
saying. She hoped it wasn’t instructions because Chloe couldn’t hang onto his words. Her
muscles went into spasm, her body tried to turn inside out, and she screamed.

Luka’s mouth against her ear. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Chloe tried to answer and nothing came out. What was happening? Her body twisted, her spine
arched until she thought it would snap and then she folded the other way, her head curling into
her knees. Ice water ran through her veins, sending her into a frenzy of shivering, then fire raged
and her blood boiled. And everything hurt. Oh God, why did it hurt so much?

“Make…it…stop,” she pleaded, her voice distant, as if she called from the bottom of a well.

The pain didn’t stop and she knew Luka could do nothing. Her stomach clenched, something
rushed up inside her, and she vomited. Fluid poured out of her until she lay limp with exhaustion.
Luka lifted her, cleaned her, his voice always in her ear, his hands stroking cramped muscles as
she writhed in agony. Wave after wave of pain crashed through her, pushing her deeper and
deeper towards a place she didn’t want to go. A place she knew she’d never escape.

It had gone wrong. She was close to death now. All she had to do was let go. Her body stopped
cramping and the pain faded.

“Hold on.”

“Hold on.”

“Don’t leave us, Chloe.”

Chloe gave a long sigh.

“Chloe, hold on. Don’t let go,” Luka shouted. “Don’t you dare let go.”

Luka dragged his fingers through his hair. He grew increasingly frantic because he knew he was
losing her. He screamed for her to hang on but as the convulsive writhing fell away, his heart fell
with it.

“Dying,” she whispered. “Sorry.”

“Chloe, look at me. You’re not going to die. I won’t let you.”

She looked up at him and smiled with her beautiful Chloe smile and the pain in Luka’s chest
made him wonder if vampires could die from a broken heart.

Her eyes closed but her grip on his arm stayed firm.

“Luka.”

A man’s voice. Luka looked at the door of the room. For one moment he thought it was
Constantine somehow having survived, and Luka thought if he’d offered a way to save Chloe
he’d have given him anything he wanted. A gallon of sperm. But out of the gloom at the far end
of the bedroom, it wasn’t Constantine that stepped forward.

Luka gasped. “Aleksei?”

“I go by Alek now.”

His elder brother. Luka thought he must be hallucinating, dying along with Chloe.

“Father asked me to come. He said you needed help.”

“How did he know?”

“The first time your bondmarks touched, Father would have sensed you’d found your lifemate.”

“How did you get here? How did you know where to come?”

Alek smiled. “I’m your older brother. I’m more skilled.”

“And still arrogant.” Luka looked down at the pale figure in his arms. “I think…oh God, Alek.
She’s dying. Can you help her?”

Alek put his hand on Luka’s arm next to Chloe’s, touched the vine that marked his skin. “She’s
your love. You’re the only one who can save her.”

“I shouldn’t have tried to turn her.” Luka clutched her tighter. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I
took too much blood.”

Aleksei shook his head. “It’s not that. She’s been tainted by Constantine. He’s an Ancient and
his blood is too strong for a weak body. Her mind has been overwhelmed by what’s happening to
her. It’s retreated to where it feels safe. You have to go inside her head and find her, persuade her
to come back.”

“How do you know?”

“One of Father’s lessons I actually listened to. I don’t think he ever got round to telling you. I
was the one who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. He was always lecturing me about
something. Put your head to hers, let her feel you.”

Luka pressed his forehead to Chloe’s, lowered his barriers, and stiffened at the rush of pain that
rampaged through him, a swirling mass of black and purple clouds that stole his breath and
paralyzed his muscles. He felt Alek’s touch, his brother’s hand on his shoulder, and his words in
his head. “Use your bondmark.”

Luka let himself go.

He fell into a dark place. The only light seemed to come from his body, shining like a star in the
night sky. There was no sign of Chloe, but he sensed his brother at his back, anchoring him.

“Chloe! Chloe!” Luka blindly fumbled forward.

“Luka, pull the darkness aside.” The voice belonged to Alek.

Luka reached out, focused his mind, and where his hands swept, darkness moved and trails of
light remained. It was like wiping mist from a window. He plunged forward and tumbled into
nothing. Alek’s hand gripped his shoulder.

“Steady.”

Then Luka saw her, a pale figure surrounded by the dark, hanging by one marked arm to a tiny
glimmer of light in front of her.

“Chloe!” He called her name, but her eyes were closed.

“Use your bondmark,” Alek said at his ear.

Luka struggled, his feet in molasses, some invisible barrier keeping him from his love. He threw
himself forward and got no nearer. She remained far away no matter what he did. He couldn’t
force his way through, couldn’t run or crawl. Her fingers were slipping on the light, fingertips
sliding away.

“Your mark,” said Alek.

“Chloe, you have to reach for me. Take my hand.”

He stretched out his right arm, the one with the bondmark.

“Don’t leave me. Chloe, come on. I love you. I need you. Get your skinny ass back here right
now.”

Luka watched the marks on his arm darken and ripple from the elbow down, creeping towards
his wrist. They spread along his fingers like a stain, before curling out of his nails, tendrils of
dark mist that crossed the divide to her left hand. When they touched her fingers, they stopped.
Luka’s eyes widened as the lines on Chloe’s arm extended to her palm, moved down her fingers,
and then suddenly what came from him entwined with what came from her and between them
hung a mesh of misty moving vines.

“Pull her to you, Luka.” Alek gave his shoulder another squeeze.

Luka tugged, the mist tightened, and Chloe inched towards him until she was close enough for
him to pull into his arms.

“Oh God, I thought I’d lost you.”

“Skinny ass?”

“I figured you wouldn’t put up with an insult like that.”

Luka smiled to himself.

“Right, so how do we get out of here?” Chloe asked.

“We’re in your head. Think me out.”

Luka grunted as Chloe thumped him in the stomach.

“Ha, it worked,” she said and then screamed. “Who the hell are you?”

“He’s my brother. Alek.”

Luka tugged Chloe into his arms and wrapped a sheet around her.

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Luka asked.

Alek smiled and headed for the door.

“Hey,” Luka called. “Thanks. See you around?”

“Maybe. Try not to get into any more trouble.”

Luka’s head wanted to burst with joy. His brother in his life and Chloe back. Luka held her
closer.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“Skinny ass?”

“You’re the light of my life.”

“Skinny ass?”

“You’re perfect.”

Chloe melted against him.

“I love a skinny ass,” he said and held her tight, just in case she took exception.

“Hmm. I’m thirsty.”

He looked down to find her staring at his neck.

“Got any fangs?” Luka asked.

“Ouch.”

He laughed. “That’s a yes.”

“How do I…?”

“Find the vein, listen for it, and press down with your teeth. They’ll slip through my skin.”

Chloe pressed her mouth against him and then pulled away. “I can’t.”

“Yes you can. Do you want me to open a vein?”

She shook her head and licked up the column of his neck. Luka shuddered with pleasure and his
cock surged to life. The moment her teeth pierced his skin, he gave a deep sigh and his balls
began to sing and dance. Chloe swallowed in greedy gulps, and for the first time in his life, Luka
understood what a truly sexual experience this was. His mate, feeding from him, needing him in
such a basic way brought a spurt of precum surging to the tip of his cock, his orgasm racing up
not far behind. Shimmering sensations crept through his body, from his toes, his fingers,
spreading like fire, flickering through his veins.

Luka could have reached his cock, helped it along but he didn’t need to. Each pull on his throat,
each mouthful of blood she took dragged him closer to nirvana. Now he didn’t want to touch
himself, wanted it to happen without his help. Synapses snapped in his brain and the urge to
come shot down his spine. She wrenched the orgasm out of him and he spurted over her
stomach, each spasm exploding stars in his head.

It trickled back into his awareness that she was still drinking, that she didn’t look as though she
was going to stop.

“Easy, love.”

Chloe opened her eyes and then settled back on his neck. Luka held Chloe tight in his arms. He
knew he should stop her, but he didn’t want to. He’d nearly lost her and now he’d never let her
go. His cock sprang back to life. This time he wanted to be inside her. He felt Chloe’s strength
and warmth returning. Her body no longer felt cold against his. Her breathing was even, her
feeding less frantic.

Luka’s fangs were out but the one thing he couldn’t do was feed from her until she’d slaked her
thirst. He shouldn’t be thinking about fucking her, either, though his dick had other ideas.
Chloe’s hands started to move, roving his chest, sliding down his body. When she wrapped her
fingers around him, it took every ounce of control Luka had not to push her on her back and ram
himself inside her.

Then she pushed him onto his back, the strength in her making his heart jump. She rocked
against him, rubbing her pussy on the tip of his dick, and Luka arched off the bed. Still clamped
to his neck, she impaled herself on his cock and Luka felt the burst of heat in his balls. She’d
hardly moved before he was coming again. As she clenched around him, Luka roared out his
release.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chloe woke with a start but didn’t open her eyes. She had no idea where she was or what had
happened. She opened her eyes, screamed, and launched a fist straight up. There was an oomph
and then Luka glared down at her.

“What was that for?” he demanded, rubbing his jaw.

“I didn’t expect to find a hulking great shadow looming over me.”

“I think you mean a good-looking, sexy shadow.”

Chloe gave a little smile.

“We have to talk,” he said.

The smile slipped off her face.

“How much do you remember?” Luka asked, settling by her side.

“You picked up that glass slipper, forced it on my foot, and cut my toe.”

His mouth twitched. Chloe closed her eyes and then snapped them open again. “I was ill. Now I
feel great.” She stretched. Not one ache. She looked. No marks. “You must be a miracle worker.”

Memories began to tumble into place. Chloe could feel her heart beating so she knew she still
had one, but…

“I was dying,” she whispered.

She ran her fingers over her arms. She felt the same, maybe a little cooler.

“I had to turn you,” Luka said. “You agreed. You --”

“I know.” He’d told her he couldn’t live without her. “Your brother came to help.”

“He’ll never let me forget it.” Luka exhaled noisily. “What are you thinking?”

This was a lot to take in. She didn’t want to take it in. “I won’t be using that suntan lotion I
bought, then?”

“Ah, Chloe.”

She tried to ignore the feeling of dread sliding over her. Oh God, she’d never see the sun again,
never feel it on her skin. She had to drink blood to stay alive. Oh shit, she had drunk blood.
Luka’s blood. A bubble of panic crept up her throat. Luka reached out but didn’t touch her. His
strong hand had reached for her before. Chloe looked at his arm, purple lines like the ones on her
own, only they looked pretty now, and she remembered. He’d saved her.

Chloe put out her hand and clasped his, felt his love and relief flood into her.

“Forgive me,” he whispered. “I’ve spent so long alone, I’d forgotten how to trust. You saved me
in more ways that you can ever know.” He fixed his gaze on her, staring deep into her eyes.
“You’re my lifemate. You’re mine for always and I am yours.”

Chloe chewed her lip. “I’m going to have to keep drinking blood?”

“Yes.”

“So I get to suck men’s necks?”

“We use bagged blood.”

“But I can suck men’s necks?”

Luka smiled. “Only my neck.”

“Nowhere else?”

Luka growled a rough sound of approval. “Anywhere you like so long as it’s me you’re
sucking.”

Chloe grinned and put her fingers in her mouth.

“What are you doing?”

“Where are my fangs?”

“They’ll come out when you need to feed again.”

She nodded and then gulped. “Will you look after me, tell me what to do?”

Luka stroked her cheek with his finger. “I’ll spend eternity looking after you. Can you love me
after what I’ve done? I should have listened to my heart. It’s my fault that they attacked you. I’m
ashamed of the way I treated you. I should have known you would never betray me. You offered
your life for mine and I repaid you by dragging you into a different world.”

“Into your world,” Chloe said. “Our world.” She gave him a shy smile. “My sixth-and-a-half
sense voices pulled me to Washburn Hall. I’m glad they did. Apparently, Washburn Hall belongs
to me. Maybe I should run a spa.”

“I have one stipulation. You sack the gardener.”

Chloe laughed.

“I want you to meet my family,” he said.

“I thought --”

“They’re in hiding, but we’ll find a way. They’ll love you.”

“I love you,” Chloe whispered. “Despite your little problem.”

“What little problem?”

“You snore.”

He paused. “I do not snore.”

The look in his eyes sent her liquid with need. Luka cupped her face and brought his mouth
down on hers. His kiss was a feathery caress, a brush of lips over hers before he teased with his
tongue. Chloe wanted more, needed more. He nipped at her, caught her bottom lip, and tugged it
between his teeth for a moment before letting her go. Chloe moaned as he invaded her mouth, his
tongue swirling, pulsing, each thrust echoed by the muscles clenching between her legs. Her lips
tingled.

“How do you do that?” she asked. “You taste of coconut ice cream.”

Luka smiled. “You taste like chocolate.”

“Why can’t you taste like chocolate?” Chloe narrowed her eyes.

“Try again,” Luka said.

Chloe could have dived into his mouth. Still coconut, but it was a kiss to end all kisses, a joining
of bodies and minds that left her reeling when they finally broke apart.

“You take my breath away,” Luka whispered.

He kissed a trail down her body, and every time his lips touched her skin she arched off the bed.
Chloe ran her fingers through his silky hair, squirming as he tickled her, tensing when he sucked.
He latched onto her breast, pulling her nipple into his mouth and she groaned. His hands stroked
her shoulders, then ran down her arms, drawing circles, swirling loops as his mouth lapped,
licked, sucked. He ran his finger round her navel. Everywhere he touched, she caught fire,
burning with need for him.

Chloe groaned. “Luka, you are so good at this.”

“I’ve been practicing for two hundred and forty-nine years and…five months.”

She kicked his shin. “You say that like it’s a good thing. And you’re so much older than me.”

“You’re twenty-seven years and five months exactly.”

“How do you know?” she gasped.

“Because since the day you were born, you were meant for me. That day, I developed an itch on
my arm every time I thought about sex.”

As he kissed around her navel, Chloe’s skin fluttered.

“Maybe your vast experience is a good thing.”

She felt his mouth smile against her.

“I’ll enjoy showing you that’s true.”

She’d have to watch her thoughts with the mind-reading thing, but then he eased her legs apart,
kissed her swollen clit, and she forgot. Ribbons of pleasure curled through her body and settled
between her legs. His tongue pressed into her soft folds, at first gentle, then demanding, and
Chloe let out a tormented cry. As he began to rhythmically lick her, the rollercoaster Chloe rode
ratcheted towards its peak. His fingers replaced his tongue and he stroked her clit more firmly.
Hair brushed her thighs, then his lips returned and as his teeth nipped, Chloe shot over the apex
of the ride, plummeting into oblivion.

“Luka, Luka.”

He held her as her hips jerked, then as she came back to earth he positioned himself over her.

“I love you,” Luka whispered. “Every moment has been a rehearsal for this.”

He plunged into her, one long, hard, deep thrust that made her explode again, see shooting stars,
see a future where she’d always be loved and cherished, one where she’d have Luka to love. He
slid his hands beneath her thighs and lifted her as he drove into her. Chloe whimpered, hot and
desperate with desire. She rocked her hips against his and felt herself spiraling again.

“Wow, so the books are right. Vampires are red hot lovers.”

“Thank you, my love.”

Luka laughed at her thought. He wanted this pleasure to last as long as he could drag it out; every
muscle strained and trembled as he tried to slow down while his dick urged him to go fast. The
roots of his fangs throbbed. His balls ached to the point of pain. His body was linked with hers
forever, but his need was more than physical. Every molecule cried out for her. They could never
be apart again. He joined hands with Chloe, fingers entwining, their bondmarks merging as he
pressed her into the bed. Luka lowered his head and when she caught his earlobe between her
teeth, he thrust so hard into her she lurched into the headboard. Luka chuckled and dragged her
back down.

Panting, he dropped his head to the side of hers, emotions surging though him and suddenly her
teeth were in his neck. Luka cried out at the sheer exotic delight of it, that she’d fed without
prompting, that she needed him. His balls tightened, his cock thickened and as Chloe drank,
Luka thought there could never be a more perfect moment. Time froze and then they came in an
orgy of pleasure. Colors swirled, the world shattered and they exploded, crying out each other’s
names.

As they wrung the final ripples of delight from their union, she melted in his arms. Luka thought
if every time was like this, they would be dead within a week. They remained pressed against
each other, mouths linked, her breasts crushed against his chest, his cock still hard inside her,
their legs entangled, toes kissing.

“Oh, shit!” Luka lifted his head.

“Oh, that’s lovely. Not -- are you still in one piece? Can you move your legs?”

Luka winced. “We didn’t use protection.”

“You said vampires -- oops.”

Luka stroked her cheek. “Exactly.”

Chloe grinned. “If it’s a boy, can we call him Lestat?”

“Over my dead body.”

“How about Drac --”

“No.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Our first fight. I have to warn you, I’m a bad loser.”

Luka rolled so she lay on top of him. “Coming second has its advantages.”

“We’ll have a race,” Chloe said. “Slowest wins.”

“I give up,” said Luka.

“Can I look yet? Have they finished?”

“No, Rufus. I don’t think they’re ever going to finish.”

“Do they really need to keep doing that? They’ve already made the child.”

“You’ve forgotten sex is fun, Rufus.”

“A female dragon might help me remember.”

“Well, nine months until our work really begins. We have to keep their child safe. The future of
the Otherworld depends on it.”

“What can I be next time? I don’t want to be a unicorn again. My horn keeps falling off.”

“We’ll have to wait and see what presents the baby gets, Angel.”

“I want first choice.”

“No, I do.”

“Guys, stop bickering. We have nine months to decide who gets to choose second and third."

THE END

Barbara Elsborg

Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy,
but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not
for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So
instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.

After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful
husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an
electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.

Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as
they are to write.