Vengeance is only the beginning…
Gillian Thompson wants to end her life. Deserted by her lover and desperate for peace, she thinks that death is the only answer. But life never closes one door without opening a window. On a fateful night, the one that should be her last, she meets the dark and mysterious Seth, who seems to understand the depth of her pain. Rather than let her kill herself, he offers Gillian a new life beyond pain and regret. A life bathed in bloody kisses and bittersweet vengeance.
"Imagine it…slipping into eternal slumber in the safety of my arms.”
“No!” she shrieked, making a dive for the hallway. He was faster and before she knew what was happening, he’d grabbed her around the waist and thrown her against the wall, pinning her between him and the rough stone. His hands gripped the corner of her jaw, holding her head in place as he sniffed her like the animal he was. He growled and hissed, burying his nose in the crook of her throat and inhaling her musky scent. “Please don’t hurt me…” she whimpered.
“You think I want to kill you,” he said, his voice taking on a gravelly tone.
“But you’re…” She stopped, her voice trailing into another whimper as he kissed her throat. She couldn’t say it. The trembling and disbelief wouldn’t let her. “This can’t be real.”
“I can assure you, love. I am quite real.”
“Then you are…”
“A vampire?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Are you?”
Seth smiled again, this time wide enough to confirm her suspicions. “Are you afraid?”
“No,” she lied, struggling to keep her breathing slow and even.
“Liar,” he replied, inhaling deeply as he nuzzled under her hair. “I can smell it on you like cheap perfume. It permeates every part of you and makes your blood a complicated ambrosia.” With that, he licked the outline of her jugular vein with the tip of his tongue then stopped, his lips lingering on the soft place just under the corner of her jawline and then sucking gently. “I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted and more. Answers to every question. Pleasure like you’ve never known.”
His words were the aphrodisiac she needed, and she melted into his embrace. “Yes.” She sighed, succumbing to his seduction and offering her mouth to his. He kissed her deeply, his tongue delving into the moist cavern and drawing the breath from her body. He could feel her move against him, her body shuddering involuntarily. “Please…”
Seth broke away, growling deep in his throat as he swept her drunken, limp body into his arms. He carried her swiftly through the labyrinth of corridors and up the stairs, moving with an impossible speed that took her breath away. When they arrived at the end of the hall, he kicked the double doors, breaking the latch so that they flew open. Gillian flinched at the sound of the wood splintering as the doors hit the wall behind with enough force to leave a dent in the plaster. He tossed her unceremoniously onto his bed and stood back, watching her with a predatory glare.
“Are you going to kill me?” she whispered, sitting back on her elbows.
“Yes.” He watched as her chin began to tremble and she started moving backward slowly. “I’m afraid you’ve been chosen.”
“Please don’t.”
“So, you do want to live?”
She inhaled to say something but the words died on her lips, looking into his eyes. “I… I suppose,” she replied.
He came upon her, kneeling over her in an instant and making her draw back with fear of him. “You suppose? You must be sure! I offer you death, yes. But also life. Eternal life and you cannot change your mind once it’s begun!” He pulled her to him in a furious embrace that nearly stopped her breath. She cried out. He held onto her tightly, his mind racing with wonder. Why had he attached himself to this one so much? What was it about her that made him feel so…human? It had been a hundred years since he’d taken a companion and the last one had ended so badly—why should she be any different? But the thought of leaving her was nearly painful. “Let me give you something to live for,” he whispered.
