Grace (8 page)

Authors: Mina Carter

BOOK: Grace

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Her hands were on his shoulders but to Jaron’s surprise they weren’t pushing him away. Instead she was
…stroking him? She ran her palms over the muscles of his upper arms and shoulders as if she couldn’t get enough of him. She couldn’t look at him, not with the way he had her hair wrapped in his fist, the way he held her body rigid. Her back was as taut as a bow between his hands. It wouldn’t take much to snap her spine; human bones were so fragile.

He released the pressure on her hair bit by bit, keeping his hand in the silken curls but easing up so she could look at him. Her eyes were dark as they met his, her hands still soft and relaxed on his chest.

She smiled a soft, mysterious and feminine smile that did things to Jaron on a primal level. Woman, the eternal mystery. She was in his clutches, a vampire she’d just seen ripping five men apart and she was smiling?

“I’m sure. You won’t hurt me, you won’t bite me. You’re just a big teddy bear.”

Jaron bared his fangs and snarled a little but it was all bluff. She was scared; he could see that, sense that. But behind it all was the unshakeable belief that he wouldn’t hurt her. She trusted him. Humbled, he closed his mouth and his fangs receded to little more than points. The urge to bite her, just a little nip, a tiny taste, still remained, but he was in control.

“Me big scary vampire, of
course
I want to bite you,” he told her, sliding his hand around and lightly tickling along her ribcage. Ticklish as all hell, Grace squirmed against him and giggled.

It broke the mood, as he’d intended, so he stopped and gathered her to him. His eyes were serious as he sought hers.

“Grace, I want very much to bite you. I want to lay you down and make love to you; I want to feel you tight around me as I slide my fangs into your throat. I want to feel you come as I drink from you. Then I want you to ride me, and do the same to me. Drink from me. ” He drew in a shuddering breath at the thought. “I want you to drink from me, not a vial anymore.”

Grace’s breath caught, surprise evident on her face. “The herbs
. They weren’t herbs at all, were they? Am I a vampire? Bride of Frankenstein or something?”

Jaron chuckled, but desire clouded Grace’s eyes as she lifted her hand and smoothed a gentle finger over his lip. He caught it as she pushed the lip back to get a look at his fangs, curiosity and wonder on her face.

“Careful, just one cut is enough.” He warned her. “No, you’re not a vampire yet. You’ve taken my blood, which is the first part of the conversion. For you to be fully turned I have to take yours.” Another shudder racked his body, his cock pulsing in the confines of his pants.

“You want to.” Grace guessed the truth. Everything had taken on a somewhat surreal quality. She stood here in a vampire’s arms, blood marring the walls around them and they were calmly discussing how much he wanted her to drink his blood. Shouldn’t that be the other way around, him bending her over and muttering ‘I vant to suck your blood’?

Jaron bit his lip, the sharp fang pushing down on the full flesh. He looked down at her with a combination of need and longing, the fine tremble in his body evidence of his iron control.

“Yeah, I want to. I want you, Grace, forever.”

She nodded slowly, realising she had the real power here.

“Always,” he murmured, obviously picking thoughts out of her head again.

“Oi you, stop that.” She slapped him on the arm, giving him a look of mock fury. She knew what she wanted, the yammering in the back of her head silent under the force of her will.

He grinned. “What’s it worth?”

“Pevert. You have a one track mind. Or is it two tracks for a vampire. Sex and blood?”

He pulled her closer, his hand gently running up the length of her spine. “With you, both. Blood exchange is part of lovemaking for us.”

Grace nodded. She looked deeply into his eyes so he could read and see her decision. “Then do it; bite me, Dracula.” she said, tilting her head to the side and baring her neck.

“Grace, you don’t know what you’re saying. If I do this, you’ll become like me—a creature of the night. You’ll be giving up everything. Your dancing. Everything.”

“I can still dance. We’ll find a way, Jaron. I want to be with you. Always. Please. Do it.”

Jaron shuddered and closed his eyes as she offered him everything he’d ever wanted. All the arguments about why he shouldn’t swirled in his brain and disappeared under one startling truth. She knew he was a vampire and she wasn’t bothered. There was no fear in her eyes…apprehension, yes, but not fear. And she didn’t look at him as though he was a monster.

As he smiled, the wounds Julia had left on his soul disappeared. He leaned down and licked her neck. A quick brush of his tongue against her silken skin over the pulsing vein. He pulled back with regret and looked around. “Not here, though, you deserve better.”

He bent down and the next second she was in his arms, cradled against his chest as he strode from the place of carnage and death. “I’m going to take you home. Then make you mine. Forever.”

***

The park was dark, some of the lamps that usually lit the path out for some reason. Probably vandals, Fayte thought to herself, gathering her coat closer around her slender frame. She’d grown skinnier over the course of the last few months. Since she’d tried and failed to kill her famous cousin for a second time. Since she’d been forced to go into hiding.

Bloody Grace. How had she done it again? That woman had more lives than a fucking cat. And those thugs she’d hired. Bloody useless.

In the darkness, Fayte narrowed her eyes as hate consumed her again. She’d manage it, one day. She just had to get herself settled again, make some money, and then she’d try again. She’d try harder next time, plan better. Get better people for the job.

“Hello, Fayte.”

Fayte whirled at the voice. A low, sultry, vaguely familiar voice. There was no one behind her. She shook her head. Must be hearing things, or maybe it had been the wind in the trees. Then a figure stepped from the shadows. No, a figure formed
out
of the shadows.

“What the f—?” She back-pedalled, her eyes wide, not sure she was seeing what she was seeing.

The woman stepped into the light, illuminating her familiar features. She smiled, but her teeth were wrong. Too sharp at the corners. “Time to pay for your sins, Fayte...”

Fayte screamed. It was the last sound she ever made.

About the Author

Mina was born and raised in the East Farthing of Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England) and spend her childhood learning all the sorts of things generally required of a professional adventurer. Able to ride, box, shoot, make and read maps, make chainmail and use a broadsword (with varying degrees of efficiency) she was disgusted to find that adventuring is not considered a suitable occupation these days.

So, instead of slaying dragons and hunting vampires and the like, Mina spends her days writing about hot shifters, government conspiracies and vampire lords with more than their fair share of RAWR. Turns out wanna-be adventurers have quite the turn of imagination after all... (But she keeps that sword sharp, just in case the writing career is just a dream and she really *is* an adventurer.)

The boring part: A full time author
, cover artist, and photographer, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and would like to be addicted to chocolate, but unfortunately chocolate dislikes her.

Website:
www.mina-carter.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/mina.carter

Twitter:
@minacarter

Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Mina-Carter/e/B002BOH5R4

B&N Author Page:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/mina-carter

Other Titles by Mina Carter

Now Available in eBook:

Hitting on the Hooker

Dragon’s Honor

Blood Mate

Wolf-Bond

Melody’s Wolf