OwnedbytheNight

Owned by the Night

Scarlett
Sanderson

For centuries, Kyrian has searched for Allegra Augusta. She
isn’t just the vampire who made him immortal—she’s his love, his life, his
mate. He’ll stop at nothing to find her again, to claim her for his own.

Allegra won’t stop running. Kyrian is the one man powerful
enough to own her, body and soul. If he finds her, she’ll have no choice but to
submit, and she’s terrified of losing herself to the primal, shattering
pleasure only Kyrian can give.

Chapter One

Present Day

Allegra Augusta pressed her palms against the glass and let
the coolness calm the burning inside her. The floor-length window showcased the
ocean view to perfection. In the dusky light, the waves rolled, roiled and
crashed against the sand. The ferocity of the tide beating against the shore,
the rise and fall of the waves, matched her mood—fiery, determined, ferocious
and turbulent.

He was coming. She felt it in her soul. Her body tingled,
came alive in a way it hadn’t for centuries. Her heart slammed against her rib
cage, her nipples hardened, her pussy creamed. It had been many mortal years
since she’d seen Kyrian O’Byrne. Not a day went by without him invading her
thoughts but she’d never allowed herself the luxury of seeking him out.

Her teeth throbbed and her canines lengthened slightly,
reminding her she hadn’t fed. A vampire’s life was a solitary one. Sharing her
life with another could be extremely dangerous, as her encounters with Kyrian
had proven.

Allegra recalled the first time she’d laid eyes on the
handsome druid. It was a day filled with hope, happiness and the destruction of
her freedom…

* * * * *

1245

Allegra swept her gaze over the powerful druid performing
the ritual. Wearing nothing but a coarse black robe, he knelt in the circle of
stones, hands and face raised to the heavens. Moonlight danced on the elaborate
black-and-red tattoos that adorned his slightly golden-colored skin. The air
around him crackled, sizzled with power as he chanted into the darkness.

Allegra’s body tingled. Her nipples peaked, became turgid buds
against the heavy velvet of her bodice. Her incisors lengthened. Her mouth
watered. Desire tasted hot and rich on the back of her tongue.

Yes
.

Here was a man worthy of her companionship. She’d been a
vampire for over a thousand years, turned by her vampire Master in ancient
Rome. She’d had lovers and fed from many humans, males and females, rich and
poor. But throughout the centuries she’d never found a companion, one who made
her body burn, her soul ache. One powerful enough to match her own abilities.

Until now.

Until him.

She probed his mind and smiled as she hit a solid wall.
Unlike other men’s, his mind had strong barriers she couldn’t penetrate.

How interesting
.

He fascinated her. He was a curiosity she needed to unravel.
This was the fifth night in a row she’d watched him. Every evening he’d
performed a different ritual, each one requiring more power. She’d stood in the
shadows and observed, making sure he was the right man, the right companion, to
accompany her on the journey through immortality.

His displays of power almost bowed her spine. Magical
ability was a powerful aphrodisiac and Allegra couldn’t resist the intense need
pounding through her veins. It was time to make her presence known.

She emerged from the shadows and padded silently to the
inner circle. She stepped inside and breached his protective barrier. Power
crackled, beat at her skin like a thousand tiny butterflies. She drank in the
sensations and focused her attention on him.

She stared at his back, the muscles bunched and tensed,
pulling the coarse woolen material taut across his shoulders. She opened her
mouth to speak and was cut off when his head snapped in her direction. His
sharp blue eyes caught her stare and his perfectly sculpted lips set in a
sneer. She smirked.

“Who dares invade the sanctity of the circle?” His voice
held a deep, richly accented timbre.

Allegra almost purred at the menace dripping from his tone.
She admired spunk in her partners. Anger added a rich texture to blood. Aside
from that, she enjoyed sparring. It kept her life interesting.

She circled his body and stopped before him, her gaze fixed
on his. “I’ve been watching you, druid. You interest me.”

A sardonic smile appeared on his sculpted face. “And who are
you, wench?” There was no fear in his tone, no anxiety at finding out he’d been
watched. His arrogant self-belief was a potent aphrodisiac.

Reaching out with her fingertips, she brushed them against
his cheek. Heat erupted across her skin. Saliva flooded her mouth, her incisors
throbbed. She swiped her tongue across her lips and swallowed. His show of
power, his burst of dominance, made her eyelids flutter shut. She let out a
low, throaty moan. For a vampire, food and sex were usually entwined but she
craved his body as much as his blood. Her pussy throbbed with the need to be
filled, to be fucked.

She had to have him.

“My name is Allegra. Now, druid, tell me yours.”

“Why should I?”

Insolence. She loved that in a man.

“Because I can make you more powerful than you ever
dreamed.” She swept a lock of midnight hair from his forehead and gasped as his
fingers curled around her wrist.

He jerked her forward until she almost stumbled. He was
powerful. For a human.

“And why would you do that? What kind of power are you
offering, Allegra? One that takes my soul?” He snorted. “I don’t need what you
are offering, demon.”

A smile twitched on the edge of her lips. The disdain in his
tone palpable in the air. He thought her a demon? He wouldn’t make a deal with
a demon? How noble. He’d been performing the dark arts for five nights, rituals
forbidden to any good druid. Yet he wouldn’t consider an offer of magic from a
vampire. If it hadn’t been so ironic, she would have laughed.

“Although there are demons and gods and various other things
your mind cannot conceive of, druid, I’m no demon. We aren’t evil. We don’t
have blessings from hell. We have a soul. We have a beating heart.”

Freeing herself from his grasp, she swirled her skirts and
cloak around her legs, sinking to her knees in front of him. “We are different
just like you.”

She rested her hands on her thighs in a gesture of peace.
They sat eye to eye. Their different magics brushed against each other,
fighting for dominance—hers the power of the Revenant. The ability to heal
quickly, to live eternally, the power of strength and speed unknown to mortals.
She could feel his emotions and influence them within the blink of an eye. His
magic inherently more mystical, coming from the earth and the oceans. She let
her power wash over his body, forced it inside and battered his well-erected
barriers.

A tic beat erratically in his jaw, the only visual sign he’d
been disturbed by her power.

She continued her assault, using all the vampiric tricks her
Master had taught her over a thousand years ago. She homed in on his emotions,
on his need, on the craving he had for her abilities and her body. Latching on
to these emotions, she forced her will onto his, enhanced his need, shot
white-hot desire into his mind.

The sensual heat she had shown him bowed his spine. How
beautiful he was—a body of lithe, toned grace. His robe gaped open revealing
dusky, caramel skin covered in a light mat of dark hair. But it was his face
she couldn’t stop looking at. A strong, masculine jaw, high cheekbones,
sculpted lips and dazzling blue eyes. He looked like a Roman god, only more
feral.

“So powerful.” His words were a whisper on the wind, his
tone reverent, yet there was an undercurrent of need that made her smile. He
coveted her power.

“Yes, and I can give you something you’ve been craving,
druid. Eternal life. Just think what you could achieve with immortality. All
the power of the ages is yours for the taking if only you will reach out and
touch it.”

Yes, she could seduce him with the lure of power darker than
his own. He would be her immortal companion—strong, powerful, beautiful. He was
worthy of the dark gift.

This time it was he who reached forward and brushed his
fingertips across her cheek. Such a tender gesture for one so primal. “And what
would I have to give you in return? Riches? My soul?”

She turned her cheek into his touch. Power burst from his
fingertips and her body sizzled with desire. If one touch could be so electric,
what would joining with him be like? Her lips brushed his coarse fingers and
her tongue darted out to taste the skin. Salty, musky, earthy. Inherently
masculine.

She drank in his stoic features, his furrowed brow and
narrowed eyes. His pupils dilated. Although his face wore a stony mask, his
sharp intake of breath betrayed his desire.

“Not your riches, or your soul.” She paused, waited a
heartbeat before telling him the one thing she needed to make him hers forever.
“I need your blood.”

He stiffened and spat out, “Revenant.”

Allegra should have been insulted but she wasn’t. She could
smell his desire, taste it on her tongue like the sweetest nectar. He wanted
her—her power and her body. His greed for the dark arts would consume him.
Although he would be her equal, as an older vampire she could control his
thirst for power. She could guide him to become greater than he’d ever imagined
and she’d gain a worthy companion.

“It is a perfectly good offer, druid. One drink of your
blood for untold power.”

She saw the war raging in his eyes. Should he damn his soul
and accept her proposition? Vampires were dirty and evil creatures, yet he
craved the power that came with being Revenant more than he cared about his
soul.

“We have a deal, vampire.” He lurched forward and gripped
her upper arms. His fingertips dug into her skin. “But you will give me the
dark gift now. This minute.”

She shook off his grasp, embraced her strength and pushed
him back into the ground. His nostrils flared, anger flashed in his eyes. He
rose onto his elbows and shoved her. Allegra didn’t budge. No matter how much
force he used, she was stronger. He gasped, his eyes widened. Fear replaced the
anger.

She couldn’t have that. She wanted his desire and love, she
wanted him to crave her, need her, not fear her. She wanted his devotion.

She crawled on her hands and knees, hiked up her skirts and
straddled his waist. She clenched her thighs and felt his cock harden against
her. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched and loosened the knots in
her back. What a glorious night.

She glanced up at the heavens and smiled. She would be the
Master and he the slave.

She untucked the pins from her hair, let the glossy mane
tumble down her back. Dropping forward, she slammed her palms into the earth on
either side of the druid’s head.

“Now, druid, tell me your name.” She nuzzled her face
against his neck, inhaling his scent. Blood surged through his veins.

“Kyrian O’Byrne.”

“Kyrian.” She rolled his name around her tongue before
licking her lips. “Kiss me, Kyrian.”

His lips touched hers, tentatively at first. They were
velvety soft, pillowy against her own. She let him explore the seam of her
lips, discover her taste. Power surged between them, sizzled, crackled in the
darkness. She drank in the sparks. It fed her need for his blood but it was no
substitute for the real thing. She ached to taste the hot saltiness of him on
her tongue.

He groaned. The sound traveled up through her body, down to
her clitoris. His cock swelled, pulsed against her thigh. Bearing down, she
moved her pelvis against his, mashing her clitoris on his delicious hardness.

A gasp escaped, she clenched her eyes closed and focused on
the friction between her thighs. She gripped his shoulders and rubbed her body
against his, shamelessly taking her own pleasure from the young druid.

“More. Want to fuck you.” His guttural words, spoken through
gritted teeth, broke her erotic reverie.

Opening her eyes, she focused her gaze on the druid.

Mine
.

Allegra’s predatory instincts flared to life as she rocked
back onto her heels and reached into the folds of his druid cloak. She wrapped
her fingers around his cock and squeezed. He pulsed, hot and hard against her
palm. His eyes rolled back and his eyelids fluttered shut.

Pumping her hand up and down, she sighed inwardly at his
length. What a treat it would be to fuck a man with such a delicious, long
cock. This feral druid was hers for the taking. What a revelation.

She slipped two fingers inside her pussy, readying herself
for his penetration.

Thumbing the tip of his cock, she asked, “What do you want,
druid? Do you want your cock inside my wet heat? Do you want me to ride you?
Fuck you ‘til you come?”

His hands flew to her hips, gripped tightly and jerked her
body forward. If she’d been human it would have caused her pain, left a mark
blushing deep purple on her skin. But she wasn’t human.

“You know what I want, vampire.”

Grinning, she gripped the base of his dick and positioned
him at her entrance. Slowly, with agonizing patience, she sank onto his rigid
length. He filled and stretched her with every inch. Although she’d had many
men throughout the centuries, she’d never had one who managed to fill her quite
so well.

Her walls contracted, sucked him in until she was sure he’d
cleave her in half. It took all her self-control not to moan at the sheer
satisfaction of having his shaft deep inside her.

When she’d sheathed him to the hilt, his crisp pubic hairs
tickling her thighs, she rocked forward. “Now we fuck.”

Fire flared in his eyes and Allegra’s vampire side wanted to
roar with triumph. Her druid would make a perfect pet.

Thunder crashed around them as she rocked her hips in a
frantic rhythm. All that mattered was Kyrian pumping inside her. She wanted him
to come, needed him to fill her with his seed as she took his blood. Moving
back and forth, she ground against him, raised her hands to the heavens and
threw back her head.

The rain started to fall. It soaked their skin, cooled their
heated bodies. She pulled her hair back into a bunch and held it from her face.
She didn’t want any distractions for the moment that was to come.