Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (8 page)

They weren’t nearly as much fun when they got to this stage. Her screams and sobbing had died down to whimpering and occasional pleading. He would prefer her screams, so her succulent bloodstream was flooded with the sweet aphrodisiac of adrenaline. He bared his fangs to her once again, which started her hoarse, half-hearted scream back up. He struck at her carotid like a rattlesnake, sucking the remaining lifeblood from her young, weak body.

Just as he was finishing, a soft knock came at the door, forcing him to stop suckling at her vein, though he held his fangs tightly in her flesh.

“
If I have to open that door, you’re only going to wish you were dead, Rodney.”

“
I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, master, but there is an urgent phone call for you. It’s Bill from the Milwaukee PD. I believe you’ll want to take it, my lord.”

He had minions at police stations all over the country doing his bidding. Unfortunately, this could be important. “
Just a fucking minute.”

He drained the girl in record time, dropping her lifeless body on his bed. He rose, wiping the last few drops of her blood from his scarred, hideous face. He opened the door not caring about his nakedness, taking the phone from Rodney. “Get rid of her.” He nodded back toward the bedroom.

“Right away, my lord.”

Xavier stepped into his office, grabbed the phone and barked, “What the
fuck
is so important that I had to be interrupted?”

“My lord, I have some news I thought you would want to hear immediately. Several days ago, a woman by the name of Kate Martin showed up at the station asking to speak to a detective about the local missing girl, Sarah Hill. What caught my attention was that in her statement, she mentions dreaming of the missing girl. I also think the Midwest Regent Lord was here interviewing her, based on the rumors around the station.”

“Why the
fuck
am I just hearing about this
now
?”

“I’m sorry, my lord. I’ve had the last three days off. I called as soon as I found out.”

Xavier tried to rein in his temper. He needed answers. “Who’s the detective that this woman talked to?”

“Detective Mike Thatcher.”

“I want the female. Go to her house and pick her up.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And Bill…”

“Yes, my lord?”

“If you fail me I
will
kill you. You’ll be begging for the sweet mercy of death. But only after I fuck, drain and gut your wife and two lovely daughters while you watch, will I grant you your wish.”

He could almost hear the human shitting himself, his fear palpable. Good. It wasn’t an idle threat. In fact, he may do that anyway, and leave the human male alive to live with his anguish. “Y-Yes, my lord.” He disconnected and flung the phone on his desk.

“Fuck!”

Did the dreamwalker know where to find him? He wasn’t going to just sit around, waiting to find out. He hadn’t managed to stay alive these last few centuries by being complacent. Finding her and adding her to his collection was his number one priority. As surprised as he was that she’d gone to the police, unfortunately for Ms. Kate Martin that had been a fatal fucking mistake.

And she would be his shortly. He smiled. His day was looking up.

C
hapter 14

Kate

For the last several days, they’d fallen into a similar, comfortable routine. She’d arrive home between 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon and Dev would show up around 7:00 in the evening, dinner in hand and stay until she was so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. She hadn’t gotten a damn thing done all week and for once, she didn’t care.

It was both a blessing and a curse, though, because…nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing. Not a kiss, not an ass grab, not one salacious suggestion.

Not.

A.

Damn.

Thing.

Well, except for his perfunctory kiss on her forehead at the end of each evening.

And as annoying as that was, it was also confusing, because the sexual tension arched between them like a live wire. His dark eyes were constantly alight with desire for her, and she knew hers reflected the same. He’d tried hiding his perpetual hard on, but not very well. It was difficult to conceal that much manhood behind a tight, body-molding pair of dark blue jeans. And
daaaamn
if he didn’t rock a pair of denims.

But he’d kept his distance, even choosing to sit on the chair tonight instead of on the couch with her as he’d done the three nights before. She’d almost pouted like a five year old who’d been stuck in the corner for misbehaving.

Out of sheer sexual frustration, she’d darn near answered the door tonight wearing nothing but a towel, which would oh so conveniently blow to the floor when a gust of wind would happen to catch it as she scrambled to close the cold squall out.

She was acting and thinking completely out of character.

The thing was…she
liked
him.
Really
liked him. She was drawn to him sexually, yes, but there was far more going on here than just that wanting to get in each other’s pants. She was drawn to his dry humor and his passion and even his innate danger. And he really seemed to want to get to know her as well. Against her better judgment, she could feel herself starting to fall for him. And her mind was in a constant battle over that.

All night she’d waited for him to make a move. Once again…nada. When he left tonight, she’d almost grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him back to her bedroom, where she would have promptly removed every offending article of clothing and rode him hard until they both screamed their pleasure.

Now, lying in bed alone, she recounted their earlier conversation and how she’d actually
wanted
to respond.

Any more dreams?
Of Sarah, no. Of him? Every. Blessed. Night.

How was your day?
Sexually frustrating. Yours?

What would you like to eat this evening?
Ahhh…your cock?

If his intent was to drive her mad with desire and want, he’d hit that one way out of the park. She’d taken more goddamned baths in the last four days than she had in the last twelve months. Unable to slip into sleep until she assuaged the burning fire between her thighs, she grabbed Big Blue and went to work. She was nearing the peak when a noise startled her. Flipping the switch off on her battery-operated boyfriend, she lay deathly still, straining to hear where the noise originated. All was quiet, but something felt off.

Dev insisted she was still in danger, but nothing unusual had happened over the past few days, so she’d relaxed a bit. She felt safe, especially with him hanging around so much. Convinced she’d imagined the sound, she was just about to turn back on her BOB and finish what she’d started, when she heard the loose floorboard in the kitchen creak.

Her pulse raced.

Someone was in her house and she was quite sure it wasn’t Dev because he would never scare her like that. If he wanted in her bed, he’d simply demand it, not sneak around.

Dev had given her his cell number, saying he’d never be too far away and could be here instantly if she needed him. Unfortunately for her, she’d left her phone charging on the kitchen counter so now she was completely defenseless. She was just reaching for her gun in the nightstand drawer when Dev called her name from down the hall.

Oh thank God.

He came storming in her room, throwing open the door so hard it bounced several times off the wall.

“What—”

“We need to leave immediately. Pack a bag for several days. Quickly.” He was efficient, sharp. All business.

“Dev, what’s going—?
”

“Kate. We have no time,” he said as he pulled open her closet door and grabbed the small rolling suitcase that sat in the corner. “There were several men lurking outside. Now pack your stuff. No more excuses. You’re coming with me.”

“O-Okay,” she replied with a shaky voice.

Kate quickly packed, adding only the essentials. Anything she’d missed they could surely get for her somewhere. Stopping quickly in the kitchen, she grabbed her phone, her computer and finally her purse before they swiftly left through the front door.

Shit. She’d have to call her boss and make up some story about why she wouldn’t be into work for the next few days, but she’d worry about that tomorrow, when she was somewhere safe.

They piled into the back of black Range Rover, which she’d seen sitting outside every night and was surprised to see Ren in the back seat. The tension was so thick she could practically see it swirling in the air and each man radiated barely unchecked fury.

The driver put the car roughly in reverse and they hightailed it out of there; her house growing smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror. It was a good fifteen minutes before any of them spoke.

“What happened?” she asked, unable to keep the question in any longer.

“Exactly what I told you,” Dev snipped.

Why the hell was he mad at her? It wasn’t her fault some psycho came hunting her. Except…that it was. She should have listened to him days ago and they wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

“Did anyone get hurt?” She wasn’t sure why she asked, because someone was clearly there to do her harm, but she simply had to know.

Even in the darkness of the car’s interior, Dev’s stare was so wholly intense, so consuming, it sucked all of the oxygen out and she could barely breathe. He waited so long to respond she didn’t think he would.

“No one that matters.”

There was so much unspoken meaning behind those words, he might as well as just said what she really heard.
Not you. No one matters but you.

When Dev reached for her hand, she nearly wept. She was trying to be strong, but in truth was barely holding it together. They drove the rest of the way in silence and after another thirty minutes or so they were turning onto a road that she hadn’t even seen. The driver slowed at a security gate, which was heavily guarded, before the wrought iron doors swung opened. They proceeded up a long, winding, densely wooded driveway before a large estate came into view.

Holy. Shit.

She could only gape at the expansive mansion and grounds in front of her. It looked like it should be on the cover of
House and Home
magazine. The place was massive.

“This is the safe house?” She turned to Dev with a confused look on her face.

C
hapter 15

Dev

He was close to losing his shit. When he saw the rogues creeping around the perimeter of Kate’s house, he’d almost gone nuclear. Ren, Manny and himself quickly and efficiently handled the low-level vermin, but things could have ended very badly and the thought of Kate anywhere near Xavier had him seeing red. The only thing that had set him right again was touching Kate. When he grabbed her hand and she held on for dear life, he almost breathed an audible sigh of relief. What he’d wanted to do was haul her into his lap and not ever let her go.

As they pulled into his driveway, he’d already decided how he was going to explain his extravagant home. Be honest. He would have to tell her shortly of his true nature and the least amount of lies he had to build before then, the better.

“No. It’s my home. But you will be safe here, Kate. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you. This place is heavily guarded and very secure. No one will find you here.”

“Wow. I have a hard time believing that.” She looked at him incredulously. “You could spot this house from the space shuttle.”

Dev laughed. He loved her wit.

“It’s not as easy to spot as you might think.” For security purposes, they had a shrouding spell cast around the estate that made it invisible, appearing only as a cornfield to passersby.

Kate mumbled. “Yeah…I noticed the driveway kind of came up out of nowhere.”

Wow, she was very perceptive. Amazingly, though, she let it go.

They pulled up to the large circular drive and the car came to a stop. Dev opened his door and exited the car, holding out a hand to assist her. Their eyes locked. She took his hand and gracefully exited the car, without breaking eye contact. Adrenaline levels were still high from the short battle and he could hardly control his raging cock. Just the simple act of holding her hand in the car caused the beast to pound incessantly on his zipper, demanding escape from his metal prison. He wanted to pull her into his arms and devour her full berry-colored lips. The lust in her eyes, the smell of her arousal and the increase in her pulse all validated she would welcome it, but now was not the time.

He tugged her hand. “Come on, let’s get you inside and settled. I’ll give you a tour of the house tomorrow.”

“Dev.” She pulled on his arm, stopping their forward movement.

He turned to face her, running his free hand up and down her arm.

“Yes?”

“Thank you,” she responded, tears brimming in her spectacular shining eyes.

Dev smiled softly and pulled her into him. “You’re welcome, love.”

___________

Kate