His Captive Mortal (A Vampire Romance)

I would be more annoyed, but I sense he’s just trying to get a rise out of me. I reward him with a roll of my eyes.

Maybe I’m not taking all of this seriously enough, but come on. Magic?

“Listen, I’m not a fairy. I don’t know anything about curses or magic. Even if I wanted to help you, I can’t.”

He reaches out and wipes the corner of my mouth with his thumb, showing me the dribble of chocolate syrup he swiped before popping it in his mouth to suck it off. His lips are smooth and full, and for a dizzying moment, I imagine him drizzling chocolate syrup on other parts of my body, so he can lick it off…

Crap on a cracker, I’m perving on a vampire! My nipples tighten. As if he can see through my clothing, his gaze drops to my breasts before traveling slowly back to my face. “I believe you don’t know or understand your abilities,” he says. “But I will help you get up to speed.”

“How?”

He shrugs and offers the plate of crackers. I reach for one, and he pulls it away, “Say please.”

I huff. “Please?”

He grins. “You see? That wasn’t so hard.” He lets me take one. “As for how, I’m not sure yet. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around anyone with fae blood. We thought them mostly extinct by now, most moved to living in a parallel dimension where nature ever grows.” He says the last part about nature in a falsetto tone, like he’s quoting someone. “But you have so much natural power, it can’t be that hard.”

“What is the curse?”

His eyes hood and a muscle twitches in his jaw. “You’ll know when the time comes,” he says stiffly.

“Okay.” I rub my face. I’m done. Vampire, curse, fairies. This is not something I’m prepared to handle at one a.m. on a school night. “Look, it’s way past my bedtime. I know you’re nocturnal, but I need my sleep, or I get very crabby. So...ah, are you going to let me go to bed?”

The corner of his mouth curves. “I’m glad you’ve realized who is master here.”

My heart does a slow flip at the glint in his eye. Dang if his dominance doesn’t light my fire. “Alone?” I clarify.

He lifts me to stand and rises before me. He’s much taller, and although he has a lean build, he’s much bigger than me. Grasping my jaw, he tilts my face up to his.

I stiffen, staring at his glinting fangs. He bends his face to mine, his heavy-lidded gaze mesmerizing. There’s no hint of fang when he brushes his soft lips across mine. He kisses me as if we’ve reached the end of a first date, rather than the bizarre exchange of attempted murder, spanking and...what? Kidnapping? Hostage situation? My thoughts are shorting out, shooting sparks as the kiss continues. I’m paralyzed under his light caress, smelling the sweet chocolate on his breath.

“Aurelia.” He repeats my name as if committing it to memory. “Lovely little fairy. Be a good girl and go straight to sleep. If you run, you won’t like the consequences. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” What else can I say?

For a moment his dark eyes search mine. He must like what he sees because he nods.

And then he disappears. Poof! Gone. Leaving my senses tingling, searching for the solid body that was just standing in front of me. But he’s gone, and I’m alone in my living room, my heartbeat doing a wacky tango.

I reach out and let my hand hover in the air, in the blank space where the vampire used to be.

“Wait,” I say. I should be relieved, but instead I feel empty inside. “I don’t even know your name…”

Chapter 4

Charlie

As soon as I materialize in my bedroom, I want to return to Aurelia’s. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the little fairy cast a spell on me.

But no, she wasn’t lying when she claimed to have no knowledge of her true power. She’s a virgin magic user, untouched, untried, but not unwilling. Not with the right motivation.

I won’t let this one get away.

I gather my things quickly. A threat might hold my little fairy fighter but not for long. Fortunately, I have the power to dematerialize and reappear again. Not every vampire can do it, but I’m one of the lucky ones. It’ll help me go undetected in Lucius’ city. I’ll have to restrict myself to Aurelia’s apartment, but that will be no hardship. Little Miss Tinkerbell might protest, but her scent tells me she’s as intrigued about me as I am with her. Which will make things easier. I’d rather master her body and win her cooperation through the dance of sexual domination than to actually harm or threaten her or her loved ones.

But I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want. As a lone vampire, I have one allegiance: to myself. The one time I trusted another, I got hit with a curse.