Oh, how she hated this time of the year in New Orleans. It used to hit differently when she was more green as a hunter, but now…
Talia sighed as a group of costumed adults in various degrees of commitment rushed across the street in front of her. You’d think after nearly turning them into human paste with her motorcycle, they’d have the common decency to thank her. Nope. The scantily clad “nurse” flipped her off, even as she stumbled onto the sidewalk.
Halloween, drunken humans, and annoyed hunters do not mix.
As the rust of the day's end faded from the horizon, a familiar tickle run up her spine, alerting her that Hadrian was in the midst of breaking his daytime slumber. Ugh.At one point in her life, she would have been giddy and anxious for this moment. That instant that her heart did that little flutter thing and he would wake so she could finally be with him, as if the days were simply unbearable without him.
She shook the feeling away and focused on the crowds ahead. Ugh, I’m so over it. To hell with you, Hadrian.
Yeah, she wasn't that ridiculous young girl anymore.
As she revved her engine, Talia frowned at the familiar, arrogant voice that crept in her mind.
"Why are you resisting me? What is it I did this time?"
"I'm still not speaking to you. Why don't you find some loser to fascinate instead of trying to pester me into loving you again?"
“Is this about the other night? I told you. I can’t be involved with your slaying.” She tried to shake his voice out as she sped down Canal Street. Nope. Nope. Don’t care. Talia wished she could go back to the day he convinced her to bond with him and told him to take a hike. No matter how hard she tried, Hadrian was always able to reach her. If he wanted to now, he could simply mist to where she was if he chose to see her, or touch her. Young and apparently stupid, Talia found it undeniably intriguing and sexy for a vampire to not only be interested in her, but flat out willing to constantly seek her out. And when he didn't show, her naive heart would crumble to dust and leave her sulking for months. How in the hell that Bella character put up with this, she had no idea.
The groan from Hadrian’s voicewas so loud in her head. "Ouch. I think you stabbed one of my hearts just now."
"Good! One down, one to go!"
Hadrian sighed."Why do you make being with you so hard, Talia? Haven't I jumped through enough hoops for you?"
Talia stopped at a light to a screeching halt. "You jumped through hoops? You? What about me? How much have I given up for you, huh?"
In half a blink, a dark-haired man with skin the color of polished oak and a tall lean frame appeared in front of her at the stoplight. His bright orange eyes looked less than pleased. “Let’s not keep score.”
Talia’s initial shock immediately turned to annoyance. In true Hadrian fashion, he faded in front of her in the middle of a busy French Quarter intersection!
Super. Once again his lack of consideration knew no bounds.
"Are you high on witch brew, vamper? You don't just go poof onto a New Orleans intersection when you have a tizzy! She looked around to find a few people gawking, aiming their phones at them. “Great, now we’re gonna be on freakin’ Instagram! You satisfied?”
"I don't give a shit." He replied as people walked past him in awe, taking selfies. "It's New Orleans. Stranger things have happened. If you want to fight with me, at least do it to my face."
Her face softened for a moment.
He smiled. "You can't, can you?”
The light changed to green and Talia scoffed. “Meet me at the safehouse in five.” Before he could reply, Talia sped off, barely allowing him to step aside onto the sidewalk.
***
By the time Talia got inside the yellow shotgun house, a chill of wind blew through the room and Hadrian appeared in front of her. Standing there finally alone with her did something to his missing soul. So many things ran through his head. One was how All Hallows Eve had become his strange saving grace for seeing each other without too many eyes. Their forbidden connection was easier to mask amongst the chaos of Halloween and Devil’s Night.
Talia scoffed at him. “I hate when you look at me like that.”
He blinked. “Like what?”
She crossed her arms at her chest. “Like you’re deciding if I’m a meal or a miracle.”
Funny, that wasn’t quite on his mind. And yet…
“Just say what you gotta say and get out,” she continued.“I don’t wanna do this anymore. I want a normal SO who understands that action speaks louder than words! So, say your piece and leave. I have slaying to do…and you’re not on my list yet.”
The Fates warned him about falling for a human like Talia. Told him that eternal heartbreak would be more kind. But as he stood there looking at the honey-haired beauty that managed to steal his heart and awaken his soul, he wanted to call ‘bullshit’ on those old thread-plucking bitches. He rather spend eternity wooing her lifetime after lifetime, than spend it alone. He ran his fingers through his curly hair and sighed. He’d be lying if he didn’t say that each lifetime was a growing challenge. “There’s only one thing left to say, really.”
Hadrian rushed to her, pushing her hands away as he pressed her against the wall, pinning her wrists. Leaning in, his mouth covered hers hungrily, eager to taste that fire she always seemed to hold for him. Talia gasped for breath as Hadrian’s skillful tongue caressed against hers, igniting a need much more volatile than her contempt for their relationship. His lips were more persuasive than she cared to admit, but it didn’t matter. He released her hands and grabbed her face, kissing her fully as she rubbed her body against him. Talia finally pushed him back a few steps, panting against the wall. His lips moist and swollen, Hadrian stood before her with bright, intense eyes that echoed the desire within him.
Wiping the beads of sweat at her brow, she shook her head. “Why do I want you so badly? Why can’t I get over you every time you leave me? Even now, I can’t get past needing you. I hate it. You have to know I hate this fucking longing for you.”
Hadrian closed the space between them and pulled her close, pulling her body against him. “Because we belong together, Talia.” He tenderly adorned the hollow of her throat with gentle kisses that made her burn for more; she groaned in protest as he stopped. “There’s nothing I’ve ever wanted more than you. We’re bonded--through better, worse, hate, love, lust and heartbreak--I will always want you, Talia.” Hadrian picked her up into his arms. “And you will always want me. His last words were smothered on her lips, as Talia claimed them. She clung to him as he carried her towards the bedroom they only shared on this night. “Now come, let me remind you what it’s like to be loved by me.”
Book
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/embed/RSmH_nVg41w
Excerpt:
Tristan no sooner entered the foyer of his home when he heard the rustling of metal upstairs and bared his teeth to attack. His gun drawn from his holster, he snarled at the thought of someone invading sanctuary. Someone had the gall to invade his home after the shit I've been through today? His body tense, he leaped to the top of the stairs, checking around the hall until he focused on his bedroom door closed with light shining under from under it. His senses still buzzing from the alcohol, he paused to get his bearings, letting the adrenaline stomp down his buzz. Ready to eliminate the threat, Tristan kicked down his bedroom door. With his gun drawn, he froze as his eyes met with the stark, violet eyes of a woman on his bed.
His mouth gaped open as she pulled against the glowing chains that were shackled to her wrists and ankles, the metal brushing against the bare flesh of her stomach, and lace-covered breasts.
Her abundant auburn hair cascaded down her back as she struggled to get to her knees as she faced him. She was breath-taking among the black satin of his bed and Tristan's eyes lingered over her from the full pout of her lips all the way down to the lacy black triangle at the meeting of her thighs.
Okay...It isn't his birthday...and what was in that fucking drink?
Her scowling face was less than pleased at Tristan's ogling. She pulled against the chains with a loud clink that brought Tristan back to earth.
"Take this off of me now!" Her eyes were thin slits as she glared at him.
Tristan moved closer to her, looking around the room for anyone else that decided to drop in on him. The only anomaly there was the woman wearing nothing but strange chains and underwear on his bed. His gun still drawn and aimed at her, he finally responded. "Who the hell are you?
And why the hell are you here? I didn't order a blood-bag stripper."
Zoë sneered at him viciously. "I'm not a stripper, you asshole! Now turn me loose or I'll rip your heart out!" She barked out through gritted teeth.
Tristan gave her a smirk. "Woo hoo, strong talk for a woman who can't move three inches from where she is." He chambered a round in his gun. "Now I'll ask you once more. Who the hell are you?"
He paused as she suddenly took a deep breath and inhaled him and the air around him.
"Damn it," she cursed under her breath as she realized what he was. Her senses reeling, she desperately tried to focus on her lucidity as her body primed itself for the hunt. NO! Not until I find out why I'm here in this jerk's room, she pleaded with herself. Focus. Focus. But it was too late. He was so close now, so very tempting and her body would not listen to reason. It was the nature of her kind, and yet she despised herself for it.
Tristan tried to shake the cloudiness from his head as he stared at her. All he could think of was ripping that delicate fabric from her body and plunging deep into her, then sinking his fangs into her lush, radiant skin and sampling her life force. He moved closer to her as she leaned back against the bed, her ethereal eyes seductive and enchanting. Tristan stopped at the edge of the bed, nothing but the iron rail to stop him from moving even closer.
But something in the back of his mind urged that it wasn't right. The need to sate himself with her made him want to tear the heavens down just to have her. This maddening, clawing sense of urgency that was so hot, it threatened to burn away all sense of reasoning. Even his stopping against the railing made his body burn for her. An insatiable need to taste her, to take her, as some unknown force drove him to her like a rabbit in a snare. The feeling was so innate and primal, Tristan could eagerly walk through all the flames of hell just to taste her now. It was what some would call, pure insanity.
He lowered his gun.
She crooked a finger to him to come closer and he obeyed, moving to the side of the bed, finally dropping his gun to the floor. Reaching for him, she closed her mouth on his, pressing her body against him. Tristan growled at her bare olive flesh rubbing against the folds of his clothes. He could feel all of her now as if there were no clothing between them. It made his body rigid, and throbbing. Never had he wanted to be inside someone with every fiber of his lost soul with such a hunger. Her full lips plundered him, greedy and lustful. He was already painfully erect, pulling at his coat to remove it as her mouth assaulted him in the most sinful way possible.
Zoë, you have to get a grip. She called within herself, as her tongue darted into his mouth, brushing against his fangs. He had the metallic taste of blood on his tongue as if he just came from feeding. The ripple of his flesh beneath his clothes begged her to strip him to see all of the sinew he hid from her gaze. When his erection poked against her stomach, she groaned at the promise of it. Every molecule in her body was honed to seduce him. To take him and make him hers...
The bastard deserves to die. He had just fed, probably off a human. Kill him now!
She shook her head, trying to dismiss the huntress in her clawing to get out. If she let it take over, this vampire was as good as dead. If she would reject it, the enthrallment would tear her soul to pieces. But this was not a 'stake the vampire, ask questions later' kinda situation. He's the only one who could help her out of the chains and probably out of this mess she somehow found herself in. She hated to admit it, but she needed the stupid vamp.
Just a little more, then you can kill him. Bite him!
"NO!"
Hissing, Zoë broke away, pushing him away from her. "Get away damn you!" Tristan shook the haze from his head as he saw her writhe on the bed in pain. His bedroom suddenly filled with the tortured screams of the woman as she convulsed and shook on his bed. He started to reach for her, when he saw her back as she pressed her stomach against the bed, screaming. Then she collapsed.
He went cold at what he saw.
Tristan stepped back as he saw the elaborate tattoo on her back. Wings were so beautifully crafted, one would have sworn the black feathers on her bare skin were actually real. But he knew exactly what those wings represented.
Oh, fuck me!
They were the symbol of the clipped wings of the league of angels who chose to fall to protect mankind.
Vampires were never at the top of the food chain, as much as they'd like to think so. They also had slayers; stronger and more gifted than any Buffy or Van Helsing a human could conjure up in their fantasy world.
They, and they alone were the true rulers of the night.
Black Blood Slayers, demons that had the power to lure a vampire from miles away if they chose. They could draw anything without a soul and bend some of those creatures to their will.
The supreme angels of death to vampires and the lesser demons on earth. They were beautiful, cunning, and absolutely lethal. Vampires unfortunate enough to encounter one did not live to talk about the experience.
And here was one, right in his bed.
Yeah, the night just keeps getting better.
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