Category Archives: About my Romance Books

This week it’s chapter five of Heart of Darkness, my new vampire romance book. Aleksandr has had a revelation and is more determined than ever to win Elise, but will his plan only drive her further away from him?

Be sure to keep following these weekly posts in order to read the first six chapters of the book. You can find previous chapters under my Heart of Darkness label. Heart of Darkness is currently available in ebook from Amazon Kindle stores, my website, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBookstores, Smashwords and All Romance eBooks and in paperback from Amazon.com. It will soon be available in ebook at Sony Reader Store and Kobo Books too.

Felicity Heaton
A vampire prince on a four hundred year old mission to avenge his murdered sister…

Aleksandr Nemov won’t stop until the last of the vampire hunter’s progeny is wiped from the Earth. Each kill has stolen a piece of his humanity, pushing him towards the black abyss all vampires hold within their hearts. Now he is teetering on the edge, close to devolving into a beast, and time is running out as he tracks the last hunter to Prague. There he finds a beautiful woman who could be his one chance for salvation, but is it already too late for him?

A vampire guard who will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves…

Elise is dedicated to her duty. It’s the only thing she has left. All that changes when she meets Aleksandr in Prague and her master grants him permission to stay at her bloodline’s mansion. She knows all about Aleksandr but none of it prepares her for how she feels when the legendary prince’s hunt becomes one for her heart. Elise battles him with all of her strength but can she stop herself from falling for the handsome hunter? When he reveals the depth of the corruption in his soul, will she have the strength to face the pain in her past and do whatever it takes to save him?

ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 130000 words
rating: sultry
released: October 2011

Available in e-book from:
Author’s website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Heart%20of%20Darkness
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WK6E58/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005WK6E58/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heart-of-darkness-felicity-heaton/1106991833
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heartofdarkness-620972-139.html
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97624
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005WK6E58/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B005WK6E58/
Apple iBookstore USA: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore UK: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore Australia: http://itunes.apple.com/au/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore Canada: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/isbn9781466173286

Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1466452897/

Elise didn’t understand him.

Last night on the Charles Bridge, she’d had him figured out. Aleksandr was an egocentric womaniser. Then, he had become a different person entirely. In Ladislav’s private room, Aleksandr had shown no interest in the women and no pride in his legend.

When they had started talking about his past victories, she had thought he would revel in the attention and the glory of his kills. He had denied it all and had seemed uncomfortable about having to listen to it.

It didn’t make sense.

And then he had left abruptly. Ladislav had been almost as bewildered as she’d felt.

Everything about Aleksandr confused her.

And everywhere she went, people were talking about him. From the second floor where she and the higher ranked soldiers and families lived, right down to the basement where the servants worked. In every room she had entered tonight, his name had been on someone’s lips. It was driving her insane. Everyone was talking about why he had left his family and forsaken the throne, or telling tales of his victories, and each account was different. It seemed the only person who knew the true record of events was the one person who didn’t want to talk about them.

Aleksandr.

Then there were those in the house who were still talking about the ball and her dance with him.

It all combined to irk her. She would rather not hear his name wherever she went.

Was she the only person not completely diverted by his presence?

Her heart reminded her that she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him either.

Her head reasoned that it was because he kept forcing himself on her life and she couldn’t escape him.

Perhaps she could. Elise smiled as it came to her and went through the ballroom and out of the garden doors. The golden gravel crunched beneath her feet, quick noises that marked her pace. She didn’t head towards the garrison. Instead, she followed the lamp-lit path towards the stone stable block down from the west wing where Ladislav’s private reception room was.

She was off duty tonight and was going to use the time to get her head straight at last and get Aleksandr out of it.

The arched wooden gates to the stable block were open. She passed through, nodding a greeting to the stable-hands. The household kept around thirty horses, most of them owned by the highest ranked vampires of her bloodline. She had a horse though. It belonged to her mother.

The moment she neared its stall midway along the row to her left, the white mare stuck its head out of the open top half of the stable door. It whinnied and she smiled. It had been too long since she’d had time to ride.

Elise ran her hand down the horse’s cheek and patted it softly. It turned towards her, nudging her, and she giggled.

“Eager,” she whispered and stroked its nose, feeling more relaxed already. It looked at her with dark eyes, and she gently cupped its right ear, her mind wandering. “I hate hearing the way they talk about him… some of them adoring him while others fear him and speak vile rumours.”

The horse nudged her and she almost managed to smile again but the weight in her heart was too heavy now.

“What am I to do?” She kept her voice low so only her horse would hear her. The last thing she needed was stable-hands overhearing her and spreading what she had said to her horse around the mansion. “I’m not sure what to do. He wants me without a doubt, but… do I want him? He’s going to kill a hunter here and then he’ll be gone. What would I do then? I doubt he’s serious about me. It’s just a game, and I don’t want to play it.”

Elise sighed again and rested her cheek against the horse’s nose, holding it. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about Aleksandr. It was impossible.

“I can’t give in to him.”

The horse’s warm breath washed over her, carrying the scent of oats and hay.

If only she could talk to someone properly about her feelings. It felt good to voice her worries but her horse couldn’t offer her the advice she needed. She opened her eyes and drew away from it, idly stroking its nose. She couldn’t give in to Aleksandr. There was no future for them and she wasn’t going to enter into a doomed relationship, especially one where there were probably only feelings developing on one side.

Certainly, Aleksandr was pursuing her, and was doing so with more intent than a man had ever shown towards her, but it didn’t mean that he had feelings for her beyond lust.

She wasn’t interested in lust.

She had been there and done that, and no good had come of it.

And no good would come of this.

“You look as though you could use a ride.”
Elise’s gaze snapped to her right. Andrej stood there holding the reins of the black stallion he rode as a captain of the guard.

“I think we could both use some time away from the house.” He walked over to her, his horse’s steps echoing around the stable block. “Everyone appears to have gone insane.”

She smiled. She wasn’t the only one to have noticed the fever that had swept through the bloodline then.

Elise nodded. Riding with Andrej cleared her head. He was a good listener. She often spoke to him about her worries and he always found solutions for her. She wasn’t sure if there was a problem with Aleksandr though, or even a solution if the problem did exist. Besides, she had come out here so she didn’t have to think about him.

She led her white mare out of the stall, saddled and mounted it, and then headed out of the gates with Andrej riding at her side, towards the hill at the edge of the estate to the north, where they always rode.

Andrej kept pace beside her. Cold air bathed her skin and eased her tension. It was a beautiful night. Twinkling stars dotted the clear black sky and the moon was just past full, rising slowly from the horizon to light the world in blue hues, bright enough that she could see her surroundings clearly.

They slowed to a walk as they reached the foot of the hill.

“What do you know of Aleksandr?” Elise cursed herself for thinking about him again.

Andrej’s fair eyebrows knitted tight together and he stared at his black horse’s mane.

“I know little more than anyone.” He looked across at her. “You seemed bothered by his attentions.”

She shrugged easily but was bothered in her heart. Whenever she tried not to think about Aleksandr, she ended up with him on her mind. It was impossible to escape him.

“Last night, he didn’t seem very proud of his achievements. I can’t understand why not. He’s done a lot for our species and sacrificed a great deal. He should be proud.”

“Perhaps he is not that sort of man, Elise.” A hint of a smile tugged the corners of Andrej’s lips. “Some of us do not shout about our glories, while others will tell any who will listen.”

Elise smiled at his thinly veiled reference to himself. Andrej had never made a deal of anything he’d done. He had killed several hunters and always dismissed any praise it gained him.

“Do you think it noble of him to do what he has done?” Andrej’s tone turned serious and Elise looked across at him. He was watching her, his eyes dark in the low light. When he looked at her like that, he reminded her of Aleksandr.

She had always been good friends with Andrej. He was kind to her, almost affectionate, and there had been a time when she’d thought that he might like her as more than a friend, but he had never taken any steps to change their relationship, so she had decided that she had been wrong.

Elise remembered the way that Aleksandr had stared at Andrej last night with a promise of death in his grey eyes. Could she have been right after all and Andrej had feelings for her and Aleksandr had seen it?

Suddenly, being alone with Andrej felt as stifling as being around Aleksandr. She wanted to turn back to the house and go to her room where she could be alone and away from men.

“Well?” Andrej prompted.

“I do.” Her voice was a bare whisper. “I do think it’s noble of him to protect us and use himself as a weapon for peace. He risks his life for us, for his people. It must have taken a lot for him to give up everything. I couldn’t imagine being apart from my bloodline.”

Andrej’s expression soured. He looked away from her and geed on his horse as they neared the top of the moonlit hill.

Elise turned her attention to the mansion below, trying to distract herself from the cold atmosphere that had fallen between them. It had been wrong of her to talk about Aleksandr like that. If Andrej had feelings for her, it must have hurt him to hear her speak so highly of another man.

She tugged the reins to turn her horse around.

“Where are you going?” The strained edge to Andrej’s voice stopped her.

Elise battled her fear of seeing affection or desire in his eyes and looked back at him. “I just remembered I have some things to do.”

He didn’t say anything in response to her lie. His eyes remained fixed on hers and then he stared past her, towards the stables. Her stomach twisted. She wanted to bolt down the hill and keep riding to escape the madness that had fallen over the house since Aleksandr’s arrival. She hadn’t meant to upset Andrej by wanting to leave. She wished he would speak.

“You will have to wait a moment now.” Andrej pointed. “We have company and it would be rude to leave.”

Elise looked over her shoulder and frowned at the approaching riders. Five of them all on black steeds that blended into the darkness. Three of them were women, judging by their shape.

The other two were Ladislav and Aleksandr.

The still night air carried the sound of the women’s laughter. They rode closer to Aleksandr as the group approached, their eyes only for him, flattering him with their smiles. Elise clenched the reins and gritted her teeth. She couldn’t have looked more different to them. They wore fine dresses and coats with their hair tumbling down around their shoulders, and had their faces made up. They rode side-saddle, as ladies should, and affected an air of delicacy.

Elise wore a man’s uniform and sat on her horse like one. She had her long brown hair drawn back into a neat ponytail and no trace of make-up touched her face.

She had never cared before, so why now?

Aleksandr smiled and said something to the ladies. They giggled on cue.

Elise didn’t want to consider why the sight of Aleksandr showing attention to the ladies upset her. She had no right to think about Aleksandr and she was certain he didn’t see her as anything but a potential conquest, just as he saw these ladies.

They rode closer.

Elise went to turn her horse away but Andrej grabbed the reins.

“You must wait until they pass,” he said and she had the terrible feeling he was enjoying watching her suffer over Aleksandr. “Show some respect.”

Andrej wanted her to see that Aleksandr had no feelings for her, and that she was nothing to him. It hurt to remain. She had come here for clarity and she had it. A part of her had enjoyed Aleksandr’s attention, had started to seek and welcome it. She crushed that part of her, intent on facing reality. She was a guard, one of the lowest ranks of the bloodline, and had no right to seek a noble vampire’s attention.

Andrej saluted. Elise followed suit, keeping her eyes on the horizon so she didn’t have to witness the way the ladies flirted with Aleksandr.

The group stopped and the chill atmosphere that had settled between her and Andrej changed. It darkened and the air thickened, just as it had done last night when Aleksandr had been staring at Andrej. It was a dark power that whispered insidious things to her, crawled over her skin and into her heart. She wouldn’t look and see it in Aleksandr’s eyes. She didn’t want to.

“What are you doing out riding, Captain Andrej?” Ladislav’s voice was light in the darkness, full of amusement. He was enjoying Aleksandr’s company.

The two of them had probably already bedded the women that accompanied them.

Her own sense of darkness opened in her heart and she dropped her gaze. She stroked her horse’s mane, seeking comfort.

“It was a beautiful night for a ride, Master, and we are off duty,” Andrej said.

“And do you often ride together?” Aleksandr’s voice was pure malevolence.

Elise said nothing. She pushed her fingers through the long flaxy hair of her horse’s mane, shutting the world out.

“We sometimes do when we are off duty, or walk the grounds. It is a peaceful way to pass the night.” Andrej’s tone had picked up a sharp edge.

“I see.” The ice behind those two words chilled her skin and the tension in the air worsened.

She could almost feel Andrej and Aleksandr glaring at each other, and she wanted to slink away and hide from both of them.

Without another word, Aleksandr rode on and the group followed him. Elise emerged, finding the courage to look at his back as he rode away, ahead of the others now, no longer a part of the group.

Andrej sighed. “It will be a shame to lose our quiet nights like this.”

Elise immediately faced him. “What?”

Was he leaving or would Aleksandr use his power over Ladislav to stop them somehow?

Andrej stared into the distance after Aleksandr. “I am losing you to that man. You will be a part of his guard for a full month.”

Elise’s jaw dropped.

Aleksandr’s guard?

“I hadn’t heard.” She glared at his retreating back.

“It is not official yet, but he has requested a guard detail and you specifically.”

Elise couldn’t believe his audacity. A desire to ride after him and give him hell speared through her but she bit her tongue instead. She had to follow orders and it was an honour to serve such a highly ranked vampire, but she wasn’t about to let him walk all over her, and she certainly wasn’t going to give in to him.

Her ride tonight had served its purpose. Her head was straight now, and she had found her resolve.

Aleksandr could chase her all he wanted.

She wouldn’t give in to him, and it wasn’t because she wanted to be more than just a conquest or because she felt unworthy of the attention of someone of his rank.

It was because a man like Aleksandr didn’t know how to love.

And she would only fall for a man who loved her.

Available in e-book from:
Author’s website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Heart%20of%20Darkness
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WK6E58/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005WK6E58/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heart-of-darkness-felicity-heaton/1106991833
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heartofdarkness-620972-139.html
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97624
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005WK6E58/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B005WK6E58/
Apple iBookstore USA: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore UK: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore Australia: http://itunes.apple.com/au/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore Canada: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/isbn9781466173286

Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1466452897/

It’s time for chapter four of Heart of Darkness, my new vampire romance book. Elise’s will to resist Aleksandr’s advances is beginning to crumble a little but she’s still standing firm, determined not to let the powerful vampire prince capture her.

Be sure to keep following these weekly posts in order to read the first six chapters of the book. You can find previous chapters under my Heart of Darkness label. Heart of Darkness is currently available in ebook from Amazon Kindle stores, my website, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBookstores, Smashwords and All Romance eBooks and in paperback from Amazon.com. It will soon be available in ebook at Sony Reader Store and Kobo Books too.

Felicity Heaton
A vampire prince on a four hundred year old mission to avenge his murdered sister…

Aleksandr Nemov won’t stop until the last of the vampire hunter’s progeny is wiped from the Earth. Each kill has stolen a piece of his humanity, pushing him towards the black abyss all vampires hold within their hearts. Now he is teetering on the edge, close to devolving into a beast, and time is running out as he tracks the last hunter to Prague. There he finds a beautiful woman who could be his one chance for salvation, but is it already too late for him?

A vampire guard who will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves…

Elise is dedicated to her duty. It’s the only thing she has left. All that changes when she meets Aleksandr in Prague and her master grants him permission to stay at her bloodline’s mansion. She knows all about Aleksandr but none of it prepares her for how she feels when the legendary prince’s hunt becomes one for her heart. Elise battles him with all of her strength but can she stop herself from falling for the handsome hunter? When he reveals the depth of the corruption in his soul, will she have the strength to face the pain in her past and do whatever it takes to save him?

ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 130000 words
rating: sultry
released: October 2011

Available in e-book from:
Author’s website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Heart%20of%20Darkness
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WK6E58/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005WK6E58/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heart-of-darkness-felicity-heaton/1106991833
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heartofdarkness-620972-139.html
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97624
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005WK6E58/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B005WK6E58/
Apple iBookstore USA: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore UK: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore Australia: http://itunes.apple.com/au/book/isbn9781466173286
Apple iBookstore Canada: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/isbn9781466173286

Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1466452897/

Aleksandr sighed and watched Elise leave, loving the intent strut she had. She was beautiful.

Their dance last night had fallen far short of his expectations. Her refusal had vexed him but then he had seen it as a challenge. He had never been one to back down from a challenge and the one Elise had issued had only sweetened the fight to get her into his arms. The reward for his persistence had been nowhere near satisfactory. While she hadn’t been afraid of him, she had hardly been compliant. She had stared at her feet so much that he had wished he had chosen only to speak with her instead so he could have seen her beautiful face. As he had tonight. The moment he had awoken this evening, he had decided to ask her commander to order her to show him the city. He was more satisfied with the outcome this time but he still wasn’t content.

And something told him it wasn’t her refusal that had left the hollow feeling inside him.

Elise had been polite, blushing at all the right times, her beauty beguiling him and bringing out the full extent of his charm. It was a skill and repertoire long forgotten to him, used centuries ago at court on the women there and not since then.

The way she had looked at him from time to time, the flash of desire that had been in her blue eyes, had increased her beauty and his lust for her.

He had thought she would give in to him, but she had resisted again, escaping his embrace and walking away. He wasn’t a stranger to refusal. Women had occasionally rejected his advances, and he had always moved on with ease, unbothered by it.

Not with Elise though.

Her refusal only made his hunger for her burn hotter.

She disappeared from view and he followed her. He couldn’t let her out of his sight in the city, not when there were hunters present. She would be in danger.

Aleksandr frowned and studied the foreign feeling that had compelled him to go after Elise.

He had felt this before, centuries ago, for his sister.

He wanted to protect her.

The desire was so strong that it controlled him, ordering him to go to Elise and walk close beside her, not letting her out of arm’s reach in case someone attacked them. He had to see her safely back to the mansion and her kin. It had been wrong of him to bring her out into the city and expose her to danger.

He kept his distance instead and considered his feelings.

There was something about Elise and the way he yearned for her. He’d never wanted a woman like this, enough to chase her so doggedly and definitely never enough to want to protect them from harm. He ran a hand over his dark hair, fingers tangling in the longer lengths on top, and settled it on the nape of his neck. Elise was different. She had awoken something new in him—a fierce desire to protect her, and desperate need to possess her.

Since meeting her, he had thought only of her. She had stolen sleep from him, replacing it with movies of her in his head that relived every moment they had spent together. When sleep had eventually come, she had been in his dreams, beautiful and pliant, satisfying his every whim.

Aleksandr craved her.

She led him through the streets and he was a slave to following her, needing to be near so he knew she was safe. Whenever she turned a corner, he quickened his pace so he could see her again, and then dropped back and allowed her to move on ahead.

Aleksandr couldn’t get enough of her.

It was everything about her. It was her stubbornness and how she resisted him, it was the fact she didn’t fear him, and the open way she spoke to him when her guard slipped.

It was how she looked at him with smouldering eyes.

Elise was beautiful, sensual, alluring. He wanted her and he wouldn’t give in until he had won her. The hunt wasn’t over. It was only getting more interesting.

She would be in his arms soon enough.

She passed through the gate of the mansion, storming along the gravel drive towards the house. Aleksandr strode faster, until he was close behind her again, knowing that if she was seen entering the house with him trailing behind her that she would be in trouble for not protecting him.

Protecting him.

He would protect her from anything. She didn’t need to protect him.

Aleksandr entered the house beside her. Ladislav was coming down the broad mahogany staircase in the classical cream entrance hall. The younger vampire paused and smiled. The three women behind him stopped too, twittering and blushing on cue. They caressed Ladislav’s slight shoulders, smoothing the fine material of his black suit jacket. Ladislav wasn’t a large man, nowhere close to Aleksandr’s build. He was wiry and slender, and not handsome by anyone’s standards, but power made a man beautiful and alluring to the females of society hoping to gain a new, higher rank.

The women looked his way and then to his right, their charming smiles faltering as their eyes fell on Elise.
“Mission complete, Master. I will report to Commander Piotr,” she said and Aleksandr held his frown inside. He didn’t want her to leave. Not yet.

“Aleksandr, will you do me the honour of joining me?” Ladislav said, as though Elise hadn’t even spoken.

Aleksandr gritted his teeth against the desire to put Ladislav in his place for ignoring Elise and nodded. “Of course. The night is still young.”

“Elise, with us.” Ladislav waved his hand to her and continued down the stairs. He didn’t even look at her. He beckoned her as though she was a dog.

Aleksandr glanced at her to see if Ladislav’s treatment had bothered her. She was still dutifully bowing to her master. She was a guard. How often had his family treated their guards no differently? It was only now that he knew one that he saw how wrong it was.

He followed Ladislav down the gallery, gradually reining in his anger and reasoning with himself. It wasn’t his place to interfere. Even if it wasn’t, it left him in a foul mood and with little desire to amuse a male half his age.

When they passed through the red-walled reception room, the vampires there stood and bowed. Aleksandr ignored them and trudged on, weary of the attention when he had grown used to being alone. Perhaps he should have declined Ladislav’s desire to entertain him. Elise’s refusal had left him in a worse mood than he had realised. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She was trailing behind him now, her gaze downcast and expression solemn. Something was troubling her.

It was probably him.

Her refusal had seemed genuine. Perhaps she didn’t like him. It was another strange thing for him to come to terms with. Whenever he entered society, all of the women clamoured for his attention. Elise shirked it and tried to escape him. At first, he had put it down to shyness, and then to her loyalty to her duty, but now he couldn’t find an adequate reason.

Except she didn’t like him.

And he refused to believe that.

The way she avoided his eyes, the way she blushed, it all said that she enjoyed his attention to some degree.

They entered the dark green reception room and Elise dropped back. Ladislav escorted his three young women and positioned two either side of him on the green couch that stood with its back to the door, and motioned for the remaining female to sit on the one opposite.

“Join us.” Ladislav grinned. “They are most amiable.”

Aleksandr seated himself far from the woman on his couch.

“Andrej, I didn’t realise you would be here too,” Elise said and Aleksandr’s attention was immediately with her.

A fair-haired male guard smiled at her. He shut the double doors and Elise moved closer to him. Aleksandr stared at him, his eyes slowly narrowing with his increasing frown. Elise had been with him last night, guarding the exit to the garden. A fellow officer, or more than that?

The doors opened again and an older man entered, came over to Ladislav and spoke to him in a low voice. Ladislav conversed with him, a scowl on his face the whole time. From the looks of the man, Aleksandr guessed that he was an aide to the master of the house, and had infinitely more sense and breeding than his lord.

Aleksandr busied himself with assessing his surroundings while he waited. Oil paintings of the bloodline’s previous rulers adorned the green walls. He had seen similar paintings in the red reception room and gallery.

The fire crackled and popped, throwing sparks out onto the marble surround. He stared at it for a moment and then his gaze wandered on to the white sash windows on either side of the fireplace. Two windows with a set of French doors between them lined the wall opposite and revealed the horseshoe-shaped courtyard. He tried to make out the shape formed by the neatly clipped low hedge in its centre but it was impossible to discern from this angle and under the pale light from the lamps at each corner.

With nothing else to entertain his eye and distract him, Aleksandr’s gaze moved back to the one thing guaranteed to bring him pleasure. Elise was deep in conversation with the guard she had called Andrej. What were they talking about in such quiet voices? Aleksandr focused on the pair, intent on blocking out every other sound in the room so he could hear what they were saying to each other. His senses sharpened but dulled again when the door closed, signalling the departure of Ladislav’s aide. Aleksandr reluctantly switched his focus to the young master of the bloodline.

Ladislav’s smile was back in place, as though the interruption had never occurred. How much responsibility did Ladislav place on his aides? Judging by how focused on pleasure Ladislav was, the aides were probably running the bloodline for him.

“Pour us some blood.” Ladislav didn’t even look at Elise. He merely waved his hand again. Beckoned her. Aleksandr frowned, riled by her poor treatment and the fact that Ladislav hadn’t even used her name this time. This man had no breeding. He treated a guard as though she was a servant.

The shock on Elise’s face faded and she humbly walked over to the round table beside the third, empty, couch facing the fire. She turned over five of the crystal goblets on the silver tray so they were the right way up, picked up a metal canister of blood, and then carefully poured an amount into each glass.

Ladislav and the females didn’t even acknowledge her when she handed them their blood. The sight of her so degraded sickened Aleksandr, twisting his stomach into knots that tightened with each second that he had to watch her being humiliated by her master. A dark hunger to stand, grasp Ladislav by his scrawny neck and throttle some sense into him threatened to seize control. Aleksandr drew a slow steadying breath and held the urge at bay. Barely.

Elise picked up the last goblet and came to him.

Aleksandr sat forwards and took it from her, slowly brushing her fingers with his as he did so and holding her gaze.

“Thank you, Elise,” he said in a quiet voice destined only for her ears. Her blue eyes brightened, as though his show of appreciation had pleased her and given her task meaning.

“Come, tell us your tales.” Ladislav leaned back into the green velvet couch. He sipped his blood and then handed it to the woman on his right. She placed it down on the round table for him. Ladislav settled his arms around the shoulders of the two brunettes.

Aleksandr wasn’t in the mood. He toyed with his glass of blood, looking at it. He had no interest in stored blood, even if it was fresh. How sweet would Elise taste? She smelled divine, intoxicating, and he would give anything to have a sip of her blood.

“What do you know of me?” he said to the blonde woman beside him. She giggled and blushed, and every simpering action she made increased his desire to leave.

Only Elise had him remaining.

“I heard you killed five hunters at once… once.” The woman beamed at him.

Aleksandr forced a smile. She couldn’t even speak correctly. Ladislav obviously wasn’t after these women for their intellect. He couldn’t judge the man for that though. Back at the palace, he had pursued women purely for their beauty and their bodies. Things changed though, and sometimes it happened without warning, altering your world and carrying you along a path towards a future you hadn’t anticipated. He had survived such a change and it had transformed him. He wanted more than external beauty now. He wanted a woman who was intelligent, strong, shared interests with him, and was the most beautiful he had ever seen because of it.

He wanted Elise.

His gaze crept to her. She was still talking to that man.

“I did, although it was a difficult battle and nowhere near as easy as they painted it. The fight was long, tiring, and almost cost me my life.” That night had been one of the most frightening of his life. Society’s papers had made it sound as though he had butchered the hunters swiftly and survived without a scratch. Their media was as twisted as the human one was.

“And I heard that you have killed almost six hunters a month since you began your crusade four centuries ago,” Ladislav said with a warm note of amusement that reached his hazel eyes.

Crusade? Aleksandr laughed and waved him away. His mission was a vendetta, not a crusade. “Nowhere near that. Perhaps one or two if I am lucky. I spend most of my time tracking or travelling to find the hunters who are most dangerous to our kind. Maybe in the beginning I killed more, but there are less of them these days. We live in fortunate times.”

“Thanks to you and your family of course. The Nemov line rules us well and gives us this great time of peace.”

“I am no part of that line or their cause. Any progression they make with bringing our species rest and humanity is all of their own doing. Do not associate my name with theirs. I wish it did not belong to me.” Aleksandr swallowed and dropped his gaze to his lap, studying his knees and struggling with his feelings.

This was why he avoided society. No matter how often he asked, it always called him a prince, and it always called him a Nemov. He had nothing to do with his family now. Couldn’t they see that? He had broken with them to keep their name clean of the blood he spilled. If society insisted on associating him with his family, the blood of his victims would tarnish it and their cause would falter. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

Aleksandr frowned when someone focused on him and raised his head to find Elise looking his way. There was a touch of concern about her expression, her dark eyebrows drawn together, narrowing her beautiful blue eyes.

He managed a brief smile and leaned back into the couch, shoving away the pain that blazed within him whenever he thought of his family and the things he had done.

“You fight only the most dangerous hunters, which means you must be very strong and very brave,” the woman to the right of Ladislav said, her dark eyes wide and innocent.

Aleksandr forced a short laugh. “Or very stupid.”

She giggled. Elise frowned and turned away, back to Andrej.

“It must be grand to travel the world hunting for humans.” The female on the other side of Ladislav smiled at him, fluttering her long dark lashes.

“Elise saw how grand it was when we first met. There is nothing good in what I do.” He wished with all of his heart that they would stop talking about him. Idle conversation he could handle, talk of bloodlines and politics, anything other than this. It dragged the past up from the black abyss, renewing the pain in his heart and the chill in his blood that he suffered with each hunt.

“Elise?” the women said, as though they didn’t know the name.

His gaze shifted back to Elise. Her eyes met his and warmth chased the cold away, lightening his insides and relieving the ache there.

He needed her. It went beyond a desire to have her to a deep need for her. He wanted her to come to him, to nestle in his arms with her head against his chest and soothe him.

Her expression changed, revealing fragility that caused a fierce desire to protect her to flash through him. In that moment, Aleksandr realised that if he said the right words or did the right thing, she would find shelter in his embrace just as he desired. But her look also told him that if he did something wrong, he would break her.

Aleksandr didn’t want to break her spirits in his attempts to win her.

She nibbled her lip, glanced away and then back at him. Her eyes darkened with desire, revealing that a passionate woman hid beneath her strong exterior and her uniform. A promise of things to come if he succeeded.

It only strengthened his desire to win.

“There is nothing glorious about hunting.” He held her gaze to see how she would react.

She had seen the body of the hunter. How would she react if she saw him fight and kill, not just stumbled upon the aftermath? Or if he told her the number of hunters he had killed and that he feared he was losing the remains of his humanity? Would she run from him again or would she come to him and soothe him?

He slid his gaze back to meet Ladislav’s. “Your city is a meeting point. A convergence of hunters will happen here, and one I am looking for may be amongst them. I will have to impose on you a little longer, and perhaps I could be granted larger quarters?”

The young fair-haired vampire smiled and nodded. “Whatever you desire, you will receive.”

Aleksandr would have been a happy man had those words been true. What he desired did not desire him and he was not going to get her without a fight. He needed to think of a way to keep her around him. Given time, he could break down her defences.

“I have not been very talkative this evening. Allow me to apologise and make up for it. You are probably aware that I have not been heard of in some time.”

“It has likely been a year.” Ladislav pulled his two women closer. They fawned over him, stroking the chest of his black suit jacket and sliding their hands beneath to the black shirt. “Where have you been?”

“I have not been in contact with society. I prefer not to involve you all. I was hunting someone across Russia and into Europe, and have strong reason to believe that he will come here.”

“Is this hunter dangerous?”

“We have almost killed each other many times over the past two decades.” Aleksandr preferred not to remember those times too. No other hunter had come so close to killing him so often. The man was strong and skilled. The original hunter in their line, the first he had eradicated, was nothing compared with this one.

Ladislav looked uneasy.

“You and your kin will be safe. I will not allow the hunter to interfere with your bloodline and he is exclusive about his hunt. He will only come for me.” His words didn’t seem to relieve Ladislav at all. The shine of fear in his eyes increased, even when he smiled. Aleksandr returned it, hoping to reassure him.

“How do you know he is coming to Prague?” Ladislav moved out from the arms of the women, pushing them away, and leaned forwards.

“Anyone can see it in our newspapers. The deaths of our top guards and hunters, anywhere an incision was made on the throat and blood was taken, all belong to the hunter. It is not another vampire searching for food. It is this man leaving me a trail to follow.” Aleksandr scanned the room for a copy of the paper but found none, not even on the dark desk in the corner. “I have been tracking him, and I am sure I can defeat him this time. I will need quarters away from the others, at the rear of the building if possible.”

“There is a reception room and bedroom in the guest quarters, over the ballroom. They have not been used in some time but they will be your private rooms now, for however long you may need them. If you need anything else, any form of assistance, you may speak with myself or Commander Piotr.”

Aleksandr nodded his appreciation and then looked at Elise. Could he request her presence in his bed each day?

He frowned when she laughed with Andrej. She was terribly familiar with him and Aleksandr didn’t like it. How could she smile and laugh with Andrej but look at himself as though he was filth? What did this man have that he did not?

His social skills were tarnished but he could fix those. As soon as he had caught up with the changes in society, she would see that he was a man worthy of her attention.

Unlike this man. Andrej.

Vast darkness bled into Aleksandr’s soul, tainting it and forcing out any light that remained. The black emptiness consumed him, fed by the twisting spears of emotion that stabbed his gut as he watched Elise with Andrej. It awakened a desire to hurt the man, to tear him away and demand to know his intentions towards the woman he had chosen to be his. He wanted to butcher him for even looking at her.

Jealousy was an ugly emotion.

Andrej frowned at Aleksandr as though he had sensed his intent.

A heartbeat later, Elise glanced over her shoulder at him.

Aleksandr averted his eyes, fixing them on the garden, and fought for control over his feelings. They were dangerous, whispering commands that he was close to obeying. The darkness grew inside him, until he felt cold and hungry. It gnawed at his insides, coaxing him into surrendering to his instincts and putting Andrej in his place.

He stood on the edge of the abyss, desperate to take a step back from the endless black beneath his feet. He couldn’t damage relations with the bloodline or Elise by murdering the man. He couldn’t lose control.

How could he have been so blind to the corruption in his soul?

He had denied its existence too long, had allowed the damage to grow to such an extent that he was now in danger of losing himself.

Aleksandr’s eyes sought Elise’s. He needed to look into them. He had been fighting the darkness when he had first met her and it had disappeared faster than usual. At the time, he hadn’t been sure whether it had been her or the danger of her attacking him that had driven it away.

She wouldn’t look at him.

Why?

If she did, he was certain this dreadful darkness would pass over, allowing the light of humanity back into his soul. He needed her to look at him. He needed her and it was about more than desire now.

An urge to extend his fangs burst through him. Aleksandr stood and walked swiftly towards the doors, struggling for control the whole time.

He felt her gaze on him, the warm touch of it on his profile as he passed her and then on his back. Why couldn’t she have looked at him when he had needed her to?

He couldn’t remain now.

He had to leave.

It was the only safe thing to do.

Available in e-book from:
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