Bloodlust

I turned as if in slow motion to see the vampire king in question step out of the shadows to my left, his pale gray gaze trained on me. My mouth fell open in shock. I couldn’t help but be stunned to see him again—alive and well and standing right in front of me.

After all, I’d been the one who’d killed him ...

PRAISE FOR THE PARANORMAL ROMANCES OF MICHELLE ROWEN

“I’ve been bitten and smitten by Michelle Rowen.”

—Sherrilyn Kenyon,
New York Times
bestselling author

“Michelle Rowen never disappoints! I love her work!”

—Gena Showalter,
New York Times
bestselling author

“Michelle Rowen’s books never fail to thrill.”

—
Bitten by Books

“Sassy and exhilarating . . . Epic and thrilling.”

—
Fresh Fiction

“Should leave readers breathless.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

Berkley Sensation Titles by Michelle Rowen

THE DEMON IN ME

SOMETHING WICKED

NIGHTSHADE

BLOODLUST

Anthologies

PRIMAL

(with Lora Leigh, Jory Strong, and Ava Gray)

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

BLOODLUST

A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / July 2011

Excerpt from
That Old Black Magic
by Michelle Rowen copyright © by Michelle Rouillard.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN : 978-1-101-51636-2

BERKLEY
^®SENSATION

Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
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^®SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to Eve Silver for beta-reading and loving Declan as much as I do. To my editor, Cindy Hwang, and my agent, Jim McCarthy, for continuing to make it possible for me to share my imagination with others. To my readers for being ridiculously awesome and embracing my new, darker world of vampires. To caffeine for being my drug of choice. And to my characters for letting me be very mean to them—not that they have much choice in the matter.

RAVENOUS
WAS THE PERFECT NAME FOR A PLACE LIKE this.

I’d arrived at the seedy North Hollywood bar a half hour ago. A friend had sent an email earlier today asking me to meet him here tonight at ten o’clock because he “had to talk to me about something very important.” So here I was—ready, willing, and able to talk.

But by ten thirty he still hadn’t shown. And I was getting worried.

Maybe he’s dead
, a little voice in my head whispered.

My chest tightened at the thought. No, he was too smart. Too wily. Too young and cocky. I refused to allow myself to believe he’d let himself get killed. Tonight he could possibly have the information that would help get my life back to normal.

Where are you, Noah?

My attention shifted to a blond guy in a leather duster approaching the far left of the small dance floor. A heavy metal tune had begun to blare through the speakers, making it difficult to concentrate. Even in the dim light of the club, his skin was so pale it seemed to faintly glow, easily making him stand out from the rest of the crowd. He scanned the few dancers, coming to rest on a petite redhead wearing a micro-short leather skirt.

When he smiled I saw the subtle glint of fangs beneath his upper lip.

She noticed him looking and smiled back at him, thrusting her ample chest forward—the universal easy-girl’s signal for “Come and get me, bad boy.”

The girl had no idea this bad boy was a vampire.

“For fuck’s sake,” I said under my breath. “Don’t be so stupid.”

Two weeks ago I thought vampires didn’t exist. But they do. There were those who preferred to keep their distance from humans, but others like this one, well . . . they were just really hungry.

The redhead was going to die.

I wasn’t psychic. I had no special supernatural powers, no superstrength, no otherworldly abilities—but I knew her fate. I saw it in the vampire’s pale gaze as he flicked a smug look at his friend, also standing at the edge of the dance floor.

A large part of me didn’t want to get involved. I had my own vast and varied problems to deal with. Plus, not to judge a book by its cover, but girls like this one, seemingly alone and vulnerable at this kind of dive, would likely find trouble sooner or later. If she couldn’t protect herself, if she had no one around to keep an eye on her, then I didn’t think her future was a bright one.

But it didn’t mean I was just going to let this monster make her his nightcap.

After another quick scan for the missing-in-action Noah, I slid off the tall stool and began weaving my way through the rough-looking crowd toward the exit. The vampire and the girl were now dancing together, if you could call it that. His hand closed on her ass under her short skirt, pulling them groin to groin as he pressed his lips to her throat. It looked sexy—kind of romantic, even—but I knew it wasn’t. Or it wouldn’t be for long.

I froze in place as a horrible thought occurred to me. He was going to bite her right in front of everyone.

I wanted to walk away, pretend I hadn’t seen the vampire, leave this club, and contact Noah another night, but I couldn’t do that. I’d never be accused of being a sweet and softhearted woman who wanted to help the helpless, but if there was a problem that was standing right in front of me and I might, possibly, be able to do something about it, then I had to. My conscience wouldn’t allow otherwise.

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