Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (6 page)

Nothing about her dreams should surprise her, yet it continually did. She’d found lost pets. She’d been witness to those that were ill taking their last breaths. She’d seen more adultery that she could recount. But she never dreamt about herself, it was always others. Except for this one thing. This one man.

Why?

She blushed furiously, remembering what his corded, sinewy muscles felt like under her hands. How his skin tasted, masculine and salty, under her tongue as she ran it across his neck. His jaw. His lips. She touched her fingers lightly to her tingling lips as though she could feel his on hers.

Would the real version match the dream one? No doubt. Did she want to find out? Hell yes. Should she? God no. She already knew it would be far too easy to fall madly in love with him and she simply could not do that. He had unmistakable heat in his eyes, yes, but no one who looked like him would be satisfied with someone who looked like her for long. And then she’d be right back where she was a year ago when she’d caught John cheating.

Lonely.

Depressed.

Heartbroken.

She almost felt like she was having an out-of-body experience, floating twelve feet in the air, watching herself. This could not possibly be real. She didn’t
feel
real at the moment. She was just going through the movements.

She knew she wasn’t in any danger. What a crock. Did Dev really believe she was, or did he just want to get closer to her? He’d looked at her like she was the most decadent of desserts and he couldn’t wait to indulge. Just thinking of him made her heart race.

And the crazy thing was, against her better judgment, she’d
wanted
to agree. To be locked in a safe house with Devon Fallinsworth for two whole days? For the love, what woman wouldn’t want that? Only those who batted for the other team, because he was McDreamy and McSteamy, with a dash of McDanger all rolled into one delectable package. Walking out of that police station had been one of the hardest things she’d done in a very long time and wasn’t that just stupid?

He radiated danger. Yet strangely enough, she wasn’t afraid of him. Au contraire, she felt unbelievably safe with him…odd that. She had just met him, yet she felt like she’d known him all her life and if she
were
in any real danger, she’d unequivocally trust him to keep her safe. He was powerful, seductive, sexy…and formidable.

She’d not been attracted to, or even thought of, another man since John. Well…that wasn’t entirely true. She’d been attracted to Dev in her little fantasy world.

But he was real and life was not a dream. And what she needed to do was banish any thought of this man, because he was not long-term boyfriend or husband material; any fool could see that. He was a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy, of that she was sure. Panties probably fell off of women any time they got within one hundred feet of him. They were wet, at minimum. Hers certainly were. She’d had to change them once already today and she’d probably be changing them again when she went home.

In some ways, she wished she’d never met him. Now that she knew he was real flesh and blood, it would be harder to concentrate on anything
but
him. Her obsession with him before was steeped in fantasy, like that hot guy you see at the grocery store every other week that you wonder what it would be like to bang, but you know it will never happen. But in Dev’s case…it
could
happen. And that was a very bad place to go. It could leave the door open even the slightest crack that something
would
happen between them and she knew better than travel down that road again where the only thing that lay at the end is a deep pool of bitterness and despair.

And there was no real life scenario that she could dream of happily ever after, a white picket fence, and 2.5 kids with Devon Fallinsworth. That would be emotional suicide. She was so not going there again.

Kate had her life and her career neatly and precisely mapped out and it didn’t include a domineering dangerous man, no matter how much he made butterflies take flight in the pit of her stomach or how moist her core became simply by remembering the way he stared at her with molten hot eyes.

She needed to finish her dissertation, apply for professorship and begin her grant work to fund her archetypes and the collective unconscious study, so it didn’t matter anyway. She had no time for a boyfriend or a boy toy or even a fuck buddy. She’d probably never see him again anyway, so instead of dwelling she stuffed him back into the box of things that could never be and sealed that baby up tight with an entire roll of packing tape.

Kate pushed everything to the back of her mind as her students rolled into the classroom and got settled, focusing instead on one of her other passions. Teaching. This semester she was instructing a course on the Psychology of Human Sexuality. It was always well attended. Go figure.

“Good afternoon everyone. I hope you’re ready for a lively discussion on the subject for today’s class…understanding random hookups.”

After the clapping, whistling and whooping subsided, she started her lecture.

Ironic topic, because even though she tried not to, hooking up was all she could think of doing with Dev. Only he didn’t feel so random to her. Not by a long shot. And that possibility scared her more than anything else.

C
hapter 9

Dev

Dev was going out of his everlovin’ mind. He could not stand to be away from the one woman he’d waited so long for. This was absolute torture. He’d followed her all over the damn city. She went home first, then to the gas station, picked up dry cleaning, and finally went to Walgreen’s before she ended at the university campus to teach her class. Which he found out was the Psychology of Human Sexuality. Interesting. A grin curved the corners of his mouth. Very interesting indeed.

“How are you doing over there, boss?” Ren asked.

“Peachy. You?”

Not true. He wasn’t peachy at all. He was in hell. He’d been wracking his brain trying to figure out how he was going convince Kate to come with him. In all his wildest dreams, he never thought he’d have to woo his Moira, although that had been downright naïve. And he wasn’t exaggerating the danger she was in. She was a dreamwalker and now his Moira. That put her directly in harm’s way from any number of people who may want to get to Dev, including Xavier.

“Couldn’t be better.” Ren cleared his throat. “You know…I can arrange a security team to follow her. Watch over her. She’ll be protected. You can’t follow her around indefinitely.”

Ren had been restrained enough not to say anything about Dev’s out-of-character reaction to this woman. He knew it wouldn’t last. Ren was the only one with enough cojones to challenge him. Pissed him off sometimes, but that was why he trusted him implicitly.

Dev slowly turned his head toward Ren, with barely contained menace simmering underneath his skin.

“No one else will go near her. Do you understand?”

The thought of someone else, anybody else, watching her voluptuous body move, doing even the most mundane of tasks, nearly turned him feral. He’d better figure out a way to get her with him quickly or he could be a serious menace to all those around him.

A knowing, shocked look crossed Ren’s face. Dev could almost hear the gears click. “Holy shitballs. She’s your Moira. That’s the only reason you would be acting like some deranged lunatic, who isn’t taking his safety into consideration at all.”

Dev stared at Ren for several moments, tightly nodded once, daring his friend to say anything else.

Ren held his gaze. A genuine, full smile spread across his face as he slapped him on the back. “Well, I’ll be damned. Congratulations Dev.”

Finding a vampire’s Moira could take centuries. Some never found theirs and his hope at finding his one perfect match had been waning of late. Vampires were not made, contrary to popular belief. They could not be bitten and turned. That was simply preposterous. A fallacy. Vampires were born of a union between vampire and their bonded human female. And a vampire couldn’t bond with anybody except their Moira.

“Don’t congratulate me yet. I think the fair Ms. Martin is going to be a hard one to reel in.”

“You didn’t try to compel her, did you? You know you can’t compel your Moira.”

While vampires could compel humans, they couldn’t compel their Moira’s or other vampires. When he first laid eyes on Kate, he knew without a shadow of a doubt, she was his. Yes, he’d tried to compel her at the precinct, but only because he’d actually forgotten that one couldn’t compel his Moira. He could hardly contain his sheer joy at finally finding her.

“No, I could not compel her. I tried when she refused to go into protective custody.” He laughed. “I think she knew I was up to something because she gave me a funny look when I tried.” Yes, she was going to be a challenge. One he was very much looking forward to.

“Don’t worry, man. You can charm the panties off of any female, compulsion or not. I have no doubt you’ll have her with you within a matter of hours.”

Dev knew it would take more than that. The need to be inside her was visceral. He simply had to explore her body, feel her, taste her. He knew had to rein in this overwhelming need or he would send her running for the hills. Not that he wouldn’t follow, drag her back and lock her in his house. He would never let his Moira go. Strangely enough, though, he didn’t want to imprison her. He wanted her to
want
to be with him, to need him, to love him.

Ren glanced at his watch. “Her class should be just about over.”
 

“Thank Christ.” Hopefully she’d just go straight home. He had Thane posted at her house right now to ensure nothing was disturbed while she’d been gone. As soon as she was settled for the evening, however, he intended to pay his Moira a little visit.

And begin his covetous and relentless pursuit to win her.

C
hapter 10

Xavier

“You’d better have some good news for me, Marcus,” Xavier growled. He was tired of living like this. Tired of hiding. Goddamn Regent Lords. He couldn’t wait to slaughter each and every one of them. Personally. His hatred for them was so intense; he felt it burning through his gut every second of every single day. He was so close to his goal, he could taste it. Feel it in every cell of his body. Finally, after hundreds of years of experiments and preparation, he was on the brink of world domination.

“I do, my lord.” Marcus kept his eyes averted toward the floor. Marcus was a good slave. He was exceptionally brilliant and had been able to make the most progress in the drug that increased successful conception and live births of their vampire babies. His growing army.

“Get on with it, Marcus.”

“We took the most recently acquired female into the insemination room this morning, as blood tests showed she was ovulating.”

“I don’t need these mundane updates. Anything else of actual importance?”

“Ah, we lost another baby and female this morning. Another female likely won’t make it until tomorrow.

“Well, we can always get more. Anything else?”

“Nothing else my lord.”

Marcus looked deathly pale and he was breathing fast. The human was scared. He was always a sweaty mess when in his presence.

An evil grin ate up Xavier’s entire hideously fire-scarred face. Another memento, courtesy of those self-righteous lords. Another wrong to right. While vampires healed from most other grievous of wounds, they could not heal from fire. He would be forever disfigured. He wouldn’t allow mirrors anywhere in the compound, as he didn’t want a constant reminder that his looks were taken from him, in addition to his freedom. Where his looks once drew females like flies, now it repulsed them.

“That will be all.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Oh, and, Marcus…I’m quite hungry. Bring me a female.”

“Of course, my lord.” Marcus quickly fled the room.

C
hapter 11

Kate

Kate walked through the front door and straight to the kitchen. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, but she desperately needed a drink. Pouring a glass of Zinfandel from a half-empty bottle, she thought that simply might not cut it tonight. Within fifteen minutes, she was emptying the rest into her stemless glass. Sitting at the kitchen table in silence, she watched the bitter winter wind violently whip fluffy light snow around the yard. It looked like someone had shaken up a snow globe and she was reminded of the Beauty and the Beast one she had as a child. Goddamn Disney and the dream of happily ever after they push on young, impressionable girls.

So desperate for the mind numbing effects of the alcohol, she hadn’t even bothered to take off her boots and now there was a puddle of melted snow spreading out beneath her on the cold tile floor. But it didn’t matter, because she seemed to have a singular focus.

Try as she might, she simply could
not
stop thinking of Dev. Of his eyes or his smell or his touch. She was obsessing like a fifteen year old with her first real crush and it was just plain pissing her off. The only thing Kate was obsessed about was research.

Until now.

Until
him
.

Now she could think of nothing else. Maybe it had just been too long since she’d had sex and now her lady bits were begging to be used. And used hard. Maybe Erin was right and one amazing sweaty session of the wild thing was what she needed to get refocused. And maybe she was so full of shit that the whites of her eyes were turning brown.