His Ruthless Bite | Historical Paranormal Romance: Vampires (Scandals With Bite Book 4) Read Free

raised an inquiring brow at the rogue.
    The vampire looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “Yes, m’lord?”
    “I received a letter from the Lord of Dover. Your name is Timothy and you were exiled for rape.” Gavin despised liars. And rapists.
    Timothy cringed and struggled once more in his chains. “M’lord, I can explain. I—”
    “I, Gavin Drake, Lord of Rochester sentence you to death.” He turned to his second. “My sword, please.”
    The rogue’s struggles increased, along with his piteous bleating, as Gavin lifted his ancient broadsword. “M’lord, please have mercy! I didn’t know! The woman teased me, she—”
    Gavin silenced him with a blade thrust through the heart. As Timothy’s eyes glazed with death, Gavin’s second and third in command unchained him so Gavin could behead the body. The remains would be placed in the rear courtyard to be destroyed by the sun before the human servants rose.
    “Has Cecil returned from his errand yet?” he asked as he cleaned the blood from his blade.
    Benson, his second, shook his head. “No, my lord.”
    “Send him to the Chattertons’ manor when he does.”
    “You’re going to that ball?”
    Gavin raised his gaze heavenward. “If I do not, they’ll come here and call on me, and I cannot have any interruptions for the next few nights.”
    Benson gave him a rueful smile. “Doubtless you’re right.”
    After taking a bath, Gavin changed into black breeches, a black tailcoat, and a claret waistcoat embroidered with jet. By the time he tied his cravat, his carriage was readied.
    When he arrived at the ball, Lady Chatterton did not greet him with censure for his tardiness as he’d hoped. Instead, she eyed him with avarice and prattled on about her daughter.
    Gavin gnashed his fangs in impatience as yet another blushing young girl was thrust in front of him.
    “My Lauren sings like a bird,” her mother crowed proudly. “You must attend our musicale this Wednesday and hear for yourself.”
    The tips of Lauren’s ears turned red as she curtsied. Gavin inclined his head and resisted the urge to glare at the mother. This girl looked to be still in the schoolroom. If she was anywhere near the age of majority, he’d eat his cravat.
    “It dismays me to say that I have another engagement.” Bowing, he turned away from the avaricious matchmaker only to walk headlong into another’s clutches.
    Lady Summerly gushed. “It is so good to see you, Darkwood. Have you heard that Jenny had her come-out this Season? We were so dismayed not to see you in London.”
    He bit back a sigh and stepped out into the gardens the moment he was able to extricate himself. It was happening again. Throughout his every incarnation as the Baron of Darkwood, his mortal peers inevitably took a vexing interest in his marital status— or lack thereof.
    Though he avoided the London Season like the plague, the summer country parties were impossible to escape without causing undue gossip. Unfortunately, he’d discovered over the last century that remaining a bachelor also prodded tongues to wag. After he’d had to fight a duel back in the 1735 for allegedly ruining some whey-faced debutante, Gavin knew that something had to be done.
    Gavin’s thoughts broke off as his preternatural senses detected the approach of one of his vampires. Moments later, Cecil appeared in the garden.
    “Lord Villar is delivering the vampire you requested tonight,” he said with a bow. “They should arrive in little more than two hours.”
    “Splendid. Now I have an excuse to make an early departure. Tell Jane and Benjamin to keep an eye on their progress and notify me if anything befalls the carriage, and then you are free to enjoy the rest of the night as you please.”
    The first time Lenore had come to Rochester, she’d been so weak she could barely walk, and rogues had been pursuing her.
    This time she’d arrive here safe, and in much better condition.
    “Yes, my lord.” Cecil bowed again and