Vampire Lover Read Free Page A

that storm brewing, plus a heady aftertaste of secrets.
    Hayden’s fangs began to ache. His pulse quickened as he held himself back from a full-out assault on the Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
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    woman’s taut body. She remained motionless.
    Although she had a mouth like liquid desire, it didn’t respond to his. She didn’t pull away, but neither did she bend or cave to this sudden hedonistic act of seduction. Shock ran through her body in ripples. She didn’t breathe.
    Hayden touched her teeth with the tip of his tongue as her blood curled into him, spreading throughout his body with the poignancy of a fire alarm. The moment was exotic, dangerous. Her blood was an instant aphrodisiac, an addiction to one who hadn’t tasted the blood of a human since his awakening.
    One slight flex of his jaws now, and he could bite right through the flawless skin. If he did, though, he would become something he’d vowed he would never be.
    Darkness enclosed him as his urges raged. He knew that a multitude of people were close by, mere steps away. Still, he wanted other things from the woman who tasted of fire and sweetness, more than just her blood. He wanted it all, in that moment. All of her.
    Silver-clad neck to her black polished toes, and every moist, luscious space in between. Right here. Stretched out against this wall.
    If her mouth was this hot, he could only imagine what the rest of her had to offer. Unimaginable bliss.
    An inferno to slide himself into. Heat like hers was a turn-on, an inescapable draw for a creature unable to bask in the sunlight.
    Below his belt, he began to throb with need. His jaws tensed, desperate for more than a taste despite the warnings his brain was sending to stop such thoughts.

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    Vampire Lover
    He didn’t do this. He didn’t bite, hunt, maim or kill.
    Those actions belonged to others of his kind who were less civilized. To the undead.
    But as this woman’s presence pulled at his baser instincts, spears of confusion struck him. Need versus want. Want versus sanity and the protection of his kind. The only way vampires could exist was in complete anonymity. He could do nothing here, and was behaving badly.
    A sound reached him, bubbling up from the woman he had pinned to the wall. Hayden opened his eyes, dazed to find his fangs grazing her throat. A throat encircled by the stinging burn of silver.
    Seconds of silence followed, in which neither of them dared to react. Then the woman’s hands were on his chest, pushing.
    Hayden leaned back, separating himself from what should have been sheer bliss with a viable partner, if he were merely a man. The finding of a lover on a warm, lovely night, who had very nearly succeeded in compromising his vow of blood celibacy.
    Who is she?
    The question repeated as he inched away, seeing something with this slight distance that he had missed before. This woman’s aura was outlined in red, as if traced by a crayon. Her agitation swirled in the air between them like a live entity. Her eyes flashed green fire.
    These changes had been mercurial, and a warning that she might be much more than she seemed. The blonde looked normal, but wasn’t. Not completely. His uninvited advance had unlocked a clue about her true Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
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    nature, setting part of her inner chaos free. That chaos had a name as black as her toenail polish.
    "Slayer," Hayden whispered with distaste, just before she slapped him hard with her open hand.
    The monster had her by the neck, unaffected by her slap, moving with a frightening speed. His eyes bored into hers.
    She was up against the brick wall, held there by the brute strength of his arm. The situation had gotten real messy, real fast; a worst case scenario coming true.
    Her glass fell to the ground and shattered.
    Moonlight melted over this stranger’s features, highlighting his cheekbones, casting shadows. If he’d been a werewolf, he would have been toast by now.
    But then she had already realized what he wasn’t,