Praise for Blood Ties
The first novella of the Vampire Ties Series
This story is well written, suspenseful and sexy. Deceit and danger stand in the way of love, trust and a desire that cannot be denied. Throw in hot, hot sex and blazing lust in the middle of the hell about to descend upon them and it makes for one savory read that will not disappoint in the least. Consider this one a must read.
Charissa, Coffee Time Romance
[A] hot-blooded vampire story jam-packed with passion and danger, Blood Ties starts out with a bang and will keep you on the edge of your set until the very end. Orion and Kira’s sexual encounters are hot enough to melt butter and you will definitely need a fire extinguisher to cool off. Readers will be fascinated by the amazing combination of sensuality and darkness within the plot.
Contessa, Fallen Angel Reviews
Broken Ties
by
Amelia Elias
Copyright 2006-2012 Amelia Elias
Smashwords Edition
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Chapter One
Hungry, horny, and pissed-off -- that pretty much summed up his mood tonight.
And now they brought him this little problem. Gregori scowled at the trembling Associate kneeling before him, briefly debating whether the enjoyment of seeing him burst into flames would be worth the trouble of training a replacement. He sighed and reluctantly decided against it.
It was a cliché, but good help truly was hard to find.
Not that this one was particularly valuable. Like all Associates, Barrett was human -- weak and flawed like all his kind, yet occasionally useful. He could feel the Associate’s emotions and took a moment to savor them -- fear, anxiety, and overriding it all was the thought that these might be his last moments.
And the pitiful creature just might be correct about that.
Gregori rested his elbows on his desk and laced his fingers together, never taking his eyes off the Associate. “Tell me again,” he said, his voice soft and gentle, “exactly why you think I should care about this… visitor.”
Barrett spoke in a rush, clearly hoping to defuse his boss’s ire. “She requests sanctuary from her sire. She promised that, were you to grant her an audience, she could persuade you to --”
Gregori waved a hand and the Associate fell silent. His anxiety cranked up to a delicious level. “So you take the word of a runaway fledgling and disturb me.”
Barrett swallowed audibly. “Forgive me, Master, but I thought --”
“Yes. Yes, you thought. I’d assumed your latest failure would have taught you the folly of that particular action.” He drummed his fingers on the desk blotter and ignored the Associate’s deep bow of contrition.
Hungry, horny, pissed-off… and bored. Perhaps this fledgling might be good for something after all.
“Very well, then,” Gregori said, sitting back abruptly. “Bring her to me, since you thought I’d be so interested. If she amuses me well, you will live to see another dawn. If not… well, you have served me adequately. I will allow you the honor of taking your own life.”
Barrett paled. “Y-yes, Master. Thank you.” He backed from the room and closed the door gently behind him.
Gregori stood and paced to the window as soon as the Associate was gone, barely seeing the nearly-full moon or the rainy street outside. Below him, almost imperceptible through the soundproofed walls of his office, the hard-pumping bass rhythms of Club Nighthawk drove mortals into an adrenalized frenzy. His vampires walked among them, enticing them into feasts of blood and sex, orgies of wild feeding the likes of which they hadn’t known since the height of Rome’s decadence.
Headquartering his Clan above -- and below -- Club Nighthawk had been a stroke of brilliance, if he did say so himself. In this part of Chicago, any mortal foolish enough to lose his head to drink and dance knew he took his life in his hands. The occasional missing mortal didn’t draw much attention from the authorities -- at least none that wouldn’t disappear with the right amount of cash. And the club itself, with its dim corners, loud music, and blood-colored lights, provided the perfect hunting ground.
The humans his Clan fed upon never knew what hit them.
Abruptly he drew the drapes and blocked out the street. The single candle he’d lit on the shelf behind his desk didn’t throw out much light, which was how he liked it. A step back brought his shoulder against the corner just as a hesitant knock sounded at the door.
He ignored it. Let the fledgling’s desperation grow.
A second knock, this time firmer. Gregori almost smiled. With his entirely deserved reputation, few vampires would knock twice at his door. Either this fledgling was stupid or brave.
A full ten breaths passed before he saw the door knob turn.
Entering a Clan Master’s domain uninvited? This wasn’t brave. It wasn’t even stupid, for any fledgling would’ve learned to respect an elder.
This… this was a death wish.
He watched her enter, her footsteps silent, and look around the room. Twice her gaze passed over him without pausing. He almost smiled. In this shadowed corner, his dark skin and black clothing were next to invisible to a fledgling’s eyes.
She took another step, further into his office. He let his gaze roam over her -- at his age, darkness was no obstacle at all. She was tall, this young one, with a cinnamon-tan that hadn’t yet begun to fade. The warm tone revealed just how newly made she was. Her hair was an unkempt mass of black curls. The candle’s flame reflected briefly in her green eyes as she scanned the room again. The loose blouse and jeans she wore couldn’t disguise the sweep of her hips or the full curve of her breasts.
“You know,” Gregori murmured, breaking the tense silence and enjoying how she jumped at the sound of his voice, “the human legend that vampires cannot enter unless invited has a basis in truth. It is very unwise to walk uninvited into my inner sanctum. None have yet survived it.” A breath of power slammed the door behind her.
His voice, dark and smooth, still held the promise of violence. He fully expected the fledgling to run screaming from the room.
His cock stirred a little at the thought. It would be fun to catch her.
But instead of running, she deliberately took a step further into the room. “You’re Gregori?”
He didn’t answer. It was bloody obvious who he was, and after a thousand years, small-talk had lost its charm.
She nodded once, as if his silence were all the confirmation she needed. “My name is Helene.”
“I really don’t care.”
“Don’t you want to know the name of the fledgling you’ll be sheltering?”
Her bravado made him chuckle. “I rarely name my dinner.”
She smiled and turned toward his voice. Her gaze was fixed a little past his left shoulder. “Come on, now. I’m not Little Red Riding Hood and you’re certainly not the Big Bad Wolf. You might have big teeth, but you won’t eat me.”
Gregori stepped out of the shadows, stalking her into the circle of light cast by the lone candle. She backed up until her butt hit his desk, but she never flinched. “Sunshine,” he growled, giving the nickname all the sarcasm it deserved, “you have no idea what I want. If I want to eat you, you’ll lie down on the table and wish me bon appetit. You became my property the moment you set foot through that door.”
“So that means you are offering me sanctuary.”
He couldn’t believe this fledgling’s nerve. Here he was, Master of the most powerful vampire Clan on the continent, formidable and rightly feared, and she was making demands of him? He should scare the life out of her for taking him so lightly… and he meant that literally.
But it had been a century and more since any female had held his gaze without fear. She had courage, he had to give her that, but courage was a quality he admired only when it served his purposes.
He stared at her a little longer, not blinking, waiting for fear to cloud those emerald eyes. When it didn’t, he leaned closer, invading her space, crowding her between his body and the desk. She was forced to lean back and the position bared her throat to him. Gregori bent and ran his tongue along her pulse, following with his fangs. The softness of her skin was a treat to be savored and he took his time, enjoying the jump of her heartbeat beneath his mouth and the impossible-to-hide scent of her arousal.
Oh, yes, this young one just might relieve his boredom for an hour or two.
“What I offer you,” he whispered against her skin, “is a chance to persuade me not to drink you dry and toss you out on your pretty ass. What’s in it for me, Sunshine?”
Chapter Two
Her breath caught as his lips caressed her skin. Good Lord, after all the horrible tales she’d heard about Gregori, she’d expected a monster, not this dark and sensual Adonis. Threats or not, this ancient vampire was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
He nipped her throat and a shiver raced down her spine. If she was ever to be free of the bitch who’d turned her, she had to convince the Nighthawks to let her stay. Unfortunately, the only card she held might be worthless. “I have information,” she gasped, trying to gather her wits. “I’ll trade information for sanctuary.”
Gambling her life on a rumor had seemed a lot more plausible twenty-four hours ago.
Gregori’s laugh was a dark and dangerous rumble. “Little girl, what could you possibly know that I haven’t learned ages ago?”
He pressed harder against her, bending her back over the desk and throwing her further off-balance. She shivered at the heat of his thick cock against her thigh. Tall as she was, few men had ever been able to physically dominate her like this. And never had that dominance made her this hot.
Her own sexual hunger rose and demanded more. What if she was going about this all wrong? What if the way to safety lay not in information but in a much more enjoyable pastime?
No. She had to stick with the plan. A vampire didn’t survive as long as Gregori had if he let his dick make the rules. Time to find out if she had any chance of survival. “I escaped from the Wolfbane Clan,” she said, trying to keep the tremor of arousal from her voice.
She was pretty sure she failed.
His weight shifted a moment before she heard him clear his desk with a sweep of his arm. The crash of something shattering on the floor didn’t seem to concern him at all. Helene reached for his shoulders as he forced her flat on her back atop the desk, but he captured her hands and pinned them above her head. She felt the buttons of her blouse sliding free one by one, even though he didn’t touch them, and shuddered with the intoxicating blend of danger and arousal radiating from the ancient vampire.
He nipped her lower lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood. “Keep talking, Sunshine. So far you haven’t convinced me you’re anything but dinner and entertainment.”
His reaction to the clan name wasn’t what she’d expected. Some of the fog cleared from Helene’s mind as alarm started to override desire. What if her information was wrong? If she was mistaken about Nora and Gregori’s past, she’d just signed her own death warrant by walking in here.
But she’d known she was taking her life in her hands from the start. The only thing to do was press on. “The Wolfbane Master has chosen a new mate. She mocks you for not doing the same.”
Gregori’s eyes flared red as he snarled. “I have killed vampires for less insult than that, fledgling,” he growled.
Despite his fury, relief rushed through her. He wouldn’t react this strongly if she was mistaken. “If you kill me, I won’t be able to deliver her mate to you,” Helene said, praying that she could indeed do what she promised. “I offer you the chance to wound her to the heart, and all I ask in exchange is safe haven. Do we have an accord?”
Gregori laughed. Not a good sign. “So,” he drawled, “a fledgling is going to give the Master’s mate to me. You’ll forgive my disbelief.”
“I can,” she insisted. The last button of her blouse fell open, distracting her, but she forced herself to concentrate. Her life depended on it. “I can get you or your hunters close. Inside his house, even. I can lure him out, to any place you choose. I --”
He released her wrists to cup her breasts, and the shock of the sudden caress stole her voice. “You promise much, little girl. Tell me how you plan to deliver this little miracle.”
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and shivered as the movement pressed her breasts more firmly against his palms. “I’ll tell you, after you swear to give me sanctuary.”
Suddenly she was staring up at the ceiling. He was gone. It took Helene a moment to gather her wits enough to sit up. Pulling her blouse closed, she took a shaking breath of mingled relief at the momentary reprieve and dread with uncertainty of what was coming next. If there was one thing Gregori’s reputation made abundantly clear, it was that letting down one’s guard in his presence was often fatal.
“I didn’t say you could dress.”
His voice behind her made her jump and spin around. Gregori reclined in his overstuffed leather desk chair, watching her like a hawk.
She lifted her chin, determined to hold onto her bravado. “I didn’t ask.”
The air abruptly vanished from the room. She gasped and clutched her throat, trying to get enough for a breath. Gregori watched her dispassionately as she struggled to breathe. Just when she was certain she’d pass out from lack of oxygen, the blockage in her throat vanished and sweet air rushed back into her lungs.
He sat back and laced his fingers over his stomach. “I’ve been unusually patient with you. Gentle, even. But now you try my patience, fledgling. Tell me what I want to hear or your time with me will come to an end.”
Helene shuddered, still sucking in deep breaths and lightheaded from lack of oxygen. No more dissembling, then. Surely once he heard what she had to say, he’d be honor-bound to help her. She’d have to give up her information without his promise or take it with her to her grave.
And that wasn’t an option, not after all she’d been through, everything she’d done to get here. Hoping she wouldn’t regret it, she spoke. “Nora’s new mate is my brother.”
His face betrayed no emotion, neither interest nor surprise. “And you’d sell him to me. Any particular reason?”
“He made Nora do this to me,” Helene said, waving a hand at her chest. “The vampire thing. He --”
She fell silent when Gregori abruptly sat forward. “Nora is your sire, then?” She nodded. Finally he smiled, baring his long fangs with brutal amusement. “Ahh, now this is worth my time. I’ll slay her mate and her offspring.”