Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) (3 page)

Ashleigh
turned her body toward Spencer, trying to keep up her attitude, even though she
was scared of him. "Maybe I should start the introductions before I make
this messier than it already is." Her fake smile wavered as she caught
Spencer’s livid expression. "This is Natalie Harm—"

"Enough
games." Before she could finish, Spencer grabbed her and held her tightly
to his chest. He held his hand over her mouth and didn't let her speak. "I’ll
find her on my own."

"Stop!"
Waving her hands in the air frantically, Natalie’s voice was loud and desperate.
"I’ll tell you where she is." Natalie couldn’t catch her breath, her
scared eyes glued on Spencer’s open jaw as he got ready to bite down on
Ashleigh’s neck. "I promise! Just don’t hurt her!"

Spencer
slowly closed his mouth and pulled back, but didn’t loosen his grip as he
glared at Natalie. "One more chance."

Holding
out her hand, Ashleigh shook in his arms. Her voice was low as she spoke, "Give
me my phone, and let me go."

Spencer
let go of her, Ashleigh quickly pulling away. She snatched her phone and sat in
the empty space next to Nathan. Spencer quickly turned to Natalie, motioning for
her cell. "Give me that."

Natalie
reluctantly gave him her phone, her fearful eyes glancing at Ashleigh.

Ashleigh
stealthily turned hers off and turned toward Nathan, placing both hands on her
knees. "What will you do when you find Victoria?" Her face was filled
with great annoyance, a sarcastic air to her voice. "She isn’t so great in
person, you know."

"
Mary
..." Natalie laughed nervously
as she held tightly to her purse and forced a very fake smile, speaking through
tightly clenched teeth. "Don’t you dare—"

"If
I tell you where she is, will you let me go home?" Ashleigh’s eyes settled
on Spencer’s. "You already know where to find us if she’s not there, and
without us you have no chance of meeting her." She glanced at Natalie. "If
you kill us, I assure you, she will not want to meet you at all. So let’s make
a deal."

Spencer
was glaring at her, but she tried not to let his viciousness make her words
falter. "You let us go tonight, and tomorrow we’ll meet you for lunch and
we’ll invite Victoria. I’ll even pretend I like you." Natalie sent
Ashleigh a dirty look, but Ashleigh wasn’t taking back her comment.

His
answer was firm. "No." Spencer wore a cocky smile as he scooted to
the edge of the seat, his knees hitting hers. "I don’t make deals."

"Fine."
Ashleigh let out an annoyed sigh. "Then at least give me a minute to speak
to Natalie in private, and we’ll see what we can do about finding Victoria. She
won't meet with you if she thinks something's up. I can't think when you're
looking at me like that.”

"Fine." Mimicking Ashleigh’s rude comment, Spencer wrinkled his
nose as a small hiss escaped his lips. "The boys are hungry anyway."

They
stopped at a local bar, and while they were gone, they allowed the girls to
talk in the empty limo. One of the men stood guard at the door so they couldn’t
escape.

"Even
though I hate to do it, I have to tell them who I am." Ashleigh fumbled through
her purse.

"Are
you sure?" Natalie was watching the man leaning up against the limo. He
was watching something going on near the entrance, but the girls couldn’t hear
or see anything so they didn’t pay much attention to it.

"Yeah."

"Okay."
Natalie sighed as she laid her head back against the seat. It was a nice
vehicle, and now that it was empty, she was checking it out for the first time.
"Let me see here." She got up and riffled through the mini fridge. "Want
a drink?" Her face filled with a smile as she opened the bottle of wine.

"Yeah."
Ashleigh jumped across the seat and sat next to Natalie. "I would love
one." Reaching over, she grabbed the bottle from Natalie’s hand and took a
big gulp. "Ick!" Closing her eyes, Ashleigh made a pretend gagging
face and shoved the wine back at her friend. "That’s some nasty stuff."

"I
like it." Natalie took a drink and tried to force a grin.

"Is
the real me really that much of a disappointment?" Ashleigh picked at her
pink fingernails, her thick, black curls falling over her cheeks and hiding her
face. "Spencer seems to think so. He probably won’t believe me if I tell
him the truth."

"Spencer?"
Natalie shook her head, a sweet sounding laugh escaping her lips. "Who
cares what he thinks?"

"You’re
right." Ashleigh sighed as she took another swig from the bottle that
Natalie passed her. "He’s a jerk, so it doesn’t matter what he thinks."
She handed the wine back then playfully tapped Natalie’s leg. "I’m going
to talk to him, so wish me luck." She opened the door, and the man
standing there quickly turned to her, "Hey, I need to talk to Spencer."

"He’ll
be back soon." The man pointed to the entrance of the bar. There was
someone lying on the ground. "Go back inside."

Ashleigh
stared, horrified, at the dead body. The person’s face was intact, but the
flesh on his neck was torn away. Even though it was dark, she could see the
pool of blood forming as he bled out onto the sidewalk.

"Umm…"
Ashleigh looked back at the man's stern face, "Okay." She quickly
shut the door and sat back in her seat. "Holy shit, Nat!" She shook
Natalie’s shoulders as she tried to keep her voice down, speaking in a high-pitched
whisper. "There’s a dead guy out there! It's just like—"

"Ashleigh!
What are—" Natalie was going to say something more, but the man that had
been standing outside came back into the limo.

He
glanced at them briefly but didn’t speak. A few seconds later, some of the
others filtered in, Nathan and Spencer arriving about ten minutes later. The
girls didn’t say anything when they entered, but they couldn’t help but stare
at the blood on their faces, especially Spencer’s.

He
didn’t look like that suave, handsome man anymore, and when he wiped his face
with the sleeve of his coat, it made it even more evident that he was probably
not used to being in a suit.

Spencer
took off his jacket and placed it in his lap. Underneath, he was wearing a
black dress shirt that seemed more fitting to his personality than the white suit
he had been wearing. He quickly folded back the sleeves to his elbows,
revealing a few braided hemp bracelets that hung around his wrists. That was a
dead giveaway that he was only putting on this rich boy act, but Ashleigh
wasn’t quite sure why he bothered.

She
watched him ruffle his slicked backed hair, spiking it up. Then, he licked his
fingers and wiped at the blood still on his face. This action almost made
Ashleigh laugh, but she held it in.

"Anyone
hungry for desert?" Wearing a sour expression, Spencer seemed to be in a
very bad mood, his annoyed gaze falling upon the girls. "There are two
little girls still here."

"I
can’t get you a meeting with Victoria because she’s just a pen name." Trying
to sound brave, Ashleigh’s voice was lower than normal. She dreaded what she
was about to do. Closing her eyes, Ashleigh let out a big sigh and gazed at her
clasped hands, a sadness creeping into her voice. "So, you’ll have to
settle for plain old Ashleigh Brown."

She
looked up at Spencer, who was still glaring at her, her expression mimicking
his. "Now that I’ve made my introduction and you figured out my secret,
you can go and skip your…" Ashleigh spoke with overdramatic hand motions. "Grand
introduction that you told me I am unworthy of.

“And
if you don’t believe that I’m Victoria Allure, then I’d be happy to send you
evidence of it in the form of an email when you take us home!" She held
tightly to her knees as she leaned forward slightly, screaming in his face.

A
hissing sound escaped Spencer’s lips before he started to laugh. "Ouch. So
all I’m entitled to is an email?"

"Yes."
Ashleigh crossed her arms over her chest angrily, turning her head to look at
Natalie. "And maybe I’ll autograph one of my books if you buy me dinner before
you drop me off at home."

Spencer
chuckled. "How did dinner get into this list of demands?"

"Because
I’m hungry. You guys all had something to eat and didn’t bother to get us
anything." Ashleigh glanced in his direction. "Pizza Jim’s is still
open. So give me fifty bucks…" She made eye contact with Natalie as she
tried not to laugh. Natalie was motioning for her to shut up. "And just
drop off us off there."

She
had to try very hard not to smile when she caught the devilish grin on
Spencer’s face. The way one of his eyebrows raised was incredibly sexy. His
mood had changed drastically toward her with her announcement, and even if she
didn’t want to admit it, she liked the attention.

She
was finally getting the chance to speak to a vampire, something she thought
only existed in her imagination. Even though she was afraid, this whole
experience was a rush, like getting chased by a pack of hungry wolves then
being accepted into their community. She had a chance to learn more about real vampires,
and she didn't want to let that slip away.

Her
deepest desire was to be loved like a character in her books, to be the girl
that could tame the monster that was the hungry vampire. It was a childish
dream, but it consumed her, and even now when she was in so much danger, she
couldn't let it go.

Sitting
forward in her seat, Natalie tried to speak over Ashleigh. "We don’t need
pizza, just take us home."

Spencer leapt from his seat, grabbing Ashleigh and pulling her into his
lap. It happened so quickly, she didn’t have time to react. Before she knew it,
she was in Spencer's arms.

"Let
me go." Turning her head to him, Ashleigh’s angry gaze met with his. With
her quick action, their noses bumped. Quickly, she spun away, her arms crossed over
her chest as she glared at the empty space in front of him. "I am
not
dessert."

His
warm arms wrapped around her waist, making her jump. His face filled with an
evil smile. Spencer obviously hoped his friendly gesture would heal the
ugliness of their first encounter. "I’m sorry."

"I
don’t accept your apology." Her strong voice wavered as she put her nose
up in the air. "And I was joking about the pizza. I just don’t want you
following us home."

"Hey."
Spencer placed a hand on her leg and began to rub her inner thigh, something
she glared at him for. "Don’t be like that." He rested his chin on
her shoulder and spoke seductively in her ear, which he was extremely good at. "Forgive
me."

"Will
you buy me pizza?" Ashleigh laughed, her hand going to the one he had on
her leg and pushing it away.

"I
think we should just go home." Natalie glared sternly at Ashleigh, her
eyes narrowing.

"I’ll
buy you pizza." Spencer grabbed Ashleigh’s hand. "We’ll have to walk
there though." He looked at the other vampires, a small chuckle escaping
his lips as he shook his head. "We have to ditch the limo."

"Why
do we—?" Ashleigh gazed out the window when the limo stopped and the other
men started filing out.

"Don’t
ask, just do." Spencer pushed her off his lap and out the door. It was
dark outside, and they couldn’t see anything in front of them.

"Where
are we?" Ashleigh turned in a complete circle. Natalie came up behind her
and took her hand.

"Come
on." Making a “come hither” motion with his hands, Spencer was bouncing
back and forth on his feet as if he were revving up for something. "I
wanna show you some real vampire skills."

"Real—?"
Before she could finish her sentence, Spencer had picked her up and took off
running. He ran at inhuman speed, Ashleigh clinging tightly to him. She was
terrified as the world blurred around her, and her stomach turned from his
quick movements.

Soon,
she was standing on her own two feet again. They were very shaky, however, and
she toppled backward into Spencer’s arms. He held her upright as he pointed to
a large red sign.

Pizza Jim’s
.

"Pizza?"
Spencer laughed as she stood on her own, looking queasy.

The
others appeared behind him, the air produced by their quick movements blowing
Ashleigh’s hair about for a brief second. He let his hands rest on her
shoulders as he leaned close to her ear. "Let’s get it to go." Taking
her hand, he led her inside. They ordered a pizza then walked back to Ashleigh’s
house, which was a few blocks down the street.

They planned on locking the guys out, but that was hard to do with a
pizza box in her hand. They did manage to shut the door on them, Natalie
quickly latching the chain lock. Ashleigh sprinted into the kitchen with the
pizza as she made her way to the back door. Natalie beat her to it, her hand
quickly reaching for the chain lock there as well.

Natalie let out a large sigh of relief then headed toward the living room
to shut the windows while Ashleigh took the ones toward the back of the house.
When Natalie got there, she saw Spencer and the others sitting in the living room.
Spencer sent a cocky wave her way, one that Natalie returned with an overly
fake smile.

"Excuse me." Natalie clasped her hands together as a nervous
laugh escaped her lips. She quickly disappeared into the kitchen again and ran
over to Ashleigh, who was digging around in the fridge for a soda. When she
found the one she wanted, she walked over to the cupboard and grabbed some
paper plates.

"What are you doing?" Putting her hands on her hips, Natalie
regarded her friend suspiciously.

"Getting a drink to have with the pizza." She raised her can.
"I thought we'd grab the pizza and hide out downstairs till sunrise—"

"Didn't you see the vampires?" Natalie motioned toward the
living room as she spoke in a frantic whisper. "They're in our living
room."

"Huh?" Ashleigh stared blankly at her for a few seconds as she
tapped on the tab of her can. "But we locked the door, and I…" She
motioned toward the back hall. "Shut all the windows."

"Well…" Natalie palmed her forehead as she sighed.
"They're out there."

"They're good." Ashleigh laughed as she spoke softly, a very
devilish smile on her face. "They must really like us."

"You’re
a bad girl." Natalie slapped Ashleigh on the butt playfully before yanking
on her sleeve and pulling her close. "I know that smile, and I know how
long it’s been since you’ve
been
with a guy."

"Duh.
I'm not like you—I don't always think about sex." Ashleigh laughed again,
getting closer to Natalie as she whispered, "They’re vampires. I’m not dumb
enough to sleep with any of them."

"Wanna
bet?"

"No, and if I do, it’ll just be for research." She set down her
soda and took a few pieces of pizza from the box. She then grabbed her plate
and followed Natalie out to the living room.

"Liar."
Natalie chuckled, tickling Ashleigh’s sides as they walked.

"Knock
it off!" Ashleigh let out a high-pitched squeak and quickly elbowed
Natalie in the arm.

Ashleigh
was going to sit, but the couches were filled. The guys had already settled in
and were watching television. One was holding their cat, who was happily
lapping up the attention. Most of them had shed their coats in the limo and
were now sitting around with half-unbuttoned shirts and rolled up sleeves that
showed a few tattoos on their arms.

Spencer
was sitting in the lounge chair and had taken control of the remote, turning on
a hockey game that all of them seemed to like. They were all very active and in
overly hyped-up moods. None of them were able to sit completely still.

The
girls stood against the wall as they ate. They gawked at men in their living
room, none of them devouring the pizza like normal guys would. Ashleigh glanced
at Natalie, who was checking out Nathan. He was yelling at the television.
There was a small smile on Natalie's face as she licked her lips.

Speaking
in a mocking tone, Ashleigh’s voice was low. "You bad girl, don’t you
dare. Did you forget these guys are vampires?"

Natalie
reacted by sending her a small smile and jab in the arm. "Shut up. I’ll
dare if I want to, and I dare you to get the
full
vampire experience
tonight as well."

"I don't think so," she whispered as she tried to keep in her
giggle. "Not unless it was with Caleb Mason."

"Well, I doubt that." Natalie chuckled softly.

"Exactly. That's why I had to write it in books."

"Come on, Ash, these guys are hot too."

"No." Ashleigh snorted, some of the men turning to look at her
as if they had just noticed she was in the room. Her smile quickly melted and
the hint of fear sparked inside her again.