Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) (4 page)

Ashleigh
took her empty plate into the kitchen, whispering to Natalie as they walked,
"And you better not either."

When
she came back out, they had shut off the television, an empty spot magically
appearing on the sofa. A few of them motioned for her to sit down. Ashleigh
stepped over the long legs of the men sitting on the floor and claimed the
empty seat.

"So…"
Nervously putting her hands on her knees, Ashleigh scanned their curious faces,
purposely avoiding Spencer’s. "Why did you all want to meet me? I was
scared it was because I write cheesy vampire novels, and you were offended."

"It’s
amazing how well your books portray real vampires." Nathan, who was
sitting next to her, was the first to speak. "We're not monsters, we're
just like you…minus the serial killer gene." He laughed as he turned his
body toward her, his knees hitting hers. "And I loved your torture scenes.
Ahh… It made my mouth water just reading your description of the blood flowing."

He
licked his lips, an excited tone in his voice. "Yum. I wanted to lick that
severed flesh clean." The rest of the vampires laughed, all of them
nodding and agreeing with Nathan.

"I
got a lot of heat about those scenes." Ashleigh let out a nervous giggle,
biting her lip as she took in all their happy faces. "My editor wanted to
take some of those out because he thought there was too much violence and not
enough romance."

Another
spoke up. "I loved them. Especially that scene with Hannah in the butcher
shop. Wow."

The
man sitting next to him then interrupted. "The description of the axe
cracking the bone and the tingling taste of blood made me so hungry. I had to
go out and get me a flesh burger after that."

"Flesh
burger?" Narrowing her eyes on him, Ashleigh shrugged. "What’s that?"

"People
like you." Spencer laughed as he leaned forward in his chair. Ashleigh ignored
him and focused on Nathan instead.

"You’re
not a flesh burger." Nathan chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her
shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Spencer was just kidding."

"No
I wasn’t." Spencer was watching Nathan closely, an expression of jealousy showing
on his face. He tried to take command over the conversation, but the others talked
over him.

"She’s
prey unless someone lays a claim on her." The vampire licked his lips as
he gave Ashleigh a slow once over, his gaze pausing on her breasts.

"Umm…"
Ashleigh reached up to Nathan’s hand around her shoulders, nervously looking
over at Natalie. "Good to know."

Forcing
a smile, Ashleigh felt Nathan's arms tighten. He leaned his head closer to her
neck, making her squirm as she tried to push him away without making a big
scene of it.

"Back
off, Nathan, she doesn't like that." Spencer kicked Nathan hard in the
knee, and Nathan quickly pulled away.

"Thanks."
Ashleigh smiled at Spencer, who was wearing a very cocky grin now that he had
her attention.

He
patted his lap. She glanced briefly over at Natalie then did as Spencer requested.
She sat down on the arm of his chair, her leg resting teasingly between his. This
only lasted a few seconds, until Spencer grabbed her middle and pulled her down.
A tense moment passed between them, but Ashleigh turned away and broke it.

"I
wish girls would let me bite them all the time, like they do in your books."
The vampire on the opposite end of the couch leaned forward so he could get a
better view of Ashleigh.

Spencer
interrupted him, energetically speaking with one of his hands. "How
awesome would it be to be fucking some chick and have her beg me to bite her
and then…" Spencer laughed. "When I do, she would get off on it?
Every chick I do that to either dies or claws at my face, trying to get free,
crying and bitching…"

His
arms wrapped around Ashleigh's middle loosely, Spencer raising his voice a
little to be heard over the other men's laughter. "And I’m like, baby…"
He bared his fangs at Ashleigh, wrinkling his nose at her playfully. "You
taste so damn sweet. All I wanted was a little taste. I didn’t mean to hurt
you."

Offended
by his words, she pushed his face away. She tried to stand up, but he had a
firm hold on her waist and wouldn't let her.

Another
one chimed in. "Or kill you."

Covering
her reddening face, Ashleigh tried not to look at any of them as they continued
to laugh. The way the men were making fun of her vampire love scenes made her
want to flee the room and toss the covers over her head.

"Hey."
Nathan reached over and tapped her leg. "It’s hot. Don’t be embarrassed."

With
a burst of energy, Ashleigh broke free of Spencer's arms. Frustrated, she closed
her eyes and put a hand to her forehead as she took a few seconds to try and
calm herself. Unable to bear their teasing, she hastily retreated toward the
kitchen, grabbed her laptop, and stormed off toward her bedroom without a word
to Natalie.

Spencer
leapt from his chair and followed her, leaving a roar of laughter in his wake. Ashleigh
tried slam her door, but Spencer grabbed a hold of the side of it.

"Leave
me alone." Glaring at him, Ashleigh held one hand around her laptop, and
with the other, struggled to shut the door.

"Hey."
Spencer forced his way inside, and Ashleigh stumbled backward. "We were
only joking."

"I
didn’t think it was funny." She pointed to the door with a rigid arm
before placing her laptop onto her desk. "I want you guys to leave. I’m
tired and want to go to bed."

"Then
go to bed." Spencer motioned toward the bed as he shut the door.

"If
I go to sleep, is Natalie still going to be here tomorrow?"

"I
think so, but…" Spencer turned from her, opened the door again, and shouted
down the hallway. "Don’t eat Natalie!" Kicking the door shut with his
foot, he turned back to Ashleigh. "There. Now she’s safe."

"What
are you doing?" Ashleigh sat down on the edge of the mattress and began
taking off her shoes and socks.

"Coming
to talk to you." Spencer climbed onto the bed and took a seat in the
middle of it, patting the spot next to him. "You want to know more about
me, right? Like, for your books?"

"I
am
not
making you a character in my
books." Ashleigh laughed, and before she really put any thought into what
she was doing, she had climbed into bed next to him. "But I would like to
know more about
real
vampires."

"Okay."
Resting his head against the headboard, Spencer wrapped his arm around her
waist and pulled her closer to him. She tried to move away, but he wouldn't let
her.

"Tell
me about your life. Are you really immortal?"

Even
though Ashleigh was very attracted to him, she reluctant to cuddle with him.
Her shoulders hunched inward, and she made sure there were a few inches between
them as she scooted over a little.

"Yes
and no." Spencer regarded her strangely then pulled her closer again. There
was a slight annoyance in his voice, as if he didn’t like talking about being a
vampire, even though he had been the one volunteering it. "We heal faster
than you and can do a lot of things you can’t, but we still grow old and die. I
have parents just like you do—our family is just different. Being immortal
would suck anyway."

A
small laugh escaped his lips as he looked around her room, scanning all the family
pictures she had hanging on the walls. "You can’t have a family, or you’d
have to watch all your friends die. No, thank you."

His
stare settled on a giant poster of Caleb on the wall. Looking around, he saw a
lot more of Caleb there—CDs, magazines, a band T-shirt on the chair near the
bed. She was a great fan of Armageddon, and clearly, Caleb was her obsession.
He glared at Caleb's smiling face, but quickly turned back to Ashleigh when she
spoke.

"You
want a family?"

"Yeah."
A devilish laugh escaped Spencer’s lips, and he turned his head to her. It was
clear he was very attracted to her. He was a great fan of her books, but he
wasn't just another adoring fan, all giddy from meeting one of his idols.

"Tell
me about your family."

She
studied her hands as she spoke, her shy smile growing with every second. Ashleigh
could feel his desire, and it made her very nervous.

The
words flew off her tongue at a faster rate than normal. "Do you live like
regular humans?"

"Kind of. We're part of the Morgan vampires, there's another small
sect of vampires in Krest but they don't hide their identities like we
do."

"Morgan vampires?"

"We make up the majority. The misfits unworthy of hanging with
royalty."

"Huh?" She regarded him strangely.

"The Count—he's the first—he lives in Krest. He's got his own little
family that we're not part of. Our ancestors broke off from the original sect a
long time ago. Though we still have to answer to the Count, he doesn't really
bother with us and leaves us alone."

"A Count?" She giggled at the thought. "That's not
stereotypical."

"Like
I said—we don't get along with them, so you'll never get to meet him. I don't
even know what the guy looks like. I just know he's the first." He paused.
"What else do you want to know?"

"Do
you have a job?"

Hungrily, he watched her get up from the bed, admiring her curves as she
walked over to grab her computer.

"Spencer?"
She looked back at him when he didn't answer, a small smile on her face. She
put her laptop on the dresser then reached behind it and grabbed the power
cord.

"Yeah,
I have a job."

His
head was slightly cocked, the angle of his heavy stare making her very uncomfortable.
He seemed ready to pounce on her at any minute, but she thought maybe that was
just her imagination. She liked the thought of him
pouncing
on her, but
not biting. Her heart raced as she thought about his body hovering over her,
his hands slowly unbuttoning her pants, and those eyes staring lovingly,
hungrily into hers.

"I’m
a hunter."

The
sound of his voice woke her from her daydream. She turned her back to him for a
few seconds to get her bearings. "A hunter?"

"Yeah."

Even
though she knew what he meant, she pretended like she didn't. Her voice carried
a sarcastic air. "What do you hunt? Like animals?" She removed her bracelets
and set them down on the dresser, her flirty gaze meeting with his in the
mirror.

"No.
It's a class of vampire. There are four different types. There's the Count,
who's immortal. Then, there's the Elders–the smart guys with big bucks. They
are descendants of the Count's original seven, so they are the top dogs of the
Morgan vamps. Then, you have your common house vampire—those are the guys that
make up the majority of us. They're also called half breeds because they're not
full blood vampires."

"House
vampires?" She was going to turn to him, but quickly startled when she saw
him standing behind her.

"Then,
there’s me." His arms slowly made their way around her waist, his touch so
smooth and light it spread a great heat throughout her body like wildfire. Slowly
nudging his head forward, he let his chin rest on her shoulder as he stared at
their reflections, his lips lightly kissing the skin on her neck. His next
words warmed her as they rolled seductively off his tongue. "The hunter."

"That
sounds so cheesy." Ashleigh's hands went to his, which were resting on her
stomach, as she watched his movements closely in the mirror. "All vampires
are
hunter
s."

"Not
as good as me." Spencer gave a very soft chuckle. Ashleigh felt the
wetness of his tongue as he licked his lips, his grip around her waist getting
tighter. "I hunt for my master. Bring home the dinner."

"How
is that a job?" Ashleigh turned around in his arms, pushing his hands off
her. Even though he was very handsome, she was finding herself less attracted
to him with each one of his words. This wasn't the sexy vampire dream she had
been expecting.

"One
of the Elders hired me to find you." His hand reached up to her chin, forcing
her to look at him. "They want to meet you."

"You
didn’t want to meet me?"

"I
can’t say I wasn’t curious." Spencer stared down at her lips, his words growing
softer. "And going on a treasure hunt seemed like fun."

"Who
is he?" Instead of feeding the look in his eyes, she pulled away from him
and walked over to the bed.

"Rich,
movie star type. Spoiled and stuck up." Spencer sat down next to her. "If
I told you his name, you’d probably recognize him. He wouldn’t recognize you
though. You’re nothing like I would’ve imagined Victoria Allure to be like."

"What
did you think she’d be like?"

"Like
one of those ladies on the back of romance novels. You know…" He smiled as
he playfully nudged her shoulder with his. "The big haired, nosebleed-heel-wearing,
perfect girls. A sophisticated lady."

"I’m
a lady." Ashleigh chuckled dryly as she turned to him, her eyes settling
on the large fangs that stuck out from his top lip.

"Lady’s
not the right word." His eyes caught what she was looking at, and it
quickly melted his frown. When she saw his expression change, she quickly
looked up at his eyes. "I meant a hot and sexy vixen."

She
stared down at her hands. "I’m not a hot and sexy vixen."

"And
I’m not a romantic vampire lord, either." Spencer placed a hand on her
leg, a softer tone to his voice. "I would not find a girl like Victoria
attractive, but you…I do."

"Why?"
A devilish smile crept onto her face that Spencer picked up on right away and
was ready to use to his full advantage.

"You’re
not a snob. You’re normal." He moved close to her, slowly sliding his arm
behind her back. "Like me."