Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) (7 page)

"Please?"
Putting her hands together, Ashleigh’s lip pouted as she bounced up and down. "Do
it for me?"

"No,
Ash." Natalie watched the man on stage sing, a very off-key note slipping from
his drunken lips. "I’m not drunk enough for that. You go do it."

"Come
on!" Ashleigh made an overdramatic movement with her hand toward the DJ
booth. "Just one song!"

"No."
Natalie glanced over at the bar, watching the men there start talking to other
girls. "Come on, Ash, I was gonna score with that guy. If I sleep alone
tonight, it’s your fault."

"So,
you’ll sing ‘Heaven’ for me?" Ashleigh’s face filled with a giant smile
that made her cheeks turn slightly red with the action, her light blue eyes
open wide. Normally, Natalie loved to sing karaoke.

"No."
Natalie started walking away from her. "Let’s go back."

"Nat!"
Placing her hands on her thighs, Ashleigh tried to speak louder. "You
suck!"

"You
have a request?" Robert appeared behind her, and Ashleigh quickly spun
toward him. He glanced down at her change of attire. "What happened?"

"Someone
spilled beer on my dress," Ashleigh frowned. "So I had to change."

"You
want to hear ‘Heaven’?" Robert motioned for her to follow him, and Ashleigh
obeyed, walking behind him because he could part the crowd better than she
could. "Mr. Mason." Ashleigh quickly stepped up next to him, nervously
avoiding Caleb’s handsome face. "Miss Brown has a request."

"Sure."
Caleb walked toward them. "What is it?"

Her eyes snapped to Caleb quickly, his smile growing when their eyes met.
"You’ll sing a song for me? Just…umm…" She stared at him with
awestruck eyes. "Just for me?"

"Of course, that's what I'm here for…you. You're my greatest fan,
right?"

"I guess….umm…" Her face reddened as she tucked a stray strand
of hair behind her ear shyly. "Probably."

"So, whatever you want, I'll sing. Come on, let me be your…" He
leaned closer and whispered teasingly into her ear. "
Escort
."

She forced a laugh as she tried to keep steady on her feet. Her voice was
very soft. "Boy, would I love that."

“Would you?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Ashleigh’s breath
quickened at his touch, his grip on her strong and sure. When he saw her shy
away from his flirting, he changed the subject. "This party kinda sucks,
huh? I thought it'd be better but—"

Caleb laughed when he saw her red face, which was pointed toward the
ground, her body rigid in her arms. “Hey.” As he walked her over to the stage,
Caleb leaned his head against hers. "Relax. I'm not gonna bite, I promise.
I'm a nice guy. Really."

"No…umm…that's not it." She glanced up at him shyly, her eyes
darting over his handsome features. The same features she had memorized in photographs
were even more amazing in real life. "I'm just…really…nervous. I'm just
a…" She paused, her gaze trying not to get trapped in his. "
Huge
fan. Sorry, I'm a little…umm…"

"That's okay, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm used to
it." He retracted his arm and took her hand instead. This action made her
eyes snap to his, her smile sweet and glowing. "So, what song do you want
me to sing? It can be anything."

Ashleigh paused as she looked over at the DJ booth and then back at
Caleb, who had now taken both her hands in his. "The song I wanted to hear
isn’t something I’d want you to sing, so I–"

Taking a deep breath, Ashleigh tried to calm her racing heart as she
stared into Caleb’s eyes. They were on her. She had his complete attention. Something
before she had to settle for only in her imagination. Now, his hands were in
hers and his gentle smile was all hers. "Don’t really know what I’d want
you to sing. You’d sing anything great. You have an amazing voice."

"How about I pick one…" His voice deepened, a devious smile on
his lips as he eyed her. "
Miss
Brown."

"Ashleigh."

"Ashleigh." He planted a small kiss on her forehead. "I'll
be right back. I'll come hang with you when I'm done. Unless you want to grope
me during the song, cause I'd let you."

She giggled, her face a deep shade of red. Her words were breathless.
"If you don't mind, I'll wait for you here."

"Sure." He dropped her hands and walked up to the man currently
singing. Caleb tapped him on the shoulder and took the microphone from him.

The
man gave it up easily, the DJ letting the instrumental continue to play even
though no one was singing. Caleb spoke to the DJ, both of them laughing as they
exchanged a few friendly words that didn’t seem related to what he was doing.

Caleb
scaled one of the speakers and sat, his legs dangling over the front of it. His
black boots bounced against it as the music started, the laces untied and the
tongues hanging out the front. His baggy jeans were shoved in the front of
them, more by accident than on purpose.

"This
is a song for Ashleigh." Caleb spoke into the microphone, most of the
people in the room turning to the sound of his voice. “My favorite fan.”

Ashleigh
bit her lip nervously as she watched Caleb, who sent her a small smile before
he began. It was called “Blue Valentine,” a very different song than Caleb
would normally sing, and though it was a slower, he nailed every note
perfectly.

With
her hands firmly clasped together in front of her lips, Ashleigh enjoyed every
word, but not as much as when Caleb would look her way while singing. Robert watched
her and smiled too, his hands held firmly behind his back.

"Now,
we shall have our talk." When the song ended, Robert motioned for her to
follow him to the adjoining suite. “Miss Brown?”

He
saw her nod her head and the great disappointment that crept into her face when
he pulled her away from Caleb.

"Let’s
sit." Robert indicated toward the couch while he walked over to the bar. "I’ll
get you something to drink."

"What
do you want to talk about?" Ashleigh watched him pull a few bottles from
the cooler.

"How
you would make a grand vampire." He handed her a drink before sitting down
in the large, leather chair near the couch, not sitting next to Ashleigh, even
though there was room for him to do so.

"You
want to make me a vampire?" The mouth of the bottle hung near her lips as
she paused before drinking it, not able to hide her fear.

"Yes."
He took a drink from his glass then shook the ice around a few times, making soft
pinging noises.

"How
do you do that?" Ashleigh wasn’t looking at him, but staring blankly at
the magazine on the coffee table.

"We
are going through the process now." He cleared his throat and sat forward
in his chair, the diamonds on his rings shining under the perfect white
lighting of the room. "Have Spencer and the others informed you on the
ways of our kind?"

"Not
really." Ashleigh looked over at him, her hands growing moist from the condensation
on her bottle. "All he said was that there are three classes of vampires—the
Elders, the hunters, and something he called a house vampire. He really didn’t
say much else."

"Spencer
is a hunter." Robert stared into his glass. "They do the bidding of
the Elders, whom they refer to as Master. The house vampires, as he calls them,
are our followers. They drink blood, as we do, but do not possess the magic of
an Elder or a hunter."

"Magic?"
She turned her head when she heard the door open, but she didn’t see anyone come
in.

"Yes."
He glanced toward the door before motioning for her to look over at him. "Keep
your eyes on me, Miss Brown."

Ashleigh
heard the sound of someone going through the cooler and glass bottles banging
together. "Okay."

"Thank
you." He took a drink from his glass then gazed out the window. "You
will become an Elder. Hunters are loners, so there is no need for them to marry
or take a partner."

"A
partner?" She tried to hide her sour expression, but it was peeking out
anyway, her eyes narrowing slightly on Robert as she took a drink.

"You
refer to them as mates in your books. We call them wives, or partners,
depending on the gender preference of the Elder. Our life span is the same as
yours, but due to a generic mutation, only males are born from our women, so
initiating a wife is very important step for a young vampire."

"Interesting."
Holding her hand over the bottom of her bottle, she let it rest on her knee. "So,
how do you initiate a—?"

"Now,
I have questions for you."

"Okay."
Licking her lips, Ashleigh was finding this interview easier than she thought
it would be. The only thing bothering her was the fact that Robert wanted to
make her his mate.

"You
write the
Nightwalker
series?"

She
nodded.

"Why
did you choose to keep your identity secret?"

Ashleigh
began to stroke the side of the bottle nervously, her eyes looking down at it
briefly. "It was a mixture of a few things. At first, I was all excited to
see my name on a finished book, but then my Gran read my rough draft, and after
seeing the horror on her face when she read what I had written, I found that I
wasn’t ready for that kind of reaction. There’s a lot of—"

Ashleigh
paused, her voice lowering a little as she spoke. "
Me
in my books. My dreams. My nightmares. Putting those ideas on
paper helped me deal with a lot of things, but also left me as open as my
books. So…I guess…sometimes there are things we write, and even though they are
fiction, they come from a place deep inside you."

"So,
you’re trying to hide things about yourself in your stories?"

"Kind of…but it's not really
hiding
things, it's more like putting them out there and writing a new ending. A
better ending."

Ashleigh laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood of the interview, but
it really wasn’t helping. "Actually, the main story behind
Nightwalkers
came from my nightmares as
a kid. I started having them after…" She paused, her mind wandering to her
father's death. "A traumatic experience."

"Nightmares?"

She knew she needed to pick her words carefully because of her audience.
"Nicolas came from nightmares. Drake came from good dreams. He was like
the prince on the white horse that saved me from Nicolas. Like…umm…the sun that
came when I woke up and told me everything was going to be okay. It's weird,
but…." She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear then turned her eyes to
Robert. "That’s how it happened."

"Ah…that must be why you make so many references to Drake being like
the sun." He chuckled. "Very interesting."

"Not really." She tapped on the neck of her bottle. "The
sun and moon have always been used to represent good and evil."

"You
like vampires." Robert smiled as he watched her squirm in her seat, her
reaction seeming to please him.

“Yeah.”

He glanced at the bar briefly then back at Ashleigh. "And this
character…Lord Drake. Your perfect sun." Ashleigh turned to him sharply,
her eyes opening wider. Her reaction made him chuckle. "I see you are
sensitive on this subject."

She
took a drink from her bottle as she looked down instead of into his eyes,
trying to distance herself from the question.

“‘A
prince with sky blue eyes, his hair a deep black, the silken hairs sweeping
upward and forming a small peek near the start of his hairline. The sight of
him made women swoon, a deep ache flowing through their loins, and yearn for
one taste of this godly man’."

He
had quoted a line from her books. Embarrassment washed over her face as she
covered her forehead with her hand. She wanted to run, but she knew she
couldn’t, so she tried to keep her voice as steady as she could. "You must
be a big fan if you’ve memorized passages from my books."

"Oh
yes." Robert chuckled, his serious voice becoming slightly lighter in tone.
"Your books are beloved by my kind."

"So
I’ve heard." Ashleigh tried to steer the conversation in another direction.
"Apparently, some people find my interpretation of a vampire kiss
hilarious." Her mind wandered back to the things she had heard Spencer and
the others say about her books.

"Did
you base your character on Caleb Mason?"

Her
words came out very snippy and rude. "No." Looking straight ahead
instead of at Robert, Ashleigh took a few very long drinks from her bottle. "My
characters are not real people. Why would I—?"

There
was a great arrogance in his next words, his nose turning up slightly as he
spoke. "You like Caleb, don’t you?"

"Well,
yeah, but…" Ashleigh still didn’t turn to him, her eyes burning into the
fireplace in front of her as she tried to keep a lid on her anger. "I
swear the similarities between them are pure coincidence. Lord Drake isn’t—"

"Coincidence?"

Cringing
at the sound of Caleb’s voice, Ashleigh closed her eyes and wanted to
disappear. Her face burned, a numbness flowing through her body as her embarrassment
paralyzed her. Caleb had been standing there the entire time, and he had heard
every sentence. Being confronted by the man she had written so many sexual
fantasies about was worse punishment than a vampire’s bite.

"I
liked that one line…" Caleb was pouring two bottles into a glass, watching
the liquid mix together. “‘I hear your lips whisper I love you, but in my
heart, I know those words are never for me. It’s just a recycled line you coo
to your victims’." A small laugh escaped his lips as he sat down on the
couch. "Sounds a lot like a rock star stealing the hearts of his fans."

"Are
you going to sue me for copyright or something?" Ashleigh looked over at
Caleb, who was smiling at her with a very cocky expression.

"No."
He took a drink from his cup, the makeup around his eyes smeared a little, but
he still looked amazing.