The Nightlife: London (Urban Fantasy Romance) (The Nightlife Series) (17 page)

Urvashi looked at him impatiently, as though waiting for him
to get a clue.

Michelle nodded agreement with Ivan.  “She needs you more
than she knows.”

Aaron tore a pair of pants from the drawer, slid them on, shoved
shoes on his feet, and snagged his blood-stained coat on the way out the door.

* * * *

Aaron caught up to Katya just as she slipped into a back
alley, probably hoping to lose him.  “Katya, wait.  I just want to talk,
wait.”  He grabbed her shoulder when she sped up to get away from him.

She jerked out of his grip and turned on him with tears
running down her face.  “How did you find me?  Are we linked?  Oh god, please
tell me we’re not linked.”

He just wanted to hug her and kiss her and make love to her
and tell her it would be alright.  But it was all too cheap.  Nothing he could
do or say would make up for what he had already done.  So, instead, he smiled
at her sheepishly.  “No, we are not linked.  I can track your scent.  It’s
kinda strong, like a wet dog.”

“You son-of-a-bitch!”  She punched him, hard.  Must have
seemed like a good idea, because she followed it up with another and another,
punching him over and over in the chest and arms.

He stood there for her, without blocking, without dodging,
and let her do her worst.  When he didn’t fight her, she reared back and nailed
him with a solid right cross, knocking his head back.  That one hurt.  Katya
hit like a man.

She pummeled him and pushed and pummeled some more until she
had him up against the wall of the alley as she cried and unloaded all of her angst
and frustration on him.

He deserved no less.

When she pushed and he wouldn’t give, the brick at his back,
she finally fell on his chest and bawled in heaving sobs.  He pulled her into a
tight hug, and whispered against her ear, “It’s gonna be okay.  You're alive
and healthy.  You have your pack.  Nothing has changed.  Be happy you’re
alive.”

She looked up into his eyes, searching for something, for a
sign that she could somehow live with this situation.  “She killed herself
Aaron, because we took him from her.  She couldn’t stand to live without
Jamison.  Is that what it’s like?  Is that how I will die?”

“Shush.  You’re not going to die, and neither am I.  Nothing
has changed, I am still the Aaron you love to hate.  You’re still Katya, a
nasty Russian mercenary who smells like wet dog to me, but I like you anyway.”

“But everything has changed!”

“Like what?  Ivan’s still a drunk, Urvashi's still a bitch,
and Michelle is still a little bit psycho – okay, a lot psycho.  What’s
changed?”

“Me.  You changed me.  You did something.  Dammit Aaron, I
don’t want to be with you.  I don't want to love you!  Why did you make me love
you?  How could you be so cruel?”

Aaron suspected that it would take several centuries of
living before he had a clue about understanding women.  All this time he
thought Katya hated his guts.  If not for the brick wall at his back, he would
have fallen over with the shock of her confession.

“I don’t know, Katya.  But I am not your enemy.  I don’t
want to hurt you.  And honestly … I want you in my life.  I understand you feel
this need for me, for my bite, I get it, but I doubt it’s love, Katya.”

“You don’t understand.  That’s what Dmitri did to Kristina,
and now you’ve done it to me.  Kristina betrayed us, my own niece, she betrayed
me for that fucking leech, Dmitri.  She loves the bastard, like I love you,
like Laura loved Jamison.  Don’t you get it?  Vampires don’t love bloodslaves. 
Who can love a sniveling, needy pet?  Vampires own bloodslaves, body and soul.”

Though he knew she was mostly right, Aaron also knew that he
cared for Katya.  He cared what happened to her.  He cared how she felt.  He
cared about all those little details that don’t really matter to anyone else,
those little things that only matter when you love someone.

“I didn’t come to argue with you.  I came to tell you I am
here for you, if you need me, whenever you need me.  You can count on me.  You
can trust me.  Love or no love, I can be a part of your life, if you let me.”

“You already have Urvashi and the psycho.  They take fucking
turns with you!  How am I supposed to deal with that?  I don’t want to love a bloody
manwhore vampire!  I don’t want to share.”

“I don’t want to share you either, but we don’t always have
that choice in life.”  He flipped her around with her face to the wall, his
front to her back.  He moved so fast she barely caught herself with her hands. 
Lightning fast he unzipped her jacket to run his hands over her smooth stomach
and down to the fly of her jeans.  His fingers tore through the buttons, and in
a second her beautiful white thighs were bared to the knees.

He nipped at her neck as his fingers found her hot and wet,
and oh so ready for him.

She looked left and right down the alley to check for
bystanders.  It was all clear.  “Damn you, Aaron, do it now!”  She growled low
and heavy, the wolf rumbling its need in her throat.

A second later he freed his aching erection and sheathed
himself inside her tight, slick, heat, bending her over into the wall.  He hit
all the way home inside her, and wrapped his hand around her mound, stroking
that sensitive, juicy bud.  She groaned with a sexy little growl and shoved her
ass up hard against him to seat his cock that extra little bit.

Though he had tried to ignore the truth, tried to deny it,
he had known from the moment he first made love to her.  Buried in Katya,
feeling her tight glove squeezing him with her orgasm, Aaron knew now, that
this was the moment of truth between them.

“I’m sorry, Katya, I am so sorry.  But we don’t always get
to choose who we love.  You didn’t choose me, and I didn’t choose you.”  Aaron
poured his release into her along with his love and life energy, when he spoke
the words, “
Vitae essentia est amor
.”

The essence of life is love.

THE END

Coming in 2014

The 5th installment in the Nightlife
Series

THE NIGHTLIFE MOSCOW

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Nightlife Series novels

THE NIGHTLIFE:  NEW YORK

Vampires, strippers, escorts,
night clubs, pimps & dirty cops – the Nightlife New York is never boring.
Aaron Pilan’s life is forever changed when he’s shot trying to rescue a
drop-dead gorgeous woman on the streets of New York. Aaron is thrust into the
shocking world of vampiric slavery when Michelle shares her blood to save his
life.

Michelle's existence as a
solitary vampire is also altered when she accepts this naive young man into her
life. Bound by her blood, Aaron is subject to her authority. He walks a
tightrope of strictly controlled feeding regiments & intense sexual
adventures while catering to the neurotic control-freak tendencies of his new
master. She vows to eliminate him if he proves too difficult to control.

This story is bold &
evocative infusing blood, sex, love & turmoil in an urban drama about two
vampires battling evil outside & within themselves.

★★★★★
“If you like your vampires vicious & bloody &
your erotica with a plot, this is the book for you.”

★★★★★
“Luedke brings his main characters to life, both
incredibly flawed & powerfully charismatic, with a wonderful writing style,
in this unique twist on the Vampire.”

★★★★★
“This is unlike any vampire tale I have ever read,
and is as far removed from Bram Stoker's Dracula, as New York is from
Transylvania. Travis Luedke has fashioned a compelling tale of love, passion,
violence & steamy hot sex, set against the backdrop of the Big Apple.”

THE NIGHTLIFE: LAS VEGAS

Vampires, Aaron Pilan and his
master Michelle, live by one rule – no bloodslaves. EVER. Aaron breaks that
rule when he meets Anastasia. All Anastasia wants is to be loved and cherished,
but the predatory men she’s attracted to bring her only pain and abuse.
Escaping one train-wreck relationship for another, she finds happiness with
Aaron and Michelle as a bloodslave, a 'pet'. When Aaron uses his telepathy to
win thousands at the gambling tables, he attracts the deadly attention of the
Colombian Cartel and Aaron and Michelle are 'disappeared'. Addicted to the bite
of her vampire lovers, Ana is desperate to find them. But, Las Vegas isn't
ready for vampires mixing heroin, sex and vengeance. Ana is trapped in the
spiraling chaos.

Find out what happens in the
second novel of the Nightlife Series.

★★★★★
"Go grab a copy before this much fun is declared
illegal."

★★★★★
"Mr. Luedke once again showcasing his
considerable talent for crafting erotic, action-packed, supernatural thrillers
that leave the reader saying "Wow!"

★★★★★
"A no-holds-barred, easy-to-read romp that mixes
fantasy, suspense, horror and erotica, and does it well."

THE NIGHTLIFE: PARIS

Vampire master Michelle, and
her slave, Aaron Pilan, flee to Paris, leaving behind the slaughter in Las
Vegas. Aaron made the costly mistake of taking a bloodslave, and then married
her. The tragedy of his wife's death has driven a rift between them and
Michelle is desperate to heal the breach.

Struggling with his predatory
alter ego, Aaron is fractious, rebelling against his master. He desires another
bloodslave, and that Michelle cannot allow. She opens her heart and soul to
Aaron and he relives, through her memories, her dark, gritty tale of survival
in the savagery of WWII Paris under the German occupation. Michelle's
staggering revelations are deeply disturbing. The confrontation of master
versus slave comes full circle as the couple faces death and separation.

And they are not alone in
Paris. An investigator has followed them from Vegas seeking the unique gifts of
Michelle’s blood. He’s watching and waiting for the opportunity to make his
move against them.

Find out what happens in the
third novel of the Nightlife Series.

★★★★★
“I was screaming at one point, crying, at another. It
was an emotional roller coaster of a book.”

★★★★★
“This segment of Michelle and Aaron's tale is dark
and graphic, but with mesmerizing descriptions and a morbidly compelling
storyline, I felt this was the best of The Nightlife Series by far.”

★★★★★
“Decidedly darker and somewhat disturbing, THE
NIGHTLIFE: PARIS takes the series for a turn towards the dark side and I loved
every minute of it!”