Sam is just over a week away from Binding with Jared, and all she wants is to relax and prepare for the ceremony. However, fate has other plans for her. She's suddenly bombarded with distractions that could potentially postpone or even cancel the Binding. With a guarded fiancé to crack, a complicated assignment to complete, Jared's ex to alienate, and snobbish Master Vampires to win over or offend, Sam's plate is full. As if that's not enough, a cruel twist of fate causes something strange to happen to Sam. She's changing in ways she doesn't like or understand. With time running out, Sam must not only handle the threats to the Binding Ceremony but also find a way to fix what's been done to her. Jared and those closest to her rally around Sam to help her through this difficult time. But will their support be enough to overcome the challenges that lay ahead? And will Sam and Jared's love be strong enough to survive the obstacles that threaten to tear them apart? Warning: This book contains a stubborn and occasionally homicidal female vampire, a powerful and overprotective male vampire who refuses to lose her, and scenes of a sexual, explicit nature.
Chapter 1 One
Sam's [POV]
She was there again. She came nearly every night. I still wasn't sure whether she was a dream or a hallucination. But I knew that as soon as she crooked her finger, I'd follow her like she wanted me to. It was always the same.
It was like being in a trance, and yet not. I knew the choice to follow her was mine, but it was like there was some kind of pull that overrode my reservations. So, like I always did, I slipped out of bed and walked behind the tall, slim vampire who was clothed in only a torn emerald-green dress that matched the color of her eyes. Her coal-black hair was so thick and long that it covered most of the pale skin of her arms. Just like always.
I followed her into the living area of my apartment where a large oval-shaped mirror stood, totally out of place. The vampire turned and smiled; it was reassuring and friendly, but I wasn't reassured at all. Then she lifted her arm and pointed at the mirror. It wasn't my reflection staring back at me. Instead, it was like I was looking through a large doorway. There was a derelict one-floored house that seemed to be in the middle of no man's land.
The vampire stepped through the doorway and gestured for me to follow her. Not bloody likely. Every instinct I had in this dream or hallucination or whatever it was screamed, 'No!'
So I did the same thing I always did; I shook my head and mouthed 'no'. Again the vampire indicated for me to follow her, but again I shook my head. Her smile fell as anxiety and dejection filled her eyes. The doorway closed behind her, and that was when it ended.
"Sam," a familiar voice murmured as fingers combed through my hair. His spicy, masculine scent swirled around me, stirring my senses. But, then, everything about Jared had each of my senses on high alert. And the cocky sod knew it. "Sam, baby, wake up."
Nah. Although the mattress felt a little harder than usual, I was too tired to care. I shoved at the firm, hard chest I could sense hovering over me, but Jared only chuckled.
"You did it again."
"Did what?" I mumbled.
"You went for a stroll in your sleep and ended up on your living room carpet."
Peeking through one eye, I saw that he was right. Groaning, I allowed my eyelid to drift shut again. Tired of waiting for me to move, he scooped me up and arranged me so that I was straddling his lap on the floor.
"I dreamed about her again," I explained drowsily as I rested my head on his shoulder. He sighed.
"You know, I think we should arrange a meeting with Antonio so we can talk to him about this."
"It was just a dream. I don't think that warrants a visit to the Grand High Master Vampire." In truth, I wasn't as unworried as I sounded.
"Almost every night over the past two weeks, I've woken up to find that I'm alone in bed. What if it wasn't a dream and you weren't sleepwalking at all? What if it would have been possible for you to follow her through that door, or whatever it was?" I'd wondered about those things as well.
"I don't want to take the chance that one night you do as she asks, and I wake up to find that you're gone. You need to talk to Antonio."
He lifted my head to seize my gaze with those hazel eyes that had more of an effect on me than I cared to admit.
It was like they were designed to snatch and trap a person's attention they certainly seemed to have that effect on the females around here.
The effect wasn't lessened by the red tinges to his irises that marked him as a Pagori vampire and glowed whenever he was thirsty, angry, or horny.
I didn't envy Jared being a Pagori, despite that, that breed of the vampire was the most powerful of the three and had incredible strength and speed as that strength came with a price their bloodlust was just as strong.
The bloodlust wasn't so bad for the hypnotically beautiful Keja vampires.
All vampires had a preternatural allure, but Keja's allure was enchanting and bewitching.
The breed was identifiable by the fact that they had fangs and also amber tinges to the irises.
Like with Pagoris, the tinges glowed if the Keja was angry, thirsty, or horny. Sventé vampires, like myself, didn't have this characteristic, which I was quite happy about I liked my irises just as they were thank you very much.
But although Sventés were stronger and faster than humans, we were weaker than the other two breeds of vampires.
We did have some strong points; not only did we have the agility of jungle cats, but our bloodlust wasn't overpowering enabling us to walk among humans without losing control and leaping on one.
Having a manageable bloodlust, however, meant that the other two breeds considered Sventés to be very tame and human-like and, therefore, inferior. Snort.
Unfortunately, Jared had once been one of those prejudiced vampires.
When I'd first arrived at The Hollow from London to partake in the try-outs for a place in the legion Antonio's army Jared had thought the idea was ridiculous.
It hadn't mattered that I was unique in being a Feeder: a vampire gifted with the ability to absorb and manipulate the energy around them.
Nor had he been impressed by my perfect control of this overwhelming gift that should technically only be a Pagori power.
He, like many others, had been too hung up on the fact that I was not only a Sventé, but female.
As such, it hadn't helped my cause that Jared was one of the assessors during the tryouts. He had denied me a place in the new squad, despite that I'd earned one.
But that attitude had kind of backfired when Antonio then made me Jared's co-commander.
Ha. It had been a while before Jared accepted me as his co-commander, but now the arrogance and narrow-mindedness that had created his prejudices were gone.
Not that Jared had had a personality transplant or had switched from alpha to beta.
No, he was still assertive, imposing, and demanding and could even be cocky and irritating, for that matter. But the narrow-mindedness that had once acted as a huge barrier between us was no longer there.
He wasn't a chocolate and flowers person, wasn't the type to spout pretty words or shower a girl with compliments. He could probably be described as a little emotionally awkward.
He very rarely shared those three important little words, but he was also attentive on the most intense level. When I needed him, he was there. When I wanted his attention, he gave it.
When I had a problem, he tried to fix it even when I didn't want him to. It was strange to have someone who I knew I could rely on.
I'd never had that before, didn't want to lose it; didn't want to lose this person who I had come to love and had every intention of Binding within just nine evenings' time.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a Binding was a week-long event that culminated in a wedding-type ceremony.
The guests would all arrive in two evenings' time, and entertainment would be provided every night as part of the celebrations. Taking me from my thoughts, Jared gently mashed his mouth with mine.
"Want me to help you pack your stuff so we can move it all into my apartment after the meeting?" He narrowed his eyes when I didn't speak, scrutinizing my face in a way that made me squirm. It would be fair to say that I'd been seriously procrastinating about taking this big step.
"If you expect me to live apart from you, Sam, get that idea right out of your head. Is it that you're having second thoughts about the Binding? You have to be honest with me. How am I supposed to tie you to the bed and make you come until you change your mind if I don't even know you're having second thoughts?" I smiled he wasn't kidding. Lightly running my fingers through his short, chestnut hair, I told him, "It's not that."
"Then, what?" Finding it hard to explain, I released a frustrated sigh.
"For so long, I was under the control of Victor" my deceased Sire and a prick of epic proportions "and had my every move watched. The weird bastard even chose my clothes; it was part of the control. I didn't have anything that was mine. So getting a position in the legion... was the most amazing feeling. Suddenly I had a title, a job, and an apartment things that were mine, and mine alone. So this place is more than just a home to me, and I guess I feel a bit possessive of it since I only got it a few months ago." A short pause.
"That's it?"
"Yes." Even if it didn't make an awful lot of sense. He shrugged carelessly.
"Fine. I'll move in here." I gaped rather unattractively.
"You're blowing smoke up my arse, right?"
He nipped my lip before sucking it into his mouth.
"No."
"You'd give up your big, swanky apartment?"
"If you don't want to move in there with me, yes."
"But you love your apartment."
"I love you more, dumb ass."
Chapter 1 One
09/04/2023
Chapter 2 Two
09/04/2023
Chapter 3 Three
09/04/2023
Chapter 4 Four
12/04/2023
Chapter 5 Five
11/05/2023
Chapter 6 Six
12/05/2023
Chapter 7 Seven
12/05/2023
Chapter 8 Eight
12/05/2023
Chapter 9 Nine
12/05/2023
Chapter 10 Ten
12/05/2023
Chapter 11 Eleven
12/05/2023
Chapter 12 Twelve
12/05/2023
Chapter 13 Thirteen
15/05/2023
Chapter 14 Fourteen
16/05/2023
Chapter 15 Fifteen
16/05/2023
Chapter 16 Sixteen
16/05/2023
Chapter 17 Seventeen
16/05/2023
Chapter 18 Eighteen
16/05/2023
Chapter 19 Nineteen
20/05/2023
Chapter 20 Twenty
20/05/2023
Chapter 21 Twenty One
20/05/2023
Chapter 22 Twenty Two
20/05/2023
Chapter 23 Twenty Three
21/05/2023
Chapter 24 Twenty Four
21/05/2023
Chapter 25 Twenty Five
21/05/2023
Chapter 26 Twenty Six
23/05/2023
Chapter 27 Twenty Seven
10/06/2023
Chapter 28 Twenty Eight
19/06/2023
Chapter 29 Twenty-Nine
19/06/2023
Chapter 30 Thirty
19/06/2023
Chapter 31 Thirty-One
19/06/2023
Chapter 32 Thirty-Two
19/06/2023
Chapter 33 Thirty-Three
19/06/2023
Chapter 34 Thirty-Four
03/08/2023
Chapter 35 Thirty-Five
03/08/2023
Chapter 36 Thirty-Six
03/08/2023
Chapter 37 Thirty-Seven
03/08/2023
Chapter 38 Thirty-Eight
03/08/2023
Chapter 39 Thirty-Nine
03/08/2023
Chapter 40 Forty
03/08/2023
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