Blood Hunger by Beck Robertson
Can a vampire with deadly enemies conceal her nature from her mortal lover when the pair are framed for a murder they didn’t commit?
Raven-haired femme fatale Lola Devereaux is used to wrapping men around her finger, but when handsome Dillon Chambers walks into her life, passion sizzles between them. To her surprise, she finds she’s the one who yearns to submit this time.
But Lola’s keeping a dark secret – she’s a vampire, and if Dillon finds out, he might reject her forever, just like her mortal ex did.
Keeping a secret this big is hard enough, but when the need to feed causes Lola to make a serious lapse in judgment, an old enemy takes the opportunity to wreak revenge, putting Dillon in the frame for murder. Lola has to find a way to clear his name or risk never feeling his strong arms around her again.
Does one stupid error have to mean kissing goodbye to the only guy who makes her heart race? And is telling the truth really so incompatible with true love?
Description
Find more from this author on:
About the author:
I live with my partner, have an avid interest in Tudor and medieval history, as well as a probably unhealthy addiction to fantasy novels and The Legend Of Zelda series of games. I’m also a huge fan of George.R.R Martin’s Game of Thrones books and the HBO TV series, and I absolutely adore The Vampire Diaries TV series and books too.
What inspired you to write your book?
I was inspired to write the book as Lola’s feelings for Dillon and the way she tries to push him away had me rooting for him to break down all her walls and show her she’s not going to be rejected.
Here is a short sample from the book:
Lola was hungry for fresh blood tonight. Pushing her way through the shadowy darkness of the club—the only light the occasional interjection from the neon strobes pulsing overhead—she made her way through the mass of seething bodies on the dance floor and headed for the bar.
“Hey, Lola, you want your usual?”
Max, the handsome bartender, grinned at her as she approached, and she nodded, flashing him a brief smile before turning around to scan the faces looming out from the semidarkness of the club. Club Vain was stuffed to the rafters tonight, the guest DJ proving popular with the regular crowd, which was good news for her at least—plenty of fresh meat to pick from. Lola licked her lips hungrily as she looked around.
“Scanning for fresh victims, eh?” Max smirked as he noticed her eagerly eyeing the bodies writhing and grinding against one another on the packed dance floor.
“Eh, maybe,” she replied, shrugging. “If the right one takes my fancy, that is.”
“Just because you’re a vampire doesn’t mean a girl can’t be selective, right?” Max pushed her Bloody Mary toward her. She took it, sipping gratefully before tossing him a note.
“Mmhmm, you know it,” she said, taking another big sip of the spicy drink Max knew was her signature beverage. The irony of her drink choice didn’t escape her, but hot damn, Max sure knew how to mix a great Bloody Mary.
“Your change, Ms. Devereaux,” he said, putting on the mock English butler voice she knew he loved to use.
“Consider it a tip, handsome.” She grinned, turning around again to face the dance floor. Max was gay but she still enjoyed the flirty banter the two of them shared. They’d hit it off ever since she’d met the dark-haired vamp on his very first day tending the bar at Vain, and they’d been fast friends ever since.
Lola didn’t have too many real friends in little old Burley Falls, that was for sure. Even though the small town had more than its fair share of sanguinarians, Max was one of the only bloodsuckers she’d found that she could actually tolerate.
As for Club Vain… Well, it was a veritable stomping ground for vampires looking for new prey, unbeknownst to the blissfully ignorant clubbers flocking there for the music, a drink or three and perhaps the chance to go home with someone who piqued their interest.
Her attention turned back to the bodies on the dance floor as her eyes made a quick appraisement. The hot, brooding-looking guy to her right was definitely a vampire, which was a pity, since she could picture raking her nails down those biceps. But even if she hadn’t been looking to feed, she didn’t fuck vampires, no matter how hot they were. It was a hard and fast rule of hers.
Yeah, he was a vamp, and so, she guessed, were the two dark-haired girls lurking at the end of the bar, observing everyone who walked past. She’d wager they were looking to feed tonight too.
She watched as a willowy blonde girl stumbled into her line of vision, laughing and tripping over her cream Manolos as she pulled an attractive, muscled-up blond guy by the hand behind her. The pair of them looked like Barbie and Ken. Trailing the pair was a handsome, athletic dark-haired dude and two other women, a redhead and a rather voluptuous-looking brunette, whose clothing seemed to defy gravity in its superhuman efforts to rein in her more than ample curves.
Lola’s eyes quickly dismissed the blond guy and his female partner. They were far too glossy-looking to make a truly interesting feed—or a memorable lay. She preferred her targets to have a little more mystery. It was just more fun that way. Speaking of mystery, you could discount the brunette girl. She clearly had absolutely no secrets left to hide, and if there were any, Lola didn’t want to know what they were. But the dark-haired guy? Now he could be interesting. I wouldn’t mind grinding on his—
Just then, he turned around, interrupting her train of thought as she caught a glimpse of his chiseled face. Her breath snagged in her throat temporarily, as her brain registered his darkly handsome features. He was seriously attractive, and he had that intense look about him she really dug in a guy to boot.
And as for those biceps? Whoa. Boy, they sure would make real nice handles when she was riding the hell out of him back at her apartment later. Lola licked her lips again as her eyes drank him in predatorily. Oh yes, he will do. He will do very nicely. Now all she had to do was get Ms. No Clothes to back the hell off him. She’d noticed the girl’s stare of hungry longing, and she recognized the naked lust in the sly glances the brunette kept shooting him. So little Ms. No Clothes wanted him too, did she?
She’d wager the girl’s interest wasn’t for the same reasons as her own—at least not all of them anyway. After all, a vamp always had to have a little fun, and if you picked ’em right, it was far too tempting not to have a little play with the prey before you sucked ’em dry, so to speak.
Draining her glass, Lola slid it back across the bar to Max, who caught it, raising his eyebrow at her.
“Found someone already—” he started, but she was off before he could finish the sentence, striding out on to the dance floor confidently. Sashaying through the crowd, she was well aware of the admiring glances she received—her spike-heeled stiletto boots, black metallic corset and tight black latex pants giving off a slight dominatrix vibe, not that she minded looking like she liked to take charge one little bit. Being in control of hot guys in the bedroom suited her just fine.
The music pulsed through the floor as she started to dance, keeping Mr. Handsome firmly in her line of sight. Grinding her body, she moved strategically so she was almost dancing next to him, but he still seemed frustratingly oblivious to her presence. Ms. No Clothes appeared to be doing a good job of distracting him with her rather obvious charms. Not for long though. Moving closer, Lola jostled him deliberately with her elbow, forcing him to spill some of the contents of the beer bottle he was clutching down the front of his white T-shirt.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” she gasped, straining her voice as she leaned into him, in order to be heard over the heady thump of the club’s bassy music. She caught the scent of him. Damn, the boy smells so good. She needed to have that lean, toned body between her thighs—that perfectly chiseled face bending to pleasure her. Desire flared in her stomach as she flashed him a smile, the smile that no man she’d met yet had ever been able to resist.
“Hey, that’s okay.” He smiled back, catching her by the arm to reassure her as he flicked the droplets of beer off his shirt with the hand holding the now-nearly-empty beer bottle.
His brown eyes twinkled with obvious interest, moving from her face to run appreciatively down over her body then back up again. He obviously liked what he saw because his stare seemed to linger just a little longer than necessary. Still smiling, she made as if to turn away, mentally counting in her head—one, two—
“Hey, don’t go.”
Result. Guys, they were all so predictable. Turning back around to face him, she fixed him with a quizzical look. He fumbled, searching for something to say, but seeming to fail to find the right words.
“It’s just… I wondered if you’d like a drink?”
She grinned, allowing her eyes to flick over his muscular torso, emphasized by the wetness of the spillage on his shirt. Oh, I’ll make him wet all right. Just wait until I get him alone. She noticed he had a slight drawl to his accent—Texan, if she had to guess. Damn, can this guy really get any hotter?
“Shouldn’t it be me doing the offering, since I was the one who made you spill your drink?” She arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow.
“Uh, well, I guess, I mean…um… Well, but you’re a lady an’ all…” He stopped, noticing her mocking expression.
Mmm… She loved a shy guy. They were always the best in bed. “A lady? What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looked embarrassed. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t take it the wrong way. I just don’t usually get too many strange women offering to buy me drinks, least not in here—especially ones who look as good as you.”
She tried to suppress a grin at his words. He stood there, fidgeting with the top of his beer bottle, looking more than a little uncomfortable, which only made him seem all the more endearing.
“What are you laughing at?” He looked at her, confused.
“Strange women?” Even in the semidarkness of the club, she could tell he was flushing a bright, beet red.
“That came out wrong, I never meant you were strange. It wasn’t—”
“Hey, relax. It’s okay,” she said, smiling, stopping him midsentence as she placed her palm on that chest. She’d put him out of his misery now. He was far too sweet to torture—for the moment, at least. Who knew what she might do to that perfectly constructed, athletic body later?
“I find your chivalry rather charming, actually. Most of the guys in here could probably use a lesson or two in manners from you.” She tapped his chest with a fingernail playfully, enjoying his obvious arousal at her proximity.
“Huh? Umm, why’s that?” His handsome features scrunched up into that adorable confused expression.
“Oh, just most of them expect to get a girl to go home with them without spending a dime or bothering to get to know her. Then when they get her there, she gets a few minutes of sweaty huffing before they roll off and go to sleep. But somehow I think you’d be different.” She placed a hand on his biceps predatorily, squeezing ever so slightly. My God, the boy is solid. This was shaping up to be one interesting evening.
“Uh…I dunno what to say,” he said, looking completely embarrassed.
“Then don’t say anything. You don’t need to. You’re pretty enough just to stand there, looking hot.”
“Wow, you’re so…”
“Forward?” She grinned.
“Uh, well, I guess that’s one way of putting it.”
“Yeah, I know. Right? All my friends say that. But I say, you gotta grab what you want, right?” She fixed her violet gaze on his big brown puppy dog eyes, looking at him with a hungry stare and licking her glossy lips. Moving closer, she gave his biceps another squeeze before blatantly letting her gaze fall to his crotch bulge.
“Hah, yeah, I guess,” he said, biting down on his lower lip as he eyed her. By the bulge in his pants, she could tell he was aroused and by the look of things, he wasn’t going to disappoint her once she had him naked.
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