Blood Fever (Book 2 of the Rebirth series)
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Warning: This title is a molten title. It contains elements some readers may find objectionable: m/f/m
Evande walked out on her lover, Quinn, fifty years ago without looking back because he wanted too much from her. Now, after she saves a dying human by turning him into a vampire, a wanted notice shows up demanding her death and she knows Quinn is the only one who can help her.
Standing on Quinn’s doorstep with Logan, she quickly finds herself fighting her attraction to both men. Thing is, both men don’t make a secret of the fact they want her. As if that wasn’t enough to deal with, she also learns she isn’t the only one the Elders are after.
Deception, secrets and corruption.
Evande’s survived worse – but this time it may just kill her.
Contains: Two smoking hot men who don’t mind sharing the woman of their dreams (menage a trios).
5 Stars “Creating strong-willed women who revel in their power is what Sara Brookes does well. Evande, her business partner Callista, Ana and even the human Gina – all wear their mantels of power and intelligence in enviable fashion. BLOOD FEVER continues the delve into the darkness within and this makes for some sizzling sexual exploration. Quinn and Logan vie for dominance in an age-old struggle but their desires for Evande do not cloud the storyline.”
~ Jenn Shanks Pray, The Romance Reviews
“Blood Fever is not your normal vampire story, if there ever is such a thing as a normal vampire story.”
~ Ashira Datya, Happily Ever After Reviews
“…great book to pick up if you are looking for action from the opening scene. Ms. Brookes keeps the story moving at a fast clip and doesn’t disappoint in keeping the excitement cranked up till the very end. If love triangles, gutsy heroines, and sexy guys are your thing, then Blood Fever is the book for you.”
~ Kiki, Two Lips Reviews
Playlist:
Missing – Evanescense
I Survive – Lacuna Coil
Headstrong – Trapt
Anchor – Lifehouse
Like Suicide – Seether
Call Your Name – Daughtry
Burn – Sister Machine Gun
Water – Breaking Benjamin
Was It A Dream? – 30 Seconds to Mars
Last Train Home – Ryan Star
Everything Changes – Staind
Industructible – Disturbed
Uprising – Muse
Prologue
He pleaded for his life.
His whimpers were thick with death and despair. I knew he could feel his soul slipping to somewhere beyond here. I shook my head forcibly, knowing I could do nothing to help him even if I wanted to.
There are strict laws we vampires adhered to and since I’d been around since the advent of those rules, I knew them well.
Kill no more than you need to survive.
Disclose nothing to humans unless you intend to make them part of your regular meals–blood servants as it were.
Humans are not allowed to be rebirthed as a vampire unless it is under the guidance of the Elders and that is only to occur once every hundred years.
Being a vampire wasn’t the glamorous life that Hollywood led humans to believe. I knew that perhaps better than anyone, I pushed those thoughts aside as I tried to focus on the situation I’d unknowingly walked into.
The stagnant air in the alley was heavy with the last moments of this man’s life, as his body began to fail him. The scent of his fresh blood sat in my lungs and I needed to breathe through my mouth in an effort to prevent myself from literally drooling at the scent of his death. It had been centuries since I’d been near a human in the throes of death. Longer still since I’d physically drank the liquid that gave them life.
What I needed to do was turn my back on this struggling man and let him die with his last shred of dignity intact. Come on, Evande, get a damn grip on yourself. Death happened all the time in New York City, what should make this time any different?
Tears fell to the ground under him, his brown eyes pleading silently to me as I hovered over him. Despite my best efforts, I could feel my fangs elongating and I realized with a start that I wanted him. I wanted his blood fueling me, coursing through my veins to serve as a reminder of what I was capable of.
A cat screamed a few feet away, and another hissed in response. They shrieked as they began fighting and a trashcan tipped over with a loud crash. The noise startled me and my lungs constricted tightly as the aroma of death filled them.
Oh, how I had forgotten that undeniably decadent scent.
“Please,” he pleaded again, his voice hoarse from the damage his vocal chords had sustained from the vampire who had tried to rip out this man’s throat. My skin crawled as my body fought a silent war it hadn’t faced in ages. I wasn’t allowed to interfere, I reminded myself even as my tongue slid lazily over my lengthened teeth. I struggled against hundreds of years of ingrained instinct.
There was so much blood.
The tear in his throat gaped at me and I swallowed hard, feeling sorry that death had not come more swiftly for him. I could see the madness slowly creeping into his eyes and knew he was only seconds away from the very release he was begging for.
I made a choice in that short span of time and instead of salvation, I condemned him to eternal damnation.
Chapter One
A strong hand clamped over my throat and squeezed so hard my vision went black on the outer edges almost at once. I was currently being pinned to the wall of my bedroom by an enraged vampire and it wasn’t the sort of compromising position I found fun.
It had been forty-eight hours since the incident in the alley.
I couldn’t decide what to be more pissed off about. The lack of sleep or the vampire I’d knowingly made.
The scent of violence permeated the room and clogged my nose. The sharp tang of it flipped the switch of something inside me. I usually kept a tight rein on it, but the situation was becoming dire and if I didn’t do something soon, the newborn vampire before me was going to find himself without a sire. Since he was my responsibility, I couldn’t let that happen.
I snarled and bared my fangs at him, but the surprised reaction I was expecting didn’t follow. Instead of recoiling, he narrowed his eyes and smiled. The rich, heady scent of arousal washed over me. It was boiling off him in waves that quickly pulled me under with the tide and his hips pressed firmly against mine.
Considering our position, I could feel the rigid line of his erection pressing hard against my abdomen. I bucked against him, hoping to upset his body enough for me to get a knee between us. I realized my mistake when he pushed against me harder instead, reading my move as one of invitation.
It had been a while since I’d last engaged in some sort of sexual activity, but not so long that I wanted this guy to fuck me where I stood. I decided to change tactics because I wasn’t above using what I had before me to my advantage. I raised my legs so that my thighs circled his hips and pulled him against me so the seam of my outfit fit snugly against the line of his cock. He seemed to appreciate the position change and thrust his hips forward, a ragged growl vibrating his throat as he shifted his hold so he could press his lips against my neck. His fangs scraped lightly against my skin and despite the fact I hardly knew this man and that he was only reacting to the change, a thread of lust snaked through me, scraping its own set of fangs against delicate skin.
It really had been far, far too long since I’d had sex, and even longer still since I had it with another vampire. A scorching heat seared its way through my veins and I nearly cried out from the sensation that was so familiar. The years I’d avoided this type of reaction settled within me like a lead weight and I felt myself being dragged under the surface before I could stop it. The sensation was lush and heady and my voice did sound then, a low growl of pleasure as his tongue rasped over the sensitive skin of my neck. His new fangs pierced through my skin and I arched against him, overcome by need. He drank, echoing with his own growl of satisfaction.
Heat radiated from him in waves triggering a spark inside me. My body reacted immediately and hot desire bloomed between us as the blood fever raced intent on not stopping until it was sated. To a newly born vampire, the draw to the blood fever was too strong to ignore. I couldn’t overlook this one, despite all the years I’d had to grow accustomed to its presence. It was too powerful and enticing.
I knew better.
He didn’t and it was that knowledge that should have snapped me out of my haze, especially since he deserved the chance to make his own choice. Currently, his need for blood was controlling him and the throbbing erection that was pressing hard against me still.
His hand curled around the back of my neck as his fingers tilted my head to give him even better access to my veins and even though I knew I needed to stop this–stop him–a ripple of desire traveled down my spine.
I bit back an oath as it shattered the moment and knew what I needed to do. I shoved at him with my hands and he grunted in protest, tightening his grip on my neck so he could continue to drink. His fingers dug into my skin almost painfully because he didn’t want to lose his free supply of blood.
I knew things were about to get ugly.
While I’d never personally rebirthed a vampire, I was old enough to gauge his reaction. Old enough to know what was going on and why I was reacting as I was to him. A vampire in the throes of bloodlust was dangerous in their own right–regardless of their age. Add in the blood fever and things could get downright nasty. Those two things combined and no one was safe.
Since I wasn’t of the mind to let a freshly born vampire get the best of me, I had to end this.
I pushed at his shoulders and felt him jerk in surprise as his mouth wrenched from my neck.
Fuck, that hurt. The flash of pain immediately replaced the tingles of pleasure I’d been experiencing and I wasn’t aroused anymore–I was irate. It was my own fault. I would have to remind myself of that when I looked back on this moment in time.
If I made it through this, that is.
He stumbled back a few paces and immediately howled in displeasure at being separated from his food. His voice resonated off the walls I’d had soundproofed seven years ago. Those once brown eyes were a glittering black and blood dripped from his exposed fangs. If I was anything other than vampire, I’d probably be scared shitless by the gory sight he made.
As it was, I leaned back against the wall he’d pushed me into and propped one of my legs up to tap my foot impatiently while he had his little hissy fit. Unexpectedly, he lunged for me. My overconfidence let him close his hands around my neck again and my vision immediately went white.
Instinctively, I relaxed my entire body, hoping he took this as a sign of my surrender. Just as I expected, he relaxed his hold on my neck enough so I could move. In an explosion of movement, his hands were off my neck and I managed to push him far enough away from me so I could wedge a knee between us. Using my own superhuman strength, I pushed with enough force to send him stumbling back a few steps again.
My throat burned from the lack of oxygen, but I couldn’t let that stop me. He was a newly reborn vampire and his strength could easily triple my own for the first few hours of his new life. It wouldn’t last and I used that as my anchor point, determined to see this through with both of us taking as little damage as possible.
It meant he was going to have to be controlled and something told me he wasn’t going to be forced into it willingly.
I pulled out the lengths of leather designed to restrain newborns from the hidden slot in my outfit at my lower back. I’d at least had the common sense to slide into the leather-like outfit Carter had supplied for me about five years back before this new vampire had awakened.
Carter West was a man of many talents, high-tech outfits like this just being one of them. I silently thanked him for his ingenuity as the newborn before me spotted the restraints and snarled at me. He shifted his weight to the balls of his feet in preparation for a fight. The position afforded me a view of just how aroused he still was and despite myself, I inhaled sharply at the sight.
Any woman would have to be dead not to appreciate that sight.
While I was a vampire, I was very much alive.
His eyes, now a vivid blue instead of the black I glimpsed earlier, flashed in anticipation and he grinned widely. There was a dark fire in the depths of his eyes, one I’d never seen before from any vampire. It was dangerously addictive and I could feel a seductive tug deep within my soul as I studied his eyes. The blood fever that had been sparked inside me stirred again and I slammed the door on it, knowing I couldn’t let it out again.
He shifted a little, purposefully opened his legs a little wider so that I couldn’t miss the jutting line of his erection.
Damn proud of himself, wasn’t he?
His arrogance jolted me back to the situation at hand and I snapped the leather restraints in my hands. His smile faltered a little and I took that as my opportunity to restrain him. I clamped a hand over his wrist and he immediately began struggling. Even though his strength far outweighed my own, I had hundreds of years of experience over him. Five hundred years to be exact. This was one case were skill held a distinct advantage.
I spun, reversing our positions so he was the one whose back was to the wall this time. He used a foot to try to leverage away from the wall, but I slammed my palm into his nose, pleased when I heard the brutal crunch of cartilage shattering and his head snapped back from the force, smacking smartly with the wall behind him. He cried out in shock from the pain that was evidently unexpected and learned he wasn’t as powerful as he’d probably thought. It was a common misconception that vampires were impervious to pain, but I knew first-hand, we experienced it just like everyone else.
There were many things this newbie was going to have to learn if he was going to survive in this world now in this enhanced form.
I snorted and slapped the leather around both of his wrists, tightening the whisper thin buckles with quick efficiency, not caring about any pain I caused him at this point. His eyes went wide in surprise, probably because he hadn’t expected me to move that quickly.
I fought back a wince and kicked out my leg to catch his knee. It buckled under my foot and I used the momentum to spin him around so he now faced the wall. I yanked his arms behind him, tight against his back and secured them together with one hand while I clamped the other around his neck to hold him in place. He struggled against the hold and caused me to tighten my grip until he yelped out in pain.
“Get the fuck off of me.” His voice, muffled against the wall, eliminated some of the violence behind his words.
Personally, I didn’t think he was in much of a position to be issuing demands, but who was I to judge? “Not so big and bad now, are we?” I could feel his back muscles strain as he fought against the restraints and tightened my grip a bit more, smiling when he cried out in pain as I cut off the circulation in his hands. “Calm down and I’ll let you go.”
“Bullshit,” he spat out.
I chuckled. “You’re right, I lied.” I pushed away from him, but kept one hand on his shoulder to keep him pinned to the wall. “But this would be a lot more comfortable if you calmed down.”
His body relaxed a little, but I could still feel the tension prowling through his muscles. He was interested to know what was going on, but still didn’t trust me enough to settle down completely. He blew out a frustrated breath and it was a few minutes before he spoke again. “What the hell happened to me?”
Talk about a loaded question. I opted for the truth because it’s what I would have wanted for myself. I hadn’t had the luxury when I’d been rebirthed, so I could at least extend him the courtesy. “You were murdered two nights ago. In a back alley a few blocks away.”
“Murdered?” His voice was quiet as his body went limp.
I sighed softly as I tugged on the restraints, guiding him to the bed–the only horizontal surface in the room I could secure him to. I confirmed his question with a nod, knowing that once he processed the information, he was going to need more of an explanation. If he was even able to process it at all. He would continue to wonder how he could be walking around if he’d been murdered two nights ago.
The problem was there were no easy answers–in life or in this.
I could give him the basics, give him the jumping off point in which to begin his new life, but he was going to have to come to terms with it on his own. That wasn’t something I could help out with.
He was a vampire.
Doomed to walk through eternity feeding off the blood of others. There weren’t as many misnomers as most people believed. We breathed oxygen, our hearts beat and a false life flowed through us.
We walked in sunlight and could only die by fire, our ashes scattered in water to dissolve so there was nothing left.
Pain darkened his eyes as he fought and taking pity on him, I stepped forward, releasing my hold on the straps enough so he could move and shift into a more comfortable position. I must have given him more room than I thought because he launched himself at me again without warning.
I had news for him, though, this time I was ready.
Rage shadowed his face and his voice reverberated off the surrounding walls as he reached for me. I stepped back with smooth efficiency and sneered at him as he reached the end of his bindings. He jerked back in surprise, screaming at me. My foot caught his jaw and his head snapped to the side. The pained scream cut off abruptly.
He dropped to the floor like a stone, unconscious and unmoving.
I wasn’t sure how long it would last, so I immediately moved forward and lifted him back onto the bed as if he weighed no more than a feather. I tightened the straps, tugging on them to ensure they were still taut and dropped into a chair by the bed.
Exhausted from recent efforts and the lack of sleep, I let my head fall against the back of the chair. I was supposed to be on vacation right now. Sitting in a lounge chair in a remote island location where I would be assigned my very own cabana boy. Juan would attend to my every whim and desire, no matter how outrageous or taboo. He would flash me a smile as he handed me another drink decorated with a pink umbrella, assuring me that he would go to great lengths to ensure I was satisfied. A shiny silver thong would cradle his rock-hard erection and give no room for misinterpretation on just how great a length it was. I would continue to request drinks I really didn’t want just to get a glimpse of his tight ass and daydream about what I could be sinking my nails into as he sunk that great length into me.
Instead of a mind numbing two weeks in the Caribbean, I was currently sitting in my apartment in New York City with a huge wrench in my plans because I’d had a moment of insanity.
A six-foot something wrench if I judged his height right.
One that snored for fuck’s sake.
I wasn’t lying when I told him the life he knew had ended. Two nights ago, as I’d been preparing to leave for parts unknown, I’d come upon a dark figure in the shadows of an alley feeding off the man now lying in my bed. I should have known better and just moved along, minding my own business. But no, I’d stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong and who knows how long I was going to pay for it. The vampire who’d been feeding on him had been ruthless, nearly tearing out his throat in the process. A throat that was now perfect and unmarred thanks to my rash decision.
The man began to shift on the bed and I stood up, moving next to him in a few steps. His forehead was tight with tension as he slept and I automatically reached down, tracing my fingers over his skin to smooth out the deep ridges. He relaxed in sleep at my touch, his breathing growing steady once again as he moved past whatever it was that bothered him in his dream. His skin was hot to the touch and my gaze automatically moved over the rest of his body as it was out of the ordinary for one of our kind to be scorching hot like this.
I swore softly as I caught a glimpse of his still hard length and moved to the side of the bed, draping a heavy blanket over his lower half to cover him. I averted my gaze as I noticed that while it hid his erection from view, the drape of the fabric only enhanced the shape of what was underneath it.
I swallowed hard and purposefully turned away from the bed, slipping into the bathroom so I could at least freshen up while he was unconscious. Angry red bite marks stood out on my neck as I spied my image in the mirror and I turned away in disgust. The puncture marks wouldn’t remain. In fact, they’d be gone completely in another few minutes thanks to my enhanced healing ability. I just didn’t want to see them right now because they stood as a reminder I’d let my guard down for a split second and it had cost me.
It didn’t matter. At the moment, he was stronger, faster and more agile than I was. A mistake like that wasn’t acceptable, especially at a time like this.
I peeled off the midnight blue suit, wincing at the bruises already turning a sickly yellow shade as they began to heal. They too would be gone within minutes, but until then they were going to hurt like hell.
Scalding hot water pounded against muscles sore from the fight and I sighed in relief from the welcome pain. I leaned forward against the stone wall of the shower, letting the spray have its way with my back. Black hair fell around me like a curtain, blocking out the soft light I’d flipped on when I entered the stall. The darkness welcomed me despite the fact we hadn’t met in years and I accepted it far easier than I would have thought possible.
The black painted my soul, coating it with a thick layer of despair light wouldn’t be able to penetrate no matter how bright it was. It frightened me that I could so easily slip back into the inky depths I had spent years dragging myself out of. That it could still find me so quickly despite the span of years that separated us.
What I’d seen in his eyes for a brief few seconds had frightened me. Vampires were ruthless creatures, the vast majority of them often taking what they sought simply by force just because they could. The thought that he could get what he wanted with just a look floored me.
It shouldn’t be possible. Especially from a newly rebirthed vampire who didn’t have any idea what was going on around him.
I turned off the shower as I blocked the dark spiral threading through me and a sharp crack from the bedroom had me scrambling for a towel. I scooped up my suit as I stepped into the bedroom to find the footboard of my bed in hundreds of shattered pieces.
Seriously? Things weren’t bad enough as it was without adding insult to injury?
I swore loudly as I reached out my hands to block the oncoming vampire currently barreling toward me. He hit my hands with a force that vibrated all the way up my arms then shivered down my spine as my body absorbed the impact.
I grunted from the effort of deflecting him and he stumbled to the side, caught off balance. Annoyed now, my foot slammed into his thigh and his femur cracked from the force of my kick. He gave a sharp cry of protest and my elbow sang as it connected with his jaw. Obviously not content to simply accept being beat up by a girl, his fist lashed out as he started to go down and caught me in the abdomen.
I grunted as my stomach retched and I collapsed to the ground in a heap. The man beside me writhed in pain as his bone began knitting back together and I fought to keep my insides from becoming my outsides, willing my lungs to begin working again.
He packed a hell of a punch and if, in a few days time, he still possessed even just a sliver of the strength he had now, I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.
I coughed as my lungs remembered how to work and turned over onto my back as I greedily gulped for air. It was another minute or two before I was able to sit up and I shook my head as I spied the fragments of my once beloved bed.
I’d owned the bed, the size of a small lake, since I’d moved to New York City. It may have been shallow and materialistic to think so highly of a bed, but dammit, I had so little in my life, why couldn’t I get emotional about where I slept?
I pushed myself upright and stormed from the room, in a rush to get back before he regained his facilities fully. I was exhausted from the fight with him and the drain of blood he’d taken. The fact he’d rushed me again told me he wasn’t sated yet and I wondered how any vampire willingly decided to take on the responsibility of rebirthing a human.
Seemed to me, this was more trouble than it was worth.
Luckily, I had supplies on hand to take care of his needs because he wasn’t going to get anything else from me. That was too tempting a route to repeat and I wasn’t of the mind to lose myself to a blood fever just because it had been so long since I felt it.
I threw a sealed bag at him a minute later, towel in my hand as I had taken the time to slide back into my outfit when I stepped out to the kitchen.
“Drink that and stop acting like some brainless idiot,” I snapped, my patience gone.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” he asked, his words slurring as he wasn’t used to speaking around his fangs yet. He sat up and stared at the opaque bag in his hand, then at me.
I kept the smug smile of satisfaction to myself when I saw him wince as he moved. “You’ll figure it out,” I replied vaguely as I walked out of the room again.