Her Vampire Obsession

  Her Vampire Obsession

  HER TASTE IS ADDICTIVE AND I WILL NOT SHARE HER. NO ONE GETS HER BUT ME.

  Dexter

  I've lived a long time. Some might say too long. I honestly don't know what drew me to Lucius' club in Tucson, of all hellish destinations, but dark and self-destructive thoughts have increasingly beckoned to me, as of late.

  Then I meet her.

  She challenges me from the very start and awakens something I'd thought long dead and cold inside my soul. Even her name should burn my lips, yet I can't let her go.

  But when pieces of the past catch up with us, will I be able to keep her safe?

  Eilidh

  I've spent most of my life running, but that bastard had my number from almost the second our eyes meet. He's the first of his kind to break through my defenses when I thought I was safe here, of all places.

  He's done worse than steal my heart--he's given me hope.

  Now what the hell do I do?

  Especially when it looks like my past is catching up with us.

  This time, I might have run out of options.

  Note: Lesli Richardson also writes as USA Today Bestselling author Tymber Dalton

  Her Vampire Obsession

  Lesli Richardson

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Want More Midnight Doms?

  Also By the Author

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  HUGE thanks to Lee and Renee for asking me to be part of this fantastic series with a bunch of other talented authors! I really enjoyed the Bad Boy Alphas series, and love vampires, so I might have had a massive fangirl squee when they approached me!

  To my growlie cuddly pet Viking, who knows exactly why.

  Author’s Note

  Before you even ask, it’s pronounced “AY-lee.” Hey, the characters name themselves.

  And you can find out more about the Data-X labs, Garrett Green, and the other Tucson shifters in the Bad Boy Alphas series by Lee Savino and Renee Rose.

  A few characters in this book are begging me to write their stories, so that will happen. As well as some others who spoke up during the process. Also, I plan on writing a new series inspired by some of the characters in this book, but I don’t want to give away too much, so stay tuned…

  1

  Dexter

  “I must say, I was quite intrigued to receive your call, Dexter.”

  Lucius Frangelico, the self-proclaimed “vampire king,” studies me with a very practiced tip of his head and a smile that, combined, are supposed to elicit a certain reaction from most people.

  I am not most people.

  And he’s not my king. I damn sure didn’t vote for him.

  Not that I have any desire to challenge him for his throne, either.

  Yes, he apparently has one of those, too. If he thinks he’ll make me take a knee for him, he’s mistaken.

  “Why is that, Lucius?” I’m well aware I’m probably one of very few people walking the face of this planet who know what he is, who can get away with not using honorifics with him.

  “I’ve extended how many invitations to you over the years, all met with silence? And now…” He lets his words drift into silence between us.

  I settle back in my chair and swirl the glass of bourbon in my hand as the silence descends. I won’t try to bullshit him—that’d be useless and stupid. Just because we’re both eternal doesn’t mean I should waste our time.

  “Between us?” I finally ask.

  He tips his head again.

  “On paper, I’m scouting for expansion opportunities. Tucson is an ideal location for a new casino, and I’ve nearly aged myself out of Atlantic City.” I sip my drink and savor the sharp bite of the liquor. He doesn’t press or interrupt me.

  Like me, he’s a patient man.

  It’s a skill we’ve honed over the many centuries spanned by our existence.

  I take another sip of the bourbon and savor it. I would miss bourbon. It’s the closest thing I’ve had to experiencing the sun in over a thousand years, once I lost—

  I clip that thought short.

  The sun isn’t the only thing my soul deeply mourns.

  Rolling the liquor around on my tongue for a moment before I swallow, I finally let the words coalesce and fall from my lips.

  “Between us, I’m wondering what a Tucson sunrise might look like.”

  Beside Lucius, Selene lets out a soft gasp. She’s his queen, always by his side.

  Not just because she’s a wolf shifter he turned, either. Although that is a very good reason.

  She’s far more deadly than Lucius and me combined, and she’s his mate, his wife…

  And his bodyguard.

  Even Lucius’ well-paid and highly trained security team cowers before her, vampires and humans alike. I saw the way his men tip their heads to her and averted their eyes when she entered the room. It had nothing to do with her being Lucius’ love and everything to do with their abject terror of her abilities.

  While I had waffled a little over my plans, seeing how happy Lucius is with his mate reminds me how empty and cold my own life is and has been for…

  Well, forever, it feels like.

  Maybe I will look for my first sunrise in close to two thousand years. Greet it with open arms instead of running from it. What started as an idle thought several months ago has become an increasingly strong instinct as of late. But first, one last business victory.

  Lucius tsks. “It would be a shame for you to do that.” Hell, he even sounds sincere.

  I smirk at him over the rim of my glass. “Why, uncle. I didn’t know you cared.” My sire has been dead for ages—not by my hand, thank you very much—and he and Lucius were sired by the same vampire. My sire was several hundred years older than Lucius.

  So, yeah. Technically, he is my uncle. I’m also not stupid enough to think Lucius truly gives a damn about my existence one way or another, as long as I’m not causing him trouble either way.

  “I always did like you,” Lucius quietly says. “You have a backbone and integrity.”

  “Plus, I’ve never tried to kill you.”

  He returns my smile. “I will not deny that colors my opinion of you in a favorable direction.” He sounds like he just walked off a BBC soundstage, while I dropped my Scottish accent once I relocated to the States. I tend to sound like someone from the Midwest now. “You are one of the few I have known this long who have not tried to overthrow me.” A scowl flickers across his features. “Come to think of it, you are the only one I’ve known this long who has not tried to ove
rthrow me.”

  “How many others have you known as long as we’ve known each other, Lucius? There are few as old as we are.” I sometimes envy younger vampires’ ability to recite their exact date of birth…and rebirth.

  Lucius and I come from a time well before calendars were rewritten around the birth and crucifixion of a Nazarene carpenter. In fact, I believe Lucius predates those events by a bit.

  He smirks. “Well, there is that. Still, the sentiment remains.”

  “I have no interest in politics, and you know it. I never have.”

  His lips curl in another smile. “Yet another reason I like you.”

  “Politics is an unwinnable game. I prefer capitalism.” I sip my drink. “It’s far bloodier. And more profitable. It also neutralizes politics. With enough money, you can buy what and who you want.”

  He actually snorts. I wasn’t even sure he was capable of humor like that.

  Selene’s quiet voice draws my focus. “You’re not really going to do that, are you? Meet the sun?” She was turned so recently she hasn’t yet lost her humanity, her empathy. Some vampires manage to hold on to a modicum of that—such as myself.

  Others come to see humans as nothing more than food and prey, instead of living, breathing beings with lives and dreams.

  Once again, I focus on the liquid in my glass, gently swirling it, so I can breathe in its scent. “I haven’t decided yet, quite honestly. It’s not exactly a new idea for me, but the notion hasn’t passed the way it usually does.”

  “What you need is a distraction,” Lucius insists. “You must come to the club tomorrow night. Seems I remember you know how to wield a riding crop.” He smiles. “Paris, wasn’t it?”

  “Milan.” I don’t need sex. Not to sound like an asshole, but I can get that whenever I want it. I have no desire to take it without consent, either. I outgrew that nonsense about the same time I was turned.

  Without consent.

  It was one of my younger “brothers” who killed our sire. My brother had also been turned without his consent, but his turning and weaning had been even more cruel than mine. It rendered him practically feral and barely coherent. Once he was strong enough, he killed our sire. Then he greeted the sun the next day because he’d been driven mad by both what he’d done to our sire, as well as by the effects of being turned.

  Yes, I’m guilty of having stood by and watched it happen. Allowed it, even.

  Fate in action.

  Obviously, I’m far stronger than a human. Outwitting one, wooing one—those are pleasures I will never take without working for them. I won’t allow myself to violate consent for the average innocent.

  “Why did you open a club, of all things?” I ask. “And why here, of all places? A vampire, in a desert?” In the short time it’s been open, Club Toxic has developed a rep among multiple species, but especially vampires.

  Lucius smiles. “The cover makes sense, when you look at the larger picture. Besides, I like the area, and the situation in LA was no longer…tenable. On multiple fronts.”

  “You’re surrounded by shifters.” I hold up a hand to Selene. “No offense intended. I have no issues with shifters.”

  She smirks. “None taken, but only because you look like Ianto, and I love Torchwood.”

  Honestly? I couldn’t tell you what I look like. It’s been over two thousand years since I’ve seen my own reflection, and I’m not narcissistic enough to have my portrait painted.

  Before I can ask what Selene means, Lucius speaks. “Nonsense. We’re not surrounded—it’s a target-rich environment.” He smiles. “We have an agreement, and we have been mutually beneficial to each other. We don’t hunt them, and they don’t hunt us. When a human accidentally discovers their secret, they have one of our kind wipe it from the human’s mind, meaning they don’t have to kill the human.

  “There is also strength in numbers, even as diverse as we are. Working together has shown everyone that setting aside petty, past differences is a boon for both. Especially against common enemies. Tucson has a large enough population that it allows for ample, safe feeding for us. I keep my nest tightly in check and remind them it behooves them to keep the shifters happy, and we help the shifters keep their secrets. Likewise, they help us keep ours.”

  “Are the shifters happy to have ‘leeches’ living in their midst?”

  He smiles and shrugs. “The arrangement holds.” His smile fades. “When traitors in my midst threatened that arrangement, I took care of them and made an example out of them to prove to the shifters that I can be trusted. And again, when a rogue nest tried to usurp me, we were allies against them. That is all that matters.”

  “It certainly seems like a unique arrangement compared to elsewhere.” Usually, shifters and vampires avoid each other. If forced together in close quarters for too long, there is inevitably bloodshed. In a fair fight, vampires can usually beat shifters.

  But shifters have a highly refined sense of smell and the ability to hunt in the daytime, meaning vampires are vulnerable.

  “The shifters and I agree in more ways than we disagree,” he says. “It was simply a matter of allowing them to see I am a man of my word. I helped eradicate a blood slavery ring in the area, for starters. Shifters being sold as sweetbloods. I help protect us all against the government. The local werewolf pack Alpha has seen I don’t hesitate to eliminate those who would move against me or against the shifters we have allied ourselves with. Any vampires who don’t wish to abide by my rules can happily fuck off and move elsewhere, outside my territory, or die. I allow the shifters to take care of their own, as long as they don’t interfere with my…business, and they do the same.”

  I risk a smile. “And do you have the shifters over for tea and biscuits?”

  His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t rise to the bait. “Not exactly.”

  Selene giggles. I amuse her, which is one reason I’m now sitting in Lucius’ living room. Other than sunlight and stakes to the heart, Lucius has only one weakness—Selene.

  I envy him that comfort.

  Even if she is easily the scariest creature on the face of the planet.

  “How do you get around their squeamishness about us hunting?” I ask.

  “It’s amazing how many humans will volunteer to be cows when you throw in orgasms.” He smiles again. “And money. There are also the…less desirable populations. Criminals. Did you know you can find registered sex offenders’ information right online? It’s publicly available for anyone to see. No one complains if one of them dies. We’re careful to do it in stages, and to wipe their minds after every blooding.”

  “It’s a twofer,” Selene says, flashing canines as she smiles. “In a couple of years, Tucson will be one of the safest cities in the country.”

  “And more people will want to move here,” I note. Ingenious.

  “Exactly,” Lucius says. “And it stays safe. There are also plenty of criminals out on parole who have trouble finding honest work. We are willing to pay them cash, and all they have to do is stay drug-free and not reoffend. Again, it helps keep the area safer. Also, I’ve forbade my sired from siring any new vampires of their own without my permission. It’s a death sentence, if they do. They also know if they leave a trail of corpses, I will allow the shifters to take care of them for being rogues, if I don’t stake them first myself.”

  I’m actually the only resident vampire in Atlantic City, that I’m aware of. I made it clear it was my territory, and that I would welcome visitors who cleared their visits with me and agreed to abide by my rules—no bodies, no sired, and no setting up a permanent residence. That I would provide them an ample list of volunteers happy to “play” with them and let them feed, or they could buy ethically acquired blood through me.

  It’s worked for me for over fifty years.

  Which is another reason why I’m here tonight discussing this with Lucius.

  “To be clear,” I say, “I’m looking to set up a human-centric resort, not a vampire one. I run t
he company, but no one other than six trusted employees who’ve been with me for decades know I’m a vampire. I’m not looking to challenge you for control of the area, which is why I’m here discussing this with you in the first place.” He knows exactly what I’m not saying—I’m not going to pay him tribute.

  “What do I get in return?”

  “Cover, increased transient populations of tourists to feed from, and, as long as your people don’t kill, I’ll allow them greater access through paid staff positions, as well as send guests to your club through recommendations. Meaning more jobs for vampires who wish to settle in this region, with your permission, of course. I will also contribute very generously to local politicians’ campaigns and pet projects, in conjunction with you. I’ll back whatever political issues you wish to forward for your own interests, as long as innocents aren’t harmed, and I’ll stand behind you in full support if anyone tries to move against you.”

  He slowly nods. “That is tempting.”

  “No killing or siring on my property,” I add. “Not looking to increase the population. And any feeding done on my property must be with consent. For any vampires from out of town who wish to stay with me, I will source purchased blood exclusively from you.” That will mollify him.