Fallen, page 1
Fallen
Raven Stone
Firelight Tales Publishing, LLC
Copyright © 2022 by Raven Stone
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for brief quotes used in articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of brands, establishments, and/or products referenced in this work of fiction without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not sponsored by, associated with, or authorized by the trademark owners. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Foreword
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
23. Chapter 23
24. Chapter 24
25. Chapter 25
26. Chapter 26
27. Chapter 27
28. Chapter 28
29. Chapter 29
30. Chapter 30
31. Chapter 31
32. Chapter 32
33. Chapter 33
34. Chapter 34
35. Chapter 35
36. Chapter 36
37. Chapter 37
38. Chapter 38
39. Chapter 39
40. Chapter 40
41. Chapter 41
42. Chapter 42
43. Chapter 43
44. Chapter 44
45. Chapter 45
46. Chapter 46
47. Chapter 47
48. Chapter 48
49. Chapter 49
50. Chapter 50
51. Chapter 51
52. Chapter 52
53. Chapter 53
54. Chapter 54
55. Chapter 55
56. Chapter 56
57. Chapter 57
58. Chapter 58
59. Chapter 59
60. Chapter 60
61. Chapter 61
62. Chapter 62
63. Chapter 63
64. Chapter 64
65. Chapter 65
66. Chapter 66
67. Chapter 67
68. Chapter 68
69. Chapter 69
70. Chapter 70
71. Chapter 71
72. Chapter 72
73. Chapter 73
A Dangerous Man Excerpt
Other Books by Raven Stone
About the Author
Foreword
In case this is the first time you’re reading one of my vampire books, I’ve included some definitions of some common terms (human and vampire) below.
Welcome to the Kingdom of Blood and Forest. I hope you enjoy it here!
Consensual Non-Monogamy:
Consensual non-monogamy is an umbrella term used to describe consensual relationships such as polyamory, open relationships, swinging, etc., where partners are aware, and agree, that a relationship isn’t monogamous.
Fallen:
The Fallen are a type of vampire. They’re physically and culturally different than other vampires. Fallen are more territorial, usually stronger, and more primal.
Gatori:
A human that's been turned into a vampire. The term is commonly used to indicate a relationship (not necessarily romantic) between two vampires. In other words, someone saying, “Amara is Edward’s gatori” indicates that Edward turned Amara into a vampire.
Kindred:
A human who can become a Fallen. Kindred are rare. Not everyone can become a Fallen, and even then it depends on what type of vampire turns the human.
Latari:
The vampire who turns a human into a vampire.
Match:
The Fallen who can optimally turn a Kindred into a vampire.
Noven:
Humans usually spend four years transitioning from human to vampire through a very deliberate process developed by the vampires. In cases where a human is turned into a vampire outside of that four-year process, the resulting vampire is called a noven. There are special rules and monitoring in place for novens for one year. After that year, the noven becomes a gatori.
Polyamory:
Simplest definition: Many loves. Key on the love.
Longer definition: More than one romantic relationship, sexual relationship, or romantic and sexual relationship with the consent and knowledge of all partners, regardless of which partners are involved with each other.
Polyamory is practiced in a lot of ways. People of all sexual orientations can and do enjoy polyamory. Someone can be polyamorous, even if they’re not in a relationship, or they’re only in one relationship at a particular time.
Were/Shifter:
Someone who can shift into a different form. For example, werewolves, werebears, etc.
Chapter 1
The man in front of me was naked, and tied to a post.
He was also rock hard.
“This one’s yours,” Terry said. My partner was flattened against the doorway, as if the tied-up man’s dick could somehow reach him from all the way across the room.
“Sure,” I said dryly.
Terry fled.
I closed the door and crossed the room. The captive was human, and appeared to be in his mid-twenties. That made him older than the college-age humans we’d found in one of the other rooms. He didn’t seem high or drunk like some of them had been either. In fact, given that he was naked and tied to a pole, he seemed pretty calm.
I stopped in front of him, and he raised his head. Lush lips parted a hair’s breadth, and his soft brown eyes met mine for a moment. That look, and our positions – me standing, him tied at my feet – sent electricity shooting up my spine. Then a lock of brown hair fell over one of his eyes. Like that, the moment was gone, as he lowered his head, and tried to flip the hair out of his eyes.
“May I?” I knelt in front of him, and he went still.
“Sure.”
I slipped my fingers into the silky, soft strands of his hair, and tucked the lock behind his ear.
“Thanks,” he said.
His eyes met mine again, and I resisted the urge to trail my fingers from his ear to his jaw. Instead, I sat back on my heels. I examined him from head to toe, my gaze taking in his firm, naked body, the ropes binding him, and the erection proudly jutting from his thighs.
“Are you here voluntarily?” I asked.
“Do I look like I’m here voluntarily?”
My eyes dropped to his dick.
He sighed. “My ex-boyfriend tied me up all the time. This shit’s my body not understanding the difference. I’m half expecting him to walk through that door.”
I softly laughed. “Why are you here, then?”
“I’m being held captive, obviously,” he replied.
“Obviously.” I grinned. He had an attitude, and I liked that. “How long?”
“An hour, maybe two,” he said.
I scanned his body again. He had a couple of marks on his head and face, but nothing else I could see. “Did they rape you?”
His eyes widened. “No.”
“Why did they strip you down?”
“They said it was a punishment. Apparently, I was being mouthy after they captured me,” he replied.
“Interesting punishment.” I suppressed my smile, given what I needed to ask next. “I can tell they hit you. Did they bite you?”
He cocked his head. “That’s a really strange question.”
That meant they hadn’t bitten him. His response also told me he didn’t know that vampires were real.
“And the answer’s no,” he said finally.
“What did they look like?” I asked.
“I didn’t see the guy who dropped me, but I got a good look at the guy who tied me up, and his boss.”
“Describe the boss.”
“Shorter than you. Narrow frame. Platinum blond hair, angular face, cold blue eyes and icy cold hands,” he replied. “They called him Aleric.”
Yes.
I knew it.
“You said he had cold hands. Where did he touch you?” I asked.
“Shoulder, chin, and neck,” he answered. “It was weird.”
The elation I’d felt over finding out Aleric had been here faded away, replaced by a different kind of excitement. Aleric touching this man like that hadn’t been an accident. Hope tingled through my limbs.
“May I touch you?” I asked, doing my best to keep my voice calm, even as my fingers itched.
“Yes.”
He didn’t hesitate in giving me his permission, and I didn’t hesitate in touching him. My hand shot out, gripping his chin and tipping his head up. “Like this?”
“Exactly like that. Christ, you’re fucking cold too. Are you related or something?”
“Something like that.” I skated three o
“Other than cold fingers? No,” he said.
I took my hand away from him.
“How about when I did it?” I asked.
His eyes met mine, and something flickered in them. “No.”
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
His lips twitched, and his eyes dropped away.
“You’re attractive, but a lot of men don’t like hearing that from a gay man,” he said.
I smiled, in spite of my disappointment. I’d been hoping for something more than that, but frankly I wasn’t surprised. I’d felt nothing other than attraction myself. And it was some consolation that he’d felt nothing with Aleric.
“Bisexual men usually don’t mind,” I replied.
That earned me a smile, and his gaze returned to me. His body relaxed in his bonds, just as a knock sounded on the door.
“Yes?”
The door opened and Terry poked his head through, his gaze fixed on the opposite wall. “Is he decent?”
“I don’t know yet, but he’s still naked, if that’s what you mean.”
“Kai.” My partner grumbled, then opened the door wider. “You two are the last ones. We’ve got to go.”
I grunted, then stood up and drew the knife from my belt.
“Stay still,” I told the man tied to the post. He nodded, and I went behind him and started cutting the rope.
“We don’t have time for that,” Terry said.
“Then get over here and help me.”
“He’s naked. And hard.” Terry whined.
I laughed. “He’s not going to bend you over and take you the minute he’s free, Terry.”
“He could touch me with it.”
I held back a sigh. Older vampires reached a point where they didn’t care about a human’s gender. Blood was blood, after all. Unfortunately, Terry was still young.
“You won’t become gay or bisexual just because a dick touches you. I promise. Now get over here and help me cut him loose. I’m not leaving him here for Aleric,” I said.
“Aleric?” Terry turned pale, then hurried over. “Are you sure?”
I tugged on the ropes as we both cut through them. Whoever had tied this man up had been very thorough.
“Our friend here confirmed it. And Aleric wants him.”
“Fuck.” My partner stopped cutting. “Kai, if we take someone Aleric wants, he’ll come after us.”
“Exactly.”
Terry’s mouth gaped open, hanging there for a moment before he slammed it shut and started hacking at the ropes. “You’re fucking insane.”
“Yup.”
“You’ll get us all killed,” he added.
“Probably,” I replied calmly.
“Dammit,” Terry swore under his breath, but he kept cutting, at least.
Finally, the ropes broke free. The captive brought his arms forward, rubbing them, trying to get the blood moving again.
“Can you stand?” I asked.
I held out my hand to him, and he took it. I pulled him to his feet, catching him under the elbow when he wobbled a bit.
“Thanks,” he said.
“He’s naked, Kai,” Terry said.
“You keep harping on that.” I glanced around. “Where did they put your clothes?”
“They took them with them.”
“Shit.” I pulled my shirt over my head and handed it to the man.
He slipped it on. It was a long shirt, and I was taller than him, so it at least covered up his dangly bits.
“Better?” I asked.
“Better.” Both of them agreed.
“Great. Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 2
We took him straight to the waiting van. Terry was right; we were the last ones left. The captive stared dubiously into the van, already packed with the rest of the team.
“I’m not sure about this,” he said slowly. “I think I can take it from here. Thanks.”
“Are you planning on walking home like this?” I gestured to his half-naked state. “Calling a rideshare, maybe? Just where did you hide your phone?”
I let my eyes trail over him, and this time he blushed.
“I have an extra set of clothes back at base that you can borrow,” I added, then lifted my chin towards the van. “Come on.”
He considered me for a long moment, weighing his options, then slowly climbed into the van. There was one aisle down the middle, with benches on either side. He took one of the last spots near the door, and I sat down next to him. Terry closed the doors, took a seat across from us, and pounded on the side of the vehicle. There was a jolt as we took off, and we all swayed together.
The captive’s eyes scanned the rest of the team. They were all dressed in Nightfall’s standard head-to-toe black clothing, including belts stuffed with gear that was non-lethal to vampires.
“Are you the police?” the man asked me.
One of the women snorted.
“Something like that,” I replied.
He frowned, tension ratcheting up his body. If he’d been mine, if he’d been my human, I would have calmed him, comforted him.
But he wasn’t.
“Private security?” he asked.
“Not exactly.” I lowered my voice, and spoke into his ear. “Now’s not the time. Just wait. Trust me.”
I had questions for him, and I knew he had questions for me, but I didn’t want to have this conversation in the van.
His soft brown eyes scanned my face.
He was trying to decide whether to trust me or not. He’d already trusted me twice: once to get him out of the warehouse, and again when he got into the van.
Would he trust me again?
I had some idea of what he’d been through. I knew at least some of the jumble of emotions he was going through. It made sense that he was still jittery, with everything that had happened to him tonight.
His lips pursed, and then he gave me a slow nod.
We spent the rest of the ride in silence, with the team shooting us sporadic glances.
Chapter 3
Base was a non-descript building on the edge of an industrial park. It didn’t look like much from the outside, and we liked it that way. It helped us blend in.
Once the van came to a complete stop in the parking lot, Terry opened the doors and everyone spilled out in an orderly fashion. I guided my new friend out of the van, then put a hand on his shoulder and steered him towards the building.
“Let’s get your clothes first,” I said. “They’re in my locker.”
He spared me a look. “I doubt they’ll fit.”
We walked into base, and some of the others immediately branched off, but a good number headed to the back with us.
“They’ll do the job, and it’s better than you being half-clothed,” I said.
My partner snorted.
“Anything’s better than him being naked.” He pushed the door to the locker room open, and led the way through the rows of lockers, to the very back of the room.
“You’re just jealous of his massive dick,” I replied.
“I’m not jealous,” Terry replied, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder, “I’m afraid. That thing could seriously hurt me.”
I laughed, pulling open my locker and handing a fresh pair of pants and socks to the half-clothed human. He put them on while I pulled an extra shirt over my head. When I was done, I realized the man was right; the clothes didn’t exactly fit him. I pulled an old standard issue belt out of the locker and pulled it tight around his waist. Then I knelt and rolled up his pant legs too. It wasn’t fashionable, but it would do.
There was an unreadable look simmering in his eyes as I stood up again.
“Better?” I asked.
Terry closed his locker and gave the human a once-over. “It’ll do for now. How long are you keeping him?”
“He’s in protective custody, as of right now,” I said.
“That’s not an answer, and you can’t say that yet. You have to talk to the Captain first,” Terry replied.
I crossed my arms. “Fine. He’s under my protection.”
“Why?” the human asked, his eyebrows knotting.
“And when you sleep?” Terry asked, ignoring the human completely.
