Claiming Her Vampire: Embracing The Bond, page 1
EMBRACING THE BOND
CLAIMING HER VAMPIRE
T. D. EDWARDS
Claiming Her Vampire
Copyright © 2022 T. D. Edwards
Published by T. D. Edwards in USA
authortdedwards.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art: Rebecca Frank
Editor: Megan Records
Formatted by: Lorna Reid
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgment
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
About the Author
Dedication
To my sister,
She has shown me what strength is.
Acknowledgment
Many days, the stress of the unknown and the fear of not being good enough were overwhelming. My work family got me through with their excitement and care. I want to thank them for all the love they gave me along the way.
Claiming Her Vampire is the second book in the Embracing The Bond Series, a stand-alone, vampire, steamy paranormal romance. Guaranteed HEA with a vampire that will do anything to protect his mate.
Note: Due to explicit language, graphic sexual scenes, and violence, this book is intended for mature (18 years +) readers. This book contains discussions on self-harm, physical abuse, and suicide.
Chapter One
Ryker
“Why do they always cry?” I put down my knife, disgusted. I love my knives. Guns are fine but so impersonal. There’s nothing like sliding metal into someone who wronged you, inflicting the most pain with a blade. I have studied all kinds, big and small; they're so easy to hide. I have my favorites, though. The knife I just used, a long serrated one, has a wicked curve on its tip. Just enough to make big tears. Our guest has a lovely long gash in his thigh.
I’ve been interrogating a traitor in one of our warehouses for an hour.
Greg, a man I thought was an ally, turned out to be working with an unknown man who was determined to kidnap humans from my nightclub. He’s been forcing them to turn into shifters and vampires.
This I cannot let go on.
I may be a little ruthless, but I have my limits. Forcing anything on innocents is not something I participate in. I’m all about the right to choose.
Now torturing and maiming those that are genuinely evil, betray me, or hurt women or children—that I can get behind.
Like right now.
“They cry because when they see you coming, a fierce vampire intent on cutting them up, they get a little scared,” Sebastian says dryly, not looking away from the man chained to the ceiling.
Sebastian is my most loyal child, friend, and . . . partner? Well, it’s hard to describe him. I turned him into a vampire many years ago. He was struggling in his human life and wanted to be powerful. It was pretty simple. That was back when I didn’t care. I had been alone for a long time and was bored. If I no longer had any family, I thought, why not make my own? It took a while for him to warm up to me, to stop fighting and trying to kill me. But we worked it out. To many, he’s still a stone-cold killing machine. While that’s true, he’s also a real asset to me. We know we have each other's backs if shit goes down. We’ve made a lot of money, killed a lot of enemies, fucked a lot of women, and built many lives together.
I would have called him a friend in the past, but I have learned from my new, true friend Harmony that may not be the correct term. Sabastian doesn’t understand, but I think he wants to protect me. Or something.
I smile slightly, thinking about the first time I saw Harmony, making Greg shake as he looks at me in fear. I ignore him.
“I don’t know anything.” The whimpers shake me out of my thoughts. Usually, we have them tied to a chair for this process, but they hung Harmony from the ceiling with chains when she was kidnapped. I saw the benefit of this. Of course, I didn’t tell her mates that the assholes that took her inspired me. That would have just been in poor taste.
“I think you do. You reported back to your boss about the humans in my club that were ripe for the picking. Yet you claim not to know his name?” I pick up my second favorite knife, shorter than the other but thicker and just as deadly, and hold it under his chin, tilting his head up. “That doesn’t make sense to me. Why would you work for someone you don’t know?”
“He paid well. He just said to call him Boss. I hadn’t been doing it very long. Please don’t kill me,” he begged.
“Why do they always beg?” Sebastian rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, shaking his head. See, we think the same.
“You give me a name or names of those behind this, and we will kill you quickly,” I promise, running the tip of my knife down this chest to his potbelly. He was human, and I tried never to kill humans anymore, but this was necessary. If you play with the devil and all that.
“He calls himself Boss. We never met in person; we just spoke over the phone. Please, I could go back, go undercover, get inside information for you.” He looks at me hopefully.
“Greg, if he hasn't shared anything with you before this, what makes you think he will now?” The stupidity that surrounds me.
“I can gain his trust,” Greg says weakly.
The blood is dripping down his body to drain into the floor from our efforts to get answers. In that old barn where they held Harmony, one thing was missing—a drain. The next day, I had one installed. I hate cleaning up. That’s why I always wear gloves. Do you know what a pain in the ass getting blood out of your fingernails is?
“What do you think, Sebastian?” I ask, turning to face him.
“I think he’s an idiot. The boss won’t tell him shit.” He picks up his favorite tool: the hammer. Simple but very effective.
I sigh dramatically. “I suppose you are right. Well, Greg, if there is nothing else, we should get on with it.” I hide my grin at the panic on his face when Sebastian steps closer, wielding the hammer.
“Wait, wait.” Greg wets his lips. “He’s planning something big. He asked for twenty humans this time. Any age. He wanted me to gather them by the end of the month. I can tell you when and where.”
“That’s good, Greg. I will leave you with Sebastian. Give him the information we need.” I nod to Bash to follow me. I take a step but hesitate and turn back. “But I didn’t get to use my knife, which seems a shame.” I look at it mournfully and then quickly plunge it into the fat of his stomach and twist. The screams satisfy the demon inside.
We walk across the room to the door. “Get all you can. I will go home, get cleaned up, and then head to the club. I have a stack of applications I have to go through.” I carefully pull off another ruined pair of gloves to drop them in the sack Bash is holding. “That asshole Brian fucked around with our best waitress. She quit yesterday.” Brian is one of the bouncers and needs to learn to keep his cock in his pants at work.
“Are you surprised? This is the third one.” Bash raises an eyebrow.
“Not really. I have to talk to Brian. I won’t allow a fourth.” I scowl. “Get this done and meet me at the club.”
“Yes, my King.” He bows slightly.
“Shut it, asshole. You know I hate that.” I stop at his words, my hand on the door.
Bash gives me a grin, one of the few that rarely cracks over his face. He whistles as he returns to Greg, picking his hammer back up on the way.
I shake my head at the games he plays, finally stepping out into the night and breathing fresh air.
I love blood. The smell of it. The thickness. The color. The way it feels sliding down my throat. But smelling the sickness of stupid people for prolonged periods takes me back to days I would rather not relive.
My past life, before I became a vampire, is foggy at best. I was a human. I had a family. I was weak and ordinary. I remember the pain of the change, the ripping of skin, the burning throughout my body. A strange being attacked me. I didn’t get a choice as Bash did. I was confused and fearful of what was happening to me. The following years are a blur of killings, blood, and an undeniable thirst that could never be satisfied. I had no values, no willpower. I killed anyone and anything to fill the hole inside me. I did things that make me cringe even now. I slowly adapted to what I was.
I love who I am. I love being a vampire. The longer I am alive, the more powerful I become. It won’t be easy to kill me. Many have tried, and I have drunk their blood when they have failed. Their power transfers to me. There’s nothing that compares to the euphoria that consumes me, flowing into every part of me.
I can walk in the shadows and sneak into anywhere I want. I can control the minds of humans, even some weak-minded shifters, and make them feel and think whatever I desire. I can basically fly. Who wouldn't want that?
There can be some downsides. We live forever unless someone extremely lucky or smart takes us out, and they better cut off our heads and burn them, or we will just grow that shit back.
With years in front of me, I can get bored. I have tried many things and owned many businesses. Learned many languages and cultures. Killed so many. Drank blood from every kind of shifter, human, and vampire.
Many tales of vampires are false. The sun doesn’t bother me, and I could even go to the beach, but why would I? I fucking hate the sand. I have many mirrors in my house, and I see my reflection fine. I love eating food. I try many new restaurants, eager to find new dishes. I do not survive just on blood alone. How boring would that be? I am pale but not abnormally so. The only time my eyes turn black is if I’m outraged. Otherwise, they are bright blue.
Sebastian is the unusual one with almost white eyes, white hair, and very pale. Not because he is a vampire but because he looked similar in his human life. He is constantly teased for his angel-like looks, which he despises.
If he is the angel, I am the devil.
My black hair hangs down to my shoulders, never changing. I’ve cut it before, but it grows back to the exact length it has always been and no longer. But I can grow scruff on my face; if I shave, it will grow back as an average human’s would. It’s one of the mysteries of being a vampire I have yet to figure out.
I pull up to my home, and I feel a sense of relief, as always. I have the top floor. It is the place I feel most like myself. We are possessive of our homes, naturally, but I am more so than most. Bash has been as far as the door, which is farther than anyone else I know. This is where I can let my guard down entirely or as much as I dare. There are many out there that would love to take my place. I have a state-of-the-art security system. To get in, I have to place my hand on a pad to scan for my exact fingerprints, the size of my hand, and temperature. Being a vampire, none of that changes. I also put in a ten-digit code. This is to even get through the door.
Once I am, there is another ten-digit code to stop the alarm and shut off the security lights. The windows are bulletproof and can not be seen through. You might think I went overboard but I am a five-hundred-year-old vampire with massive power and wealth. I don’t entirely trust anyone. I doubt even Bash could be corrupted, but there is always a chance.
I take off my jacket to lay on the back of the chair and hit the light as a habit. I could live in the dark. With my sight, I don’t need it.
They may call me The King of Vampires out there, but I am the true King here.
I shed my clothes, disposing them into a particular bin I use after I kill or do anything that involves blood I don’t ingest. It’s more of a rule I set for myself than any fear of getting caught. No prison could hold me. No cop could win against me. That may sound cocky, but no, it’s just a fact.
There is not much that could touch me.
I sigh as the hot water poured down, releasing some of the tension in my shoulders. Being in charge is not all it’s made out to be. I never set out to be what I am. I thought I would have found my mate and disappeared with her by this time. Hoarding her just for me. I have so much respect for those in our world that have been lucky enough to find the other part of themselves. The mating call is to be honored at all costs. That’s why I helped the panthers when they asked. If my mate were in danger, I would want someone to step up for me. Of course, I wouldn’t need help, and I would burn the world down to get to her.
At this point, I fear I will never find her.
I have witnessed mates finding each other. On the other hand, I have also seen vampires that never did. If we reach a particular year without the one meant for us, we slowly go insane. The year varies from vampire to vampire. So basically, we are a ticking time bomb. I dread the day that Bash has to put me down.
As of right now, I show no signs of going crazy. I keep myself satisfied in all things. Not saying I wouldn’t welcome my true mate. She will want for nothing. Vampires do not mate with other vampires usually. I have only seen it happen once. Most of the time, it is a human or another species occasionally.
Having a human mate means telling her what you are and hoping she accepts it and chooses to be turned. Turning a human into a vampire is easier than a shifter turning a human.
I dress in the usual clothes I wear to work. Black slacks. Black long-sleeved dress shirt. Black shoes. So maybe I’m predictable. I have learned not to change things that work exactly as they are.
I choose not to shave, leaving the scruff on my face. Tonight, I decide to pull my hair back. I never understood the man bun concept. Mine may be long enough to do it, but my man card doesn’t allow me to try. A simple band at the base of my neck works just fine.
Last but not least, I add no less than ten knives. I put on my leather straps like a gun holster that goes over my shoulders. I have one that holds six blades. It doesn’t hurt to show them to those thinking to try something. The others I hide on my person.
I drive to my club, anxious to check in. Until I remember all the applications I have to sort through to find another fucking waitress. I should make Bash do it but I like control too much. I imagine holding one of my knives to Brian’s throat, telling him never to touch a woman that works for me again. I grin evilly, eager to bask in his fear.
***
I nod to the staff as I wade through the sweaty bodies on the dance floor. I avoid them as best I can, dodging their touch. The club is packed. The night is already starting well.
The door to my office is cracked open, which is odd. I always shut and lock it. I am very protective of my space. I reach for a knife and use my foot to push it open soundlessly. I prepare to send the blade flying but stop at the last minute.
On the floor is a couple. The woman is naked on her hands and knees. Her curvy body is flushed. Her mouth is open with a silent scream. Her makeup is smeared across her face as sweat pours down her head. Her long blonde hair is fisted in the hand of my bar manager as he takes her from behind.
Tristan is pounding into her, naked, thrusting greedily.
I abandon the knife, lean casually against the door, and watch the show. Tristan is too involved with his conquest to hear me. His grunts of satisfaction are the only sound in the room. My guess is he instructed her to be quiet.
The woman is beautiful. Her tits are big and bouncing from the force of Tristan's motion. I can’t help but watch them move and be affected by the picture they present. Tristan and I had shared women before when the opportunity presented itself. I'm told having two vampires at once is a euphoric experience.
It’s been a while since we have indulged. I growl softly.
I unfold from the doorway to prowl towards them.
Tristan startles and shudders to a stop, watching me nervously. He’s not sure what I am going to do—probably expecting me to kick them out after I use my knives on him.
The blonde notices the lack of action and tilts her head to look at me with awe and curiosity. I look into her eyes and see her glance at my pants. I harden at her riveted stare. “The King,” she whispers, licking her lips slowly.
That’s all the permission I need. I undo my pants and walk to my desk to lean on it. They will have to position themselves in front of me.
I don’t get on my knees for anyone.
She takes my silent suggestion, pulling away quickly from Tristan, and crawls over to me. I suck in a sharp breath as her lips touch my cock. I grip the edge of the desk, watching my cock disappear into her hot mouth. Then she sucks hard. Just how I like it.
