Bitten: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance by Michelle Fox, Kim Faulks Page A

swallowed the soft glow of the lights over the table.
    The harsh chatter of my teeth filled the cabin with the brutal sound. He was a whisper behind me. I turned at the sound and dropped my weight. Cold leather hugged my bare thighs, my thin panties the only thing between being vulnerable and indecent—and even those weren’t enough.
    Sequins sparkled. My gold dress hit the lounge beside me with a thud. “I’d hate for such a beautiful dress to be ruined.” He murmured above me.
    I raised my chin. His lips were parted, even from here I could see the tremble of excitement. He stepped to the side, nearing the table and snatched a bottle of wine from the table.
    “I thought at first the white with the sparkle of gold against your skin. But seeing you bare… your nipples dark, blushing with a rosy hue against your pale skin, I think I prefer the red.”
    He lifted the bottle above me and twisted his wrist. Wine hit my chest and slipped between my breasts like bloody tears. I clenched the leather cushions until my nails buckled under the strain.
    The deep plum rivulet pooled in the valley of my stomach and filled my navel. Red wine spread out like spidered fingers to grasp my hips and find the elastic of my panties.
    “Beautiful. Just beautiful. Don’t move, Nova… be very still now.”
    Danger wove a tangled web, if I remained still I’d be consumed by this monster—and if I fought the binds inside my mind, I’d surely die or go insane. The bottle hit the floor with a thud. Devlin hunkered over me and grasped my hair.
    Fire lashed my scalp. I cried out, and slapped the back of the lounge as he wrenched my head backwards. My breasts wobbled under the cruel jerk of his hand. I grasped his hand as he pulled my hair taut, bringing tears to my eyes.
    Devlin blurred and shimmered under the sheen of tears.
    “Are you going to do what I say, Nova? Are you going to do exactly as I say?”
    His blurred face loomed close, his breath cooled the hot tears against my cheek. The sickening smell of blood made my stomach clench. I gripped his wrist as sobs slipped free. “Yes. Yes, okay? Just, stop.”
    This monster rode a fine edge of cruelty, one a human could never hope to survive.
    “Get your hands off her.”
    The snarl slipped from the shadows. My head was dragged upwards. Through my splayed legs I caught someone move. Black on black shifted. My heart thundered, booming against the confines of my chest. Inside my mind blue eyes called to me… is that Kol ?
    Color came from the darkness, darkened jeans, white shirt. I blinked the tears from my view and felt the grip on my hair ease. My pulse was deafening as I caught the glint of a gun. A figure stepped from the shadows, took aim at the center of Devlin’s chest and fired.

Nova
    G lass shattered , fragments battered my face as Devlin stumbled, smashing into the chair behind me, the thud followed as the back of the chair hit the floor.
    The sharp scent of gunpowder filled the room. My head hit the lounge and bounced. I lay there stunned. Gold shone against the black leather lounge. I snatched the dress and slapped the fabric against my bare chest as the blurred figure sharpened and instead of Kol there was… Jared.
    He stepped from the shadows, brown eyes glinted in the soft light, but this wasn’t the same man I knew. The side of his face was swollen. The corner of his lip was split and bloody. He squinted, turning his whole body slowly to spear me with a glance, then turned his back to the vampire. “I see you’re having a good time.”
    A sob wrenched from my chest at the sight of him. “Jared.”
    Cutlery clinked and rattled as Devlin regained his footing. His bloodless lips curved into a wicked smile. The vampire held Jared’s gaze and murmured. “You think a gun’s going to stop someone like me?”
    Jared’s malformed face twitched. The end of the gun wavered as he shuffled toward the overturned chair. I could see he was in pain. He lifted his foot and bought