The Blood Bride (Blood
Secrets #1)
by Imogene Nix
Erotic Paranormal Romance
Categories: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Total-e-Bound
Release Date: June
21, 2013
Heat Level: Steamy
Word Count: 78,900
Available at:
Description:
Hope just wants to be an
ordinary nestling. She went to college and escaped, but now she’s back and
there’s a secret everyone is keeping from her.
Xavier is the new master
of the nest, ready to welcome home the daughter of the house who he has never
met. He’s unprepared for the woman who steals his breath and enchants him.
Now Hope and Xavier must
fight for lives and those of the innocents. After all, it is only by overcoming
the rogues that they will have a chance of a timeless future together. But will
it be in time?
Warning: This title is
intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains adult sexual situations
and/or adult language, and may be considered offensive to some readers.
Excerpt:
Copyright © Imogene Nix, 2013
All Rights Reserved,
Total-E-Ntwined Limited, T/A Total-E-Bound.
Hope hauled the last heavy box up the
stairs of the manor house, occasionally catching glimpses of the way her midnight black hair shone in the sunlight, when she
passed the window in the living room of her apartment. "Thank heavens this
is the last one," she muttered to herself, sliding the box down to rest on
the floor, before straightening and rubbing the nagging ache in her back. She
could have had help, all she needed to do was ask, but now that she was an
adult she needed to stand on her own two feet, she reminded herself.
Straightening up, she looked around at the
mass of boxes waiting for her to delve into. "Well, gone away and back
again. Where do I start first?"
The phone trilled and she started for an
instant, before extending her hand to the receiver on the shelf beside her.
"Hope."
"Miss Hope, do you require any help?
Lisi is wondering if you require her assistance." The muffled voice of one
of her guardians flowed out of the earpiece. She had forgotten that living at
the manor meant the goldfish bowl lifestyle she had tried her best to escape at
college. Not that she’d had much opportunity to live a free lifestyle. She’d
been lodged with a guardian family within the college grounds. Even then, her
personal team of five guards had shadowed her every move—to classes, shopping
and even to the hairdresser’s.
They hadn’t escaped her notice, the looks
some of her classmates had thrown her way. Longing for the lifestyle they’d
thought she enjoyed. Little did they know, Hope would happily have swapped, a lot
of the time. Downtime had existed within a carefully vetted group of
companions, each from houses of similar status. The cloying atmosphere she
hated, but, nonetheless, she had submitted to her parents’ will. Only a few
times had she sought to do activities that they would have deemed
inappropriate, but her conscience had always kicked in, and she had derived no
enjoyment from the guilty feelings that had overcome her.
"No thanks, Jeffrey. I have all the
boxes up here and I am going to take my time going through everything."
How could she explain that she needed a freedom that had been denied? That this
small and almost insignificant rebellion was one she embraced? But she
couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to Jeffrey to share that.
"Fine, Miss Hope. Oh, and I am
supposed to remind you, the new Master has requested your presence in his
library after sundown."
She nodded, knowing it was expected that
she would take her oath of fealty. "Oh. Right. I’ll be down for
sunset." She laid down the receiver. It’s one thing to owe your continued
safety to a vampire nest Master, but quite another to be at his beck and call
all the time, just as her parents had been. Her temper spiked momentarily. The
emotion coiled through her then she shuddered, pushing away the negative thought,
while absently reaching for the boxes she needed to stack, store or unpack. The
rough exterior of some of them brushed against her hands. For now, she had
time. Lots of time.
Ripping the tape off the first box, she
then started to root through it, unwrapping reminders of her slightly more free
college life, formulating arguments to put to her parents, knowing that the
dice were stacked against her. Her life had been mapped out since her birth,
but perhaps she could find a way around some of the roadblocks. At least she
hoped so. With that thought, she set to work.
* * * *
He stretched in the bed, feeling the cool
sheets around his body, savouring the experience of knowing he could rise when
he wanted to. Luxuriating as he came to full awareness of his surroundings. His
bed. His home. His nest. A feeling of exultation swept through him. One he had
experienced several times in the last six months since he had become Master.
Xavier had only recently been transferred
to this nest, after Cyrus had been called to ascend to a seat on the Council
with his predecessor Cressida, the most senior of the vampires on the Council.
A new Master had been required for the
nest, a situation arising from the ascension of Cressida who had saved the
child Hope from the rogues. The death of another of the Council meant that
Cyrus had answered a call to accept a seat. It was an almost unheard of event
for a nest to have two new Masters in under a hundred years, but Xavier had
accepted his unexpected promotion. Not that he would take it for granted—no, he
worked beside his vampires as required, so they knew he would ensure their
safety while they ensured his.
The household he had taken over was well
run, and he had no fears for the financial status, even though they had lost
the manor and many assets during the dark days of clearing the rogues who had
attacked the house. Indeed, he had been with Cyrus the night he had ascended
and had seen the great strides Cyrus had made during his Mastership.
He swiped a hand over his stubbled face and
a voice to his left said quietly, "Master, refreshments for you." A
crystal goblet appeared in a white hand at the edge of his vision. He accepted
it with a grunt, the ruby red liquid inside calling to him on a primal level. Blood
wine. Sustenance that would ease the clawing hunger he always felt on
awakening.
His teeth extended and his mouth opened.
The first drop touched his tongue and a frisson moved through him, the ecstasy
of drinking flowing into his body. He took his time, savouring the flavours.
Young.
Full bodied.
Tart aftertaste. The wine, the only human
sustenance he could now enjoy. Food was relegated to a memory of things long
past.
He closed his eyes as the last drop flowed,
and breathed deep. Yes, a Master could very quickly become accustomed to this
lifestyle, but not now and not today. He needed to meet this Hope, the one who
had turned their entire world upside down. James had told him little about his
daughter, save that she would need to remain within the house, protected from
the world. That someday she would assume the mantle of leading the house from
within, while her brother oversaw the legal and financial affairs of the nest.
He pushed the bed covers away, unconcerned
about nudity as he padded to the bathroom. He might be a vampire, but he still
bathed and shaved, a thought that made him chuckle. Even after all these years,
when vampires had made their entry into the human world, humans outside nests
thought vampires had no need for those daily rituals.
He moved through his ablutions. She would
be waiting for him, but he would present himself to her in his most urbane
incarnation. She would take her oath of fealty, then he would meet with his
advisers, James and David leading the human contingent.
About the Author:
A mother of two,
compulsive reader and bookstore owner. She lives in regional Queensland ,
Australia
She is also a firm
believer in writing what you enjoy… something she strictly adheres to!
Connect with Imogene Nix
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