Blood Oath: The Aurora Covenant Book One (Winspire Chronicles) Read online

  Taking a deep breath to find her courage, Harper finally answered, “I will”

  “I don’t believe you”

  “I will! I swear I will!” Harper pleaded, desperation seeping from every pore of her body.

  “Oh, yeah?” he said with a sharp laugh. “Prove it. Offer yourself to me. Right now.”

  Harper closed her eyes for a moment, took a breath, and reminded her heart to slow. I can do this, calm the fuck down and just get it over with. Opening her eyes once again, she slowly lifted her wrist towards his mouth, proud of herself for only trembling a little.

  4

  Nicholas

  Nicholas hadn’t honestly expected her to comply. This woman had allowed such a pathetic man to control and frighten her. Yet, here she stood, willing to offer her blood in order to save her own life. Points for bravery, though, one or two had to be taken away for the sheer stupidity. He had no intentions of letting her live. Witnesses were a problem.

  He held Harper’s gaze as he wrapped his long, slender fingers around her wrist and brought it to his mouth. Pausing for a moment, smirking at her, giving her a chance to reconsider. Instead, she closed her eyes and simply waited for the pain. He took a slow lick of the inside of her wrist, enjoying drawing out the terror, just a little. Her gasp made Nicholas laugh deep in his chest. Not wanting to draw out her anticipation any longer, he finally struck. Gripping her wrist firmly as he sunk his fangs into the sensitive skin. The moment her blood touched his tongue, his eyes widened. It was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted, like warm vanilla and sparks. It was not the taste of normal human blood; she was something more. He gripped her bicep with his free hand and drew her closer to him as he took long, greedy gulps of her blood. Nicholas could tell the moment his venom hit her system. Harper’s face relaxed, releasing the breath she had been holding. He knew he needed to stop before he took too much and killed her. Her blood had changed his mind. There was no way he could let something that tasted so good slip through his fingers.

  Taking one last mouthful of her blood, Nicholas withdrew his fangs from her flesh. Lapping at the blood that still trickled from the wound, now quickly healing over. The same toxins in his bite that numbed her skin and could turn one if he so desired, also healed the flesh. A nifty little trick for those of his kind who preferred to feed and erase rather than outright kill.

  “What are you?” Nicholas breathed as he stared down at the now limp Harper against his body. He must have taken too much. Pausing for a moment, he could hear her soft, shallow breaths.

  “Not dead. Good. You’re coming with me, little pet,” he said as he curled one arm behind her back and the other under her knees and lifted her up against his chest.

  Looking about the room, he spotted a pair of sweatpants on top of her laundry basket, tucked beside her bedside table. Squatting and reaching to grab them, she would probably need them later. Now, of course, a man carrying an unconscious woman in the middle of the night would be highly suspicious. So, avoiding questions, he used his speed to dash down the stairwell to his waiting car. His driver was silent as he opened the door for Nicholas before rounding the car and slipping behind the wheel. Putting her down on the other side of the rear seat, Nicholas buckled her in before he slid in beside her.

  Locking eyes with Nicholas in the rearview mirror, the driver raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

  “Call the cleaners and head to the airport. We’re done here.”

  5

  Harper

  As Harper slowly floated out of unconsciousness, her face scrunching as her eyes fluttered open, momentarily dazed by the lights that streamed past on the other side of the car door. A car door... she had somehow ended up in a fucking car. The car beneath her jostled slightly as they drove along. Scrambling upright, she reached up and rubbed at her eyes, hoping to chase away whatever kind of dream this was. She jerked against the belt restraining her, looking down to find she was strapped into the rear of some car. It took her a few heartbeats to remember the events of the evening, the attack and the bargain she has struck to save her own life. Her eyes dragged around the interior of the car, absorbing it all. Everything was white and light wood shined to a perfect sheen. He must have put her in here after she had passed out. Groaning, she pressed a hand to her temple as her awareness caught up with the pounding headache pulsing behind her eyes, the blood loss still not entirely repaired. I feel like a truck has run me over.

  “You shouldn’t move around so much, you will give yourself vertigo,” a silky male voice beside her crooned.

  Slowly looking over, the face of a murderer again greeted Harper. No, a vampire, though she supposed that didn’t really change his murdering status. Her heart rate continued to climb as they stared at each other, the last moments they shared before she had passed out at the forefront of her mind. Cautiously looking down at her wrist, she was shocked to find that there was no evidence of him biting her at all.

  “How,” she breathed. Giving voice to the question that was bouncing around her mind.

  He gave a simple one-shouldered shrug as he explained, “Our saliva helps mortals heal faster.”

  Dragging her eyes away from her pale, uninjured wrist, Harper looked over at Nicholas again. There was nothing about him that screamed danger, except his eyes. His eyes were so dark they seemed to swallow the light. It was there, that immense amount of perfection and sex appeal, where better to hide a monster than in plain sight.

  Wasn’t that how that famous serial killer got away with it for so long? Ted Bundy. That’s it. The charm and the attractive face. No one suspects the good-looking guys of being the psycho. What have I done? I’m worse than a teenager being lured into a dark van. I knew what he was and what he was going to do with me and I went. For what? The possibility of living longer? He might just be planning to kill me somewhere else, or maybe torture is his thing? How the fuck am I supposed to know? Fucking idiot.

  Harper tried to shift herself as far away from Nicholas as she could, scooting along the bench, but not daring to take her eyes off of him as she cautiously asked him, “Where are we going?”

  “The airport. I’ve concluded my business here, so I have some time to myself before something else annoying comes up”

  “Are we going to your home?”

  “Not necessarily,” he said as the corner of his mouth ticked up into a smirk, taking his time to look her over. At that moment, it was as if the predator hidden beneath the mask peeked out, blink and it vanished.

  There was a moment of long, drawn out silence as Harper stared at him, waiting for a response. He, however, seemed to be more than happy to just sit there and let her stew, enjoying her discomfort.

  “You planning on elaborating on that statement at all, or will you leave me in suspense?” Harper snipped, her temper slipping out. It was easier to fight back with words when she had nothing else to protect herself with against him.

  Nicholas chuckled softly as he finally looked away from her, “Oh, that wasn’t very polite, now was it? Here I was going to let you choose our destination. Now, I don’t know.”

  “Me? You were going to let me choose?” Harper asked as she shook her head, laughing a little in utter disbelief.

  “Why yes! Since you so bravely offered yourself to me, I figured I might as well reward the gesture and earn some goodwill. Hopefully, then you wouldn’t try anything stupid like running off.”

  “What would my options have been?”

  “Well, let’s see,” he began, crossing his legs and steepling his fingers on his knee, “There’s California, Tokyo or Paris. I have homes in each. Homes that are long overdue for a visit. I would have let you have your choice if you had woken up in a better mood”

  “You’re just fucking with me now, aren’t you?” Harper asked with a raised brow. I think he just enjoys pissing me off, but the more of this side of him I see, the less terrifying he seems. Maybe he genuinely wants to be nice. Or maybe it’s all part of some big game. I don’t kno
w anymore. I can’t figure out how I feel. It’s like my ability to think logically has gone and shut down on me.

  The wicked grin that split his face was answer enough. “Oh, come on, can you blame me? This is the most fun I’ve had in decades.”

  Harper mumbled something under her breath about him being a sadist and pressed herself back into her seat. Turning her face away and watching the highway lights fly past her window. Now she wasn’t looking at him directly. She felt like she could ask what had been nagging at her in the back of her mind.

  “So, you really don’t plan on killing me then?” she asked, her eyes still glued to the world outside the car.

  “No kitten. You are now my most prized possession”

  Despite everything, his words still shocked her. She could easily chalk up their conversation as meaningless banter, but to call her his most prized possession? That was definitely unexpected. Looking back over at him, the shock written all over her face. Nicholas shot her a lopsided grin and shrugged the declaration off.

  “What changed?” Harper prodded gently, but he merely waved off her question.

  “Surprised? I would be concerned if you weren’t. Here’s the deal pet, you are going to keep me regularly fed and I will let you live well. Not just live. If you are going to do something for me, it’s only right that I allow you to live a good life. You know...how you mortals let dogs live out their senior years in bliss”

  “Did you just compare me to a dying dog?”

  “Perhaps,” he said slowly, looking away from her, though the smirk remained on his lips.

  “Woof,” Harper mumbled, crossing her arms across her chest as she turned away from him to watch the lights of the international airport get closer. She would never admit that having someone verbally spar with her like this was fun. I must really be sick if I’m actually feeling better being here with him than I was in my home. I wouldn't have talked to Connor like this, god I would have probably died. I kinda missed this side of me.

  “Now, my pet, where would you like to go? Have you ever left the country?”

  Two questions. That was all it took to shoot down the small slice of joy she had found in this dangerous situation as she thought about her life before now. “No,” Harper paused, “I’ve never even left the state.”

  “Well then, consider this your lucky day. Where would you like to go?”

  Glancing from Nicholas’s handsome face and back down to her hands, Harper tried to think about it seriously. I might as well take whatever win I can get. If he is true to his word, then maybe, just maybe, I can cross something off my bucket list.

  “California,” she finally answered, giving him a restrained smile.

  “Alright then,” Nicholas said simply, before pulling out his phone. Tapping out a message to someone, presumably to organise their flights.

  “Wait!” Harper began. “I don’t have a passport or any identification with me. I don’t even have any pants!”

  “Calm down kitten, here,” Nicholas said as he passed her a pair of sweats, that she immediately recognised as one of her own. It was a bizarrely kind gesture. I guess he thought ahead enough to realise I would need to cover up. Maybe this wasn’t his first time transporting some dishevelled unconscious girl.

  “Uh thanks,” she said as she pulled her legs into the pants, pushing against the seat with her shoulders, and lifted her ass off the seat as she slid up her pants. Now that she at least had some pants on, she felt like she could safely exit the car. She glanced over at Nicholas and found him staring at her. There was a stillness to him that hadn’t been there before. She couldn’t tell what the emotion was stirring behind his dark eyes before it faded.

  “As for your identification, it’s of no concern. We will fly in my plane. There will be no need to check any ID. We will have a new identity created for you when we land in California,” he explained, his face breaking into the smirk she was realising meant he wanted to mess with her.

  “Is there something else?” she asked cautiously, her heart rate kicking up as fear whispered in her ear.

  He didn’t bother to answer her question before looking away.

  6

  Nicholas

  What a question. I don’t think I will ever be able to forget what her blood tastes like. The warmth, the richness, absolutely everything about it is intoxicating; I don’t know if I will ever be able to get enough. Nicholas’s phone buzzed in his pocket, quickly glancing down to see a text waiting for him from his pilot. Everything was ready to go. A question had been nagging at him since he tasted her.

  Turning in his seat to face Harper more, he studied her face as he asked, “Kitten, I have to ask. Why would you offer yourself to me?”

  “I want to live. Isn’t that reason enough” she said as she turned her face away from him and stared out the window.

  “Aren’t you at all concerned about letting me feed on you?”

  “It hurts a little…” Harper trailed off. While her voice sounded as though she didn’t care, her heart couldn’t lie to him. He could hear its steadily increasing rhythm.

  “Ah yes it does,” Nicholas started, chuckling to himself, reaching out and dragging a long finger down the side of her neck. He could feel the goosebumps blooming beneath his touch. His eyes lit up as she bent her head to the side reflexively, exposing more of her neck to him. Nicholas could tell that even though her body knew what it wanted, her mind hadn’t accepted it - yet.

  “It does hurt for a moment,” he began as he slid along the seat, coming closer to her, “but then it doesn’t anymore, right?”

  His thigh pressed against hers, the warmth of her seeping into him. Leaning down, he stopped a breath away from the side of her throat. Enjoying the smell of her.

  “I can make it feel fantastic ya know. Like the best high you've ever experienced. I can show you?” he asked in barely more than a whisper against her skin.

  “You can?” Harper said breathlessly.

  Smiling, Nicholas closed the distance between them and gently grazed the side of her neck with his fangs. Harper’s gasp sent a jolt of excitement through him. He moved before she could even do anything. Reaching and grabbing her around the waist and dragging her onto his lap. He reached up and tangled one hand through her hair, tipping her head back, and locked the other arm around her waist. Keeping her firmly pressed in against him. She squirmed a little, trying to break free of him and breathing quickly as her eyes squeezed shut. Her body was tense as it prepared for the expected pain his bite would bring.

  “Do you want me to bite you?” he asked against her neck, licking from the hollow of her neck to just below her ear. Nibbling gently on the lobe. She was quivering on top of him, causing his excitement to grow. Although he knew she would never admit to enjoying this moment, he could feel it, could smell it.

  “N-no” she stammered out.

  “Liar,” he chuckled into her ear before letting her go. She quickly scurried off his lap and pressed herself as far away from him as she could.

  This is going to be fun. Glancing back over at Harper, his smile faltered. She was shaking like a wet dog.

  “Hey come on, I was just messing around ok?” he whispered, afraid of scaring her even more. His words seemed of little comfort to her. While the shivering was slowing, he could hear her heart rate had not.

  Shit, I think I actually scared her. Fuck. I don’t want to lose her now; I want her to want this and maybe even enjoy this as much as I do one day. That blood of hers is strangely familiar, but I can’t place it. Especially only after trying it only once. Sighing, Nicholas shuffled further away from her, giving her the space she needed. Flexing his fingers as he debated reaching out and trying to comfort her.

  “Look, I will not hurt you. Well, I will not be cruel to you I should say” he started, “You agreed to let me feed on you. There is nothing I will do that you don’t ask me for other than the feeding. I know what I said and what I implied, but I was just trying to scare you.” Nicholas tri
ed to sound light-hearted as possible, but then the image of those bruises on her body flashed through his mind. No wonder I scared her so badly. I had stupidly forgotten how I had found her, how I had seen her in that fucker’s memories. Of course, she fears me touching her like that. Just because her body reacts a certain way to my touch doesn’t mean she actually wants it. It’s been too long since I’ve been around someone like her. They broke me for a long time even after I received the bite. I cannot expect her to get over it so quickly.

  “I am not the type of man that needs to use his hands to get what he wants. It is a weak man who bends a partner to their will through violence,” he said in a deep rumble as he slowly reached forward and tucked a strand of her wild red hair behind her ear. The barest of contact between them, but still her body locked up at the sight of his hand coming towards her.

  “I will do nothing you do not give me permission to,” he repeated, firmer this time. Pulling back from her, Nicholas repositioned himself on the other side of the seat. Resting his chin in his palm and elbow on the edge of the window as the airport came fully into view.

  I’ve got my work cut out for me with this one. I let myself get too caught up in the kill's excitement and the blood lust. Although I don’t regret killing that waste of oxygen boyfriend of hers, maybe I should have just left her there, unconscious but alive. What the fuck have I done?

  7

  Harper