Marked for Pleasure [Blood Bond] by Stacy Espino Page A

was his mate would not go over well.
    He’d head to the basement. Where else could he safely go at this hour? The two vampiresses below had been begging for his affection, so now they’d get their wish and then some.
    Christian bounded down the stairs, his mind in a haze. He’d never known what it felt like to have every cell in his body fixated on another person. Now it was Heidi this , Heidi that . He recalled every detail from her pretty blue eyes, so reminiscent of the ocean between their worlds, to the beautiful curve of her back.
    He remembered the times he’d spent with her over the years. He’d experienced equal emotions of intrigue and longing to fear and denial. She was a vampires’ mate, and he was the last to realize it.
    “What are you doing up at this hour?” he asked when he saw Joseph wandering around in the foyer.
    “I’m waiting for the sun to rise.”
    Christian put aside his desperation to get to the basement to find out what was on Joseph’s mind. “Since when have you done this? Is this something you do every morning before the crack of dawn when I’m cuddled up in bed?”
    “Heidi’s supposed to bring a buyer through again today.”
    “Ms. Walsh?”
    Joseph nodded and then sat on one of the twin velvet-covered benches on either side of the double doors. “Yeah. Don’t tell Francis you saw me. I just can’t sleep thinking about her. It’s like I’m in tune with her mind, and I felt her distress a while ago, and it woke me up.” He leaned over, his forearms resting on his knees. “I had to go check on her, but she was fast asleep. Maybe she had a bad dream.”
    “Your mind control is probably growing stronger. You don’t stifle human emotion like Francis, so you can probably sense a broader range than he can.”
    “Then why does it only work with her?”
    Christian shrugged. The hell if he knew. The logical answer would be that Joseph was her mate, too, but he pushed the thought aside. He had enough worries of his own, like why his vampiric nature was suddenly bubbling to the surface. He wanted to kill, feed, and wreak mayhem on their quiet little town. Decades of intense training, lost in a single droplet of blood. Was Heidi more than she appeared? She was one hundred percent human, and he knew she was clueless to their true nature. Then what was the common denominator that would make all the respectable, self-controlled DeVilles lose their minds over one insignificant human?
    “What were you coming down for anyway?”
    “Basement.”
    Joseph cocked an eyebrow. “We usually have to force you.”
    “I still have needs. Why don’t you get some rest? It’s practically morning.”
    Christian felt less hostile by the time he reached the bottom of the basement stairs. It was near pitch-black with all the candles snuffed out. This wasn’t an hour the women would expect a visitor.
    He tilted the chin up of the red-headed vamp lying on the bench. Her chains gave her enough slack to roam half the basement when they weren’t present. “My pet?”
    She opened her eyes and had instant recognition, a slow smile spreading on her lips. He’d lose himself in her body long enough to forget the other. Once he’d filled his veins with the strong blood of a vampiress, it would dilute any remaining taste of the few drops he’d ingested from Heidi. At least he hoped it would.
    “You come freely. You must be growing into the male you were meant to be. The older the vampire, the more potent his needs.”
    “That may be true. Or I may just need to spend my seed inside your sweet pussy.” He didn’t care for this woman or any of the others. There was no relationship implied in their arrangement. She was free to leave any time she chose, but it turned out the hardest part of keeping a live-in sub was getting them to leave when their time was up.
    “Whatever you want, master. I’m yours for the taking.”
    He ran his hand down her thigh, trying to ignite some passion inside himself. The