Claim (Blood & Breed Book 2) Read online

  I started toward the hall closet when I heard James’s voice and froze.

  Was someone else there?

  No.

  There couldn’t be.

  If another vampire was in the cabin with us I was sure I would have already been attacked and James wouldn’t sound so calm.

  Quickly, I collected a towel from the closet and wrapped it around me. Moving in the shadows of the hallway, I moved closer to the kitchen so I could hear his conversation more clearly.

  “I’m sorry, Rhys. Yes, of course. No, I understand.” His sentences were broken, and since I couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation his words didn’t make any sense.

  Who was Rhys?

  And was it a woman or a man?

  “Of course, she’s still alive. It’s been hard, but I’ve been able to control myself. Yes, but have you found a male human?” He paused, listening to the person on the other end. “Then what’s the point of bringing her in now if you don’t have someone to breed her with? Why not just keep her here with me where she can remain content and clueless about our plan?”

  My hand flew to my mouth to cover the gasp that burst from my lips. My stomach roiled, nausea filling me to the brink and sending me running for the bathroom and missing the rest of James’s conversation.

  As soon as I made it to the bathroom I went to my knees in front of the toilet, losing everything I had eaten in the last few hours. My stomach lurched and I gagged long after I emptied my stomach.

  Wiping my mouth, I leaned against the closed bathroom door and my fingers found the knob. I locked the door quickly, keeping James from coming in once he was finished with his phone call.

  His words moved through my mind once again, making me feel again.

  Breed her with.

  What the hell was he talking about?

  What kind of plan would he have in place with someone that would require breeding?

  And then somehow, I knew.

  I remembered Mr. Derry, the farmer, telling me how they would breed animals for consumption. He kept the family feed by farming his garden and breeding his animals.

  I was just an animal to James.

  A food source.

  And if I had heard him correctly, he and whoever he was speaking with had a plan to breed me and making more humans.

  I gagged again feeling sick from the memories of the things I had done with him.

  The fact was, I loved James, but it was more than obvious he was only using me. He was doing what he could to keep me calm and happy so I wouldn’t escape. And when the time came, he was going to hand me over to someone else like I was nothing.

  A knock sounded at the door and I jumped. The knob turned as if he was trying to walk in, but the lock kept him from coming inside.

  “Harley? The door is locked. Are you okay?” His muffled voice came through the door.

  I knew he could sense that I was upset.

  He had told me before how he was able to know things about the way I felt.

  The rushing of my heart.

  The tenseness in my veins when I was stressed or upset.

  And if I let him inside the bathroom, he would be able to see the tears threatening to break through my eyelids.

  “I’m fine. I’m not feeling so great. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Do you want me to help?”

  “No!” I said too fast. “I’m okay. I’ll be out in a second.”

  He didn’t say anything, but I could feel him waiting just on the other side of the bathroom door.

  Finally, he sighed and said, “Okay.”

  The minute he moved away from the bathroom door, I breathed deep and let the tears fall.

  I stepped into the shower and stood under the spray. The hot water stung my skin, but I welcomed the sensation. I wished it was enough to make me forget what I heard, but it wasn’t. The water burned, but James’s betrayal burned more.

  He had been lying to me the entire time and I had fallen for his lies just as easily as I had fallen for him.

  There was no more denying what my heart was telling me.

  I loved James, but James didn’t love me in return.

  Once we both showered, James heated some soup and sat it on the table in front of me.

  Worry pulled at his dark brows.

  “Are you sure you’re okay now?” he asked for the hundredth time.

  He sat and stared at me from across the kitchen table as I moved my spoon around in my soup.

  “I’m fine, James.” I didn’t look at him as I repeated the same words I said each time he asked.

  I knew he wasn’t convinced.

  He could sense something was off.

  He knew I was different.

  After getting out of the shower, I had barely spoken to him and I hadn’t let him close enough to touch me. I knew there was no way I could keep the charade going, but that didn’t matter because I was leaving.

  I was going to wait until the sun was high in the sky, and then I was going to leave. With the sun up, he wouldn’t be able to go chase me. I couldn’t sit around and wait anymore. It hurt to think about it, but I had to leave.

  Even though I knew James had deceived me, I still couldn’t find it in myself to leave without letting him feed on me once more. His pills were no longer working for him, and I loved him too much to leave him to die. At least with my blood in his system, he would have enough strength to get back to the city once the sun went down. Maybe then he would have a shot at finding another way to keep himself well.

  “Are you ready?” I asked him, pulling my hair around to expose my neck.

  “I don’t think we should tonight. You’re not feeling well, and I don’t want to make it worse.”

  I swallowed the pain of knowing his words were lies.

  He didn’t care about me.

  Why was he pretending to when he could easily overpower me?

  Then again, maybe he was too weak to overpower me.

  Maybe he preferred keeping me happy enough to stay so he didn’t have to fight me.

  “You can’t make it worse, James. I’m fine. I promise.”

  I looked him in the eye, hiding the pain inside.

  He pulled me into his arms, and I tried not to flinch at his touch. I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side, baring my neck to him. I felt the sting as his fangs sank into my skin and my body tingled as he sucked my blood out of me. There was no pleasure as he fed on me this time; only a pain so great that it was soul-crushing.

  His fangs withdrew a minute later, but my hands covered the back of his head and my fingers tangled in his hair, holding him in place. This was the last time he was going to feed on me, which meant he was going to need more.

  “Don’t stop yet,” I whispered, hiding the tears in my voice.

  He growled with pleasure, sinking his teeth deeper. His hands grabbed at my waist and he lifted me onto the table. Moving between my legs, he pulled me closer to him and hugged me as he continued to feed.

  I died a little at that moment.

  Feeling my love for him exploding in my chest knowing he was only using me to survive.

  11

  Harley

  The morning birds chirped just outside the window and I knew the sun would be coming soon.

  James slept soundly at my side with his arm over my stomach. His dark hair had fallen into his face making him look innocent, but I knew better.

  He wasn’t innocent.

  He was good at deception.

  Without waking him, I picked up his arm and placed it on the mattress between us. Then I lay there for a while, waiting to see if he would wake.

  Once I was sure he wasn’t going to wake up, I slipped from the bed and dressed. With one of the duffle bags we had brought to the cabin in my hand, I stepped quietly around the room and stuffed it with my clothes.

  When I felt like I had all I needed from out of the room I had slept in, I moved into the hallway.

  The cabin was eerily quie
t, which I had never realized before. The placed seem hollow and creepy, and I knew it was only because things were had changed.

  As I stood in the darkened cabin, I looked around. The cabin no longer felt like my safe haven.

  It no longer felt like home.

  James had tainted the only place I had ever felt comfortable and loved and at that moment, I hated him for even showing me the possibilities life had.

  I peeked out the back door at our garden and tears rushed down my cheeks.

  We were supposed to make it happen.

  A life.

  Happiness.

  The real deal.

  But that had been a one-sided dream, and I was stupid for even considering it.

  Turning away from the back door, I went to the front door and opened it as softly as I could. I wasn’t worried that James would come out right away. Sometimes I went outside during the day to check the garden, so it wasn’t too unusual for me to be awake and outside at this time.

  I had been up for over an hour already, packing the rest of the food for me into bags, but now everything was packed, and it was time to load it up and get going.

  I had never driven a car in my life, but I was taking his car.

  It was the only way I would make it far enough before he woke.

  It was the only way I could transport all the things I would need to continue my survival.

  I had no idea where I was going to go, but I knew I couldn’t stay there.

  I blinked against the sun once I stepped outside with my bags in hand, and then I opened the back of the car and put everything inside. I felt as though I was stealing from him, but technically he had stolen from me first. With lies, he had stolen my heart and now he was breaking it.

  I knew I wasn’t exactly stranding him in the middle of nowhere. James was able to get along faster on foot than I could, but I had one thing on my side, and it was the bright ball of light in the sky.

  The sun.

  I welcomed its heat, hoping it would warm the coldness I felt inside as I opened the driver’s side door and climbed into the seat. I felt overwhelmed as I looked around the inside of the car at all the buttons and gadgets. I had never driven a car before, but I had watched James do it and it didn’t seem very hard.

  I slipped the key into the slot on the side of the wheel like James had before, and then I turned it until the engine came to life. My heart thumped, and I looked over at the front door of the house, hoping and praying James wouldn’t open the door.

  Sliding the stick into place, the car jerked, and I pushed on the long skinny pedal until the car was moving. The quick movement scared me, and I slammed on the brakes, stopped abruptly. My heart was like a hammer in my chest, beating so hard I felt as though it was taking my breath away.

  What the hell was I doing?

  Then I remembered the words James had said on the phone and I knew I had to push past my fear and keep going.

  So, I did.

  I pulled away from the cabin and started through the woods. Looking back in the mirror, I watched the cabin slowly become smaller until the front door was no longer visible.

  I would never see James again.

  I was sure of it.

  Even after I had driven hours away from him, my eyes kept flickering to the mirror above me, wondering if I would see him behind me.

  My chest felt hollow with hurt.

  I had left behind more than the only man I had ever loved.

  More than the only real home I had ever had.

  I left behind my dreams.

  My future.

  I left behind my heart.

  The sun baked the side of my face, and I could tell by its placement in the sky that I had been driving for quite a long while. I could feel the distance between me and James, but I wasn’t sure if it was enough to outrun him.

  I could only hope.

  I had no idea where I was going, but I was determined to keep driving until I couldn’t anymore.

  My eyes flashed to the mirror yet again, and even though there was no one behind me, my stomach still jumped.

  When my eyes found the road in front of me again it was just in time to see him standing in the middle of the road.

  I screamed and jerked the wheel to the right, sending me off the road and into the tree-lined forest. I lurched forward when the front of the car slammed into a large tree and then I was knocked back into the seat when something exploded out of the steering wheel.

  Everything went black and when the light came into view again the world was fuzzy and blurred. My lungs screamed in pain as I tried to pull in as much air as I could, and my head spun as the edges of my vision switched between darkness and light.

  A voice sounded from my side, but I couldn’t make out the words. Then suddenly the driver’s side door flew open and I was being pulled from the car.

  “Oh my God! I’m so fucking sorry. I thought… fuck! Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?

  I nodded, my head feeling like it weighed entirely too much for my neck muscles. The world around me spun a few times and I held on to the stranger like my life depended on it.

  “I can hear you,” I said.

  My words were slurred and distant.

  I blinked away the blur and my eyes moved to him. His outline came into focus and I was met with tanned skin that was muscled and defined. His large arms tightened around my tiny frame and I moved my eyes up his chest and over his neck. Finally, his face came into view and I was met with a set of emerald green eyes.

  It wasn’t James.

  The stranger’s large frame blocked out the sun, casting me in the shadows of his hulking body, and then everything cleared, and I realized what and who I was looking at.

  “Oh my God,” I gasped. My hands flew to his chest and his warmth heated my cold fingers. “You’re human.”

  Releasing April 13th, 2018.

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  VANILLA & VICE

  My sick obsession with domination and sex had become an addiction, and I was no longer willing to be a slave to it. Now, I’m six months sex free, and I haven’t tied a woman up in five.

  I’ve never felt more powerful in my life.

  Then Eden Vaughn got a job at Empire Sevens and turned my newfound control on its head.

  She makes me feel weak—testing my restraint—silently begging me to show her how deep my addiction runs. I can’t have her sort of temptation in my casino, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her to quit.

  I’m into all things dark and filthy, but innocence is my kryptonite. She’s virtuous and vanilla, and vanilla is my VICE.

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  Copyright © 2014 by Tabatha Vargo

  All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events or real people are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  ISBN-13: 978-1500352660