Annie Nicholas

This is an excerpt from chapter two of BAIT.  Connie, the heroine, was drugged at a club by the vampire, Rurik, and taken away in a car.  She was set as bait for this vampire.

    We arrived in the old part of the city close to the Danube River. Rurik's guards parked the car at the mouth of a narrow, dark alley, obscured by a fog collecting close to the ground. It was late even by Budapest standards and the area looked deserted. The side street we took from the Danube Promenade barely allowed the car to pass through the ancient, stone buildings that surrounded us.

   Rurik stepped out of the car as one of his guards came and opened my door. The euphoric psychosis I?d experienced wore off but I still felt lightheaded. Rurik appeared beside me. "Let me help you, Rabbit." He offered his hand.

   Rurik's manners surprised me but I wouldn't accept my captor's assistance. Bad enough he got into my head. Even now my mental shield slipped through my control like sand. I glared at him and pushed myself out of the car. When my heels bit onto the uneven cobblestone, I stumbled back onto the floor board of the car. Crossing my arms under my breasts, I wished my heated stare could burn through him. Where the hell did he bring me and why?

    He extended his hand again and fought with a smile that twitched his lips. His gaze left my face, it traveled down to where I crossed my arms.

   I followed his gaze. My breasts strained at the neckline.

    "I really like that dress."

    I growled and released my pose to accept his hand.   "You already complimented me on it."

    He chuckled as he helped me to stand and wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me. "Maybe I gave you too much in your drink."

   "Too much what?" Was that guilt I just saw on his face? Before I could be sure, he turned us to go down the dark, little alley.

   I ground my heels to a stop. "Why do we have to go down there?"

   "That's where the party is being held."

    "In an eerie alley? Isn't that a bit cliché?"

    His smile broadened while an amused twinkle came to life in his eyes. "Yes, it is. What can I say? I'm old-fashioned."  Rurik urged me to move forward. "We're late, so hurry."

   I wasn't in any state to put up a fight against a quorum of vampires. "I'm not going down there with you." When was my cavalry going to swoop in and save me? The tracking device should help them find my location.

   A tremble shook my chest when I took a breath and even with the cool night air, sweat trickled down my back.   "No offense but I just met you. It's kind of unfair when it's three of you against one."  The slight quiver in my voice outraged me. I turned out of his arm and gracelessly tripped again. Freaking cobblestone and stilettos don?t work well together.

   I leaned against the stone building and turned so it would support me. Even if I could run they'd catch me. I knew it wasn't the alcohol that made me feel this uncoordinated. My mental shields never crumbled when I drank. That's another gift from Colby's training.

   Rurik's forehead creased with a frown as he collected me in his arms. "We don't have time for this, Rabbit." He pulled me close and I felt his power building up again. I was helpless as he wrapped a blanket of indifference around me, lifting away my worries and leaving me ...open.

   "Ready to go to the party now?"

    I smiled as I pressed my body against his and gazed into his pale blue eyes. "Ready as I'll ever be." Then I snaked my arm around his neck to snuggle against his luscious body.

   His eyes widened.  "Wow."  He took my face in his hands and closed the distance between our lips, but shook his head before they touched. Sighing, he stepped away and laid his arm across my shoulders. "You're not for me."

   We wove our way down the alley.

   "But I like you." The fog reflected the moonlight and made the stinking alley romantic. His strength and firm muscles under my hands bloomed desires I'd thought dead.

   Rurik rang the bell next to a plain, steel, modern door cut into building. No lights or signs announced anything. I expected a secret knock or maybe a hidden peephole with someone asking the password. My disappointment must have shown on my face.

    "What?" he asked.

    "That was anticlimactic. I expected more than a doorbell at a secret party."

    He peered at me from the corner of his eyes but before he could respond, a bouncer opened the door. He nodded to Rurik and allowed us in.

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Evie Byrne, Ella Drake, Jamie Babette, Kate Willoughby, and Nonny Morgan