Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3)
Read Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3) Online
Authors: Jaz Primo
Novels by Jaz Primo
The Sunset Vampire Series
SUNRISE AT SUNSET
A BLOODY LONDON SUNSET
SUMMIT AT SUNSET
(Additional Titles Forthcoming)
* * * * *
You can find Jaz Primo online at the following locations:
Website:
www.jazprimo.com
Blog:
primovampires.blogspot.com
Facebook:
Jaz Primo
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Websites or their content.
Published by:
Rutherford Literary Group
1205 S. Air Depot, PMB #135
Midwest City, OK 73110-4807
Cover art by Albert Slark.
Copyright 2012 by John Primo.
ISBN: 9780982861356 (eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011961661
First Rutherford Literary Group printing: January 2012.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Printed in the U.S.A.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This novel is dedicated to the loyal group of
Sunset Vampire
fans who have been so kind, encouraging, and supportive of me during the journeys of Caleb, Katrina, Paige, and Alton throughout their exploits. Without fans, novels are nothing more than creative repositories of undiscovered dreams and passages...
All my love and appreciation to my wonderful wife, Lori, who continues to support, promote, and encourage my passion (or rather, obsession) for writing. Sincere, heartfelt thanks to my family and friends, who continue to bolster my confidence during the weak moments on the sometimes rocky road of the creative process. As always, thank you to my dear friends Jimmy, Jessica, Teresa, Crystal, Victoria, Amie, Lisa, and Shannon for their invaluable support, encouragement, and beta-reading. A special shout-out to Victoria and Jessica for their amazing assistance with the meticulous proofreading process!
I’m mesmerized by the creative genius of my cover artist, Al Slark. He has once again surpassed himself with the novel cover for
Summit at Sunset
. Thanks for putting such a wonderful face to my novels! My continued thanks to Brandon for his masterful assistance with “spinning the webs” and creating “font-tastic” opportunities for me. Special thanks to my wonderful editor, Julia, for her keen eyes for correction and insight into proper storyline development.
Chapter 1: House Guest
On a cool mid-April night, Caleb Taylor carefully maneuvered through the thick undergrowth of the forest. Despite the oppressive darkness from all sides, it was a beautiful moonless night for a hunting excursion. Caleb paused at the edge of a break in the trees to appreciate the evening’s gentle breeze.
Enough to mask my exact location
, he speculated.
He had learned not to let the prey’s scent be acquired too easily by the predator, or else the hunt ended rather quickly. Glancing at the illuminated face of his new watch, he calculated the span of time that had passed since he had entered the forest.
Always fighting the clock.
Despite his preoccupation with quietly navigating his way through the pitch-black terrain, he took the time to breathe in the fresh scent of the forest. He attempted to gauge his location against the preliminary reconnaissance he had conducted prior to sunset. As he stepped past a tree and under one of the overhanging branches, he pivoted his body closer to the ground and heard a small tearing sound. With a quick tug and a sharp scrape against his left arm, he felt a stab of pain as needle-like brambles raked across his skin.
“Damn,” he muttered under his breath, tentatively probing his left arm where his clothing was torn.
Glad I’m wearing older clothes
, he absently credited before quietly proceeding on his way.
A minute passed before he heard a small shuffling sound not far from his location. He froze, grasped the trunk of a nearby tree, and scanned the area in the direction of the noise. His heartbeat increased slightly, and he momentarily closed his eyes to concentrate on calming himself.
Peaceful forest, calm forest, peaceful forest
.
As his mantra ended and he opened his eyes, he was more at ease and continued to sweep the area visually. His eyes widened with sudden recognition as he stared between the tree trunks across a distance of approximately sixty feet at what appeared to be two small orbs of bright green.
A predator’s eyes.
Realizing that all pretense of stealth had been lost, he turned and fled in the opposite direction through the bushes and tree limbs in a race against time. An image of a rabbit running from a fox flashed in his mind.
Barreling like a bullet through the darkened forest, he heard the sounds of his closing pursuer. The ground dropped sharply before him, and he half-tumbled down an incline, barely managing to keep his balance to the bottom. He righted himself and turned to run, but was startled by a
whooshing
sound from above. A dark image leapt over him and landed beside him with a heavy thud. He staggered backwards with surprise at the towering presence before him, crowned ominously with glowing green eyes.
“Enough!” a woman’s authoritative voice commanded. “You violated our agreement.”
“W-What?” Caleb stammered.
He craned his neck upwards to make eye contact with the tall, imposing woman standing before him. Her long, red hair was pulled back tightly over her head and tied into a neat ponytail. She had a model’s high cheekbones, and her shapely form was displayed by a pair of faded jeans and long-sleeved shirt. She was beautiful and, best of all, his to adore. Katrina Rawlings was his mate.
My vampire
, he proudly thought,
my love
. However, he was simultaneously concerned by her current demeanor.
My unhappy vampire
.
“Remember our arrangement, my love?” Katrina chastised. “If you’re injured, our game stops.”
Their game was called Find Caleb, invented by Alton, a friend of Katrina’s who had been helping Caleb establish a way to channel her need for hunting into a sport that did not kill or harm anyone. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, he endured occasional minor injuries. Still, he easily dismissed such inconveniences in lieu of his foremost goal: pleasing her.
“C’mon, it’s just a scratch, Kat,” he countered using the nickname he had given her soon after they met. He had been amazed that she allowed it, because she hated pet names, much less nicknames. Only their mutual friend Paige usually got away with it.
He reached back with his right hand to touch the spot on his left arm where his shirt was torn. However, this time he felt something warm and sticky to the touch, and his arm stung when his fingers touched his skin. As he retracted his hand, he strained through the darkness to stare at his blood-covered fingertips with a wide-eyed expression.
“What the..?”
“See? How did you think I found you so quickly?” she interrupted pointedly. “Your blood scent was easily carried on the breeze to me, just as freshly-cooked hamburgers on a grill would to you.”
“Yeah, I see what you mean. Sorry about that,” he sheepishly offered. “I guess I’m the hamburger tonight, then.”
She stared down at the handsome, twenty-six-year-old man standing before her. He was precious to her. In fact, she loved him more than life itself. And his pale, blue eyes and athletic body were simply beautiful to behold. It pleased her that he had maintained a steady exercise regimen since winter, which had only enhanced her already considerable physical attraction towards him. But it was his sincere, kind nature and caring demeanor that had captured her heart.
“More like a hot dog,” she quipped.
A smile touched his lips.
Her expression softened, and she reached out gently to grasp his left arm. “Turn towards me, my love,” she beckoned with a sigh. “You’re so accident-prone sometimes.”
“I try my best,” he innocently countered.
Katrina beamed with satisfaction and conceded, “I know you do.”
He’s actually made great progress in a short time
, she thought.
But I suppose that when vampires play rough with humans, accidents will tend to happen.
She examined the cut on his arm and saw the blood beginning to seep into his shirt. Deftly ripping open the remainder of his sleeve, she bent down to lick the blood from his arm. Its fresh scent elicited a strong desire in her, but she forced it under her control.
No, it’s not a desire
, she temporized
, it’s a dark hunger, a ravaging thirst. And it wants to be quenched soon.
“Ouch,” he muttered under his breath as the stinging sensation continued in his arm. “Stupid thorns.”
“If it’s due to some of the brambles that I saw further back in the forest, then it’s the poison in the thorns that’s causing your discomfort. Let me fix that for you.”
She pressed her tongue against his injured skin and held it in place for a few moments. He quickly felt the build of a soothing, numbing sensation. He was forever grateful that vampire physiology was so handy for first aid. Their saliva could both numb, and summarily heal, wounds. Such an ability enabled vampires to feed on humans, or other animals, relatively painlessly, if they so desired. Wounds healed in mere minutes, leaving no trace of offending fangs.
“There, better?” Katrina asked. She certainly felt better just from tasting his blood, which she found both addictive and irresistible.
He appreciated the lingering numbness in his arm and reached back to the wounded area, feeling no cut or abrasion.
“Good as new,” he gratefully replied.
“Good,” she said and bent her head down to kiss his lips warmly.
He responded in kind and reached out to interlace the fingers of his hand through hers. Not wanting to break the moment, he gently snaked his free arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Her soft lips were intoxicating, and he wanted the kissing to last forever. Granted, while Katrina might be an alpha vampire, the most dangerous and violent variety, she was also a passionate woman. Added to that, she was so kind, caring, and attentive towards him. Even in her most ominous of moods, he knew that she loved him. Of course, that’s not to say she didn’t intimidate him on occasion.
Such a small price to pay for the companion of a lifetime
, he decided.
“I love you, Kat,” he whispered when their lips parted from yet another kiss. “And I love our weekend getaway.”
She had suggested that they spend a romantic weekend at the forest retreat that she had picked out on the Internet. They rented a cabin, and upon arriving, ensured that its windows were blocked out with dark cardboard from the sun’s lethal, ultraviolet radiation.
“As I love you,” she softly replied before kissing his lips, his cheek, and the soft skin of his neck. She listened to the melodic rush of blood pulsing through his arteries and the rhythmic harmony of his heartbeat causing her thirst to build.
He noted that his lover’s eyes were still glowing green, like two small emerald orbs in the darkness. That meant one of three things: she was angry, aroused, or hungry. Somehow, he felt that aroused was a possibility, but hunger was most likely given his recent open wound and her tasting him. He couldn’t recall the last time that she had fed, though they had brought plastic packets of blood with them to store in the cabin refrigerator.
“Want a little nibble?” he quietly offered.
Katrina kissed his neck once more. “Do you mind?”
She’s so polite to me on that topic
, he noted appreciatively. She had never once taken blood from him without his approval. It was one of the things that she had promised him after declaring him her mate.
“Happy to oblige,” he replied with a grin.
She gently guided him to the ground and encouraged him to lean back against a large fallen tree trunk while adjusting his posture for easy access to his neck. While she didn’t have to draw blood from the neck, it was her favorite location.
Call me a traditionalist
, she reflected.
She squatted down to straddle his body between her knees then bent towards him while placing her hands on either side of his body. Her soft lips kissed his neck and formed a seal against his skin. As she pressed her tongue against him, he felt the telltale numbness begin to grow. He held very still, and moments later, he felt an increased pressure as her fangs fully penetrated him.
Small, slurping sounds emitted from her as he lay prone with his eyes closed. The darkness and sedate sounds of the forest were soothing as he floated on a sea of euphoria. He relished such peaceful moments of tranquil bonding with Katrina. However, the time slipped away before he knew it. The slurping ceased, and she withdrew her fangs from his neck. Finally, her tongue pressed against his skin, and she gathered additional saliva to the wound area until it sealed fully.
“Thank you,” she whispered before affectionately kissing his lips.
He’s perfect for me
, she resolved in contentment.
“Anything for you, Kat.”
They leaned back against the fallen tree trunk for a time, merely appreciating each other’s company and the peaceful Georgia night. Beyond the canopy of treetops, the sky’s blanket of darkness provided the perfect backdrop for a spectacle of stars, at which Caleb thoughtfully gazed. When he shivered from the growing chill in the air, Katrina extended her arm across his shoulders, pulling him close against her body.
His eyes moved from scanning the stars to gazing into her beautiful green eyes. He marveled at the wonder that was the stunningly beautiful woman sitting next to him.
S
he’s a phenomenon! She’s nearly five hundred years old, and yet, her body’s cells regenerate almost magically.
He envied that she would appear thirty forever.
He smirked as he pondered her angelic profile while she stared into the night sky.
Yeah, and as if that weren’t enough, there’s always her blazing-fast speed, tremendous physical strength, hypersensitive senses of vision, smell and hearing, and immunity to illness or diseases. Never mind that she has virtually no need to sleep, and her endurance is seemingly limitless.
As if sensing his close inspection, her attention reverted to him.
“Such a penetrating stare. What are you thinking, my love?” she softly queried.
He appears mesmerized
, she recognized,
and I’m not even trying to hypnotize him
.
A knot formed in the pit of her stomach at that thought.
Not that I’d ever try that again
, she resolved. It seemed like only a few years since she had managed to hypnotize Caleb as a child to encourage him to forget about her killing his abusive father before his very eyes. The effort had worked at the time and allowed him to grow up believing that his father had simply abandoned him and his mother. Then she had departed Caleb’s life until meeting him again as an adult the previous fall.
Regrettably, her hypnotic legacy had caused painful and disturbing flashbacks and other emotional repercussions for him as an adult. Fortunately, on their recent spring trip to London, a vampire psychiatrist had been able to remove her hypnotic block.
Thank goodness that instead of anger or fear he was grateful for my help.
She was happy that the event actually seemed to bond them even more closely.
“Just thinking about you, Kat,” he gently replied. “Pondering at how remarkable you are, you and your kind.”
She rolled her eyes and mildly chastised, “I would’ve thought you’d have tired of such thoughts already. There are so many more interesting things to think about, rather than vampires. We should be old hat for you by now.”
His eyes widened, and he reached up to caress the side of her face with his fingertips. Her eyes curiously darted to his in return.
“You’ll never be ‘old hat’ for me,” he promised. “You’re amazing, and I’m still dumbfounded to be of any interest to you at all.”
She frowned over his self-deprecating train of thought. Her hand darted upwards to grasp his chin firmly between her fingertips, and she moved her face to within an inch of his. Her green eyes momentarily flashed brightly before returning to their previous hue.
“Listen closely to me, oh-human-mate-of-mine. You saved my life when you were only eight years old, at a time when I was ready to give up my existence completely. You, and you alone, gave me a reason to keep living. You gave my life meaning and purpose. If anything, vampires are nothing more than predators. However, you’re an angel, wholly and completely. So I don’t want to hear you say such things. Got it?”