THE ROUGH MATING OF A VAMPIRE (The Vampire Coalition: A Short Prelude) (3 page)

He scooped up her body and held her in his lap, rocking her.

"Adare," she sighed. "I love you."

He stroked her hair, holding her tightly against his body, his arms trembling along with the rest of his body.

"You are mine, Kristin. Mine." His voice was low and graveled, filled with emotion. “And you could never love me as much as I love you.”

She looked up to meet his gaze. Their eyes locked and she saw her beloved Adare, gazing at her with awe and adoration. His eyes were normal again, dark brown and beautiful.

He pulled her down to lay by his side, covering them with a light blanket that he materialized without blinking an eye.
His magic had returned.

Kristin lifted her head and he kissed her tenderly, his tongue stroking hers. Her head dropped to his shoulder, her senses blurry. "I've always been yours, Adare," she whispered softly, realizing the truth of her words. It was as if she had always been waiting for him, some parts of her empty before he had coming crashing into her life to fill every empty corner of her heart.

It was the last thing she mumbled before she closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness as it pulled her into its seductive embrace.

She never heard Adare’s deep, mumbled curse of relief before he followed her into an exhausted slumber as he held her tightly, gratefully in his protective embrace.

"They'll be out for a while," Ethan Hale observed from the witness gallery. He watched as his fellow member of The Coalition rested contentedly with his mate.

"We've done our witness duty," his brother Rory agreed. "Time to go kick some
fallen
ass."

Ethan agreed. They had work to do. He and his three brothers had only gone to witness the mating because Adare was a friend and he had requested their presence, knowing the brothers could watch without being affected.

The erotic mating did nothing for
any
of the four Hale brothers and it was nothing more than a favor and a duty for a five hundred year old vampire like Ethan. All of the brothers had passed the age of one hundred long ago, and watching a mating was just a painful reminder that none of them were likely to ever find their mates. Not that Ethan had mentioned that to Adare. It was considered an honor to be asked to attend a mating and he would never admit that it somehow bothered him on something other than a physical level.

Ethan was happy for Adare...but he felt a twinge of loneliness. Most of the members of The Coalition had joined the fighting force because they had never found their mate. They figured if they didn't have a mate, they could at least help to defeat the
fallen
.

"It could still happen, you know," his brother Liam commented, feeling Ethan's sadness. Liam was a healer…a sensitive.

Ethan shrugged, sure his time had come and gone. He had accepted it. Somehow, his mating opportunity had passed. He was five hundred years old, way too ancient to suddenly run into his mate.

His brother Nathan smirked at Liam. "Maybe for you, little brother. Definitely not for me."

Ethan knew that Nathan hid behind his sarcasm and cynicism, so he didn't comment. Watching a mating was a painful reminder for
all
of them that they had probably somehow missed their opportunity for a mate.

It was a miracle for Adare, finding his mate at the age of three hundred. All of the Hale brothers were Adare's
elders
.

Ethan tried to push the loneliness deep inside of him where it usually rested, undisturbed and unacknowledged.

"I'm out of here. I need to track a
fallen
." Nathan disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving his brothers behind.

"I hate it when he does that," Liam commented on a soft sigh as he faded out, tracking Nathan's trail.

Rory followed immediately, eager to catch up with his brothers. "Catch ya later, Ethan," Rory's voice sounded distant as he too disappeared.

Ethan took one last look at the sleeping couple. "Rest well, my friend."

He pulled his eyes away and vanished, trying to leave his restless feelings behind him.

Please continue reading for an excerpt from Ethan’s Mate

Excerpt From Ethan’s Mate:

Prologue

Being a vampire was a lonely existence. Ethan Hale had walked the earth for the last five hundred years, surviving by stealth and by hiding his true nature, knowing that humans were not yet ready to accept and welcome the existence of vampires. The world had changed over the centuries. But not enough…

There were others of his kind, but vampires were solitary creatures, trusting no one, walking alone. While they might socialize occasionally, and his kind could call upon another of their brethren for help, they never stayed very long in the company of others. He had three brothers that he would give his own life for, however, in the end, they all dwelt alone.

The only hope of relief from his lonely existence was to find his soul-bonded mate. That life changing event had never occurred for Ethan and he had wandered for centuries without a soul.

Ethan and his three brothers fought the good fight, and popular vampire myths were often a topic of jokes among his brethren. Vampires were not “made,” they were born. Living, breathing, flesh and blood with extraordinary powers and, yes, a need for blood to survive. The only thing that they lacked was a soul. Their soul-bonded mate held that tightly inside of her own, keeping it safe and protecting it until the day that it would be transferred to her vampire in a mating ceremony as ancient as the vampire species.

Vampires were
not
the monsters of lore, however, there were times when self-policing was necessary, which meant that Ethan, his three brothers and several others of his brethren had to unite to defeat a
fallen
that had given in to bloodlust. Killing aimlessly was against the code of the vampire. If one of his kind became too frenzied while feeding, and killed, the lust for a blood kill would become permanent, making them beyond redemption. They would become a
fallen
, and immediate extermination of fallen vampires was the only hope of survival for his kind. Human detection would mean the destruction of his entire species. Although the vampires might laugh at the incorrect lore and the misunderstanding of true vampires, humans would see them as evil abominations that needed to be hunted and extinguished.

Vampires did not kill indiscriminately. They took blood when they needed it and left the human donor with no memory of the incident.

And their one true mate? That was no myth, that was real, but finding one’s mate could not be rushed, as Ethan and his brothers had discovered over the last several hundred years of waiting. All vampires were born male, their female counterpart a human with a genetic difference. The human female mate was born with her soul combined with that of her vampire mate, a genetic mutation that meant that she had to call her mate to her, before he lost his life force. Female mates did not live beyond their thirtieth year unless they became bonded with their vampire.

Ethan was among the oldest of his kind who had yet to find his mate. Had she already passed, failing to call him to her? Had he not heard her call? It had been so long for him that he had stopped waiting. A vampire lost his ability and desire to have sex after the age of one hundred and it had been over four hundred years for Ethan. He had stopped believing that she awaited him or that she was yet to be born. He had accepted it, but it didn’t stop the yearning and loneliness that were now a part of his existence.

His brothers, who were also unmated, had similar thoughts - it was those thoughts had driven them all to work for The Vampire Coalition. They were all past the age for mating and had to accept that, for them, a mate was no longer a possibility. Perhaps he and his brothers would not have mates, but they could preserve their species for those that could. Mated vampires were happy, contented, living a life that was complete and filled with joy. Ethan and his brothers wanted their breed to continue its existence on this earth. It was what they lived for, their cause, a ray of light and hope for ones who lived in darkness. If they had nothing else to live for, they could remain in that ray of light by preserving the future for others of their kind. If they didn’t have The Coalition and their goals, they knew it was possible to become the
hunted
instead of the
hunter
.

Chapter 1

Come to me. I need you.

Ethan Hale sat up in bed, his heart pumping, sweat dripping from his body so profusely that it saturated his bedding. He was panting as if he had just battled a dozen
fallen.

I’m dying. My life force is draining away. Come to me.

The voice was weak and soft in his mind, a faint whisper with a female softness that sent a shiver down his spine. He recognized the voice of his mate from pure instinct, a certainty that had nothing to do with logic.

Another seeks me, but he is not you. Please come to me… before it is too late.

“Who seeks you? And why? Help me find you.” He spoke aloud, although it wasn’t really necessary. He sought her in his mind, trying to reach her through the weak psychic connection. Something was…
wrong
. She sounded distant, depleted. It was still day…long before the sun would set and the connection was fragile.

Ethan tried to rise, but it wasn’t possible. Nothing could pull him from his day sleep except his mate, but he couldn’t function before twilight. He fought and struggled, frustration and anger driving him. He couldn’t rise. Damn it! He couldn’t rise! His body refused to cooperate and his mind was sluggish.

Nothing drove a vampire like the need of his mate. It was feral. Animalistic. Instinct. The need to protect his woman, to shelter her from all harm ripped through his useless body. Her pain and her need became his, and there was nothing worse than not being able to protect his mate. The instinct was there already and they had not even bonded.

I don’t know who seeks and stalks me, but it is not you. I feel the evil. I’m growing weak. You must come to me.

Ethan’s heart nearly exploded from his chest while he fought the seductive call of his day sleep. “Tell me how? Please.” His voice was desperate now as he clenched the wet sheets, trying to feel her essence. It was so elusive, barely there, but he had to reach it.

Please find me…

Her voice floated away lightly, fading to… nothingness. The connection was completely severed.

Ethan felt himself being dragged back into his day sleep. He resisted, tearing at the sheets, pounding the bed. But the day sleep was relentless, pulling him into a dark abyss.

“Nooooo!!” His cry was an anguished howl as the darkness consumed him.

*****

Brianna Cole woke with a frightened cry. Her eyes popped open and she had an immediate awareness of her surroundings
. I’m home. In my own bed.
Her heart pounding and her breath shallow, she sat up and looked around her bedroom.

“Nothing here,” she whispered to herself as she shivered and rubbed her arms to warm herself despite the warmth of her bedroom.

She was always cold these days. Since she had been suddenly struck down with a rare and mysterious form of leukemia six months ago, she was constantly chilled to the bone.

Brianna was just grateful to be in her own home. Although her family and friends had objected, she had obstinately stuck to her guns and remained in her own house where she felt at peace. She hadn’t been able to return to her job as a social worker, and more often than not, she was in the hospital getting a transfusion or some other experimental treatment. When she wasn’t being poked and examined like a lab specimen, she
needed
to be home. It was the only thing that kept her level and sane in a world that had been turned upside down by her illness.

Brianna knew she was dying. She didn’t need a team of experts to tell her that she was slowly fading away. She could feel the weakness, the slow draining of her spirit.

But I connected with him today! I called him.

She shook her head as the notion popped into her head involuntarily.
Connected?
What in the hell did that mean? Yet somehow she knew it was significant, that
calling him
meant something.

Brianna sighed as she pulled herself out of bed and rose to her feet. Stretching lightly, she cursed her weak and aching body as she made her way into the kitchen, her hungry feline tangling around her feet. She picked up Mr. Wiggins, named after a wonderful old gentleman she had worked with who couldn’t keep the cat, and stroked him, enjoying the soft feel of his fur against her cheek.

“I’m just not ready to die yet, Wiggs,” she told him softly as she continued to rub her cheek against his fur. “I don’t feel like I’m supposed to die.”

It was denial. She hadn’t yet made it to the acceptance stage of her impending death and maybe she never would. It seemed like she had been stuck in the denial stage since her mysterious illness had struck. If she didn’t hurry up, she would probably never make it through the stages of anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. It seemed like she had been stuck in denial since the day her illness had been diagnosed.