Vampire Mate: BBW Paranormal Romance (7 page)

The city lights winked behind
him as Glenn drove along the highway. How long had it been since
he'd had a female in his bed? Glenn floored the pedal as he winced.
He honestly couldn't remember. He couldn't even remember the faces
and names of all those women. Just one lick of their blood and his
heart and mind had hardened with disappointment and resignation.
Not
his mate
.

Glenn's mind flashed to
Charlene, and a sharp pain stabbed through his heart. Against his
will, he snorted out a bitter laugh when he recalled the surprise of
some of the women he had bedded. Non-vampire females were often
shocked and amazed when they put their hands against his chest and
felt his heartbeat. “Oh, your heart beats! And...you
breathe!”

Why, yes, I breathe, I
bleed, and I feel. If my heart didn't beat, there would be no
circulation and movement of blood to—a certain part of my body.

The females had no complaints
there. They had all thoroughly enjoyed that certain, hard part of
his body.

Glenn turned into a side road
and glanced at the time. He would arrive at eight o'clock sharp.
Hopefully this meeting with Sideous Kron wouldn't drag on for too
long. He hoped to used the few precious hours before sunrise to
search for Charlene.

His Lamborghini cruised along
the well-kept street, passing the high walls that surrounded the
palatial mansions. As he passed Caleb Thorn's mansion, he heard loud
music, squeals and splashes coming from the pool area. Caleb was
having a pool party, and from the flashes of skin and scales and wet
bodies running amok through the brightly lit lawn, it was clear that
the dress code stated on the invite was: birthday suit.

Glenn smiled, but didn't slow
down his car. If Caleb caught a glimpse of his car, he'd throw his
tall gates wide open and come charging out butt naked to drag Glenn
to the party. And then he'd throw Glenn into the pool so that his
nice suit would be all wet, and he would have no choice but to get
naked with the rest of them. Caleb's parties were always wet, wild
and wicked.

Glenn zoomed past the rest of
the elaborate, eccentric structures and pulled up at Sideous Kron's
high, black gates.

Kron's castle was a sprawling,
full blown Gothic affair, with gargoyles and stone pillars full of
carved faces and grotesque figures. The demon lord was rumored to
come from old money, and before he relocated to New Moon City, the
only city that legally recognized the existence and rights of
paranormals, he'd heard that the demon lord had assumed many names
and identities, frequently reinventing himself over the ages. So
that meant he would fake his own death, and then appear out of the
blue as a distant relation of the deceased billionaire and inherit
his own wealth. Old money that was the same, blood-tainted money.

As Glenn's car rolled up, the
gates swung open silently. The stone gargoyles glared down at his
car from the tall pillars as he drove in, their ruby red eyes
glowing. Smoke hissed from their open mouths, and their heads
swiveled to follow his car.

Glenn shook his head at the
theatrical animatronics. Subtlety was not the demon's strong suit it
seemed. Staying in the background all these years, instead of
bursting onto the New Moon City scene in a hail of fire and brimstone
must have been out of necessity, not choice for Sideous Kron. He'd
had to lie low, for his own reasons. But now...the crafty old demon
was after something.

Glenn squinted at the
elaborate, exaggerated carvings and architecture of the castle as he
parked his car at a corner of the curved driveway. He would walk the
rest of the distance to the house. It allowed him to assess the
surroundings and to sense any danger. He also wanted to let Sideous
Kron see clearly that he came in peace, and the demon would be wise
to abandon any nefarious vision he may have of the Master vampire
leaving in pieces.

Not happening, old chap.

Glenn strode towards the house
pretending to be a castle, or the castle pretending to be a home,
depending on how you looked at it. Sideous Kron was standing on the
front steps, resplendent in a pristine white suit and top hat.

“
Welcome, welcome, Mr
Constantine.” Sideous Kron's smile was wide and exaggerated.

“
Thank you for your
invitation, Mr Kron,” Glenn answered smoothly. He returned
Kron's too wide smile with a tight smile of his own, one that did not
reveal his fangs.

Kron's fangs, on the other
hand, were on full display. Subtlety was definitely not his
specialty.

“
Come in, come in.
Dinner will be served shortly. I hope that you will like what's on
the menu tonight.” Kron led the way into the house. “I
have opened my best bottle of blood wine. I have been wanting to
have a drink with you for a long time, Mr Constantine.”

Glenn inclined his head
politely, and walked through the arched double doors which closed
soundlessly behind him. The chandelier tinkled as he walked through
the vestibule and into the cavernous living room where a fire was
roaring in the towering fireplace.

“
I've prepared a spread,
so I hope you are hungry, Mr Constantine.”

“
Ravenous,” Glenn
answered with a charming smile.

Kron met his eyes. “Aren't
we all?”

The living room led to the
dining room, and as Kron had promised, there was an elaborate spread
of food on the long, gold dining table. Ornate candelabra held blood
red candles, and a whiff told Glenn that those candles had indeed
been fashioned out of dried blood.

Piled high on the table were
plates of brightly colored fruits, bread rolls, roast meats, seafood,
soup, tarts, cake, salads, rice, noodles, pasta. It was like an
international buffet spread. Kron sat himself at the head of the
table and indicated the seat to his left. “Please, Mr
Constantine. It would be hard for me to talk to you if you're at the
other end of the table. This would be much cozier, yes?”

Glenn smiled and graciously
took the seat Kron indicated. As soon as Glenn sat down, Kron
flicked a claw and three large horned demons who had apparently been
wrestled into starched butler uniforms walked out of a side door and
proceeded to arrange the food neatly onto three plates. They put a
bit of everything onto the large plates. Salad, some roast meats,
mashed potato, gravy, fried noodle, sushi, literally everything.

A laden plate was placed in
front of Glenn. Glenn watched one demon butler present a plate of
food to Kron, while another butler carefully placed the other laden
plate on Kron's right, opposite Glenn.

Glenn raised one eyebrow at
Sideous Kron. “Are you expecting someone else, or are you
having two helpings at one go?”

The demon laughed pleasantly.
“There's someone I would like you to meet, Mr Constantine.”

A door opened, and Glenn heard
a step behind him. He turned round and all the air left his lungs in
a rush.

Charlene was standing before
him, her lush body perfectly encased in a shimmering black gown. Her
blond hair was pulled back with a barrette studded with sparkling
gemstones and her low neckline showed off the swell of her breasts
perfectly. She wore dark red lipstick and smoky eyeshadow, and she
looked glamorous, graceful, and so beautiful.

Glenn rose to his feet,
staring intently at her as she tried to mask her obvious shock at
seeing him.

Hurriedly, she arranged her
features into a smile, her hand fluttering to her neck.

Kron purred from his seat.
“Charlene, darling, come here. I'd like you to meet Mr Glenn
Constantine, Master vampire and the Chairman of GC Inc.”

Charlene took a stiff step
forward. “Pleased to meet you, Mr Constantine.”

“
This is...my capable
assistant, Charlene,” Kron introduced as Charlene took her
seat. “She handles most of my important affairs and
acquisitions. Charlene knows what I want, and she gets it for me.
She is my right hand woman.”

Glenn nodded without speaking
as he sat back down. He just couldn't tear his eyes from Charlene.
Her face was lowered, and she was stealing glances up at him from
under her long lashes. Her face and neck were flushed, and he could
see her chest rise and fall with her rapid breathing. She shouldn't
be here. Yet here she was, seated opposite him, at Kron's table.

Charlene, a blood demoness, in
Sideous Kron's castle.

Charlene knows what I want,
and she gets it for me.

Glenn felt his throat and
fists tighten.

She was Sideous Kron's demon.
He Made her, commanded her, used her. He had probably used her in
more ways than one...

Kron had started eating,
digging into his food with gusto. “Please,” he said,
beaming at Glenn. “Enjoy the spread.”

Glenn picked up the gold fork
but couldn't bring himself to eat. He could smell fresh blood in the
sauces and gravy, and he wondered if Kron had purchased the blood
from a licensed blood bar or blood bank, or if he had procured the
blood in some other way.

Soundlessly, he put his fork
down and watched Charlene gingerly pick up a piece of cut meat from
her plate, stifle a wince, and put it back down without taking a
single bite.

Glenn knew that Kron was
watching the two of them even though the old demon pretended to be
busily eating and enjoying his meal. He even faked a loud burp
pretty convincingly.

Kron eyed the untouched food
on Glenn's plate but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he dabbed his
mouth with his napkin and pushed his chair back. “Oh my, look
at the time. This has been so much fun that I almost forgot that
there is someplace else I need to be.” The demon made a show
of looking at his diamond watch. “As I said, Mr Constantine, I
entrust Charlene with my acquisitions, so she'll be handling all the
intricate details and intimate negotiations regarding the acquisition
of that land parcel. I sincerely hope the sale agreement can be
signed soon.” Kron winked. “I am not a very patient
demon. I'll leave you in Charlene's capable hands then.”

With that, Kron swung his cane
and vanished. Glenn suspected that the demon lord had teleported to
another part of his castle, but he couldn't sense his presence.

Kron had left him alone with
Charlene, on purpose.

The wily demon had seen his
obvious interest and attraction to Charlene. Glenn let out a low
groan. He shouldn't have stared so hard at Charlene. But how could
he not look at her?

It was just impossible to take
his eyes off her.

She was just so damn
beautiful, and so damn unreadable.

Charlene had stood up and was
frowning at Kron's empty seat with a look akin to resentment. She
flicked her eyes to him and her lips twisted in a crooked, shaky
smile.

“
I...”

“
You. Charlene Cole,”
Glenn cut her off, his voice icy. “You are Sideous Kron's
blood demoness.”

She seemed stung by the
accusation and revulsion in his voice. “I never said I
wasn't,” she retorted.

“
You're working for him.
When I saw you, with that werewolf, you—”

“
I was working. Yes.”
Her words were clipped, slicing into him like shrapnel.

“
Do you enjoy your
work?”

“
I...y-yes. Yes, as a
matter of fact, I do.” She kicked her chin up and snapped. “I
enjoy my work very much indeed.”

They were glaring at each
other across the table, the anger in their eyes hiding the pain in
their hearts. Glenn stared at her flushed face, at those blazing
green eyes, at that full, luscious body that was threatening to spill
out of that clinging gown. Every inch of him was hard and hurting,
and what he really wanted to do was wrap around her and mist her far
away from here, away from her demon Maker, away from the danger all
around her.

He ground his teeth, trying to
force his fangs back. But some parts of his body couldn't be
controlled by his brain. They just extended and elongated on their
own, never mind the time and place as long as the company was right.

Angrily, Glenn jerked away
from the table and clenched his fists hard to stop himself from
grabbing her. He was standing in Kron's dining room, and he couldn't
show just how much he wanted her. He had no doubt that Kron had
instructed Charlene to use her feminine wiles on him to get him to
sign away the land.

He couldn't let the demon see
that he had picked the right female for the job. The demon had seen
his obvious attraction to Charlene, but he had to let Kron think that
he was just behaving like an ordinary randy male whose roving eye was
easily caught by beauty. He couldn't let the demon lord know how
much he cared for this woman.

She was Kron's demon, and
misting her physically out of Kron's castle wouldn't free her from
the demon lord's clutches. That reckless move would accomplish
nothing, except alert Kron to his undeniable attraction and
attachment to Charlene.

Until he could find a way to
free her completely, he had to leave her here.