Blood Ties

This story is well written, suspenseful and sexy.
Deceit and danger stand in the way of love, trust and a desire that
cannot be denied. Throw in hot, hot sex and blazing lust in the
middle of the hell about to descend upon them and it makes for one
savory read that will not disappoint in the least. Consider this
one a must read.

Charissa, Coffee Time Romance

[A] hot-blooded
vampire story jam-packed with passion and danger,
Blood Ties
starts out with a bang and will
keep you on the edge of your set until the very end. Orion and
Kira’s sexual encounters are hot enough to melt butter and you will
definitely need a fire extinguisher to cool off. Readers will be
fascinated by the amazing combination of sensuality and darkness
within the plot.

Contessa, Fallen Angel Reviews

by

Copyright 2006-2012 Amelia Elias

Smashwords Edition

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permission from Amelia Elias.

I’m going to kill him. Slowly, so I can enjoy
every second of it.

Blood boiling, every muscle aching with the
need for violence, Orion reclined in his high-backed leather chair
and waited in silence. It was a skill he’d polished over the years,
one that had gained more information for him than interrogation
ever had.

He didn’t have to wait long this time.

Kira bit her lip and looked away, cheeks
flushing. “Don’t look at me like that, Orion,” she said, still not
meeting his eyes. She hadn’t once looked directly at him since
she’d walked into his office this evening and dropped her little
bombshell.

He still couldn’t believe it, even though he
probably should’ve seen it coming a mile away. Kira couldn’t just
quit. She was his Associate, his voice and face to the daylight
world. She was his lifeline, the keeper of almost every secret he
possessed. She knew everything from where he bought his clothes and
hid his money to how he stole his sustenance and where he slept
hidden from the sun’s rays. As a vampire without the benefit and
shelter of a Clan, a loyal Associate was the best and only safety
net he possessed.

In short, Kira Jacques was the one mortal
that Orion couldn’t let go.

She fidgeted uneasily under his steady gaze.
Unwilling to break the silence or the tension, he studied her,
taking in every detail and not liking the changes he found. She’d
tamed her wild hair tonight, catching the unruly black curls in a
neat twist at the nape of her neck. Her usual hip-hugging jeans and
T-shirt were replaced by slacks and a silky knit sweater, and her
normally-bare feet were hidden in sensible shoes. Nothing could
hide that curvy body, but she was sure as hell trying.

Even her face was different. Never one to
hide her natural beauty, tonight Kira wore makeup -- base, blush,
shadow, the works. Orion could smell them from here. He wondered if
she thought putting on her war-paint would prepare her to face
him.

Her vivid green eyes flickered his way,
meeting his for a bare instant before she blushed and looked past
him again. “I know what you’re trying to do,” she said, a hint of
steel in her voice now. “I’ve seen you give this same silent
treatment to others who displeased you. You can cut it out now. If
you’re pissed off, say so, damn it.”

Orion smiled. “Oh, yes, I’m pissed off,” he
replied softly. “I’m pissed off that you’ll let someone dictate
your life. I’m pissed off that you’ll do whatever that bastard asks
just because he doesn’t trust you. And I’m pissed as hell that you
expect me to just let you walk away when you know you’re doing the
wrong thing.”

That made her look at him. Her eyes flashed
with anger. “I don’t know any such thing,” she snapped, raising her
chin defiantly. “You don’t know it either. And of course Barrett
trusts me! Would he ask me to marry him if he didn’t?”

Hiding his reaction to that was one of the
most difficult things Orion had ever done, but he managed it. Just.
“A man who trusts his woman does not force her to abandon her
responsibilities simply because he put a ring on her finger,” he
replied, murmuring when he wanted to shout. His voice could be a
weapon, should he decide to use it as such, but everything in him
rebelled against manipulating or hurting Kira. “If he trusts you
absolutely, why is he insisting that you quit?”

She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he
could sense the tension in her shoulders. “You’ll be fine,” she
said, ignoring his question. “You’ve got plenty of blood stored and
I’m certain you’ll find another Associate soon. Contact the
Nighthawks and see if they can offer a reference. I’m sure --”

That was the last straw. Kira knew damn well
that he couldn’t stand his own kind. Their callous disregard for
mortals nauseated him, and his willingness to mingle with his prey
only earned their scorn. How dare she so blithely suggest that he
simply contact the vampires of the Nighthawk Clan, as if they’d
ever offer him anything? Orion’s fangs ached in his mouth as his
fury demanded release, but Kira’s cell phone rang in that moment.
She hit the button and answered it before he could snarl at her to
let it ring.

When he heard the tinny sound of Barrett’s
voice, he literally saw red. Orion shoved away from the desk and
shot to his feet all in one smooth motion, intending to slap the
offensive phone out of her hand and shake her until she saw
reason.

“Wait, wait,” Kira said, frowning as
Barrett’s voice buzzed urgently through the static on her cellular
phone. She moved closer to the window to improve the reception.
“Yes, I’m still at work. I’m giving my notice right now, but the
loose ends I need to tie up won’t keep me here that much longer.
I’ll be home in a half hour or so, all right?”

Barrett’s voice grew louder, enough that
Orion could’ve understood him even without his supernatural
hearing. “Kira, do as you’re told for once and stay there,” he
snapped, his tone more like a scolding parent than a lover. “I told
you, the apartment is being fumigated. You can’t get in for at
least another hour. Just stay put until I tell you to leave. Got
it?”

Even before the man finished speaking, a
tickle of dread teased the fine hairs at the back of Orion’s nape.
Who fumigated an apartment in the middle of the night, in the dead
of winter? Kira opened her mouth to argue with her fiancé as the
dread blossomed into a stomach-clenching certainty of impending
danger.

It was a feeling he’d learned to never
ignore.

“Kira, get away from the window!”

She jumped at Orion’s shout, but he was
already in motion. Snagging her around the waist, he tackled her to
the floor and shielded her body with his own as gunfire shattered
the night. Kira screamed and Orion hissed with fury as the window
exploded into a thousand deadly fragments that lacerated his
back.

He didn’t even feel the pain of it as he
caught the scent of her blood in the rush of cold air. Prying
Kira’s phone from her death grip, he heard Barrett’s triumphant
laughter. “Burn the vampire and his whore!” Barrett shouted to
someone in the background, and Orion’s fangs burst forth with the
surge of rage that filled him.

Every one of his suspicions about the man had
been right. Barrett had never intended to marry Kira. He’d only
used her to find Orion’s lair. And now the bastard had spilled the
blood of the one person on Earth that Orion cared about.

May God have mercy on the man’s soul, because
Orion would show none. “You will die slowly for this,” he snarled
before shattering the phone with his bare hand.

The gunfire abruptly stopped. The eerie
silence was anything but comforting. He knew that the cessation of
the bullets only meant something worse was coming.

He didn’t plan to wait around for it to
arrive. Orion leapt to his feet, Kira cradled securely in his arms,
and dashed out of the den with preternatural speed. She clung to
him, her breath coming in quick, terrified gasps. “What’s
happening?” she asked, clutching him tightly as he kicked down his
bedroom door.

“Your boyfriend is trying to kill us.” He let
her feet touch the floor only long enough to shove his bed aside
with one hand and yank open the trapdoor hidden beneath it. The
smell of stale air and dank earth made her cringe, but Orion didn’t
let her back away from the black pit. Pulling her into his arms
again, he brushed a kiss over her pale cheek. “Better men have
tried and failed, sweetheart. Now hold on tight.”

And he leapt into the darkness before she
could reply.

Kira bit
her lip to keep from screaming as they plummeted into the
blackness. Barrett was really trying to
kill
them -- and she’d led him right to Orion. How
could she have been so blind?

Was she really so desperate for the security
of marriage that she’d been fooled so easily by a handsome face and
honeyed words? When she thought of the Christmas wedding they’d
planned, she felt sick at her own stupidity. Barrett had seemed so…
safe, so sane. So much what she wanted, a man who’d never let her
down, a man she wouldn’t have to keep secrets from.

A human version of Orion.

They landed hard and she couldn’t stop the
cry of pain as the impact jolted her throbbing leg, drowning her
spinning thoughts. She wasn’t sure if she’d been shot or cut by the
broken glass, but her thigh was on fire with pain and her entire
leg was wet.

Adrenaline and terror shot through her veins.
She was soaked in blood and stuck at the bottom of a black pit with
an infuriated vampire. This couldn’t be good.

Orion didn’t even pause when they hit the
ground. She closed her eyes as he sprinted through the darkness,
leaving the tiny spot of light the trapdoor let in far behind.
Dizzy and disoriented, she fisted her hands in the material of his
jacket as he ran. “Where are we going?”

“Cover your ears.”

“Wha --”

BOOM!

The explosion rocked the earth around them
and threw Orion off his feet. He rolled as he fell, taking the
impact before rolling her beneath him to shield her. She opened her
mouth to scream again, but before she could so much as draw a
breath, Orion’s fingers dove into her hair.

She caught the glint of fangs in the dark
just before his mouth covered hers, hard and possessive, capturing
her surprised gasp and turning it into a moan.

His passion was as irresistible as it was
unexpected, driving even the pain away in a rush of heat. Terror
morphed into desire at the speed of light as hot cream flooded her
pussy. His tongue stroked her lips, curled around hers and drew it
out to play. She couldn’t resist tracing his fangs with the tip of
her tongue and delighted in the deep growl she provoked. When he
released her mouth to kiss a hot path across her jaw, Kira finally
managed to draw a breath.

The scent
of him surrounded her, more intoxicating than whiskey. Her head
reeled with desire so strong, it made her feel physically
weak.
God,
next I’ll be fainting like some chick in a romance novel!
“Attempted murder really turns
you on, doesn’t it?” she gasped, arching beneath him as he cupped
her breast.

“
You
turn me on,
Kira,” he growled against her skin. Her nipple hardened in his palm
and he shoved her shirt aside, ripping her bra to bare her skin to
his hungry mouth. Hot, molten lust shot from her breast to her clit
as he suckled and nipped her aching flesh. “I’ve wanted you for
years. If I die tonight, I want one taste of you to take with me
into oblivion.”

His cock pressed against her belly, thick and
hard, as he kissed her again. He ground his hips against hers, but
the movement brought his thigh hard against her wound.

He froze at her whimper of pain. “Fuck,” he
whispered, drawing back. “You’re injured.”