Blurb:
A vampire with a raging thirst for human blood and erotic pleasure; a man with a secret mission to find and destroy the undead. But lusty midnight passions defy logic, while boundaries and duty hold no sway on the decks of the Night Stalker. Captain Dont Lucienne is the vampire captain of the Night Stalker. His crew is human, men who serve the vampires of Noctra, providing sustenance, as well as loyalty. They are fighters as well as lovers, and devoted to their vampire masters. They would destroy any who tried to kill their captain. Skye Templeton is a man on a dangerous mission. Plucked from the swelling seas by the crew of the Night Stalker, he's exactly where he needs to be. Will he come out alive, or end up as fodder to the lust of the vampirate captain? His duty is clear, at least until he comes to know this licentious crew and their magnetic leader...until he comes under the supernatural, relentless spell of the Night Stalker.
EXCERPT:
"Why?" he asked Skye, pointing to the blood and hair-encrusted axe.
Skye shrugged. "It seemed the thing to do at the time."
"Do you know what they are? What they were?"
This time when Skye looked at Donté, the vampire captain saw confusion swirling within the blueness of his pupils. "No. I-I thought--"
Ah, revelation swept through Donté. "The axe was for me, wasn't it?"
Skye looked him square in the eye. "I thought you meant to kill all those people. You're a vampire, what else was I supposed to think?"
"My reputation. They all think the vampires of Noctra sail the seas in search of victims to gorge our thirst. Isn't that right?" Skye's hands tightened around the axe handle.
"What else are we supposed to think? Vampires trail a heavy reputation of killing in order to appease their hunger."
Donté started at him for a long time. His instincts told him Skye had been sent here to kill him. So why did he hesitate to have done with Templeton right this minute?
He nodded to the axe. "Well, here you are. And here I am. So why don't you finish the deed you've come here to do?"
"How do you know I was sent to kill you?"
Donté shrugged. "You wouldn't be the first."
"What happened to the others?"
Donté looked back across to the other ship. "A few are now part of my crew. The others," he looked down at the water. "A few have found everlasting peace or hell, depending on your perspective."
"You're a vampire. You have everlasting life."
Donté watched as Skye swung the axe from his shoulder and dropped it to the deck. Donté looked down at the discarded weapon and almost felt a twinge of regret. What he wouldn't give to have all of this done and over with. There was so little he found pleasure in any more. So many lovers dead, so many of his crew sacrificed. He felt the first heat of dawn's fingers against his neck. All he had to do was remain on deck and it would be over with once and for all. He looked at Skye.
"You could have killed me tonight. My focus was on the undead on the ship. My men might have thought it an accident in the surge of bloodlust and they would have let you go."
"Yes. That's true."
"So, why didn't you?" He was curious to know the young man's answer. There was something that intrigued him about Skye Templeton. This was a strong, intelligent man, rather unlike the rest of his crew. Most of them had spent their lives following the orders of others. But not this one. He definitely felt a strong attraction for the man--and it was more than his blood. Yet, his attention was drawn to the purple vein pulsing in Skye's neck.
"I won't become part of your food stores, Captain."
Donté's attention refocused on Skye's face. "Do you think I need another?" He swept an arm in a semi-circle. "I have a crew of men more than eager to quench my thirst. Willingly. Do you think I need you?"
There was something indefinable in Skye's expression. Donté's attention turned to his mouth. Templeton meant to hold himself apart from the rest of his crew. But there was an element of desire and yet defiance in the way he held himself. A flagrant challenge to the vampire captain to force the young man's submission.
"You will yield to me. Eventually."
Those beautiful lips curved into a smile. A tongue slipped out to wet the elegant fullness. Suddenly, Donté swooped forward and possessed them, curling a hand tightly into the long blond locks. Taking what he wanted, tasting the sweetness of strong defiance in the young merchant's kiss.
Skye pressed forward, off-balancing the vampire, pressing advantage, forcing Donté against the rail, as he took control of the passionate kiss. He thrust his tongue between Donté's lips; his determined hands cupped the vampire's cheeks, facing down the danger of such a predatory master.
If Donté had a heart that beat, it would have drum rolled a fast and furious pace as desire roared for Skye Templeton. He pulled free from Skye's lips and stumbled away. He put the weakness that consumed him down to weariness from the night's battle.
Donté slid his tongue over his lower, engorged lip and felt a trickle of blood and wiped it away.
"You challenge what you have no understanding of," he said. He fought the desire to have this human in his bed right this minute. Bound to it, supping from him at his leisure. Or hanging on his wall, the bite of metal binding him in Donté's presence. There was something in Skye Templeton, something so different and so desirable. So forbidden.
"I'll give you what you need, my captain, all in good time."
"Your blood?"
Skye smiled. But it was a strange look of mastery to the expression. "Your marks will never mar my flesh, Donté Lucienne. But perhaps my marks will decorate yours."
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