As a half-blood vampire, Stella has been fighting all her life to get out of this city, escape the torment of her pursuer and live a peaceful life on her own.

And she’ll do anything to achieve her goal, even if it means working for Cassius van Cleef, a pureblood.  

From the moment their eyes met, Stella has been unable to resist Cassius and his loving arms, but will he protect her, or is he just another dangerous predator?

—

I leaned into him, and I inhaled his masculine scent as it intermingled with mine. 

He reached up with his fingers and brought my chin up a little, just as his warm lips met mine for the first time. 

I opened my eyes when the kiss broke and saw Cassius’ lips wet from the moment we just shared. 

I felt a warm blush flowing up my cheeks and I turned away quickly.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed,” he said as he reached over and gently turned my back to him. “As I said before, you are so much more than you realize. Just be patient with me.”

Saved by the Vampire

The ride from Grant’s traffic stop back to Cassius’ mansion was silent and awkward for the first two minutes. What had I been thinking to blurt out that I was voluntarily working for a full-blooded vampire? 


It was quite possible that I was putting my frail little life in his hands, but I really did need an honest way to get out of New Rome, and this job was the perfect opportunity.  


Besides, Cassius had been nothing but the perfect gentleman since the moment we met, saving me from fire and hiring me as his head housemaid. If he’d wanted to harm me, he was going about it in the complete opposite direction. 


When I finally seemed to come to peace with my impromptu decision to take the job, I focused my attention back on Cassius, who was white-knuckling the steering wheel. His fingers were pale anyway, but the death grip he held on the wheel with blue veins bulging across the back of his hand nearly frightened me. 


Chapter 8: Tell Me More