Raven Walks Read online

  RAVEN WALKS

  By

  Ivy Greene

  SMASHWORDS EDITION

  *****

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Ginger Voight on Smashwords

  Copyright ©2011

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ***

  Chapter One: Aubry

  The night air smelled sweet, like magnolia. It was sensual and warm, quite typical of the Deep South. Though it was late, no one could stand to be confined to their houses and walked the street under a bright full moon. Beads of sweat glistened against exposed skin, desperate for even the slightest breeze. Hair hung damp under the oppressive humidity, just like a lover’s would after an enthusiastic tussle on satin sheets.

  It was a perfect night for a vampire on the prowl.

  Raven Crowe walked these streets this night, a stranger alone amidst a crowd. His dark, soulful eyes took everything in, every exquisite form, every shadow… every movement. But it was what he heard in his mind that made him especially dangerous. He heard thoughts and desires no one dared breathe, ashamed of what echoed deep in their lustful hearts and wicked minds.

  He had centuries of experience feasting on those thoughts, and no one was safe from his knowing gaze.

  Despite the heat, his coat was long, and fabric from his shirt and scarves billowed behind him in a breeze he alone seemed to create. The old boots he wore barely made a sound as he moved into the crowd, between sweaty, warm bodies. Their musky scent filled the air, making Raven heady with excitement. He longed to touch, to taste... to feed.

  His eyes, rimmed black with eyeliner, scanned the crowd, searching for the one who might satisfy his insatiable hunger. As the centuries dragged on, his task became more and more difficult. After all this time, after all he’d seen and experienced, Raven was extremely selective. He could have anyone he wanted, any one of the beautiful people who glided through the night like star shine. But after hundreds of years of dining on their egos he found them a bit of a bore.

  Likewise those shrinking violets that crouched along the streets barely making eye contact with their own shadow were too easy to seduce, too easy to sway.

  He missed the challenge of days gone past, when his victims would cower at his feet, equally frightened and aroused by what he could do to them, how he could transform them – how they could taste immortality in his kiss, even if it was the last thing they ever did.

  But where was the one who would seduce him? Or were those days of challenge long gone now that he’d mastered his art of passion?

  The thought depressed him. It weighed much heavier on him than the humidity that tasted of impending rain. He peered skyward and noted with a bit of anticipation that a storm was brewing to the west. A smile crossed his face. He loved the unpredictable nature of the weather. Mother Nature was truly a cruel vixen who would toss you about her will.

  All he needed was to find her in human form and he would be her slave.

  Until then, he was the master of all.

  The pulsating sound of music filled the stillness of the night as he approached his favorite tavern. It was a club that catered to Gothic youth and those earthbound creatures of the night. He could be lost there, free to watch humanity devolve to its baser nature. Sex and frivolity reigned supreme as people lost their identity in alcohol and drugs.

  Talk about your easy pickings.

  Raven would go there if he had an itch to scratch, but it never quite satisfied his true hunger. No one had in a long, long time. But he did have urges that demanded to be met. And in this coven he could readily find someone willing to feed, willing to fuck. He was a rock star and they were his groupies. They were no longer fearful. They wanted to feel his teeth sink into their skin. They wanted to be forever branded as one of his children, even though he hadn’t truly converted anyone in a long, long time.

  He knew it only made him more appealing. All the little girls wanted to be the one who would rise at his side, his immortal bride.

  Unfortunately for all of them, Raven was perfectly content to walk alone. Love was for fools, and Raven Crowe was no fool. He mingled with the crowd undetected as he assessed who might provide the most excitement for the evening. Because he’d long since given up the silly notion of long-term relationships, he indulged his hedonistic nature, enjoying the chase more than the conquest.

  A beautiful blonde in a tightly bound corset brushed against him as he passed by. With a wry grin he decided that there was a lot of merit in the conquest as well. But despite her hungry stare and her bare and willing neck, he pressed on toward the bar.

  The bartender gave him a familiar smile. She had been a conquest herself in the not too distant past, but she seemed to understand that was all someone like Raven could offer and never sought him out again. Perhaps she, better than anyone, knew the score when it came to establishments such as this. Give when asked, leave before required.

  For some of the patrons it could have been deadly otherwise.

  For that reason, Sonja stayed mostly to the shadows, keeping glasses filled and flying just under the radar. Raven, however, had proven much too strong a temptation to deny. His long, black hair hung smooth and full down his chiseled back, and his body was hard and toned beneath her hands. She recalled their night of unrestrained lust and hunger with a tiny shudder. Sometimes she swore she could still feel his mouth on her skin.

  That was especially true when she fell headlong into those bottomless brown eyes. They had been her true undoing. She doubted anyone could resist their power.

  He gave her a smile as she handed him a bottle of water. No words were exchanged. They didn’t need to be. He could read her thoughts, and it pleased him to know she was still so completely under his spell. He could have called to her and she would have come to him, allowing him to take her right there on the bar in the middle of the crowd if he wanted. He said nothing to encourage or dissuade.

  It was exactly how he liked it to be.

  The rim of the water bottle touched his full lips as he silently surveyed the crowd. Dark hair, dark clothes, a heavy metal beat – it was the same ol’ scene.

  He sighed.

  And that’s when he saw her.

  It was the shock of red hair he noticed first, so bright and intense against the dark, Gothic backdrop. It flowed like molten lava down across creamy white flesh. For a moment, as if she sensed his stare, her eyes met his. Their electric green fire seared him all the way down to his feet, and he couldn’t help but notice how shaken she was as well. He could almost hear her gasp across the crowded room.

  That was when she quickly turned and disappeared into the writhing bodies on the dance floor.

  His water forgotten, Raven moved like air through the crowd, desperate for one more glance, to chisel that face into his memory so he could never forget how he felt in that one brief moment. It was like a drop of water after days lost in the desert. Instantly he knew he had to have more. It never would have occurred to him that he would be unable to get it.

  Perhaps that was why the more she evaded him, the more desperate he grew. There, just ahead, he saw her bright mane of hair covered by a black hood and she escaped from the bar out into the night.

  His senses were on overload. He couldn’t even make out her scent, so many sights and sounds and smells assaulted him at once. He burst from the bar out into the hot night. He looked one way, then another. She
had gone.

  Almost with a growl of frustration he turned back toward the bar when he saw a similar black hooded female figure disappear into the shadows of the alley.

  Quickly he followed where she had gone. The storm he had predicted lit up the night with intermittent flashes of lightning, and thunder underscored the sound of his boots as they pounded against the pavement. Wind flew down the alley, and he watched as she held her hood over her head and ducked down another street.

  Like a bullet he followed. He turned and then realized that she had boxed herself into a corner. The cloak covered her as she shrunk back into the shadows.

  He approached her slowly, saying nothing. He could feel her tremble as he drew closer. He could smell her trepidation on the air. He smiled and the lightning glinted from the fangs that protruded predominantly from his mouth. She whimpered and it was his turn to shudder.

  When he came close enough to touch her, he didn’t. Instead he just stood there and allowed his aura to envelop her. She seemed to sway under its power. Clouds moved across the moon and cast a shadow on the only visible part of her face, her delicate chin, shining white and luminous in the night. He groaned as he thought about her neck, her breasts, her thighs, all likely just as luscious and creamy and enticing.

  He could tell she was determined not to look at him. Slowly he reached out a hand to tip that chin upward. He couldn’t see when her eyes met his but he could hear the gasp to confirm that they had. She stopped whimpering, stopped shaking, and for a brief moment even ceased to breathe.

  His body burned with desire, his body alive with the imminent conquest. Slowly, hypnotically he pulled the cloak and expected to see her fiery hair tumble over those amazing green eyes.

  It was his turn to gasp. Instead of long red hair, his victim had short blonde hair. Instead of green eyes, they burned blue. His hand fell away from her face, and even his fangs retracted as his lust cooled. “My apologies,” he stated softly and very uncharacteristically before he turned to leave.

  “Wait,” she called out despite herself. He turned back. In her eyes he saw a spark of interest mixed with a fear he knew only fueled her excitement. She had no idea what his staying meant. If he had any morals at all he’d have turned and left her there.

  Instead, his fangs began to grow.

  “You’re afraid,” he said softly, capturing her in his hypnotic gaze. She shook her head in denial, but her eyes betrayed her. “Liar,” he whispered with a smile.

  “The storm,” she offered weakly.

  He laughed softly. “What is your name?”

  “Aubry,” she whispered.

  He placed a hand on either side of her head, leaning close. “Do you like vampires, Aubry?” he asked as his shadow engulfed her. He ran his tongue along his fangs, purposely drawing her attention to both.

  She started to shake her head, but ended up in a weak nod as her eyes fixed on his glistening fangs.

  He pressed her warm body against the cool brick wall behind her. He felt every curve mold to him. “You should run away, Aubry,” he whispered, the evidence of his sexual desire undeniably pressed against her.

  Her shudder returned. He felt her fear rise up from her soul. She struggled against him ever so briefly before she glanced back up into his eyes. Like a flower he watched her open up to him – mind, body and spirit.

  He bent to cover her mouth with his own. It was warm and wet and his long, snake-like tongue tore between her lips to conquer her mouth in a savage kiss. She struggled again, but a lot more half-heartedly. Inside her body she wrestled with fear and desire, and he knew the desire was winning. With a deep guttural groan she collapsed against him as her own tongue meshed with his.

  His hand pushed the material of her top aside to cup her breast, her erect nipple responded to his touch. He wrenched his mouth away to kiss his way down her chest to capture the nipple in between his teeth. She cried out as his teeth penetrated the skin and bright red drops of blood dripped across her ivory flesh.

  She glanced down to see her blood smeared across his mouth as he suckled her. His eyes, cloudy with his own overwhelming desire, met hers. It was more intimate than any act of intercourse. She shuddered as she cried out into the empty alley.

  He lifted up her skirt as he rose to a standing position. With one decisive tug, he tore her panties aside and cupped her with his hand, his finger dancing over the sensitive nub. He stared, unblinking, into her eyes as his fingertip brushed across it again and again until she was coming hard, a scream locked in her throat as she stared at those long, sharp fangs. “Do you want to be fucked by a vampire, Aubry?” he asked as he slipped a finger inside her. She grabbed the wall so that she wouldn’t lose her footing.

  “I don’t know,” she whimpered as she shuddered all around his finger, clutching him deeper where she needed him to be.

  “Yes, you do,” he whispered as he slipped yet another finger inside. She cried out again. “Tell me,” he commanded.

  Her head thrashed side to side as he fingered her through the first multiple orgasm she’d ever had. He smiled as he watched her let go, probably for the first time in her life. He rubbed his massive erection against her leg until she whimpered for him. But he wouldn’t give in. He wouldn’t take what she offered.

  Not until she begged. It was the price she had to pay for making him chase her.

  “Please,” she managed, desperate to feel him inside, filling her where she had never even known she’d been empty.

  “Say the words, Aubry,” he coaxed as he worked his magic with his fingers. With two fingers inside and his relentless thumb flicking over her engorged clit, she was powerless to fight her most latent desire – to be fucked by a stranger, a vampire, right there in that alley, in full view of everyone.

  “Please fuck me,” she begged in a hoarse whisper. She didn’t even have to finish her sentence before he exposed his raging hard cock and shoved himself roughly inside. He caught her scream in his mouth. She submitted to his kiss and when it broke, she found herself subtly offering the soft curve of her neck. He groaned as kissed his way along its graceful slope. He could taste her on the tip of his tongue, such sweet virgin meat. His breath hovered over her skin and she was incoherent as he began to fuck her against the wall. She found herself screaming out over and over again with each thrust. Her fingernails curled into his shoulders as she bounced against him.

  He grunted as he fucked her, mesmerized by her tantalizing skin, her lovely face and those bright blue eyes. He smiled with deep satisfaction as he watched her face contort with yet another orgasm.

  She was his now, this stranger from the street, this conquest in the alley he’d likely never see again. But she’d never forget him. Her body was imprinted with his.

  There was only one thing left.

  She glanced at his protruding fangs, but this time without the same fear as before. “Take me,” she whispered urgently. “Do it!”

  He groaned as he grabbed her hair with one hand to expose her neck. When he felt himself on the brink of coming, he sunk his teeth deep into her tender flesh and blood gushed into his mouth just as he shoved himself deep inside of her and spent his load.

  She screamed as her blood poured away from her body and into his mouth. He sucked deep as his hand covered her breast, tweaking her nipple hard as her life began to slip away. She struggled for a moment before slumping against him.

  Gently he disengaged himself from her body. Her eyes were glazed as she finally came to. She was weak, but strangely fulfilled. She smiled as he pulled her skirt back down and wiped the blood from her neck. With one last tender peck on her lips he turned to leave, which took her by surprise.

  How could he just walk away after what they had just shared?

  “Wait. Don’t go,” she pleaded.

  He never turned back around, even though he could see her in his mind’s eye as she slid down the wall and onto the ground like a wilted flower.

  Raven savored the taste of her blood in his mou
th and the sensation of her imprint on his cock; but he would never return to fair Aubry. She had been good, but after hundreds of years good just wasn’t good enough.

  His thoughts returned to the mysterious redhead from the bar.

  Perhaps she could be the one, he pondered just for a moment as lightning and thunder guided his path.

  The thought made him happier than he had been in a long, long time.

  Chapter Two: Nadine

  Though he returned to the bar many times after that first fateful night, Raven Crowe did not see the mysterious redhead again. This wasn’t to say he didn’t find other suitable playmates, but what he began to obsess over was the woman he couldn’t have.

  Such a commodity was uncommon for the vampire whose sexual appetite was as insatiable as his blood lust, making this stranger impossible to forget.

  It left him feeling more frustrated than usual. Unfortunately his eager playmates would feel the sting of his disappointment when, after he satisfied his physical hungers, his emotional appetite only yearned for more.

  So Raven decided it was time for a change in the scenery, at least for the moment. He made his way west for a weekend in Sin City.

  If any city in the United States was built for a vampire, it was Las Vegas. Freaks walk the night twenty-four hours a day in that gaudy desert paradise, and with the liberal use of alcohol it was a place where the inhibitions of an average human were left at the airport.

  Raven felt rejuvenated by the high energy of the crowd as he wound his way through various casinos. He caught the eye of many interested parties, both male and female. Though his dress was unusual, he wore it with uncompromising confidence and undeniable sex appeal. He looked like he stepped out of another time, which, of course, he had. And his remarkable eyes fell on more than one prospect, but he ended up looking right through them.

  He grew ever more exasperated that even being dropped into the midst of a sinner’s paradise he was unable to find anything to truly get excited about, even with the high emotions of his fellow revelers.