Samara’s POV
I watch in horror as countless young women are paraded across the stage, their whimpers of fear only enticing the crowd more as they bid on who will get to take them home. The announcer introduced each woman that walked across the stage by their label, some of them sending my mind spiraling as I tried to come to grasp with the fact that I have walked into some kind of a horror film.
The hopes that I was dreaming in my bed safely were quickly dashed away when I pinched myself rather hard and still my eyes were facing what appears to be some version of a mermaid being rolled across the stage in a semi-large aquarium looking bathtub. My eyes widened in shock when a bidding war ensued around us at the sight of the mermaid-like creature.
An actual fist fight broke out between the two who were bidding on the mermaid, causing a pause in the auction to appear. I sagged against the large man in relief before realizing that this didn’t mean that the auction was over and that I was still in fact in danger of being sold to what appears to be Vampires.
How in the world have I found myself in an Anne Rice novel when my life thus far has been nothing but boring? What I wouldn’t give to return to my monotonous life of working as an editor for the local publishing house, spending my days looking over countless manuscripts that resemble instances just like this.
My body stiffens as the announcer addresses the audience once again. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have saved the best of our auction for last.” My heart thunders in my ears, the knowledge that he is talking about me moving across my skin and sending goosebumps to appear where it touches. “We have, for your pleasure…” The man pauses for dramatic affect. “A virgin up for auction.”
My heart stops beating in my chest at his words. I have been chosen for auction because of the fact that I am still a virgin? A manical laugh erupts in my mind at the thought that my waiting “for the one” is the reason that I am in this predicament at this very moment. I hope my grandmother is shifting in her grave at the sight of me being put up for auction thanks to her scaring the life out of me as a child.
Once the ooos and ahhhs die down around us at the mention of a virgin being up for auction, the man continues with his introduction. “But not just any kind of virgin.” The man says, a twinkle appearing in what can be seen of his eyes. “I have found the most delectable of virgins especially for you tonight.” His face turns in my direction, indicating to the man that it is time to bring me forth.
I fight against the large man’s hold uselessly as he drags my rumpled form out onto the stage and places me beside the masked man. He leers down at me for a moment before returning his attention to the audience that has moved forward in their seats, their eyes locked onto me. My legs wobble beneath me at being the center of attention under the harsh lights of the stage.
The masked man looks over the audience slowly before he announces to them what makes me so special, something I am curious about as well. “I have for you tonight, a twenty-eight year old virgin, completely untouched by the hands of any man or woman.” Gasps echo around the crowd at his words, their lustful eyes focused on me with deep interest.
“Shall we start the bidding at one million American dollars?” The masked man says, causing my head to whip in his direction with my eyes wide. One million dollars… Who would pay that much money just for little ole me?
Soon enough I got my answer as countless hands raise in the air, offering up the one million dollars to be able to take me home. A strangled gasp leaves my lips as I look over the fifty or so hands that are all waving around in the air before me. I move to take a step back from the crowd, but end up backing into the large man that escorted me from the cell. His heavy hands fall on my shoulder roughly, holding me in place.
My mind struggles to keep track of the bidding process that takes place in front of me. Countless offers get screamed up to the masked man in quick tandem and I watch as multiple people slump back into their seats, unable to go any higher than the last offer they made for me.
“Five million American dollars.”
“Ten million American dollars.” The man who offers the ten million dollars turns to the other man with a triumphant look on his face, a look that is quickly wiped away when another man offers up fifteen million dollars, causing the man to sit down in defeat at the rising price.
“Fifty million American dollars.” A man from the back of the room that I can’t see because of the shadows booms out over the crowd, causing a hush to erupt around us as everyone settles back into their seats, no one able to match the price of the man in the back of the room.
The masked man shudders in place at the winning price, barely containing his glee when he motions for the man to come up to the stage to claim his prize. “It appears that we have a winner for this delectable creature.” His cold hand slides down my face tenderly, his lusting eyes watching me closely. “Come up and claim your prize, stranger.”
The man rises from his seat, causing gasps to leave the lips of those around us as he makes his way closer to the stage. The masked man stumbles over his words when he catches sight of the handsome man that is quickly making his way towards us on the stage. By the time the winner had made their way to us, the masked announcer had recovered enough to address the man.
With a half bow, the masked announcer congratulates the winner, giving my back a rough shove as he pushes me towards the vaguely familiar man. “Here is your prize, I know you are good for the money at your convenience.” With another bow, the masked announcer moves to shift his attention back towards the audience, but words that I didn’t mean to say erupts from my lips and pulls his attention back to me.
“I am not going anywhere with this strange man!” I pull my hand away from the stranger’s grasp, taking a step backwards until I can feel the hard body of the large man right behind me. Surprise flits across the stranger’s face as he looks down at me before a look of irritation crosses his brow soon after.The masked announcer looks over to me in anger, his look warning me that if I don’t shut my mouth then bad things will happen to me. But at this point I didn’t really care about the consequences of my words, I am already deep into the Vampire’s den, how much worse can it really get?
“You can’t just pull people off of the streets and then sell them like they are commodities in a store.” A look of disgust appears on my face as I look from the masked announcer to the man who has ‘won’ the auction for me like I was the Mona Lisa up for grabs. “I am a person, not a work of art that can be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder.” My foot stomps on the stage as I speak, earning gasps from the audience still watching quietly.
The man who won the bidding war glares down at me, his hand lifting quickly to slap me across my face. I close my eyes tightly, bracing myself for the slap that was sure to come, but the slap never does. Opening my eyes slowly, I find the most alluring man that I have ever seen in my life, even more handsome than Mr. Jones, and I didn’t think that was possible. The newcomer was standing before me with the auction winner's hand held in his grasp tightly, a disapproving look on his face.
More gasps and whispering erupts around us as I stare up at my saviour in aww. Who is this man that has prevented me from being hit?
Marcus’ POV“You know better than to get involved with the human’s in the office, Mr. Jones.” The disapproving look my secretary Halley casts in my direction is enough to have my ears burning slightly. I duck my head down to avoid letting her see the sudden redness darkening my ears and ignore her admonishment. There is something different about Samara. I don’t know what it is, but something draws me to her in a way that I have never felt before. I know it is wrong to get too close to the humans that work for my publishing company, but ever since the day that I saw her when she started working here, I have found it harder and harder to stay away. I have found myself coming up with a hundred excuses of why I need to suddenly show up in her office, or in the conference room where she is presenting books. It is to the point that even the staff here at Millenium Publishing has taken notice of my frequent appearances in the meeting that Samara attends. It is because of this reason that
Vampire King Cassius’ POVI can not believe that I allowed Brutus to convince me to do him yet another favor. I move through the darkness, avoiding having any interaction with the lowly vampires that gather at disgusting establishments such as these. At some point I need to learn to say no to the nuisance of a vampire that I call friend in order to avoid situations such as these. Brutus knows how much I despise interacting with the scum of the vampire population and yet here I am…saving one worthless human from being sold off to someone that will drain her dry in an instant or make her their slave. Either outcome is none of my concern, not that Brutus sees it that way. If it wasn’t for the long history that the two of us share from when we were still young vampires, I would have gotten rid of him a long time ago. Memories of our past threaten to take hold of me, but I smash them down deep and refuse to give them the time of day. Now is not the time to drown in the mistakes of my pas
Cassius’ POV‘Get the car ready, Brutus.’ A ‘yes, sir’ soon follows my command. Count Dracula glances up to me with loathing shining brightly in his dark eyes. He attempts to pull his hand out of my grasp, but I decide to hold it in my hand a little longer in a show of who holds more power. It is no secret to the vampire community that Dracula covets my place as the Vampire King and I have no doubt that he would challenge me if he thought he stood an iota of a chance against me. The clearing of a throat brings me back to my current predicament. I release Dracula’s head while simultaneously placing myself between him and the star struck woman I just foolishly saved. It is not that I fear retaliation from Dracula, it is just that I like my solitude and have lost interest in mundane things such as war. What have you gotten me into now Brutus?Somehow he is always getting me into sticky predicaments over a female. You would think that I would have learned my lesson by now, but alas, I
Samara’s POVAt first I was starstruck by the sexy man that suddenly appeared at my rescue on that stage before I could be struck by the man who had bought me, but my senses quickly returned to me as I realized that he was only trying to take me for himself. There is no way that I am going to go be a slave to a sexy stranger that I am pretty sure is Dracula in disguise. Seeing the real life adonis before me has shown me why the women are always drawn to Dracula in the movies. There is something about the powerful sex God that has my panties wet just from looking at him. The man is gorgeous to look at, even more so than Mr. Jones who has suddenly appeared outside of the theatre with us and somehow knows the Lord of Darkness. My foolish heart flutters at the possessive way the dark stranger pulls me out of Mr. Jones’ embrace and back to his side, ordering me not to allow anyone touch me. The blast of arousal that floods my panties had me momentarily stunned before the words he spoke s
Samara’s POVRays from the morning light begin to appear in the horizon, lighting up the darkness and revealing the hidden secrets all around us. I haven’t been awake to watch a sunrise in a very long time. The bright colors from the sun coming over the horizon brightens my mood slightly, until the horror sets in. My eyes instantly flash to my left to where Mr. Jones is driving without any signs of discomfort. He must have sensed the rising anxiety in me because he suddenly turns in my direction with his brow raised in question. “Won’t you burn in the sunlight?” I blurt out as worry for him floods me. I might not be happy that he has hidden what he really is from me all of this time, and I might still be suspicious of his connection to the people who kidnapped me, but he is still the only vampire that I know and I don’t want him to burst into flames. He bursts into laughter beside me, his eyes moving back to the road as he continues to laugh out loud. A scowl takes over the worried
Samara’s POVThe spell that Cassius has placed on me with just his touch shatters as his words wash over me. ‘No one shall touch my slave. Not even you Brutus.’ How dare this man call me his slave! And to say that no one is allowed to touch me, including the only person that I know and feel comfortable with here. Okay…maybe that isn’t totally true. I can’t deny that I feel safe and protected whenever Cassius is around, but that is besides the point! The point is that I am a person, not a possession and unless he intends to claim me as his woman then he has no right to dictate who can and cannot touch me. And yes…I am going to ignore the way that my heart rate increases at the idea of Cassius claiming me as his. There is enough changing in my life right now and I don’t think it is a good idea to dwell on the instant attraction that I feel for the old vampire. Lifting my chin in the air, I square my shoulders and set my sights on Cassius. “I am not your property!” I tell him, moving
Samara’s POVEven though I have been told that I will be a slave in the mansion, the room that Mr. Jones dropped me off in is luxurious enough to have my jaw dropped open upon first glance. The room is bigger than the studio apartment I am able to afford close by my job, and far better furnished. The bathroom alone is bigger than my whole bedroom area, and the giant tub is enough to make a girl think that being a slave can’t be all that bad. Mr. Jones instructed me to bathe quickly and someone would be up to collect me within the hour to meet Cassius for supper. Before I could ask a single question of him, he was already disappearing back down the hallway, with a determined stride in his step. I had only shrugged my shoulders and made my way to the large en suite bathroom, just to completely ignore his words about being ready in an hour and decided on a nice long bath. After I allowed the shower to wash away the grime stuck to my skin of course, it would be counterproductive to bath
Samara’s POVThe instant that my lips touched his it was like fireworks exploded in my mind. I might not have much experience when it comes to being with the opposite sex, but I am fairly certain that most women don’t experience such mind numbing pleasure just from kissing someone they like. It doesn’t take long for Cassius to take control of the kiss, his hands move up to grab hold of my face as he tilts my head up to give him better access. A moan escapes around our joined lips, creating the opening my dark vampire prince needed to gain access to the dark recesses of my mouth. I tried really hard to keep up with the movements of his tongue as we both dueled for control, but I happily handed it over to him and just allowed myself to enjoy the ride. The feel of his lips against mine is like nothing I have ever felt before and I can’t get enough of him. My hands move up to grab hold of his shoulders for purchase and he takes this opportunity to pull me in closer to his delectable ch