Upon Midnight

Buy it @ Sapphire Blue Publishing

Excerpt:

Midnight’s skin seemed as if it had grown too small for his body. It tugged against his bones and muscles, and gripped him in a delicate state of near pain as he opened his bedroom door and stepped over the threshold. He hadn’t eaten in two nights and his body told him he needed blood. His stomach was a constant knot of pain and pressure that begged to be fed, but he refused to kill again.

Impotent anger surged through him at the fact he had to kill to feed. If that was the way, he would rather starve. He wasn’t a murderer.

His skin itched as he moved into the hall. He had dressed carefully for tonight even with the uncomfortable scraping sensation of the clothes against his sensitive skin.

All Hallow’s Eve was a big event in his master’s house, or so he had been told upon rising as a vampire. And he’d be damned if he’d allow this incessant itch and the knots inside his stomach to stop him from experiencing the night, even if it was only his third night in this new life. He wasn’t excited about the party, but if he didn’t attend one of the master’s servants would round him up and drag him downstairs anyway.

He shut his bedroom door and descended the grand staircase made entirely of mahogany. The deep, dark wood glowed with high polish showing how carefully it had been cared for. The wood was everywhere, on the stairs, the banister, and even the paneling on the walls. Blood red carpet ran down the center of the stairs¾the only thing that broke up the darkness of the wood. The lemon scent of wood polish tickled his nose and his memory, but in a flash the memory that tried to surface slipped away as if it had never been.

Midnight frowned. That happened a lot lately, memories just out of reach. He pushed the memory away and continued down the stairs irritated that he couldn’t remember.

As Midnight reached the bottom of the stairs a slim blond male holding a goblet brushed against him, pressing his body close. Midnight stiffened at the contact against his sensitive body.

“Good evening, Midnight.” The man swept his lips against Midnight’s cheek, sending electricity shooting through his body as the man passed slowly against Midnight’s side as he walked by.

A zing of awareness and excitement shot through Midnight at the man’s slow caress. Goosebumps marched over Midnight’s itching skin and his cock swelled to a hard pulsing length inside his loose fitting trousers. The tangy aroma of copper from the other man’s goblet flooded Midnight’s senses, daring him to follow in the wake of the smell. Midnight’s fangs punched through his tingling gums cutting his tongue.

Sharp pain made him wince and he pulled himself away instead of following like a lost little boy in search of his next meal.

The rich, spicy flavor of his own blood bursting inside his mouth made him moan and close his eyes as his stomach panged for a bigger taste.

Fear raced through him, he did want to feed even though he didn’t want to kill. He was lost, without a clue as to how to solve his problem.

This was all so new to him. The heightened sensitivity, the ability to smell¾everything. He was so alive, his insides vibrated to a new rhythm he’d yet to find control over¾an overwhelming need. The need to feed.

“Looking well this evening, Midnight,” a vampire greeted from the shadow of the hall. A bare-chested male servant was pressed between the vampire and the wall. The vampire turned back to the man and sunk his pristine white fangs deep into the man’s vein.

The man stiffened and gasped and the fangs slid deep. Midnight’s steps faltered as horror washed through him. The vampire fed here? In the hall?

Midnight’s stomach twisted into a knot as a trickle of blood escaped the vampire’s lips, the smell like a coppery penny laced with exotic Indian spice that made Midnight’s body scream for sustenance.

Midnight clenched his molars together as his gums and fangs throbbed. He wanted the blood inside his mouth, coating his tongue, sliding down his throat.

He remembered his first meal–no, his first kill. Hot and rich, the blood had flowed down his throat, and given him a surge of electric power. The memory made his body ache with tight, hot need, which made his balls throb and his cock pulse as his heartbeat thudded inside his ears.

A gut deep hunger rolled through him and it took every ounce of will power he possessed to stay in place. Knee shaking fear had Midnight trembling. He was a killer. A vampire that fed off human life, just like the vampire in front of him.

Shame burned through Midnight.

The dual heartbeats echoing inside his ears suddenly merged and became only one. Midnight closed his eyes to shut out the scene in front of him. The man was dead.

Cattle. Humans were treated as cattle in this house, it was a disgrace. Anger burned in his veins as he opened his eyes to watch the vampire in front of him shiver as he pulled his face away from the servant’s throat.

A fine, hazy mist twined between the two bodies before glowing brightly and sinking into the vampire. The vampire stiffened before a gut deep sigh escaped his lips. Then he turned his head and smiled at Midnight.

“The soul’s the best part. All that power ripe for the taking. Yum.” He licked his blood-stained lips, his eyes twinkling as he lifted the dead weight of his victim’s body over his shoulder and strode down the hall.

Midnight stood speechless. A chill ran over his skin as the knowledge of what he’d done upon his rising as a vampire sank in. Not only had he killed, he had taken someone’s soul. Could being a vampire get any worse? He just couldn’t live like this.

Rage boiled up inside him at the sudden out of control path his life had taken. Killing the innocent? Tearing into someone’s throat again and again to drain away their life and soul made him an animal. Made him a soul eater.

No, that wasn’t him. He denied it even as the hunger gnawed at his gut and a flash of memory of hot blood filling his mouth stirred his erection. Midnight shook his head.

He turned back toward the grand ballroom with renewed determination in every step. He would find some of the blood wine in the goblets and drink. Surely it could sustain him.