Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Two (Midnight Harbor, #2)

by Nikki St. Crowe

A fat tear streams down my face and Bran reaches over, swiping it away with his thumb. “I’m sorry,” I say. “Don’t do that.” “What?” “Don’t apologize for your pain.”

“You keep talking to me like that, I might have to punish this mouth later.”

I’m just saying…I don’t really know what I’m doing in that department.” He dips down and kisses me gently, his mouth lingering on mine. “Don’t worry, mouse,” he says against my lips. “I’ll teach you how.” “Another promise, is it?” “Mmmm.” He reaches up and rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. “I’ll look forward to fucking that hole too.”

“Mouse,” Bran says, his eyes scanning the restaurant. “If you keep gaping at me like that, I might have to find something to put in that pretty mouth.” A shiver races through me and Bran grins.

“You’re so funny.” “Yes, I get that a lot. ‘You know that Bran Duval, he’s such a funny guy.’”

“I hold the power. They know that.” There’s so much about Bran that I’ve clearly missed over the years. “And what do you do with all that power?” He finally looks over at me, his hand finding my thigh beneath the table and squeezing. “I fuck innocent virgin neighbor girls.”

“And Sky—” I start. “Don’t worry about Sky.” “Easy for you to say. She’s not known for showing restraint. You just snapped her neck in the middle of the restaurant because, well…why? Because she called me trash? I’ll admit I was really hoping you’d set her straight but—” “No one is allowed to speak to you that way.” His gaze cuts to me quickly before returning to the road. The leather steering wheel groans beneath his grip. “If someone does, you’re to tell me.”

Sky leans over. Her breath smells like vodka and strawberries as she says, “He left Duval House because of you.”

I am distantly aware that storming off in search of Bran in Duval House is more than a little reckless. I am distantly aware that Sky’s admission is as good as her striking a match and lighting the wick of a bomb. And I’m the bomb.

“What’s wrong, mouse?” Bran asks, only a slight edge of concern in his voice. “Did someone touch what’s mine?”

I go upstairs. “Mouse!” he calls. I come back a minute later with my favorite bunny vibrator. It’s a deep violet shade made of silicone with an innie and an outie point of contact so I can fuck myself and hit my clit at the same time. It’s gotten me off more times than I can count. Bran’s gaze sinks to it in my hand and then he narrows his eyes. “Mouse.” His voice reverberates with warning. “Last chance.” “I’m not playing games,” he says. Well, I am. And I’m about to take this one home.

Bran growls in the back of his throat as I close my eyes and fuck my mouth with it, getting it nice and wet. When I pull it out, I let my lips pop around it. Bran’s eyes are glowing now. I readjust, hit the ON button and the toy vibrates in my hand. Bran’s breathing intensifies as I drag the toy over my pussy. I might have been anticipating the sensation, but the way Bran leans in, teeth gritted, makes the pleasure sink a little deeper.

“Mouse,” he says, his voice low and throaty. “I bet you wish it was you inside of me.”

When I come down and refocus, I find Bran staring at me with two eyes like embers. I’ve never seen so much pain and anguish on his face before. The doorframe groans again, his knuckles white. I pull the vibrator out, and then drag my tongue over my juices glistening on the violet shaft. “Mmmm,” I say. “So sweet.” “You’ll pay for this one, little mouse.” The rumble is gone from his voice. Now he is cold and distant.

“Stop fucking keeping shit from me,” I say, and grab hold of the back door, “and maybe next time you can join me.”

Bran isn't a storm I'm caught up in. He is the sun and I am involuntarily drawn to him, stuck in his gravitational pull.

He grabs me by the arm and yanks me out, spins me around and slams me over the hood. I huff out a breath, hands braced on the warm metal as the engine continues to run. "What are you—" There's a clank of metal, a snap of leather, and a second later, my arms are crossed over my back and tied at the wrists with Bran’s leather belt. He bends over me with all of his weight, his groin at the swell of my ass. "Are you listening now, mouse?"

His hand curls around my throat as his mouth comes to the curve of my ear. "Quiet, little mouse. It's my turn to speak."

"I operate on a very thin line," he says. "With you, I try very, very hard to control myself." His voice rumbles. He's suddenly thick and hard at the seam of my ass. "But that control has its limits. If you want this, little mouse, you only get it one way. My way. Do you understand me?" My pussy throbs. "Yes."

The pressure of his weight disappears and I'm just exhaling with relief when he yanks my pants down, baring me, and cracks me across the ass. "Ouch! What the—" I wiggle against the car, but Bran presses his free hand at the small of my back, locking me in place. He spanks me again, hard, and a sharp thrill pulses through my pussy as the pain radiates across my cheek. He takes up a length of my hair and wraps it around his hand, yanking my head back. "Will you obey me?"

I will never be the same after Bran Duval.

"Yes," I say, "I'll obey you." "Good girl." He spins me around. "Now get on your knees."

The head of his cock swells in the cuff of his hand. “Open up, mouse,” he orders.

“Breathe,” he says and I gasp for air as tears well in my eyes. “Good girl.” Then he shoves back in, pumps harder as he groans above me.

He’s breathing harder now, and his grip on my hair tightens as he angles me up. “Look at me, mouse. I want to see you when I come in your mouth.”

When I meet his gaze, tears streaming down my face, his eyes glow amber in the semi-darkness and his fangs sharpen. “Fuck,” he grunts out. “You will be my undoing.”

His cum is coppery and salty and when he pulls out of me, I move to spit it out. “No.” He clamps his hand over my mouth. “Swallow it.”

Bran drags his thumb roughly over my bottom lip. “When I bend you over the hood, I won’t be fucking this hole.” Then his hand sinks between my legs where my panties are still askew. He slips his fingers down my wetness, then teases at my opening and I mewl at the pleasure, rocking my hips against him. “And I won’t be fucking this hole.” My eyes shoot open. “What?” “I’m going to fuck that tight ass and you’re going to take it like a good girl.” “But—” “Mouse.” There’s a very clear ring of warning in his voice. “Okay,” I say a little breathy, even though I’m not absolutely sure what I’m agreeing to. In all my own pleasure, I’ve never gone down that road.

He zips up his pants and then reaches around me to unknot his belt from my wrists. “Wait...but…” “Get in the car.” He goes to the driver’s side door, the belt hanging from his grip. “But I...you can’t…” I’m still throbbing and soaked. “You don’t get to come,” he tells me. “Not until I say you can. Now get in the car.”

“Do you remember what I told you the night you went to the Harbor party?” I think I know what he’s getting at. When I don’t answer, he goes on. “I told you not to wear panties and you didn’t. I told you I did it to test your obedience. It wasn’t to torture you, mouse.” He glances at me briefly, his eyes catching the light from the dashboard. “I did it to teach you the lines not to cross. Disobeying me is one of them. And testing my patience is not something either of us wants.”

“Should I be afraid of you?” I ask. “Absolutely.”

I had no idea that before Bran, I was just surviving. Now I’m living. The danger, the pleasure, the control, the thrill of it all, it is intoxicating and I’m officially addicted.

Because the truth is, the thought of not having Bran anymore makes me feel hollow. We are tangled in one another now and I think it’s that way for him too, as much as it is for me. It’s why he’s working so damn hard to draw the lines and make sure I know where they are. Through the control, he’s revealing his deepest secret—he doesn’t want this to end either. Bran Duval likes me. He might more than like me. It might be immature to think about it that way, but it still sends butterflies flitting through my stomach, nonetheless. The Infamous Bran Duval, a several-hundred-year-old vampire, likes me.

“If you hurt her,” Bran says, his voice low and even, “I will destroy everything you’ve ever touched.”

I go to the front door and unlock the deadbolt with my key. I step over the threshold. I make a big show of turning to Bran and waving out my arm like I’m a showman at a circus. “Bran Duval, won’t you please come in?” He steps inside and comes over to me, wraps his hand around the back of my neck and brings his mouth to my ear. “Good girl,” he says, causing a goddamn riot in my panties.

“Let me tell you a secret,” he says. “Go on.” “Mr. Darcy was based on my brother.” I burst out laughing. “Really?” He nods and continues to scan our shelves. “Jane Austen met him at a ball and immediately hated him. And loved him too, I suppose.”

“We are very much alike, Damien and I.” “Oh really? Does he fuck his neighbor too and call her a toy?” All of the humor is suddenly gone from Bran’s face. “I didn’t want Julian to know.” “Know what?” I can’t miss the way Bran’s shoulders rise with a heavy breath, the way his chest expands and he closes his eyes. He’s reluctant to answer. “Know what, Bran?” “That the thought of him taking you away from me makes me want to murder things.”

“Grilled cheeses are the best. When the cheese gets all gooey and the bread crusty and—” Something occurs to me. “Hold on. Is that why you call me mouse?” He glances at me over his shoulder. “I’m shocked it took you so long.” “Honestly, I am too.”

“I need you to know that when this began, I wanted the secrets and nothing more.”

“I need you to know that what this is now”—he gestures between us—“was not what I intended, but now that I—” He frowns and takes another swig of the liquor and tries again. “I would die for two people in this world—Damien and Jimmy. I thought that would always remain to be true. Two people and no more. But lately, the way I’ve felt when you…when someone—” I hold my breath. He sighs and sits forward. “When someone what?” “If I found you the way we found Kelly?” There’s a new heaviness to his expression, a new tightness around his mouth. “I will do anything for you, mouse. That’s what I need you to know.”

“Promise me you won’t run.” “I think that depends on what the secrets are.” “I didn’t murder anyone.” I laugh nervously. “I guess that’s a good sign.” “Promise me, mouse. Because I will chase you and it won’t be fun for either of us when I catch you.” The buzziness in my stomach sinks between my thighs and I’m suddenly throbbing. It might be fun. I might want to tempt fate.

“It’s been well known in the vampire houses that you were not to be bitten.” “Why? Says who?” “Julian.” Drink poured, he turns back to me. “So to spite him, I bit you.” And just so it’s clear when he means, he adds, “Last year.” I laugh. “No, you didn’t.” “Yes, I did.”

“Your birthday last year,” he says and leans against the bar. “You wore a tight summer dress the color of deep forest ivy. You smelled like amber and roses. You looked like sin and regret.” My breathing quickens as my heart kicks up. “I wanted to devour you the second I saw you. I couldn’t explain it then and I still can’t explain it now.”

“I was coming up from the basement and you were stumbling out of the bathroom, drunk. You tripped. I caught you. It was a real cinematic moment, mouse.” He drinks. Looks over at me.

“‘Bran Duval,’ you said to me and laughed. Your lips were swollen like you’d been kissing someone and it immediately made me envious of whoever it was. ‘Jessie MacMahon,’ I said back and you smiled up at me. ‘I like it when you say my name,’ you said. ‘It sounds hot on your hot face.’”

He laughs. “You’re cute when you’re drunk.”

“‘You should stop drinking,’ I told you. ‘Why?’ you asked. ‘Because of vampires like me,’ I’d said. ‘Someone might take advantage of you.’” I have a feeling I know what drunk-me might have said. “‘So why don’t you?’ you said. ‘I’m a tasty snack.’” Yup. That sounds about right. “‘And you’re also drunk,’ I pointed out. ‘So?’” He shakes his head. “Such a brave little mouse.” His gaze darts back to me, to my mouth. “I kissed you first, bit you second. Not my finest moment,” he admits. “Immediately, I could tell ther...

I think that’s the worst part about living amongst vampires. At any moment, they can steal something from your head. Bottle it up and make you forget.

“It wasn’t long after my birthday party that you moved in next door.” He nods. “You asked me why I left Duval House. That’s why. Because I knew there were more secrets to uncover and being closer to you would allow me to get them.”

“I went to the hospital and looked up your birth certificate.” My breathing quickens. “And?” The fine lines around his eyes deepen as he frowns at me. “There’s no record of you being born in Midnight Harbor.”