That was the most incredible orgasm Charlie had ever had. She couldn’t imagine how it must have been for him, to be inside her and to be feeding from her at the same time. A part of her envied him. How would it be to consume another person in such a way?

She hesitated and then asked, “Can I? With you ...?” Her fingers fluttered at her throat.

She felt strangely self-conscious asking, especially considering how intimate they’d just been. Did she worry he’d think she was weird? He’d tasted her blood, and if that was going to be the way of their life together, it was something she’d rather face than put off until it became like an elephant in the room. Besides, it had been incredibly sexy when he’d bitten her, when he’d sunk his teeth into her neck. It was like getting fucked twice at the same time, by the same person. She’d never experienced anything like it before and she wanted more.

“You want to taste my blood?”

Her cheeks heated. “You said I’d need to anyway, if that’s how I’m going to stop getting older.”

Propped on one elbow, he grinned down at her. “You’re keen. Are you sure you don’t want to go full vampire?”

She smacked him with her hand. “Don’t tease me. It was so ... erotic ... so ...” She struggled to find the words. “Connecting, when you fed from me. I guess I’m curious to know how it feels the other way around.”

“I’ve never done this with a woman,” he said, “but I’ve been told it can feel pretty intense.”

“In what way?”

“I think it’s different for every couple, but it will help cement our bond. I know that much.”

She nodded, her heart flipping. How had this man only just come into her life? Seeing him standing in the car park of the hotel that night felt like a lifetime ago, though it had only been a matter of days. How strange that life could work in such a way. You get up one morning, expecting everything to continue as it has been, and then a chance encounter flips everything on its head and life is never going to be the same again.

“I want to try it,” she insisted.

His smile broadened, his dark eyes lighting with pleasure, and then he leaned in and kissed her, slow and sensual. She melted against him, and the thought of tasting his blood had almost left her mind, but then he broke the kiss. He lifted his wrist to his mouth, and she caught a glimpse of white, sharp teeth, and then he bit. She took a sharp inhale of breath, every muscle tensed. He removed his arm from his mouth and offered it to her.

“You have to be quick. I heal fast.”

Her heart raced with anticipation, but she darted forward, closing her lips over the twin pin-pricks of red on his white skin, like rose petals on the snow.

“Just a couple of drops,” he warned.

The taste of his blood was like iron on her tongue. She swept her tongue over the rapidly healing wounds, and above her, Ivan groaned. “Fuck, that is so sexy.”

Emboldened by his words, she pulled on the wound, wanting more, but already the bite had healed. His blood was on her tongue, overwhelming her with its taste, like when she’d cut her finger and automatically stuck it in her mouth to stem the blood flow.

Charlie swallowed.

She let out a gasp.

Her bedroom vanished.

Snow appeared beneath her, crunching underfoot. It was the kind of snow that stayed around for a long time, not just the occasional snow that turned to mush within a couple of days like in England. A grey, low-hanging sky seemed to mute the colours, so everything appeared in black and white. In front of her walked a little boy with dark curly hair. His boots were too big for him and flapped at the toes where the leather had peeled back from the sole. His overcoat was also too large and smothered his skinny frame, but at least it kept him warm. She knew what she was seeing—Ivan, as a small child, which meant this was Russia, more than three hundred years ago. She was seeing a part of his life that had occurred a long time before she’d even been born. The kind of poverty she couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The scene vanished, and she saw the same boy again, but as a young man this time, his face still smooth. He was maybe eighteen years old, at a guess, and a uniform of some kind covered his muscular frame. In his hand, he held an old-fashioned rifle. Explosions sounded nearby, the pop pop of gunfire, and Charlie cowered, even though she instinctively knew they couldn’t hurt her. Nearby, someone was crying, and another man screamed in pain.

A war zone, she realised. Her history knowledge wasn’t good enough to know which one exactly, but Ivan was fighting in it. She watched him helplessly as he ran forward, ducking low, before lifting his rifle to shoulder level and firing.

Then he was gone again, and she was in a home, watching over a family. Children of several ages, anywhere from ten to two, ran around the small house. In a chair sat a woman, rocking back and forth, a baby at her breast. She crooned a song to the child in a language Charlie didn’t understand. But once more, Charlie instinctively understood what she was seeing. Ivan’s family when he’d still been human.

Ivan once had a family ...

Charlie blinked open her eyes, though she hadn’t even realised they’d been shut, to find Ivan staring down at her intently.

“You had children,” she managed to say. “And a wife.”

He nodded, and sadness filled his eyes. “Yes, I did, but it was many, many lifetimes ago. Sometimes I struggle to even remember them.”

“No, you must remember them, or else I wouldn’t have been able to see them, too. How many children did you have?”

“In total, we had seven, but only four of them survived. It was common to lose children back then, almost expected, though that didn’t make the heartache any easier. The ones who did survive would have died hundreds of years ago now.”

She almost didn’t want to ask the question, but knew she had to. “And how did you die?”

He pressed his lips together and glanced away. “My maker was a cruel vampire. I guess he took a liking to me and decided to turn me. I was walking home from my place of work, and it was dark, and suddenly he was on me. He drained me until I was at the point of death, and then he fed me his own blood. Then he just left me there, abandoned me in the street, certain I was about to die. When I woke, I was changed, but he wasn’t there to guide me in what had happened. But I knew enough to know I was something terrible now, and that I would hurt my family if I stayed, so, ashamed and hurting, I ran.”

Charlie pressed her fingers to his cheek, sensing his pain as though it were her own. “Ivan, I’m so sorry.”

He gave his head a slight shake, dismissing the memories. “As I said, it was many hundreds of years ago now. No matter what people say, the pain of grief does fade. Not completely, but after time, you realise the loss isn’t constantly on your mind anymore, and sometimes even days or weeks go by without thinking about it. Now, I’m over three hundred years old, and sometimes entire years can pass by. But when I’m reminded of them again, the pain is almost worse because it’s filled with guilt. Guilt that I haven’t thought of them, and guilt for abandoning them.”

“You didn’t abandon them. You were forced to leave. You had no choice.”

“Perhaps, but the pain it caused is still the same.”

She slid closer, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself tight against him. She’d never imagined this side to him. The confidence, the teasing and flirting, it had all been a cover for what lay much deeper. So that was what the blood exchange did for them. It allowed them to see right into each other’s souls, to share the same experiences and feelings.

“Daylight will be coming soon,” he murmured, his lips brushing the top of her head. “I’ll need to sleep.”

She held him tighter, emotions causing her heart to swell. “I know. It’s okay, you can rest.”

“You need to sleep, too.”

“I will,” she assured him, though she wasn’t sure how tired she was. But she didn’t want to leave him now. She just wanted to lie here, holding each other, feeling this close to another person. It was something she’d never experienced before, and she was worried if she moved, she’d somehow break the spell.

Outside the window, on the other side of the curtains, the light changed, growing brighter.

In her arm, Ivan’s body suddenly grew still, and she glanced up into his face to see his eyes shut.

Charlie let out a sigh and snuggled closer. Though she felt there were other things she should be doing, she didn’t want to leave him, and her body felt achy but strangely relaxed, despite everything that was going on. She wanted to fight against sleep, to get up and work and see if there was anything more she could do, but instead her eyes slipped shut, and she joined his slumber.

Charlie woke with a start.

It was still light, and she wasn’t alone in the room. Her first thought went to Ivan, her befuddled mind thinking he must have somehow woken, but when she realised he was still beside her, she thought it must be The Directive returning. She remembered she was naked and didn’t want to face two ancient vampires and a powerful werewolf while undressed.

But hands suddenly grabbed her arms, yanking her from the bed. She barely had time to cry out before she was thrown to one side. She hit the bedroom floor and skidded along the carpet on her naked backside.

What the hell was going on?

She blinked, her eyes focusing as she came to her senses.

Several people were standing above the bed where she’d just been lying. They were covering Ivan, who was still in his death-like vampire’s sleep, with a huge, thick blanket.

“Hey!” she cried, pushing herself to her feet, no longer caring she was naked. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Two men and a woman. Charlie didn’t recognise any of them, but from what she’d experienced lately, she doubted they were human.

Suddenly, it dawned on her who they were, though she’d never seen any of them before in her life. These had to be the same people who’d tried to set Ivan up for the killings, and now they’d come for him.

They were wrapping him in the thick blanket to protect him from the sun. So they wanted him alive.

“Ivan!” she yelled.

Though she knew there was little she could do, that didn’t stop her from trying. She lunged forward, heading for the red-haired man who was closest to her. He must have sensed her coming, because he swept out a hand, catching her across the jaw hard enough to send her flying backwards across the room. She hit the wall behind with a thump, jarring every bone in her body and punching the air from her lungs.

Dazed and gasping, she tried to push herself up again, but her limbs didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

Her police officer’s mind clicked into gear. There was nothing she could do to physically stop them, but there were people who could help. She’d be able to give The Directive a description of these people, and they might be able to find both them and Ivan.

The woman had long, wavy brown hair pulled into a ponytail. The two men both had longer hair, too. One was a redhead, with a beard of flaming gold, and the other was a brunette. Both men were big, with wide shoulders and bulging biceps. They were fiercely strong, but when she’d gone for the red-haired man, and he’d struck her away, she’d noted his skin hadn’t been cold. Plus, they were all out in the daylight, and they all seemed too rough, too uncouth, to be ancient vampires who were able to do such a thing.

They moved fast, however, bundling Ivan into the thick blanket. It was daylight. Could he wake up even if it meant saving his life?

“Ivan!” she screamed. “Wake up! Please, wake up!”

“Shut your mouth, or you’ll end up dead, too,” the redhead man snapped.

“This is nothing more than he deserves,” the woman said.

Her eyes flashed yellow with anger, and Charlie reared back in shock. She clearly wasn’t human.

With Ivan bundled, they left.

For a moment, Charlie remained huddled against the wall, her heart thrumming, her head dizzy with the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Tears threatened to prick her eyes, but she blinked them back. Her heart tore in two at the thought of someone having taken Ivan, of the things they might do to him, but she couldn’t give in to her fears. He needed her to focus now more than ever. She was a police officer, not some simpering little girl, and she’d do everything in her power to get him back.

The Directive needed to know what had happened.

Remembering Ivan’s phone, she darted for the pile of clothing they’d left on the floor and quickly rifled through the pockets of his jacket. She closed her fingers around something hard and slim, and she pulled it out. She pushed the button to bring it to life, and the welcome screen flashed up. She checked the dialled numbers. The last one he’d called was hers, but the next one must be for Magno Zara.

She swiped the screen to redial the number and then clamped the phone between her ear and shoulder while she grabbed her clothes from the floor. She’d prefer to be dressed when she had to face The Directive and tell them what had happened.

“Ivan?” The smooth Italian voice answered.

“No, it’s Charlie, Ivan’s Bloodmate. Some people were here. They took Ivan!”

His tone sharpened. “What?”

“There were three of them. They threw a blanket over him and hauled him away. He didn’t even wake up.”

“No, he wouldn’t be able to, not in the daytime. Listen, we were on our way back to you anyway. Stay where you are. We won’t be long.”

“Okay. Hurry, please.”

She hung up.

Charlie didn’t want to stay here, doing nothing, but she wouldn’t be any good to Ivan by just running aimlessly out of the door. She needed to keep her head and push her emotions to one side. Wanting to stay busy, she finished dressing and then picked up around the flat. There was barely anything that needed tidying, but she wasn’t just going to sit on the couch, watching every minute pass by and chewing on her thumbnail. Adrenaline was coursing through her body, making her jittery, her breath short, and despite meaning to do something useful, she found herself standing over the bed where Ivan had been lying, fighting off tears.

The Directive couldn’t have been far away. Within ten minutes, the door buzzer sounded, and she let them up.

Magno pushed his way into her flat, the other two close behind. His dark eyes were sharp as he looked around. He lifted his face and sniffed the air. “Werewolves, I can smell them in here.”

That made sense. The two men had been big and hairy and were warm from what she’d been able to tell when one of them had hit her. “Do you think whatever killed the two men and the animals before that might have been a werewolf?” Automatically, she turned to Jana.

The blonde wolf pressed her lips together, her nostrils flaring. “It’s possible, though I’ve not known a wolf to attack humans in such a way for a very long time. I have no idea why one would start doing so now.”

“What about the Beast of Dartmoor?” She hoped she didn’t sound stupid for mentioning it. “You said it could be real. Is there a chance it’s somehow related to wolf shifters?”

“There might be a chance,” she replied. “It’s not something I’ve heard of before, but then I’m not from this part of the world.”

Charlie only wanted answers as to who had taken Ivan and why. “Myths surrounding the Beast of Dartmoor can be traced back hundreds of years. Everyone assumed it was just another part of the myths and superstitions that surround the moors, but perhaps there is more to it, and now someone figures they can harness its power.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I still don’t see the connection to Ivan.”

“Me, neither. But I bet if we find him, we’re going to find out.”

Magno sniffed the air again. “I can smell blood, too.” He frowned. “Vampire blood. Was Ivan hurt when they took him?”

Charlie’s cheeks heated as she realised why he could smell vampire blood. His sense of smell must be incredible to still be able to pick it up on the air.

Again, she was embarrassed to admit it, but she thought it might help. “I took some of Ivan’s blood, and he drank from me. He said it helped to strengthen our bond, and it did. I was able to see into his past again, but stronger this time. I don’t know if that can help at all ...”

Magno fixed her with his gaze, but instead of disgust or shame, she saw he was pleased. “That’s excellent news. We may be able to use that.”

It was going to take her some time before she could accept that the exchange of blood in vampire circles was completely normal. “We can?”

“Yes. You should be able to feel a kind of pulling towards him, a natural sense of direction, like a needle on a compass.”

She closed her eyes briefly and focussed inside herself. She desperately wanted to feel something, anything, but it was only emptiness. “I’m sorry. I don’t feel anything.”

“He might be too far away,” Jana said. “Let’s go back to where the killings happened and see if you can pick anything up from there.”

“And if I can’t?” she asked, anxiety plucking at her nerve endings.

“You will.”

The anxiety didn’t leave her with their reassurances. “It’s going to be dark again soon. Ivan will wake up. What if he tries to fight them? What if they hurt him?”

The taller vampire, Clarence, stepped in. “We’re going to find him, Charlie. This whole thing has to do with the moors and whatever has been killing those men. We believe magic is being used to hide the creature responsible. The witch we’ve brought in caught a trail of it near to where the killings had taken place. That might be why no one else has seen anything. There’s a chance they’ll have taken Ivan to the same place. We have something to go on here. We’re not totally stabbing in the dark.”

Magno nodded. “Yes. That combined with the blood bond you have with him should be enough to let us find him.”

Charlie looked between them all. “I just hope we’re not too late.”