Chapter One – Aria
Hands grabbed her and yanked her from her bed. Aria cried out, struggling instinctively. Sleep wrapped her mind in a cloud of fog. Even as her heart spiked and the grips on her arms became painful, she wasn't sure what was happening. Bright lights blinded her. The hands dragged her from her bedroom and into the living room. Her father was already there, sitting on the worn couch.
Aria was thrown down beside him. She toppled over, and her father put a protective arm around her.
"My daughter isn't a part of this," he said. "Please, don't hurt her."
"I'm not going to hurt anyone. But we must discuss this debt of yours."
Aria scrubbed her palms over her eyes, clearing the last of the sleep from them. When she saw the man sitting across from them, feet planted far apart in a power stance while he held a cup of tea, she gasped. Blood drained from her face and she clung to her father, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Gavin, the vampire king of everywhere from the Baltic Sea to Siberia, was in their living room. The men that stood around them –tall, gaunt, with those hungry eye – all vampires.
Her gaze turned back to the king. He ignored her, his amber eyes fixed on her father. He had a fine square jaw with sharp cheekbones and dark hair that fell loosely about his face. Whenever she saw him on the television, Aria thought he was handsome in a terrifying way, and up close she could see she was right in every respect. Handsome and terrifying.
"What are you doing here?" She tried to bolster her voice to sound more outraged than frightened. Gavin sipped his tea. He had her mother's fine china in his hand. Aria's blood boiled. Nobody touched her mother's things! "That does not belong to you. You have no right to come into our house and mess with our things."
"Oh, I have every right." Gavin set the cup and saucer on the coffee table. "Your father has a great deal of debt to the crown, and he hasn't paid any of it back for almost three years now. I am here to find a way for him to pay it off. Until it is, everything you own is mine."
Aria turned to her father. Guilt shone from his face and she clung to his hand. "Papa? Is that how you got the money for me to go to university?"
"We can discuss it later, Aria," her father said. He bowed his head towards the king. "My lord, there has to be something I can do."
Gavin smirked. "There is. Jail. All your property and belongings will be auctioned to pay your debt, and then for every hundred dollars you still owe me after that, you will spend a year in jail."
Aria jumped to her feet before she knew what she was doing. "You will do no such thing! You will not take my father's property and you will not put him in jail."
"Aria, no." Her father tried to tug her back down onto the couch.
She pulled her hand away from her father, glaring at the king. Who did he think he was, to just come waltzing in here and declare that everything would be taken away from them? She didn't know what sort of debt her father had gotten himself into, but he had been laid off at work for six months, for crying out loud. In this economy, it was next to impossible to get work.
Gavin stood slowly, his handsome face stone-cold. "And why won't I?"
"I've seen on the news that you are looking for a juice box."
"Juice box?"
Aria shrugged. "It's what we call the girls who let you vampires suck out their blood."
Gavin's gaze swept over her body. His eyes brightened. "And?"
"And I'm AB negative. That's your favorite type, isn't it?"
"Are you suggesting that I take you on as my 'juice box' in the forgiveness of your father's debt?"
Aria shook her head. There was no way she was going to be forced to stay with this vampire for the rest of her life. "I'm suggesting that I work for you as your juice box paying off my father's debt, and once it's paid, I'm free to go."
"No." Her father jumped to his feet. "No. I'll go to jail. You can't do this, Aria."
"She can." Gavin smiled. "Your terms are acceptable. Your father may keep his house. We will discuss the finer details of our agreement once we are back at the palace." He glanced at one of the vampires. "Bring her to the limo."
"Wait." Aria drew back. "I need to pack and say goodbye."
"I will provide your necessities and you can say goodbye on your way out the door," Gavin said over his shoulder. He was already heading outside.
A vampire clamped a huge hand over Aria's arm and dragged her towards the door. She glanced back helplessly at her father. He was being held back by another vampire, worry and guilt shining from his face. For his sake, Aria made herself smile. The vampire dragged her through the front door.
"It'll be fine, Papa," she said. "I'll call you. I love you."
"I love—"
The door slammed behind them. Aria shivered. Their neighbors watched through windows, a few of them standing in doorways. She tried to wave cheerfully at them. They'd be talking about this for weeks. From two doors down, she saw a blonde rush from her home, dressed in a flimsy nightdress, her hair in two braids.
"Aria!" the blonde cried. "What's happening?"
"It's fine, Sonya," she called back. She dug her heels in to earn a few more moments to reassure her best friend. "I'll call. I promise."
The vampire picked her up, making her yelp, and carried her to the shiny black limousine that sat on the road. He stuffed her in and slammed the door after her. Aria grimaced as she straightened herself. The limo had two bench seats facing each other. She had been put on the forward-facing one, while Gavin sat opposite to her. Their knees brushed each other.
Aria fastened her seatbelt, determinedly ignoring the king. The least he could have done was give her an hour to dress. Now here she was, her bulky PJs making her plus-sized body look like a box stuffed with sausage. She was braless, which meant her boobs were flopping around with every bump they went over – not even wearing underwear. At least she had decided to actually wear PJs that night. Usually, she slept buck naked. But it had been cold lately, and she needed the extra warmth.
"Your name is Aria," Gavin said. "And you're in university?"
"Your name is Gavin and you're the freaking vampire king."
Gavin's mouth twitched. Whether he was amused or angry, she couldn't tell. "What were you in university for?"
"Marketing. Business management. Accounting." Aria slumped in her seat, folding her arms over her chest. "So I can open my own business."
He didn't reply to that, and Aria was grateful. She still hadn't figured out what kind of business she wanted. The streetlights passed one by one as they drove away from the neighborhood she had lived in since she was five years old. She and her father had moved here a year after her mother died. She knew everybody here and they knew her.
Her lip began wobbling, and she bit it hard to stop. She was not going to cry. Yeah, the situation wasn't ideal, but she had made her choice and she wasn't going to back down.
What made this worse was the many times she had fantasized about meeting a handsome, rich vampire that would sweep her off her feet and take her to his mansion to marry her. Now she was being taken to a palace by the king – and she hated it.
The thing she hated most was how attractive the bloodsucker was, though. What right did he have to be so handsome and yet so cruel?
"I'm going to drink your blood now."
Aria jumped. She pressed herself back on the supple leather seat, her heart hammering. "You're going to drink my blood?"
"Yes." Gavin stared back at her, completely calm. "I need to verify your blood type. And if this arrangement is going to work, I have to know you're willing to give me blood whenever I need it. Don't worry, all I need is a mouthful every so often. You can be my living donor and still give blood to clinics once a year."
He grinned, flashing his fangs at her. Aria swallowed hard, trying to convince herself that the twisting in her stomach was just because this was new and frightening. Not because she found the idea of him biting her exciting in any way… This was a business arrangement. No, it wasn't even that. This was her desperate attempt to keep her father out of jail. Nothing more.
Gavin slid onto the bench beside her. He reached for the first button on her top, but Arai shoved her wrist into his face. Mustering her dirtiest glare, she shook her head.
"You don't need to undress me to have a taste of my blood. You can drink from my wrist. I've seen it done on TV all the time."
Gavin scowled. "I prefer neck blood."
"You can have my neck after all the details of this arrangement are hashed out."
Gavin continued to frown for a moment, then shrugged. He grasped her wrist. Aria opened her mouth to ask if it would hurt just as he bit into her flesh. A sharp jolt of pain made her yelp, but with the first pull, she forgot all about it. A fire was lit low in her belly, shooting tingles up her spine and down her legs. Her skin tingled where his lips clamped on in. Something swelled inside of her core. With the second pull, her head fell back and she moaned, desire pooling. What had she been thinking when she said he couldn’t drink from her neck? Suddenly all she wanted was for his mouth to be on her neck.
The rush of pleasure stopped, leaving her dazed and confused. Gavin wrapped a piece of gauze around her wrist and put it onto her lap.
"You are AB negative," he said, licking his lips. "I think this will work out just fine."
Aria nodded silently as he moved to the opposite side of the limo. Her heart continued to pound. What have I gotten myself into?