Claiming the Vampire Read Online Free PDF

within striking distance, so don’t do anything stupid. I can’t promise you she’ll grant you an audience, but—”
    “Leave that to me. But if you don’t trust me enough to leave me alone on your mother’s grounds, how can you trust me not to tell the queen—and your fiancé—everything that’s passed between us?”
    He asked that carelessly, too.
    She lifted her chin. “I can’t. But that’s out of my control. You can tell them, or not, as you choose. Now, let’s go.”
    And after taking one more deep breath, Jessica stepped out from behind the tree and strode towards her mother and the prince.
    She didn’t look over her shoulder to see if Hawk was following her, but she knew he was. She knew by the way her scalp tingled and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
    It was only a few seconds before Talia caught sight of them. She noticed her daughter first, which wasn’t surprising—in her white dress she stood out in the darkness like a neon light. “Jessica! My dear, I had expected this introduction to take place in the ballroom, but I suppose there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Allow me to—”
    Then her eyes widened, and Jessica knew she’d spotted the vampire behind her.
    So had the guards. Their weapons were at the ready, and they looked to the queen for their orders.
    Jessica held up a hand, hoping she appeared calm and in control. “This vampire says he has urgent business with you, Mother, and that you will want to speak with him. He’s unarmed. He—”
    Her words trailed off as she felt the bite of steel on her neck.
    “Not quite unarmed, I’m afraid,” Hawk said pleasantly. “I guess you missed one after all.”
    He wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders, holding his blade to her throat.
    Jessica didn’t move a muscle. In front of her, her mother and the prince were as frozen as she was, and the guards as well.
    Hawk, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease. “All right, everyone, let’s stay calm. I have no desire to harm anyone here, and certainly not this young lady. She’s got her whole life in front of her—marriage and children and all that. Speaking of which, I understand congratulations are in order. Allow me to wish you joy.”
    Jessica’s eyes flashed to Prince Kel. He was handsome, as her mother had said—tall and well-muscled, with thick blond hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in black and silver, and his face was as cold as if it had been carved out of ice.
    “Are you speaking to me, vampire?”
    His voice was as cold as his face. Jessica shivered when she heard it, and she felt Hawk’s arm tighten around her waist.
    “I am. You’re a very lucky man. I envy you your wedding night, with a bride as lovely as this.”
    “How is it that you know of my daughter’s engagement?” Talia asked sharply.
    Her mother looked magnificent tonight—every inch the Faery Queen in a gown of midnight blue, a sapphire diadem her only adornment. She didn’t look frightened for her daughter’s safety, but then Jessica had never seen Talia look frightened. She did, however, look furious.
    “Your daughter happened to mention it when we…ran into each other this evening.”
    Now her mother would ask how that meeting had come about. How he’d gotten onto her property. That was something Jessica wondered, too. Hawk could have bought some kind of magical charm, but something powerful enough to get past Talia’s protection spells would cost a small fortune. Of course, a professional assassin would be able to amass a small fortune—or a large one.
    She’d kept her eyes open for any kind of charm when she’d searched him, but had found nothing. Which meant either that the charm was concealed by magic, or that she had, as Hawk had said, been too distracted to do her job properly.
    She remembered running her hands over the hardness straining against his jeans, and hoping he couldn’t see her blush.
    Jessica was an accomplished warrior with