Marked: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

then pushed at his chest, not that he budged. Oh, God . I’d been a fool to come here, to think I could do this, to think I could save Tessa.
    His fangs bore down on my flesh, and I swear, my entire life flashed before my eyes. Screw this . But before I could unleash an unbecoming shriek, a shadow passed over me, and Luke’s unyielding weight suddenly vanished.
    “Keep your filthy hands off her.”
     

Chapter 4
    My savior came in the guise of one cold-hearted bastard. Arctic blue eyes appraised me before he turned and shoved Luke back three steps. Vampire strength at its best. The jackass hadn’t so much as swayed when I’d pushed him.
    “Whoa, Rune,” Luke held up his hands and gave a light chuckle. “Calm down, man.”
    “Leave,” my hero growled in a dark timbre that sent a shiver down my spine, “before Silva catches you abusing one of her girls.”
    “Abusing?” Luke snorted with laughter. “I was just having some fun. You know, testing the wares. Making sure I get my money’s worth. Winter wasn’t complaining.”
    “Pretty sure that’s a lie.” I pressed a hand to my neck, relief fluttering through the pit of my stomach when I found it in one piece.
    Rune crooked his head and shot me a dark glance. Guess talking wasn’t appreciated. “Leave, now.”
    “Sure thing, hoss,” I murmured.
    “Not you ,” Rune snapped. He turned and jabbed a finger toward my newest arch nemesis. How quickly that list was growing as the days passed. “Him.”
    Well, how was I supposed to know? He’d been looking right at me. Sighing, I leaned against the nearest wall and crossed my arms over my breasts.
    One guileless shrug and a complimentary smirk later, Luke strode back toward the party, his swagger no less jaunty. Alone, Rune stepped toward me, and I had to force myself still, regardless of how badly I wanted to run. He loomed over me, that icy gaze of his chilling me to the bone. He offered no comforting smile or expression of any kind other than grim expectation.
    “If he bothers you again, let me know.”
    Forcing myself to swallow, I blinked, my pulse thundering in my ears. His offer stunned me into silence. So far, my experiences with vampires hadn’t been stellar. Of the two I’d met, neither had made a great first impression—not that I expected one. They were vampires, after all.
    Blood and sex. Sex and blood. That was all they knew. So why was he helping me?
    Rune dipped his head, then turned to leave. Without thought, I reached out and curled my fingers around his thick forearm. He paused and watched me as I studied his roughhewn profile. There was nothing soft about him. Fierce? Yes. Powerful? Absolutely. But attractive? No. In fact, he barely qualified as handsome. His face was too blunt and his nose too broad. His eyes, however, held me captive. A sea of sorrows and gloom within the frozen depths.
    Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I released his arm and stepped back. “Uh…thank you, I think.”
    A jet black eyebrow winged up. “You only think?”
    “No, I meant thank you. I’m a little out of my element here, and—”
    “Clearly.”
    I arched my own brow. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
    “It isn’t difficult to separate the novices from the professionals, Ms. Winter.”
    “Just Winter,” I instinctively responded, relieved when he showed no recognition. Maybe my luck was about to turn, and I’d met a vampire who didn’t know Tessa or my family. An upscale vamp, perhaps. One who wouldn’t have slayers on his tail. “And so what if I’m a novice?”
    He circled around me until he faced the rest of the room, his unyielding grip latching onto my arm and guiding me toward the stage. “Try not to wander too far away from the festivities. There is safety to be found in numbers.”
    “But I thought—”
    “What? That we were nothing more than little docile puppies who craved your attention? Madam da Silva does her best to ensure the rules are obeyed, but as