Free Bitten Surrender by Rebecca Royce Page B

in serious trouble. I know you think you’ve been given a raw deal. You had no choice. Fate picked you and decided you should be his companion. Perhaps you have not a single altruistic cell in your body. I’m not asking you to consider him for charitable reasons. Imagine you have been gifted the single most powerful monster who will love you forever. All you have to do is make him think he might actually deserve you.”
    Adrienne sat straight up on the couch. She shivered uncontrollably. Feri’s words resonated in her brain. Hanzi was no ordinary vampire. He was the vampire other vamps were frightened of. The image of his sad eyes when he looked at her, when he spoke of himself, flashed through her mind. Hell, the man needed her, and he was beautiful to boot.
    She rubbed at her face trying to force her body to calm. Feri’s run around in her head had to be done, or she was going to show them all a fit they’d never seen before.
    “Hanzi.” Adrienne called out.
    Where was he? She’d fallen asleep on him and he’d left her? When he didn’t answer, she popped off the couch. He’d destroyed her clothes, so she quickly went into the bedroom and changed into some new ones.
    A quick glance in the mirror showed her that her black yoga pants and long tunic made her look presentable, if not stylish. Still, it was the mark on her neck that caught her attention. Two small marks where Hanzi bit her still marred her neck. She rubbed her fingers against it, and a surge of warmth passed through her body, specifically through her lady parts.
    Actually, having his mark on her was kind of sexy. She’d been properly laid, and she had a real mark to show the world, a really outstanding hickey. Adrienne had never been opposed to permanently placing things on her skin for the world to see. She loved it.
    Damn it. She’d always been such a horn dog. Hanzi was only going to make her sexual cravings worse—if she found him. Where the hell had he gone?
    She put on her shoes and walked out into the hall. Unlike earlier, Jerome didn’t meet her at the door. Was she to be given free range of the castle?
    “Hanzi.” She called out one more time into the hall. When she’d exited to go to town, she had gone left, and it seemed as good a direction as any considering she didn’t know where she was going.
    The castle had been outfitted with electric lights, although the decorations, mostly paintings of men wearing old fashioned clothing with serious looks on their faces, made it easy to imagine what it had looked like when it had been built. Had the vampires put the place together for him?
    Now that she knew a bit of his story, she’d have to ask.
    The lights flickered, and she stopped walking. Did they have a lot of power outages in this small vampire-laden town? She kept walking in the direction of the door. Maybe she should have pressed the button to summon Jerome.
    A shiver travelled her spin,e and she quit moving. In the movies, the girl with the heebie-jeebies would make a mistake. She’d turn around and see who was behind her. Or go back to investigate a noise. If her memory served, she had two more turns before she made her way to the front door.
    Adrienne made a decision. It was possible there was nothing behind her. Someone might see her freak out and think her ridiculous. Shit. She didn’t care; she ran for the front door. If no one chased her, so much the better. She wasn’t going to wait to find out.
    The lights flickered again as she ran. Her breath came in and out fast, and she heard her own heart in her ears. Another dimming and surging of the lights.
    Feri’s voice in her mind from the dream. Some vampires manipulated their environment. As she had the thought, the lights went out entirely. Somehow she didn’t think clapping her hands was going to put them back on.
    A growl sounded behind her. Yes, she was certain she’d become someone’s prey if she didn’t get out of there right now. Well, this woman was making it