Stolen Bride: BWWM ROMANCE

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Epilogue Copyright © 2023 Rachel Knight & Hailey Smoke. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real people, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Glossary Highbred -- Someone who is bloodborne (and comes from a long line of bloodborne vampires) Amina Munda -- The thought to be an extinct vampire clan of purists. They despise humans and feel they are a blight on the earth. Union of Blood -- The turning of a vampire. Soul-joining -- Ceremony when two vampires are married. The process bonds them for all eternity. Blood Born -- A vampire who was born a vampire. Vessel -- A human who serves/feeds a vampire. Turned -- Someone who was turned. The Lust -- A state when a vampire has lost control due to lack of blood/feeding. Other than sunlight, vampires can only be killed by beheading and/or severe damage to the heart and Hawthorn blossoms (which will poison them) and can bind a vampire to a space they are occupying. Chapter One Emily He smiled at me. His sensuous mouth curled back sinisterly, all fangs bared. A chill skittered down my spine and my heart skipped a beat as his red glowing eyes pierced mine from across the hall. He was impressively tall, with dark wavy hair and the line of his jaw strong as if to denote his prowess. In another space and time, that might’ve been a good thing. For a vampire, he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life. This was bad. This was so bad. I was supposed to get married today. That was supposed to be the plan, anyway. I was standing in the doorway wearing my mother’s old wedding dress and my feet frozen to the floor as a wave of cold fear filled my body. A minute ago, I had opened the door because it was time for my mother and me to make our way to the sanctuary for the joining. I hadn’t been expecting to see the mysterious dark-haired vampire and his partner standing at the sanctuary’s entrance. Now I was frozen like a statue. I tore my eyes from his and watched his partner kneel down at the entrance. My eyes widened in fear when the other man, with gloved hands tossed hawthorn blossoms at the threshold of the sanctuary. Behind them were my father and my fiancé Zephrus and all the guests, looking angry and helpless at the invisible barrier keeping them at bay. “You’ll pay for this Malachi!” Zephrus snarled at the uninvited guests. “When we get out of here, we will find you and rip you apart for disrupting this ceremony!” “I’d love to see you try.” Malachi, I assumed was the dark-haired vampire, replied cockily without sparing a glance at Zephrus. He was still looking at me and my heart was beating like a drum. Was this fear? I couldn’t tell. My body couldn’t either because I couldn’t seem to move. “Close the door!” My mother grabbed my arm and pulled me backward. As I stumbled back into the room, she slammed the door closed and locked it. She, then, rushed to the other side of the room and grabbed one end of a dresser, pushing the heavy piece of furniture easily until it was pressed against the door. “What’s happening? Mistress--?” My dresser, Ms. Louise, who was a dowdy-looking human who’d been in the service of my family since I was a little girl, stood up from her place on the couch. She started to fret, wringing her hands rhythmically as she looked on with large gray eyes. My mother turned to us both. “The window,” mother said, rushing to the other side of the room and opening the single window wide. She leaned out and looked down the four stories down, her hands shaking. “Mistress?” Ms. Louise asked desperately. “What’s happened?” Mother looked around the room for a moment seeming to search for something, then turned to us and said, “We need to get out of here. Now.” She took my hand and pulled me over to the window, Ms. Louise close behind us. “Who was that man?” I asked her, panicking. “Mother--” “There’s no time,” Mother cut me off. She lept up to the windowsill and slipped out to the ledge as if she was floating. Then she reached in for me to take her hand. “Come on.” I took it without hesitation even though I was confused about what was going on. She lifted me easily out of the window and onto the ledge. She held me with one arm, balancing us both on the ledge as she reached in to get Ms. Louise. It was at that moment we heard the door splinter and crack. As soon as Ms. Louise grabbed my mother’s hand, the door and the dresser imploded, sending shards of wood everywhere. Malachi came stalking in, his partner close behind him. As soon as he saw my mother trying to help Ms. Louise, he flashed forward, moving faster than my human eyes could see and appeared behind Ms. Louise. I screamed when he grabbed her around the waist and yanked her neck back violently. Ms. Louise screamed hysterically, but it was already too late. With razor-sharp fangs, Malachi bit into her neck. Blood drained out of her face in seconds and spilled down the front of her cream-colored formal dress. I watched in horror as the life left Ms. Louise’s eyes… “Tuck your head,”