Some games are better without rulesespecially when it comes to seduction.
Vampire Dante DArcangelo enjoys diversions. Especially those that involve seducing beautiful women, like newly made vampiress Kyler Cole. The curvaceous ingenue stirs Dantes deepest desires. But they share more than blistering chemistry. Dante and Kyler each seek possession of a priceless Fabergé egg containing a spell that would annihilate thousands of vampires while granting only one eternal life.
Caught up in a wickedly sexy game of cat and mouse, Dante and Kyler try to outmaneuver each other as thieves and as lovers. But when a rival steals the egg, they form a wary alliance to recover itknowing that their delicate bond must eventually end in betrayal.
What are you doing?
Kyler rushed over and grabbed her backpack from Dante. Its
Empty, he provided plainly.
Dante stretched an arm across the back of the divan and crossed his legs casually. He wore dark slacks and his unbuttoned white shirt revealed hard abs that she had licked not hours earlier.
You did this! You had this all planned out!
I performed no such trickery. Youll recall it was you who eagerly suggested we finish off the evening here.
You were scheming. Hoping to get me alone so you could steal the egg from me. I cant believe I fell for that!
He waved a hand, dismissing the comment. Doesnt matter now. Ive come to Venice to claim the Fabergé egg, and I wont leave without it.
So you admit you used meseduced meto get what you wanted?
He lifted a finger. Seducing you was not my original intention. That was a fortuitous bonus.
MICHELE HAUF has been writing romance, action-adventure and fantasy stories for more than twenty years. France, musketeers, vampires and faeries usually populate her stories. And if Michele followed the adage write what you know, all her stories would have snow in them. Fortunately, she steps beyond her comfort zone and writes about countries and creatures she has never seen. Find her on Facebook, Twitter and at www.michelehauf.com.
A Venetian Vampire
Michele Hauf
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
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To Chelle Olson, editor, friend, rockin cool chick. Index finger up, middle fingers down, pinkie up, thumb in.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Introduction
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Extract
Copyright
Chapter 1
Dante DArcangelo insinuated himself into the Cannaregio Casa dAste with an ease that had come from more than 160 years of existing along the edge of the shadows. No one paid any mind to the tall stranger as he walked the Venetian auction houses marble corridor to the back room, where key arrangements for the event were being performed. Tomorrow evenings gala auction would feature dozens of valuable art items on the block. It was being hyped with celebrity fanfare. A media blitz.
The star of the show was a Fabergé Imperial egg called the Nécessaire. It had officially gone missing in 1952, after the last known buyer had been recorded only as: A Stranger. A month ago, it had suddenly reemerged in the art world. Dante intended to remove it from the auction house tonight. No hard feelings. It was just that the egg belonged to him. And the very fate of his kindvampiresrequired he get it back.
The star of the show was a Fabergé Imperial egg called the Nécessaire. It had officially gone missing in 1952, after the last known buyer had been recorded only as: A Stranger. A month ago, it had suddenly reemerged in the art world. Dante intended to remove it from the auction house tonight. No hard feelings. It was just that the egg belonged to him. And the very fate of his kindvampiresrequired he get it back.
As he took in the layout of the bustling auction house, the placement of the dinnerware stacked and ready for service in the grand ballroom where a celebratory dinner was to be held, counted the employees and marked their various uniforms, noted security cameras and entrance keypads, Dante noticed one woman stood out from them all.
Rather, she didnt quite fit in.
A woman of medium height and more than a few delicious curves, she stood apart from the workers possessed of blasé European disinterest, slender frames and suntanned skin. A tourist who had wandered in from the streets? Doubtful. Her actions were purposeful. She moved along the edge of the activity, which hummed like a busy office expecting the district manager to show up at any moment to fire one and all. She was dressed all in black, and over that she wore a snug maroon apron like those on the auction house employees. Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail.
Waiters and others who most definitely belonged in the mix shuffled to and fro, intent on their specific duties. Some spoke into earpieces; others checked details on clipboards or iPads. A pair of lanky busboys hustled clattering cases of wine toward the bar area set up along one wall.
The woman with the dark hair and mysterious presence kept her head down, yet her kohl-lined eyes took in everythingexcept the people. She did not miss a creased seam where wall met wall, nor a crimped electrical cable running from a computer along the floor and into a dark, attached room. Near her thigh, her fingers moved as if counting, slowly. She was marking her footsteps across the room.
Dante smirked. Was she actually casing the place? Well, he knew she was because he was. Only he had much more stealth, despite the fact he wasnt a professional thief. Although his life experiences did tend to put him in larcenous situations from time to time. He picked up necessary skills with ease and interest. And he never hesitated to commit a criminal act when he knew it could ultimately serve the greater good.
Such as obtaining this particular bejeweled prize.
When his shoulder was bumped, he turned and offered apologies to a slender blonde woman holding a stack of bid cards and offered to help her carry them. She thanked him and in mellifluous Italian said she was capable. And then she smiled widely as she stared at his facea few seconds too long.
Dante was accustomed to that dreamy look. And honestly? It gave him a visceral thrill. Women gave him a thrill. All of them. All shapes, sizes and colors. Could a man ever get enough? So he touched her cheek, brushing aside some strands of corn-silk gold hair over her ear. She blushed and looked to the cards clasped in both hands, then fluttered her lashes as if she couldnt decide whether to look back up at him or clutch those blank cards tighter.
He neednt exercise his vampiric persuasion on her. If he wanted her, he could have her. But flirting with an audience present was gauche. And he didnt want her. He simply enjoyed the triumph of knowing she would fall sighing into his arms should he give her the permission to do so.
Dante bowed, gesturing she had the right of way. That gentlemanly move stirred her from her adoring gaze. She cleared her throat, blushed even deeper and nodded quickly. As she passed, he inhaled her perfume. A note of freesia vied to rise above the alcohol base. He did not care for unnatural chemical scents. Still, he did admire the warmth that continued to redden her skin.
Enough distraction. Where had the mystery woman gone? Ah, yes.
He crossed the room to the hallway into which his suspected thief had entered with carefully placedand countedfootsteps. Immediately he noticed an armed guard in front of a closed door at the far end of the hallway. A walkie-talkie was clipped to his chest pocket. No gun at his hip, but the gleam of a carbon nightstick flashed from the holster at his waist. A badge would be required to enter what Dante guessed was the room where the auction items were being prepared to go on the block.
Halfway down the hallway, between Dante and the guard, the woman in black suddenly checked her wristwatch and stopped. After turning, she backtracked. Dante dug out his pocket watch and bowed his head as she passed him. He picked up no perfume scent from her, though was that a hint of salty sweat? She was nervous? Poor girl. Had she not done this before? Such a pity she would fail. It was in his best interest to ensure she did.
Hed have to adjust his schedule for this evening. Didnt want to run into her bungling her way through a hopeless theft. And hed hate to see the disappointment in her eyes when she arrived on the scene to find whatever she sought was missing. Had to be the egg. It was the only item on the auction list that could possibly attract a thief. Missing from circulation for almost seventy years, the Nécessaire Fabergé egg was a showstopper.
Yet, it had been missing from his care for only twenty-five years. He hated to admit to himself, but hed let it slip through his hands some time before the turn of the century.
And then a thought occurred as he confidently stopped before the guard and allowed him to scan the badge hed lifted upon entering the establishment half an hour earlier. What if?
Yes, what if?
Immettere. The guard granted him entry.
Grazie, Dante said and strolled inside.
Two men dusting a bronze statue of a dandelion looked up as he entered, and again Dante bowed his head over the 1790 pocket watch hed been gifted as an eighteenth birthday present. Four silver skulls were situated in the center beneath the brilliant copper hands. He wouldnt dream of destroying the line of his suit with a cell phone.
He wasnt going to remain in this room long enough to be asked questions. And the cursory glance hed taken had confirmed only one camera in the opposite corner. The far wall displayed a digital lock beside the door, same as near the door through which he had entered. Inadequate security, as his advance research had reported while on the jet to Venice. Not that hed surfed the information highway himself. He knew people who knew far too much about technology and ways to infiltrate security systems.
This auction house was small, finding its feet after decades of near failure. The egg was to be its ticket out of the red. Pity it hadnt boosted security for its big show. If a thief could get past the security sensors on the first floor, the reward for making it that far would be in this simple room.
He put up a finger to gesture as if hed forgotten something. Ill be right back, he muttered and left the room, tucking away the watch. He offered a gracious ciao to the guard as he strolled back down the hallway.
He didnt see the woman in black again. Didnt need to. Hed marked her as no threat.
As Dante made his way toward the front of the building and stepped out into the fresh summer air, he returned to the what-if scenario. He might consider it a fortune that another thief was slinking about his turf. Would she go after the object he wanted? It was the most valuable and unique of the auctions offerings. There was always the risk she was not at all interested. Perhaps bronze dandelions were her thing?