Six #Vampire Heroes to Die For...

Today is Day 4 in the six-author, six-day VAMPIRE ROMANCE TO DIE FOR event I'm participating in with Joyee Flynn, Lisa Kessler, Laurie London, Caridad Pineiro, and Elisabeth Staab! We met at the Romantic Times convention where we hosted the super fun Name That Vampire game, so we thought we'd keep the vampirific festivities going!

See below for our awesome giveaway!

Dark. Sexy. Powerful. Immortal. Vampire heroes can send your pulse pounding and your blood racing through your veins. And we know you love it. So, without further ado, here are six of our vampire heroes you’ll simply die for...

Laurie: Jackson Foss, the dark hero of Tempted By Blood, is hiding some terrible secrets and because of those secrets, he behaves rather badly, as evidenced below... 

Jackson Foss didn’t play by the rules, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start tonight. Besides, he hated being rushed.

Reluctantly, he raised his head and turned toward the door, feeling his pupils dilate even more than they already were. This was the second time Mitch had interrupted him, and if it happened again, Jackson, swear to God, was going to storm out there and acquaint his knuckles with his partner’s face.

Techno music blared from the ceiling speakers. Although it was loud inside the tiny room, its walls upholstered in tufted pink vinyl, he didn’t have to raise his voice. His buddy would be able to hear him just fine.

“I said I’ll be right out.” But he lied—he’d need at least a few more minutes.

He turned his attention back to the woman beneath him. He was aroused but didn’t feel like using what the good Lord gave him. That wasn’t what he was after. At least not this time.

Soft waves of hair tickled his nose as he settled in again. The too-sweet smell of her drugstore perfume was so concentrated, so overpowering here at the base of her neck that he almost sneezed. He tried like hell to ignore it and placed his hand to her temple anyway.

With a jolt, her energies shot through his palm and up his arm, static electricity popping in his veins, leaving in its wake a warm, numbing sensation.

Heaven.

Inch by inch, his muscles unknotted, the gnawing hunger in his gut subsiding. Clarity settled over him, the clutter in his mind evaporated. Now he’d be able to concentrate on the things a Guardian should be doing. Walking the streets. Monitoring the police bands. Hanging out in alleys, searching the shadows for those who lived on the fringe of their secret but civilized society.

For a short time at least.

Caridad:  Sexy Irish vampire Adrian is a skilled lover who gives amazing pleasure in exchange for a satisfying bit of blood.  But Adrian has yet to put the bite on the one person whom he truly loves:  Eliza.  Until now . . .

            With his breath and heartbeat slowing until he would seem almost dead with the advent of dawn, Eliza also gradually relaxed, allowing herself to slip into a half-sleep so that when the time was right she could escape from his bed.

            It was in that slumberous state hours later that she experienced the unexpected stirring beneath her thigh as Adrian roused.  It was near dawn and she had not expected him to become active again.  Yet there was no denying the erection growing ever larger and more insistent against the soft skin of her thigh.  No way to ignore the leisurely journey of his hand along the back of her thigh to cup her ass and urge her closer.  Or the way Adrian shifted and continued the journey with that hand ever upward to cradle her breast.

            “Adrian,” she warned and took hold of his wrist, but even as she did so her heartbeat quickened in anticipation.

            He bent his head and whispered along the shell of her ear.  “You smell so good.  Like fresh laundry in the summer sun,” he said and drew in a long breath. “Feel as soft,” he whispered before strumming his thumb along the tip of her breast, drawing a hesitant sigh from her. “I want to feed,” he said and the rasp of his fangs came along the side of her neck.  Her heart skittered in her chest, but he continued his tardy pleasure at her breast, driving away the fear.

            He had fed from her before.  Had offered her the vampire’s kiss which had kept her alive for so long.  But he had never fed from her while touching her like this and a part of her worried that she’d lose the rest of her soul to him if they continued along this path.

            “I’ll get you a bag, Adrian,” she offered, shifting away from him, but he spread his hands across her back to keep her close.

            “I want to feed from you, Eliza.  Nothing else will do.”

Elisabeth: When King of Darkness opens, Thad's parents have just died. His race is being killed off. He has not been gifted with a supernatural power like a good vampire should have, and he has no queen to rule by his side so that he can present a united front for his kind. A prophecy has foretold a queen who will unlock his powers... too bad she's not interested:  

Thad leaned in more, legs apart, elbows on his thighs. “Look,” he said. “I get that this sounds pretty insane, but believe me when I say I’ve got better things to do with my time than make up stuff like this. If I didn’t think there was something to it, I wouldn’t have been combing half the country looking for you.

“I thought it was all a crock of shit too, ya know?” He sat back up and studied her face for a second. Her expression was blank and her mouth was slack again, like she couldn’t quite process what he was saying. But his jaw was tight and his blood pounded in his ears with the urgency of what still remained to be said. So he kept going.

“The Oracle you asked about is long dead. My parents—both of them—are also dead. I am close to a century old, and I have no power whatsoever. When word gets out about that factoid, it’s gonna put a crack in the ice. My experience and training up to this point have been completely theoretical. I’m running out of time to officially announce my ascension, and our race needs to have faith in its leader.

“We are down to tens of thousands, Isabel. Thousands. On a planet of billions of humans. We work damn hard to keep the communities protected from wizard attacks, but if the folks get scared, they might scatter. And if they scatter…” He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

Joyee: Maverick has been head of security and the warriors in Greece for almost two thousand years. The man knows when to take charge and oozes power. Hell, one of his gifts is to give orgasms. 

“As your mate I command you to shift back and talk to me, or I will walk out that door and leave. I am not a threat to you, and it hurts me that this is how you’re treating me on our first meeting.” I heard a gasp of shock behind me but I ignored it.

Tyler whimpered before rolling over to expose his belly to me. I didn’t know much about shifters, but I knew that was a sign of submission for a wolf. “Please don’t make me. You won’t want me when you know how fucked in the head I am. Just leave me be.”

“I can’t do that, cub,” I whispered, a little shell-shocked I could hear him in my head. “If you want, I can see it all without you having to explain it to me.” I rubbed his stomach as he eyed me warily. “I’ll be gentle, I swear it to you. If I drink from you, then I can see your memories.” He started to shake again. “Or I could use my other gift and make you orgasm right here in the middle of the foyer with witnesses and embarrass you for being a bad mate.”

The air around him vibrated and suddenly I was rubbing Tyler the man. “That’s not much of a threat.”

“I know it’s not,” I replied cheekily. “But it still worked.” He nodded and bared his neck to me. I moved over him, not giving two shits where we were or who was watching.

Laura: Meet Nikolai Vasilyev, vampire warrior king hero of Seduced by the Vampire King (releases June 1), and the ultimate self-loathing, guilt-ridden tortured hero! Don’t you just love when I guy like that loses control? Read on...

            He couldn’t let himself be seduced by an impossible idea. He sprung to his feet and made for the door, still open from his earlier rushed entry. “I have to go.”

            “Why?” She followed after him, the alluring beat of her heart and intoxicating femininity revealing her place within the room.

            He couldn’t stop, couldn’t reply, couldn’t look at her. If he did, there’d be no going back.

            He grasped the edge of the door.

            Small hands fisted in the back of his shirt. “Wait. Why are you leaving? I mean, did I—”

            He halted, heart slamming against his sternum, fangs stretched out and aching. “Release me,” he rasped.

            She heaved a shaky breath he felt against his arm. “I…can’t.”

            “Release. Me,” he said louder. Competing emotions warred within him until he thought he might split apart.

            “Nikolai—”

            It was his name rolling off her tongue that did it.

            He whirled and buried his hands in her hair. He pulled her to him, causing them both to stumble, and he backed her into the ancient bars of the door. It clicked shut, sealing them in and cutting off the last of his restraint.

            Tilting her head back, Nikolai devoured her mouth. His lips sucked, his tongue explored, his fangs rubbed against her moist flesh. Oh, God, she was so sweet and warm and wet. He stepped into her, forcing their bodies together from chest to thighs. And, dammit, she was soft everywhere he was hard.

            Her hands curled around his neck and climbed into his hair, fingers tangling and tugging. She pulled him in tighter and surrendered to the kiss. She met him stroke for stroke, their tongues curling and twining together.

            And Nikolai no longer knew who was surrendering to whom.

Lisa: This scene from Night Walker takes place after Kate has been mugged.  Calisto slammed the mugger into a brick wall, killing him instantly, so he’s trying to get an unconscious Kate and her car far from the crime scene, but he can’t drive a stick-shift so he keeps stalling it.  While the car lurches forward down the street, Kate wakes up.

He whispered against her hair. “You are safe. No one will ever harm you again.”

Something about the way he said it made her believe him. She felt protected in his arms, and gradually her tears faded.

“I hoped I would see you again, but this wasn’t how I pictured it would happen.”

Calisto smiled, drawing back to meet her eyes. “I was under the impression you wanted nothing more to do with me, no?”

“I’m not sure what I want anymore,” she said.

He placed a tender kiss to her forehead and held her close. “Mercy Hospital is not far from here.”

“No, we don’t need to do that.” Just the thought of the health insurance nightmare of going to an emergency room made her head hurt. “I’m just scraped and shaken up. I’ll be all right.”

“Where are you staying? We can park your car and I will call a taxi.”

“No,” Kate trembled, shaking her head slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be alone just yet.”

“Then come back to my house. I will clean your wounds and you can rest.”

She winced when she pulled back to meet his eyes. “Are you a nurse?”

He tenderly brushed the backs of his fingers down her uninjured cheek.

“Do you need one?” He smiled.

Grinning, she asked, “Do you ever answer questions?”

“My answers do not please you?”

Kate rolled her eyes at him, laughing again, and flinched. “Stop it… It hurts when I laugh.”

“I am sorry. I would rather see you laugh than cry.”

She smiled. “Let’s find a safe place to leave my car… And I better drive before you give us both whiplash.”

Calisto nodded and handed her the keys. “As you wish.”

About the Authors

Joyee Flynn dreams of one day living on enough land to have a few horses, and find a couple of cowboys or pool boys of her own. She loves to get lost in fantasy that only books can bring. Her wide interest in reading is reflected in her writings, whether short stories, romance, or mystical.

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Laura Kaye is the bestselling and award-winning author of over a half-dozen books in paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance. Her debut novel Forever Freed is a 2012 Booksellers’ Best Double Finalist for Best Paranormal and Best First Novel, and won the NJRW Golden Leaf Award for Best Paranormal of 2011.

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Lisa Kessler loves to make up stories. Her work has been featured in print anthologies, and her vampire story "Immortal Beloved" was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award. She was also a finalist in RT Book Review magazine’s “Writing with the Stars” contest.  Her debut novel, Night Walker is a Bookseller’s Best Double Finalist for Best Paranormal and Best First Novel.

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Laurie London is the award-winning author of the Sweetblood series. The hotly-anticipated third book, TEMPTED BY BLOOD, is available now, and the fourth book, SEDUCED BY BLOOD, comes out in late July.  

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Caridad Pineiro is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and RITA® Finalist.  Caridad is the author of over thirty published novels and novellas. Caridad’s latest paranormal romance release is THE CLAIMED, the second book in the Sin Hunter series.  For more information, please visit www.caridad.com.

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Elisabeth Staab still lives with her nose in a book and at least one foot in a fantasy world. Her bestselling paranormal romance novel, King of Darkness, is available now. Her second book, Prince of Power, releases in January.

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Giveaway!

Wanna talk vampires? Wanna win vampires?? Follow along the Vampire Romance To Die For Tour all week for both!

Here’s the schedule:

5/14 Caridad Pineiro

5/15 Lisa Kessler

5/16 Joyee Flynn

5/17 Laura Kaye

5/18 Elisabeth Staab

5/19 Laurie London

Here’s what you can win:

1) A grand tour-wide prize of a $60 amazon or B&N gift card!

2) Each blog hostess is also giving away a book! HERE you can win an ebook of my June 1 release Seduced by the Vampire King!

What are the rules?:

1) You must comment to enter to win with your email address. Blog follows are appreciated but not required

2) Contest is open until midnight EST Monday, May 21

3) Winners will be announced on May 22

4) Open to international

5) Winners to be picked using random.org

6) Participating authors not responsible for biting, blood loss, or swooning-related accidents

Thanks so much for reading everyone! Did you find a favorite vampire hero here? *grins* Please visit the other five authors' sites and comment at each for an extra chance to win the gift card and vampire books!

Laura