Ambient Light Read online

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Ambient Light

  ISBN 9781419918636

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Ambient Light Copyright © 2008 Mandy M. Roth

  Edited by Nick Conrad.

  Photography and cover art by Les Byerley.

  Electronic book Publication October 2008

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Ambient Light

  Mandy M. Roth

  Dedication

  To Jaycee, who never ceases to light the fire under my backend to get me motivated and working once more. Your phone calls not only make me laugh, they let me know someone else as disturbed as me exists in the world. I really do think we need T-shirts warning people. Though the bumper sticker idea has merit too.

  Author Note

  This is a world in which supernaturals exist but are not known to humans. The supernaturals are written in a way they do not have to worry about sexually transmitted diseases. In real life, please use caution and practice safe sex.

  Prologue

  Yates Colyer rolled onto his side, disgusted with himself as he heard the front door close. The woman leaving meant nothing to him. In fact, he hadn’t even bothered to get her name. What he wanted her for had little to do with needing it so he passed. As a creature of the night, he required blood once every two months or so. At his age, blood wasn’t something he was day-to-day dependent on anymore. There was a time, back when he was newly sired that he needed blood several times a day. Fortunately for him, his father had been in a position of power, giving Yates unlimited access to the town, its resources and more importantly, its warm bodies. Beggars and peasants overpopulated the area and he used to think he was doing his part to thin their numbers. They were rarely missed and on the off chance they were, no one with any kind of power paid them any heed.

  Over the centuries, he learned to curb his hunger and take blood without killing the victim or donor, depending upon where and how he got it. He was a different man now, no longer killing to sate the demon within. He liked to think he had more control and more finesse. Like everything, he had to change with the times. It mattered not that he was technically still a Comte. He’d reinvented himself so many times over the course of his immortally long life that Yates no longer paid much mind to the politics of it. Throughout it all something had been missing.

  It still was. What, he wasn’t sure.

  With his blood hunger satisfied, he thought about what else he depended upon to survive. Sex. He needed it almost daily. He craved it as much as he craved seeing the sunrise. At least with sex, he could actually obtain the goal. The sunrise would never again be. He had vague memories of his last sunset, though at the time he wasn’t aware it would be his final one. He hadn’t asked to be brought over as a creature of the night, another form of the many demons that inhabited the earth and beyond. He’d been sired against his will and had to learn to make the best of it.

  I am far from making the best of it.

  All had been well until he had found her. The mysterious woman in the magazine. The one with haunting lavender eyes and a mouth that begged to be wrapped around his cock. She haunted his every moment—awake and asleep.

  Yates growled as he went onto his back, hitting his bed with his fist as he thought of how his daily sexual escapades had died almost instantly since he had seen the mystery woman’s face in the magazine. Sure, he’d found beautiful women more than willing to lie with him and please him until sunrise but his cock wouldn’t cooperate. It had its sights set on one woman and one woman only. She was a stranger to him. Unfortunately, Yates knew nothing more than that she was a model.

  In his line of work, he met with models nonstop. Many all but beat down his door, wanting him to photograph them because he was the best. The one who had just walked out on Yates had practically thrown herself at him, offering him free rein of her body. He had tried to take advantage of the offer but his cock refused to rise to the occasion, opting instead to lie dormant as the demon within demanded to be free. If the demon couldn’t fuck it or suck it, it seemed to think killing it would suffice. Thankfully, Yates had more than enough control to stop his demon from doing anything of the sort. He did, however, seem to lack the ability to kick-start his cock.

  Sighing, he rolled out of bed and went to the magazine featuring the pictures of his mystery woman. It sat on a two-person table, positioned near the far end of his bedroom. He took a step toward it and scowled as he stepped on an open book. He liked his home tidy, everything in its place, and he valued his book collection greatly. The woman who had just left had insisted on leafing through various books then discarding them over her shoulder. He should have known then his dick wouldn’t want to be in her. Anyone who couldn’t appreciate a good read wasn’t worth fucking.

  He sighed.

  Yates ran his hand over the edge of the circular table. It was a piece he had acquired during his time in his homeland—France. Its flame mahogany veneer had caught his eye and the tapered, fluted legs kept it. He had an eye for detail and for fine things. That was part of the reason the woman from the magazine had held his attention. The magazine was already open to the pages she graced. As his gaze skimmed over the alluring raven-haired goddess, a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach began. She was so beautiful, unearthly so. Never before had a woman called to him as this one did. Those lavender eyes—he wanted to see them staring up at him while he rammed his body into hers.

  She’s my mate.

  The thought nearly knocked him over. For four centuries he had lived in darkness, refusing to believe any such person existed. Could it be that by merely opening a magazine, he had finally located her?

  There is only one way to find out.

  Chapter One

  “Turn around. I want to see the backside.”

  Kelly obeyed the gruff voice, turning to face the wall so the photographer could see if her assets would suit his needs. She hoped she would do. Too long she’d struggled with trying to make it in a cutthroat business and the man behind her held her career in the palm of his hand. He had the power to make or break her. Modeling barely made the rent and if she didn’t catch a break soon, she’d have to give it up and get a real job. She had little in the way of marketable skills and wasn’t sure what she’d do to make ends meet.

  She put a palm to the cool wall before her. The entire room felt sterile, lacking some of the charm other studios she’d been in had. What it lacked the man in charge made up. As the photographer’s warm hand skated down her back, she drew in a sharp breath. From the moment she’d walked into his studio, the man had made her body hot and need slammed through her. He filled the void his work environment left.

  His ob
sidian eyes were unnaturally captivating and matched his long, silky hair. The combination was dangerous, as was the way he presented himself. No wonder she was attracted to him. He was exactly the type of bad boy she’d fall for.

  The fact that he had no shirt on, showing off his alabaster abs—certainly unconventional but not unheard of in the world of photography—only made matters worse. His low-slung jeans left the tiniest start of black curls peeking out, almost daring her to look further. Oh, and how she wanted to see all he had to offer. If the bulge in his jeans was any indication of what he was packing, Kelly would be a satisfied woman.

  Sore but satisfied.

  She knew she’d be spending the night massaging her clit to images of him in her head. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine his muscular frame above her as he sank his cock into her. She’d use one of her many vibrators to stimulate herself before cramming a dildo into her pussy. Hopefully, after several nights of that, she’d be able to get him out of her mind.

  Doubtful but worth a try.

  Yates Colyer was a legend in the world of photography. He had photographed the elite and made the ordinary extraordinary. He also kept to himself, often labeled a recluse by others in the industry. Kelly couldn’t understand why. He was magnificent to look at with his brooding forehead, square jawline and a body that looked to be carved by the gods themselves. He didn’t appear to have a modest bone in him so she couldn’t comprehend his need to stay tucked away from the public eye.

  He traced tiny circles on the small of her back, dipping his fingers beneath the sheet she now wore. Fire shot through her body and it was all Kelly could do to stay upright, let alone remember to draw in vital air.

  He’d phoned her, not the other way around, which had shocked her to the core. She’d thought it was a joke when she’d first heard the message on her machine. After replaying it seven times, Kelly finally gave in and returned the call, expecting someone else to answer Yates’ phone. She was shocked when he identified himself to her. She was even more shocked when she realized it was truly him—the legend himself.

  His very voice had left her hot and horny. Kelly had traced the edges of her erect nipple as she’d spoken with Yates, trying to imagine what he looked like. Never before had the sound of someone’s voice done so much for her. Something about him had aroused her from the word go. She’d assumed it was one-sided but upon her arrival at his studio, she found Yates watching her with nothing short of lust in his obsidian eyes. It had taken all her willpower to keep her hands off what she wanted—him.

  She had to be careful. There had been times in the past when her supernatural strength had left someone injured when she’d meant to do anything but harm. She clawed at the wall, mindful to keep control of the side of herself she kept hidden from the public. The one she wished she could hide from herself as well.

  “You will do,” he said, his mouth close to her ear. His warm breath fluttered over her cheek and she shivered with anticipation of what his actions promised. “Drop the sheet.”

  I’ll do? Drop the sheet?

  Her breath caught. Did he mean what she hoped he did? That he wanted her, too? “W-what?”

  “The sheet. Drop it.” His fingers dipped even lower, skimming her ass and sending liquid fire to the juncture of her thighs. He inhaled deeply and let out an almost depraved-sounding growl. “You are beautiful. More than I could have ever hoped for.”

  More than he what?

  Kelly loosened her grip on the sheet, letting it fall further, exposing her ass to him. She wanted to beg him to touch her more, caress every part of her but she knew better. Doing so could ruin what little career she had. Yates was a photographer. His life was capturing the perfect shot, the right angle or light. His interest in her was strictly professional. Wasn’t it?

  Does he want me as badly as I want him?

  A manly chuckle came from him as he pressed his body to hers. “Ask and I shall oblige.”

  Huh?

  The slight buzz of energy she’d sensed the moment she entered his studio moved around her, coating her in a blanket of need. She glanced over her shoulder and for a split second thought his black eyes swirled with gray. She blinked and it was gone. It wasn’t something she’d ever seen a shifter do. Vampires, yes. Shifters, no. In the world of supernaturals, it mattered not if a vampire possessed the power to change shapes—he wasn’t considered a shifter. That title was reserved for anyone carrying animal traits within them. Not demons.

  Kelly hadn’t sensed a vampire near and if Yates were one, she would have known. Her gifts hadn’t failed her yet. Unnerved, she faced forward, positive the stress of the situation and the chance at a big break was causing her to hallucinate.

  * * * * *

  Yates stared at his mate. He had come close to losing control, something that hadn’t happened since he was newly sired four hundred years ago. Kelly had no idea what she was to him or even what he truly was—a vampire. No human did. He had managed to keep his life a mystery, appearing to be an eccentric photographer. It was for the best. Allowing humans to know of the existence of his kind wasn’t permitted. His centuries on this earth had taught him humans were not to be trusted with his secret. He had assumed he’d spend his life alone, only having visitors when doing a shoot or when he needed to scratch his carnal itch. It wasn’t until he was thumbing through a magazine that he caught sight of Kelly.

  Her lavender eyes had seemed to leap off the page at him. He had assumed they were contact lenses. Even so, they were beautiful, as was she. The edges of her full, rose-colored lips had left him tracing them on the smooth pages and longing to know how they truly felt. Still, he’d set the magazine aside, thinking he might be wrong, that she wasn’t his mate.

  For nights he had lain in bed, picturing her while he stroked his cock. He had brought himself to climax this way on numerous occasions, each time wishing his cum was spilling into her hot mouth or cunt. It mattered not where he spent his seed, only that it ended up somewhere within her. The drive had been overwhelming, rendering him useless when he tried to bed other women. It was always Kelly’s lavender eyes he saw, no matter what color eyes the female with him truly had. It was her lush lips he envisioned returning his kiss and it was her flawless skin he thought of when he fed from the others.

  It wasn’t until he went to ram his cock into them that Yates found his body unable to respond. Where he’d once been insatiable, he found that after viewing Kelly’s picture he could no more keep an erection with another woman than he could walk into the light of day. If it continued, he just might take that step into sunlight. Dust was preferable to celibacy. At least in his book.

  After talking to several of his contacts in the industry, Yates had managed to obtain Kelly’s phone number. The second he heard her sultry voice on her answering machine, his insides tightened until he thought he’d burst and the demon he had long ago become one with reared to the surface, demanding he find and claim her. Unable to help himself, Yates had gone on a hunt, needing to be near her. The first night had left him empty-handed and burning with need. The next night was better. He’d caught her scent and knew instantly it was she. As a supernatural, he could recognize his mate without question and he had. He was shocked to find not only his body reacting to her but his mind and emotions as well. He’d just met her, yet already he cared for her. It was something he had heard rumors about. Love at first sight wasn’t something he would have bought into if he weren’t currently living it.

  Yates had managed to maintain control enough to allow Kelly peace while he watched her from a distance, soaking in her beauty—her grace. Now the time had come for him to take what he’d waited centuries for.

  Having his mate with him, in the flesh, was almost too much. Kelly was perfect. Everything he’d hoped for and so very much more. Never had he thought he’d actually find his mate. Each year that had passed without her in it had run into the next, blending to the point that he’d long ceased to hold out hope. He simply fucked his way to being
temporarily sated and took blood only out of necessity, not pleasure. Now, as he traced her smooth skin, he drew in the sweet berry scent of her arousal and bit his lower lip. Blood welled as his fangs pierced his flesh. The coppery taste only served to make his cock throb more, as if it were even possible.

  “I want to see all of you,” he whispered, tugging lightly at the sheet Kelly clung to so desperately. He wanted to see her naked and submitting to his every whim but that would come with time. First he would settle for simply seeing her naked. The lighting was harsher than he cared for due to the ceiling-mounted strobe system he’d had installed several months back. Not wanting to leave her side to adjust them manually, Yates desperately wanted to tap into his vampire powers and dim the lights. But he was too close to the edge to trust himself enough to stop there.

  She gulped. “Is the shot a nude one?”

  “Do you want it to be?” he asked, his voice narrowly escaping a crack. I know I do.

  Her fear and her excitement rushed over him like a heady drug, intoxicating him with the compulsion to slide his cock deep within her silken depths. He held back even though her cunt called to him. There was no other way to put it. Her body recognized his as its mate. Kelly simply needed to play catch-up.

  “Umm, Mr. Colyer, I think I should—”

  Unable to help himself, Yates ran his hand up her spine and fisted it in her silken black hair. With a light jerk, he got a yelp from Kelly. The scent of her arousal grew stronger and it was all he could do to keep himself from spreading her out before slipping into her body. Willingly or not, he’d do it if the demon within took control.

  You will not allow harm to come to her, his inner voice chastised.

  “Call me Yates, mon petit chat. I insist.”