“Oh God, Byron,” Amelia moaned. She felt Byron kiss and lick all over her neck, and then as she often did when they made love, Byron sucked on her pulse point.

“Byron, we need to go somewhere more private.”

Then Amelia let out a little yelp and jumped back, and covered her neck with her hand. As she did she was sure she could see red in Byron’s eyes, but before she had gotten a good look, Byron turned her back.

“I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Amelia immediately wanted to make Byron feel better. It had only been a nip, and hadn’t hurt much, and her neck was so sensitive the bite turned her on.

She walked behind Byron and put her hand on her back. “It’s all right. It didn’t hurt, just made me jump. Don’t feel bad. I actually liked it,” Amelia admitted. “This has been a perfect night—don’t spoil it now.”

Byron turned around and the red that she had imagined she had seen in her eyes was gone.

“I’m sorry, I want you so much that I get carried away.”

Amelia tenderly stroked her cheek. “It’s forgotten. You know I like your passionate side.”

There was still fire and confusion in Byron’s eyes. She took Amelia’s hand and kissed it before saying, “I need to go back to the house and deal with some business. I’ll have someone escort you back.”

“Business? Now?” Amelia said with annoyance. Byron was clearly running away.

“Yes, now,” Byron said firmly.

“Who exactly is going to take me back?” Amelia said. She looked around the dining area then looked back to Byron, but she was gone. “What is going on?”

Amelia started looking all around the dining area, even checking behind the curtains, and couldn’t find Byron anywhere.

“How could she have moved so fast?”

Just then, one of the waiters stepped into the space. “May I escort you back to the house, Miss Honey?”

Amelia’s anger was simmering now. How could Byron give her the most romantic evening she’d ever had and then disappear?

“If you’d follow me, please.”

Amelia sighed angrily, and set off at a fast pace, leaving the waiter needing to play catch-up.

Chapter Seven

Byron drained the blood of her male attendant more greedily than she had since her Ascension Day. After rushing back to her office, shaking with hunger, an attendant was called for and he was now servicing her appetite.

She stood by the desk feeding from the neck of one of the older male servants called Tom. As the blood flowed down her throat, she had to keep telling herself, Don’t take too much, remember to stop. You have to stop.

As the most powerful Debrek vampire, she always kept tight control of her blood needs, but now she just couldn’t seem to fill that monster inside of her. She could feel it slither around in her stomach demanding she take more, take more, and don’t stop.

Byron used all her strength and pushed away from her attendant. She was gasping for breath, and fell into her desk chair. Blood ran down her face and chin. The smell of it was making that monster inside her crave for more.