Sophia by D. B. Reynolds Read Free Book Online Page A

close now and she wanted to be underground before it arrived.
    “Aurelio,” she said softly.
    His eyes opened, cheeks flaming red with embarrassment. “Forgive me, my lady,” he said immediately. “I didn’t mean—”
    “Be calm. You served me well.”
    “Thank you, my lady,” he said fervently. He grabbed the loose, linen pants he’d worn to the door and wiped himself quickly before standing and pulling the now sticky garment up his legs and tightening the drawstring closure.
    Sophia eyed his tight ass appreciatively as he did so, wishing she’d had longer to play tonight.
    But it was not to be.
    She stood, barefoot, but still fully dressed, except for her shirt, which gaped open, her breasts displayed, the nipples flushed and hard after Aurelio’s dedicated attention. The blood slave cast surreptitious glances at her, but Sophia made no move to cover herself. She took pleasure in the knowledge of her body’s appeal to males, whether human or vampire.
    “Thank you, Aurelio,” she said, opening the door to the garden. “I am very pleased.”
    “Thank you, mistress. It was my honor.”
    Sophia watched him hurry into the cold night, shivering in sympathy of the few clothes he wore. Perhaps one became used to these temperatures if one lived here long enough. Closing the door quickly, she locked and bolted it, then turned and stared at Lucien’s envelope where it sat on a charming antique bureau.
    Sighing impatiently, she shook off a curious sense of foreboding and crossed immediately to the bureau. She picked up the letter, taking it with her as she hurried to the closet and its secret entrance. Taking the few steep stairs downward, she closed and locked the door behind her, then sank onto the thick mattress which served as a bed in the tight quarters.
    Legs crossed beneath her, she slid a scarlet fingernail beneath the seal and sliced it open, withdrawing a single, folded sheet of paper. A photograph tumbled to the floor and she bent over to pick it up, frowning at the three people pictured there. Two men and a woman. None of whom she knew.
    Laying the photograph aside, she unfolded the piece of heavy linen writing paper and found it covered in Lucien’s handwriting. Sophia’s heart sank as she began to read.

 
     
    Chapter Seven
     
    Raphael sighed as the vault door closed behind him and he listened as Cyn locked them in with a series of muted thuds. This room was below ground, accessed by a private elevator and reserved for his exclusive use when visiting the Seattle compound. All of his vampires here slept their days underground, secure in a state-of-the-art vault like this one, which, once closed, could be opened only from the inside, except by Raphael or the nest’s leader or security chief. Within the larger vault, each vampire had a private sleeping chamber. Raphael’s private room was in a separate wing, more spacious and better appointed, but it was no more or less secure than those of the other vampires in the compound.
    Cyn threw her leather jacket over a chair, slipped off the shoulder holster and popped the magazine from her Glock before coming close enough to lean into him and wrap her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry about Marco and Preston ,” she said. “They were with you a long time.”
    Raphael circled her slender shoulders and pulled her against his chest, taking comfort from her presence. “I’m glad you’re here,” he admitted.
    “I told you,” she teased gently. “Besides, after that last New Mexico trip of yours, I swore I’d never let you leave me behind again. I was miserable the whole time you were gone.”
    Raphael smiled into her sweet-smelling hair and let himself be distracted from the horrible night. “Were you?” he asked.
    She jabbed him in the side. “Like you weren’t. Besides, who will take care of you if I’m not here?”
    “ Duncan ? Juro, perhaps?”
    “Don’t be obtuse.”
    “Obtuse. I suppose that’s better than your usual