Read Online Kiss of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Realm Book 2) by Gayla Twist - Free Book Online Page A

it was a dream. On some level my subconscious knew it wasn’t real. The feeling was more like being caught up in a really good movie. I instinctively felt that there was no way anyone could truly love a loser, foster-care kid like me. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the dream anyway.
     
    When I first woke up, I didn’t know where I was. The room was pitch black, but that was no longer a problem. I could see everything. Keeping perfectly still, I took in my surroundings. I was on a large bed with some kind of ornately carved footboard. The room also contained an armoire, desk, and something that looked kind of like an old-fashion fainting couch for when women became so distraught from hearing a man utter a foul word that they had to stagger over to the couch and collapse. Even if that meant crossing the length of the room to do it.
    All the luxurious furniture was a definitely clue that I wasn’t at my Uncle Kevin’s. That much was obvious. Glancing down, I noted that I was still dressed, which was a relief. I even still had on my boots. I cringed with the thought of my dirty boots on the lovely gray and lavender duvet cover, but it was a little too late to worry about that.
    All of my glancing around the room was really just delaying addressing the fact that there was someone in bed with me. My head was cradled against his chest and his arms were wrapped around me. There was no rise and fall of his chest. I could hear no thumping of his heart. I realized that I had just spent the last ten or so hours in bed with Dorian Vanderlind.
    Some subtle movements on his part led me to believe that he was awake and just holding very still so as not to disturb me. However much I enjoyed being in Dorian’s embrace, I knew there was no tenderness behind it. My dream of the loving, blond haired man was just a dream. It was time to face reality.
    “How do vampires get all their money?” I asked. I was barely scraping along with my pay from the diner and really would have preferred a lavish castle instead of my Uncle Kevin’s house, even with the recent improvements.
    “Some earn it,” he said, still encircling me with his arms. “And some steal it. The Vanderlind family was quite wealthy, even before my grandfather was turned into a vampire, so that was helpful. And since then we have been able to amass more wealth through investments.”
    “There are vampire stockbrokers?” I asked, turning my head so I could look up at him. Every time I saw Dorian, I had to take a moment to marvel at how handsome he was. It border on the ridiculous.
    “A few,” he told me. “But mostly we just have mortal brokers who are highly motivated to make sure we keep earning money.”
    “Oh.” I could almost hear the air-quotes hanging around the words highly motivated . I didn’t have that much money. Less than a thousand dollars probably wasn’t enough to bother a stockbroker. Even a highly motivated one. “So how does a vampire like me make money?” I asked. “I mean, I earn money at the diner, but it’s really not enough to afford anything like this.” I said, gesturing toward the lavish furnishings of the bedroom. I actually didn’t even need something that lavish. I just wanted something a little nicer than a twin bed wedged into a closet.
    “You don’t need to worry about any of that,” Dorian told me, sitting up and causing me to shift into a sitting position.
    There had never been one point in my life when I didn’t have to worry about money. It was one of my earliest childhood memories. I didn’t know if Dorian meant that he would set me up with a financial planner or what. “Why not?” I asked him.
    “Because it’s all taken care of,” he said, straightening his shirt and not meeting my eye.
    “By who?” I wanted to know.
    “By me, of course,” Dorian said, getting to his feet. “You are my progeny. That means you are practically a member of the Vanderlind family. I’ll not have you running around rural