Book of the Month Spotlight: Nocturnal Surrender, a Vampire Romance Novel!
Sexy vampires that actually bite! Don't miss the exclusive excerpt from this vampire romance book!
Since this is the first book of the month spotlight, it only makes sense to start at the very beginning!
In case you didn’t know, my Nocturnal Surrender Series started my publishing journey in 2012, and although the beginning of the series went through some changes, this is the first book.
Here’s the short blurb for now. I’ll give you the full blurb farther down.
In the neon-lit streets of The New Sin City, vampire Bastian Evanko seeks revenge for a love lost long ago. His world upends when he encounters Nicole French, a human woman battling her own demons, who captivates him in a way he never thought possible again. Bastian must choose between the consuming desire for vengeance and the perilous chance at a love that could either redeem or destroy them both.
How about the inside scoop on this sexy vamp?
Many of you may have already read this book, but I’m going to give you some behind-the-scenes info that you may not know about Bastian Evanko!
His story was meant to end with this book!
If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that there were initially 3 novellas to start the series, and 2 of them were Bastian’s. I eventually combined Baz’s 2 into one novel and added some chapters in between for continuity, the result being the updated Nocturnal Surrender. The other novella was split between Nocturnal Obsession and Eternal Surrender as the opening scenes for both books. It all just works better that way.
You see, as the series went on, Bastian would not go away quietly. Instead, he strutted through the entire rest of the series and took over. Suddenly, the series was not only about the different couples in each book, but it was also about Bastian Evanko’s struggles for vengeance and redemption.
And he even somehow got himself a second book in the series, the final book, which is currently being written.
That tagline says it all, and it’s all about Bastian!
Those are the things he’s obsessed with. Love for his long-lost fiance. Love for the new woman in his life. Hate for the vampire who killed his fiance 200 years before. Self-hatred for the life he’s led and how it makes other vamps look down on him. Not to mention the overwhelming need for retribution.
Eventually, he realizes what he truly wants is redemption.
Keep reading for an exclusive excerpt!
Nocturnal Surrender
In one vampire’s struggle for redemption, can a mortal woman’s love conquer all or will his recklessness condemn her to death as it did another two centuries before?
After two hundred years in exile, vampire Bastian Evanko has come back to earn his brother's respect and to plot revenge against the vampire who murdered his fiancée, Elise. In The New Sin City, Bastian must fight his rebellious nature and learn to control his impulsiveness. When he asks for a private dance from stripper Darling Nikki, he gets far more than he bargains for—including another chance at love. But is the love of a beautiful woman enough to sate his need for retribution?
Nicole French simply wants to learn how to live in her new town without having a breakdown over the painful memories she hides. Having a man in her life is the last thing she needs. When Bastian asks for a private dance, and to drink her blood, things heat up quickly in the private room with the sexy stranger. The only problem is he likes to pretend he’s a vampire and suck down human blood.
After losing Elise because of his secrets, can Bastian risk bringing Nicole into his life? But, on the other hand, can he pass up another chance at love?
Chapter Sixteen
When her plans with Ginger and the other girls fell through, Nicole intentionally showed up at Bastian’s house unannounced, and it had paid off. He opened the door, and she licked her lips at the sight of him. He must have just finished showering and not had enough time to dress properly—or to dry off completely.
It was her lucky night.
Most of the time he preferred to meet her at his brother’s nightclub, and therefore had those damn vampiric contacts and fangs in. There had only been a handful of times in the few months they’d dated when she had seen him without them. But tonight, although his mesmerizing sapphire gaze drew her in, the lack of vampire prosthetics took a backseat to something else.
His body-builder frame filled the doorway, covered only by low-riding jogging shorts that deliciously clung to his hips. The defined cuts of his abdomen accentuated the patch of hair teasing at the edge of the material. Lower, the perfectly outlined bulge begged to be touched.
Maybe she was ready to take their relationship back to the next level again.
Somehow, she wrenched her attention away from what hid beneath his shorts and examined him further.
His broad chest glistened, his muscles flexed, his golden hair was slung wet and sexy against his stubble-covered face, and he held a damp towel. “Nicole!” His eyes grew wide. “I thought you were going out with your friends. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I’d have—”
She held her finger to his lips as she stepped forward, giving him no choice but to back up. After making her way inside, she closed the door behind her. “Oh no. If I’d have warned you, you would’ve wanted to go to Surrender. I barely ever get to see you outside of that place.” To see the real Bastian. “And besides, I definitely like how you look when I catch you by surprise. Our plans fell through for tonight, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do just that.”
A flash of heat spread through her as her eyes roamed over him once more. She ran her hands along his warm arms then slid them inward to caress his hard pecs. She wanted to bury her head in his chest and breathe him in. To have him wrap his arms around her and hold her so tightly there would be no space between them. To feel him hard against her.
Yep, definitely ready to feel him inside me again.
As if in response, he dropped the towel, grunted, and pinned her to the door before she could blink. His long body pressed into her exactly how she’d wanted. He grabbed her arms and raised them over her head, holding them together with one hand. The longing in his eyes—the fire—burned her to the core.
With his free hand, he feathered his fingers down the sensitive flesh on the underside of her arm, the touch so soft it almost tickled. When his hand came to rest at her side, right at her breast, he slipped his thumb between their bodies and played with her nipple.
Her heart sped. He touched her chin softly, tilted her head upward, and brushed his full lips over hers. Slipping his hand behind her head, he fisted her hair and pushed his hard shaft against her.
He groaned, only it wasn’t his normal pleasured sound. More like he was in pain. He pulled away even faster than he’d closed in.
Nicole dropped her arms, let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and panted for a few seconds. Bastian bolted out of the foyer and into the living room before she steadied herself enough to walk.
By the time she entered the room, he stood at the brick fireplace with his back to her, one arm outstretched, hand on the mantle. He leaned on it, breathing heavily. She stopped, unsure if she should give him a minute or go to him and see if he needed help.
“Bastian, are you okay?” Her voice cracked from concern.
He cleared his throat and held up his hand as if to tell her to stay back. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be fine.”
The rasp in his voice made her heart sink. He didn’t sound fine at all. Both of his hands were planted on the mantel now. He coughed a few times.
She ran to his side and rubbed his back. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
After a few deep breaths, he lowered his arms and stood up straight. “Nothing. Give me a little space, will you?” He strode away without turning to her.
She followed as he retrieved the towel, but when he ignored her and charged up the stairs, she looked around dumbfounded. He’d never been short with her like that. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, fighting back tears.
What did I do wrong?
Maybe he wasn’t ready to resume their sexual relationship. Although, from the way he took her at the door she’d have a hard time believing that.
Not wanting to be the pushy girlfriend, she gave him the space he’d asked for and waited in the living room.
Her single visit to his house before this had lasted only five minutes—and that had been near the beginning of their relationship. They had left Nocturnal Surrender after someone accidentally bumped into him, spilling a drink on his shirt. He had stopped at home to change before they went to a late movie. He hadn’t taken the time to show her around because they were having such a good night and wanted to get on with their date.
A quick glance around the room didn’t offer much new information about him. There were no pictures, no decorations or knickknacks—not that she thought someone like Bastian would have those. The only sign of the man who lived there was an empty beer bottle on the dark coffee table.
She hadn’t noticed the first time, but the theme of the entire room was dark. Brown leather couch and chairs, mocha walls, wood floor. Even the curtains looked more like they were meant to keep the sun out rather than make the place feel homey.
The room almost gave her the creeps. She sat on the edge of the couch, bouncing her leg. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t lived here long enough to spruce up the place. After all, he’d only been in Langsville a few months, and she had known him for most of that time.
That had to be it.
Still, she needed to get out of the living room. Nearly fifteen minutes had gone by and Bastian hadn’t come back down. She went out to the hall and called for him but received no response. In fact, she hadn’t heard any sounds at all since he’d run up there.
Could something have happened to him? What if he needed help?
She bit her lip and paced, contemplating if she should invade his privacy and go find out.
What the hell am I doing? He could be lying up there having a heart attack or something. Sure, it was unlikely for someone so young and healthy, but what if?
She took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh then headed upstairs to take care of her man.
~***~
Light footsteps pattered outside Bastian’s bedroom door.
“Shit.”
Why hadn’t he closed it? He’d barely been able to calm himself from the lust-filled stupor Nicole had elicited. If he wouldn’t have gotten away from her when he did, she’d have seen his fangs come out and his eyes change to silver. No way could he explain that.
He hated hiding his true nature from her, but it was still too soon to tell her, and he didn’t want to manipulate her mind again. One day she would find out about all of that and the less he’d done of it, the less she’d hate him for it.
He hadn’t intended to take so long, but he had been racking his brain trying to come up with a way out of this. She’d made her intentions perfectly clear—that she was ready to resume their sexual relationship—and he had given in momentarily, forgetting to hide his secret. Every time they’d had sex before he was already vamped out and didn’t have to worry about arousal bringing on the change.
Nicole was quiet, but even from his ensuite bathroom he could tell she waited just inside the bedroom door. Her heartbeat pounded in his ears. Her sweet perfume mixed with her distinctly feminine scent made him want—
No. Don’t get worked up again.
If he didn’t stop, he’d be vamped out in no time.
“Bastian?” Her angelic voice drifted along the air, merely a whisper.
“I’ll be out in a minute.” He checked in the mirror to ensure no hint of silver clouded his eyes, braced himself to resist her, and strode into his bedroom. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so abrupt before—”
“Are you hurt? You had me worried sick.” The concern in her voice contrasted with the anger etched upon her face. Both emotions rolled off her in a swirl of confusion.
He shut down his ability to feel what she did and fought the urge to listen to her thoughts. Both were habits he wanted to break.
After turning to his dresser, he rifled through a drawer to grab a T-shirt and attempted to act nonchalant. “Don’t be. There’s nothing to worry about.” He then blurted out the only thing he could think of. “It was just a little asthma attack.”
What was the alternative? Oh, did I forget to mention I’m really a vampire? Sorry about that. But yep, bloodsucking murderer, at your service.
Why couldn’t he find a nice female vamp instead of always falling for mortals?
Well, not that he loved Nicole yet or anything like that. After all, it had only been a few months. He was far too old to fall in love so quickly—again.
But he knew that wasn’t true. It was just his defenses on high alert with the current situation. He’d already admitted to himself how he truly felt.
His arms shook as he yanked out a black shirt and slammed the drawer closed. Fuck. What’s wrong with me? She caressed his back with soothing strokes, just as she had in the living room. Unfortunately, his body had the same damn reaction as before.
Electricity shot through his veins, his cock jumped, and his fangs ached to descend. He fumbled with his shirt as images of grabbing Nicole, tossing her onto his bed, and ravishing her played across his mind. He trembled as he attempted to rein in his inner vampire.
Allowing the shirt to fall to the floor, he leaned down, put both hands on the dresser, and closed his eyes. Thanks to his ragged breaths, he didn’t have to fake anything to make it appear as though he was having another asthma attack.
In all his years, he never understood why these mortal afflictions still plagued vampires when they had no need to breathe or for their hearts to beat, but now he thanked whatever higher powers there might be for giving him a body that could easily pass as human—especially with Nicole so close.
“Do you have an inhaler? What…what can I do to help?” Her voice quivered.
Huh? What the… It took him a minute to realize what she meant. “Yeah, in the bathroom. I’ll be fine, though.”
She had been rubbing his back the entire time, not helping matters, and he couldn’t hold the monster inside at bay much longer. He wanted her so badly, and not only physically. As much as he didn’t want to let it, her tenderness once again made him ache for what he’d lost so long ago. The one thing immortals needed as much as humans.
Love.
That one thought pushed his arousal over the edge.
His fangs extended. Pressure built in his eyes as they shifted. He stood up straight and, meaning to rush to the bathroom and calm himself, opened his eyes as he gasped for breath...
Facing Nicole’s gaze in the mirror.
Shit.
His feet wouldn’t budge. He blinked a few times, immobilized by the fear and confusion in her eyes.
Yeah, I suck! Pun intended. I had to leave you on a cliffhanger.
It’s usually hard to pick what excerpts to share, but this one came to mind immediately when I decided to do this. There are too many great scenes to choose from, if I do say so myself, but this one gives you so much fun stuff.
So what would you do if you were Nicole? I’d offer my neck and tell Baz to bite me!
Thanks for reading this far. I know it was a long one. Be sure to leave me a comment, like, and share! And subscribe if you haven’t already!