Undying Embrace

By K.L. Bone

Death, Christabel thought bitterly. An inescapable fate that, for her, would remain forever elusive.

 

Life was perfect before he came. The vampire who shattered the world she knew. Handsome, intelligent, and charming, a single taste of Dracula's touch overrode Christabel's cautious sensibilities and left her breathless, craving a life beyond traditional expectations. A destiny of knowledge, which could only be found in the creature's eternal embrace.

 

Fueled by unquenchable passion, and a desperate belief that the brilliant Christabel might break the curse condemning him to darkness, the vampire prince will do anything to claim her.

 

As her traitorous heart opens, will Christabel resist the vampire's dark desires, or become his immortal bride?

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.L. Bone
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9798215713068

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Undying Embrace:

A Dracula Novella

K.L. Bone

Undying Embrace: A Dracula Novella © 2018 by K.L. Bone

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

First Edition: March 2018

Second Edition: May 2019

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Works by K.L. Bone

Rise of the Temple Gods Series

Rise of the Temple Gods: Heir to Kale

Rise of the Temple Gods: Heir to Koloso

Rise of the Temple Gods: Heir to the Defendants

Rise of the Temple Gods: Heir to the Prophecy (coming soon)

The Black Rose Series

Black Rose

Heart of the Rose

Blood Rose

Shadow of the Rose

Silver Rose

Princess of the Rose

Daughters of the Rose (coming soon)

The Flames of Kalleen

Embracing the Dragon

Releasing the Dragon

Forsaking the Dragon (coming soon)

Other Works

The Indoctrination

Forever Chosen: Vampire Brides

Immortal Skye: Vampire Mates (coming soon)

See www.klbone.com for more.

Death.

An inevitable fate that, for us, remains forever elusive.

Chapter I

1870

England

Curtains ruffled in the damp breeze, the only sound in a room previously filled with the hollow words of those who had come to pay final respects. After his solemn guests had departed, the dying man eased down into the bed’s pillows, visibly relaxing with a deep sigh, accepting, mayhap even welcoming, the fate to come.

Eyes closed, the change in the curtain’s sway should have been undetectable, no more than a slight pause followed by a curling of the hem.

You came, his voice weakly welcomed me. So unlike the way it would forever tease in my memories.

I crossed the room, my steps silent as I paused before the four-post bed. Drawing a breath, the sickly smell of his perspiration mixed with the decay of his dying flesh. An odor I knew all too well.

A part of me hoped you would not, instead remembering me only as I once was.

And the other part?

Desired to see you. He drew a deep breath and opened his green eyes, framed in age spots and clustered wrinkles, mortality’s calling card. My angel.

My lips curved to a tight smile, but there was no joy within the expression. An angel of death.

Fortunate, he answered, for death is my desire.

The words tore through me, tears stinging the corners of my eyes, yet I refused to allow them to fall. Christopher.

Forgive me, Christabel.

Forgive you?

I was too weak to let you go. Even though it meant handing you to the devil.

I drew a sharp breath, attempting to ignore the stench enveloping my first love. Do not let the past burden you. I hold no ill will. I pressed a hand to the side of his face, caressing the paper-thin, dry skin of his cheek. He looked so different from when we had been young. Treasured nights spent under the stars, riding through lush hills, and making love by firelight. Yet in his eyes, I still recognized the passionate spirit that had once burned so brightly.

Bell, he whispered the name none had called me by in nearly half a century. My beautiful Bell.

Christopher, I spoke gently.

His hand reached up to touch the silver chain around my neck, upon which the golden band of an emerald ring had been strung. I wondered if you’d kept it.

Until death do us part. I gave a bittersweet smile. Are you ready to meet the angels, my love?

He nodded. A fate I had been forced to grant repeatedly, but never to someone I had loved.

Leaning forward, I first kissed his wrinkled cheek before dipping down to his throat, where his collar had already been flipped aside in invitation.

I’m sorry, Christopher, I whispered, allowing my breath to warm his skin. I will remember you as you once were, long after you are gone. The touch of your hand, the press of your lips, the strength of your heart, and the sincerity of your love, until the end of time.

With that simple promise, I planted a soft kiss along the failing artery before plunging my elongated fangs through his skin to consume the blood within.

Chapter II

1820

England

My grandparents’ marriage had been quite the scandal among the upper echelon of British society. My grandfather, Lord George Seymour, a duke turned explorer in his youth, had met my grandmother on an expedition to Eastern Europe, while traveling through the mountains of Romania. When he returned with her as his bride, it created quite an uproar, or so I was told. Their eldest daughter though, my mother, was deemed an exotic beauty in her day, attracting the attention of the Marquess Charles Powlett, who married her shortly after their first meeting.

Did not wish to give her a chance to get away, he used to say with a charming twinkle. Your mother was, and is, the only woman for me.

True, lasting love was a rarity for those in the upper classes of British society, yet for our family, love was all we knew. I was an only child, and my father had never seen my gender as a hindrance to his title, which had been passed from father to son for generations. Appearing more similar to my fair father than my dark-eyed mother, my Romanian heritage was camouflaged under green eyes and luscious blond locks.

You’ve gotten your looks from your father’s family, my grandmother Vasilica would always say, "but your