leaving a long trail of blood behind him. No better than the fabled sea monsters, and his reputation had grown to larger than life. How much was
myth and how much truth was something Skye was about to discover.
But there was also another story, one Skye knew by heart. Donté was one of the vampires who lived on the mythical island of Noctra--a place no
one had yet been able to locate.
His main mission was to discover the location of the vampirate stronghold. Skye had taken on this suicidal mission because killing Donté and all
the vampires of Noctra was a personal matter. Very personal. And he fully intended to succeed. That is, if the vampire didn't kill him first.
What did surprise him was the nature of the crew on this ship. He'd expected to find more vampires, but as far as he could tell, Donté was the only
undead. The remainder were all humans. Not ordinary humans by any means, but still living, breathing, heart-pumping humans. And they were all
men loyal to their vampire captain.
His gaze widened once he was inside the captain's cabin. He shouldn't have been surprised, not from what he'd already overheard.
A naked sailor was stretched out on the captain's bed and Lucienne leaned over him, his mouth fastened to the sailor's neck. The look in the man's
eyes was something Skye had never seen before. Like a moment of sublime ecstasy.
His feet were rooted to the spot as Skye watched Captain Lucienne feed from the sailor. Skye knew he should be horrified by the scene, but
instead he was held mesmerized by the eroticism playing out in the shadows of the bed.
Donté wore black breeches and a loose white linen shirt dotted with specks of red blood. His hand splayed along the side of the sailor's face, his
long fingers stroking his victim's jaw in a soothing manner. The sailor's eyes fluttered closed, his jaw went slack, and Captain Lucienne lifted away,
licking the last drops from his lips.
He eased the man back against the pillows.
"Come in, Mr. Templeton. You can set the tray on the table."
Then he looked at Skye. His black pupils seemed larger than any human's, not a speck of white visible. His fangs looked razor sharp. So much the
visage of a blood-sucking vampire, yet oddly, a breathtakingly beautiful aura beyond anything Skye had ever seen before. Vampire, and yet not.
Porcelain skin of such aching beauty, like nothing he'd ever seen before. So very different from the monsters Skye had disposed of in the past. He
almost seemed...more than human rather than less. The unexpected ache of arousal rose quickly to the surface.
The desire flooding inside him horrified Skye more than the act of watching Donté feed from the sailor. He could not allow himself to succumb to
the captain's mesmerizing attraction. He had been warned that it could happen, and he'd been so certain that it wouldn't. How naïve he had been.
He set the tray on the table and then quickly stepped away.
"Good, wine will help to revive him. You're just in time." It almost seemed he floated over to the table to pour some wine into a goblet and then just
as effortlessly returned to the bed. He held the glass to the sailor's lips.
Skye was afraid at first that the sailor was dead. But then he saw him gulp at the wine, draining the contents. Donté leaned down and whispered
something to the man. He stroked his face with his long, pale fingers. Skye had visions of those beautiful hands stroking over his own body, could
almost feel the touch. Then the man's eyes closed and Skye saw the deep rise and fall of his chest.
"He'll sleep now. I'm always so ravenous when I first awaken. It's good that Liam is a strong man."
Skye looked closer at the man lying on the bed and realized it was the ship's master carpenter in the captain's bed. He'd helped him with a repair to
the deck just the other day.
Donté stood and faced Skye. "I assume you know what I am, Mr. Templeton."
Skye took a step back and found himself up against the door. One moment Donté was next to the bed, the next his body was pressed against
Skye's. Skye felt a cold chill race alone his spine.
"Answer me, Mr. Templeton."
"I-I've heard rumors. You're a-a vampire. Are you going to kill me?" If he did, Skye's mission would have ended in failure. Not the first agent not to
return by any means.
Donté's deep laughter echoed through the room. "Is that what you think I have planned for you?" He cupped Skye's jaw. "Not at all." His black
gaze studied Skye closely. "How are you settling in, Mr. Templeton? My crew enjoy a good fuck and a rousing fight. If not one, then the other.
Would you like to join those who serve me and my ship, Mr. Templeton?"
"What will you do to me?"
"Whatever you want, my boy. I find you quite beautiful, as well as intelligent, and I think you'd be an asset to my crew. I'm certain they would