"She's mine, she's my duty."

***

Alice POV

I don’t know how it could be her time. My mother, a kind woman, is lying in a decorated cedar box.

My stepfather, clutches at his chest, in pain I know he does not feel. Just the day before she died, he slapped my mother across the face and called her a “worthless bitch.”

He only wanted her money.

***

When I was in the car. I turn my eyes toward the window and watch the cemetery as it fades from view.

That’s when I see him.

A man, tall, dressed in black. He’s pale, almost luminescent. His dark hair is slicked back. He lifts his head and looks right at me. 

I feel like he’s staring right into my soul.

***

Rhys POV

I should’ve never taken the girl.

That bastard stepfather is a fucking nightmare, a gambler, and he deserves to die. 

The bastard said, "Please, Mr. Severin. At least see her. I was certain to teach her skills, she's like her mother, well, there’s always the bedroom.”

"Shut up!!" I can't stand his disgusting voice.

"Sir, she's not worth two million dollars." My man advises.

The truth is, I have felt some sort of pull toward the young lady since I first laid eyes on her at her mother’s funeral. The forlorn look in her eyes would be enough to break a person’s heart.

I couldn’t leave her, after all. Not with that bastard.

"She's my duty, I can't resist."

We hid in this world for so long.

Having complete control over myself has always been a characteristic I am proud of, but even I found myself salivating when the scent of her sweet blood filled my lungs.

*** 

Alice
After my mother’s death, my world shattered. My stepfather didn’t just steal my inheritance—he sold me to the man he owed a debt to. Now I live in a mansion perched on the edge of a cliff, surrounded by strangers who speak in riddles and disappear in the night. My new guardian, Rhys Severin, is cold, impossibly handsome, and completely unreadable. But as strange things begin happening in Duskmoore House, I can’t shake the feeling that something dark is watching me… and that Rhys may be hiding more than secrets behind those silver eyes.

Rhys
Taking in Alice Heathe was supposed to be business. A debt repaid. But from the moment she stepped into my home, she stirred something long dead in me. Something dangerous. I’ve kept my nature hidden for centuries, but the longer Alice is under my roof, the harder it becomes to ignore the craving—for her blood, and her body. She doesn’t belong in my world of shadows and secrets… but fate may not care what either of us wants.

Sold to My Beloved Vampire King

Turning Up the Heat

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

*Rhys*
Slipping out of bed before Alice wakes up seems to be a habit. It shouldn’t be too surprising since I don’t require the same sort of sleep that she does, but just once, it would be nice to awaken to her bright blue eyes watching me sleep.
Not this morning, though.
Duty calls, even if I don...

*Rhys*

Slipping out of bed before Alice wakes up seems to be a habit. It shouldn’t be too surprising since I don’t require the same sort of sleep that she does, but just once, it would be nice to awaken to her bright blue eyes watching me sleep.

Not this morning, though.

Duty calls, even if I don...

Ashes to Ashes

The Price We Pay

It's Been Decided

She's Not My Daughter

She's Yours Now

A Drive in the Rain

Welcome to Duskmoore House

What About Her?

Out With the Tide

Where is Everyone?

Fear and Confusion

Just a Little Blood

Dr. Lombardi

Just as I Explained

All Apologies

An Escape

I Don't Trust Him

He Can't Hurt Her Again

The Face of a Monster

To Sleep Perchance to Nightmare

Checking In

As a Doornail

All Is Well

Keep Talking

Pianos and Problems

Run, Alice, Run!

She's Back

Turn of the Lock

A Warning

It'll Be Over Soon

An Invitation

A Bad Idea

You Don't Have To

Risky Business

Dinner and Daggers

At My Throat

Appease the Beast

Something's There

Waking Nightmare

Voiced Concern

No Secrets

You're Leaving

Classical Music and Catastrophe

Broken and Stabbed

Get Out!

Not Tonight

Behind Closed Doors

From Dream to Nightmare

Touch Me, Rhys

Sleep With Me

Dressing a Cat

Back to Normal

Fly Away

Return to Duskmoore

The Eagle Has Landed

A Date?

A Denial

Unwell

Invasion of Privacy

True Confessions

Friendly Advice

Aren't We Friends?

A Gift From the Heart

Play Us a Tune

La Boheme

Bring Her With You

It's a Date

Moth to the Flame

Meeting Molly

Bell of the Ball

Taken by the Master

Scolded

The Morning After

Ti Returns

Love in the Library

Something's Not Right

Concerns

Bloody Wine

He's Sick

A Mistake

Get His Mind Off It

Picture Worth a Thousand Words

Who Is She?

I Don't Trust Her

Alone for Two Seconds

A Phone Call

More Than a Sliver of Silver

Away From Duskmoore

The V Word

House of the Dead

Putting a Plan in Place

What if It's True?

Closing in on Candy

The Refrigerator Tells All

Shot to the Heart

Part of the Truth

Banshee

Facing the Vampire

We Need to Go

Eaten by the Vampire