Seduced by the Vampire Billionaire - Book 1

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Tiffany Lofton ran with all of her strength away from her home. Each step sent hot jolts of pain through her body. A half-run was the best she could possibly manage. Blood trickled down her inner thighs and more down her arm; her lungs burned with every breath. If it weren’t for the fact that she was completely terrified, she might not have been able to move at all, but pain and the sharp kick of fear-driven adrenaline drove her forward. She had to get away, put as much distance between herself and the horror that followed.

Tiffany didn’t even know if Ralph had come after her—but she had to assume he had. Panicked, Tiffany glanced behind her.

No one was there.

No one she could see.

If Ralph had followed her, she had to believe he would stay out in the open. He wasn’t the type to hide.

Tiffany staggered, wheezing.

Run.

Tiffany knew better than to stop, but she couldn’t keep running. The pain was too much, and she couldn’t breathe. Tears streamed down her face.

Stupid to cry.

You stupid bitch.

That was Ralph. He was in her head. No matter how far Tiffany ran, he’d be with her. The sobs welled up from somewhere down near her stomach, pushing up through her lungs and leaving her throat in deep, animal-like sounds of grief. She bent over, clutching her stomach, somewhere between crying and throwing up on the sidewalk. The energy of the adrenaline that had propelled her out of the house began to fade as she stood there. Her heart was still pounding, but as the essential panic started to subside, Tiffany was able to feel the deep-down pain screaming from her legs, from her ribs, from her shoulder.

God, he got me bad this time. The thought sent a chill through Tiffany. It was close to the worst that Ralph had ever done to her. She trembled, realizing with a kind of deep dread that he wouldn’t want her to get away from him after the beating he’d given her—he wouldn’t want the evidence.

His words echoed in her mind.

“Get back here, slut!”

Tiffany had thrown something with her uninjured arm at Ralph as she rushed to the door. In that moment, there had been nothing on her mind other than the absolute certainty that if she didn’t manage to get out of her house, she wouldn’t live to ever leave it again. She wasn’t even sure what she had thrown; it had been heavy and cold in her hand—it had made a cracking, shattering sound behind her as she pushed through the door and onto her front lawn. She hadn’t looked back until the combination of pain and fatigue had gotten the better of her, making her stagger to a stop.

God.  Jesus. Her ribs were on fire and her leg felt as if it was packed with shards of broken glass. Just let me get away from that monster.

There was a rustling in the bushes behind Tiffany, and her flagging adrenaline shot up once more. She cried out in fear and, in spite of the pain rocking through her body, she moved, staggering as quickly as she could move down the sidewalk. She had no idea if it was Ralph behind her or just a stray cat, and she couldn’t afford to check.

But even her fear was failing her.

Tiffany’s heart pounded; she couldn’t run much farther. When her strength was gone, Ralph would catch up to her, and he would finish what he had started.

Where was she? A few blocks from her house, on a narrow street. It was late, and all of the windows were dark. Maybe if she knocked on a door, someone would help her. Probably not. She and Ralph didn’t live in a neighborhood where people got into other people’s business.