A Blessing in Disguise by Catherine Lievens
Being turned into a vampire is a malediction—or a blessing in disguise.
Dryden lost everything in the late 1800s when he sacrificed himself for the man he loved—his freedom, his lover, his humanity. He’s been a prisoner and a slave since then, and he knows there’s no way out of it except death. The man who turned him won’t let him die, though, and Dryden can’t see another way out.
Morgan has been looking for Dryden ever since he volunteered to take Morgan’s place for punishment after he robbed a powerful vampire. He knew Dryden was turned into a vampire, so he did the same. He and his maker, Silvester, have been drifting around following leads since then.
And now they’ve finally found Dryden.
EXCERPT
Dryden hated them. He hated being talked down to. He hated having to serve them, having to watch the depravities they got into and clean up after them.
But this was his life, and until he found a way to end it, it was what he’d have to go through.
“Talking about this makes me…” Lucia said.
Dryden hoped they were going to tell him to leave before they got naked. They were beautiful to look at and to watch, but it was like watching two venomous snakes ready to strike. And at least snakes were animals. They didn’t know better. Rochester and Lucia did, but they chose to behave like monsters.
“Leave,” Rochester snapped.
Dryden didn’t wait for him to repeat himself. He walked out of the room as fast as he could with the manacles around his ankles. The door slammed closed behind him, but the sound wasn’t enough for him not to hear the loud moan.
He shuddered in horror. Those two were terrible in normal situations, but they got worse when they wanted sex. He counted himself lucky that Rochester had never wanted him that way and that Lucia was too jealous to want to share her husband. Of course, what she didn’t know didn’t make her angry, but Dryden wasn’t going to be the one to point out Rochester had at least four other people in his life. Dryden might want to die, but he’d rather it happened in a more peaceful way than having Lucia tear his head off.
She hated him and who he reminded Rochester of. Sometimes, it gave Dryden a certain satisfaction, but he knew when to stop pushing, or when not to push at all.