Sunshine and the Vamp (Morozov Family #1)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Benji

T he barrel of a gun stared straight at me. I was going to die. Right here in the back of this alley that smelled like week old sashimi and stale piss. My brain was going to decorate the wall behind me because there was no way that I could dodge a bullet from a gun that was aimed right at the middle of my forehead.

Maybe I could do that thing in the movies where they slap the gun and make a run for it. How far away from the main road was I? I glanced over the shoulder of the guy holding the gun.

“Don’t,” the man said. “Please, don’t.”

His voice was smooth, dark and way too nice for a murderer. How was I supposed to survive this? I’d just wanted to help Charlie. The guy had seemed like he could use a friend, and I was trying to be a decent human being and look where that got me. In a shitty alley about to die at the hands of some smooth-talking bastard. Maybe I shouldn’t have had all those shots. I think they’d given me a misplaced hero complex.

Besides, I’m sure Charlie shot this guy. He should be dead.

Why wasn’t he dead?

Maybe Charlie didn’t really need a friend after all.

Fuck.

Wait a minute.

Was I bait?

Oh my God. I was, wasn’t I?

That asshole.

I’d bought him a drink and tried to help. And after the worst day of my life, I’d just wanted to have a good time and forget all about Dr Kingsly, his ego, and his manipulative ways. Maybe I should have just sucked Kingsly’s dick. I’d have no self-esteem, but at least I wouldn’t be staring at the barrel of a fucking gun.

“I’m sorry for this, but I need you to come closer,” the man whispered.

Why didn’t he sound like some archetypal villain? He just sounded so… polite . Like he was asking for a coffee and was sorry to be putting me to the trouble of making it.

“Why?” I asked.

He huffed a breath. “Because I’m asking you to.”

Probably had something to do with the fact that he was in the shadows, and I was standing in a bright shaft of moonlight. But fuck it. He could get as frustrated as he wanted. If I only had a few minutes left with the ability to make decisions, then I was going to make some.

“If you want to kill me, then you’re going to have to come closer to me.” I folded my arms across my chest.

“Fine,” he growled, and it set the hairs at the back of my neck standing to attention. Maaaybe I shouldn’t have pushed him.

He shifted forwards into the shaft of moonlight and holy fuck.

The guy was too pretty to be a murderer. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, like the ocean bathed in sunlight, and his face was all angles with a jaw sharp enough to cut glass. Damn, I think I’d lose a finger tracing those lines. The only thing that took away from his prettiness was that there was no expression on his face. Nothing to give away what he was thinking. What kind of person had no emotion — Wait.

A psychopath.

Fuck.

Fucking fuckity fuck.

I really was going to die.

“I’m not going to kill you,” he said softly and lowered the gun.

“Ha! Like I’m going to believe that.” I was actually really hoping I could believe that.

Dark tendrils of hair fell over his bright blue eyes as he shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not going to kill you.”

“Riiiight. And the gun is for what? Shits and giggles?”

His eyes flashed. For a second, I thought they had turned silver, but that must have just been a trick of the light. The bright blue orbs stared straight at me with a steadiness that made my stomach churn.

“No, but if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you the second you set foot in this alley.”

“What about Charlie?”

His lips pulled back in a snarl. “I will find him, torture him and then watch the life bleed from his eyes.”

Wow. Okay. That was kind of aggressive. And why was he telling me this if he wasn’t going to kill me? “I have a question—”

“Why am I telling you all this?” He cocked an eyebrow and damn if that didn’t make him look like he’d stepped off the cover of a magazine. “Because, whilst I might not be killing you, I cannot let you go.”

“Wh-what?” My heart lurched in my chest and the man’s eyes dropped to my throat.

“You’ve seen too much.”

His eyes stayed trained on my throat, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. Was there a mark there or something?

“Come here. Now.” His voice dropped to a throaty rumble that went straight to my cock. But I was going to ignore that because this was not the time or place to be thinking about getting laid. Jeez, there must be something wrong with me if I was thinking about sex whilst staring death in the face. It had to be adrenaline. Right? Either that or I was discovering I had a kink I knew nothing about.

Again. Not the time or place.

I swallowed, my mouth drier than the dessert. “No. Please, just let me go.”

A frown dipped over his narrowed eyes. He stared at me for the longest time, his gaze dark and assessing. And God, it was quiet. And I was nervous. And shit, I could feel the word vomit about to explode from my mouth.

“Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die. I was just trying to help, and I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything. I mean, who am I going to tell? There’s only old Mrs Mickles who lives next door, and she never leaves the house and—”

A hand slammed over my face, cutting off the tirade of shit spewing from my mouth.

The mystery murder man grunted. “You talk too much.”

Only when I was nervous.

Or about to die, apparently.

I took a deep breath through my nose, trying my best to calm my beating heart. Not that it did me any good. I’m sure the guy could feel it vibrating through my chest where he was pressing me against the wall. Oh God, I think I stepped in something disgusting.

I whimpered against his hand.

“I know,” he said calmly. “This won’t hurt.”

He’d lied to me. I was going to die.

I kicked my feet out, but he deflected the blows and pressed his knees into my legs and locked his hips against mine. I couldn’t do anything but struggle. My breath came fast and shallow, my skin turned clammy. I clawed at the hand over my mouth, but he was surprisingly strong.

The pretty psycho brushed a curl off my forehead, the soft gesture at odds with the manhandling the rest of his body was doing. “It will all be over soon.”

Another whimper escaped.

“Hush now,” he soothed, his eyes impossibly bright. Then he grinned like a wolf, all teeth and voracious.

This was it.

He lunged towards me and a sharp pain lanced through the side of my neck.

I didn’t even have a chance to scream.