What my Heart Desires

Chapter 1

Present Day – Savannah, GA

I take a sip of my whiskey on the rocks. I savor the burn as it travels down my throat and leaves me with a warm feeling in my stomach. Damn, that feels good. It’s my one and only while on the job. Usually I wouldn’t have any, but I’ve been overly stressed lately.

I’ve never been here before. Night Crawler is the newest dance club and it’s been jam-packed since it opened a few months ago. Which is why I’ve been avoiding it. I like to dance but not when you are constantly bumping into people.

I scout out my surroundings. There are two exits, the entrance (to my right) and the emergency exit (left corner). The beautiful oak bar that I’m sitting at takes up one full wall of the club. There are a few high tables scattered around the edges as are some booths.

Then there is the dance floor, right smack dab in the middle. The music is good, and the energy is lively. Lot’s of people letting the stress of the week fade away.

I should be at home, snuggled up with my cat and a good book. But, no, my roomie decided that he wanted to go out.

Drake, loves to go out, party, and be a social butterfly. This is his domain, not mine. So why am I here, you ask? Well, turns out my latest bounty just so happens to also frequent this very same club.

Yes, I’m a bounty hunter. Believe it or not but you make excellent cash. It’s a stressful job and it can be dangerous. I compare being a bounty hunter to anger management/therapy. I catch bad guys who skip out on bail, and I have a license to get a little rough if they decide to get frisky. Win, win.

I had a lot of anger issues after my parents were murdered. To this day they don’t know who killed them. The file itself has been sealed tight and the investigation was closed after 2 years of no leads.

The officers assigned to my case wouldn’t tell me much. The only information they really gave me was that they were brutally murdered, and the house trashed. Of course, I’m doing my own investigation. In the mean time I had to learn how live without them.

I tried to go to college, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t focus on school. I’d look around campus and get suspicious of everyone. Even my friends, Olivia and Natalie lost touch after a while. Not that I blame them. I was angry, paranoid and depressed.

I dropped out and started waitressing at a local bar, trying to make ends meet.

I shake myself out of my musings and focus at the task at hand. My current bounty is a Mr. Kyle Hadley, who got his 5th DUI. He was supposed to have shown up in court this morning and when he didn’t, I got the call to bring him in.

His 5th DUI, man what has the world come to? I would have thrown his ass in jail after the first one. These types of jobs are so easy. No real challenge. It was like taking candy from a baby. Or in this case, money from Uncle Sam.

I was scanning the dance floor when Drake, my roommate and best friend, suddenly appears in front of me. “Gabby! I dragged your sorry ass out of our apartment to have some fun. Yet, here you sit at the bar!”

Drake is 5’9”, with a lean body like a swimmer. He has dirty blonde hair that is fashionably messy, with gorgeous hazel blue eyes. If he didn’t bat for the other team, I would have had him in my bed already. Though there are some days that I wonder if he is secretly Bi.

“I’m enjoying my drink Drake.” I take another sip. “See, this is me having fun.” I smirk at him. I love getting him riled up.

“No, absolutely not. Not tonight. You and I are going to go dance and show these losers how it’s done.” I barely had time put my drink down before being pulled onto the dance floor. I actually didn’t mind moving to the dance floor. I was starting to get a nice buzz from my whiskey and this way I can see if my target is on the dance floor.

A nice dance beat starts playing as we both start to dance. Drake and I met when I was at one of my lowest points in my life. I was drunk in a ratty ass bar, dancing my sorrows away, when I felt someone come up behind me. His hands went to my hips and guided me to the beat. We ended up sitting at a booth together after a few songs.

I thought he was nice looking guy and I was going to let him take me home. Too bad I passed out at the table before he could make a move. To my surprise he did indeed take me home, he also held my hair as I puked my guts out and made me breakfast. A perfect stranger.

We’ve been inseparable ever since. He’s now my best friend. He doesn’t know a lot about my past but that’s more for his safety.

He taught me how to dance. I don’t mean like line dancing either. I mean sexy dancing. We like to pretend to be a couple and get steamy on the dance floor to entice our prospects of the night. That way if either of us needs a way out, we have backup.

Drake runs his hands down my back to my hips. I turn so my back is to his front, grinding into him. He pulls me flush into him as he grinds into me from behind. I feel his lips next to my ear, “Let go Gabby. You’ve been overly stressed lately. Relax” He runs his hands up and down my sides, his slips his fingers under the rim of my skinny jeans.

“Feeling frisky tonight, are we Drakey-Poo? You know I’m on the job.” I say back. If I hadn’t seen for myself that he likes men, I’d think he was making s****l advances right now.

“You have a secret admirer at 12’oclock. He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you since I pulled you onto the dance floor. I’m just doing you a favor, Babe.”

Intrigued, I don’t look up right away. I bring my hands up to grip Drake’s head, and slowly look towards the bar in front of me.

What I see makes me freeze. My blood turns cold and my heart stops. No.

My past has found me. I knew it would eventually, but I thought I had more time. Staring back at me was the Lord of the Vampires himself, Drexel Menschheit.

Vampires, werewolves, and witches. Oh, My! Yes, they do exist, but it’s not widely known. Obviously, the government is aware and not too happy about it. Humans don’t like not being the top of the food chain. But a peace treaty of sorts has been settled and we have learned to all live semi-peacefully.

Every now and then you get a species that wants to rule the world. We disguise it as another war, and no one is ever the wiser. I was there for the last one. Let me tell you I would be ecstatic if I was never apart of one again.

Drake notices that I stopped dancing and followed my gaze. “What’s wrong Gabby? You know him?”

I debate on what to tell him when Drex starts prowling towards me. Guess he made the decision for me. “Yes…Donkey Kong.” Donkey Kong is our code word for emergencies and to know when to not ask questions. We set it up when we decided to move in together. Don’t judge me.

I turn out of his grasp and rush towards the bathrooms behind us. Drake is calling my name, and I’m sure he is running after me. What the ever-loving hell is he doing here!? Drex hates Georgia. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed in this area so long.

Since we are in a public setting, I know he can’t rush towards me like he wants without being caught on camera. I use that to my advantage as I push through the crowd.

In my rush I run into what feels like a rock wall before I make it to my safe haven. I go to push off the chest of the guy I just ran into, when I catch his scent and pause. It’s woodsy, the smell of the rain before a storm. Impossible, it can’t be. What are the f*****g odds?

I panic and try to bolt around him, hoping he didn’t realize who just ran into him. Lady luck is not on my side tonight. Muscular arms wrap around my waist tightly. I struggle and fight with everything I have to no avail.

With a sigh of defeat, I look up into a pair of amber eyes. They haunt me in my dreams along with a certain sexy vampire lord.

My skin tingles where his skin meets mine. My heart rate skyrockets until I’m pretty sure it will explode from my chest.

The look of utter disbelief and soul crushing sadness on his face, breaks what little of my heart remains. “Ella?” He says my name with such despair.

He was the only one who I let call me Ella. When we first met, he said I reminded him of Cinderella. Later, when he learned my full name, he thought it was fate. So, the nickname stuck. If anyone else tried to call me Ella, it usually ended with them unconscious and a black eye.

I can feel Drex coming up behind me. His presence demands attention. How I didn’t notice it sooner, is beyond me. I must be losing my touch. He comes so close I’m practically sandwiched between the two of them.

“You have a lot of explaining to do Gabriella.” He says coldly. His voice sounds like there is no life left in him but still contains a steely coolness to let me know he demands answers.

Which, to be fair I do. Considering they watched me die in front of their eyes 4 years ago.

“What the f**k is going on here?!” Drake shouts at us. He looks from me to the huge men that tower over me.

Fuck my life.