Guest Post: M. Leighton

Hi, everyone! 

Thank you so much for stopping by this awesome blog and checking out my guest post:) You are getting ready to get a little, tiny taste of one of my secondary characters from my Blood Like Poison series. His name is Lucius and he is an older vampire with enough charm and charisma to be deadly to us females. Well, to our hearts anyway. He will be the focus of my next installment in the series and I hope to start his story at the end of the year. So, without further ado, here’s Lucius. Enjoy!

Chelsea had never interviewed a vampire before and, though she’d spent the night tossing and turning in excitement, now that the moment had arrived, she found she was a bit nervous. After all, she really had no idea what to expect. 

She was smoothing her skirt when the studio door opened. Her head jerked up and her soft brown eyes collided with sparkling emerald green ones. They held her completely captive for what felt like an eternity before she was distracted by movement. Chelsea’s eyes dropped just in time to see one side of the man’s mouth turn up in a lopsided grin. Chelsea felt the sudden urge to giggle, but she quickly squelched the impulse and cleared her throat instead.

Chelsea jumped when the door closed with a muted thud, effectively locking her in the small room with the man she assumed was Lucius. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it registered that she should feel afraid, but all she could muster was a nervous smile and a single breathless word.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself,” he responded, his lips stretching into a full smile.

When she said nothing, simply stared slack-jawed at his dazzling face, the man chuckled, a rich sound that set free a nest of butterflies in Chelsea’s stomach. As their wings fluttered wildly, Chelsea thought to herself that if black velvet could make a sound, that’s the sound it would make.

As the man made his way across the room to the two armchairs before which Chelsea stood, she took the opportunity to memorize his features. He was tallish, probably six foot or a little more, and he moved like a predator. His dark red hair was likely shoulder length, but was currently pulled into a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck. His skin was uber pale in that way she’d come to expect from a vampire, but otherwise his features were extremely pleasing in their masculine perfection.

He stopped in front of her, one coppery eyebrow rising in question.

“You must be Chelsea.”

Although her mouth was dry as desert sand, Chelsea managed to answer.

“And you must be Lucius.”

He simply nodded, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Where would you like me?”

Chelsea had never imagined that an Irish brogue could be so sexy, and yet there she was virtually melting beneath his suggestive question. Forcing her legs to move, Chelsea took a step back and silently indicated one of the two chairs.

Lucius lowered himself into the deep cushion and watched Chelsea as she flittered about nervously, seeing to the last minute details of the interview. Although she could feel his eyes on her, Chelsea felt slightly more composed when, several minutes later, she seated herself opposite him to begin the segment.

“Today on True Vampire Stories, we’re joined by Lucius, one of the oldest vampires living in the United States. It’s great to have you Lucius.”

“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you,” he responded lightly, his jewel-like eyes burning holes into hers.
Chelsea paused, momentarily losing sight of both her purpose and her manners. Before she could recover, Chelsea asked the first question that came to mind.

“So, is that an old vampire trick?”

“Is what an old vampire trick?”

“The way you’re charming me.”

Lucius’s lips curved into a devilish smile.

“Is that what I’m doing?” he asked playfully.

“You know that’s what you’re doing.”

“This is no trick, lass.”

“So, you’re not trying to charm me right now?”

Lucius tipped back his head and laughed, a deep, genuine sound that made Chelsea’s stomach flip over.
“Of course I’m trying to charm you, but I’m not using any tricks to do it.”

“You’re not, like, compelling me or anything?”

“No. I’m simply smiling at you. Is that a crime?”

“No, but maybe it should be.”

Still smiling broadly, Lucius leaned forward in his chair, bracing his elbows on his knees and tilting his head to one side as he considered Chelsea.

“Now, what kind of a man would I be if I didn’t try to win the favor of a beautiful woman such as yourself?”

Thank you so much M. Leighton for joining us and sharing this amazing guest post! (and of course that you to everyone reading!) If you want to see more of M. Leighton's writing you can find her here! Or to read the first book in this series click the cover below!