by Tami Lund
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and I found myself swallowing compulsively. Images danced through my head, of steamy kisses, of lips trailing across my cheek to my ear to nibble for a bit before shifting to my neck, where I tilted it just enough to expose the vein there…
I slapped my hand on the linen cloth hard enough to cause my wineglass to dance. I grabbed it to keep it from falling over, while the bartender gave me a dirty look and Cam paused with his own glass held a few inches from his lips.
He arched those heavy dark brows and nodded at the bottle in the bartender’s hand. “Did you want to sample it as well?”
Shaking my head and knowing I was blushing furiously, I said, “No,” and kept my gaze glued to the table, appalled at having such thoughts—about a vampire.
I hated vampires, had since I was six years old. Fifteen years of loathing did not allow for fantasies just because the guy saved my ass a little while ago. I wasn’t a blood courtesan; I didn’t want anything to do with that lifestyle or the vampires who condoned it. My goal was to find my sister—hopefully alive—and return her to our safe, if mundane, life back home, far away from vampires and their evil ways.
After a long pause, Cam’s sexy voice murmured, “It’s excellent,” and the bartender fill each glass half full before placing the bottle on the table. “Anya, would you care for some food?”
“You sure are obsessed with eating.” I thought vampires didn’t need to eat. That’s what my blood was for. No, not my blood.
His gaze dropped for a moment—was he looking at my lap?—before flicking up to my face. “I do enjoy … eating.”
“Really? That’s the lamest double entendre I’ve heard. And I grew up on a farm, so I’ve had plenty of exposure to bad jokes about sex.”
He chuckled and dismissed the bartender, much to her disappointment. “I grew up on a farm as well.”
Yeah, right. This guy? He was as sexy as Tom Hiddleston, as suave as James Bond.
Living and working on a farm lent itself more to the hunter-gatherer type, the sort who tucked in his flannel shirt when he had to dress up. That guy would also squash spiders in the middle of the night and was happy sitting around the bonfire with a beer in his hand. I bet Cam regularly wore custom-designed, three-piece suits. He probably attended plays and musicals and dined in fancy restaurants, too … Oh, and drank blood and killed his dinner when he was done with it.
I couldn’t quite suppress the shudder racking my body.
Those eyebrows shot up again. “Cold? Or nervous?” He nudged my glass. “Drink. It will help you to relax.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk?”
With an obnoxious eye roll, he lifted his glass and leaned away from me, draping one arm over the back of his chair. “Perhaps we should start over. Hello, Anya, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Cam, and I have no preconceived notions whatsoever about you. None. Now, it’s your turn.”
Glaring at him, I said, “Can you read my mind?”
“Nope.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you?”
“I’m beginning to suspect you won’t believe anything I tell you.”
“You’re probably right.”
He didn’t respond and instead signaled to the bartender. She practically leaped over the bar, so eager was she to do his bidding. It was sickening, and not because I disliked the way she drooled over him. Even if he saved me from who knows what out there, he was still a vampire, and they were bad news.
“Let’s have an order of steak tartar,” he said to her before shifting his focus to me. “This is an excellent vintage; however, if you are not much of a wine drinker, it would be better complimenting the appropriate food. And perhaps a tray of cheeses?” he asked, glancing back at the slack-jawed bartender.
She looked as if he’d put her under some sort of trance. Had he? Glamour, that’s what vampires called it. I dropped my gaze to the table and vowed not to look at his face again. I had no interest in that crap. He could probably convince me to ask him to make me a blood courtesan if he wanted to.
I saw him wave at my glass. “Try it. And no, I’m not going to glamour you to make you do my bidding.”
I glanced up sharply and narrowed my eyes. “So you lied about reading minds?”
He chuckled and sipped his wine. “No. You are easy to read. So far, I’ve determined you aren’t from the city and someone has filled your head with tales of my kind that make you dislike us, or at the very least, not want to associate with us. I admit, I’m curious as to the rest of your story.”
He leaned back in his chair and took another drink, as if he fully expected me to spill my guts. I glanced at the wine the bartender had poured for me. Did I dare drink it? I’d only ever tried too-sweet pink wine out of a box before. That was the night I’d ended up naked in the rafters of the barn with Sammy Montgomery. The next morning I woke with straw stuck into places it never, ever should be and a miserable hangover. When I called Sammy, he coldly informed me he’d gotten what he wanted and suggested I lose his number.
“Try it. It’s truly excellent, and I promise I haven’t done anything to it. If it eases your mind, the bartender is human, and I doubt she would doctor the wine in any way.”
“I figured she was human by the way she keeps gawking at you.”
“Gawking?” He arched one black brow, as if he could hear my racing heartbeat. For all I knew, he could.
“Yeah. I watched her wipe the drool away when she left a minute ago.”
He laughed. “If all it takes to swoon over me is to be human, why are you not doing the same?”
“Because I know better. You guys are bad news. You steal humans away from their friends and family and then you torture them, and when you’re done with your games, you kill them.”
The amusement fell from his face and he leaned forward with his forearms on the table. “Where did you hear such ridiculous tales?”
Fearing that glamour business, I focused on my wineglass instead of him, finally lifting it and giving it a try. It left a strange, almost dry sensation in my mouth, but it wasn’t bad at all.
“I’ve seen it. That’s what happened to my aunt.”
Keep reading on most ebook retailers… https://tamilund.com/prefer-a-paranormal-happily-ever-after/
Paranormal Romance by Tami Lund ~
Taming the Dragon Series
Dragon His Heels
Hungry Like A Dragon
Dragon in Denial
Bewitching the Dragon
Let Go My Gargoyle
Lightbearer Series
First Light (prequel #1)
Broken Light (prequel #2)
Into the Light
Dawning of Light
Light Beyond the Darkness
Change in the Light
Cupid’s Light
Twisted Fate Series
Of Love and Darkness
Prim and Proper Fate
Prisoner of Fate
(Blood Courtesans Vampire Series, written by multiple authors)
Resist
Eternity
All’s Fair: Love & Warlocks
Mirror, Mirror
Dark Moon Falls, Vols I & II
(Boxed set, written by multiple authors)
Lyall
Benjamin
Open the Magic, a Collection of Short Stories & Novellas
Contemporary Romance by Tami Lund ~
Sexy Bad Series (co-written with Misti Murphy)
Sexy Bad Neighbor
Sexy Bad Daddy
Sexy Bad Boss
Sexy Bad Escort
Sexy Bad Halloween
No Jerks on Monday (co-written with Misti Murphy)
Detroit Mafia Romance
Trapped by the Mob
Freed from the Mob
Tough Love Series
Naked Truth
Undercover Heat
Delicious Deception
Baby, I’m Home
Separation Anxiety
(free read available on T
ami Lund’s website)
Coming soon!
Bryant Brothers Series
Racing Home
To Love & Protect
The Right Tool
Picture This
Find Tami’s books here:
Tami Lund Website
If you’ve read one of Tami’s books, consider leaving a review on the retail site from which you purchased it. Thank you!
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Tami Lund is an author, a wine drinker, an award winner, and a lover of romance. She writes happily ever afters, one book at a time. You should sign up for her newsletter for updates, sales, free reads, and a regular dose of her quirky sense of humor: http://www.subscribepage.com/Tami_Lund
