Savvy My Heart_Love Bites
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Savvy My Heart: Love Bites
by Elliot Love
Wings ePress, Inc
www.wings-press.com
Copyright ©2009 by Elliot Love
First published in 2009, 2009
NOTICE: This eBook is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution to any person via email, floppy disk, network, print out, or any other means is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment. This notice overrides the Adobe Reader permissions which are erroneous. This eBook cannot be legally lent or given to others.
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Savvy My Heart: Love Bites
by Elliot Love
CONTENTS
What They Are Saying About
Other Works From The Pen Of
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
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Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Meet Elliot Love
* * * *
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by Elliot Love
Savvy My Heart ... Love Bites
Summer felt deliriously light—as if floating. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain followed by a sudden gasp and rush of heat, then unbelievable stimulation coursed through her body. She went limp in his embrace.
Savion inwardly smiled at her sweet response. He cradled her unconscious body while his teeth remained latched on her tender skin, biting down just hard enough to pierce a vein so that her blood trickled into his mouth. A streak of fiery heat shot straight to his groin, delivering the intoxicating sensation he had been without for so long. Bloody hell! He groaned while gently sucking the wound on her lower neck. She's a virgin! I've found her!
His renewed potency strained against the leather pants, aching for release. But he would not take her in that manner until she was ready for everything he had to offer. She belongs to me now ... of her own free will. 5
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What They Are Saying About
Savvy My Heart ... Love Bites
Savvy My Heart—Love Bites written by Elliot Love is no average Gothic tale. No. This is an exciting, upbeat vampire story like none I've ever read before. Not only is it not traditional dark fare, but it is sexy and kicky to boot. I loved its nontraditional flair.
Savvy My Heart—Love Bites is an entertaining read. Lighthearted fun! You'll love it.
Conger Books Reviews
Review Rate: 5
JoEllen Conger
Elliot Love's characters take you on a sensual journey of self-discovery in the belief destiny is worth waiting for. Savvy My Heart ... Love Bites is a great tale! Read it and follow your dreams.
*lizzie starr
Romance with a sparkling twist!
Savvy My Heart ... Love Bites redefines the vampire genre as it takes you on Summer and Savion's romantic yet dangerous journey. Watch as Summer, manipulated and blackmailed into marriage to a man she abhors, grows into a strong and independent woman, and as Savion, a romantic (and savvy) blood dragon, defies his closest friend and forsakes all others to find and hold onto his one true love. This is a story of friendship, loyalty, regret, and personal 6
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growth. But mostly it is a story of love. Each character takes on a life of his or her own. You will hear the roll of the ocean and taste the salt in the air, thanks to Elliot Love's wonderfully descriptive prose. Savvy My Heart ... Love Bites (the perfect title for this story) is a truly sensual and sexy vampire tale.
Linda Ciletti,
Eppie award winning author of Draegon's Lair & KnightStalker
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Other Works From The Pen Of
Elliot Love
Night Brigade—The Satellite
March 2008: Duped into a dangerous mission, Zoe challenges an evil fiend to the death in a winner take all battle. Members of Night Brigade are shocked to discover just who turns out to be ... the Satellite!
Night Brigade—Twilight War
September 2008: Distraught by haunting visions, Zoe soon discovers that she must fight the most terrifying battle of her life. Can she overcome deep betrayal and learn to trust her heart again in time to save her soul?
Night Brigade—Flamethrower
December 2008: A wicked pace is set as a new, immortal biker gang challenges Night Brigade to the death. Zoe unleashes hell on earth in a desperate attempt to foil Twilight's latest ploy.
Night Brigade—Fire and Dice
February 2009: Zoe becomes separated from her shadow while battling ghosts in a haunted casino. A shocking turn of events take the Flamethrower and Night Brigade into a world of darkness like they've never known.
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Savvy My Heart: Love Bites
by Elliot Love
Wings
SAVVY MY HEART...
LOVE BITES
by
Elliot Love
A Wings ePress, Inc.
Paranormal Romance Novel
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Savvy My Heart: Love Bites
by Elliot Love
Wings ePress, Inc.
Edited by: Karen Babcock
Copy Edited by: Elizabeth Struble
Senior Editor: Elizabeth Struble
Managing Editor: Leslie Hodges
Executive Editor: Marilyn Kapp
Cover Artist: Trisha Fitzgerald
All rights reserved
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Wings ePress Books
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Savvy My Heart: Love Bites
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www.wings-press.com
Copyright © 2009 by Susan Ostrowski
ISBN 978-1-59705-456-0:
Published In the United States Of America
August 2009
Wings ePress Inc.
403 Wallace Court
Richmond, KY 40475
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Dedication
To the man of my dreams. He'll know who he is if he reads this book.
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One
Summer knew it was wrong. Perhaps even risky. Yet nothing short of Ar
mageddon could've stopped her from making such a reckless decision. Now her heart pounded in her ears while she waited. The agonizing wait to see if she would win. She stared dreamily at her computer screen. What am I doing? I must be crazy!
Yes! Crazy in love with this sexy man! Even as the panic raced through her mind, she prayed to win. I must have his clothes. To feel that close to my dream man. I simply cannot lose this last auction.
Having won three Internet charity auctions over the past three weeks—stage clothes worn by her favorite celebrity, a rock star she'd fantasized about for thirty years—she felt compelled to complete the ensemble with this garment. The first three were surprisingly easy to win and for a lower price than she'd anticipated. Two pair of white, designer jeans and a John Bartlett, button-down, white vest. However, the last vest being auctioned—a very unusual denim piece by McQueen—had attracted many bidders.
Glancing anxiously at the sofa, she wondered how her sleeping "husband" would react if he discovered her new purchases. No, he can never know about these. While staring at the monitor her thoughts drifted back over the past thirty years. Eric had been her legal spouse in every sense—but not by her own choice. One rash act in her youth had bound her to a cold-hearted man for a lifetime. I 13
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should've killed Eric, too. But Summer was no murderer, despite what Eric said.
* * * *
The night she shot and killed her own father, her actions had been in complete self-defense. After years of abuse at the old man's hands and watching him ruthlessly beat her mother, she had been forced to gun him down. His attacks had become increasingly worse, making her fear for their lives. The brutality showed no signs of letting up. Arriving home early from her job at the local grocery store one night long ago, she caught her father in bed with another woman while her mother worked. He obviously had known by the look in Summer's eyes that she had no intention of keeping it a secret. His lover made a hasty exit, but Summer had no such luck. A firm hand grabbed her hair as she was on the way out the bedroom door and threw her to the floor. She scooted against the far wall on the other side of the bed to avoid his heavy hand.
After ripping the phone cord from the wall, he blocked her way out with a verbal threat that made her skin crawl. She made a split decision to stop him forever and reached into the nightstand drawer for the .357 Magnum she knew was always loaded. He would never hurt her or her mother again.
Eric had been peering through the bedroom window of their ranch home on that fateful night. His lust for her was no secret. Fifteen years her senior, he used the experience of age to manipulate and blackmail Summer into marrying him. 14
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She had been frozen with shock, standing over her father's lifeless body, when Eric burst into the room.
"Summer! What have you done?"
"I-I had to stop him." She watched in what felt like a surreal haze as Eric slipped on a pair of gloves, then began pulling dresser drawers out and smashing the lamps.
"What are you doing?"
"We have to make this look like a break-in. I'll help you."
"But I'm not the guilty one. He was going to kill me." Eric continued trashing the room, then stuffed jewelry and cash into his pockets. She didn't seem to have the presence of mind to stop him. He took the gun from her trembling hands and tucked it into the waist of his pants.
"C'mon, Summer. You've been with me all night. We'll call the police from my house, tell them we heard a noise and I ran over to check it out. Then I'll tell them I saw a man running from the house."
"But that woman knows I was here."
"Don't worry about her. I'll take care of it."
"This isn't right."
"It's the only way. I won't let them take you away from me." He grabbed her hand and led her away. Summer balked. "No, Eric ... no. It was self-defense!" His eyes glimmered eerily. "Not the way I saw it. You shot a man in cold blood. There's not a mark on your body. I can always tell the police what I really saw. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Marry me, Summer. I've loved you for years. I can take care of you."
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"Marry you? I'm only eighteen! Why are you doing this?"
"To protect you and keep you safe. You deserve a better life." He almost sounded sincere.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll tell the cops you snuck into his bedroom, shot him dead and tried to make it look like a robbery." He dangled the gun in front of her with one gloved finger. "And I'll just hang onto this little piece of evidence to ensure your cooperation."
"My mother will back me up. She knows how violent and vile he was."
"Your mother." Eric laughed sadistically. "She has no backbone. Never could stand up to the man. You on the other hand ... you are strong and beautiful. Just the kind of woman I want as my wife. I need a wife. I'm in my thirties. My colleagues are beginning to ask questions." He cupped her chin with one hand and stared at her. An unsettling expression lurked in his deep, brown eyes. "Your mother is a weak woman, Summer. I'm sure she'll take a nice, fat payoff over an ugly, humiliating trip through court. Nobody wants their family secrets exposed."
Young and frightened, Summer believed that Eric had the ability to sway anyone towards his way of thinking. Born into money and power, he had everything a man needed to get his own way. Knowing this had played a critical part in her decision to marry him instead of taking her chances in court. So at the age of eighteen she accepted Eric's proposal in exchange for his account to the police that an intruder did the deed. Eric kept his word. After their wedding, her mother 16
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moved to the Bahamas. Summer had lost all contact with her since. And the woman Summer had seen in her father's bed was never heard from again.
Bound by a lie and a haunting secret, Summer upheld her duties as his wife—hoping that one day she'd be free.
* * * *
She sighed and shrugged as if to rid off an uninvited touch. Well, Mother, he can't hurt you now, and I'm paying the price.
One saving grace was they'd never had children. Eric's motives became clear when she discovered that an accident in his youth had rendered him impotent. Nobody wants their family secrets exposed. She recalled his exact words spoken so long ago. He'd seized the opportunity to buy himself a wife so his peers would never know about his infirmity. Male pride drove him to take drastic measures at her expense. And the
.357 Magnum locked in his safe kept her silent on the matter. Summer concluded she must be the world's oldest virgin living outside of a convent. A blessing in disguise actually. She'd never had to endure giving herself to a man who held her captive. Yet, on the other hand, Eric was a curse. She burned with lust at times to feel a man in every way a woman should—but not just any man. The man she wanted had to be strong, sweet and gentle. A man who would protect his woman while loving her with a tender touch. Not keep her in a crystal cage like a museum piece. She longed to make love to a real man who loved her unselfishly. Something she'd never known.
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Though she didn't love Eric, he did provide extremely well. She had become another one of his beautiful possessions. Set up in a lavish mansion with valuable artifacts, Summer felt like a china doll for Eric to display to his friends. As an art enthusiast he openly enjoyed showing off his purchased pieces of art with her on his arm, as they frequently guided friends and business associates through their extravagant home.
He never fussed about how much she spent, so the money in this case wouldn't be an issue. Explaining what she spent it on this time presented the bigger challenge. I can't very well tell him I bought another man's clothes!
Eric would never let me keep them
.
She could buy practically anything she wanted. Jewels, clothes, makeup. Even collectibles. Whatever it took to beautify and pacify her met his approval. Eric had given her one credit card to use as she pleased, and he paid the account. Once in a while she incurred a raised eyebrow from him when she maxed it out. Nevertheless, he paid the bill without complaint. Anything to keep his "little bird," as he called her, happy. She received the term of endearment because she loved to sing along to her favorite songs. However, he didn't know about her deeply hidden fantasies. They had provided a safe place to hide from her harsh reality. In that sacred place she imagined over and over falling into the arms of her dream lover. Eric knew of her fondness for Mirror Image's music. She owned all of their CDs. Yet, he never seemed to pick up on Summer's strong attraction to the band's flamboyant bass player. If Eric even 18
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suspected she had taken her infatuation to a higher level, she feared he might expose her past crime. Every now and then he mentioned the gun locked safely away and how he'd take her secret to his grave—a subtle reminder that her only way out would be when he died.
Spending an exorbitant amount of money to acquire another man's clothes definitely fit into the "higher level" category—something she knew Eric wouldn't tolerate. He would surely view it as another male invading his territory. Perhaps all men feel that way.
The thought of having such a delicious secret was almost as exciting as winning. But not if she didn't win this auction for the infamous white vest worn by her dream man on many occasions. A fourth win would give her two complete outfits seen by millions of people on his hot body, while he strutted about the stage bringing women to their knees in frenzy. She gazed at the auction photo with a longing sigh. He is so gorgeous! Then she said a silent prayer the final bid wouldn't exceed her credit card limit.
Oh, Summer! You're such a naughty housewife. She snickered softly then stole another look at the snoring lump not too far away. Dark brown hair peppered with gray stuck up over the pillow. He lay facing away from her. With a nervous sigh she entered her final bid in the last thirty seconds. An insane amount of three thousand dollars that would completely max out her card. Even so, it didn't seem to matter. All rational thought had fled her brain the moment the auctions had been announced. She'd never done anything to risk incurring Eric's anger—until now. I'm a bundle of 19