Rose was seeing red, her heart pounding too hard for her to appreciate Saint’s sense
of humor. “I’m remembering why I hate vampires again.”
Mac coughed. “
Most
vampires, Rose. Isn’t that what you meant?”
The tall vampire turned to her and held up his hands. “It wasn’t the only reason.
So much attention on an actual vampire instead of a fictionalized re-creation was
bound to fray nerves. And while I do admit to a touch of professional jealousy, the
consensus to render judgment was reached unanimously when it was learned that the
fans had gathered enough signatures for the bidding studios to consider hiring the
original actors for the film.”
Thomas whistled. “Didn’t see that coming.”
Still typing on his phone, Saint raised his hand. “I did.”
Mac sighed and shook his head. “We have no intention of playing ourselves in a movie.”
The vampire moved closer to Mac. “You will if you want us to back off.”
“Excuse me?”
Rose shared a confused look with Thomas.
“You will
all
be in the movie, give as many cocky interviews as possible
and
allow yourselves to be photographed by the paparazzi. Our people will go to work
immediately. By the time the movie releases—”
Mac interrupted him with a smile. “I see.”
She didn’t. “What? You see what?”
The expression in his eyes when he looked at her was passionate. Tender. “We’ll be
a disappointment. A letdown after an overblown buildup. The worst movie adaptation
ever made. Something that only comes on in the middle of the night, if at all.”
Thomas rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and shook his head. “By the next
year, everyone will have forgotten us. Forgotten we exist. Again.”
Saint sniffed. “Speak for yourself please, shifter. I’m unforgettable.”
She looked at Mac again. “Is that what you want?”
He nodded, and she could see something in his eyes that didn’t frighten her anymore.
“The only thing I want more is you.”
She held out her hand to the blond giant. “It’s a deal.”
“Tell me how you did it again?”
Mac watched Rose smile as she slipped her earrings in at the dressing table of the
Nevada hotel room. “I let us see your castle in Scotland, let
Magnolia
see the humiliation scene she’d been hoping for…but every human in the audience thought
they were watching us perform our romantic duet.”
He moved closer, his hands caressing her bare shoulders. “All at the same time? And
you say you aren’t the talented one in your family. Did we win?”
She laughed. “You know we did, Mac. Jolene and Hobie got to break ground on the new
school library last week.”
It felt good, knowing he helped make that happen. It was liberating, stepping out
of the shadows. For a while. After they’d agreed to be in the movie and the press
found out about the singing, the offers for a recording deal had started pouring in.
Mac had simply handed them over to Saint, knowing he would make them go away.
Soon it would be over. The popularity. The attention. Soon, he’d take Rose to his
family home and spent the rest of his eternity making sure she never wanted to leave.
“How did you do that other thing?”
She stood up from her chair in nothing but her underwear, reaching for the dress she’d
planned to wear for their celebratory performance at the Belly Up Bar. She’d been
looking forward to it for days. Rose and Ume had quickly bonded and Margo was…well,
she was a different kind of woman than Rose was used to. Kind. Compassionate. Human.
Rose deserved kindness. She deserved everything.
“I
said
,” she spoke patiently over her shoulder. “What other thing are you referring to?”
He reached for her waist and whirled her around until her large breasts were pressed
against his bare chest. “That thing you did when you made the grumpy vampire fall
in love with you.”
“Oh that.”
“Yes.”
She slid her arms around his waist and cupped his jean-covered ass. “I’ll never tell,
rogue. Not unless you make me.”
“I can do that.” Mac kissed her gently. Her lips. Her cheek. “I might need your special
brand of
inspiration
, since I left most of my interrogation tools at home.”
He watched as the room changed before his eyes. Rose backed away from him and held
up her arms, which were instantly cuffed to a Saint Andrews Cross in a club full of
people watching them and cheering them on.
She did like to be watched, his demon lover. Mac didn’t mind, as long as he was the
only one who got to touch her. He noticed the table heavily weighted with wands and
whips, her favorite vibrator and a butt plug. “I admire your attention to detail,
Rose, I really do.”
Her skin flushed. “Thank you. I take pride in my work.”
“With all of this at my disposal I’m certain I can make you talk.” If he could make
himself wait.
“Please try.”
He bent his head and bit down firmly on her nipple before soothing it with a gentle
lick.
“Unfair.”
“I know you like that.” So did he. God, he’d been right. He was never going to get
enough of her. Every day he wanted her more, and every night he looked forward to
the next. After all this time he finally had something to live for.
Rose.
He reached for the lubricated plug with a shaky sigh. He loved watching her take this.
“I think this will do for now. If you can remove these obstacles.”
“
Yes
.” The cross disappeared, leaving two posts behind to keep her arms bound—the way
they’d been in that first fantasy. One of his favorites.
“This is your projection, my love. Yes what?”
“Yes, Sir?”
“That’s right.” He walking behind her and placed one hand between her shoulders, watching
as she bent forward as far as the chains would allow. “Are you ready to talk?”
“Never, vampire. Do your worst.”
“How about my best?”
She shuddered as he slowly inserted the toy, his restraint slipping away with every
soft whimper from her throat. “God that’s good, love. You like that?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Do you want more?”
She shivered. “Always.”
Need hit Mac’s frame and shook him—made his hands tremble. She really had put a spell
on him. That was the only explanation. “Someday I’m going to be able to hold out longer
than you can.”
Mac gripped her hips and slid his erection between her already damp thighs. “But it
won’t be today. Jesus, Rose, you’re going to kill me.”
The crowd watching them cheered and reached for each other, bodies writhing on the
floor in reaction to Rose’s arousal.
She really did have an eye for detail.
Mac couldn’t tease her, couldn’t hold back long enough to play out this fantasy. Not
today. Not until he’d gotten this frenzied reaction to her a little more under control.
It could take weeks.
Centuries.
“Love you,” he muttered as he pressed his lips against her neck, his arms tight around
her waist to hold her steady while he pumped inside her. “Love you, wild Rose.”
“
Mac.
I love you too. So much. Don’t stop. Don’t you
dare
stop.”
Never.
“Folks, I’m more excited than I can tell you to see so many new faces in Belly Up
tonight. Hobie and I know you’re waiting for our very special guests and the winners
of the Las Vegas singing competition that saved our school, Mac and Rose.”
Jolene cheered with the crowd and then leaned in again. “You may not know this, but
Hobie and I aren’t exactly good with computers. We had no idea our hero was a
Hollywood actor
when we met him. That trickster even told us his name was Angus, if you can believe
it. And now, he and the fellow stars of
Shifting Reality
are going to recreate their roles on the big screen!” She sniffed. “He’s a good boy
so I hope you’ll all go out and support him when it’s released. And Hobie and I have
been invited to the premiere, so if you see me with something fattening in my hand?
You just say two words to me.
Red carpet
.”
The microphone buzzed and she squinted, looking around the room. “They’re running
a bit behind, I’m guessing? But until then, I’m told by her husband that one of Mac’s
dearest friends used to be a singer herself. Margo Lyons? Can you come on over here
and help me out before I get desperate and call Hobie up to do some beatboxing?”
When Margo—after a lot of chanting from the crowd and promises of sexual favors from
her husband—finally got on the stage, Saint smiled.
“She’s going to punish you for this. You know that, right?”
Thomas smiled. “She’s been singing around the house since we found out about the competition.
I just thought it was time for her to enjoy her gift again. And she has the sexiest
damn voice.”
He glanced up from his phone to see Ume smiling at him. “Speaking of sexy,” he purred.
“Are you sure you want to wait for Mac and my cousin? I have a feeling we won’t be
getting a performance out of them for at least a few more hours.”
Ume winked at him. “Rose really wanted to see us. From what I remember, it’ll be worth
the wait.”
“Dirty girl.” But he was easy. Whatever Ume wanted. His phone buzzed and he looked
down. “Interesting.”
Thomas was staring unblinking at the stage, but Ume leaned closer. “What is it, babe?”
“Manx.” Saint licked his lips. “You remember him, I’m sure.”
Ume blushed. “Of course I do. Is he okay?”
“Probably not. I think he’s rambling. Something about a naked genie in his computer
and a wish gone awry. I’m sure it’s fine.”
Thomas turned to look at him. “A what in his
where
?”
“A girl. Something about a girl.”
His friend’s green eyes darkened and he looked back up at his wife on the stage. “Isn’t
it always?”
Saint nodded, watching Ume’s hair fall in a shimmer of silk across her shoulders.
“And aren’t we lucky?”
Maybe he’d talk to the script supervisor in the morning. This scene was too good to
be left out of their movie. Unless he went against the vampires wishes and ensured
its success. Then he could add it to
Shifting Reality: The Sequel
.
Mac would kill him, but it might be worth it.
He didn’t want people to think he’d gone soft.
“I’m bad,” he muttered to himself in amusement. He responded to his friend’s cry for
help, realized the instant Mac’s GPS had turned on that they were on their way, bought
a present for Ume and added some new code to his videogame. “But they would all be
lost without me.”
Samhain Publishing
A Shifter, A Vampire and A Demon walk into a bar…
Shifting Reality, Book 1
Thomas Lyons is your average cat shifter. Cool, seductive…and bored out of his mind.
With the new popularity of all things paranormal, he doesn’t see why he should hide
anymore. When his half-demon technophile roommate hooks him up with a computer, Thomas
starts a blog announcing to the world who and what he is. Oddly enough, the more he
shares, the less he’s believed. In fact, people begin thinking it’s a new online series
with fantastic effects.
Margo Sheffield doesn’t dance on tables anymore, not since her reckless naïveté cost
her so much. These days, her only guilty pleasures are dark chocolate, shoes—and a
certain website with a man whose purring voice sends shivers down her spine. When
the show, Shifting Reality, offers a week in a haunted Scottish castle with the stars,
it seems a far-off dream. But when that dream becomes reality, her boss’s insistence
that she mix business with pleasure—or else—is more like a nightmare.
Thomas’s focus on the show is blown by the luscious, camera-shy handful. And Margo
can barely think about contracts when she’s surrounded by newlywed ghost hunters,
a matchmaking demon and a man whose addictive touch makes her head spin. A showmance
is the last thing she needs, but with a sexy cat like Thomas on the prowl…she just
can’t resist.
Warning:
Tons of explicit sex. A cat shifter with an oral fixation, voyeurism, anal sex, sex
in pantries, with ghosts…you get the idea.