Read Online Hot Summer Bites: A Castle of Dark Dreams Novella (A Penguin Special from Berkley Sensation) by Nina Bangs - Free Book Online
Authors: Nina Bangs
Ads: Link
and calm.
Losing his temper wouldn’t help the cause. He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is your decision. What’ll it be: authentic tales of hot sex from an actual witness—who, by the way, is Italian and therefore appreciates all things sensual—or unsubstantiated claims of nonhuman entity sightings? People will read both articles, but one of them pays a lot higher dividends.”
She was thinking about her choices way too long. He was insulted. Her week’s tour through Live the Fantasy with him would be a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Six hundred years of learning what women wanted guaranteed that.
He pushed aside the uncomfortable feeling that he was pimping himself out with this deal. It wasn’t like he’d be having sex with her at every attraction in the park. He’d just be making up erotic stories about things that had never happened there. If he could preserve the Castle of Dark Dreams as a place where all his friends were safe, then it was worth it.
The tiny part of his brain dedicated to truth was laughing its ass off. Like it would be such a great sacrifice if he had to make love with Kristin. Uh-huh, right.
Kristin studied him as she tried to figure out how she could have both stories. Fact: Eric could take away her memory of everything that happened here. But if she made note of this possibility as soon as she got back to her room along with info about what had happened so far and e-mailed it to Connie, her best friend, then she could have her cake and eat it, too, so to speak.
And Taurin was a triple-layered Italian-cream cake. “You have a deal. I get info on all the sexual events you’ve witnessed, and I keep my mouth shut about all the paranormal stuff.”
Sure, she felt a little guilty about lying, but she couldn’t pass up a chance at the biggest story of her life. She’d salve her conscience by sharing her profits with Taurin. And in the end, her story would be great for Live the Fantasy’s business. They’d rake in a fortune when people swarmed the place.
“Uh, just to satisfy my curiosity, why don’t you want anyone to know you guys exist?” They’d be superstars. Larry King and Bill O’Reilly would fight for the right to interview them. David Letterman and Jay Leno would joke about them. Couldn’t get bigger than that.
“Once humans know we exist, there’ll be a certain segment who’ll want to destroy us. Humans have a history of killing what they don’t understand, either on religious grounds, or out of fear, or just for the hell of it. If you wrote that story and convinced enough people it was true, then lots of them would come sniffing around. All nonhumans would have to leave the castle, because we couldn’t take the chance that one of the humans might get lucky.”
Okay, now she felt really guilty. Unbidden, thoughts of her San Antonio vampire story surfaced. Was there a chance those vampires were for real? Had she driven them away from their homes? No, she wouldn’t think about that now. She had to stay focused on Taurin and what he was offering.
“I’ll be recording our sessions. How do you feel about that?” This was the last hurdle. “Oh, and don’t worry about the park’s reputation, because I’ll make sure the public knows this stuff wasn’t sanctioned by the management. It’s just that the park does such a great job with its fantasies that people get carried away.” That should ease any guilt he was feeling about ratting out his employers.
“No problem as long as you don’t use my name.” His expression gave nothing away.
Now that the business side of the discussion was over, she didn’t know what to say. She had a thousand questions about his life as a vampire, but she’d wait until they were on their way back to the castle. Something about the moonlit beach didn’t lend itself to work-related chatter.
“So, I guess we can go back to the castle now.” The adrenaline rush had worn off, and reality smacked her right
Losing his temper wouldn’t help the cause. He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is your decision. What’ll it be: authentic tales of hot sex from an actual witness—who, by the way, is Italian and therefore appreciates all things sensual—or unsubstantiated claims of nonhuman entity sightings? People will read both articles, but one of them pays a lot higher dividends.”
She was thinking about her choices way too long. He was insulted. Her week’s tour through Live the Fantasy with him would be a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Six hundred years of learning what women wanted guaranteed that.
He pushed aside the uncomfortable feeling that he was pimping himself out with this deal. It wasn’t like he’d be having sex with her at every attraction in the park. He’d just be making up erotic stories about things that had never happened there. If he could preserve the Castle of Dark Dreams as a place where all his friends were safe, then it was worth it.
The tiny part of his brain dedicated to truth was laughing its ass off. Like it would be such a great sacrifice if he had to make love with Kristin. Uh-huh, right.
Kristin studied him as she tried to figure out how she could have both stories. Fact: Eric could take away her memory of everything that happened here. But if she made note of this possibility as soon as she got back to her room along with info about what had happened so far and e-mailed it to Connie, her best friend, then she could have her cake and eat it, too, so to speak.
And Taurin was a triple-layered Italian-cream cake. “You have a deal. I get info on all the sexual events you’ve witnessed, and I keep my mouth shut about all the paranormal stuff.”
Sure, she felt a little guilty about lying, but she couldn’t pass up a chance at the biggest story of her life. She’d salve her conscience by sharing her profits with Taurin. And in the end, her story would be great for Live the Fantasy’s business. They’d rake in a fortune when people swarmed the place.
“Uh, just to satisfy my curiosity, why don’t you want anyone to know you guys exist?” They’d be superstars. Larry King and Bill O’Reilly would fight for the right to interview them. David Letterman and Jay Leno would joke about them. Couldn’t get bigger than that.
“Once humans know we exist, there’ll be a certain segment who’ll want to destroy us. Humans have a history of killing what they don’t understand, either on religious grounds, or out of fear, or just for the hell of it. If you wrote that story and convinced enough people it was true, then lots of them would come sniffing around. All nonhumans would have to leave the castle, because we couldn’t take the chance that one of the humans might get lucky.”
Okay, now she felt really guilty. Unbidden, thoughts of her San Antonio vampire story surfaced. Was there a chance those vampires were for real? Had she driven them away from their homes? No, she wouldn’t think about that now. She had to stay focused on Taurin and what he was offering.
“I’ll be recording our sessions. How do you feel about that?” This was the last hurdle. “Oh, and don’t worry about the park’s reputation, because I’ll make sure the public knows this stuff wasn’t sanctioned by the management. It’s just that the park does such a great job with its fantasies that people get carried away.” That should ease any guilt he was feeling about ratting out his employers.
“No problem as long as you don’t use my name.” His expression gave nothing away.
Now that the business side of the discussion was over, she didn’t know what to say. She had a thousand questions about his life as a vampire, but she’d wait until they were on their way back to the castle. Something about the moonlit beach didn’t lend itself to work-related chatter.
“So, I guess we can go back to the castle now.” The adrenaline rush had worn off, and reality smacked her right
Similar Books
