Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
The dress-like robe cuts a deep V at the neck, showing off my breasts. I try to tug it closed, but it doesn’t work. Cara moves in behind me and expertly ties it in the back. The garment molds to my curves. It’s utterly unlike the shapeless clothes I prefer to wear at home. The ones I’ve told myself help me blend in so no one notices I’m not enough. Those boring black pants and shapeless shirts didn’t stopped my ex-husband, Michael, from always telling me I need to lose twenty pounds and bleach my hair blonde. Blonde is lovely but not for me. My auburn hair is the only thing I truly like about my looks. I’ve tried to lose the weight. It didn’t work.
Beck didn’t seem to mind my weight.
“Bloody hell. You’re gorgeous, sweetheart. Seriously, you are one fucking beautiful consort. Look at that glow.” The words came from behind where I stand, peppering out in quick order. “Are those tits real? No one has real tits where I come from. Fucking plastic surgeons screw up everything. Pretty soon we’ll all have plastic dicks, and what fun will that be? Let me tell you something, babe, the day they come for my cock and fangs is the day I leave my home plane forever.”
The man is one slick-looking vampire. Perfectly white fangs peek from behind sensual lips, so there’s no denying what he is. He’s a vampire.
And I’m not home anymore.
The truth washes over me but I manage to stay some sort of calm. This is the most ridiculous situation I could ever be in. Dateline didn’t prepare me for this shit.
I’m apparently going to be forced to be some kind of bondmate or consort to a man I don’t even know.
So why do I want to see him again? Why am I not fighting my way out?
“Oh, no, Mr. Dellacourt,” Reeve says with a shake of his red cap. “The tourney is about to begin. Her viewing is over. If you wish to buy an entry, there is still time. However, her viewing is done.”
The vampire named Dellacourt shakes his head. Strangely, the vampires are the closest thing to a normal human I’ve seen so far, if one forgives the fangs. This particular vampire’s skin is light, almost alabaster, and his green eyes are like emeralds. Like his fellow vampires, he’s dressed in an elegant approximation of a business suit. They seem to wear somber, deeply colored jackets. The blacks and grays and navys seem almost luminous. Dellacourt wears black from head to toe. A sleekly cut jacket reaches his knees and a matching vest completes the look. The only color he has on is a ruby red shirt that peeks out from under the vest. His trousers and loafers are midnight-colored as well. Unlike Beck, the gnomes, and the other men who came to “view” me, the vampires seem to have left the feudal era behind.
“Yes,” Dellacourt says slowly. “We need to talk about that. What would you say if I told you I could triple your business on this sweet thing?”
Reeve sighs, and I decide that he and Dellacourt probably have a long history, and not a lot of it good. “I would say that the day I start listening to a slick vampire salesman is the day my wife should carve me up with a piece of wrought iron.”
Cara nods somberly. “I have it all ready, too. The minute he goes soft, I’m taking him out.”
Cara holds out her small hand, and I take it. There are a million and one reasons I’m not fighting my way out, the chief being I have no idea how to fight. Back home I carry a little canister of pepper spray with me. Not that it did me a ton of good since I’d been overwhelmed by the… What had they called it? Planeswalker. Someone had mentioned the Planeswalkers brought the gnomes goods to sell.
I have no idea how to get home. It’s time for me to play along until I can figure a way out.
If I even want one.
The little gnome starts to lead me out of the tent into the sunlight. It’s warm on my skin and the daylight seems to caress me. I cannot deny that it is beautiful here.
Dellacourt doesn’t miss a beat.
“Seriously, I can make this a very profitable venture for you, Reeve.” Dellacourt follows us into the sunshine, and I hear a small whirring sound. I watch in shock as sunglasses form around the vampire’s eyes. Dellacourt grins down at me. “Nanites, babe. Those are tiny computers, to the less technologically advanced. All of our clothes and accessories have nanite tech in them. They are intensely useful little fuckers. Of course, every now and then they band together and try to take over the world. Hey, what’s progress without the occasional apocalypse?” He turns to Reeve again. “Back to my point. I only need a few hours. I’ll give you a half million in gold, and all you have to do is delay this tournament until, say, eight o’clock.”