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| Merry Christmas! |
Sometimes a monster really is hiding under the bed.
Welcome to another offering for Frisky Friday, where we hope you're getting as excited about the weekend as we are. This week, I'm sharing an excerpt from my 1st book, Mortal Illusions. A vampire romance published by New Concepts Publishing, Mortal Illusions is currently the first in a series of 3 books. Its sequel, Fatal Desire, is currently under production.
This snippet occurs at the beginning of Chapter 6. Germaine St. Justine and Claire Daniels are both attending the opening night festivities of Germaine's newest musical "Dracula." Claire's mother died the day before, and Germaine dedicated their opening night performance to her. Though Claire is grateful for Germaine's support, she has grown more and more convinced he is a vampire and was once her mother's lover. So, when she begins spouting accusations that Germaine is truly undead, he suggests their backstage doctor sedate her enough to calm her down so she can complete her performance. Claire is furious with him for avoiding her questions and overriding her wishes in the matter, but finishes her performance and attends the opening night party, since she doesn't want to do anything that might ruin the occasion her mother had most wanted to see. Claire's Broadway debut. However, Claire isn't handling her grief well, and when she begins her third glass of champagne, Germaine intervenes by lifting the filled flute from her fingers with the warning that alcohol and tranquilizers don't mix as he escorts her over to the buffet and begins filling a plate for her. When she presses him for information, he dismisses her questions as nonsense. But Claire is determined to get Germaine to tell her the truth about himself, including the real reason he went behind her back and fired her dresser. When he remains close-mouthed, she demands he prove he's not a vampire.
.
.
Germaine wanted to shake her. “You can't prove a negative, Claire. Besides, why should I make claims to prove
I'm not something, when you have no proof that I am?”
She picked up a stuffed mushroom and
held it to his lips. “You could prove me
wrong simply by eating this.”
He could, but the price he'd have to
pay when his system eventually rejected the offering caused him to discard the
notion, as tempting as it might be to finally win this battle. Perhaps if he truly believed he could
dissuade Claire so easily, he'd do it and suffer through the hours of
convulsive cramps while his vampiric anatomy rid itself of the offending
substance. But he feared the young woman
confronting him would not abandon her quest until she was confident she'd
gotten to the truth. And there were
other, less painful ways he could change her mind if she would only be
sensible.
Glancing again at the curved fungus
cap filled with deviled sea scavenger, he toyed with the notion of planting the
idea that he'd actually eaten the damn thing by passing it before his mouth
then pocketing it. Disgusted with
himself, he rejected the deception, even more quickly than he'd rejected the
reality as he gently pushed her plate back.
“I'm allergic to mushrooms,” he replied quietly.
Though Germaine is concerned about Claire, he's more worried by the notion she has discovered the truth about him. Vampires do exist, and walk among us, but if an uninitiated human suspects, the vampire is supposed to clear the mortal's mind of such foolishness. Germaine finds such tactics distasteful, but he may not have a choice in Claire's case. They are too closely connected.
M/F, Contemporary vampire romance in a society based on D/s.
Read the first three chapters at: Mortal Illusions
Buy the book at NCP, Amazon, Barnes & Noble or ARe.
Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed this brief excerpt and wish you and yours a very Frisky Friday.
Great snippet Kathryn, love that he rejected the idea of deceiving her, although I wonder if his answer will only fuel her suspicions. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas.
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Roz