How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) (Love at Stake) (31 page)
Read How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) (Love at Stake) Online
Authors: Kerrelyn Sparks
Tags: #paranormal romance series
“I think he did,” Jimmy said, beaming his flashlight on another puddle. “Looks like he barfed it up.”
“Huh?” Howard looked closer. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
Neona ran her hands over Zoltan from head to toe. No broken bones. No injuries that she could see. Her vision blurred with tears. Her Zoltan was alive and safe.
The hole overhead lightened as the sun came up in the valley.
“Crap,” Howard muttered. “Now he’ll go into his death-sleep. We won’t be able to tell if he actually dies on us.”
Neona quickly felt his neck again. “He’s fine. He still has a pulse.”
“What?” Howard pressed his fingers against the other side of his neck. “Holy crap! How is he alive?”
Neona looked at the pool close by. “The Living Water. He drank it so he could survive.” She cupped some water in her palm and lifted Zoltan’s head. The water dribbled on his mouth and down his chin.
“Wake up, Zoltan! You have a wedding to attend. A son to raise. And a dragon boy who still needs to be rescued!” She cupped some more water and tried again. This time his mouth opened.
Howard looked up at the opening. “Find us a cup. Or a bowl. Quick!”
A tin cup was dropped down, and Howard caught it. “Okay.” He passed it to Neona.
She dipped it into the Living Water, then pressed it against Zoltan’s mouth. He drank.
“Sheesh!” Jimmy jumped back. “He’s alive during the day!”
Zoltan’s eyes flickered open, and he looked at Neona. “You’re here.”
“Yes.” She tilted the cup, and he drank more water. A tear ran down her cheek. “I don’t know whether to hug you or scream at you. How could you risk your life like this? Don’t you know how much I love you?”
“Your house, your valley was destroyed. I thought I could at least find a way to the Living Water for you.”
She set the cup down and held him against her chest. “You silly man.” Tears streamed down her face. “I thought I had lost you.”
“I tried to teleport out,” he whispered. “But I couldn’t.”
“I know.” She stroked his hair.
“I’m hungry. The blood doesn’t work for me anymore.”
“Give us some of that fish!” Howard shouted.
After a few minutes, a package was dropped down, and Howard caught it. The fish was wrapped in a piece of cloth. He handed it to Neona, and she opened the cloth.
Zoltan sat up and stared at the light overhead. “It’s daytime. I can see sunlight.”
“Right, dude,” Jimmy said. “And you’re about to eat real food.”
Zoltan gave the fish a wary look. “I haven’t had food in almost eight hundred years.”
“Here.” With a smile, Neona pinched off a hunk of fish and placed it in his mouth.
As he chewed, his eyes widened with amazement. “It’s good.” He grabbed another piece of the fish and stuffed it in his mouth. “I’m not sure what has happened to me.”
Howard knelt in front of him. “I think you’re back to being human. Well, an immortal human like Neona.”
“Shit, dude!” Jimmy punched the air. “You un-undeaded yourself.”
Neona started crying again.
Zoltan gave her a bemused look. “Did you have your heart set on a vampire?”
“I’ll take you however I can get you.” She sniffled and touched her stomach. “And the baby will, too.”
Zoltan blinked.
“You’re pregnant?” Howard jumped to his feet. “What were you doing working all night?”
“I wanted to make sure this baby had a father,” Neona cried. “I was so afraid I had lost you.”
Zoltan wrapped an arm around her. “You can’t lose me. I never quit until a job is done, remember?”
Jimmy snorted. “Looks to me like he got the job done. I mean, she’s pregnant, right?”
Howard shoved his nephew on the shoulder. “Climb up the rope. Bring them more food. He’s starving, and she’s eating for two.”
“Yes, sir!” Jimmy saluted and climbed up the rope.
With a sniffle, Neona wrapped her arms around Zoltan’s neck.
Howard cleared his throat. “I’ll give you some privacy.” He climbed up the rope, and his nephews hauled him out.
“You’re really pregnant?” Zoltan whispered.
She nodded, wiping the tears from her face. “I cry so easily now. It makes me feel silly and weak.”
“You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. You healed me, not only my body, but my heart. I love you, Neona.”
“I love you, too.” She cuddled up against him. “I thought I had lost you.”
“You couldn’t lose me.” He kissed her brow. “I still owe you climax number ten.”
She laughed. “Are you still thinking about sex?”
With a smile, he glanced up at the hole. “Your cat is glad we’re all right. He wants to live with us. And Norjee. And the baby.”
Neona sighed. “That will be wonderful.”
His smile faded. “I’m so sorry you lost your house. I’ll try to rebuild it for you.”
“I don’t need the house.” She touched his cheek. “Wherever you are, that will be my home.”
He gathered her close. “And my home is in your heart.”
KERRELYN SPARKS is the
New York Times
bestselling author of a series that mimics its sexy heroes by refusing to die. Now up to book fifteen, the Love at Stake series spreads laughter worldwide in thirteen different languages. In spite of a tendency to nibble on necks or howl at the moon, Kerrelyn’s vampire and shapeshifter heroes are still wonderfully romantic.
Please visit
www.kerrelynsparks.com
, where you can read excerpts, play vampire games, or join the forum. Kerrelyn loves hearing from readers, even those who howl at the moon. Letters may be sent to PO Box 5512, Katy, TX 77491-5512.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
HOW TO SEDUCE A VAMPIRE (WITHOUT REALLY TRYING)
. Copyright © 2014 by Kerrelyn Sparks. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition MAY 2014 ISBN: 9780062107756
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062107763
FIRST EDITION
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