Cindy Spencer Pape - Exploring Ari.pdf - Exotika Ellora's Cave - link999

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Exploring Ari

ISBN 9781419922947

Edited by Mary Moran

Photography and cover art by Les Byerley

Electronic book Publication July 2009

The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in

part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing,

Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of

this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or

print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement

without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and

a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print

editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your

support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales

is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

E XPLORING A RI

Cindy Spencer Pape

Acknowledgments

Thanks as always to my critique partners and author friends who have always

encouraged me to branch out and try new things. To my long-suffering husband who

just plain encourages me and is always ready to help with “research”. And finally to the

readers who make it possible for me to keep telling my stories. A book without readers

is a very lonely thing, so thank you!

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the

following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Detroit Tigers: Detroit Tigers, Inc.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail : Monty Python Pictures, Limited

The Princess Bride : Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lion Corp.

Exploring Ari

Chapter One

Why had I let my friends talk me into this?

I looked around the crowded biker bar and sank even farther back into my

shadowed corner.

This was so not my scene. So why had I let my two best friends drag me here

tonight?

Oh yeah. To celebrate my hundredth birthday. Quite a milestone, even for a

vampire, hitting that first century mark. I’d been turned just before my eighteenth

birthday by a selfish man I thought I’d been in love with. He’d seduced me away from

my home in New York, turned me then kept me a virtual prisoner, dependent on his

every whim. He’d never even taught me to feed myself. But he had made me immortal

and after fifty years, he’d dumped me, starving and helpless on the streets of Chicago.

“Is anyone using this?” A man who looked barely old enough to drink turned from

the crowded table next to me and pointed at the fourth stool. Since there were only two

other drinks on the table, I smiled and shook my head. He thanked me then dragged the

stool over to the empty table, leaving me once again on my own and watching other

people have fun.

So here I was on a cold March night in suburban Chicago at a bar called Lunatics. I

sipped my white wine cautiously and watched Danette and Jessamy gyrating with two

leather-clad hunks out on the dance floor. The two female vampires had found me,

taught me to survive, even helped me get my first job. I owed them everything.

If it was my birthday, how come only those two were celebrating?

“Come on. Let’s dance.” A big, burly guy in a black leather jacket loomed above me,

grabbed my hand and pulled me off my barstool.

Cindy Spencer Pape - Exploring Ari.pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: