Vampires Prefer Blondes (Psy-Vamp Book 3)
Cassandra Lawson
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Date of Publication: 07/24/2014
ISBN: 978-1499565249
Number of pages: 218
Word Count: 63,838
Synopsis
He was an obsession. Like an addict, Lydia craved Dominic’s touch . .
. . until the day she died. Now, the memories of her time with him are
more like nightmares. As Lydia pieces together the events of the past
several months, the man who nearly destroyed her will stop at nothing to
get her back under his control. After all she has gone through, can she
put her trust in another vampire to keep her safe?
Distant and cold, Roman has gone through the motions of life for more than four centuries. No woman has been able to break through the ice encasing his heart . . . . until he saw her. Roman is captivated from the moment he sees Lydia fighting for her life in a hospital room. When his energy mingles with hers, the psychic vampire in him instantly recognizes her as his perfect mate and he will do anything in his power to keep her safe.
Distant and cold, Roman has gone through the motions of life for more than four centuries. No woman has been able to break through the ice encasing his heart . . . . until he saw her. Roman is captivated from the moment he sees Lydia fighting for her life in a hospital room. When his energy mingles with hers, the psychic vampire in him instantly recognizes her as his perfect mate and he will do anything in his power to keep her safe.
Prologue
The rhythmic sound of machines alerted Lydia that she was in a hospital. The familiar melody of death filled the air. After taking a deep breath, she let out a sigh. Most people found the antiseptic smell of hospitals upsetting, but it reminded Lydia of the last days with her father. An older child might have morphed those days into a tragic memory. Instead, she remembered her final days with a parent who loved her with all of his heart. She’d been too young to understand that her father was never coming home. For hours, they’d played Old Maid, Go Fish, Sorry, and Trouble. At the age of eight, she’d been too old for some of those games, but her father’s pain medication made it hard to concentrate. The games were ones her father had taught her to play.
Seventeen years later, those original games remained on the top shelf of the closet. As sick as it might be, hospitals reminded her of happy times. It annoyed her mom, and that made the memory sweeter. Yep, she’d been a weird kid.
How had she ended up in a hospital? Confusion and fear gripped her. Someone must have run her over with a truck. When Lydia forced her eyes open, icy blue eyes stared back.
“Dominic?” she said in a weak voice.
Dominic stroked her cheek. “Don’t worry, my sweet Lydia,” he said softly. “I’m going to take you out of here soon. My family won’t keep us apart.”
She stared at him, completely baffled. It’s not that she didn’t remember him, or even remember her own obsession with him. Lydia remembered those months of believing she couldn’t live without Dominic. There had been no limit to what she would do for him. Now, that obsession was gone, and she couldn’t figure out why she’d been obsessed in the first place. Sure he was attractive and exotic. That was her usual type, but she didn’t do the simpering can’t live without a man routine. That was her mom’s thing, not hers. The whole thing with Dominic was like a strange dream.
Except this wasn’t a dream, and Dominic wasn’t human. Every detail of that first night with Dominic came back to her. Of course she’d never forgotten the fact that he’d bitten her. The experience had been like something out of a vampire romance book. What came back now in a hazy dreamlike memory was him forcing a bleeding wrist to her lips while she was on the brink of unconsciousness. She remembered fighting.
Her eyes locked on Dominic’s hand which held hers. It was on the same side of the bed as the call button. Without taking her eyes off of his face, she tried to free her hand. Guessing her intention, his grip tightened.
“I’ll scream.” The threat sounded pitiful, little more than a whisper. There was no way she could scream loud enough to get anyone’s attention.
Dominic must have thought the same thing because he laughed and continued to stroke her cheek. “Even lying helpless in a hospital bed, you are the most passionate woman I’ve ever known.” The strain in his voice was evidence of his arousal. Normally, that would have elicited the same response in her. Now, it terrified and disgusted her.
“What happened to your accent?” The thick accent she’d always found so sexy and exotic was barely noticeable.
The lopsided smile he flashed might have looked boyish under other circumstances. “I forgot how aroused the accent gets you,” he said with his thick accent back in place. “Is that better?”
“You should leave,” Lydia said, hoping her voice didn’t shake. “I’m obviously not well if I’m in a hospital.”
The smile on his face slipped for just a moment while Dominic struggled with his emotions. That struggle was clear in the way his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Emotions back under control, his smile revealed distended fangs. “We should leave.”
When Dominic leaned in to kiss her, Lydia clawed at his face with her free hand and kicked wildly. The kicks were awkward with the blankets around her legs but still surprised him.
Rage, confusion, and hurt passed across his attractive features. “Don’t fight, Lydia,” he growled. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
“Aren’t you the reason I’m here?” she asked, satisfied with his shocked expression. “You know what? None of it matters. What we had was a mistake and it’s over. Just go, and I won’t tell anyone what you are. Go away and never come near me again.”
“Someone needs more medicine,” he said with a sinister grin. The grip on her hand near the call button remained painfully tight as his fangs bit into his other wrist.
Turning her head to the side, she refused to open her lips when the wrist pressed against her mouth.
“Fine!” The word was an angry hiss. “We’ll do this the hard way.”
The energy was rushing from her body, making her limbs heavy. The room spun, and her eyes drifted closed as waves of dizziness hit her. Everything seemed surreal and she felt detached from what was happening. Beeping monitors began to lull her into unconsciousness. The wrist pressed against her lips again and a hand applied pressure to her jaw until her mouth opened.
The surrounding commotion ruined her peace and threatened to drag her back to reality.
“What the hell are you doing?” that voice sounded familiar, but her eyes refused to open.
“Go away.” The insanity in Dominic’s voice was impossible to miss. “She belongs to me. You can’t keep her from me.”
More rustling and banging was followed by the sound of someone running down the hall.
Her eyes fluttered open for just a moment and locked onto icy blue eyes. Those eyes were the same color as Dominic’s, but she knew they weren’t Dominic’s eyes. An elephant had to be sitting on her chest. That was the only explanation for the pain. Still, she managed a moment of appreciation for the man standing over her. “Damn, you make Dominic look like a troll.” God, it hurt so much to talk. Hell, it hurt to breathe.
The comforting sound of a soft chuckle washed over her body, easing her pain.
“Am I dying?” Speaking was easier this time.
“No,” he said and a warm hand covered her heart, “you’re much too stubborn to die.”
Her eyes fluttered shut as the crushing pain in her chest eased. A warm sensation spread through her body, and then there was nothing.
Vampires Prefer Blondies
Bake time: 25-30 minutes
Preheat: 350ºF (175ºC)
When creating this recipe, I tried to keep Lydia’s personality in mind. I used parchment paper to line the pan because Lydia is the type of woman wants a quick clean up. She is also a woman who enjoys a sinfully indulgent treat.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Ingredients:
1 cup butter softened
¼ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small package vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups flour
1 bag mini chocolate chips
Directions:
Mix butter with brown and white sugar until it has a nice creamy consistency, around 5 minutes. Add eggs, pudding, ¾ cup brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until well-blended. Add baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix until well-blended and stir in chocolate chips. Take about 40 1/4-1/2 inch chunks of cookie dough and put them in a container to freeze for a couple of hours. This will leave you with extra cookie dough and I highly recommend you drop some larger balls of cookie dough on a cookie sheet and bake them at 375ºF for 11-13 minutes.
Blondie Batter
Ingredients:
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 box of yellow cake mix
½ cup milk
1 egg
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. This batter has a very thick consistency. Add in the frozen cookie dough. Spread this into the bottom of an 11x7 baking pan. You can oil the pan or line it with parchment paper. Bake 25-30 minutes. The edges will just be turning brown when it’s time to remove it from the oven. Allow it to cool for 30 minutes before cutting it into squares and serving.
GIVEAWAY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cassandra
Lawson is an author and homeschooling mother of three from the San
Francisco Bay area. She has always had a very active imagination and
loves making up stories. When she is not writing she enjoys baking,
spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a
good book.
Connect with Cassandra Lawson
Thank you for hosting this stop for the Vampires Prefer Blondes book blitz!
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