Three prizes to be rewarded. One will be given away tomorrow! So be sure to post!

So, still not convinced? How about a heroine with two great big problems–two alpha males circling around her, tempting her out of her self-imposed isolation? Here’s a scene with her new partner, Alex. Poor Chessa’s waited a little too long to feed…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex had surprised her with his cunning and his strength. And especially with his cool-headed reactions. He had experience. Lots of it. She could see why he’d been assigned as her partner.

Not that she was ready to concede she needed a new one. He was still too distracting—too much sexy male stuffed into blue jeans that hugged his ass and his glorious package.

God, she had to get off that one-rail track. Nodding to the bouncer at one of the last bars still open in the Quarter, she jostled roughly past patrons looking for a place to ride out the chaos outside.

The bar was one of her favorite haunts, one she’d used to introduce Natalie to the glories of a casual feeding.

She headed down a narrow corridor at the back to the secret room—the blood bar. She’d worked up a raging thirst. To hell with what her partner thought. He’d see the real her in a minute, and maybe, he’d ask for that transfer before she had to pitch a fit with the brass.

Inside, only acoustic guitars played. The air was stifling hot and stunk of too many bodies standing too close together. It suited her fine. The heat intensified the aroma of the blood. Muted voices and laughter didn’t mask the sound of dozens of beating hearts.

A slightly built man with long dreadlocks brushing the tops of his bony shoulders sat on a stool with his elbows resting on the bar behind him.

Her choice made in an instant, she walked up to him. “Fed anyone tonight?”

His chocolate gaze slid over her, and his eyes widened. “Been waiting for you, babe.”

She gave him a feral, heated look—all the warning she’d give him this wouldn’t be a gentle feeding.

His sex stirred in the front of his loose pants as he stared. “Gonna need a dark corner?” he said, his voice purring.

“Suits me fine,” she bit out.

He canted his head to the corner of his choice and slid off the stool, wending his way through the bodies blending erotically together on the dance floor.

Chessa followed, all her attention on the man leading her into the darkness. She hadn’t had enough of Nicolas’s blood earlier to blunt her appetite. Now, her thirst ruled her, knotting her belly. Dread-man might be just an appetizer. She needed to feast, to fill one hunger to the exclusion of the other that had been steadily growing with every hour spent with Alex.

Dread-man stopped in a corner behind a large silk potted plant. “How do you want me?” he asked, his tongue sliding over his full lips.

“Our clothes stay on,” she growled.

Looking only mildly disappointed—after all the man knew he was going to get a mind-blowing release—he shrugged. “Whatever the lady says.” His gaze cut away, and he nodded to someone behind her. “He going to feed, too? Not that I have any objections.”

She whipped around to find Alex standing behind her, his legs braced apart, his arms crossed over his chest.

His expression was watchful, tense. “Just keeping your back.”

“Get lost,” she snarled.

“Don’t think so. You look ready to explode. Don’t want to have to pull you off your meal.”

“I’ve been doing this before you first sucked a tit.”

Eyes narrowed, he stepped close and leaned down, his lips hovering above hers. “He’ll feed your thirst. Let me feed your lust,” he whispered. “We’re partners, remember?”

Jesus H. Christ! Trembling now with need, Chessa could barely get her mind around what he offered. A thin, mewling moan clawed its way out of her tight throat.

“Shhhh,” he crooned, slipping an arm around her back, pulling her hips flush with his. “You can have this,” he said, caressing her with his thick cock through their clothes. “But you can’t ever bite me, hear?”