Vampire queen.
Tanya cringed at the thought. For once she was thankful for being a little curvy. Most men were into wafer thin model types, so she would be safe.
The whole courtyard vibrated with an excited hum.
The two kings were royalty but they were also vampires. They drank blood for heaven’s sake. Had these women lost their freaking minds?
It was early afternoon yet you wouldn’t guess it by how some of them were dressed. Little back numbers, low cut tops, sequins and jewelry were the order of the day. The amount of skin on display was obscene. Tanya did a double take as one of the ladies walked by, she was wearing a sheer dress without underwear. Her lady bits on display for all and sundry. With all that exposed skin, she hoped that the woman had used sunblock. The highest possible factor.
Tanya looked down at her jeans and t-shirt. Maybe she should’ve tried a little harder but then again, she wasn’t planning on getting noticed. She had a life to get back to. It wasn’t much but she had her little book store. Some might consider it to be boring, but she liked it just fine.
She’d owned The Book Corner for two years now. Reading had always been a major passion, that and coffee. It had been her ultimate dream to own a little coffee shop on the side. That way potential customers could browse through purchases while enjoying a cappuccino and maybe a little pastry. So far she was way behind on those goals. She was supposed to have had half the money she needed already saved in order to do the required renovations. As it stood though, she may not even have a store soon, let alone an additional coffee shop. She couldn’t afford to hire someone to fill in for her today. Just the thought of the closed sign on the door, of losing potential customers, had her looking at her watch. Hopefully this would be over soon. The last thing she needed in her life was a man…let alone a vampire who would not only uproot her from her goals but from her friends and family as well. She only had one BFF and her aunt, but she loved them both a ton.
It had been a while since she’d dated and her last relationship had ended…badly. Sex was overrated anyway. She could just imagine how much worse it would be with a blood sucking vamp. Wishing she was back at the store, she glanced at her watch a second time.
It wasn’t like one of the kings would ever think of choosing a plain Jane like her anyways. What a waste of her precious time.
There was silence followed by gasps as two of the biggest, meanest looking men she’d ever seen walked onto the platform. Tanya had expected fanfare. A trumpet call. An announcement at the very least. What she hadn’t expected was to be shocked stupid. Pictures she’d seen of the men didn’t do them justice.
Tall, check.
Built, check.
Mean, check.
Ridiculously hunkalious, double check.
Several women swooned. One woman, closer to the front, fainted. Medics pushed their way through the thick crowd and placed the young women on stretchers.
The king on the left was slightly shorter, from tabloid pictures she’d seen, he had to be Zane. Although short was the wrong description, the big vampire must be at least around six and a half feet. He was meaner looking, with close cropped hair. From this distance she could tell that he had dark, hard eyes. A nervous chill radiated through her body.
King Brant was taller and even though he had a massive chest and bulging arms, he wasn’t quite as broad as the scary one. Neither was classically good-looking. Though both radiated raw energy and sex appeal like nothing she’d ever seen before.
“Pick me!” One of the women closer to the platform shouted waving her arms.
The kings ignored her.
A group to the side hoisted a ‘Look over here’ sign. What was it with these freaking women? For some reason it bothered her that they were so desperate to become one of the next vampire queens that they would do anything to get noticed? And the question of the hour was, why?
Turning back to the platform, she noticed that the taller one, Brant, had medium length dark hair, his eyes were dark and his mouth generous. Tanya was certain he would be even more attractive if he smiled.
Both men were tense. They just stood there, hands fisted at their sides. The crowd grew restless. Some women tried to push to the front while others tried to catch the attention of one or both of the men on the elevated platform.
Eventually, Zane stepped forward, his hard eyes were fixed on her. What the hell? Adrenaline surged through her blood, but her mind immediately rejected the idea that he was actually looking at her. It had to be some sort of mistake. His eyes seemed to stay on her for a few more seconds. Just as she began to feel the need to look around her for the true object of his fascination, his gaze moved to the back of the crowd. She breathed out in a gush.