Bite Me.pdf

BITE ME

An Ellora’s Cave Publication, August 2004

Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

PO Box 787

Hudson, OH 44236-0787

ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-870-7

Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Edited by Briana St. James.

Cover art by Syneca .

BITE ME

Jaci Burton

Dedication

For Charlie, who mesmerized me from the first hello and continues to do so with

every look, every touch, every kiss. You are my forever love.

Chapter One

Gina Capelli had waited an eternity to meet a vampire. Tonight her dream was

finally going to come true.

Of course, her vision of a happily-ever-after involving a stud from the world of the

undead would be even more satisfying if she were to meet a real vampire. But since

they didn’t exist, she’d have to satisfy herself by mingling with the people who played

them on television.

After all, where had her butt been planted every Wednesday night for the past five

years? In front of the television, of course, watching Bite Me , the nighttime soap opera

about the lives of the rich, famous, gorgeous and fangy. It’s where she lived all her

fantasies. She devoured the weekly episodes like the vampires did their prey.

Now she finally understood those Star Trek conventions, how all those fans hungrily

satisfied their desire to live the space life by getting as close to the stars as possible. And

in doing so, met up with other people like themselves who understood that they weren’t

really odd, just devoted.

So what if her friends had thought her insane? She’d seen the advertisement for the

annual convention and figured it was now or never.

Besides, this month was her birthday. The big birthday, the one she’d been dreading.

She was damn well going to celebrate like crazy. And hopefully kill two birds with one

stone in the process.

What a great thirtieth birthday present! Here she was in bright and glitzy Las Vegas,

intending to finally rid herself of her unwanted virginity. Since the Bite Me television

show was having their annual fan convention, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to

give herself a birthday treat. And while she was here, she might as well find someone

willing to help her out with the virginity problem.

Her virginity was just a technicality anyway. Years of vibrators had long ago taken

care of whatever barrier had been there. But an actual man inside her? She hadn’t

experienced that.

Yet.

This weekend, she would. Come hell or high water, she’d find a man willing to

make love to her, even if she had to sell her soul to the devil to do it.

So maybe she wasn’t a movie star. And maybe she did carry around a few extra

pounds. She was simply voluptuous, that’s all. And if a man wanted a woman with

some flesh he could actually hold on to, then she was his gal.

Gina brushed her hand over the velvet gown and turned once again to examine

herself in the mirror. She shook her head, unable to believe the transformation.

She was certainly on her way to living out her fantasy. She’d just planned to attend

the convention, hoping to get a peek at the beautiful people she drooled over each

week.

Then she’d entered the drawing. Filled out the form with all her personal

information and a little paragraph about why she wanted to win. And then, shocker of

all shockers, they’d called her name. She’d nearly fainted on the convention hall floor

today when she heard her name over the loudspeaker.

For the first time in her life, she had won something. She was the grand prize winner

in the Bite Me fan contest. She’d thought there’d be no way to get into the private

black-tie ball tonight, but winning the contest changed that.

The entire day had been like a dream come true. Starting with a massage, then a

hairstyle followed by a makeover. As if that wasn’t enough of a treat, she’d been sent to

a premiere couturier to the stars to choose a dress for tonight. A damn designer dress!

To top it off, after she was buffed and puffed and poufed and primped, a limo had

arrived to escort her to the hotel. The culmination would be a front row table at the Bite

Me invitation-only party with the cast and crew.

Gina felt like Cinderella. And now, standing in the ladies' room outside the

ballroom, nervous butterflies pounding away at her stomach, she glanced in the mirror

and for the first time in her life actually felt like the enchanted princess.

The red velvet gown hugged her curves, accentuated her cleavage and, with its

off-the-shoulder sleeves, made her look damn sexy.

And damn sexy was not how she typically described herself.

She was a secretary in a law office. She wore pantsuits, not ball gowns. And she

never, ever, got dressed up to go out.

Not like she ever had much opportunity anyway. Guys just didn’t go for her. She

didn’t know why, and had long ago given up worrying about it.

But she damn well would not spend the rest of her life as a virgin.

Tonight she’d change that. Surely somewhere in that ballroom where a few hundred

people gathered, there’d be one man who wanted to take her for a ride on the magic

carpet mattress.

She smoothed back her hair, pleased with the way the stylist had curled her long,

raven tresses in sexy little waves. And the makeup that accentuated her violet eyes. For

a frumpy, fat Italian girl, she didn’t look too bad.

“Okay, Gina. Can’t hide in the bathroom all night. Get out there and find yourself a

man.”

Sucking in a courage-inducing breath, she headed to the double doors of the

ballroom. Several tuxedo-clad men stood there with clipboards in hand, wearing

earpieces with microphones like they were Secret Service agents or something. She

giggled, feeling all Hollywood-like. When she gave one of the men her name, he

motioned to someone inside.

A tall, thin, very pale man approached her. “You must be our contest winner,” he

said, enthusiastically shaking her hand. “I’m Marcus Williams with the Bite Me public

relations team. Follow me.”

She nodded and trailed him through the throng of bodies, noticing that no one

stopped and turned their head to gawk at her.

The beautiful people were in attendance tonight. Already she’d spotted several of

the cast members, standing in the midst of their entourage. She wondered if Deacon

Black would be seated anywhere near her. Strategically patting the digital camera she’d

tucked into her little black bag, she swore she’d at least get a picture of him tonight.

Deacon was her idol, her fantasy man. He was the star of Bite Me , and every woman’s

dream. Six-foot-two, perfect body, hair as black as a moonless midnight and eyes that

matched. He was sex incarnate and she’d masturbated to many a whimpering orgasm

with his face and body in her thoughts.

Too bad he was always photographed with a starlet or some other gorgeous woman

on his arm. Gina didn’t stand a chance with a man like Deacon. Not in her reality,

anyway. As far as her fantasies, well, he was as big a star in her nightly dreams as he was

as an actor. And she’d had Deacon over and over again in the quiet solitude of her

bedroom. He’d given Emmy Award-winning performances there, too.

“Here we go. The main table for you tonight, Miss Capelli.”

She gaped at Marcus, unable to believe there really was a seat for her at the main

table. This was where the stars would sit. Her hands shook as she tried for a smile. “

Thank you. And please, call me Gina.”

He nodded and patted her shoulder. “I’ll be taking you around to meet people

shortly, but I have a few other things to do first. In the meantime, mingle and have a

good time. There will be pictures later with the cast, so don’t leave, okay?”

Pictures? Yes! Her friends back in Seattle would never believe this had happened to

her. At least she’d have photographs to prove it.

But mingle? How exactly was she supposed to do that? She could just picture

herself going up to one of the stars and introducing herself as the nobody who’d won

their contest. Yeah, right. She’d just stay where she was and ogle everyone from afar.

Maybe she’d choose a man that she wanted to be her first, and then focus her efforts

on seducing him.

Yuh-huh. As soon as she figured out how to accomplish that feat.

First off, how was she supposed to choose? There were many in attendance, some

obviously without a partner. All were gorgeous, and none even glanced her way.

Hell, at this point some of the crew were looking pretty good, too.

Surely some man would speak to her first. She wasn’t hideous looking. In fact, she

thought she looked damn sexy.

So that was going to be it. The first man to speak to her tonight would be the winner.

“Now why is a beautiful woman like you sitting here all alone?”

Gina froze, recognizing the voice immediately. She didn’t want to turn around and

look stupid, thinking he’d been talking to her. Obviously, he had to be hitting on some

woman behind her.

But a hand touched her shoulder. She shivered, her skin burning to a crisp at the

thought of who was touching her. There went bathing for the next month or so. Finally

she turned, then immediately forgot all rudimentary biological functions—such as

breathing.

Deacon Black stood inches from her, his hand on her shoulder, smiling down at her

with those dark, mesmerizing eyes.

Holy shit, she might faint. Or throw up. Or maybe even both.

He pulled out a chair next to her and sat, then took her hand. “I’m Deacon Black.

And you are?”

Cinderella. No, that wasn’t it. What the hell was her name, anyway? “Gina. Gina

Capelli.”

The quavering voice should really impress him. Along with the hand that trembled

in his.

“Nice to meet you, Gina. I understand you are our big contest winner.”

“Uh-huh.” Ah yes, she was dazzling him with her brilliant conversation, too. Wow,

she was just charming the pants off him, wasn’t she?

“You look stunning. And you have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.”

Wow, he was amazingly full of shit. But she wasn’t going to complain. “Thank you.

So do you.”

He laughed then, a deep and rich baritone. Her body flushed hot, her panties grew

damp, and her nipples hardened. Thank God she was wearing velvet with that corset

thing they’d nearly sewed her into. He’d never know she was slowly sinking into a

puddle of arousal.

“Would you like to dance?”

Maybe it was simply his turn to spend a minute or so with the geeky contest winner.

“You want to dance with me?”

There was that crooked grin that made her drool. “Of course I would. Let’s go.”

He stood and held his hand out for her. This was so not happening. She tried to get

up slowly, but her dress was caught under her chair. So much for refined grace. She sat

there, feeling mortified.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“My dress is stuck.” And I have absolutely no finesse . It figured her normal life would

have to intrude on her fantasy.

“Ah, I see.” He crouched down and crawled under the table, then lifted the hem of

her dress, his fingers brushing her ankles. Good God in heaven, she might just faint after

all. He easily lifted both her and the chair leg with one hand, freeing the hem of her

dress.

“There we go. Ready to dance now?”

Numb, she merely nodded and followed him, waiting for the stares and laughter as

the people in attendance watched the most gorgeous man in the universe dancing with

the chubby fan.

But no one stared, or laughed. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to them as

he whirled her around the floor. She felt, for the first time in her life, as light as the air

around her. Deacon’s hand pressed on her back and turned her with ease.

And her hand was sweating all over his. Lovely.

“You here alone, Gina?”

“Yes.” I’m everywhere alone .

“No family to accompany you?”

“No. No husband, no family. My parents are dead and I have no siblings.” And she

was certain he just loved her volunteering all that useless information.

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