Once the government is back in business then the short story will no longer be available on line, at least not until my publisher and I figure out what we might want to do with it. But for right now, while we’re all wondering how it got to this point, here’s a brand new Anita Blake short story, featuring our favorite bad boy werewolf, yep, I mean Richard Zeeman. Hey, I’ve been telling you, he’s been working his therapy: read on to see the results that hard work and being brave enough to own your whole self can get you.

    Socialites, artists and A-list stars have been invited to Morgan Ward’s birthday bash, including Angelina’s boss, Delilah.For months, Angelina has been looking at the preparations from afar, but never did she imagine that, come the day, Miss Delilah would put her in a gorgeous gown and bring her along as her ‘plus one.’Wandering from crowded room to crowded room in the sumptuous mansion, Angelina grows overwhelmed and escapes onto a balcony, only to find it occupied by her host. That first meeting leaves her struggling for her very life, but she soon gets an unexpected do-over.Meeting Morgan Ward for the first time all over again, Angelina finds herself falling into his arms… But is it all only a fantasy?

    An alien sex club. A Krinar who won’t take no for an answer. Amy Myers is tired of writing fluff. She wants to work on serious assignments—and what better way to prove herself than to uncover something new about the mysterious Krinar, the aliens who took over the Earth just two years earlier? But when she meets Vair, the dark and sexy owner of a Manhattan x-club, she may get more than she bargained for... The X-Club is a novelette/short story of approximately 10,000 words (56 print pages), set in the world of the Krinar Chronicles about three years before Mia & Korum’s trilogy. It’s an erotic story, not a romance. It can be read as a standalone or after the Krinar Chronicles trilogy.

    Stockbroker Juliette Bishop gets more than she bargained for when she flies to New Orleans to handle a business matter for her ailing father and comes face to face with her former lover, the handsome, yet mysterious Andre Lescarbeau.* This Sweetblood World short story (dark vampire romance) was originally published in the Mammoth Book of Southern Gothic Romance.

    20,000 wordsThe vampires are a dying race, their females sterile. When it's discovered that human females of Druid ancestry can be viable breeders...the harvest begins.Rachel Collins is a young woman living in the frozen north of Alaska in a dead-end job with a circular life. She yearns for something more.When murders begin taking place in the city where she lives, she and her girlfriend try to be more cautious...only to be caught in the middle of a dangerous situation in which an unlikely savior emerges.Can Rachel escape her destiny while two different factions hunt her?

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh returns to her sensual world of the Breeds in an all-new novella that explores just how savage, and how far, a man is willing to go in the name of desire. Plus three other stories of irresistible passions from three masters of hot paranormal romance.

    Tortured alpha-male bad boys will ignite your darkest, most secret desires in these stories about vampires, shifters, dragons, fallen angels, werewolves, demons, psychic warriors and ghosts.Featuring the heroes of:LION EYES by Jennifer AshleyBLOOD FLAME by Caris RoaneTEMPTED BY FIRE by Erin KellisonHER SINFUL ANGEL by Felicity HeatonTHE RESURRECTION OF SAM SLOAN by Erin QuinnREBEL'S DESIRE by Laurie LondonREDEMPTION by Bonnie VanakRAGING DAWN by Colleen Gleason

    What he craves is red gold—human blood. After being held captive as a blood slave to a female vampire for years, he has finally escaped. Unchained at last, he follows his nose to the nearest blood bank to sate his hunger.ER nurse Erin Hamilton expects just another busy night shift…until she finds a gorgeous stranger vandalizing the hospital blood bank. Though her logic tells her to turn him in, she’s pulled by stronger and unfamiliar emotions to protect the man who seems oddly infatuated with her scent. Chemistry sizzles between them, but Dante, plagued by nightmares of his time in captivity, fears he won’t be able to control himself…especially when he discovers a secret she doesn’t even know she’s hiding.

    But when a powerful enemy threatens their beloved city of Boston, they form a reluctant alliance. It's supposed to be temporary--just one night, in fact. But as the tension between them builds to the breaking point, neither is prepared for what happens next.Taming the Vampire is a sexy paranormal romance novella of 17,000 words, or about 60 pages. It's the first book in the Blood and Absinthe series.The Blood and Absinthe series:Book 1 - Taming the Vampire (a novella)Book 2 - Bound by the Vampire (a novella)Book 3 - Claiming the Vampire (a full-length novel)Book 4 - Drawn to the Vampire (a full-length novel)Book 5 - Caught by the Wolf (coming in 2014!)EXCERPT"I'll stay on one condition," he said.Her heart thumped against her ribs. "What?""We'll do the ritual, but on my terms."She wished he wasn't so tall. It gave him an unfair advantage, being able to tower over her like this. It was hard to breathe, hard to-- "What do you mean, your terms?""Do you want to know a secret?"Her blood was rushing in her ears. She couldn't speak.He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her hard against him. She gasped, as shocked as if she'd stepped into icy water. She felt his strength, his power, and for a second her own power seemed to desert her. He bent his head close to hers. "I want you," he whispered.Her face flamed, like a teenager's."I've wanted you from the first moment I saw you," he said, and now his lips were on her throat, at her pulse point, against her collar bone.She opened her mouth but no words came out. Her eyes closed and her head went back, and he kissed his way up her throat, to her ear, and then he was whispering to her again."I can make you feel good, Liz. Better than anyone's ever made you feel."

    Together with his three brothers and a few other unmated members, he fights with The Vampire Coalition to protect humans from fallen vampires. His life is fairly simple. If he has a problem... he solves it. If it's an evil problem... he kills it. But his uncomplicated life is about to end when his mate unexpectedly calls him to her.Brianna Cole is weak, her life force fading away. She thinks she is suffering from a rare form of leukemia. Little does she knows that her illness is much more complicated. She's dying because she has not united with her vampire mate and given him his soul that she has been guarding since birth.Ethan finds Brianna and knows he needs to convince her to mate or watch her die. He's waited for her for five hundred years and he has no intention of letting her go, but she is not in any shape for the dominate, volatile mating ceremony with a vampire. He will have to win the race against time to strengthen Brianna and a battle with a stalking fallen to claim his mate. He is also at war with his mating instincts that make him burn to dominate and conquer her. But Ethan is determined, and the stubborn vampire will do whatever is necessary to possess his soul bonded mate... forever.18+ ONLY - This book contains graphic sex, graphic language, rough sex, domination, bondage and other subjects that are intended for adults only. This is a romance but contains very erotic content. It is not a true BDSM novella, so if you prefer the SM element you won't find it here. There's no real pain inflicted. It is more romance with alpha male domination being part of the vampire nature and mating instincts. However, it does contain all of the above sexual content in the 18+ warning. Download only if you love a little (or maybe a lot) of kink and heat in you alpha male vampires romances. : )

    He's been captured by an evil vampire queen who wants to use him as her newest blood slave. But Brynn doesn't have a submissive bone in his body, and he intends to fight her every step of the way.Can Brynn's willpower remain intact when pitted against Sorla's superior vampire strength, seductive skills, and underhanded cruelty, or will she ultimately take possession of both his mind…and body?CONTENT WARNING: This is a VERY graphic erotic horror/fantasy novella. Expect blood, sex, some M/M content, and bad, bad words.

    The Cajun werewolf lives for his Pack and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his brothers safe. The longer a wolf lives without a mate, the harder it becomes for that wolf to shift back. To remember that he is a man—and not a monster. And those mates can only be found during a blue moon. When a blue moon finally rises, Rafer will need every weapon in his sensual arsenal to tempt one special woman into his arms and the heart of the Pack.The Pack hunts for matesFighting to keep her family farm, Lark Andrews isn’t looking for love. Even if the very sexy Breaux brothers make her dream of hot bayou nights spent in their arms. When the blue moon leads Rafer to her door, however, Rafer has her rethinking her position on all work and no play. Now, the bayou nights are heating up as Rafer fights to convince her, one sensual touch at a time, to give love and passion a chance. But Rafer isn’t a one wolf deal. Is there room in Lark’s heart—and bed—for Rafer and his Pack?

    . .trapped by temptation and bound by desire. No woman can refuse their erotic invitation for sexual pleasure. . . "The Demon Lord's Cloak" by Delilah Devlin Bound and naked, Voletta has every reason to fear the mysterious man holding her in his arms. Instead his brooding presence intrigues her, his hard body excites her--and his rough touch arouses her. . . "Night Sins" by Lisa Renee Jones In the battle between good and evil, Kayla Ward knows vampires are strictly off limits. But Ethan's dark sensuality and seductive allure leave her craving hot, passionate sex. . . "The Devil's Paradise" by Megan Kerans Justice Malloy is looking for the perfect place for a wedding reception. What she finds at The Last Resort Hotel is a man whose raw male power promises carnal pleasure like she's never felt before. . .

    Aaron is thrust into the shocking world of vampiric slavery when Michelle shares her blood to save his life.Michelle's existence as a solitary vampire is also altered when she accepts this naive young man into her life. Bound by her blood, Aaron is subject to her authority. He walks a tightrope of strictly controlled feeding regiments and intense sexual adventures while catering to the neurotic control-freak tendencies of his new master. She vows to eliminate him if he proves too difficult to control.This story is bold and evocative, infusing blood, sex, love and turmoil in an urban drama about two vampires battling evil outside and within themselves.

    As a last resort, she signs up for the Midnight Liaisons dating service, never expecting that she’d find the alpha she seeks. She certainly didn’t expect Jackson Wilder, a laid back, sexy-as-sin outsider who claims to be an alpha.But Alice has a problem that most female wolf alphas don’t — she’s a virgin. And the female alpha of a wolf pack always belongs to a male alpha. Luckily for her, Jackson’s utterly gorgeous and willing to take things slow. But is he alpha enough to help her save her pack…or is he too easy-going to be the man she needs?