Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Zillionaire Vampire Cowboy's Secret Werewolf Babies - Chapter 17

“Ride like the wind, Monk! Ride like you’ve never ridden before! Like you never will again!” That didn’t sound right. Rock didn’t want Monk to hurt himself. “Until the next time,” he added hastily. As if he understood his master’s somewhat confusing words, Monk practically flew toward the winery. Faster than the wind from a herd of flatulent cattle…faster than Chastity leaving a man who’d lost his fortune in the stock market…the valiant steed ate up the ground in a blur of galloping hooves.

And still Rock felt the precious moments ticking away.
What if Buffi happened to spot the enticing green bottles, which his vampire spidey sense told him must contain the poison? They’d quarreled, and he knew how emotional she got after a fight. Especially during certain times of her lycanthrope cycle. She wouldn’t be thinking clearly. She’d be upset, looking for something, anything to take the pain away. What if, even now, his lupine goddess was tipping the bottle into her mouth as the tears streamed down her lovely, downy cheeks?
No, Buffi, no! Vampires and werewolves couldn’t communicate telepathically, of course, but maybe the force of his love would be enough to carry his warning to her. Stay away from the green bottles! No green bottles! But what if his message didn’t go through clearly? What if she only heard “green bottle,” which would make her think of the green bottles, and therefore search them out?
He switched gears. I love you, Buffi! You’re the only woman I’ll ever love! I’m sorry I handled things so…” Even telepathically, he couldn’t come up with the right word. “Bad.”
Enough with the telepathy. If only he had a cell phone. Things would be solved so easily with one simple call. But that would ruin the whole story, therefore he’d unfortunately dropped his cell phone in the cattle’s watering trough earlier that week. No, he’d have to rely on destiny and the speed of Monk’s flying hooves to save his one and only love from a painful, horrible death by poison.
Why, oh why had they fought? Why hadn’t he embraced his furry sons with open arms, instead of quibbling over little details like twenty-six months of being ignorant of their existence? For all those long, lonely months, he’d been a fatherless son. Okay, well that part wasn’t Buffi’s fault. But he’d been a sonless father too! Why hadn’t Buffi trusted him with the truth?
But why should she trust him? While she’d been raising his sons, a struggling yet winsome single mother, he’d been partying in Cabo with those showgirls. And in Dallas with those cheerleaders. And in Duluth with those dental trainees.
That whole time, he should have been changing diapers and warming bottles. He frowned. Did werewolf babies even wear diapers? And wouldn’t they destroy the bottles with their vicious little teeth? There was so much he didn’t know about Ivan and Vlad. Face it, his own sons were strangers to him. Not to mention a different species.
He had to save her. Had to save her. Had to save her. The rhythm of Monk’s hooves echoed his inner chant. Had to save her, clippety-clop, had to save her, cloppety-clip.
Once he’d saved Buffi’s life, she’d trust him. They’d be together, a happy vampire/werewolf/half vampire-half werewolf family, forevermore.
Buffi loped across the room in wolf form, then back again, a woman on a rampage. Vlad and Ivan nipped at her heels. Her poor confused boys tried to keep up with her, but her shifts came too fast, her emotions a tumultuous tsunami of turmoil. How had she let this happen? Why had she let that heartless (literally) monster (again, literally) come back into her life and destroy it all over again for the second time? Hadn’t she learned her lesson?
She never could resist his sweet caresses, not as a naïve, hopeful girl, and not as an older-but-apparently-no-wiser woman. She should have gnawed through his jugular the second he took her into his arms. But how could she do that to her babies’ daddy, the man whose love-pole had vaulted her into motherhood? The man whose seed had sprouted within her, bearing such beautiful, furry fruit?
Her boys. The thought of her precious boys shone like a beacon in her storm of anguish. She didn’t have time for a breakdown. Not when she had two boys to raise and a winery to run.
Speaking of which…time to try the new vintage her enologist kept raving about. She shoved all thoughts of Rock Fangsworthy to the bottom back drawer of her mind, where she kept stray socks and her boring, backup underwear.
“Vlad, Ivan.” She looked at them sternly until they’d switched to their adorable toddler selves. Then she realized she was naked from all that switching. Quickly, she dressed, trying not to think about Rock’s hands on her body, the way he’d ripped her clothes off in the cellar. Back where you belong. Bottom back drawer. When all three of them were appropriately human and clothed, she pressed the intercom to the wine cellar.
“Vince, I’m ready for the tasting now.” Thank God, her voice sounded calm, cool, and collected. Grace under pressure, as her grandmother van Pelt had taught her. She squared her shoulders and stiffened her spine. No blood-phobic, philandering, seductive heartbreaker of a vampire was going to get her down.
Vince Yardley appeared in the doorway with a tray on which wobbled a green bottle and a glass. Buffi’s nostrils prickled at the scent rising from them. Or was it from him? Did something smell funny? Even in human form, her sense of smell was exceptionally keen, of course, but nothing compared to her powers as a wolf. If Yardley weren’t here, she could switch back to her wolf form and pin down the odd smell. But he knew nothing about her secret, one benefit of his near-constant state of inebriation.
“Have you sampled it yet?” she asked Yardley.
He bristled. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing!” Alcoholic enologists could be so prickly sometimes. “Pour me a glass, please.”
Yardley set the tray on an antique sideboard and filled the glass with wine. As the red liquid hit the air, the fine hairs inside Buffi’s nose stood on end. She widened her nostrils, determined not to sneeze in front of Yardley. She had to present a good impression to the staff, after all. And she shouldn’t be such a baby about tasting the funny-smelling wine. What was she afraid of, anyway? Wine was wine.
Except this wine had a strange, sluggish look to it, she noticed as Yardley brought her the glass. It sloshed against the sides, leaving slick, rust-colored smudges in its wake. Almost like…blood.
Nothing wrong with that. She liked her meat raw and bloody after all…why not her wine? She picked up the glass and brought it to her lips. This close, the smell made her a bit dizzy and queasy, almost like when…no, she couldn’t be…not again…not this fast…it wasn’t possible...how many days since they’d…
As if her panicked counting had conjured him up, Rock Fangsworthy burst into the room, suddenly and without warning. “Buffi! No!” His vein throbbed, the muscles in his jaw bulged. Never had he looked so manly, so heroic. “Don’t drink that!”
She stared at him, riveted by the primal command in his voice and the raw fear in his slate-blue eyes. This was a man. Her man. She knew it in the pit of her stomach, in the tingling soles of her feet, in the tips of her breasts. Oblivious to everything except her vampire cowboy, she didn’t notice when the edge of the glass touched her bottom lip.
Then…things happened so fast they seemed to be in slow motion. Rock flew through the air with supernatural speed and snatched the glass away from her. In the same instant, she tasted the fumes of the wine and knew what was in that glass.
“Nooo,” she screamed.
But it was too late. Rock raised the glass to his own chiseled lips and gulped the evil red liquid that Buffi knew, with every werewolf cell of her body, contained blood. Blood! For Rock, blood might as well be Kryptonite, and yet Buffi could only watch, rooted to the ground in slow-motion nightmare horror, as he downed every last drop.
The glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor. He put his hand to his throat. His slate-blue eyes went hazy, then rolled up toward the ceiling. Like a mighty cottonwood, he toppled over.
“Rock! My love! No!!” Buffi threw herself on top of his cold body. Was it colder than normal? Who knew? All she knew was the only man she’d ever loved…ever would love…lay on her floor, as dead as an undead vampire could be, surrounded by shards of glass like the shattered, wine-stained pieces of her broken, bleeding heart.

To...
Be...
CONCLUDED!!! Chapter Eighteen

If you enjoyed this chapter of The Zillionaire Vampire Cowboy's Secret Werewolf Babies, please be sure and join us again next Thursday for the exciting final installment. You can read more about the serial HERE. And be sure to enter our contest! Rules and information can be found HERE.

19 comments:

Cammie said...

Love-pole vaulting!! *Choking* No, don't worry, I'll be fine in a minute. As soon as that little vein stops throbbing...

Is there only one more week to go? *sob* I hope there will be a sequel - perhaps when the half vampire/half werewolf babies grow up??

YOU CAN'T LEAVE US LIKE THIS!!!

Sherry said...

I hope Rock is okay. I love this chapter it was a lot more emotional than the others.

elaing8 said...

I can't believe its almost over.I really enjoyed this weeks installment.Rock has stepped up. And we know he will be ok ;)

Cassandra @ Book & Movie Dimension a Blog said...

I didn't see that coming. Why would Rock do that. He shouldn't have drank the stuff in the green bottle. I hope he'll be all right. This was really thrilling to read. Looking forward to the next Thursday chapter.
ruizcassandra50@gamail.com

Debra St. John said...

Noooooooooooooooo!

You can't leave us here, not when our hero and heroine have finally re-discovered their feelings for one another. And, Rock, all ready to be a daddy to his adorable boys.

(As always, can't wait until next week!)

*yadkny* said...

I can't wait for next week! OMG is Buffi pregnant again?!

yadkny@hotmail.com

Susan said...

Oh No! Rock! Can't wait to read the next installment/conclusion. Is Buffi pregnant again? Will Rock survive? I'll be tuning in to get the answers to all these questions and more!

Fiona McGier said...

"he’d been partying in Cabo with those showgirls. And in Dallas with those cheerleaders. And in Duluth with those dental trainees."
HAHAHA! I've been to Duluth! I guess there probably are more dental trainees than show girls there! This series has made Thursdays the highlight of my week! I will be bereft when it's done! Sequel...sequel...(chant has begun!)

Ivelisse said...

OMG Rock, WTF are you thinkin? I can't believe only one more installment and it's over, I am really going to miss these Thursdays. Can't wait to see what happens next week. Love you guys.

jeanette8042 said...

What?! I need to see what happens next! Next Thursday needs to come faster.

Danielle said...

Hehehehe! Those sayings were hilarious...love pole, vaulted. And comparing monk to running like some gassy cows! LOL. You guys are the best...wonder what is going to happen when (not if..gotta hope) Rock wakes up...Hope someone's butt gets kicked.

Loved the whole cellphone scene. That was great. Thank you so much for this entertainment! I love it.

Danielle said...

Oh yeah...and one more thing. I really agree there needs to be a sequel! Maybe the villaineous can be Chastity's just as skanky and money hungry secret sister...She can be called Prudence or Hope or...

rougebolo said...

great read can not wait until next week thanks

Unknown said...

It has been such a fun time reading every week, I just can't believe it is almost over :(

total3itch@yahoo.com

Zina said...

Why didn'the just whack it out of her hands! Lot's of laughs this week I'll be sorry to see it end. Loved the part about Chasity leaving a guy who'd lost his money...yep that would be preety fast.
Zina
seawitch6464@ yahoo.com

Fedora said...

Lordy! Can't wait to see how this ends ;)

Unknown said...

So good and so suspenseful. This is great!

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It's a paranormal romance. It's a western romance. It's a secret-baby romance.