Wanted: A Blood Courtesans Novel by Michelle Fox, Kristen Strassel Read Free Book Online

still lingered. I needed to add stronger coffee to my contract if this was my new home. And cream. I didn’t remember much of anything that happened after the bite, besides the girls leading me to bed and helping me into my pajamas.
    “Did you…?” Sabrina wiggled her eyebrows and motioned to the smudged remains of my V. She’d unbuttoned the silk top and slid it down my arms. I’d already gotten used to being undressed in front of them. Everyone here wanted me naked, except for Nash.
    I shook my head.
    “Wow. I wonder what he’s thinking.” We both looked at Sierra’s reflection in the mirror. She pushed my hair over my shoulders, camouflaging my breasts. “He’s paying all this money, and he’s not getting any?”
    I wasn’t the only one who thought the contract was too good to be true.
    “It’s not only about sex.” Sabrina motioned for me follow her to the bathtub. “It’s about connection, and belonging to someone.”
    “But sex is the best part!” Sierra laughed.
    We fell quiet as the girls repeated the ritual of the bath. This time, I didn’t mind that they touched me. I closed my eyes and pretended it was Nash’s hands all over me. In my fantasy, his lips followed close behind. The line between what I wanted and where I was blurred, and I broke the trance with an embarrassingly loud moan.
    “It’s okay,” Sierra assured me. “It’s supposed to feel good.”
    I asked to watch TV as they worked on my hair and makeup. I couldn’t lose myself to this place until Nash turned me. Normally I would’ve gone online, but all my accounts were under my old name. It would be too easy—if anyone still cared where I was—to find me.
    Mocha Latte Murderer on the Run . I was the leadoff story on the nightly news. I held my breath as my face flashed on the screen during the report, but the girls were so lost in their work they’d tuned the TV out. They’d never recognize my real name, and after they were done with me, the picture of the barefaced redhead looked like someone I’d never seen before. It was an active investigation and anyone with information was encouraged to call the Connecticut State Police.
    I needed to see Nash. He was the only one who could keep me safe.
    **
    “Why do you have such a hard time believing I want you?” Nash’s smile spread slowly across his face. I hadn’t been sure if Nash’s bite had changed anything in me until I saw him again. That weird, sluggish feeling I’d woken up with disappeared. Everything seemed so much clearer, like I was in the place where I belonged.
    Or I had a monster-sized crush on him. Of course I did. He was the first man I ever kissed, and he left me with an insatiable craving for more.
    More than the fog lifted. The horrible fear of falling into blackness disappeared as soon as I walked into his apartment. Nash made things less dangerous. That didn’t settle me either, since I was pretty sure my power interested him more than my personality did.
    “It’s the money,” I said as he approached me. I’d frozen in place as soon as I spotted him. “I would’ve stayed for a lot less.”
    “Never tell someone you’d take less money.” His cool fingers sent a shiver down my spine when he brushed them against my cheek. “My intention was to give you an offer you couldn’t refuse. Can’t have anyone in the coven or otherwise giving you something better.”
    “Showing off, huh?” I already loved teasing Nash. It unsettled him, but I was pretty sure he liked it.
    “Absolutely.” He smirked as he put his hand firmly on the small of my back and led me to the couch. The girls had insisted on another formal dress. This one was red, and dipped so low in the front and back I couldn’t wear a bra with it. I think they were disappointed that they had to mark me again with another V. I thought it was unnecessary; Nash had his own agenda. “Whether they didn’t notice you or couldn’t afford you, I want them to regret their choices.”
    Our