OUT NOW
The Long Night by Lucy Felthouse
(@cw1985) #PNR #vampire
#paranormal #reverseharem #whychoose #rhromance #reverseharemromance #military
#uniform
Blurb:
Forever
is a long time for a vampire… but is all that about to change for Lailah?
Lailah’s
neighbour, Loulou, is well known for hosting wild, extravagant events, so as
Lailah heads over there for the much-anticipated annual Halloween bash, she
thinks she’s prepared for pretty much anything. Soon after arriving, though,
she discovers Loulou has outdone herself—and presented Lailah, who, as well as
being an actual vampire, has come in fancy dress as one, with the opportunity
to have a little joke at her own expense.
What
Lailah’s not prepared for, however, is the appearance of three gorgeous men in
uniform. Their out-of-place getup piques Lailah’s curiosity, and as polite
conversation turns to flirtation, Lailah gets the weirdest feeling nothing is
ever going to be the same again.
But
how will Luke, Leo and Jack react when they discover Lailah’s vampirism isn’t
just for Halloween?
Note: This novella has been
previously published as part of the Duty Bound with Bite anthology.
Available
from: http://books2read.com/thelongnight
*****
Excerpt:
I’m
prepared for pretty much anything on my way to my next-door neighbour’s house
for her Halloween party. Loulou is well known across north London for her wild,
extravagant events, a few of which I’ve had the good fortune to be a part
of—they’re always good fun. So I’m expecting something spectacular—she wouldn’t
let me help, or even have a sneak peek at the decorations, so whatever she’s
gone for will be a complete surprise to me.
The
nearest streetlamp to our houses is providing just enough light to show off her
outdoor decorations. I smile as I push open her fake-cobweb-covered front gate,
duck as a plastic bat swoops toward my head, then make my way up the garden
path, which is lined with creatively carved pumpkins, the tealights nestled
inside each helping to illuminate the way to the door.
For
all intents and purposes, I’m walking through a graveyard. Headstones in
varying states of decay litter the grass. Noises ring out periodically—the hoot
of an owl, the howl of a wolf, the yowl of a cat. There’s even a dry ice
machine secreted somewhere, as a sinister, low-lying fog hovers over the
ground.
I
jump and gasp as I pass a large tree to find a decrepit, bloodstained zombie
grinning at me from behind its trunk. Tutting, then chuckling at my own
silliness, I mount the three steps up to the porch, where more of the same
greets me, as well as some macabre smiling skulls, blood dripping from their
mouths and spiders crawling from their eye sockets. It’s great, it really is,
but there’s nothing unusual about any of it. This is Loulou we’re talking
about—I’m waiting for the ‘wow’ factor, that extra something she’s thrown in to
make her party an event that’ll be talked about for weeks, maybe even months,
to come.
A
sign with Gothic blood-red print is fixed to the door.
PARTY
THIS WAY. ENTER IF YOU DARE.
Obviously,
I dare. With a roll of my eyes, I depress the door handle—which has a large
plastic spider hanging off it—and step inside. It’s only a few minutes past the
official start time for the party, so it’s still pretty quiet. I’m fine with
that—it gives me the opportunity to have a good look around at what Loulou has
done with the décor before it gets too busy, too heaving with bodies. Live
ones, that is. The dead ones dotted around the place don’t seem to care one way
or the other.
I
don’t bother announcing my presence to my neighbour—we’ll find each other
before long. Instead, I immediately start exploring, exchanging the occasional
polite nod with other early partygoers as we pass. The scent of pumpkin spice hangs
in the air. So far, so typical—more cobwebs, spiders, pumpkins, skulls, bats,
black cats, ghosts, witches, zombies, black floaty material draped everywhere,
creepy music…
Then
something catches my eye. Toward the back of what is usually Loulou’s enormous
living room—the properties in this area, including mine, are huge—is a
sectioned-off area. A partition, designed to look like an old stone wall. It’s
dark, gloomy, spooky. I love it. And that’s before I notice the sign
affixed to the arched doorway embedded in the wall.
THE
VAMPIRE’S LAIR
A
snort escapes me, and I quickly look around to make sure nobody noticed. I’m
alone, thankfully—probably the others are diving into the drinks and snacks
which are most likely laid out in the dining room, getting their hands on all
the best stuff before other people arrive.
I
open the door carefully, since I don’t know how sturdy this whole shebang is,
and I don’t want to wreck it—Loulou’ll kill me—and enter, eager to find out
exactly what Loulou thinks a vampire lair looks like.
You’d
think she’d have an idea, really, given she lives next door to one. Not that
she knows, of course—I don’t make a habit of announcing my true nature to
people. It just results in disbelief, asking for proof, which then often leads
to screaming and freaking out. I just can’t be doing with that kind of drama.
Therefore I keep my supernatural status to myself, and move around just often
enough to ensure people don’t start to notice I haven’t aged a day since they
first met me.
*****
Author
Bio:
Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author
of erotic romance novels Stately
Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic
Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of), Eyes
Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award),
The Persecution of the Wolves, Hiding in
Plain Sight, and The Heiress’s Harem and The Dreadnoughts series. Including
novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 170 publications to her name.
Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk,
or on Twitter
or Facebook.
Join her Facebook
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Subscribe to her newsletter here: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter
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