Vampire Temptation: Real Men of Othercross

By Celia Kyle and Marina Maddix

Is it her siren's song that lures the sexy vampire? Her body? Or her heart?

 

As a sultry siren, Cora Murphy can have any man she wants—and her interfering mother has a long list of eager candidates suited to her daughter's station as fae royalty. But Cora just wants to live a normal life, working at Othercross as a Sentinel and hoping one day a man will fall in love with her instead of succumbing to her mystical—and totally bogus—allure.

 

Of course, that can't happen if she never lowers the glamour she uses to prevent every Tom, Dick, and Harriet from following her around like love-struck puppies. Even her best friend, Deo Nicolaides, must have been hit by her siren song, because the young vampire keeps trying to get her into bed. As tempting as that might be, Cora doesn't dare give in to her primal desires. She'd rather die alone than live the rest of her life knowing Deo's love isn't true.

 

But what if it is?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Summerhouse Publishing
• Release date: Mar 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215091166

Celia Kyle

Ex-dance teacher, former accountant and erstwhile collectible doll salesperson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Celia Kyle now writes paranormal romances for readers who: 1) Like super hunky heroes (they generally get furry) 2) Dig beautiful women (who have a few more curves than the average lady) 3) Love laughing in (and out of) bed. It goes without saying that there’s always a happily-ever-after for her characters, even if there are a few road bumps along the way. Today she lives in central Florida and writes full-time with the support of her loving husband and two finicky cats.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Cora Murphy glanced at the clock and grimaced. Lunchtime, yet she wasn’t hungry. Pulling the band out of her golden hair, she shook her head to let it fall around her shoulders and then efficiently smoothed it back into a perfect ponytail.

This was troubling. She should be hungry. On a normal day, her stomach would be growling up a storm, but not after a week of battling yet another virus. Her lack of appetite was just another sign of her slowly deteriorating health. One more thing to keep from her mother or she’d never hear the end of it.

Cora glared at the files on her desk, her mood darkening. There was nothing to be done about it. It was the curse all sirens bore, and the same choice as always lay before her. Drop the glamour and give in to her nature in order to find a mate, or wither and die at a relatively young age.

Cora sighed and straightened. Holly!

Her assistant, Holly Woodbriar, appeared at the door of her Othercross Arcane Judiciary office a moment later along with Kelly Holloway, Cora’s new intern.

She said Holly, her assistant said. Not new girl.

She said Kelly, the witch retorted. Not old chick.

Cora winced, suppressing a smile. No sense encouraging their not-completely-unfriendly office rivalry. Most days it was amusing, though some days it only served to exacerbate her exhaustion.

Ladies, she said.

"So not a lady," Kelly snorted, pushing past Holly to get to Cora’s desk first.

Which is why you’re currently serving a court-ordered sentence as Cora’s flunky, Holly teased. So yeah, I guess that’s working for you.

Kelly rolled her eyes and then began filing her nails with an invisible emery board. I was ordered to be her flunky. What’s your excuse?

"Holly, Cora interjected, cutting off whatever snappy retort her assistant was brewing. Here are the resolved files. Kelly, any messages?"

Kelly abandoned her invisible nail file and began pulling crumpled bits of paper from her pockets, tossing them in the air. They floated around her head in a holding pattern until the witch had removed every piece of paper she’d stuffed in whatever pockets she could find. Then she patted herself down, frowning.

Three, four… missing one. Be right back. She darted from the room.

Kelly was a maelstrom waiting to happen, which made her far from boring. Cora leaned over to watch the witch, curious in spite of herself. Kelly rushed to the credenza that was acting as her desk and pulled a piece of paper off the stone horn of a gargoyle sitting on it.

Good grief, why had she been saddled with a teenager disguised as an adult? Iris Holloway was the Sentinel who’d sentenced Kelly for the offense of casting a truth spell in open court, yet she’d been assigned to Cora as an unpaid intern as part of her punishment. Under normal circumstances, Iris would have taken on Kelly herself, but she had the whole baby thing happening, so the duty had fallen to Cora.

Not that Kelly was a bad person or even bad at her job, she was just… unique. The witch rocked her own boat, floated her own air bus, sang her own tune. Cora admired her for it, but in the workplace, she expected more professionalism.

Kelly, she said when the witch returned with the last message, "why do I have to keep reminding you that the office gargoyles are people, not office furniture? You can’t use them in place of cork boards, for siren’s sake. If you’re not careful, one day we’ll have to stay late, after the sun sets, and Ronun will not be made of stone anymore. He’ll become one truly pissed off, real-life gargoyle, and then where will you be?"

Kelly opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a cool, contralto voice. You can’t expect a witch to behave with any decorum, dear.

Cora pulled in a deep breath before all of the oxygen was sucked from the room by the devil herself. Mother.

Aquaria Murphy—ó Murchadha when she was feeling pretentious, which was pretty much all the time—slid through the doorway and then air-kissed Cora’s cheeks. Taller than her daughter, the fae princess was dressed in a silk-wrap blouse and flowing slacks. Her neck, wrists, and ears were dotted with freshwater pearls and blue topazes. A stylist had swept her pale blonde hair up into something that wouldn’t move in a tornado and her makeup was expertly done, not glamoured. She was the epitome of a royal princess, and the woman spent far too much of her time trying to get Cora to emulate her.

What are you doing here, Mother?

Aghast, Aquaria reached for her pearls—she actually clutched her pearls!—and then slid a haughty glare at Holly.

Oh, shoot, Holly said with an apologetic grimace. I’m sorry, Cora. I forgot to tell you that your mother scheduled lunch with you today.

Cora imagined a thousand different ways to punish Holly for this oversight. The girl knew Cora needed hours to mentally prepare for Mom-time. She was tempted to beg off, to use her assistant’s screw-up as an excuse to get out of the inevitable nagging, but she didn’t care for the way Kelly glared at her mother. Not that she blamed her, but the last thing she—or Kelly—needed was to anger fae royalty.

Let’s go, Mother, Cora jumped up and grabbed her arm.

Dear, you don’t have to drag me like a commoner, Aquaria huffed as they left the office. It’s undignified.

You have to stop antagonizing my staff, Cora hissed, taking her frustration out on the elevator button. Someone’s going to hex you one of these days.

Aquaria dismissed her daughter’s concerns with a flick of her baubled hand as the doors opened to them. If you could manage to hire worthy people, I wouldn’t have to. I really don’t understand why you lower yourself to—

I’m not lowering myself, Mother. She breathed deeply, reciting the names of her ancestors to cool her temper.

You’re the only daughter of a selkie prince, Coralia. You shouldn’t be mingling with such lackeys. They don’t even show you the proper obeisance.

Cora cringed. It had taken her weeks to get her coworkers out of the habit of curtsying every time she entered a room. Weeks.

Mother, I’m part of the judiciary and an arcane public servant. I’m their equal, and they are mine. I don’t want anyone genuflecting in my presence.

"They will never be your equals, Coralia. Aquaria’s voice chilled and her blue eyes turned icy. You honor them by even making the ridiculous suggestion. But then again, I suppose all of this is my doing. I raised a gracious daughter. Perhaps I should congratulate myself. So many royals are