Chocolate with a Bite

By Holly Day

Sequel to A Vampire Chew Toy

Devin Jace lives in a huge mansion together with six other people, four of them turn furry, one needs to drink blood to survive, and one is a former blood slave, just like him. Most days he’s happy with his life with his vampire boyfriend, Mars O’Ceallaigh, but today he’s arranged a chocolate-tasting evening for everyone in the house, and Mars is nowhere to be found.

Mars has a problem. The guy delivering his blood bags can’t get hold of any, and Mars is starving. He doesn’t dare go near Devin since he’s afraid his control will shatter, and he’ll eat him. In a bad way. Without informing anyone, he sneaks out of the house to try to figure out what’s gone wrong with the blood delivery.

The night doesn’t turn out as Devin had expected, but he does his best to hide his disappointment. Mars never meant to hurt Devin’s feelings, but what is a hungry vampire to do? Eat his favorite person?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Dec 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685506278

Holly Day

Holly Day and Sherman Wick are the authors of several books about the Twin Cities. Sherman Wick received his BA in history from the University of Minnesota and has been a member of the Minnesota Historical Society for several decades. Holly Day has worked as a freelance writer for local and national publications for over twenty-five years and teaches writing classes at the Loft Literary Center.

Book preview

Chocolate with a Bite

By Holly Day

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2023 Holly Day

ISBN 9781685506278

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Chocolate with a Bite celebrates National Chocolate Candy Day, and the only thing this day does is give us permission to stuff ourselves on chocolate. A good day!

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Chocolate with a Bite

By Holly Day

Chapter 1

Devin Jace walked into the kitchen of the manor house he shared with six others. He hadn’t known monsters existed until he was kidnapped by vampires and kept as a blood slave for about a year. Back then, his current housemates had saved him, and he’d lived with them for three years. Then, two months ago, his captor had escaped prison and had kidnapped him anew. Lucky for him, the guys he lived with were the supernatural equivalent of a police department, and they’d managed to get to him before anything too bad had happened.

He wished he could say the same about Dillon, a fellow blood slave who hadn’t been as lucky. They’d rescued him along with Devin back in October and had brought him home with them, but he still had a long way to go. He mostly stayed in his room, and whenever someone came too close, he shut down.

Devin hadn’t realized how hard it was to stand on the sidelines and watch someone struggle with trauma. He wanted Dillon to be a part of the group, to joke and laugh, and to hang out in the kitchen like everyone else, but he didn’t. He hadn’t given the others enough credit for how patient they’d been with him when he first arrived. It was frustrating, but they’d never let on.

Only a few months ago, he too hid in his room, but then Murrie, an easy-going bear shifter and the leader of the group, had asked him to take on kitchen duty. Devin loved to cook and bake, so he’d accepted. He also had a thing for schedules, so he’d more or less become an assistant slash cook, and he loved it.

The kitchen was his domain, and he ruled it as he saw fit…Which in reality meant he didn’t rule at all, but since everyone except Mars were shifters, they needed to eat a lot, and Devin wanted them to have good, nutritious food. Topped with cakes and cookies, of course.

Today wouldn’t be a good day nutrition-wise, but it didn’t matter.

Back in October, he’d joked with Murrie, who had a bit of