Chosen by the Vampire (Paranormal,Fantasy,Midnight) Book 1

Copyright 2013 Kelly London

Chosen by the Vampire book 1

This Ebook is a work of fiction. Characters, names, and places are the product of the author's imagination and not to be projected as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead and events is purely coincidental.

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Other Books written by Kelly

Pride of the Pack book 1

Werewolf in a suit book 1

Chosen by a Vampire book 1

*Disclaimer*

This 5300+ short story contains scenes of graphic sexual nature and is written for adults only (18+). This book contains a story about a sexy Vampire having hot sex with a young lady.

***

Amy Beckett loves her life in Orchard Cove – she lives and works with her best friend, she gets to make cupcakes all day long, and she’s good friends with the local hottie. Granted, said hottie is a vampire and their unusual friendship began when she interrupted one of his meals, but over time, they’ve managed to move past it. In fact, Amy moved further than she’d anticipated by falling in love with the guy. It really was a shame that he was in love with her best friend.

Carter Dennis is tired of being infamous for his meal choices, and he’s immensely grateful to have Amy in his life. When he discovers just how far she’s taken her misconception about his feelings, he sets about trying to disprove her theory – and when a freak storm hits Orchard Cove, he realizes he’s just been handed the perfect opportunity to get the woman of his dreams.

***

“Thanks for stopping by!” Amy Beckett called, fixing a broad smile at her customers’ retreating backs. When the door closed behind them, her pleasant expression faded, and with pursed lips, she grumbled, “Maybe buy something to support your local baker next time.”

Sighing, she looked down at all the cupcakes and pastries still sitting in the display case and wondered how many of them she’d be taking up to her apartment in a few hours. Considering her best friend, Lisa – or ‘The Pastry Pusher’ according to Amy – who co-owned the bakery with her was out of town for the rest of the week, and the supply of eager-to-spend patrons had seemingly dried up for the day, she figured she was in for another dinner made up solely of concentrated sugar and frosting.

Her mood soured as she pictured her evening going the exact same way it had been going for the past week – Amy, sitting in front of her television set in her baggiest pajamas, surrounded by boxes of unsold baked goods and way too much soda. There was nothing exciting, nothing surprising, nothing even remotely interesting happening in her life – not that she wanted never-ending high-stakes drama. No, that was definitely not what she’d uprooted her life in the city for.

Amy had been consumed strong desire to get away from the madness of urban life for months before she’d packed up and left the city, and her urge to run had been fueled mostly by her ex-husband, who had drained her physically and wrung her out to dry emotionally – and that was before the divorce he’d dragged out for months. When she had moved to the sleepy little town of Orchard Cove three years ago, Amy had finally found what she’d been searching for – peace and quiet and an completely different environment from the one that she had gotten used to in the city.

And she loved Orchard Cove, she truly did. The people were wonderful and so friendly; there were giant trees and beautiful flowers everywhere; Lisa adored the fact that their town culture had permeated every single thing about the town, including the stones they’d used for the sidewalks. But Amy couldn’t deny holding out the hope that one day, she would discover something small, but something invaluable that would pull her out of the rut she’d unknowingly got herself stuck in.

As she stared at the rainbow-colored swirls on one of her cupcakes, her mind drifted to the only potential ‘something’ she’d found in Orchard Cove – Carter Dennis. Even though the townsfolk had pulled her aside on the day her moving truck had rolled into town and warned her away from him and his sprawling estate along the northern border and his fleet of eccentric vehicles, Amy hadn’t been able to rein in her curiosity. She recalled her first encounter with him, and with a small smile, she realized that it was a good thing that she’d given in to her impulses.

Amy had been at the local grocery mart, picking up supplies for opening week at the bakery, and when she’d been loading her purchases into her car, she’d heard a scuffle coming from one of the alleyways. Her need to snoop had overridden her good sense, and she’d tiptoed into the mouth of the alley, completely unprepared for the sight that had beheld her.

A tall, rather pale man with spiky black hair had a woman wrapped in his arms, and his lips had been fused to her neck; Amy wouldn’t have given them a second thought if she hadn’t seen the trail of blood extending downwards from the man’s open mouth. Since she hadn’t immediately run away – or possibly, because she hadn’t screamed her head off – the man had let the woman out of his embrace, sending her on her way.

Then, moving with a grace that Amy still envied, he’d wiped his mouth clean with a paper towel, and extending his arm towards her, he’d introduced himself as Carter Dennis, Orchard Cove’s very own vampire.

Although she’d been tempted to, Amy hadn’t laughed or even cracked a smile – it hadn’t seemed like a joke, especially considering she had still been able to see a faint ring of red around his lips. Instead, she’d nodded, and after handing over her business card, she’d invited him to the bakery’s opening day, where every second item purchased was free; he’d looked immensely surprised, but he’d shown up.

The two had been friends ever since.

Over the years, Amy had refrained from asking about his eating habits, choosing to focus on idle speculation and meaningless chitchat instead – she had been certain that the townspeople knew his secret since they’d warned her away from him, and he’d been insistent that there was no such thing as too much frosting. In return, he hadn’t pried into the sordid details of her divorce, but he had listened without judgment whenever she’d brought the topic up.

She hadn’t been able to keep from noticing how his usually brown eyes sparked whenever their conversations landed on a subject Carter felt passionately about; when she’d realized that his irises occasionally turned pure silver, Amy had been done for. His clothes were always impeccable and he had an unusual lilt to his accent that made her heart beat just a little faster, and before she knew what was happening, Amy found herself eagerly anticipating his visits to the bakery.

Her peppy, Carter-infused bubble burst as she recalled her theory as to why Carter came around to the shop so often. Her sigh sounded despondent to her own ears when she thought about how perfectly he timed his trips to coincide with Lisa’s imminent departure, so that he’d always have a reasonable excuse to walk her back to her house. Amy couldn’t blame him for his attraction to her best friend – Lisa was far more attractive than Amy was, and she was definitely the more outgoing of the two. She had gotten accustomed to living under Lisa’s large shadow, but this time, Amy wished she didn’t have to.

In no mood to stick around and watch more customers buy nothing and leave, Amy began packing up for the evening; maybe once she’d had a ton of frosting, she would feel better about the fact that the vampire she liked was in love with her best friend.

***

Carter Dennis walked up the road to The Cupcake Queen, ignoring the hushed whispers that had accompanied him from the moment he’d left his driveway. The townsfolk’s fear and prejudice no longer bothered him, even though he could easily hear every untrue word they said – and it was all thanks to the woman he was on his way to see.

Amy Beckett was a blinding ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloom-infested town, and her arrival in Orchard Cove had taken him completely by surprise.

His lips quirked into an amused smile as he recalled the slack-jawed expression on her face the day they’d met – he still couldn’t believe she hadn’t been the slightest bit freaked out by what she’d seen. Granted, he could have easily ‘persuaded’ her to forget that she’d witnessed him mid-feed, but he’d never found the words to tell her how grateful he’d been at the fact that she hadn’t needed any persuading.

Of all the human women Carter had encountered during his life – and there had been far too many for his liking – Amy was the only one who’d ever made him pause and consider what it might be like to settle down with a woman and lead a relatively normal life together. She didn’t seem all that perturbed by his status as a member of the undead club, and that gave him hope – maybe she wouldn’t be opposed to joining him. He had to admit that it felt strange to be optimistic about something after so many decades of near constant pessimism, but it was a feeling he was willing to get used to.

Sighing, Carter realized that for once in his life, things had fallen perfectly into place – if only Amy wasn’t convinced that he was in love with her best friend.

Inhaling sharply, he sped up when he smelt a rapidly approaching storm in the air, refusing to give up just yet. It was true Amy’s mistaken assumption was an undesirable obstacle, just like it was entirely possible that she would want to live out the rest of her years as a human. But if he abandoned his pursuit of the one woman who didn’t care about the fact that he was a vampire or that he had accumulated a lot of money over the years or that he needed to feed on people to survive, then he’d be the biggest idiot to ever walk the face of the earth.

His spirits lifted the moment Amy’s bakery came into view, and with a broad smile, Carter dashed across the remaining distance and came to an abrupt halt outside the entrance to the store. His brows furrowed when he heard her lock up the cash register, and as he pushed the door open, he hoped he hadn’t arrived too late.

“Hi, Amy,” he greeted, once he’d spotted her bent form behind the counter. He heard her curse under her breath as she dropped something on the floor, and he had to bite back his smile. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

She straightened up, and Carter’s smile broke free when he saw the smidgen of frosting smeared across her cheek. “No, not at all,” she answered, her voice a touch too bright. “I was just packing up some of the leftovers to take upstairs.”

He knew something was wrong, but try as he might, he couldn’t figure out what it was. Stepping further into the store, he decided to tread lightly and inquired, “Slow day?”

Her laugh didn’t sound all that amused. “You could say that.” Huffing out a breath, she gestured towards the half-empty display case and told him, “I had five different groups of people come in here today, and not a single one of them bought anything. They just looked at the cupcakes, smiled and left.”

Her muted scream of frustration was adorable, but somehow, Carter doubted she’d appreciate him telling her that. Reining in his impulse to offer to buy up every last item in the case – he knew how much she hated to be pitied – he said, “On the plus side, at least your apartment’s upstairs and not across town.” At her confused frown, he tapped the side of his nose and smiled. “There’s a big storm coming.”

“Great,” Amy groaned, unceremoniously dumping a batch of muffins into a bright pink box. “Tomorrow’s batch is going to go unsold, too. God, I wish Lisa would hurry up and get back here.”

Almost immediately after she finished her sentence, she bit her lip and threw a worried look in his direction. For a brief moment, Carter was puzzled, but when he heard her pulse speed up, the pieces fit together – and he did not like the picture it formed.

A wave of thunder boomed outside, making Amy jump, and in that moment, Carter decided to go with his gut and put all his cards on the table. His gaze zeroed in on her darting eyes, and as a strong gust of wind blew around the tops of the trees, he stalked towards her. Her eyes widened, and he knew that she’d caught his lithe movement.

“Amy,” he purred, smiling as her hands tightened on the box. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you.”

“Really?” she stammered, taking a small step back. “What’s on your mind, Carter?”

Ignoring her question, he glided forward, and just as he stepped behind the counter, he heard her breath hitch in her throat. “I kept putting this off,” he admitted, watching her step further away from him. “I didn’t want to rush you or make you feel like you’d been backed into a corner.”