High Stakes Read Free Page A

that he is much stronger than he used to be."
    "Ah, to be a young vampire again."Seamus shook his head. "Whenall the world was new and exciting and everyone looked like a meal…" He grinned. "It's hell to get old. Now it's all responsibilities and shaping a new world order. I haven't even put the bite on anyone in a hundred years."
    "Whine to me when you hit your five-hundredth birthday. Until then I don't want to hear it." Especially since Ethan was distracted at the moment. "So why do you think Alexis is here?" he asked quietly, aware that mortal ears had severe limits, but not wanting to chance Alexis hearing him.
    "To save her sister from your evil clutches, I take it."
    That was what concerned Ethan. His mild interest inBrittany had become much more when he had Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    realized who she was. What she was. And Seamus had been ecstatic. Neither one of them wanted to give up the idea ofBrittany .
    "I don't have any evil clutches.Haven't since at least the sixteenth century. But if they are well and truly sisters… is Alexis an Impure likeBrittany is?" He wasn't sure if that was a plus or a minus, or if it mattered in the slightest. Alexis was not a woman who could be easily persuaded or guided.
    During the time he had been with her, Ethan hadn't been able to pick up on any of Alexis's thoughts. Not that he had really been trying to probe her mind, but nothing had come across to him.
    "I don't know. I didn't sense anything from her, but I wasn't focusing on it. I was focusing more on staying out of her firing range.Not my kind of woman, Ethan, seriously." Seamus shuddered.
    Ethan looked at his friend and campaign manager, suddenly curious, and unable to resist the chance to give Seamus a hard time. "What is your type of woman? I haven't seen you with a female since that little French girl tried to get you to take a turn on the guillotine. Are you saving yourself for marriage or something?"
    Seamus scowled. "With all due respect, Mr. President, mind your own damn business."
    With a laugh, Ethan clapped Seamus on the back, as the elevator finally opened for Alexis. "Let's go back to the guests.Brittany won't leave, I can guarantee it."
    BecauseBrittany could not leave.As an Impure, she was his ticket to reelection for the presidency of the Vampire Nation. She would appease his minority constituents, and lend credence to his claim that he was older, wiser, less inclined to violence than he had been in his youth.
    Which was true.He did see the value of negotiation and democracy now, whereas at one time he'd thought the only solution to a problem was to raise his sword. Now he was ready for diplomacy, andBrittany would make a truly valuable first lady.
    "Are you sure? You haven't exactly been, uh, aggressive withBrittany . You're usually much more, well, successful earlier on with women." Seamus cleared his throat.
    "I'm wooing her, Seamus." Ethan glared at his friend. "This is a serious venture, not a hot tumble in the barn. I'm being delicate."
    Which was a laugh in itself.Ethan hadn't wooed any woman with the intention of doing more than getting her out of her clothes.
    This was different, and he was having a little trouble adjusting himself to the prospect of a monogamous relationship.Marriage. Jesus. He got vampire sweat in his armpits just thinking about it. And withBrittany an Impure, their marriage could last some sixty years or more.
    "Well, pick up the pace on the wooing. It looks like you're not interested in her. If Iwere a girl, I wouldn't think you were being delicate, I'd think you wanted to be 'just friends.'" Seamus made quote marks with his fingers.
    Everyone was a critic. "If you were a girl, I wouldn't be pursuing your platter-face. But do you think you can do this better? You woo her. Let's see how far you get, Mr. No Date This Century. At least I'm still having sex."

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