Dead Sexy

She was looking for long-term. She wasn't expecting eternity!Just when Nikki Braxton has given up on finding a normal guy, she meets cowboy Jake McCann.Tall, dark and delicious, he could be the ideal manif he wasn't a vampire. Well, at least that explains his...uh... hunger for her. Meanwhile, that down-and-dirty sex they're having is giving him the energy he needs to destroy his nemesis and break the vampire curse. Good thing, because being with Nikki makes him long for a normal life that much more.But then Nikki is abducted. If Jake saves her, he may lose his only shot at becoming human again.Talk about damned if you do...

HE NEEDED A WOMAN.If Jake McCann had been anywhere else in the free world, he would have headed for the nearest singles bar. But he was stuck in the middle of nowhere--aka Skull Creek, Texas--and so he'd headed for its one and only pickup spot: the forty-second annual Founder's Day festival, a weeklong celebration that kicked off with tonight's carnival.He tipped back the brim of his Stetson and studied his surroundings. The rides had been set up on the ten-acre stretch of gravel parking lot behind the local high school. Pastureland surrounded the area, stretching endlessly in all directions, reminding Jake exactly how far out of his element he really was.No blinding lights or slabs of concrete. No sirens wailing in the distance or horns honking. Instead he heard the whir of rides, barks of laughter and the cry of a violin from the country two-step that drifted from the large tent at the rear of the carnival, where a battle of the local bands had commenced.There was a giant Ferris wheel and a brightly lit merry-go-round, along with a few more daring rides. Mad Teacups. to hang with her boyfriend tonight.He had his own addiction.His own curse.Not for long.He'd searched and watched and waited for the past ten years since discovering the means to free himself, and the time had finally come. In nine days he would escape the hunger that held him captive. He would face his past, his sire, and he would defeat him--and then he would be normal again.A man rather than a vampire.If he intended to be victorious, he had to be at the top of his game.Fully alert.Physically strong.Emotionally ready.Powerful.And there was only one surefire way to beef up his strength--he needed to feed.Not in the traditional sense. There were some perks to being over one hundred years old--namely he could go days without sinking his fangs into a sweet, succulent female. Contrary to popular myth, the need for blood didn't define him. It was just a part of who he was.He was also a giant mass of energy.Tonight's hunt was all about charging that energy. About finding another life force, preferably while it was at its most vibrant, and soaking up the extra voltage.Tonight's hunt was all about S-E-X.That's why Jake had left Houston and his motorcycle design business to head for the hill country. He wanted plenty of time to prepare for the coming confrontation. He'd ridden into town just a few hours ago, over a week before his sire was due to return to Skull Creek to relive the turning.It was what all vampires did on the anniversary of their change. On the exact date, at the exact moment, each was instinctively called back to the site where he or she had left their humanity behind. While reliving the moment of death, a vampire was at his most vulnerable.Jake had managed to pinpoint the location and he intended to launch his attack while his sire was at his weakest. But he wasn't going to rely on timing alone to guarantee victory.He'd checked himself into the nearest motel and wasted zero time in heading straight for the one event that offered the biggest selection of females--the carnival that kicked off a weeklong celebration honoring the town's founders. In particular, Sam Black who'd single-handedly fought off a group of Santa Anna's men during the Texas Revolution and preserved the small settlement of Skull Creek.The man was a legend. A hero.To everyone but Jake. He walked toward the ticket booth, looking, sensing, feeling. It was another perk of being what he was and the only one he was truly going to miss. Trust had never been a high commodity with the people in his life. Not during the thirty years he'd been human nor in the hundred-plus years since.Luckily he didn't walk into any situation blindly. He could look into any human's eyes and see their darkest fear, their fondest dream, their deepest desire, their true character. It