Beverly Rae - Kissin In The Moonlight(1).pdf - Beverly Rae - SilverWitch

Kissin’ In The Moonlight

Beverly Rae

Triskelion Publishing

www.triskelionpublishing.net

Triskelion Publishing

15327 W. Becker Lane

Surprise, AZ 85379

including photocopying, recording or by any information retrieval and storage system without permission of the publisher except, where

permitted by law.

ISBN 1-933874-76-7

Publisher’s Note. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.Any

resemblance to a person or persons, living or dead, business establishments, events

Dedication

To my special “animal” of a husband, who always supports me no matter how “wild” I get.

Thanks to Kristi Studts, Gail Northman, and Terey Ramin of Triskelion Publishing for saying

“yes” to my first ebook, Love Times Seven , thus opening the floodgate for the rest, including my

first book in both ebook and in print, Dancin’ in the Moonlight . Thanks, also, to Linda Wisdom

for her insight and input.

Beverly Rae

Prologue

“ The Still Sexy Ladies Guide to Dating Immortals . Hmm.” Sydney Skeller wiped the dust

from the battered book and placed it on her lap. “Why would anyone throw away a book with

such an interesting title?” But then, she couldn’t understand why anyone would ever throw

away a book. Books were precious objects to be cherished, and read time and time again.

When she’d seen the battered and shabby book lying on top of a Dumpster behind the school

where she taught fourth grade, she’d snatched it up and brought it home to her apartment

already bursting at the seams with stacks of books.

“Let’s see. Looks like some interesting chapters in here. Dating the Demanding Demon.

Enjoying Your Dragon’s Heat Without Getting Burned. ” She paused to close the book and re-

examine the cover. “I wonder who wrote this.” She couldn’t find an author’s name listed; not

even the name of the publishing house. “That’s weird. Who writes a book and doesn’t put

their name on it? And even stranger, what publishing company would publish a book and not

put their information on the inside pages?”

She reflected on the title again. “ The Still Sexy Ladies Guide to Dating Immortals . Yep, a

very cool title . ” Slowly, lovingly, she ran her fingers over the intricate lettering. Brushing her

hand over the embossed lettering, she sucked in air and cringed as golden flakes flew off the

book to float gently to the floor. “Oh, crap. Careful, Syd.” She slid both hands under the inch-

thick book, determined to take more care with it.

“I wonder if the author believes immortals are real.” As she held the treasure in her

hands, Syd tilted the book at different angles and craned her neck to study every side as if she

could find a clue to the mysterious author by examining the texture, weight, and size of the

book. “Nah. Besides, even though I know werewolves exist, I’ve never heard of anyone

actually seeing a real dragon, or a leprechaun, or any preternatural creature. This has got to be

a work of fiction. Interesting fiction, but fiction nonetheless. What other explanation could

exist?”

Opening the book again, she continued to scan the content listing until her eyes landed

on a chapter that took her breath away. “Oh, crap. Here’s a chapter on summoning and

dating a werewolf.” Could the book be for real? If the author knew about shifters, maybe the

author was right about the existence of other immortals? After all, how many people did she

know who’d seen a werewolf? Even if she hadn’t seen one, she knew they were real. Her

father could attest to that. A tingle zipped through her at all the exciting possibilities. “Holey,

moley. Skeller would freak if he saw this.”

“Are you talking about me?”

Syd’s head jerked up at the sound of her father’s gruff voice. “Skeller?” Why did she

sometimes use his last name instead of calling him “Dad”? Almost as if her use of his last

name showed the lack of connection between them.

Although his boxy bulk leaned against the frame of her front door in an obvious show

of nonchalant indifference, she knew he wasn’t happy. In fact, she could tell he was

downright mad. In one swift motion, she closed the book, placed it behind her on the sofa

Kissin’ In The Moonlight

slipping it part of the way under a pillow, and faced her father with her “I’m the best daughter

in the world” smile. Yet what she needed was a diversion. “Nothing, Dad. What are you

doing here?” Besides snooping on me .

She walked over to him—and away from the book—to peck a kiss on his cheek. As

usual, his body odor was atrocious and she held her breath as she hurried away from him.

“Dad, did you forget to shower again?”

“Look, little girl, I don’t need any lessons from you on how to take care of myself.

Especially since you can’t keep your own front door locked. You’re just asking for some

lowlife to waltz in and rob you. Or worse.” Skeller chewed his tobacco and started to spit out

a wad.

“No! Don’t spit that awful stuff out in here. And as far as leaving my door unlocked,

most people don’t barge into an apartment without knocking.” Why was her father so

different from her? She was clean and neat while he was a walking billboard for bad manners

and once-a-year bathing. In fact, sometimes she couldn’t understand how they could be

related at all. “And furthermore, a bath would do you good. Not to mention how the rest of

the world would appreciate it.” She scanned his rumpled, soiled clothes. “Mom said she’d do

your laundry whenever you wanted. All you have to do is give her your clothes. It’s good to

change into a fresh pair of pants and shirt each morning. After a morning shower with soap.

And I don’t want to even think about your underwear.”

“You don’t have to worry about my underwear because I go with—”

“No! Don’t say anything else.” Fighting the image his statement evoked in her mind,

she raised both hands and shook her head. “Aw, hell, Dad. Gross.”

Her father grumbled a few choice words, but kept the large wad of tobacco in his

mouth as he ignored her comments. Instead, he changed the subject to the only topic that ever

mattered to him. “You’re coming to the meeting tonight, right?”

His words were more of a command than a question. Syd scowled, trying to match her

father’s irritated expression. “Do I have to? You know I don’t want to hunt werewolves.

Besides, I’d planned on working out with my friends tonight.” She’d rather do anything than

go on a shifter hunt. Including sweating on a damn treadmill.

“Sydney, you’re my daughter and, as my only child, you have the family reputation to

uphold. My father was a hunter, I’m a hunter, and you’re a hunter, whether or not you know

it right now. It’s what we do and who we are. You need to give up that teaching foolishness.

Living up to your responsibility as a hunter is more important than blowing the noses of those

snotty brats.”

She tossed her head defiantly, placed her feet apart, and got ready to stand up to her

father. “Hunting doesn’t pay the rent and, thankfully, teaching does. And don’t insult either

me or my kids. You’re the one who needs someone to blow your nose. And brush your hair

and all those other things you were supposed to have learned to do as a child. Maybe if you’d

had a good teacher you’d have learned all those things.” Come on, Skeller, get a clue .

His eyes narrowed as he straightened up to his full five-foot-five-inch height, but she

wouldn’t back down, no matter how his stare managed to strip away her adulthood, making

her an intimidated nine-year-old again. “And you may as well get this through your thick

head. I’m not going to hunt. Unlike you, I don’t have an inner need to kill shifters. In fact, I

kind of—” She clamped her mouth closed before the betraying words could escape her

Beverly Rae - Kissin In The Moonlight(1).pdf

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