Passion and adventure collide in this exhilarating island adventure that will leave you demanding more. When romance author Nicola Trammel finds herself stranded on a tropical paradise, she finds comfort through the kindness of the natives and an unexpected romance that begins to blossom with the island's handsome young king. While torn between the need to return home to her former life and the desire to remain on the island with the delicious king, Nicola soon discovers that there is a danger hidden in the dark shadows of the jungle – an evil that has latched onto her scent and threatens to expose the natives to a terror unlike any they have ever known and one that they may not survive. Join Nicola on this explosive sea-fairing, saltwater-laden romance that takes both fantasy and vampires to new levels of intrigue.
Nicola wanted to talk, but her throat was so dry that it hurt. Everything hurt. She ached all over, but despite having pulled metal from her leg, it was her head that hurt the most.
"This is no hangover," she whispered, thinking back to the three drinks and two pills she'd had on the plane.
"You're awake," said a feminine voice from not too far away. It was an older woman's voice, caring and with an accent that, despite her travels around the globe, she could not place. "The King has been awaiting word of your wellbeing."
"The King?" Nicola whispered, repeating the word. Now, despite the pain, she was certain she was in a dream, trapped inside of a romance novel. Or, just perhaps, she had perished in that flight like everybody else, and this was either her heaven or her hell.
"You shall meet him soon enough," the woman told her. Nicola opened her eyes and could see the woman approach. She had tanned skin, wrinkled from a mix of age and sun, and her toothy smile was friendly in the way that an ugly dog was friendly. "Until then, you should rest."
The old woman held the lip of a bottle to Nicola's lips and filled her mouth with what tasted similar to water, but it held a slight sweetness to it as well. Within a moment of sipping, her eyes drifted shut again, and the next time they opened, the room was brightened by the rays of daylight that shown through an open doorway.
