“Who was at the door…” Cornelia appears, her eyes glued to my nether region. “Boz! Seriously? Please tell me you did not answer the door naked with a giant boner.”
I frown and grumble an ungentlemanly word. “Next time, answer the goddamned door.”
There is a knock on the door. “Hello? Are you still there?” That persistent baker woman is still outside.
Neli’s big green eyes go wide. “Who’s that?” she whispers.
“A neighbor,” I reply, “coming to poke her nose around, under the guise of good tidings and offering baked goods she calls cupcakes.”
“Oh great. And you just had to answer the door naked before slamming it in her face?”
I shrug unapologetically. “It is my castle. I will do as I please.”
Neli narrows her eyes at me. “We need to act like normal people running a normal winery. You don’t understand how quickly rumors spread these days.”
“Hello?” The woman knocks once again.
My, my. She is a persistent little thing. “Answer the door,” I whisper to Neli. “Tell her if she wishes to see another sunrise, she must never return.” My growling stomach takes no prisoners, and at the moment, it is painfully aware of the delectable treat just on the other side of that door.
Neli gives me a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I mouth the word virgin and point to the door.
Neli’s eyes go wider, and she shakes a pale finger at me. “You keep your fangs off her. I am not picking up this castle and moving again because you can’t keep ’em in your mouth!”
“Then make her leave,” I say.
“Fine.” Neli opens the door, and I hide behind it, carefully twisting my body so my still very frisky manhood is not injured. “Oh, it’s you! Great to see you again, Stella.”
Stella is a name that rolls off the tongue like my beautiful native language. I like it. Wait. No, I hate it. As I hate her.
I glance down at my groin, which calls my bluff.
“Neli, right?” Stella asks.
“Yes. Long time no see, Stella. What can I do for you?”
Stella goes on to explain that she just returned home from her studies and is now working at her family’s vineyard across the way. This is not good. Avoiding such a tasty treat so close to home will prove challenging.
“Anyway,” Stella continues, “I just stopped by to see if I could chat with the owner—maybe pick his brain a little on some marketing stuff, but I think I caught him at a bad time.” She adds with a whisper, “He was naked.”
Neli coughs. “Was he? Darn it. Must be sleepwalking again. He works such long hours during the day, and sometimes at night too, dealing with our distributors overseas. It messes with his sleep patterns. I should go check on him, but thanks for coming by.”
“These cupcakes are for you guys.”
Neli takes them. “Thank you. You shouldn’t have.”
“It’s nothing,” Stella says, “but I was still hoping for that chat. Is there a better time for me to come back?”
“Um…maybe around seven tonight? Prince Bozhidar has a late meeting, but I’m sure he’d love to help you in any way he can.”
What the devil? I almost reach for Neli’s neck and slam the door in Stella’s face again. What is Neli up to? As is, I am ready to claw my way through the heavy wooden door just for a nibble of this woman. Why would Neli agree to have me meet with her?
“Prince Bozhidar? The owner is royalty?” Stella asks.
“Oh, uh…no, no. His first name is Prince, like the singer—rest in peace.”
What? I am too a prince! Prince Bozhidar Alexandru of Transylvania.
“Interesting. Well, tell Prince I said thank you. And please don’t mention the whole naked sleepwalking thing. I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable talking business with me, and it’s not his fault he has a problem.”
“I won’t say a word,” Neli replies. “And he goes by Mr. Bozhidar. Just letting you know so the meeting goes well. He’s old-school when it comes to manners. I mean really, really old-school.”
Stella laughs. “I’ll remember to curtsy, then.”
Yes. And you should also offer me your body to feast on. Wait. No, no. I must remember not to eat the neighbors.
“All right, well, see you then, Neli,” Stella says.
“Sure. And thanks again for the treats. He’ll love them.” Neli shuts the door.
I wait for the footsteps outside to fade into the distance before giving Neli a piece of my mind at full volume. “What has gotten into you, girl?”
Neli flips her long red hair over her shoulder and folds her arms over her chest. I hate that she is still wearing men’s clothing—snug breeches and a white shirt with buttons down the front. So inappropriate. Women should always wear modest dresses, except when in my bedchamber. Then they should wear nothing.
“She obviously wasn’t going to leave until I said yes,” Neli explains. “Besides, all you have to do is meet with her for one minute, and she’ll see you don’t know diddly-squat about marketing and go on her way.”
“I know not what a diddly-squat is,” I snarl under my breath, “but you mean to make me look a fool, and I will not stand for it. I may be out of my element when it comes to living in this new world, but I know people, I know what entices them, and I know how to make the sort of wine that makes a person’s soul weep with joy.”
Neli rolls her insolent eyes. “Fine. You’re the best, Boz. But we can’t afford to have her poking around, so you’ll have to get rid of her. Also, you need to keep that thing in your trousers.” Neli points to my erection. “I know how much you like virgins and what you do to them.”
She is referring to the fact that I can never quite stop myself from drinking them to death. They taste too good.
“First of all, I am not wearing any trousers. Second, you forget who is in charge. It is my castle, and I will do as I please.” I march off toward the kitchen. “And order me a new coffin! I want it delivered before I wake.”
I return to the cellar and climb into my extremely uncomfortable coffin, forced to lie there for another hour before I can close the damned lid, lest I risk injuring my very stiff, very uncomfortable situation.
I would take care of it myself, but I am a vampire. I can get any woman I want, and it is far more pleasurable to be serviced.
Yes, tonight, I shall find someone to sate a different kind of hunger. And I shall stay far away from that baker woman with the pastries. Meeting. Hrrmph! Foolish Neli. It is a ridiculous idea. That human, Stella, has no idea how close she came to dying just now, and the last thing I want is to begin killing the town’s peasants. Not yet. Not until I am situated in this new time and place.
Nevertheless, I drift off to sleep, thinking of Stella’s long flowing dress and sweet delicious scent.
CHAPTER FIVE
Stella
Naked hot man is really hard to get past. He was young too, maybe thirty at the most. No, not going there. I need to keep this professional. Stellariva Vineyards is not shutting down on my watch.
Seeing Prince in all his sexy muscular—stop. He has a condition. A sleepwalking, fully erect condition, but that is beside the point. The only reason I’m thinking about him naked so much is because it was a shock. Yes, that’s why. Any woman would feel the same, even if they weren’t going through a sexual drought. Ahem. At our meeting tonight I’ll pretend I know nothing about his wide rounded shoulders, muscular chest, and impressive…other things. I flush with heat. He must hit the gym hard to get those six-pack abs and the deep V at the waist leading to—