Beyond Boundaries (Bedtime Stories 2)
Author: Hunter Raines
Cover Art: Renee' George
BIN: 04095-01311
Genres: Hot Flash, Paranormal, Romance
Series: Bedtime Stories (#2)
Book Length: Hot Flash
Bedtime Stories' webmaster Carter Roth has two great passions: his work, and his lover, Brody Mann. For years, he's tried to shield Brody from the viciousness of his vampire nature, and has succeeded in building a relationship based on respect, sensitivity and tenderness. Unfortunately, Brody's never home to appreciate Carter's doting devotion.
A digital security expert working for a secret government agency, Brody is away on secret missions more often than not. And as much as Carter hates to admit it, when Brody's around they're not exactly setting the bed sheets on fire.
Luckily, his job demands all his pent-up energy. Lovingly crafting and maintaining the Bedtime Stories website -- and sneaking free reads whenever he can get away with it -- helps Carter take his mind off the distinct lack of heat in his relationship. So when he learns that someone's hacked into his precious website, Carter is determined to track down the culprit and make him pay!
But it soon becomes clear that the hacker knows things he shouldn't... about Carter, about Brody, and about everything that's missing from their sex lives.
"A deliciously hot story with a couple of enjoyable surprises along the way."
"This story definitely is strictly about the sexual tension so if you like your erotica with a little romance like me, Hunter Raines has one for you."
Bedtime Stories: Beyond Boundaries
Hunter Raines
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2010 Hunter Raines
Carter Roth had always figured that "hot enough to set the screen on fire" was a figure of speech. A cute saying made up by rabid e-book fans to describe the incendiary sex scenes contained between the virtual pages of their favorite author's latest work.
Now, staring at the virtual flames licking the inside of his computer monitor, he wasn't so sure.
Irritation surged through him as his fingers flew over the back-lit keyboard. The fire billowed higher.
"What the hell?" As the blue-tinted flame tips brushed the bottom of the Bedtime Stories logo, the image began to melt. "Oh -- no no no!"
The click-clack of keys drowned out the low beat of sultry jazz music humming through the house. Lights flared to life in the windowless office, summoned by the wild energy in Carter's frantic typing.
His breathing locked up with the force of his confusion. This wasn't possible. He was the only one who had access to the back-end website code. Living with a digital security expert had taught him a thing or two about covering his virtual ass, and he knew every trick in the book. He hadn't left himself vulnerable. He was sure of it. So how had this happened?
The hacker had slipped in undetected. One moment Carter stared at pretty lines of code, and the next the entire damn site was engulfed in a simulated blaze that threatened to unravel everything he'd worked so hard to build.
He'd logged in to the Bedtime Stories' web server a few minutes earlier to perform some routine maintenance. Technically, he'd only needed to upload a couple of covers, but he hated letting a day go by without tweaking the website layout. So while inside the system, he'd planned on implementing an advanced sorting method for displaying newly released books.
His boss, the owner of the Bedtime Stories publishing company -- affectionately known to the staff as Troll, because, well, that's what she was -- had no idea he intended to fiddle with the layout again. He wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.
So much for covert web work. When the hacker slipped in, the books vanished behind a wall of flame. And if Carter couldn't access the merchandise, neither could customers. While he bemoaned his bad luck, readers weren't getting their erotic fiction fix, authors weren't earning royalties, and Bedtime Stories' stellar reputation was taking a massive hit.
The breath whooshed from his lungs. If Troll got wind of this, he'd be fucked three ways from Sunday. And fired. Seriously fucking fired.
"Not happening," he ground out between gritted teeth.
He needed this job. No... it was more than that. He liked it here. All staff members worked their tails off -- some metaphorically, some literally -- to ensure that Bedtime Stories produced the best damn erotic fiction available anywhere. He'd given two years of his immortal life to this company, and he'd be damned if he would let a low-grade hacker ruin his career.
Lost in his turbulent thoughts, Carter almost missed the words materializing on the screen. A short burst of text superimposed itself in black font over the garish orange background.
How long since you've had your cock sucked?
Relief suffused his veins and Carter let out a sharp burst of laughter. It was just a sex bot. A damn sex bot had taken over his site. Fuck, but that was good to know. He'd feared he was dealing with a real hacker, someone who knew his way around a few thousand lines of code.
Sex bots crawled the 'net like mindless vermin, looking for easy access to the masses. Getting rid of one was the first thing he'd learned in Programming for the Web 101. All he had to do was input the command to exterminate the electronic critter... and... poof!
Only nothing happened. The fire burned. The words taunted him. He tried again, using a variation of the same command, then another, and another. The font increased in size, mocking his efforts. A cursor appeared at the end of the line, and the text shifted as though edited on demand. How long since you've had your cock sucked... Carter?
He stiffened. So this was personal.
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