Four favorite authors present their favorite characters in all-new tales of bloodlust, appetites that must be sated again and again, and the passion that feeds them. **Beyond the Ardeur (An Anita Blake tale) By Laurell K. Hamilton* * Anita is attending a friend’s wedding when Nathaniel, her pomme de sang, makes known in no uncertain terms that he wants to take the relationship to the next level. Anita’s subsequent actions take her to a place she has hitherto carefully avoided. *** *This short story is a condensed version of Incubus Dreams, book 12 in the Anita Blake series!* **Dead Girls Don’t Dance, by MaryJanice Davidson** Vampire Andrea Mercer is literally dug up by an old crush, Daniel Harris, and during a trip to Minnesota to see the vampire queen, her desire for him reignites. **Originally Human by Eileen Wilks** Succubus Molly Brown discovers a gorgeous, naked man in the woods and decides to help him recover his memory. **Burning Moon by Rebecca York** All werewolf Grant Marshall wants to do is rip out the throat of the man who killed his wife–then swim out into the Atlantic Ocean and never come back. He tracks his wife’s killer to a small New Jersey seaside town, where he meets Antonia, a blind tarot card reader–the woman with the power to change his fate.