Shots, Slots, Strippers, and Paws: A Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction Novel (Four-Oh Book 1)

Shots, Slots, Strippers, and Paws Four-Oh Series Book 1 C.S. Knight This book, including the cover(s) and its contents, is protected by copyright laws. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without explicit written permission from the author (except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review). This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Publication and use of trademarks, movie, and music references was done without authorization from the trademark owner(s) and therefore does not reflect upon the trademark owner(s). Cover and interior image design: C.S. Knight Publisher: Wolf Moon Publishing Copyright © 2023 C.S. Knight All rights reserved. ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-7777373-7-5 ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-7777373-8-2 v.1 ⚠ This series is not for children. It was written for mature audiences and contains content some readers may find disturbing (e.g., coarse language, graphic violence, explicit [consensual] intimacy, etc.). See the author’s website (csauthor.wixsite.com/stories) for additional content notes. Reader discretion is advised. ⚠ Contents Stories Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Epilogue Thank you… About the Author Stories By C.S. Knight Four-Oh Series (midlife women’s fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance) ~ Shots, Slots, Strippers, and Paws * * * By C. Sunrise (alternate pen name) The After Series (post-apocalyptic fantasy, paranormal romance) ~ Neli ~ T’cola ~ Laas ~ The After Series Book Bundle (Books 1-3) True Mates Series (paranormal romance) ~ Quarantined with a Beast ~ Taken by a Beast ~ Hunted by a Beast ~ True Mates Series eBook Bundle (Books 1-3) Whoopsie Daisy series (reverse harem, paranormal romance) ~ Plucked Petals * * * ………… And more… ………… * * * Check out my website for book links, updates, exclusive content, and more: csauthor.wixsite.com/stories (Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter while you’re there!) ♥️ To my mom (who didn’t get to see her forties), Your children are all grown up and we are ridiculous. More importantly, you are loved and missed every day. ♥️ * * * “All High Bloods of Caeleus and their descendants will abide by the following rules: 1) High Bloods will not expose their existence to unknowing Weak Bloods, nor will they attempt to awaken weakened kin unless sanctioned to do so by The Eight. 2) High Bloods may torture, maim, and disfigure at will, but will not take the life of another Blood unless sanctioned to do so by The Eight. Those who fail to follow these rules will face immediate expulsion to a lesser realm and additional punishment as decreed by one of The Eight, or death in a manner deemed appropriate by The Eight.” ~ Translated from The Order of The Eight in 800EC (Original date: unknown, predates all texts & scriptures.) * * * Chapter 1 I should have stopped after the first shot. I could count on both hands how many times in my life I’d told myself that, without a finger to spare. I was old enough to know better, and young enough to vividly recall I was beyond the years of enjoying one or two stiff drinks without suffering a hangover that would make me question all my life choices. But even my own sage advice would fall upon my willfully deaf ears from time to time. We hadn’t even left the airport, and I already knew this trip was going to be filled with those times. Tequila spilled on our fingers as we tapped our shot glasses together. I gripped a lime wedge in my other hand like a lifeline, its juices dripping down my fingers as if it, too, wanted to get far away from the tequila. Despite my feelings about how we were starting the evening, I was excited to be heading off to Las Vegas to celebrate the big four-oh with two of my best friends. I didn’t know what made turning forty different from thirty-nine or forty-one, but it just was. The same thing happened to most people I knew when we hit thirty. It was like you crossed over some imaginary mark in your lifeline that demanded you noticed what was different in your life now compared to past years, and if you didn’t notice the differences, you weren’t looking hard enough. Frankly, I was tired of looking. Nothing good came from spending all your time looking behind you. At least that was what I kept reminding myself. It was a battle I sometimes won, but a war that was far from over. “This is well overdue, ladies!” Tiq chirped right before she launched the tequila into the back of her throat, her words soaked up by the din of music and voices in the lounge. With a hiss, she hammered her fist down on the bar counter in front of her and then placed the shot glass on the counter with her other hand. I wasn’t as animated and cursed under a stilted breath as my throat pre-emptively burned with the memories of what the fiery liquid would do to it, even after it was chased by the soothing tang of lime. If I were here alone, I’d have had the unwavering resolve to walk away from the bar. But I wasn’t alone, and I firmly believed everyone encountered a time or two in their life when they reverted to an earlier developmental stage. A stage wrought with rebellion, peer pressure, and bad