Beyond Bewitching
| Beyond Bewitching | |
| Bewitching Desires [8] | |
| Mellanie Szereto | |
| (2012) | |
| Tags: | Romance |
[Menage Amour: Erotic Paranormal Menage a Trois Romance, M/F/M, shape-shifters, witches, time travel, HEA] After more than three hundred years as an elder of the Black Triad, Patience Wyndham knows she must risk her life to destroy their leader, the evil snake-shifter Naga. When she travels through time in search of a false candidate to complete the weakened Triad, she is captured by two handsome bounty hunters. She is at their mercy until she discovers she has been Naga’s pawn for centuries. Sarah Pennymead may have changed her name to Patience Wyndham, but to horse-shifters Tanner Vale and John Grey, she’s still an evil Pennymead witch. Their job is to bring the beautiful witch to justice before the Xanthus clan. Surprised by the faint song that can only come from their yet-to-be-revealed mate, they examine the tattoo on Sarah’s back. The markings identify her as the woman who will save their clan from near extinction. But can they trust her with their love? ** A Siren Erotic Romance
Bewitching Desires 8
Beyond Bewitching
After more than three hundred years as an elder of the Black Triad, Patience Wyndham knows she must risk her life to destroy their leader, the evil snake-shifter Naga. When she travels through time in search of a false candidate to complete the weakened Triad, she is captured by two handsome bounty hunters. She is at their mercy until she discovers she has been Naga’s pawn for centuries.
Sarah Pennymead may have changed her name to Patience Wyndham, but to horse-shifters Tanner Vale and John Grey, she’s still an evil Pennymead witch. Their job is to bring the beautiful witch to justice before the Xanthus clan. Surprised by the faint song that can only come from their yet-to-be-revealed mate, they examine the tattoo on Sarah’s back. The markings identify her as the woman who will save their clan from near extinction. But can they trust her with their love?
Genre:
Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Shape-shifter, Time Travel
Length:
39,590 words
Bewitching Desires 8
Mellanie Szereto
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
BEYOND BEWITCHING
Copyright © 2012 by Mellanie Szereto
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-994-4
First E-book Publication: November 2012
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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B
eyond Bewitching
by Mellanie Szereto from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
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I’d like to take this opportunity to say “Thanks” to all my readers, my fellow writers at IRWA, and my family for supporting me in this amazing journey. You’re the greatest!
Oh, and a special thank you to my characters for never giving me the silent treatment :)
BEYOND BEWITCHING
Bewitching Desires 8
MELLANIE SZERETO
Copyright © 2012
“It is done, Naga.” Patience Wyndham buried the elation squirming its way through her veins. “The Macska matriarch is dead.”
“The witch took Ka
zzz
mer with her into the afterlife.” The hissing accusation came from the most ancient of the Black Triad, the eldest of the now one-third defunct trio of shifters.
As the other remaining elder of the Triad, Patience didn’t fear the wrath of her confederate. Destroying her would mean a weakening of his own powers beyond their current state. “He was careless. His desire for another…
protégé
distracted him from his goal.”
Naga arched to fan his hood. “We mu
ss
t
ss
eek a
ss
uitable repla
ce
ment. Go to the deepe
ss
t den of iniquity and find the mo
ss
t wicked of all men. Bring him to me.”
Tossing off her head covering, she scoffed. “
A man?
Women are far more manipulative and prone to revenge.”
“They are
alsso
unpredictable. Do my bidding.” Slithering across the sandy floor in a slow, hypnotic sway, he vanished into one of the side corridors of the catacombs.
Patience bowed in deference to him before glaring at the pair of filthy servants lurking in the corner. “Your master grows irritable. Take him something to eat.”
At her dismissive wave, the men scurried off in the direction of the cages. Naga would likely devour the offering
and
those who brought it as well. With his ability to shift to human shape temporarily disabled from the unexpected destruction of Kazmer, he was stuck in his cobra or another animal form until he absorbed enough souls to replenish his drained powers.
The serpent was his appearance of choice. Before the formation of the Black Triad, he’d long been one of the snake worshippers, gaining the skill of shifting from his mentor. Little had the teacher known that his student would become many times more powerful than any of the priests of the ancient temples—and infinitely more ambitious.
Patience had also lost the ability to change her physical being, but the state of it was another matter. With a single thought, she drifted into an ethereal cloud and returned to her current home. The conscious and subconscious musings of her brain weren’t private in the catacombs, and she dared not risk the breach.
Another thought carried her to the lavish bedroom from which she ran Wyndham House. Yards and yards of midnight-blue velvet trimmed in silver braid and baubles hung from the four-poster’s canopy, draping the bed in decadence and shadow—rather fitting for the owner of a brothel who happened to be a dark shifter and former witch.
Settling on the chair in front of the vanity dresser, she released the catch of her cape and let it fall from her bare shoulders. A few strokes of the brush through her thick hair brought the wild black mane under control from shifting and transporting. The black irises of her eyes slowly lightened to reveal their natural gray-green color in her reflection. She was almost herself again.
A knock sounded at her door.
The pervasive scent of Penelope’s perfume announced her presence, advising Patience her most active
lady
had arrived for afternoon tea. “Enter.”
Using her shoulder to push open the door, the young woman carried a tray into the room. “You wanted to see me, ma’am?”
Gesturing to the chest of drawers, Patience gave a curt nod, waiting for the prostitute to set down her burden. “Will you pour for us, Penelope? I’d like to discuss a business proposition with you.”
The redhead’s hands froze with the teapot poised to pour, and she turned her full attention to Patience. “Do you mean… Are you…leaving?”
Considering the number of times she’d made known her wish to buy out her employer if the opportunity arose, Penelope seemed utterly shocked that the time might have actually come.
Patience stood to assist her with the tea. “This venture has been a successful one, and I’d like to travel before I get too old to enjoy the sights. I’ve always wanted to visit New Orleans.” She left her intent to go to the city fifty years into the future unsaid.
“Too old?” Penelope looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I hope I can still turn men’s heads when I’m twenty-five years old.”
Twenty-five? The poor girl would have an apoplectic fit if she knew Patience was closer to a hundred seventy-five in this time. When she left 1840 Texas for late nineteenth-century Louisiana, she’d be over two hundred years old.
She took the pot from Penelope to fill two china teacups. “Thank you for the compliment, dear. Come sit. We have details to work out.”
The piles of red curls on her head bobbed as Penelope nodded, and she retrieved the straight-back chair from the writing desk. “Yes, ma’am.”
Handing the young woman a cup, Patience sat in the padded armchair at the vanity dresser. “You’ve been very active in the four years you’ve been living and working at Wyndham House. Many of your clients return to you time and again. Do you believe your earnings have been sufficient to purchase the business and all it entails?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. I’ve saved almost every penny. Your generosity in providing room and board in exchange for me asking my customers to partake of a meal or drink from the dining room has allowed me to put aside quite a nest egg.”