Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (38 page)

“We need to find Jeremy. We need kill
him.”

“We need to find a demon willing to
help.”

“Why?” Kara asked.

“Jeremy won’t be easy to kill. He has
consumed a demon’s blood. It has made him stronger, more powerful than the
average vampire.”

“Then, we get a demon to help and we
hunt him down and kill him.”

“We won’t need to hunt him. He is
already hunting us.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

“He’s a predator, a hunter by nature and
he has marked you as his prey. As soon as his wounds are healed and he is at full
power he’ll begin hunting you. We’ll make it easy for him to find you. We’ll
free you mom from the bond he has with her.”

~Epilogue~

FROM
TIME TO time life had brought about unexpected happenings. The truth, looking
up into the eyes of a man who loved her with all that he had, was an
unforeseeable affair. Eli had become Kara’s world. He’d given her his heart and
he’d captured hers. He would never hurt or betray her. He would die to protect
her. He was and would forever be the best friend and lover she’d ever had.

“Stop stalling. It’s time. Do it.”

And bossy. Being an alpha, chest beating
male he would always try to tell her what to do rather than offer suggestions.
Her job would be to find creative ways to make him beg before giving in to his
wishes. “How do you know I can do it?”

 “I’ve more going for me that just
being the hottest, chest beating sex god you’ve ever dreamed of getting naked
with. I also happen to have infallible instincts.”

It
was true. His instincts were, as a general and annoying rule, always right on
target. “You also have an enormously puffed up ego.”

“Are
you saying the loving you’ve been receiving from me isn’t all that good?”

Refusing
to allow her smile to broaden, she shrugged to appear nonchalant. “I suppose
you do a decent job with what you have to work with.”

As
if ignoring the muffled chuckles of the other pack members gathered all around,
he took her into his arms. “Decent? That’s it?” She shivered. His voice was
thick, husky, and it somehow managed to touch her, move over her skin as if
ever so lightly caressing her.

“A pretty
good job.” Her response drew more from him than a grin. Gripping her ass and
lifting her up, he took a few steps and used his entire body to pin her back
against a tree. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his
neck. “What are you doing?”

“If
I’m only pretty good I need a lot of practice to get better so you don’t feel
the need to find a stronger, more capable mate,” he breathed the words against
her lips.

She
expected blazing hot, lustful passion to explode. Instead, his tender kiss
ignited a slow rising sensual flame of love and desire. It had nothing to do
with having sex. He was sharing his love for her. He was making love to her.
“Honestly, I would never want another man.”

“That’s
good news.” He set her down. “Are you ready?”

“What
if…”

He
took a step back and shifted into his wolf form.
Close your eyes. You’ve met
your wolf in your dreams already. Envision yourself as it.
You can do
it.

She
looked around at the pack surrounding her. They’d followed Eli’s lead when he
took his wolf form. “What if I get stuck like that?”

You
won’t.
Eli sat down and yawned as if bored.

“That
was rude.” Accompanied by a strong urge to bite him she felt something dark and
wild stir in her. His lip lifted in what could’ve been mistaken as a snarl, but
it was far from it. He was amused.  “Go chase a flea or something.”

Standing
up, he yawned again.

“Stop
it.” Her anger building she took a step toward him.

Then,
after shaking his head as if to force himself to stay awake and alert, he
allowed his body to collapse. “Oh, that’s real funny, Eli.” Sprawled out on his
side, he twisted his neck and looked at her with sleepy eyes. “Don’t you dare
do it again.”  Once more, he yawned.

The transformation
was so sudden she didn’t even notice it had happened until after she’d pounced
on him and had a mouth full of fur. Releasing his throat, she climbed off him
and stared at him. She wasn’t as shocked as she was excited.
I did it.

He
got to his feet slowly and, head lowered and ears pressed back, he moved toward
her.
You bit me.

You
deserved it. Back off or I’ll do it again.
Refusing to retreat
she lifted her lip in a snarl, took a step forward, and then she stopped and
looked around her before settling her gaze back onto his.
Let’s run. I want
to run.
Followed by Eli and surrounded by the pack, Kara ran until her legs
could no longer carry her.

Want
a sneak peek at what’s to come?

Volatile Breath of Darkness
(unedited)

FOLLOWING AN EXTRA-LONG soak
in the tub, Brianna had just wrapped a towel around her body and walked out of
the bathroom when she felt a distinct shift of power in the atmosphere. At
first she’d mistaken it for Nikolas, but she knew it wasn’t him when she felt
heat generating from the necklace he’d given to her for protection.

“Don’t
panic. We wouldn’t want you to lose your grip on that towel.” The man’s voice
was deep. It had soothing and hypnotic attributes. It was familiar. It was too
perfectly pitched to belong to anything other than a demon. 

Gripping
the towel in her fist up above her breasts a little tighter, she turned to face
the intruder. “Who are you?”

“Demetri
Demidov.”

Hearing
him say his name made her feel as if a cold, dark cloud had swallowed her up.
She fought the sudden, desperate urge to turn around and run for her life. It
wouldn’t do any good. She’d have better luck outrunning a bullet fired from a
gun. “What do want, Demetri?” Wanting to appear as calm as possible, she forced
herself to say his name out loud.

“You
don’t look pleased to see me. Oops. That was truly insensitive. Please accept
my most sincere apology. I would hate to cause you to have any negative
opinions of me. I forgot that you’re as blind as a bat without Nikolas’ help.”

She
wasn’t going to let him see that his words hurt her. She shrugged. “I’ve been
blind my entire life. I’m used to it.”

“Where
is Nikolas?”

That
was a good question. Nikolas showed up before any danger presented itself. Not
after. Never after. She couldn’t feel him. She couldn’t hear him. He didn’t
know she was in trouble or he was dead. With him there couldn’t be any other
options. If he didn’t know maybe it was for the best. From what she’d heard
Demetri and Nikolas were equally matched. If he was dead she had nothing to
lose. She decided to confront him about her sister. Steeling herself for his
reaction, she took a step toward him. “Where’s Sara?”

“Do
you truly want to know?”

She
felt vibrations beneath her feet and she heard rattling all around. She knew it
was Nikolas. In her mind she could see him in his dragon form moving as fast a
jet tearing across the sky. She couldn’t hear his voice. And for that she was
glad. He was furious. She lifted her head as if to meet Demetri’s gaze. “Of
course.”

“What
if it isn’t good?”

“It
doesn’t matter. I need to know.” She heard Nikolas’ roar of protest. The fury,
the fear in him was so intense, so profound. The dragon emblem on the necklace
started to vibrate and get hotter. She felt electrical currents pulsating in
the rhythm of a beating heart. A strong, steady rhythm.

“I
can’t do it for you. You’ll have to merge your mind with mine to see her.”

He
was requesting her consent rather than just doing it. That was good, right? He
could easily overpower her mind and do as he wished with her.
No. Do not
even consider it. It’s a trick. He’s misleading you. You’re protected. He knows
that he cannot touch you unless you allow it.
She knew Nikolas was talking
about the necklace. Until that moment she’d always believed that the power in
the necklace was absolute. She’d been convinced that she couldn’t even take it
off.

“Don’t
feel bad. Of course you fell for it. You aren’t the first. Scores of women have
fallen for Nikolas’ lies and they have allowed themselves to be enslaved by the
charm for thousands of years.”

No
other woman has ever worn the necklace. I wore it. It was a gift from my
father. It isn’t meant to control you or anyone. It’s to ensure we are
connected at all times. It’s for your protection.

Ignoring
Nikolas, she gripped the emblem in her fist. “What do you mean?”

Don’t
listen to him, little one.

The
endearment, little one, irritated her more than ever before. He truly thought
of her as being less than him. Small. Weak. Unworthy of being his woman. No.
Not undeserving. She was a child to him. In his mind she was incapable of being
his woman.

That
isn’t true.

“The
charm is a very useful tool when it comes to ensuring an immature and willful
female’s absolute submission, until a male is able to properly train her to
follow his every command.”

If I
wanted to control you I wouldn’t need a charm to do it.

What
had caused her to stoop so low in hopes of gaining his respect…his affection?
She’d lost herself for him. He didn’t need her. He needed to control her. He
needed to dominate her will, to train her to do as he wished. Why had it become
so important to prove herself worthy of being his woman? She truly was a child
in his eyes. He would never want her at his side. He would keep her behind him,
safe and sound in his shadow until the day she died.

The
thought of even allowing Demetri to touch her mind scared her. She knew he was
dangerous. To willingly merge her mind with his would give him access to her
deepest thoughts. It would give him the ability to take control of her mind,
her body. Regardless of what happened, if she could learn what had happened to
her sister it would
be worth it. She
would never love another man other than Nikolas and he would never choose to be
with her. She had nothing to lose.

She
yanked the necklace from her neck and dropped it. “Do it. Merge with me. Show
me.” 

 “Give
me your hand.”

A
brutal gust of wind blasted into her and nearly knocked her off her feet. It
would’ve landed her on her butt if there hadn’t been a wall behind her to catch
her. Nikolas was furious, but his temper wouldn’t sway her this time. She
didn’t care. Let him be mad. Let him feel what it was like to not get his way.
She wasn’t his slave. She wasn’t his child. He’d lived several lifetimes. He
would live several more after she was gone. This was her one life. She would no
longer live it to please him. She wouldn’t be his slave. If she had any hope of
finding her sister this was it.

You
think I’ve treated you as I would a slave. You have no idea how cruel of a
master I can be. If you survive this you will know…you will experience what it
means to be my slave.
She couldn’t detect any anger in his tone. She couldn’t detect
any emotion at all. Immediately, she understood why. She couldn’t feel him at
all. He’d shoved her out of his mind.  

Another
gust of wind slammed into her with enough force to cause her breath to burst
out of her lungs. It held her there, pinned her backside to the wall. She
clenched her teeth together. Her heart accelerated. Anxiety filled her. The
walls, the floor and the windows shook violently causing things to crash down
all around her. It felt and sounded as if a freight train was barreling through
her bedroom. Resisting the force of the wind she pushed herself off the wall,
and struggling to stay on her feet, she offered her hand to Demetri. A loud
explosion echoed all around.

Demetri
captured her hand. Everything went still and silent. She felt him in her mind,
but she didn’t reach for his. “For this to work you need to need to reach for
me. You need to allow our minds to fully merge.” 

She
blinked twice before his face came into focus. Once she reached out there would
be no going back. Tilting her head back she stared up at him. She studied him.
His eyes were dull dark brown, nearly black. She saw utter emptiness. A deep
black of nothing. What would he, a demon rumored to be one of the most powerful
immortal warriors in existence, ever have to fear? His hair was as black as
coal with a few streaks of gray. It fell a few inches over his shoulders. His
face, with the exception of subtle signs of aging, was flawless. She knew
demons didn’t age. It made her wonder if it was because of him turning evil,
turning against his kind.

“We
don’t have long. Merge with me.”

Nodding,
she closed her eyes to focus. Taking a deep breath she reached for his mind.
She felt the sensation of being weightless, of floating further away from her
body. It felt good. It was peaceful. She was so relaxed, so unafraid that she
didn’t resist him even though she knew he was removing her soul from her
body.