Hotter on the Edge (42 page)

Her breath smoked the air in broken gasps. She strained to see over her shoulder. 

There. Close. Jaw hanging low. Teeth glittering.

He had to know she didn’t have what he wanted.

If he worked for the Greys, he had to know. . . . 

She leaned into her run, but a jerk on her arm abruptly whipped her around, crashing her into a tree and sending her into the winter-sharp growth. Pain came from everywhere, but her fear was bigger as she rolled to face the wraith.

He loomed above, monstrous, feral, his suit a strange contradiction to the devolution of his facial features.

She slapped and kicked upward, to no effect. Rocks and branches scored her back as she used her weight for strength.

“Daddy!”

But the wraith was unfazed. He took her by the head, one hand at each side of her face, and lifted her up. Her neck hurt, so she had to hold on to her attacker. His grip had closed her ears so all she could hear was the rhythmic rushing of her blood and her sobs echoing around in her brain.

“No soul!” she screamed, clawing at his hands. “No soul!”

Her feet kicked empty air as his maw opened. He tilted his face to get the kiss right, when it could never be right. She had nothing to give him.

“Please!” she shrieked. “Daddy!”

The wraith’s bite clamped down on her face, his teeth spearing into the flesh and bone at her jaw. His hands at her ears kept her trapped in his grasp. Pain sharpened the moment. She was enveloped in his rank smell, yet unable to retch. The world became he and she, sharing her first-ever French kiss. 

Should’ve been that angel. She could have kissed him forever. But she’d left him behind. Why did she leave him?

A ripple went through the wraith and his mouth flexed on hers. It was a drawing motion, a suck, a slurp, that sought deep within for what she’d already told him she didn’t have. 

What the old lady had to know she didn’t have.

A second wave took the wraith’s body, as he pulled harder at her, blistering whatever skin she had left intact.

The pain of the motion made stars prick into the gray of her vision. Warm fluid ran freely down her neck. His teeth became the nails holding her bones together. Without him, she was broken. Broken like that angel.

She didn’t want to die. 

She hadn’t yet lived. 

The kiss sent her down into herself, down down down, away from the smell and the pain and the fear. Away from the moment when the wraith would wrench himself from her lips and she would fall apart, left in the cold.

She went down into the deep of her core and found her umbra, her Shadow within, at last.  It churned with darkness and beat with drums. And in the primordial depths, obscured by the circling pitch of magic, was the plume of a flame, its source, her blood, her heritage. 

Brand.

She reached out to it with everything she was, with all the screams trapped in her mind, the hopes crushed by the marriage contract, the rage that her life should end now, this way. It wasn’t fair! She reached to fight back.

And the flame obeyed. 

It stretched up in a pillar of light, but she wanted more, demanded more.
Now!

And the flame erupted within her, heating her twitching limbs like a volcano awakening. Like lava, the fire coursed through her veins. She was alive with it, a shimmering conflagration, a human torch. 

The wraith released his kiss, flinging her away. She seemed to fall for ages, then jarred on the ground and lay slack, ravaged, blood flowing down her neck from her wounds and ears. But in her dimming vision, the wraith thrashed against her fire. He went up as if doused with accelerant and screamed his own pain as he convulsed, charring. Then he dropped into a folded heap of blackened bones.

His fire smothered quickly, and she found herself in the dark, her inner flame dimming to a flicker. The black trees blended with the night sky. The cold crept over her, and she sank, her breath shallow, toward sleep or death.

After what seemed a very long time, the world went utterly dark. Inside the blackness, there was no time. Just cold.

Until she felt herself lifted against a warm, strong chest. Felt a rolling movement like a swift stride. Someone cradling her.

See, Daddy,
she thought from within the void,
I
can
call fire.

Want to read more? Order FIRE KISSED from:

“Equal parts mystery, sexy romance, scary drama and fairy tale, [
Shadowman
] is guaranteed to thrill and chill. A unique view of the paranormal isn't easy to find, but this story is unlike anything you've read before." 
–
RT Book Reviews
, review of
Shadowman

"SHADOW BOUND is unlike any other reading experience I've had to date. Its a fast paced, heart pounding, gut wrenching, nail biting, awe inspiring thrill ride that will leave you begging for more and more." Grade: A 
–
Lovin' Me Some Romance
, review of
Shadow Bound

About Erin Kellison

Erin Kellison is the author of the dark fantasy romance Shadow, Shadow Touch, and Shadow Kissed series. She has a decades-running space opera going on in her head, so if she's not hanging out with her family or writing for a deadline, she's probably adventuring off-world. You can find her at:

Website:
www.ErinKellison.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/erinkellisonauthor

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www.twitter.com/ekellison

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www.Pinterest.com/ErinKellison

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www.Goodreads.com/ErinKellison

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Shadow Series

Shadow Kissed Series

Shadow Touch Novella Series

Read excerpts from all the Shadow Series novels at
ErinKellison.com

Erin Kellison's books are available at
Amazon

Read more from KC Klein

Want more books by KC Klein? Read on to find out how it all began in the first book of the series, DARK FUTURE.

Awakened in the middle of the night by a future version of herself, Kris Davenport is given a mission: go forward in time to save the world—and His life. Of course, her future self doesn't tell her who
he
is, just sends her into an abyss and straight into an alien invasion. 

He
turns out to be ConRad Smith, the callous, untrusting Commander of Earth’s army and the world’s last defense. There’s only one way to know for sure if this strange woman is an alien spy—slice her throat. Except, he didn’t anticipate the heat he would feel as he interrogates the hot-tempered, warm-blooded woman. For a man whose sole focus has been survival, she's more temptation than he can handle. But a world on the brink of destruction leaves no room for love…and time is running out.

EXCERPT

“Mmm, you taste human. Like salt or more like … warm sunshine?” He pinned me with his gaze. His eyes spoke a primal language. Desire warred with anger; need against punishment.

I looked away. Embarrassed. Violated. His body crushed mine, suffocating in its nearness. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe without crushing my breasts against him. I always considered myself strong and physically fit, but he subdued me with barely any effort. Heart racing, I panicked.

The feeling of no control would break me—complete powerlessness always did. I used whatever weapon was available; whatever maneuvers would give me a fighting chance. This was no different. I turned my head, opened my mouth against his neck, and … sunk my teeth in.

He cursed. Grabbed hold of my shirt, picked me up, and slammed me back against the wall.

A painful whoosh came from my lungs. My vision rocked—brain swished inside my skull.

“You bit me.” He sounded shocked.

My head hurt so bad I had to blink hard to keep my eyes in their sockets. “You licked me,” I shouted back.

He assessed me, aqua blue eyes hooded with thick, long eyelashes, for what seemed like an eternity. “I will ask you one more time. Who are you?”

“I’ve told you everything.” My voice sounded desperate, tired, even to me. “I went running and fell into the dark … I’m a doctor at a hospital. If you don’t believe me, just call them. I’ve worked there for years.”

He stood still, his body hard against mine, creating an insurmountable barrier. His face so close I could see his pupils enlarge, almost hiding the hard blue of his irises. The rage in him lived and breathed. One hand ran along my scalp in a mock caress, grabbed hold of my hair and pulled.

“Liar,” his voice barely a whisper, the knife was back … shaking at my very exposed, very vulnerable artery. “There hasn’t been a hospital anywhere on Earth since the year 2075.” And in one efficient movement, he drew the knife across my throat.

Read all of DARK FUTURE now: