Into the Darkness (35 page)

“You don’t have to,” Natalie said, although gladness already had her heart thudding against her chest. “I’m going

to be safe.”

Rene’s fingers tipped her chin up and his mouth slammed

down on top of hers, taking her breath away. When he lifted his

head, he said, “You’re not going anywhere without me,
chère
.”

“How’s your French?” Simon asked, standing at his elbow.

Rene’s head swiveled to aim a glare at the man who now

shared a similar size and ruggedness. “I’m Cajun. It’s shit.”

Simon grinned. “It’s about to get a whole lot better. And

you’ll need to learn to ride a horse.”

“Where are we going?” Rene asked, wrapping an arm

around Natalie’s shoulder as though afraid she’d disappear if

he didn’t hold her tight.

“What? And spoil the adventure?” Simon said, with a

waggle of his eyebrows. As his gaze came back to Natalie,

his smile faded. “You’ll be among friends. They’ll teach you.

Help you assimilate. You’ll be safe for a time.”

Rene let go of Natalie and glanced back at Chessa. Tears

welled in her eyes. “Come here,” he said, his voice gruff.

Chessa stepped toward them. When she stood in front of

Rene, her face crumpled and she reached out.

Rene’s arms enfolded her, pressing her head to his chest.

He kissed her hair. “I guess you’re gonna be lookin’ for a new

partner,” he said, his voice roughening with emotion.

“You just watch your ass.” Chessa’s words were muffled

against his chest. “I won’t be there to cover it.”

Rene grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back

and planted a hard kiss on her lips. When they drew away,

tears spilled down Chessa’s cheeks.

into the darkness

305

“You know, you’re going to have to turn,” Chessa said.

“The only way we’ll ever meet again is if you live a long, long

time.”

Rene nodded, and took Natalie’s hand. “Ready to roll?”

Together, they stepped toward the shimmering portal.

Natalie reached out to touch the surface and watched it

ripple outward as though a stone had dropped in its center.

When she drew back her finger, no moisture clung to her

skin. A light, cool breeze wafted from the other side, along

with the inviting fragrance of lush vegetation.

“Why are you doing this, Rene?” she asked, keeping her

gaze straight ahead.

“Why do you think?”

“I don’t want you with me if it’s only because you feel you

have to.”

Rene sighed beside her, and pulled her to face him.

Reluctantly, she raised her gaze.

“Oh, I have to, all right,” he said, wrapping his arms

around her waist and pulling her hips flush with his. “If I let

you leave, I’ll never see you again. Never touch you. I won’t

get to see that baby they say you have growing in your belly.”

His forehead furrowed with a fierce frown. “And I won’t get

to love you.”

“There’s a lot of ways a girl could interpret that last little

bit,” Natalie murmured, her body warming with arousal.

“Want me to make it clearer?” he said, his voice a low, tender rumble. “I’m saying I don’t want to be here, in this world,

if you aren’t in it.”

“Sounds good enough to me,” Chessa said softly.

It did to Natalie, too.

306

delilah devlin

“Time’s a wasting, you two. This spell won’t hold much

longer.”

Rene kissed her, brushing his lips lightly over hers. A promise in the blessing. “I’ll die for you,
chère,
” he whispered.

Natalie slipped her arm around his waist, and together

they stepped through the portal.

The portal flickered then winked out. The hotel room was as

it had been before, except the bed was no longer there.

Chessa wiped away her tears with the back of her hand

before turning to face Simon. She aimed a scowl at the mage.

“Don’t start thinking you and me are gonna be buddies.”

Simon sniffed. “As if. Don’t darken my doorway too soon.”

With a grin curving his lips, he turned to gather the stones

into his bag.

A knock sounded at the door, and Chessa went to answer it.

Nicolas leaned indolently against the door frame, the

guards no where in sight. He looked beyond Chessa to Simon

and tilted his head to the corridor. “Coast is clear. You can

leave, now.”

After Simon strode out of the room, Chessa’s gaze fell beneath Nicolas’s.

“Got him out of your system?”

The deep rasp of his voice made her shiver with awareness they were alone. She shrugged, pretending she wasn’t

affected. “Doesn’t matter now.”

“We’ve got an hour until daybreak,” he drawled.

Chessa raised her chin. “I still have the scent of him on my

skin. Want me to shower?”

into the darkness

307

His nostrils flared. His gaze darkened. “We haven’t time, if

I’m to punish you properly.”

Chessa’s body flooded with heat. “Got one little problem.

No bed.”

Nicolas snagged her wrist and pulled her hard against his

chest, his mouth hovering just above hers. “You’re going to

have one nasty rug burn.”

acknowledgments

This book was a labor of love—and not just mine. I

have so many to thank I know I’ll forget to mention

someone!

Thanks to my critique partners for putting the

polish on this project: Jo-Ann Power, Layla Chase,

Myla Jackson, Megan Kerans, and Mary Fechter.

More thanks to “Team Delilah,” my friends and

readers who kept the story “real” and encouraged me

all along the way: Heather, Di, Icia, Patti, Joy, Erin,

Sharon, Jenn, and Serena.

A shout-out to my biggest fan: I love you, Mom!

And last, to my editor: Thanks, May, for believing

in this story!

About the Author

DELILAH DEVLIN
resides in South

Texas at the intersection of two dry

evlin creeks, surrounded by sexy cowboys

in Wranglers—she likes living dangerously! To Delilah, the greatest sin is

driving between the lines because it’s

comfortable and safe. Her personal

D journey has taken her through one

war and many countries, cultures,

jobs, and relationships to bring her

to the place she travels now—writing

sexy adventures that hold more than

a kernel of autobiography and often

share a common thread of self-discovery and transformation.

She has e-published numerous

books which have garnered her

awards and rave reviews.
Into the

elilah
Darkness
embodies her wildest, erotic

fantasies. To learn more about Delilah

Devlin, visit
www.delilahdevlin.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive

D information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

By Delilah Devlin

Credits

Interior text designed by Diahann Sturge

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue

are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as

real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is

entirely coincidental.

INTO THE DARKNESS. Copyright © 2007 by Delilah Devlin. All rights

reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced

into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any

means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter

invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader February 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-129036-7

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Publisher

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• Title Page
  
• Dedication Page
  
• Contents
  
  • Chapter One
    
  • Chapter Two
    
  • Chapter Three
    
  • Chapter Four
    
  • Chapter Five
    
  • Chapter Six
    
  • Chapter Seven
    
  • Chapter Eight
    
  • Chapter Nine
    
  • Chapter Ten
    
  • Chapter Eleven
    
  • Chapter Twelve
    
  • Chapter Thirteen
    
  • Chapter Fourteen
    
  • Chapter Fifteen
    
  • Chapter Sixteen
    
  • Chapter Seventeen
    
  • Chapter Eighteen
    
  • Chapter Nineteen
    
  • Chapter Twenty
    
  • Acknowledgments
    
  • About the Author
    
  • By Delilah Devlin
    
  • Credits
    
  • Copyright Notice
    
  • About the Publisher