Wrath: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 2 (46 page)

BOOK: Wrath: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 2
11.06Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“Holy crap,” I gasped, as the heat of his tongue went straight to my womb. I had never been so aroused in all my life and this man had taken me there in minutes.

He pressed his lips firmly to my heart, bending low and running his hands up my outer thighs, under the towel until he could grip my ass hard.

“Maddy? Say the word and I’ll stop, but if you don’t stop me now, I’m going to throw you down on that bed and have my way with you.”

I couldn’t get his words through my head. All I wanted was the heat, the passion, not conversation, and definitely not responsibility. For once I wanted breathless recklessness.

But Bahlin wasn’t programmed for recklessness when it came to me, apparently. “Maddy? Look at me and tell me you want this.” He softened his grip on my ass, running his hands in small circles over the branded skin.

The gods play…and mortals pay.

 

Bad Blood

© 2011 Lucienne Diver

 

Latter-Day Olympians, Book 1

Tori Karacis’s family line may trace back to a drunken liaison between the god Pan and one of the immortal gorgons. Or…maybe it’s just coincidence that her glance can, literally, stop men in their tracks. While her fear of heights kept her out of the family aerobatic troupe, her extreme nosiness fits right in with her uncle’s P.I. business.

Except he’s disappeared on an Odyssean journey to find himself. Muddling through on her own, she’s reduced to hunting (not stalking, because that would just be weird) brass-bra’d Hollywood agent Circe Holland to deliver a message…only to witness her murder by what looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Suddenly, all of her family’s tall tales seem believable, especially when Apollo—
the
Apollo, who’s now hiding out among humans as an adult film star—appears in her office, looking to hire her. She knows the drill: canoodling with gods never works out well for humans, but she’s irresistibly drawn to him. Maybe it’s her genes. Maybe not.

Given her conflicted feelings for one hot and hardened cop, it’s a toss-up which will kill her quickest. The danger at her door…or her love life.

Warning: Contains pot-boiling passion between a heroine who may—or may not—be a descendant of Medusa, and a hot god and a hunky cop with the…equipment…to handle her, even on her worst bad-hair day. Beware of killer kisses, trickster gods and bearded grandmothers Who Know Everything.

 

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Bad Blood:

“I need a bath,” I croaked, hand to my throat as if it would make any difference. “Right now I feel like I’d pass out bending over to start the water. I’d never have called you to begin with if—” my voice gave out, which was probably a good thing, given that what had been coming out sounded all wrong in my head. I swallowed and tried again, softer. “Not that you were my last choice. Just—I need a girlfriend.”

Armani looked at me like a suspect he intended to crack, as if every word spoken had some other meaning. Finally, he swiped a hand hard over his face.

“Look, you witnessed a murder, came face-to-face with the killer. We probably should have set some sort of watch on you right from the first. My fault. But—dammit, by the time you’re through flirting and baiting, it’s a wonder I remember my own damned name,” he growled.

I was flummoxed. “So I
do
get to you.”

He practically glared. “Yeah, like that’s a freakin’ newsflash. Why else do you do it?”

“Because I can’t help myself,” I answered.

Damn and double damn. I should have stuck with the pen.

My admission didn’t seem to make him any happier. “Look, you’re a witness in an ongoing investigation.”

“Yeah.”

“And a pain in my ass.”

I was tired, I was soaked to the bone, but as much as I wanted that bath and my bed…

“So?” I challenged.


So
, we can’t do this.”


Do what?
” I asked, exasperated. “We’re not doing anything—”

In the blink of an eye, Armani had risen from his chair, taken my face in his hands and shut me the hell up with a kiss. And not just any tentative little first kiss—a breath-stealing, heart-pounding, fade-to-black kind of showstopper. I found I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as I’d thought. With minds of their own, my fingers buried themselves in his hair, reveling in the feel of the thick strands, kneading his scalp. My thoughts scattered as his tongue thrust inside my mouth and I gasped in reaction.

His hands slid from my face, down over my wet camisole, just brushing my breasts before settling on my hips. I was no longer cold—superheated was more like it—but wet was another matter.

Armani pushed himself away. Without looking at me, he muttered, “I’ll start the water running and wait just outside the door so I can hear you if you fall.” And he escaped into the only other room in my apartment, the bathroom.

My head fell to the table in frustration and sudden weakness. In the time it took him to get things ready, a series of unworthy thoughts flitted through my mind—pulling him in with me, faking a fall, flat-out asking him to wash my back. But I wasn’t going to trick Armani into anything. He either wanted me or he didn’t.

Still, I couldn’t help a bit of teasing, allowing a breast to brush his arm as he escorted me to the bath.

“I may need help with these wet clothes,” I said, damaged throat making it come out all husky.

He shot me a sidelong look. “At this point, I don’t think the bath would do those clothes any harm.”


Such
a gentleman,” I answered with a roll of my eyes.

“I am a gentleman. That’s why you’re on your own with those clothes.” Then he decided to turn my teasing back on me. “Besides, if I were to take them off, I’d need to taste you right—” the hand not supporting me rose to ever-so-gently slide over my throat until his thumb caressed the hollow, “—here.”
 

My nipples practically stood at attention, pushing noticeably against my camisole. The look he gave me was hot enough to scorch and smug besides.

I had no comeback.

“Speechless? Hmm, I’ll have to remember that.”

Wrath

 

 

 

Denise Tompkins

 

 

 

 

Haunted by personal betrayal, stalked by a murderer and taunted by destiny. Finding justice—not to mention a little faith—has never been so hard.

 

The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 2

A murderer is terrorizing the streets of London, targeting women who look suspiciously like Maddy. Under the mantle of darkness, the killer attacks his victims from behind, severing their heads with startling efficiency and single-minded brutality. A single gold coin is left at the scene of every crime, buried in the neck of each victim. Nothing adds up, and the deeper Maddy gets into the investigation, the more she learns that there are hostile eyes in every faction—some malicious, others murderous.
 

Amid her struggles to stop a seemingly unstoppable killer, Maddy learns that dreams are far too fragile to juggle. Her newfound love is crumbling around her under the burdens of guilt and blame, and where one man abandons her, another is slated by the gods to take his place. Defiant, Maddy finds her struggles with free will versus destiny have only just begun.
 

Figuring out whom she should trust, and when, will force Maddy to reassess her alliances…and reaffirm her fragile mortality.

 

Warning:
 
Contains Scottish and Irish brogues, heads that—literally—roll, seriously random acts of violence, heartbreak and hope, explicit m/f sex in a variety of locations, a voyeuristic vampire and one dinner table that will never be the same.

eBooks are
not
transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

 

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

 

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

 

Wrath

Copyright © 2012 by Denise Tompkins

ISBN: 978-1-60928-723-8

Edited by Amy Sherwood

Cover by Kanaxa

 

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

 

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: April 2012

www.samhainpublishing.com

BOOK: Wrath: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 2
11.06Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Indian School by Gloria Whelan
Fire and Ice by Nell Harding
Learning to Waltz by Reid, Kerryn
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
What Is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman
Driving Heat by Richard Castle