by Raven Stone
Degarr sighed heavily. He leaned back into his seat, and ran a hand over his mouth, the blush fading from his skin.
“Okay, obviously I didn’t get everything that was said on that call, but I did get the impression that everything will be settled between you and Misha once that transaction goes through. You won’t have to worry about his men occupying your condo, or forcing you to go anywhere with them, right?” he asked.
“That’s right,” I said. My heart was racing again, just at the thought of what that meant.
“You’ll be free,” Degarr said, echoing my thoughts. “For the first time in your life.”
“Since I was ten years old, yes. I can use my real name again, if I want to. I can make friends. Have real relationships. Have a real life, for the first time,” I said.
A smile burst over my face, as what I said, what had actually transpired tonight, seeped into my bones.
I thought Degarr would smile too, but instead his expression was solemn. His eyes were a bit sad.
“I understand,” he said softly.
And it was the same tone he’d used back in that room with Esmond, when I hadn’t been able to tell him my real name. When he’d thought we were over.
“Degarr –”
“Tell him,” King Gabriel interrupted. “Tell him what you told Misha.”
What I told Misha?
I shot him a look, and a gentle smile curved his lips.
“Misha said you felt strong enough to take him on. And then he asked you a question, remember? Tell John the answer,” he said.
Oh.
I turned my gaze back to Degarr, and my eyes trailed over him.
“I’m in love with you,” I admitted.
It was a thousand times easier than telling him my real name, but something told me that giving him my name had been the first sign of how I really felt about him.
A smile burst over Degarr’s face.
“I’m in love with you too,” he said.
Thank God.
I found myself crossing the room, and I was in his arms before I knew it.
“Move in with me,” he said, his grey eyes warm. “Move in with me, my boyfriend,” he nodded towards Gabriel, “and my girlfriend, and our wolves, permanently –”
“Are you inviting me to your pack?” I asked.
His eyes lit up.
Then he was turning me, running his mouth over the nape of my neck, sending delicious ripples of warmth down my body.
“Nadia, will you join my pack? Will you move here, and live with me, and everyone I love?” he asked, his voice rough, and warm, and oh so loving.
“Yes, Degarr. God, yes.” I breathed.
He turned me again, so I was facing him. He gave me that smile, that one that should be illegal. Then his warm arms enclosed around me again.
I realized my obsession for him – a vampire of all things – had led me to the brink. I’d learned skills I never would have learned without him. I’d faced my fears – for him, and for me – and I’d earned my life back. I’d started to trust again. And in the process, my obsession had changed, become something stronger, and real, and healthy.
I was in love for the first time. It felt damn good.
It felt damn good to be in his arms.
And then I felt something else. Something that was amazing to realize.
I was happy.
THE END
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Chapter 76
Hellcat Excerpt
Fiona
“You,” I said. It was the guy from the bar. The one in the black shirt with the dark eyes and thoughtful expression. The sexy one.
“Me,” he said, his expression open.
“You were at the bar.” I continued, feeling like an idiot.
“So was he. Your attacker. Who was he?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head and took a few steps closer. “How did you find us? We were in the middle of nowhere.”
A half-smile played across his lips. “I followed you, of course.”
“Why?”
His eyes swept over me. “You should still be asleep,” he murmured. “How are you awake?”
“Maybe your drug dealer lied to you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You think I drugged you?”
I crossed my arms. “Yes. Why else would I still be asleep?”
“Because I told you to,” he said simply.
Okay, hot or not, he was not in his right mind.
“Riiight. Okay,” I said.
It was time to go. I walked across the kitchen, intent on slipping past him and then right out the door. He’d been able to get inside, so the weird foam thing was either gone or really was just a remnant of the drugs.
He stopped me with a hand on my arm, his thumb in that little dip inside the elbow, right on the pulse point.
My body lit up like he’d touched a much more intimate part of me. I gasped, and found myself staring into his eyes.
Gabriel
She was already awake. That shouldn’t be possible. She should have slept until I stood above her bed and told her to wake up.
Instead, I found her in the kitchen. Her hair was rumpled and her skin had a warm, sun-kissed glow. Hers was an easy, natural beauty that put the formal, glittery, sophisticated women of my world to shame.
And she was attracted to me. The proof flashed across her face when she first saw me; a darkening of the eyes, a gentle flush in her cheeks. But she didn’t know my name or my position, which meant she genuinely felt that way about me.
It was intoxicating. I’d forgotten what that felt like, in spite of the little dalliances I’d been having while driving across the country. Those women had been pretty and willing, but they hadn’t gotten under my skin. Not like this one.
This woman intrigued me.
And she thought that I’d drugged her. No doubt that’s how she explained me running with her in my arms last night, and the barrier at the door. It was sweet. She’d chosen a rational explanation, and didn’t appear to have any thoughts about vampires, crosses, and holy water yet.
She tried to get past me – earning points for having the guts to think she could just walk out – and I grabbed her arm.
And it happened.
Heat burned a trail from my fingertips to my stomach.
Fiona
He felt it too. This wasn’t just one sided.
His eyes burned into me. That gaze said that I was his already, that in a matter of moments he would me lift me onto the countertop and have sex with me right there.
His fingers dug into my arm and I gasped.
He pulled me against his body, cupped my jaw with his hand, and claimed my mouth with his own. I found myself kissing him back, my hand splayed across his hard chest. He deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue into me, and I buried my hand in his hair.
What in the hell was I doing? I couldn’t be attracted to this man.
I broke off the kiss, breathing harshly and backing away until my hands found the counter. His hot eyes followed me.
“I can’t. We can’t. I don’t even know you.” I panted, while my body demanded that I go back into his arms.
“What do you want to know?” He leaned back against the refrigerator, his voice soft and sensual. My nipples hardened at that sound, and I reminded myself to get a grip.
“Who are you?” I asked. “What’s your name?”
“Gabriel.” He crossed his arms.
“I’m Fiona,” I said. I decided to skip my question about the door for now. “Why am I here?”
“Long term?”
“Sure. Long term, short term, whatever,” I said.
“I want to kill you,” he said.
Mother. Fucker.
<
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Chapter 77
Other Books by Raven Stone
KINGDOM OF BLOOD AND FOREST SERIES
Vampire Knight
Kingdom of Blood and Forest Book One
Six dead vampires. One plea for help.
It's not every night that a Hunter taunts a Vampire King, much less one of the most powerful vampires in the world. But the evidence sits spread before me in six silver tins, filled with the ashes of vampires.
It's more than a raised middle finger. Because nestled in the last tin is a handwritten note with one word.
Help.
Everything about this case is curious. Dangerous. Strange.
And it sets the Hunter deep within me on fire.
I've buried that part of me ever since I became a vampire. Now my Hunter is rising to the surface. In fact, this case is bringing up my past, and every one of my issues.
My desire for King Gabriel.
My lost love, Orleande.
The vampire within me that I've ignored and starved.
And my Hunter. Coldly calculating, and desperate for a good Hunt.
I don't know who this Hunter is, any more than I know who I am.
But both of us are going to find out.
And it may kill one of us.
Vampire Knight is a paranormal romance flirting with an urban fantasy. This book includes a Hunter turned vampire, a bite of a friends to lovers MM romance, a drop of a second chance MF romance, and a bisexual vampire who won't have to choose. This is the first book in the Kingdom of Blood and Forest series. Please note: some scenes overlap with ones in The Craving, but are told from a different POV.
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BLOOD AND FOREST SERIES
Hellcat
Blood and Forest Book One
Elodie cheated on me, and all I felt was relief.
Gabriel
I’d changed myself for Elodie, at a high cost. The man I’d been before? The risk-taker, the confident vampire king, was buried. The only part of me she’d left in place was my kingship.
Could I get myself back, or was I broken forever?
He wanted to kill me.
Fiona
The man who pulled a knife on me, who I had trusted, was crazy. But I wasn’t going to die because of that. No. Way.
When it was all over, another man approached me, offering to help. Could I trust him? Or would I have to fight for my life all over again?
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Blood and Forest
Blood and Forest Book Two
There’s more than one way to lose someone.
When humans talk about losing someone, they usually mean death. But I’ve lost someone before, and she didn’t die. Her eyes simply stopped seeing me. Not my body, not my title, not my wealth. She still saw all of those.
She stopped seeing me, the person.That’s how I lost Elodie.
And the same thing could happen with Fiona, when she finds out who I am.
My beautiful Fiona, my noven, the woman who has sparked feelings inside of me that I feared might be long gone, could turn away from me when she learns who I am. And it’s only a matter of time until she learns the truth. I can grow some balls and tell her, or someone else will.
What will happen then?
Will I become a thing in her eyes?
Will this love growing in me, this hope that she’s sparked, turn to ash?
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The Craving
Blood and Forest Book Three
I want...
I'm so freaking hungry. I'm on my knees, hands flat on the floor, sweat covering me.
I'm shaking.I want to feed so badly.
What used to work is no longer working. I'm up to two mugs a night, and it's still not enough.
Why is this happening?
There can only be one reason.
I never should have had his blood.
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Courting Danger
Blood and Forest Book Four
Holding my breath...
John's insisted I have guards again. Real guards.
I know he's right. I know this is an uncertain time. I'm holding my breath, waiting to announce the Council to the Court, waiting for the end of Fiona's novenship.
All the while dread slowly spreads through me, like cracks forming in ice.
I know something's coming.
My guards, and friends, are scared of Rohan. John sees Elodie, and others of the Court, as threats. Who's right? Who's wrong?
And more importantly, can I stop whatever's about to go wrong?
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