I finally had Jericho Barrons exactly where I wanted him. Rock hard, ready, and between my thighs.
Inexhaustible didn’t begin to cover it. Insatiable couldn’t describe it.
Bottomless need is what I feel for him. I love it and hate it. Feeling so intensely is a blessing and a curse.
I’ve never known a man as beautiful as Barrons. I’ve never been with anyone as sexual and uninhibited. Sex is Jericho Barrons’ religion. He worships, he defiles. He fucks with the single-minded devotion of a dying man in search of God. He leaves no part of a woman untouched. When he’s inside me, the world ceases to exist. On the floor, on the counter, on the Chesterfield, across a chair, in his study over the desk, it was as if we were the only two people alive. Nothing mattered. The world could have ended and neither of us would have given a damn as long as the bookstore remained standing around us and we could continue fucking.
It was about the obsession we’d both been afflicted with the moment we’d laid eyes on each other. For whatever reason—I no longer even cared—my body demanded I have him—and he’d been poisoned by the same sickness. I took, he fought. He took, I fought. Neither of us gave easy. It’s not our nature. Sex for us was a battlefield, and when we finally exhausted ourselves—at least for a time—the store was worse for the wear. Books spilled across the floor, two of the recently reinstalled bookcases listed at dangerous angles, the new coffee table was shattered, lamps were broken, and my TV had gotten knocked off the counter and cracked.
Wedged into a tight space between the broken coffee table, the sofa, and his body, I felt magnificent.
For the irrepressible M.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:
Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc. and Hal Leonard Corporation: Excerpt from “Monster,” words and music by Gavin Brown and John Cooper, copyright © 2009 by EMI APRIL MUSIC (CANADA) LTD., NOODLES FOR EVERYONE, PHOTON MUSIC, WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP, LANDRUM PUBLISHING and GAVIN BROWN PUBLISHING DESIGNEE. All rights for NOODLES FOR EVERYONE and EMI APRIL MUSIC (CANADA) LTD. in the U.S. controlled and administered by EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. All Rights on behalf of itself, PHOTON MUSIC and LANDRUM PUBLISHING administered by WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. Excerpt from “Awake and Alive,” words and music by John Cooper and Brian Howes, copyright © 2009 by EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC., HIGH BUCK PUBLISHING, PHOTON MUSIC, LANDRUM PUBLISHING and WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. All rights on behalf of itself and HIGH BUCK PUBLISHING controlled and administered by EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC. All rights on behalf of itself, PHOTON MUSIC and LANDRUM PUBLISHING administered by WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted by permission of Alfred Music Publishing Corp. and Hal Leonard Corporation
Hal Leonard Corporation: Excerpt from “In Pieces,” words and music by Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon, Chester Bennington and Dave Farrell, copyright © 2007 by UNIVERSAL MUSIC—Z SONGS, KENJI KOBAYASHI MUSIC, BIG BAD MR. HAHN MUSIC, NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT MUSIC, ROB BOURDON MUSIC, CHESTERCHAZ PUBLISHING AND PANCAKEY CAKES MUSIC. All Rights Administered by Universal Music—Z Songs. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
Hal Leonard Corporation and Jay Livingston Music, Inc.: Excerpt from “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” from THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, words and music by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, copyright © 1955 by JAY LIVINGSTON MUSIC and ST. ANGELO MUSIC. Copyright Renewed. All Rights for ST. ANGELO MUSIC Controlled and Administered by Universal Music Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation and Jay Livingston Music, Inc.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company: Excerpt from “The Hollow Men” from COLLECTED POEMS 1909–1962 by T. S. Eliot, copyright © 1936 by Harcourt, Inc. and renewed 1964 by T. S. Eliot. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and Faber and Faber Ltd.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This novel would never have reached readers’ hands if not for my brilliant dynamo of an agent, Amy Berkower, nor would it have been remotely what it is without all the wonderful people at Random House. Special thanks to Gina Centrello, for listening and for being there. Words can’t express my gratitude! And to Shauna Summers, my fabulous editor and biggest fan, and to the rest of the team at Random House: Libby McGuire, Scott Shannon, Matthew Schwartz, Sanyu Dillon, Gina Wachtel, Anne Watters, Kristin Fassler, the art department for the sensational cover, the sales team for getting my books out there, and the booksellers for hand-selling the series with so much enthusiasm. Thanks to my first readers who see the manuscript before anyone else and give me their unflinching critique: the talented and amazing Genevieve Gagne-Hawes, and my husband, Neil Dover (chef, musician, editor, and my inspiration in so many ways!)—I couldn’t do it without you two. Thanks to Leiha Mann, for making all things cyber-Fever and event-related run smoothly and feel magical. Last but by no means least, thanks to YOU, dear readers, for your feverish commitment that has made the Fever series such a success, and allowing me to do what I love most every day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author KAREN MARIE MONING is the author of the Fever series, featuring MacKayla Lane, and the award-winning Highlander series. Her events draw fans from all over the world, and her novels have been published in fifteen languages. She has a bachelor’s degree in Society and Law from Purdue University, and is currently working on a new series set in the Fever world and a graphic novel featuring MacKayla Lane.
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Read on for an excerpt from Karen Marie Moning’s
Iced
A Dani O’Malley Novel
PROLOGUE
Dublin, you had me at “Hello”
Imagine a world that doesn’t know its own rules. No cell phones. No Internet. No stock market. No money. No legal system. A third of the world’s population wiped out in a single night and the count rising by millions every day. The human race is an endangered species.
A long time ago the Fae destroyed their world and decided to take ours. History says they moved in on us between 6000 and 10,000 B.C., but historians get a lot wrong. Jericho Barrons says they’ve been here since the dawn of time. He should know, because I’m pretty sure he has, too.
For a long time there was a wall between our worlds. With the exception of a few cracks, it was a solid barricade, especially the prison that held the Unseelie.
That barricade is gone now and the prison walls are dust.
All of the Fae are free: the deadly Dark Court and the imperious Light Court, who are every bit as deadly, just prettier. A Fae is a Fae. Never trust one. We’re being hunted by voracious monsters that are nearly impossible to kill. Their favorite food? People.
As if that’s not bad enough, there are fragments of Faery reality drifting around that swallow up anything in their path. They’re tricky to spot; you can drive right into one, if you’re not careful. The night the walls fell, Faery itself was fractured. Some say even the inimical Hall of All Days was changed, and opened new portals onto our world. The drifting is the part that really gets me. You can go to sleep in your own bed and wake up in a completely different reality. If you’re lucky, the climate won’t kill you instantly and the inhabitants won’t eat you. If you’re really really lucky, you’ll find your way home. Eventually. If you’re super lucky, time will pass at a normal rate while you’re gone. Nobody’s that lucky. Folks vanish all the time. They just disappear and are never seen again.
Then there are the amorphous Shades that lurk
in the dark, and consume every living thing in their path, right down to the nutrients in the soil. When they’re done, all that’s left is dirt that an earthworm couldn’t live in—not that they leave those either. It’s a minefield outside that door. Walk lightly. Your parents’ rules don’t apply. Do be afraid of the dark. And if you’re thinking there might be a monster under your bed or in your closet, there probably is. Get up and check.
Welcome to Planet Earth.
This is our world now—one that doesn’t know its own rules. And when you’ve got a world that doesn’t know its own rules, everything dark and nasty that was once held in check comes slithering out of the cracks to try to take a shot at whatever it wants. It’s a free-for-all. We’re back to being cavemen. Might is right. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The bigger and badder you are, the better your odds of surviving. Get a gun or learn to run. Fast. Preferably both.
Welcome to Dublin, AWC—After the Wall Crash—where we’re all fighting for possession of what’s left of the planet.
The Fae have no king, no queen, no one in charge. Two psychotic, immortal Unseelie princes battle for dominion over both races. Humans have no government. Even if we did, I doubt we’d listen to them. It’s complete chaos.
I’m Dani “Mega” O’Malley.
I’m fourteen.
The year was just officially declared 1 AWC, and the streets of Dublin are my home. It’s a war zone out there. No two days are alike.
And there’s no place else I’d rather be.
Karen Marie Moning’s Fever Series 5-Book Bundle: Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, Shadowfever Page 176