by Cynthia Eden
He stood next to an old, twisted tree, one bent beneath the weight of the snow. “I was supposed to meet you here,” he said, voice rumbling. Intense. Dark.
She shook her head. “Th-that was a long time ago.”
He pulled a necklace from the back pocket of his jeans. Her necklace. The one he’d taken away that first night.
Her chin lifted.
“Do you know why I gave this to you?”
She did. She’d known him so well back then. “Because you loved me.” The words were said with certainty. Once upon a time, a boy had loved a girl.
Once upon a time…
He stalked toward her. Didn’t even seem to feel the cold. But then, he wouldn’t. Not like she did.
He came toward her and lifted the necklace. “I still do love you, sweet.”
She raised her hand and stopped him before he could slide that necklace over her head. “You…you took this from me.”
Because of what she was.
Not a girl. Not just a boy.
A vampire. A werewolf.
“I was going out of my mind that night. I’d missed you for so long…” His breath heaved out in a rush. “I hurt, and I wanted to hurt you.”
A dark admission.
His head bowed. “I want to make it up to you. I want to make everything up to you.”
And there, in the snow, with the lake behind her and too many memories around them, Drake dropped to his knees.
Her breath rushed out. An alpha should never submit to another like this. It wasn’t the way of the pack. It wasn’t–
His hand clenched around the necklace. “I thought you didn’t want me.”
She’d always wanted him.
“I never loved anyone else. All those years…the only one to ever touch my heart…was you.” He looked up at her. She saw the beast and the man in his eyes. “Stay with me.” A plea, from a man who’d never pleaded for anything before.
Paige couldn’t speak.
“I can make things right for you. I’ll make you happy, I swear. Just give me a chance.”
She licked her lips and tasted the sorrow from the past. “I’m not the same…”
“You’re stronger. More beautiful. And I fucking love you even more than I did before.”
Her hands touched his shoulders. Hesitant. Hopeful. “You…do?”
“Yes.” Said with a growl. Said as he stared into her eyes. In his gaze, she saw–
The future.
“I want you to be with me, for as long as I walk this earth.” Now his words came faster. “I won’t live as long as you, I know that. Just give me those years, just give me–”
She sank to her knees before him. Kissed him. Kissed him so hard that they tumbled back onto the soft snow.
And he tasted so good. Like forever. Because that was what she could give to him. Her head lifted slowly. “I can give you more.”
If he’d let her.
His brows pulled low. His arms were around her, holding her so close. “You’ll stay with me?”
“The pack–”
“They want you to stay. They want you to come home.”
Home.
“Fifty years,” he told her, “sixty. Give me that, give me–”
She shook her head and saw the stark pain flash across his face.
“I love you,” he told her but he sounded…lost.
She knew because she’d been lost for years. “I can give you more,” Paige promised him. Because she’d learned so much from the vampires who’d helped her in Florida.
Down there, another werewolf had paired with a vampire female. They’d discovered that if a vampire’s blood was shared, the wolf would become stronger.
Aging stopped for the wolf. Death was put on hold.
Jeremiah had thought that he was cheating death by drinking from a vamp, but that blood had been poison.
She’d never poison Drake. She’d give him her blood, and she’d give him… “Forever,” Paige whispered and kissed Drake again.
As she kissed him, she heard the howl of wolves in the distance.
She wasn’t afraid of that sound. She wasn’t afraid of anything. Not anymore.
Because she wasn’t lost now. She was home and safe…in the arms of her wolf.
###
Excerpts
If you enjoyed this novella, you may also like Cynthia Eden’s BOUND BY BLOOD, a sexy paranormal romance novella that is also available now for .99.
Excerpt from Cynthia Eden’s BOUND BY BLOOD
The sexy little vampiress walked into the bar as if she owned the place.
Since Howling Moon was a low-rent dive hidden on the shadier side of Miami, a bar that catered to werewolves, well, the lady was very much out of fucking place. And, if she wasn’t careful, she might just become the night’s entertainment.
Jace Vaughn tensed when he saw her. He wasn’t as drunk as the other wolves, not yet anyway, so he recognized the deceptively delicate woman instantly.
He could see the hint of her small fangs peeking out just behind the plump fullness of her too-red lips. Vamps’ fangs always came out when they were about to fight or fuck.
So which one was the vamp about to do?
She stilled inside the doorway of the bar. Her long blond hair tumbled behind her as her gaze raked to the left. To the right. Huh. Looked like she was hunting for someone–or something. In this place, the only thing she’d find was a pack ready to rip her to pieces.
Vampires and wolves weren’t exactly playing nice these days. Or any days.
She should know that.
But then her gaze swept by him. Swept by, then came right back. Her blue eyes–bright with a vamp’s power–caught his. She stared at him, and Jace found he couldn’t look away. A vampire’s trick of compulsion?
Nah…more likely just his own lust. Because the lady was hot. Most female vamps were, those pureblood ones anyway. And Jace knew he was looking at one of the elite pureblood Florida vamps.
A pureblood, in a werewolf hell.
He smiled. Fate must be laughing her ass off somewhere.
Then, she smiled too. A lick of heat shot straight through his body, and the beast that he kept chained inside stretched and growled.
Want.
She started walking toward him in her high, fuck-me or fuck-off black boots. Jace shoved away from the bar.
But the others had noticed her now, and they were closing in.
Three males. Big and hulking because that was the way of the beast.
“Vampire…” The snarl floated in the air, and the males reached for her.
“No!” His roar broke a second too slowly.
Two of the males crashed into nearby tables. They’d made the mistake of actually touching her. You didn’t touch a vampiress who didn’t want to be touched. Fools should know that rule.
Purebloods were especially strong.
Excitement had the beast inside yanking on his leash.
Every person in the bar froze for a moment, then instantly turned their attention on her. The vamp had the third wolf on the floor in front of her. He hadn’t shifted, not yet, but his claws were already lengthening. She had one small hand at his throat while the other held tight to his hair, yanking his head back to better expose his neck.
Vampires always went for the throat. So predictable. Their hunger made them weak every time.
“Kill the bitch…” Ah, that mutter came from one of the guys she’d tossed a good ten feet. He was already rising with his claws out and blood dripping from his busted cheek.
Jace lifted his hand, staying the men even as they rose. “Not…yet.”
He knew no one would disobey. They couldn’t. He was alpha, and if they tried, he’d be the one kicking ass.
Even the shitty band stopped playing as he crossed the room. The few human females in the bar glanced around curiously, and he saw a couple of the shifters push them toward the back. The women came to play at Howling Moon. Or rather, the wolves played with them.
Those women knew the score about the supernatural world, and they knew to keep quiet about the paranormal society.
The vampiress didn’t release her grip on her prey. Jace took his time stalking toward her. Like most vamps, she had pale, ivory skin. Her features were…damn, pretty perfect. Wide eyes, high cheeks, small nose. Her chin was pointed a little, giving her a slightly stubborn edge, but then, bloodsuckers were not exactly known to be easy going.
Neither were wolves.
She wore all black. Tight black shirt, a very short black skirt, and those boots that oozed sex.
Sex and violence. Yeah, that was pretty much how vamps and wolves rolled.
As he closed in on her, Jace picked up her scent, separating the light perfume of her skin from the booze, sweat, and the cigarettes in the air. The vampire smelled sweet, tempting.
Her kind always did. The better to lure their prey in for that deadly bite. But she was–
More.
He inclined his head toward her. “Let him go.”
“Of course.” Her voice rolled lightly, soft, sensual, but had no accent. She dropped her hold on the wolf instantly.
Then Mike made the mistake of lunging back up and slicing at her with his claws.
Rage exploded inside of Jace, and he leapt forward even as his own claws broke from his fingertips.
Don’t hurt–
She stepped back, ducked, then shoved her fist right at the wolf’s heart. Her punch threw Mike back against Jace.
Jace grabbed the wolf and twisted him around. He lifted the other guy off the floor and glared at him. “I don’t remember giving you permission to attack, Mike.”
He heard the vamp’s breaths panting lightly and knew she wasn’t as controlled as she appeared. No scent of fear, not yet.
“B-bloodsucker…comin’ in here…” Mike snarled. “She can’t just…walk in…”
“I was invited here,” she said smoothly.
Still trapped in Jace’s grip, Mike twisted and glared over his shoulder. “Who the hell…would be dumb enough to invite a vampire here–”
“Your alpha.” Her answer came with a shrug as her gaze lifted back to Jace. Then she inclined her head in the smallest of subservient gestures. Submission. “I was told of your offer, and I’m here to accept.”
Mike’s head swung back toward him. “Jace?” His voice was stronger now. Wolves always healed fast. “What bullshit is she talking about?”
Jace slammed his forehead into Mike’s nose. Bones crunched and blood spurted even as the smaller wolf howled. Then Jace threw the guy against the nearest wall, one that was about fifteen feet away. When Mike crashed, he didn’t get up.
Silence. So thick it covered the whole bar. Jace stared at the vamp, trying to keep all emotion from his face. Then, slowly, he closed the remaining space between him and the woman who was going to change everything for him.
He caught her hand and turned her palm over. Hell, yes, the mark was there, cradled inside her left hand. Just like he’d known it would be. A blood-red rose.
He stood close enough to see the circle of gold in her eyes. The faint gold that marked her just as her hand did. She was something far more than an ordinary bloodsucker.
She was a vampire princess. His key to power, immortality, and she was the perfect weapon that he needed to kick the ass of the demons who’d come to town looking to wipe out his people.
Her lips parted as she stared up at him. He glimpsed her deceptively delicate fangs.
And he caught the scent of fear as it swept through her.
She was right to be afraid. Now that she was there, within his grasp, and he’d never let her go.
Never.
“I’m Jace.” He let her see his own fangs. “And you’re mine.” A claim made before all the wolves in the room. From now on, any wolf who touched her would face him–and death.
She swallowed and tilted her head back to better meet his stare. “Hello, husband.”
The wolf within growled…Mine.
BOUND BY BLOOD–Available now for .99
And Cynthia Eden’s full-length paranormal romance novel, ANGEL OF DARKNESS, will take readers into a world of dangerous, sexy fallen angels…and vampires.
Excerpt from ANGEL OF DARKNESS (Available in print and e-book from Kensington Brava):
“Who are you?” She asked him, her face showing no hint of fear.
“I’m someone who’s been looking for you.” True enough. “For a very long time.”
She gave a little shrug. “And here it is, your lucky night. Looks like you found me.”
No, he hadn’t found the woman he’d expected.
“So what are you going to do now?” She murmured as she walked closer to him. The moonlight spilled onto her face. His eyes narrowed. Her face that seemed a little thinner. Her cheekbones were more defined. Her eyes were still as wide and dark, but her lips appeared redder and plumper than before. The woman was still beautiful, no doubt, but…a darkness seemed to cling to her.
Her body was as slender as he remembered. Her breasts still round and firm and her hips–no. He shouldn’t be noticing that. Her body didn’t matter.
“Like what you see?” She whispered and her slow drawling voice sounded like…
Temptation.
He backed up a step.
One black brow lifted. “Now, surely, you aren’t afraid of me.”
“I fear nothing.” After what he’d seen, what he’d done, there was simply nothing left to stir fear in his heart.
“Good for you,” she muttered and the words didn’t seem sexy. More…annoyed then. But then she blinked and the heavy-lidded mask came back. “Tell me how you know my name.”
She was almost close enough to touch right now, but he wouldn’t touch her. No, he never touched. Touching was far too dangerous.
You didn’t touch unless you were ready to kill. He wasn’t ready…yet.
“I’ve known your name for a long time.” No sense lying. Besides, lies weren’t possible for his kind. “Ever since you were put on my list.”
He heard the hard inhale of her breath.
“L-list?” Now there was fear flickering in her eyes. Her voice hardened as she said, “You’re one of them.”
“Them?” Curiosity stirred within him.
“A hunter.” Her bow lips tightened in distaste when she spoke the term.
But she was right. Now he was a hunter and she was his prey.
“I haven’t done anything wrong! I haven’t killed anyone–not since–” She broke off and tears filled her gaze. “I thought if I didn’t hurt anyone else, you were just supposed to leave me alone.”
He could only stare back at her. “Leaving you on your own isn’t an option for me.”
ANGEL OF DARKNESS–Available now from Kensington Brava
About The Author
Cynthia Eden is a national best-selling author of paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and her novel, DEADLY FEAR, was named a RITA® finalist for best romantic suspense.
Cynthia is a southern girl who loves horror movies, chocolate, and happy endings. More information about Cynthia and her books may be found at: www.cynthiaeden.com or on her Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/cynthiaedenfanpage.
E-book only titles
ENTANGLED (anthology)
BOUND BY BLOOD (.99 novella)
BOUND IN DARKNESS (.99 novella)
BOUND IN SIN (.99 novella)
List of paranormal romance titles
ANGEL OF DARKNESS (Fallen, Book 1)
NEVER CRY WOLF
ETERNAL HUNTER (Night Watch, Book 1)
I’LL BE SLAYING YOU (Night Watch, Book 2)
ETERNAL FLAME (Night Watch, Book 3)
HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT (Midnight, Book 1)
MIDNIGHT SINS (Midnight, Book 2)
MIDNIGHT’S MASTER (Midnight Book 3)
IMMORTAL DANGER
WHEN HE WAS BAD (anthology)
/> EVERLASTING BAD BOYS (anthology)
BELONG TO THE NIGHT (anthology)
List of romantic suspense titles
DEADLY FEAR
DEADLY HEAT
DEADLY LIES
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About The Author