The starlight in Grimm’s eyes made Cady dizzy, but she refused to look away and met him stare for stare.
And then, unexpectedly, Grimm eased back. His mouth softened and his exceedingly large shoulders relaxed somewhat.
“I have always admired you, Cady. You have a keen mind and a strong will. But let this be. For now, I beg of you, let this mystery go unexplored. Tryton will come and then we will decide the fate of all.” Grimm turned Obsidian, whose anger smoldered under a scowl. “I am sorry, my friend, for striking out against you.”
“I accept your apology,” Obsidian gritted out.
Grimm addressed the room at large one last time. “Please. You are all my friends and I yours. Can you not trust to my words and keep faith with me? All I ask of you is silence. All will be explained when the proper time comes. I promise you.”
“I trust you, Grimm. I don’t like this business, but I do trust you,” Emily offered.
“And I,” Cinder echoed. Though his anger and worry were apparent as a halo of fire glowed about his bright blond head.
The others eventually agreed, and Grimm eased further, knowing they would keep the secret he so desperately wanted them to keep.
“The meeting is over,” Grimm repeated and made for the door, leaving the group to their thoughts in his wake.
“The meeting may be over, but the war—the real war—has just begun,” Steffy predicted with a worried frown.
“I fear you’re right,” Cady sighed. She wrapped her arms around the waist of her husband and felt his slide around her shoulders to hold her close in return. “May fate and all the gods of the world help every one of us, but I think you’re right.”
Coming Soon!
Lord of the Deep: Horde Wars Book IV
(Tryton’s Story)
Voyeurs: Overexposed in
Ellora’s Cavemen: Tales from the Temple IV (Agate’s Story)
About the author:
Sherri L. King lives in the American Deep South with her husband, artist and illustrator Darrell King. Critically acclaimed author of The Horde Wars and Moon Lust series, her primary interests lie in the world of action packed paranormals, though she’s been known to dabble in several other genres as time permits.
Sherri welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1337 Commerce Drive, Suite 13, Stow OH 44224.
Also by Sherri L. King:
Bachelorette
Fetish*
Chronicles of the Aware
Rayven’s Awakening
Moon Lust
Moon Lust♦
Bitten*
Mating Season
Feral Heat
The Horde Wars
Ravenous*
Wanton Fire
Razor’s Edge
Anthologies
Midnight Desires
* book in print
♦ print book Primal Heat
Knight Stalker
The Blood Ties Series
Lora Leigh
Dedication:
To my Husband, RC (Tony) Leigh.
Thanks for the “bite”.
Chapter One
Summer 2007
Bliss St. Claire stopped at the doorway to the private meeting room, her eyes widening considerably as she was held silent and still by the sight that met her gaze. She ignored the flaring regret, the green, blistering jealousy, and watched in awed amazement instead as her brother’s friend, Cadan Gaelan, lowered his pants and released the monster of his cock.
She was salivating. It was thick and long—so thick he couldn’t circle it, even with his big hand. The head was round and flared, tinted purple and drooling a copious amount of pre-cum as he aimed it at the inviting pussy spread out in front of him.
Bliss spared a hateful glance for Marissa Delareaux before her gaze went back to the stalk of male flesh disappearing between the woman’s thighs. Marissa was nearly screaming as he began to work his cock inside her, but it was Cadan’s expression, or rather the features of his face that held Bliss’s horrified fascination.
“Oh God. Fuck me with that big dick. Fuck me, Cadan.” Marissa was moaning like a damned bitch in heat, her eyes closed, her head rolling on the table, stupidly unaware of what was going on right in front of her.
But Bliss was aware. She told herself to run. She could hear the order screaming through her mind, but her legs refused to move. She watched in horrified fascination as Cadan’s lips drew back, his cheekbones becoming more prominent as he lifted Marissa closer, holding her against his chest as he stood before the pool table, his cock moving slow and deep inside her cunt.
His head lowered, his tongue stroking Marissa’s neck slowly, wetly, as she shuddered against him, her hips churning, moving her pussy on Cadan’s huge cock as she grimaced, and slowly, horrifyingly, his canines lengthened, sharpened. The moment they pierced the tender skin of Marissa’s neck, Bliss gasped in shock and fear.
Cadan’s gaze met hers as his head jerked up. A small drop of blood fell from the pearly white dagger of his tooth to the sensual fullness of his lower lip where his tongue licked it casually away, his brooding gaze holding hers as he then licked the trail of blood that oozed slowly from Marissa’s flesh.
Still watching Bliss, his lips covered the pinpricks, drawing on Marissa’s neck as he held her close and began to fuck her harder, deeper, the tight clasp of Marissa’s pussy sucking him in with a hollow, wet sound that seemed amplified in the small room.
Bliss shook her head, trying to run, terror beginning to build inside her at a rapid rate. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t make her legs move. She couldn’t escape the horribly erotic sight of the dark creature sucking the blood from Marissa’s neck as her pussy sucked his cock deep inside her.
Bliss fought to make sense of her paralysis as time seemed to stand still. Her gaze locked with Cadan’s, her heart beating out of control as she told herself to run. She had to run, to hide. He had seen her; he knew she had seen him, had seen the lethal sharpness of his teeth piercing Marissa’s flesh.
Fear was like a stain blooming through Bliss’s mind, but even more horrifying was the arousal igniting in her pussy. It spread over her, throwing her off balance, confusing her. She liked to think she was an open-minded adventurous sort of girl, but she didn’t know if she was quite ready for a vampire.
She watched him suck at Marissa’s neck, his eyes black, his skin flushed as he laid the other woman back on the pool table. His hips thrust hard and fast between her thighs as his cock plowed inside her pussy. And through it all, he watched Bliss. Watched her, his eyes flaming, stroking over Bliss’s body, making her incapable of tearing herself free of his gaze.
She would never escape him. She knew it. Death wasn’t a concern, but at this moment she wondered about her soul. She was so fucked. And not in a good way.
Chapter Two
Release her, Cadan ordered the creatures holding Bliss captive as he lifted his lips from the slender throat beneath them, his tongue caressing over the flesh, healing the punctures that pierced Marissa’s skin.
She has seen you, the voice whispered through his mind. She must be dealt with.
We must be dealt with, a feminine voice ordered imperatively. You have not finished feeding, Cadan. We’re weak.
Release her or you can fucking starve to death, Cadan snarled silently as he continued to hold the woman beneath him enraptured. His cock slid slowly, easily up her slick pussy, her orgasms and the arousal caused by the symbiots he carried within his body holding her in thrall.
You’re being unreasonable, the female creature, Cerise, snapped. You can’t let her just leave. We need her.
He paused in the strokes that screwed his cock up Marissa’s cunt, testing the creatures and their resolve.
Cadan, we can’t. Not yet. Not until she’s been dealt with. You know the rules…the male counterpart, Aldon, reminded him, resignation filling the thought.
Oh yeah, he knew the rules, but so did they.
<
br /> You were supposed to watch my back, he reminded them. You failed in that. Now release her.
He refused to allow them to take her memory of him, her memory of their meeting, the small touches they had shared until now, the need growing between them as hot as the fiercest fire.
You’re not being rational…Cerise thought irritably.
Why was it always irrational when the female didn’t get her way?
He withdrew his dick from the hot, tight clasp of the woman’s body, his stomach tightening as Bliss’s gaze flew to the wet length, her pupils flaring, the scent of her arousal filling his head like nothing else ever had.
Release her. Now. His hand went to the dagger strapped to his thigh, his thought clear within his head. He would not be controlled by the creatures. In all the years of his existence he had never allowed the one who plagued him to control him and he would be damned if the unwanted second would do so now.
Very well, the female snarled furiously as she lifted the psychic command from the young woman, allowing her freedom of movement once again. Bliss turned immediately, flying down the hallway as he commanded the door to close and secured the room against other prying eyes.
Quickly, his head lowered once again, his teeth piercing the slender neck as he drew more of the needed, life giving fluid into his mouth, cradling her head in his hand, listening to the beat of her heart, gauging the amount he needed versus the amount she must have to sustain her.
He lifted his head and carefully licked over the wound as she shuddered in yet another orgasm, despite the fact that his cock was no longer inside her. She moaned tiredly, exhausted now, pale from the loss of blood and slack within his arms.
Sighing in resignation, he pulled the tight skirt over her hips, lifted her slender body in his arms and carried her to the low couch on the other side of the room. Her short, dark brown hair framed a plump little face that wasn’t exactly beautiful, but pretty all the same.
Straightening, he restored order to his own clothes and strode determinedly to the door. If Bliss had screamed bloody murder and told everyone what she saw, there would be no proof of it, but he didn’t really care to have her face the humiliation that would ensue.
She deserves to be embarrassed for watching, the female symbiot inside him snorted rudely.
Shut her up. His thought was directed to his own symbiot, an ages-old male who had once shown a reasonable amount of common sense.
He could feel the creature’s resignation and the female’s disgust. Just what he needed, a damned woman speaking inside his head and causing him more trouble than he already had.
I’m not the female you need to worry about, she informed him mockingly. The one who just ran out on you is the one you should fear. I stopped her for a reason, you stubborn male.
He rolled his eyes as he stalked down the hall. The female symbiot always had a reason. He just didn’t always agree with it.
Smart-ass, she replied snidely. If you hadn’t been so male, you might have felt it yourself. She’s host material, baby. You just lost your chance to get rid of my obnoxious self.
Chapter Three
Okay, so she had prayed for adventure, freedom. Something that would shake her world up and make her live, for a change. A lover unlike any other. An event, an experience that would change her life. Bliss hadn’t meant learning that the man she completely lusted after was a vampire. She could have lived without that knowledge. It wasn’t one of those pieces of information that she felt she needed to know.
Bliss opened her apartment door slowly the next afternoon. As normal, the shades and curtains were flung wide, the early morning sunshine piercing the room in wonderful, vibrant rays. A whimper of thankfulness escaped her lips as she rushed into the living room and locked the door behind her quickly.
She couldn’t believe what she had seen the night before. She couldn’t make herself shake the prayer that it had all been a nightmare. She would awaken soon. All she had to do was pinch herself enough to wake up. Because, despite what she had seen, despite the fear, the overpowering need to run, she had been aroused. Aroused and drawn to the dark vision as nothing she had ever been in her life.
It had made her so damned hot she had needed to change her panties even as she ran for her life, because she had creamed them outrageously.
She tossed her keys to the table beside her and leaned her head against the panel, breathing heavily, exhausted from her fight to stay hidden the night before, certain that she was being stalked. That the monster she had glimpsed in the bar’s private room was but one step behind her…
“Well, perhaps more than one step.”
Shock exploded in her chest as she turned, eyes wide, and confronted the dark vision of her worst nightmares. He stood in front of the window. The bright rays of the sun surrounded his tall, muscular body, created a halo around his thick hair and held his expression in shadow.
She blinked, certain she was making him up.
“Shouldn’t you be in a coffin or something?” she gasped, her eyes wide as she felt her pussy moistening further. This was too much. She wanted to fuck a monster. She must have lost her mind.
“You watch too much television.” He tsked gently, his midnight-blue eyes filled with laughter and promise. “That is the trouble with the world and those who inhabit it. They rely only on the legends and the tales passed down from generation to generation or created within the pages of a fiction novel. Yes, my dear, vampires exist.” His voice lowered to a dark, sensual throb. “And the rules were never truly recorded properly.”
She could hear the amusement in his voice, the cool mocking knowledge that he had won. Wet pussy or not, she wasn’t going to deal with this right now. Her hands gripped the doorknob as she tried to turn it, to escape, to find a way to process this new information.
Except the door wouldn’t open. Her hands twisted the knob, while jerky whimpers that should have been violent screams tore from her throat.
“Bliss, chill out.” He was right behind her.
Bliss swung around, her fist clenched, aiming for his head as she swung her arm. In an instant it was caught within his broad palm as he stared down at her with dark, hot eyes.
“Such violent tendencies,” he murmured, his voice rough and deep as he pinned her against the door. “If I didn’t know better, Bliss, I would think you didn’t like me anymore.”
He was laughing at her. She stared up at him in a haze of fury, fear and arousal, seeing the amusement in his gaze as he watched her. The fury and fear she understood, but the arousal made zero sense to her way of thinking.
“I would like you better with a stake in your heart,” she snapped, struggling against him as he held her easily.
“Bliss, I am not going to hurt you,” he said softly as he pushed her hands against the door, his body flush against hers, trapping her against the panel as he transferred her wrists to one hand. The other stroked over her neck gently.
Bliss stilled at the touch of his calloused fingers against her skin. They were warm, rough, sending erotic impulses of pleasure washing over her body despite the fear that filled her.
“Don’t you dare try to bite me,” she snapped as his head began to lower.
A smile tipped his lips, the sensual fullness of his lower lip curving sexily as his gaze continued to hold hers.
“I bet you would taste delicious,” he whispered, his voice taunting her as his hand cupped the curve of her neck. “Hot and sweet. I’ve wondered these months how you would taste, Bliss.”
Bliss trembled against him, swallowing tightly as his gaze centered on her lips rather than her eyes.
“You are not allowed to bite me,” she told him desperately. “I mean it, Cadan. There has to be a rule against biting me somewhere.”
She tried to clear her mind of the sexual haze wrapping around her. Now was not the time to be turned on, she reminded herself furiously.
“There are many rules about biting,” he murmured as his fingers caressed her neck. �
��I promise, it wouldn’t hurt.”
Bliss tried to control the rapid race of her heart, the arousal building in her pussy and the weakening tremors of fear that shuddered through her body.
He was still laughing at her. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in the air around them.
“Cadan, let me go.” She struggled against him with renewed strength, certain that if she didn’t break free, within moments she was going to be begging him to bite her. To fuck her.
“Will you restrain this penchant for violence and bloodshed you seem to have developed?” His head lowered, his lips smoothing over her brow. “It’s not fighting I want to do with you, beautiful.”
She stared up at him in surprise. His voice was thick with growing lust, his eyes becoming darker as his expression tightened with hunger. Bliss knew she was in serious trouble when she felt the juices sliding from her cunt to moisten the plump lips beyond. Her clit was swollen, throbbing, demanding that she do something to ease the hunger that pulsed through her body now.
This was the temptation Cadan was. From the moment she had first met him she had craved him. Unfortunately, seeing him for what he was hadn’t eased that craving in any way.
“Look, you really don’t want to bite me.” She shook her head firmly as his fingers continued to stroke her neck.
“I really want to do a lot of things to you, Bliss,” he told her erotically, his voice stroking over her senses like dark, rough velvet. “Things you could never imagine.”
Against her lower stomach she felt his erection. Thick, hard, barely contained by the dark leather of his pants as he pressed against her. For one blinding moment, the memory of his cock, thick and hard as it had pressed into the other woman’s body, overwhelmed her.
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