Midnight Falls: Children of the Goddess, Book 4

by R. G. Alexander

  To learn more about R. G. Alexander please visit www.rgalexander.com. Send an email to R. G. Alexander at r.g.alexander@hotmail.com.

  Look for these titles by R.G. Alexander

  Available Now:

  Children of the Goddess Series

  Regina in the Sun

  Lux in Shadow

  Twilight Guardian

  Not in Kansas

  Surrender Dorothy

  Three for Me?

  There’s only one place left to run-into forbidden arms.

  Regina in the Sun

  © 2008 R.G. Alexander

  A Children of the Goddess Story

  When she arrives at Ye Olde Haven Pub, the sanctuary for Trueblood Vampires, Regina is wounded and desperate. Her only thought is to save the Deva Clan, her family, from the dangerous Loups De L’Ombre, the Shadow Wolves. She knows she will not exactly be welcomed with open arms. She is, after all, an Unborn, the lowest caste of Vampire.

  As a natural born from the purest line, Zander Sariel knows the rules are sacrosanct—a Trueblood mates with his own kind. But one taste of the young Unborn is all Zander needs to know that rules were made to be broken.

  With enemies at every turn, Zander risks everything to save Regina from the monster that hunts her, his own kind’s ignorance and—if he must—her lack of faith in her own unique abilities.

  Only together do they have a chance to defeat the shadow that haunts their future, and save their entire race from extinction.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Regina in the Sun:

  Reggie had a hangover. At least, that’s what it felt like. Either that or two irate and frustrated little gnomes were taking turns using her head as a ping-pong ball. She lay as still as possible, trying to get her bearings while praying for the gnomes to get bored with her and decide to pester someone else.

  The last thing she remembered was…Haven. She’d made it. She’d actually gotten there and, if she was remembering correctly, she’d spoken to Lux.

  Her shoulders relaxed and the banging began to fade as relief rushed in. Elizabeth and the others would be safe now. She just knew it. And she could continue with her plans without regret or guilt at knowing she’d almost been responsible for a catastrophe.

  “I think a slight change in plans might be in order.”

  She froze at the sound of the voice. It was close. A little too close. Almost as if it was coming from—she groaned in silent mortification as a large, masculine arm slid around her bare waist. What did she do last night?

  A male chuckle washed over her. The arm, already causing a tingling heat to spread across her skin, squeezed her gently. “You didn’t do anything, Regina. You were hurt and we took you upstairs to tend to your wounds.”

  The gnomes were renewing their efforts with gusto. He knew her name. And what she’d been thinking. He shouldn’t be able to read her thoughts so clearly. He shouldn’t be able to read her at all.

  She tried to block him, a gift she’d always taken for granted and rarely had to use, but she could sense his amused patience at her attempt. She didn’t stop to think that she might be able to read him in return, her fear turning to anger as she raised up on her elbow, whipping around to confront him.

  Her brain registered several facts at once. The first being the pain in her side that, while it still stung, was dramatically less than it had been only yesterday. Secondly, she was lying naked beside quite possibly the sexiest man she’d ever seen. Her eyes glazed and her mouth watered with desire as she slowly looked him over.

  Once.

  Pause.

  Twice.

  Okay, perhaps sexy was too weak of a word. But he wasn’t beautiful. She wouldn’t even say he was exceptionally handsome. He looked too hard for that. Too raw and elemental and male.

  He lay above the covers in unbuttoned black dress pants and nothing else. His thighs bulged as if trying to escape their cloth prison, and she knew instinctively that this man had to have clothes created just to fit him.

  A fine line of hair disappeared beneath the lowered zipper, where another growing and rather impressive bulge looked as if it might be planning its escape. Her gaze flew upward swiftly, past the enviable six-pack, up to the smooth, hairless pecs and along the tightly corded neck before working up her courage to face her mysterious bed partner.

  Short, sandy hair looking a bit tousled from sleep framed a strong jaw, sharp cheekbones and a regal nose. It was a face that was saved from being too harsh by the hint of dimples, which appeared when his firm lips tilted slightly at her scrutiny.

  Eyes the color of blazing sapphires narrowed with desire and obvious intent. She suddenly recalled that this man had been able to read her thoughts. That was why she’d turned in the first place. She tilted her chin, ignoring the blush heating her cheeks, determined to retain her righteous indignation even in the face of such edible eye candy.

  His blue eyes widened in shock before he rolled onto his back with a surprised shout of laughter. “Edible eye candy?”

  His rude guffawing was cut short with an “Oomph!” as she whacked him with the nearest pillow. She started to get up, determined to escape the gorgeous mind-reading lunatic, only to find herself trapped beneath him while he grinned in amusement, utterly ignoring her warning glare.

  “Regina,” he murmured as he focused his attention on her full lower lip. “If you’re saying you find me attractive, then let me just tell you that the feeling is entirely mutual.”

  His head lowered slowly, giving her ample time to reject his advance. On any other day, she would have been stunned by her own inaction. She couldn’t seem to move. Not even when she felt the first touch of his lips on hers.

  Their fingers laced together above her head, the gentle restraint adding to her arousal. He took his time, torturing her with featherlight kisses and gentle nips.

  The strange, sweet intimacy of the moment stretched out until she found herself straining her neck to get closer, her mouth opening in invitation. Greedy for more of the delicious stranger’s kiss.

  He sucked her lower lip between his teeth, biting gently before soothing the sting away with his tongue. She gasped with arousal and he pulled back to look into her eyes for a heartbeat. Angling his head, he took her mouth in a soul-consuming kiss that had her moaning wantonly into his mouth. The sound encouraged him to taste her more fully, their tongues sparring for control in her mouth as he shifted his hardening erection into the apex of her thighs.

  She wrapped her lips around his tongue, sucking him deeper into her mouth. He jerked against her, and then he was reciprocating in a way that made her entire body tremble. On and on, lips and fangs and tongues warred for supremacy in a sensual battle that neither wanted to end.

  Never had she experienced anything like the need that flooded through her from the first touch of his lips. He was like a narcotic, drugging her limbs and causing her heart to beat a panicked tattoo against her breast. His taste was both darkly mysterious and achingly familiar. His lips burned against hers with a blaze like the noonday sun, so hot she was sure she’d melt beneath him.

  He thrust his hips gently against her sex and even through the sheet that separated them she felt an answering rush of arousal dampen her thighs. She’d never imagined she could be so close to coming from a kiss. A hot, unbearably sexy kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.

  He groaned as she arched against him in return and she reveled in the knowledge that his desire was just as strong as hers. That he wanted her, his grathita, more than he’d ever wanted another. She was his and he would—

  She must be sensing his thoughts. Picking up on them as if they were her own. At the same moment the realization struck her, he pressed his body fully against hers, causing her to cry out in pain at the forgotten injury.

  He leapt off her as if he were on fire, the lust in his eyes turning quickly to worry. Kneeling on the bed, he bent to check her mending wound, ignoring the hand that tried to slap him away.

  “I’m really going t
o have to work on my timing.”

  The wry voice caused the two to jump apart, startled. Reggie felt her cheeks heat as the man she’d just been groping leaned his back against the bed frame with a sigh, subtly trying to cover Regina’s naked frame with the blanket, hiding her from the other man’s view.

  Without a word she jerked the fabric from his hands, pulling the cover up to her neck defensively. She looked toward the glorious creature standing at the edge of the bed, the memory of being carried from the dance floor surfacing in her mind. This was Lux.

  He held up the overflowing bag in his hand, which showed the name of a well-known clothing store. “I brought you something to wear. Your other clothing was, well, unsalvageable.”

  He waited for her to accept his offering, but she merely nodded her thanks and looked at him pointedly until he turned his head and shut his eyes.

  She reached out with her mind and gasped at the amusement hiding in Lux’s thoughts, as well as the memory of undressing her after she’d collapsed. At her sound of outrage, Lux spun his head back around, looking towards her in shock before glancing at the other man—his brother, Reggie suddenly realized—for an explanation.

  “I don’t know why you’re looking at him. Just ask me.” She crossed her arms over the blanket that she had wrapped around her, realizing her breasts were plumping over the edge when Lux couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the view. Her golden eyes rolled and she shook her head. “After all the stories Liz told me, I thought you’d be a bit more, well, genteel.”

  The charming smile Lux had been wearing since he’d arrived turned sinful, causing her to shiver at the change. “Genteel? Ahhh. Well, yes, I like men if that’s what you’re inferring. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy women just as thoroughly. Especially when they have such undeniably charming…assets.”

  Reggie turned away with a blush to see the object of her recent lust sprawled casually on the rumpled bed, a sensual smile on his face.

  “Of the two, Lux is far more notorious than I, Regina mine. Ask anyone. No one’s safe when he’s on the prowl.”

  Love can drive you over the edge. It can also let you fly.

  Crazy Little Thing Called Love

  © 2009 Crystal Jordan

  In the Heat of the Night, Book Four

  Pixie Parthon worked hard to make her music production company a success. Anyone who gets in her way gets the business end of her Fae magic. Her savvy business sense kept her family afloat for years, but now that her musician brother is mated and off on a world tour she’s feeling left in the dust.

  Maybe it was a faint wish for a little love magic for herself, but she didn’t expect one night of cutting loose to leave her marked for life. A little love bite is one thing. Give up her hard-won independence to a pushy alpha werewolf? She’ll pass.

  Malcon is just as shocked as Pixie, but for a different reason. From the moment he saw her, his desire went far beyond getting into her pants. When she agreed—begged—to be bitten, he believed she also sensed their destiny to be mates.

  Now it’s too late. Nothing will convince Pixie that he has no intention of clipping her wings—not even a month’s worth of orgasms on call. Crazy as it sounds, love is all he wants from her. Even if it means letting her go…

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Crazy Little Thing Called Love:

  Three weeks later, Malcon was still on the campaign and gaining ground, I had to admit. I was nowhere near giving in, but every moment I spent with him made me like him more, want him more, crave him more. My heart jumped when I saw him each evening, and it saddened me to leave him every morning. I counted the hours to when I got to see him again like some teenager with her first crush.

  It scared the shit out of me.

  I should call the deal off, tell him no, and move on with my life. I knew it. I’d even tried to make myself say it more than once. So far, I was pathetically unsuccessful. I didn’t want to stop seeing him, and that complicated the shit out of everything. That was exactly what he wanted. The problem was, things were going smoothly. Nothing had been tested and crumbled under pressure, so it was all shiny and pretty and new. I wasn’t running from coast to coast like I had so often. Wolf pack politics and business were good. We were good. When the brown stuff hit the fan and splattered the way it inevitably did, he would try to fence me in the way every other male had. So, while I was letting myself enjoy the moment, it was with the slight dread in the pit of my stomach of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Sucking in a deep breath, I refocused on the quarterly reports in front of me. I had a boatload of meetings tomorrow, so I had to get a bigger boatload of paperwork done tonight. I should be relieved by a break from Malcon, but I wasn’t.

  An hour later, my cell phone vibrated across the surface of my desk and made me jolt. My heart raced, and I pressed my palm to my chest. I pushed the button on my cell phone that transferred the call to the Bluetooth in my ear. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Pixie.”

  A smile automatically curved my lips at the sound of his voice. “Hey, you. What’s up?”

  “Not much.” I could hear an answering smile form on his handsome face. “How late are you working tonight?”

  “Late.” I looked at the stacks of paperwork that covered every available surface in my office. I sighed. “Very late.”

  He hummed sympathetically. “That’s too bad.”

  “What are you doing?” I leaned back in my chair and kicked my heels up onto the desk, crossing my ankles.

  He chuckled. “Working very late. We’re taking a break for another forty-five minutes, but then I have to put in a conference call to Tokyo.”

  “Ouch. That’s what, a seventeen-hour difference?”

  “About that, yeah.” There was a short pause. “So, I was thinking we should have dinner together.”

  “If we’re both working madly on opposite sides of the city, how do you—” A knock sounded on the outer office door. “Hold on a sec.”

  My eyebrows arched. Was it him again? My sex clenched at the mere thought of what we’d done together the last time we were in my office. I hopped up to open the door. A courier stood there with a plastic bag from my favorite Italian place in one hand and a vase with a dozen purple roses in the other. I blinked for a moment, then flipped the lock and opened the door. “Hi.”

  “Pixie Parthon?” The kid offered a bashful smile.

  I nodded. “That’s me.”

  “Sign here, please.”

  I scrawled my name on the digital pad he held out to me, and then collected my booty. Locking the door behind the courier, I couldn’t stop the stupid smile that spread as I smelled the roses.

  Malcon’s voice sounded softly in my ear. “Did you get it?”

  “Yes.” A little laugh spilled out, and I carried the heavy crystal vase and food to my office. Clearing off one of the piles of paper from my credenza, I set the roses in the middle where I could see them from my desk. I couldn’t resist taking another lungful of their spicy sweet scent. “Malcon, the flowers are beautiful. Thank you.”

  His voice deepened the way it did when he was pleased. “So, like I said, I think we should have dinner together.”

  “You had Moretti’s delivered to you too?” The stupid grin widened with delight. This was without a doubt the most creative non-date I’d ever had. Okay, so it was the only one, but still. It was nice of him to think of this.

  I heard him shift the receiver against his ear. “They make the best veal parmigiana.”

  Plopping myself into my chair, I opened the bag and all the various containers inside. There was even a little bottle of Pellegrino. My stomach gave a rumble as I ripped open the packet of plastic silverware. “Mmm, I love their three-cheese ziti. How did you know?”

  “The manager told me your favorites.”

  “Ha! Rosa is the best.” I forked a bite of it into my mouth and moaned. “Oh man. This is so good.”

  His low growl filtered through the phone, and
I moaned a little louder on the next bite to torment him. He laughed. “Minx. I’m glad you like it.”

  “I do.” I sipped the fizzing water. “I was going to skip dinner, so this is fabulous. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” I heard him chew a bite slowly and swallow. “So…how was your day?”

  “Good. Busy.” Settling back in my chair, I spent the rest of his break chatting with him about how our work had gone.

  It was…nice. I really, really liked it. Almost as much as I liked him. I groaned when I hung up the phone, dropping my forehead to my desk. God, I was in so much trouble with this man.

  Kidnapping and bondage are no way to win a girl. Well, actually…

  Gone with the Monster

  © 2009 Lila Dubois

  Runako has good reason to distrust humans. His sister’s murder taught him it’s safer to keep his Monster form under wraps. Now comes word that a woman is making a movie that will supposedly “help” his people. He’s not sure about that, but one thing is sure…Margo is too beautiful to be ignored.

  Presented with the opportunity to use his people’s Captive Caves—a secluded mountain fortress designed to hold hapless, tasty humans prisoner—Runako knows exactly whom he wants to star in his ultimate fantasy.

  Margo knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. At least where her career is concerned. Runako is just the kind of bad boy with whom she’d like to heat up her nights. In a land of skinny blondes, though, a hottie like him would never notice her lush, Latin curves.

  No one is more surprised when she finds out his version of “wooing” includes kidnapping. Forced to stand before him in chains, her paper-thin confidence is burning up fast in the heat of his desire. And when it turns out she can identify his sister’s murderers, they both must decide where their loyalties lie…