by Anya Bast
She’d exited the coffee shop near her office and was headed to her car when a man had approached her. Only once he’d grown near enough, she hadn’t been sure he was a man at all. Male maybe, but not human male. Her mind had tripped over itself for a moment as she tried to make sense of that. The thing, whatever it was, had insinuated itself in a menacing fashion between her and her car. When she’d run, he’d chased her.
Her high heels already long gone, the only sound she made was the almost imperceptible slap of feet to concrete and her regulated breathing. She’d been on the track team in high school. She could outrun this thing…whatever it was that chased her. Behind her, footsteps sounded. It was gaining on her.
Correction, maybe she could outrun it.
Squashing that deadly flicker of uncertainty, she pushed herself faster. Anne vaulted over two abandoned pallets and stumbled on her landing. Expensive material tore as her skirt ripped up the seam. Designer clothing simply wasn’t made for this kind of abuse, curse it. At least now that her skirt was split she could run faster.
At the end of the alley, she turned a corner, catching a glimpse of her pursuer out of the corner of her eye. He, it, whatever was on her tail and quickly catching up to her. Her heart thumped harder…from fear, pure and simple, not from physical exertion.
Out of the darkness, a hand reached out and snagged her arm. Anne screamed in spite of herself—a full, open-mouthed screech of terror that could’ve been heard in a five-block radius if this hadn’t been the commercial part of town and it hadn’t been six in the morning. Strong arms closed around her, and Anne fought with every ounce of strength she had. The grip only tightened, squeezing her air passage closed. Her head swam, her vision dotted.
“Sleep.” Rough male voice. Low and commanding. Scary.
Her head dropped as if on his order and exhaustion dragged her under as though she lay tucked into her own bed after a long night out and she was safe… No. Her head jerked up as she fought the impulse. If she slept, she lost control. She couldn’t…couldn’t… Her head lolled to the side, so tired.
“Sleep,” came the voice again, this time more gentle. “You’re safe now.”
Her pursuer came around the corner of the alley and she had the utter horror of seeing him again. “Frankenstein,” she whispered. Tall, green. Thick shoulders and square head. This guy couldn’t be human, he just couldn’t.
“Sleep.”
The pull toward slumber increased; made an offer she couldn’t refuse. Right before her eyelids slid shut, she saw another man step out in a menacing fashion right in front of the man/it/whatever.
She slept.
“You frightened her.”
Caleb looked up from where he stood at Anne’s bedside and regarded Van, his best friend and, right now, his bane. “It was your fault the Guardian was chasing her at all. You’re the one who wanted to wait to contact her. We waited too long.”
Van stared down at the woman, their woman, his long multi-shaded blond hair falling into his face. “I had no way to know that the Guardians would have located her so quickly.”
“We did what we had to do to keep her safe. Now we will have to pick up the pieces when she awakes.”
“This could have gone smoother.”
“But it didn’t. The important thing now is to help her become acclimated to her new life with us.”
In fact, he couldn’t wait to get Anne home with them. He’d spent the last three weeks in this place and he’d had enough. He missed Valencia, missed the colorful lands, the wonderful food and his own, comfortable home. Earth was far from charming, though it did have Anne, which meant it was good in some ways.
Caleb shifted his gaze back to Anne, from whom it had hardly budged since they’d brought her to their hotel room. She looked so fragile, so different from the few Harmon females that remained. This had been done numerous times before, but, now, looking at this tiny, breakable Earth woman, he wasn’t sure how. Her body was of average size for her kind, not especially slender, but she still seemed fragile.
Her dark brown hair spread over the pillow like the wing of a glossy bird. Dark eyelashes swept down over pale cheeks. Her face was oval-shaped and pretty, though in an ordinary way. Her lips were full and pouty, and Caleb was sure the Earthian’s Christian heaven lay between them. Soon enough he would find out. She’d been on her way into her office and wore the remnants of a burgundy skirt that was now split almost all the way up her thigh, revealing a lickable swath of creamy skin. Her filmy matching blouse was torn and dirty and she’d lost both her shoes. Never fear, soon she’d be outfitted like the princess she was, their princess.
Every morning for many mornings they’d followed her to work, but today…so had the Guardian.
“How will we tell her?” Van pushed a hand through his hair and glanced at him. “Our way breaks all their ways. Normally human women only take one lover at a time. One husband. So infrequently will a human female bind herself to two men at the same time for always. The relationships that are like that here are considered outside the bounds of normality. How will she ever come to accept us both?” Open challenge passed over his face but was gone in a moment.
They’d had time to come to terms with having to share her. It wasn’t the Harmon way normally, but circumstances had forced them into it. And even though they’d been best friends from childhood, it was still difficult. Even more difficult to be in the same room with the woman the oracle had found for them, their perfect match. The scent of her alone was an aphrodisiac and they’d both gone a long time without a sexual partner.
“I don’t—”
Anne lunged across the bed, grabbed the phone and smashed it into the side of Caleb’s face. Pain exploded through his head—along with utter surprise—and he staggered back, catching himself on a nearby chair before he ended up on his ass on the floor.
Caleb heard Van restraining the woman, but she was screaming at him and fighting him tooth and nail. She sounded like a wild animal. Good thing the walls were soundproofed. He put a hand to his head and thought for a moment about mischiefing her mind the way he had in the alley when he’d made her sleep, but that seemed wrong somehow. It took away her choice.
Which was stupid, since they were about to take away all Anne’s choices. The survival of their species depended on it. It didn’t make him feel any less guilty, though.
“Calm!” he commanded, manipulating her emotions just a little bit, just enough to break the worst of her panic. “Calm, Anne.”
He raised his reeling head, blinked blood out of his eyes and saw Anne go still in Van’s arms. Van breathed heavily and his arms were scratched and bloody. He moved her back onto the bed, where she sat placidly.
Van turned once he’d settled Anne into her place, and got them both a couple damp towels to wipe up the blood she’d drawn from them. “She’s a fighter,” Van said under his breath, tossing him the towel. “She’ll not go meekly.”
That was apparent.
Caleb pressed the towel to his forehead, wincing, and walked over to kneel by her. He put his hand on her knee and sent her nice, calming vibes. “We’re not going to hurt you, Anne Michaels, I promise you. You don’t need to fight us.”
“Who are you?” Fear flickered in the depths of her green eyes. “What are you speaking and why can I understand it? What am I speaking for fuck’s sake and how am I speaking it?”
“We are speaking Valencian. You can understand it and speak it because it’s in your blood. I am Caleb Verona and that is Van Childress. We’ve come from far away, looking for you. We’re here to protect you.”
When hell reigns on earth, love is a luxury they can’t afford.
Hammer Down
© 2012 Moira Rogers
Children of the Undying, Book 2
While the tattered remains of humanity huddle underground, hiding in their virtual world, Devi prefers living topside, making dangerous hauls through the demon-infested wasteland earth has become. The wealth that comes from
smuggling supplies to those shunned as summoner-born or demon-touched doesn’t hurt, either.
The man she meets to arrange one of those under-the-table hauls is complicated…and handsome as hell. Literally. A glimpse of the predator beneath his silver gaze and she’s tempted to break her cardinal rule: never mix business with pleasure.
Zel’s first look at the wild-haired hauler threatens to distract him from his mission—and reminds him just how long it’s been since he got laid. As the leader of an outcast settlement, he can’t afford to trust too easily. Devi’s got a reputation for running a tight, disciplined crew, but her very willingness to deal with him means she has something to hide.
Not to mention a hot, tempting package like her could be the cleverest trap his enemies have ever set.
Warning: Contains demon bars, virtual (and literal) fights to the death, forbidden love, renegade AIs, a badass truck-driving heroine who will do anything to protect her crew and the half-demon warrior who will move heaven and hell to make her his.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Hammer Down:
“It shouldn’t matter.” His voice grated, suddenly angry. “God damn it, it shouldn’t fucking matter. You shouldn’t matter.”
It hurt, even though she understood the sentiment perfectly. “Thanks.”
He snarled again and covered the space between them in two long strides, crowding her against the wall. His hands slapped the wall on either side of her head, but he didn’t touch her. “Liar. Or are you going to tell me you want me to matter?”
She opened her mouth to give him a kind lie, to tell him he didn’t matter in the least, not to her. “No. I wish I didn’t give a damn about you.”
“You don’t. You don’t know me.” He pressed closer, nothing but hard muscle and heat stretched out against her. “We both got it bad, sweetheart. If you want to take me for a ride and get it out of your system, I’m game.”
“I bet you are.” He’d obviously given the matter some thought, which was more than she was capable of at the moment. Her body had gone into sensory overdrive, cataloguing every bit of tactile information it could gather about him.
And it wasn’t enough. She wanted to know what he tasted like, mouth and skin. Whether she could find softness anywhere on his body, or if he was all hard. There was only one way to find those answers, so she lifted her hands to his shoulders and pushed, testing his strength.
He didn’t budge. His lips curved into that wicked smile she’d first seen at the Pit Stop, and his hands skated down to grasp her hips. One quick jerk lifted her off the ground, onto his solid, muscular thigh, and he crushed his mouth to hers.
Heat blazed through Devi. Nothing, not even the way she’d spent the last few days craving him, had prepared her for the way she reacted to what should have been a simple kiss. His tongue touched hers and her knees went weak, leaving her grinding down on his leg. He knew how to take a woman’s mouth with single-minded determination, waging all-out war on her defenses. His thigh began to move against her, and he matched the thrusts of his tongue to that slow, deadly rock.
Devi jerked her mouth from his with a gasp. “Harder.”
“Bossy.” He bit her lower lip, and his chuckle rolled over her. “You want something, you take it.” He fit his mouth to hers again as his rough fingers curled around the back of her neck.
He liked being in control, but so did she. When she rocked against him this time, she dropped her hand and caressed the hard ridge of his cock in time with her body’s movements.
She swallowed his hissing moan, and a heartbeat later he snatched up her wrist and pinned it against the wall. “If that’s how you want to play…” He moved his other hand from her hip to her ass, dragging her into his next grinding thrust.
A little creative wiggling put her legs on either side of his, and she arched off the wall. She wanted to play, so badly that once wouldn’t be enough. She’d fuck him fast, round off the sharp edge of hunger twisting her belly. Then she could take her time, learn all those things she couldn’t leave without knowing.
He groaned, a rumbling noise that was half pleasure, half something darker, but he let her wiggle as he lowered his lips to her ear. “Impatient, aren’t you? Do you usually fuck men who roll onto their backs for you?”
“Sometimes.” She moved her hips once more, and a bolt of pleasure shuddered through her. Anticipation prickled over her skin and tightened her nipples.
“Lazy bastards. Not that I wouldn’t let you ride me, sweetheart.” He squeezed her ass. “But not until I’d had my fingers between your thighs. I bet you bite when you come.”
The mental picture his words painted was intoxicating. “And you like the thought of my teeth on your skin.”
“Depends on where you sink ’em.” He worked a hand between their bodies, his knuckles skimming the edge of her pants. “Where would you let me sink mine?”
“I’m not nearly so picky.” Flip, easy words, handy for hiding how deeply his touch shook her. “Bite me wherever you want.”
“That’d be just about everywhere.” His fingertips were hot as they grazed her bare skin. Rough breaths fell against her cheek, almost panting, proof that he wasn’t nearly as unaffected as his cocky, casual tone implied. “Fuck, I wanted to do you slow, but I’m losing my damn mind. Can’t think about anything but being inside you.” He traced his tongue around the shell of her ear and proved the words with a low groan.
The wet trace of his tongue made her hands clench in his shirt, and the fabric ripped a little. “Shit, sorry. Take it off.”
A rough denial as his fingers jerked at her pants. “If you weren’t wearing these, I’d be fucking you already.”
Devi bit his jaw. “You’d be fucking me already if you didn’t talk so much.”
“And I’m talking—” He froze, his hand halfway into her pants, and cursed as his gaze jerked to the door.
She heard it a second later, pounding footsteps coming down the hallway. Zel backed away and eased her to the floor. She wanted to withdraw, smooth her hair and take a moment to compose herself, but there could be trouble. If there was, it was likely to affect her crew.
So she jerked open the door as Cache skidded to a stop outside of it. “What happened?”
Cache couldn’t hear her words, but she apparently had no trouble interpreting her meaning. Her fingers flew, three quick gestures in a row. Tanner. Guard. Fight.
“Fuck.” Devi grabbed her vest and shrugged into it with a quick glance at Zel. “Tanner’s found trouble. A fight with a guard.”
He swore and jerked his shirt back into place, seemingly oblivious to Cache’s too-curious appraisal. Devi turned back and signed to Cache. Where?
Cache pointed behind her, toward the hallway that led to the main common area and the tunnel to the rest of the compound.
Zel appeared at Devi’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in the compound…” She scrubbed her hands over her face. The last thing they could afford after Cache’s potential snooping was violence. “We have to stop it. Come on.”
She didn’t wait for him to follow, too preoccupied by the knowledge that they were heading into a fight that likely involved more than one halfblood. The same demon heritage that made them such fierce warriors also gave them enhanced senses.
She had Zel’s scent all over her, and vice versa. Which meant that, in very short order, the complications Zel had wanted to avoid would come crashing down around them.
The Twisted Kiss
Anya Bast
Sometimes it takes just one kiss…
Doomsyear, Book 1
Kylie Mitchell lives in a world of monsters. Thanks to a military experiment gone viral, over half the population is gone and most of what remains has mutated into storybook werewolves and vampires. In this new Earth, only the tough survive, and Kylie has more than enough reason to want to be left alone.
When the Council of the Wise decrees that she must mate with a potent vampire
and a powerful werewolf, Kylie resents their intrusion into her self-imposed exile. As one of the last humans on Earth, she always assumed she’d be safe from the super-psychics’ machinations, and she’s not ready to trust her heart to anyone.
Michael and Christian share no great love for each other, but they have one thing in common—their long-time desire for Kylie. Determined to ensure she doesn’t spend the rest of her lonely life wallowing in needless guilt, they choose to put aside their differences and work together, never allowing her time to think as they seduce her body and mind, hoping their love will tempt her heart to open to them.
Yet just as she begins to bloom under their fiercely protective attention, a twisted and monstrous figure from the past rises up, threatening to destroy everything…
Warning: Features a sexy werewolf, a motorcycle-riding vamp, and one very lucky woman who is tough enough to take care of herself. Watch out for sizzling hot sex scenes, two alpha males, undeniable love, and a twisted monster that might end it all.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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The Twisted Kiss
Copyright © 2012 by Anya Bast
ISBN: 978-1-60928-869-3
Edited by Mary Hamilton
Cover by Kanaxa
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