Heart of the Serpent: Hades' Carnival, Book 5

by N. J. Walters

  He tilted his head in question. “You shine. You shimmer just like the jewels around you.” She began to laugh.

  Mordecai shifted back to his human form, not bothering with clothing beyond a pair of pants. He didn’t feel the cold at all. But he worried about Jessica, who was bundled in an arctic parka he’d purchased for her. They both had a lot to learn about what being immortal meant for her.

  She jumped into his arms and he caught her easily. She twined her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. “You’re so pretty now. You were fierce in your serpent form before, but now you’re gorgeous too.”

  He frowned. “I’m not pretty. I’m ferocious.”

  She patted his cheek. “Of course you are, baby.”

  No one else in the entire world, or in any realm, would talk to him in such a way. Nor would he allow it. But when Jessica did it made his heart melt. He shook his head. “You know I’m feared the world over and in Hell itself.”

  She grinned. “I know. That’s pretty cool too.”

  He gave up and spun her in a circle. “The darkness from Hades’ realm dimmed the light inside me, and thus my serpent’s as well. Now that you’ve chased it away I am finally myself again.”

  He kissed her then, tasting the love on her lips. Her touch satisfied him in a way that all the diamonds, sapphires, opals, emeralds and rubies of the world could not.

  He eased his mouth from hers, loving the way her eyes clouded with passion and her lips were moist from his kiss. “It’s in my nature to collect,” he began. “I don’t know why, but it’s instinctual, much like a bear might hibernate in winter.”

  “You’ve got a pretty awesome collection.” She twisted in his arms, taking in the entire space. “This place is incredible.”

  “I’m glad you approve. But unlike the legends of dragons, this serpent doesn’t mind sharing.” He wanted her to understand that all he had was hers now as well.

  “Oh, Mordecai, I know that.” She stroked her fingers over the side of his face. “After all, you made certain all the other warriors got a piece of the company you built over the decades. None of them ever have to worry again because of your generosity.”

  She was everything to him. Sheer perfection. This tiny woman held his fate in her hands. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. “But there is one thing I will not share. In fact, I would kill anyone who dares to try to take it from me.”

  She frowned and leaned back in his arms. “What is it? I have to know so I don’t accidentally take it.”

  Just when he’d thought he couldn’t love her more. He sat in the center of his jewel cache high in the mountains, holding her tight in his arms. “You,” he told her. “You, Jessica Miller are my greatest treasure, and I will annihilate anyone who tries to take you from me.”

  Jessica hugged him. “Never going to happen. You’re stuck with me for eternity.”

  Eternity. The word had never sounded so good.

  Mordecai surrounded them with his power, and in the blink of an eye they were sitting on her living room floor back in New Orleans. Jessica looked around and frowned. “Hey, if you can do that, why did I have to bundle up in a parka and stand on the side of a mountain?”

  He shrugged. “I wanted to impress you.”

  Laughing, she threw her arms around him. “You certainly did that.”

  He leaned forward until her back rested on the floor and he loomed over her—big, naked and gorgeous. “Now you’re wearing way too many clothes.

  “I’ll have to do something about that.” She pulled on the zipper and quickly shed the heavy coat. “Can you check to make sure no one called while we were away?” There’d still been no word from either Stavros or Phoenix, and he knew she was getting more worried with each passing second. He was getting concerned himself.

  Hades had lost Jessica, but Mordecai knew the vengeful god wasn’t done. Not while Tilly was still out there.

  Mordecai grabbed his phone off the coffee table and checked his messages. “Nothing yet,” he told her as he tossed the phone away. He grabbed one of her boots and pulled it off. He could have her naked with a wave of his hand, but he enjoyed undressing her. It was like unwrapping a present every time.

  “All we know is they’re no longer in the city,” he continued. “Tomorrow, we will start searching the world for the Lady. Maybe she can help, if we can find her.”

  “What are we going to do until then?” Jessica asked. She batted her eyelashes, looking as innocent as ever. But he knew better. She was a sensual woman with the heart of serpent. She was his heart.

  “I’m sure I can think of something,” he told her. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

  About the Author

  Once upon a time, N.J. had the idea to quit her job at a bookstore, sell everything she owned and write romance novels. She gave notice at her job on a Friday morning and received a tentative acceptance for her first erotic romance novel, Annabelle Lee, on the following Sunday afternoon. Life would never be the same.

  N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

  N.J. enjoys hearing from readers, and she can be reached at njwalters22@yahoo.ca. You can also check out her website at www.njwalters.com.

  Look for these titles by N.J. Walters

  Now Available:

  Jamesville

  Discovering Dani

  The Way Home

  The Return of Patrick O’Rourke

  The Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke

  A Legal Affair

  By the Book

  Past Promises

  Legacy

  Alexandra’s Legacy

  Isaiah’s Haven

  Legacy Found

  Quinn’s Quest

  Finding Chrissten

  Damek’s Redemption

  Craig’s Heart

  Spells, Secrets and Seduction

  A Touch of Magick

  Dreams of Seduction

  Love in Flames

  Hades’ Carnival

  Night of the Tiger

  Mark of the Bear

  Pride of the Lion

  Howl of the Wolf

  Salvation Pack

  Wolf at the Door

  Wolf in her Bed

  Wolf on the Run

  Coming Soon:

  Salvation Pack

  Wolf from the Past

  Hades’ Carnival

  Flame of the Phoenix

  Lure of the Jaguar

  Once upon a time, a writer woke up in the middle of her own book…

  Pride of the Lion

  © 2013 N.J. Walters

  Hades’ Carnival, Book 3

  Araminta Davenport has arrived. After giving up her librarian job to be a full-time writer, all those lonely nights alone with her cat and her keyboard have paid off. She’s been invited to participate in one of the biggest reader appreciation weekends—as a professional author.

  She can’t imagine her life getting any more exciting than that…until she accidentally releases a sexy, shapeshifting, immortal warrior from a five-thousand-year-old curse.

  Finally free of his carousel prison, lion shifter Leander is determined not to let Hades lure him to the dark side in a quest for world domination. Nor will he give the delectable Araminta up to the clutches of the dark one. If they can survive twenty-four hours—and somehow resist losing themselves completely in the sexual haze threatening to swallow them up—the curse will be permanently broken.

  But the clock is ticking, the heat is rising…and only the ultimate sacrifice will save them both.

&n
bsp; Warning: This book contains one shy writer who is learning how to cut loose, and a warrior who’s been cut loose and he’s ready to roar. Stir in enough hot sex to make Hell itself seem like the Arctic, and you have a recipe for one wild ride.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Pride of the Lion:

  “This isn’t real.” Araminta sat back on the bed with a heavy thump, her hands twisted in the sheet covering her. She was losing her mind. There was no other logical explanation for what was happening. The lion was massive, much larger than a normal one. He looked as though he could eat her with one gulp.

  He prowled toward her and she held out her shaking hand. “Nice kitty.” She should call hotel security. But what would she say? I have a lion in my room. They’d send for the men in white coats. She tried to swallow around the lump in her throat but couldn’t. The lion stopped in front of her, his face level with hers.

  She could hear his heavy breathing, feel the warm puff against her skin. His teeth appeared even sharper this close up. His long golden tail with a black tuft on the end swished lazily behind him.

  “I must be going crazy.” The words came out in a breathy rush, and she sucked in a lungful of air. Her heart raced and her stomach was in knots.

  There was no other explanation for having a sexy stranger in her bed, one who could shift into a lion. “I’ve been doing too much research and writing. Maybe I’ve had a mental breakdown.” The words tripped out, one after another. She always talked to herself when she was nervous, and the fact she was on the verge of being eaten by a large lion was no reason to stop. In a weird way, it calmed and grounded her.

  The lion grumbled and caught the edge of her sheet between its teeth. She clung to the thin fabric, refusing to let her only covering go. “Hey, let go. That’s mine.” And why was she arguing with a full-grown male lion? She’d truly lost her mind.

  Leander growled again, but this time he sounded as though he meant business. The fabric ripped and she released it, afraid he might decide to chomp on her next if she didn’t. She pushed herself back onto the bed, but he caught her forearm in his powerful jaws. He didn’t hurt her, his teeth touching her skin but not digging in. She froze, afraid to do anything that might upset him further.

  Oh God, what was she going to do? Nothing in her past had prepared her for such an event. She wasn’t an adrenaline junkie, a thrill-seeker. She was a homebody, living a staid, quiet life.

  When she stopped trying to escape him, he released her and dragged his tongue over her arm as if in silent apology.

  “This is unbelievable.”

  He growled and shook his head as if to refute her words.

  She licked her dry lips and tried to think logically. He hadn’t eaten her, hadn’t even done anything to harm her. That probably meant he wasn’t going to. Or at least that’s what she hoped it meant.

  Tentatively, she reached out and touched his head. He gave a low purr of encouragement and she carefully scratched behind one of his ears. His fur was short and bristly and felt a lot like Percy’s.

  “Okay, what if I agree that you are a shapeshifter and an ancient immortal warrior?” He gave a rumble of approval and she kept going. “What does that mean? And why am I suddenly living my book?” That was the weirdest thing of all. If he was real, did the people from the two books she’d already written exist? It was all very confusing. Could a dream be this real? She didn’t think so.

  He suddenly pulled away from her and began to change again, this time going from animal to man. Skin replaced fur and hands and feet appeared, but the heavy muscle remained constant. The fur around his face receded until only his incredible hair hung to his shoulders. The tail seemed to be absorbed by his body.

  She grabbed for the slightly tattered sheet, but he yanked it out of her grasp. Leander leaned over her, his knees on the floor in front of her, his hands pressed against the mattress on either side of her hips, effectively caging her in. He was so tall he was looking in her eyes even though he was kneeling on the floor and she was seated on the bed.

  “You are the special woman who has broken my curse. Five of my brethren have been freed already. Mordecai, the serpent, joined Hades without a fight after slaying the woman who freed him. Phoenix and Stavros, the jaguar, disappeared with their women, never to be heard from again.” He paused and she felt his pain like it was a living, breathing entity. “Roric and Marko, the tiger and the bear, have found their freedom, and now it is my turn to do the same.”

  Araminta wanted to touch him but was half-afraid to now that she knew he was more than a dream. “I don’t understand. Why did I dream about them? Why am I writing books about them?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe it is a gift from the Lady. Maybe it is part of Hades’ plan.”

  The mere thought that Hades might have been in her dreams gave Araminta the heebie-jeebies, and a shiver raced down her spine. If she believed that Leander was the real deal, Hades was also real.

  “Please tell me you drugged me.” She was on the verge of hysterical laughter. This couldn’t be happening to her. She was a former librarian turned writer, for heaven’s sake. Not some sexy female adventurer from some movie or video game.

  She reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Tell me you drugged me. Tell me none of this is real.”

  He shook his head and sadness filled his gaze. “I cannot.”

  He offered no more than that, didn’t try to convince her it was real. That’s when she knew he was telling the truth.

  “Oh, crap.” She tried to calm her galloping heart and her chaotic thoughts. She knew what the heroines in her books had gone through. She also knew that some of the earlier women, ones she hadn’t written about, hadn’t made it. This was truly a life-or-death situation.

  “What do we do? I have to go home. Mary Jo said someone had broken into my house. Percy is okay, but I don’t know what might be missing.” Her mind clicked into gear. “Oh my God, do you think the break-in might have something to do with this?” She motioned to him and back to herself. “You know, the whole thing with Hades?”

  Leander growled and leaned in until their noses were touching. “Who is Percy?”

  “What? What does that matter?”

  He growled again.

  “He’s my cat.” The look on Leander’s face made her laugh. Her nerves were strung so tight, once she started laughing, she couldn’t stop. “You’re not my first cat,” she blurted out before going off into peals of laughter again. She really had to stop. The situation wasn’t the least bit funny.

  Leander sat back on his heels with a slight frown on his face. He pounced faster than she could see, grabbed her legs and lifted them, causing her to fall back onto the bed. He parted her legs, shoved them over his shoulders and leaned inward. His massive shoulders pushed her thighs farther apart, opening her for him to see.

  “What are you doing?” She swatted at his shoulders, but he wouldn’t be deterred. “Stop that.” She tried to close her legs, but it was impossible with his shoulders blocking her. Was it possible to die of embarrassment? Unfortunately, she didn’t think so.

  “What am I doing?” he repeated. “I’m claiming what’s mine.”

  She’s run right in to the arms of the big bad wolf.

  Wolf on the Run

  © 2014 N.J. Walters

  Salvation Pack, Book 3

  Considered an abomination for her inability to shift, Cherise Michaels has been on the run from her pack since she was a teenager. After her mother is murdered by her former packmates, Cherise is alone, grieving and out of options. Until a dream puts her on course toward her last hope—Salvation, North Carolina.

  She makes it to Salvation only to be cornered by her pursuers and then rescued by the biggest, baddest werewolf she’s ever seen.

  Cole Blanchard has no trouble dispatching the intruders trespassing on p
ack land. Convincing their skittish quarry she’s safe is another story. Cole senses she is his mate and he’ll protect her to his last breath, even it means risking everything to face her former pack.

  In Cole’s arms, Cherise learns there’s something in this world more powerful than fear—desire and love. She knows loving her is a death sentence for Cole, so she plans to store up a lifetime of memories before she lets him go…

  Warning: This pulse-pounding, heart-thumping story may cause shortness of breath. You are not having a heart attack. You are falling in love with a hot werewolf who will do whatever it takes to keep his chosen mate safe.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Wolf on the Run:

  “Well then.” Cherise sidled a little farther to the left. “I’ll just be going.”

  Cole sighed. She was going to be trouble. “I can’t allow that.”

  He could smell the surge of her fear and it burnt the inside of his nostrils with its stench. He hated it. But it quickly changed, becoming spicier in tone. Anger. Anger he could handle.

  “You can’t keep me here.”

  He cocked his head to one side, not saying anything at all. He’d just killed three male werewolves. If he wanted to keep a female werewolf who couldn’t even shift from leaving it really wouldn’t be much of a problem.

  But he didn’t want her to fight him.

  He tried a different tactic. “You’re exhausted. Come back to the house with me, have something to eat and reevaluate the situation.”

  She glanced down his body and quickly pulled her gaze back to his face. As a werewolf, she’d be used to seeing naked bodies whenever they shifted. As a woman facing a male she didn’t know, it was no wonder she was cautious.

  “I’m Cole Blanchard,” he offered, hoping giving her his name might help put her more at ease. “And you’re on Salvation Pack land.”

  “Cherise Michaels.”

  He waited, but she added nothing else. “Why here, Cherise?” That had been bothering him. “Of all the places in the country you could have run to, why North Carolina, and why here?”