Cover Reveal: Edge of Midnight (An Order of the Night Novel)
Exclusive cover reveal of the new Edge of Midnight cover, starring Thano Savakis, as he launches his new Order of the Night team, hunts down the nightmares that took him that night in the dungeon, when he lost the ability to walk…and finally meets the woman who will change him forever. Coming in 2017!
Cover Reveal: Darkness Revealed (Order of the Blade)
Exclusive cover reveal of the new Darkness Revealed cover, starring the lust demon Damon Souvaine, as he discovers that the darkness within him is far worse now that he has escaped from the demon kingdom to the earth realm, endangering the one woman who has the chance to save his blackened soul. Coming in 2017!
Sneak Peek: Leopard’s Kiss
Anya Diaz felt as if invisible fingers were sliding down her spine in a sensual caress of lethal danger. Fear rippled through her, and for a brief second, she wondered if meeting this unknown contact was worth the risk. She couldn’t afford a single mistake, and she really couldn’t afford to die.
She swallowed, her mouth dry, wishing she’d ordered water instead of tequila that she’d never drink.
She feigned a look across the room, slanting a sideways glance behind her, trying to ascertain the cause of the sensation along her spine. Her breath caught when she saw a man, well over six feet, wearing a black leather trench coat, standing several yards behind her, his gaze boring into her. His dark hair was short, his blue eyes so intense it was as if they were made of pure fire. Even through his coat, she could tell he was heavily muscled, a predator more than a man. He was unshaven, his dark whiskers making shadows fall across his angular cheeks. He looked like he lived in untamed wilds beyond the reaches of civilization, a man who lived by his own rules, not the ones society tried to impress upon him. He was pure sex, deadly sin, and unmitigated danger…and he was staring at her.
Her heartrate began to escalate as his gaze dropped to her mouth, his eyes darkening as if he were imagining what she tasted like, what she would feel like against him. Desire pooled in her belly, desire that was completely out of character for her. She’d learned her lesson long ago about letting her need for a man rule her, and she never bothered to notice men anymore…but it was impossible for her to drag her gaze off him.
She felt as though his hands were gliding over her skin, touching every inch of her body as he assessed her. She shivered, trying to shake off the desire pulsing low in her belly, the need he was awakening in her, even though she’d never seen him before in her life.
He was clearly there for one reason, and that reason was her.
Except he wasn’t the person she’d come there to meet. He was all wrong…but she couldn’t stop her response to him.
He walked toward her, moving with the lithe grace of a predator. As he got closer, a cold chill seemed to wrap around her, the chill of death, and danger. She stiffened, sliding her hand along her lower back for the dagger she’d hidden beneath her shirt. It was small, but she was very good with it. She’d known how to defend herself since she was three, but as he neared, doubt flickered through her. He radiated raw power, the kind that could devastate his prey without him so much as blinking.
He was a man who delivered death, she was sure of it. Her heartrate sped up as he neared, and a cold sweat broke out between her shoulder blades. She didn’t know if she could defeat him, and she didn’t have time to try. Keep walking, she urged him silently. Just keep walking.
One dark eyebrow quirked at her, and for a split second, she thought he’d heard her silent command. Then his gaze dropped to her mouth again, sending searing heat cascading through her. She caught her breath, as he raised his gaze to hers again. His expression didn’t change, and his stride didn’t falter as he walked right past her toward the bar.
She let her breath out, her hands shaking with relief as she wiped her wrist across her damp brow. The intensity of her response to him was shocking. What was going on?
He took over a seat at the bar, still staring at her. Her moment of relief fled, replaced by rising tension. He wasn’t even trying to hide the way he was watching her. His gaze was locked on her, watching and assessing her every move. The way he’d eased onto the edge of the bar stool, relaxed yet primed to react in a split second, made him look like a wild panther, a predator so agile and lethal that he could take her out in a single leap. He was too dangerous to be handsome, and too elusive to be appealing, and yet, there was something about him that was drawing her in. Something compelling. Something…
Yes. You want me.
A deep, darkly seductive male voice rolled through her mind, making her belly clench with desire. Had he just spoken in her mind? The voice was sensual, rough, erotic, with a hint of accented culture that made her think of black tie dinners and foreign royalty instead of the dangerous predator sitting so still on his perch.
Don’t hold back. His voice slid through her mind again, a sensual caress that made her belly tighten with desire. Think about kissing me. Think about my hands sliding over your naked skin—
“Stop it.” She glared fiercely at him. The satisfied gleam in his eyes told her that it was him in her head. “I didn’t invite you in there. Get out.”
He didn’t smile, and he didn’t back off. What’s your darkest fantasy? Handcuffs? A threesome? A little pain… As he spoke, images of each scenario flashed through her mind. Her naked, silken ties around her wrists—
“No.” She jerked her gaze away from him, breaking the connection. She fisted her hands, quickly weaving safeguards in her mind, invisible walls that encased every last thought, every feeling, every bit of herself that wasn’t physical. Within a millisecond, he was out of her mind. Her lungs expanded in a sudden relief as the sensual sensation of being caressed along her spine vanished. Had it been his touch she’d been feeling on her back? Some metaphysical extension of his mind that felt like a real caress and seduction? What kind of power did he carry? And why was he directing it at her?
His expression didn’t change, but he seemed to become even more still.
She met his gaze, daring him to try again.
He did.
She felt him testing her protections, feeling his way through her mind, searching for the one gap she’d missed. Anya smiled, allowing the same satisfied gleam into her eyes that he’d had in his. “I’m good,” she said. “Don’t bother.”
He didn’t answer, his gaze flicking behind her.
She sensed the approach at the same moment, and she sat up more erectly in sudden anticipation, sensing that the person approaching her from behind was the one she’d come to meet. Her instructions had been not to turn around, and not to look, or the deal would be off. Someone leaned up against her seat, and a warm breath brushed over her neck.
Anya’s heart began to pound. This was it. Her chance. “Is Julia still alive?” she asked, her breath frozen in her chest as she waited for news of her best friend, her only friend, the only person still alive who mattered to her.
Fingers drifted through her hair, and lips brushed over the back of her neck. A seduction, for anyone in the bar who was bothering to watch. A charade to protect them both. “For now.” It was a woman’s voice, breathy and sensual.
Tears of relief burned in Anya’s eyes. Alive. Her best friend was alive. “How do I find her?” She slid her gaze toward the mirror behind the bar, taking a forbidden look at the woman she’d spent the last three weeks hunting down. Raven black, ultra-straight hair reached just past her shoulders, and her eyes were hidden behind dark glasses. Her lips were pale, her skin the color of a latte, and her simple outfit of a tight black tank top and fitted jeans made her look sexy, but unmemorable. Who was she? How did she know what had happened to Julia? How was she involved? She’d found the woman’s email address in Julia’s belongings, the only clue she had as to what had happened to her friend. It had taken weeks to track this woman down, and longer to convince her to meet…assuming the woman standing behind her was the same person
who had answered her emails.
The man at the bar leaned forward, drawing Anya’s attention off the mirror and back to him. He was staring at her even more intensely, his gaze boring into hers as if it were a dagger that could cut out her heart. She could feel him testing her psychic defenses, trying to get back in her mind.
She jerked her gaze off him, refusing to let him distract her. She closed her eyes to cut him off, so she could focus on the woman behind her. She couldn’t afford to miss a word. “Where is Julia?”
The woman’s breath tickled her neck. “You must go to the warehouse on the corner of Hartford and—”
Fingers closed around her wrist. Anya’s eyes snapped open as she was jerked off her feet and across the floor. She slammed into the hard body of the man at the bar, and his arms locked around her. He stared down into her eyes. No longer were his eyes blue. They had shifted into dark, bottomless pits of death…and something else. Something more dangerous. Something more personal.
“I love you,” he said, his whisper rolling through her, making sudden tears fill her eyes as longing swept over her. To be loved, to be held like she mattered, to be—
He kissed her.
Not just a kiss.
A kiss so tender, so beautiful, so seductive that it made her heart cry for more. Never had she been kissed like that. Ever. His lips were decadently soft, his tongue a sensual dance of promise and tenderness, his hands on her hips like he was her shield against the world. He was pure male, offering himself to her as her protector, her lover, the man who would never let her be alone again.
Her soul cried out for his kiss and his declarations with an intensity so strong that it made her heart ache with longing. The pain jerked her back into her own mind just enough for her to realize that something was wrong, terribly wrong. He was in her mind again, reeling her in, offering her the words and emotions that she burned for, as if he knew exactly what triggers would ensnare her. He was manipulating her, drawing her into his kiss…with a sinking heart, she realized suddenly that his kiss was his weapon, wielded with the skillful, ruthless finesse of a well-practiced assassin Why had he come for her? Sudden fear pulsed through her, and she knew it had to be because of Julia. Was he trying to keep her from talking to the woman? Or was he there to kill her?
She was in danger. Sudden, dire danger from him. She had to break his hold on her. She had to talk to the woman. She had to find Julia. She shoved at his chest, trying to raise her mental shields and boot him out of her mind—
He deepened the kiss, a searing hot kiss that seemed to ignite her very soul. His lips were hot and sensual, his kiss deep and intoxicating, sending desire sparking through every part of her body. Yearning filled her, a desperate need for him, for his kiss, for his touch, for everything he could offer her.
In the deep recesses of her mind, she knew it was wrong. She knew what she felt was unnatural, but the realization was faint, fading, too weak for her to grasp. He tunneled his hands through her hair, angling her head as he deepened the kiss, drawing her away from her mission and into his spell.
She couldn’t stop herself from responding to his seduction. Her soul was crying out for him. She could sense the danger he presented. She could feel the emptiness of his soul. She knew that his whispers of love were lies he didn’t mean. But it didn’t matter. Something about him called to her, something far deeper than the seduction he was weaving in her mind.
She needed to stab him.
She needed to run.
But she couldn’t.
She simply wanted him.
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Sneak Peek: Dark Wolf Unbound
Why couldn’t she understand how dangerous he was?
Jace shoved open his car door and stepped out, keeping all his weight on his uninjured foot. He slammed the door behind him and leaned against the SUV. He clasped his hands on top of his head and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. What the hell? Didn’t she see him for what he was? How on earth could she possibly suggest she sing that fucking song to him? She might believe that he could build an immunity to the way the song controlled him if he practiced, but he knew better. He knew the monster it had turned him into. He stared up at the blue sky. “What the hell am I supposed to do?” He owed her his help in finding a four-year-old boy who was out there somewhere in the grasp of a psychopath. But as long as he was alive, innocents were at risk. He owed the world his death, but he couldn’t help Abby and her nephew if he were dead. There was no way to do both. So, what the hell was he supposed to do?
Abby got out of the SUV. He tensed when he heard her door slam. Instinctively, he reached for the gun he’d shoved in the pocket of his jacket, turning it toward his chest without removing it from his pocket. If she started to sing to him, he was ending it right there. Right then. Without hesitation. There was no way he was endangering her.
She walked around the vehicle, her footsteps almost silent in the deep moss. He turned his head to watch her approach, every muscle in his body taut. She looked right at him, her green eyes steady on his face as she neared him. He caught his breath, his heart thudding almost painfully. She was so beautiful… No, she was so much more than beautiful. She was light, she was love, she was courage and she was peace…peace he didn’t deserve.
She came to a stop in front of him, searching his face.
His fingers tightened on the gun, pressing the muzzle into his ribs, angling it toward his heart. “Don’t sing,” he warned her. “Don’t do it.”
She said nothing. She just stood there, studying him. He felt as though she were peeling aside all his layers and exposing the raw ugliness of his core. He didn’t want her to see it. Despite what she’d been through, there was a beauty and purity to her soul that still glittered with life. He didn’t want to be the one to finally wipe it out. “I think,” he said, forcing out the words, “that it would be best if I went on without you. I’ll find Seth and bring him back. You go to my place and hole up. It’s safe. I’ll meet you there.”
“Shut up.” She grasped the waistband of his jeans, twisting her fingers in the denim. “Just for one second, shut up.”
He ignored her. “You’re not safe with me. I have to do what’s right and that’s—”
She grabbed his shoulders, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
Jace froze. Her lips were warm and soft, tasting faintly like honey or vanilla, or something sweet. Her mouth was inviting, a sensual temptation that tore through all his safeguards and plunged right to his gut.
He wanted to shove her away from him. He knew that was the only responsible choice. He wanted to be a man he could respect.
But he was so starved for what she gave him that there was no way for him to resist it. He immediately wrapped her up in his arms, dragging her against him. Her body was like heaven when she melted against him, the only thing between them was her thin shirt. He tunneled his hand through her hair, glorifying in the sensation of the silken strands sliding across his fingers.
She slid her arms behind his neck, holding tight, pulling him toward her.
He angled his head and kissed her back, deeply, intensely, offering her what little value there still was in his soul. He couldn’t believe how incredible she tasted, how soft her lips were, how much heat burned through him from her kiss.
He wanted more. He wanted every part of her. He needed to claim her for his own, to protect and cherish for all eternity. He’d never held anything so pure and beautiful in his arms before, and he didn’t want to ever release her. She was the light he’d been searching for his entire life, a confirmation that he’d been right to stay alive all these years. He palmed her hips, sliding his hands over the curves of her butt, his cock going rock hard at the feel of her body beneath his palms.
He’d been with women before, but he’d always been only partially present, always looking over his shoulder for a threat, or thinking about how to better serve his pack. But in this moment, with Abby in his arms, with her scent wrapped around
him, with her body entangled with his, there was no room for anything but her. Everything else simply faded away, until all that was left was how badly he wanted her, and how much he needed to protect her.
She made a small noise of pleasure in the back of her throat, a sensual purr that awoke his wolf. It roared to life, ignited by the woman in his arms. It howled through him, greedily absorbing every essence of her. Driven by the primal call of his wolf, Jace tightened his grip on her and deepened the kiss, claiming her on every level of her being. His moral code that insisted he keep his distance from her vanished, swept away by the sheer intensity of his need for her, and his lupine instinct to claim her. She didn’t resist, melting into him, accepting his need, welcoming his demands. She was utterly open to him, trusting him, offering him whatever he wanted.
Her refusal to protect herself from him incited his need to protect her. The softer she was around him, the fiercer his need to ensure her safety. He didn’t want her to lose that softness, to shun it in favor of the hard shields he lived by. She was too entrancing the way she was, too perfect, too real. She touched a part of him that he’d shut down long ago, a part that wanted to live and breathe so badly he couldn’t shut it down now that she’d awakened it.
Her hands moved to his side, and her fingers bumped the gun in his pocket. When the cold steel pressed against his side, reality pierced the bubble she’d woven around him. He was so dangerous he’d had a gun trained on his own ribs, and now he was pouring himself into a kiss with the woman whose life he had destroyed?
Swearing, he broke the kiss, pushing her back from him. “I can’t do this,” he gasped, his voice raw, his entire body burning with the need to drag her back into his arms. “Don’t you understand what I am?” Her cheeks were flushed, her expression so completely kissable that he swore. “Hell, Abby, I’m not the good guy. I can’t be honorable when you look at me like that.”
She moved closer to him, and he stiffened, forcing his hands behind his head. He locked his fingers together, trapping himself as she rested her fingers on his bare chest.
Hunt the Darkness (Order of the Blade Book 11) Page 39
