Chasing Rose
Page 4
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FIERY BLOOMS SERIES
In a world where ‘paras’ are hunted like animals by the Unit for Investigation of Paranormal Persons, the resistance has begun. These men and women with extraordinary powers, some of them shifters, telepaths or pyromancers, will stop at nothing to free themselves and their kind.
These stories stand alone and can be read in any order.
- Burning Violet – a phoenix shifter and pyromancer romance
- Sharing Hazel – a reverse harem shifter romance
- Saving Marigold – a dragon shifter and telepath romance
- Chasing Rose – a phoenix shifters romance short story
BURNING VIOLET
No love burns hotter than a pyromancer’s…
For five months, Idris has languished in a government detention center for paras—people with paranormal abilities. No more. He’d rather die trying to escape than spend one more day in this hell. Today, he’s getting out, and he’ll set anyone who stands in his way on fire.
It was just another mission for Violet: help her squad free paras from unjust imprisonment and get them safely to Sanctuary. However, when she’s caught between her leader's orders and the sudden realization that one of the prisoners might be her mate, this phoenix shifter needs to choose between duty and destiny.
On the run from the authorities, Idris only has one thing in mind: revenge. He doesn’t mind that Violet insists on accompanying him, though… after all, he’s been celibate for far too long. But when he realizes why she’s so interested in him, he can’t run away fast enough. Even running into danger on his own is preferable to yielding to love...
SHARING HAZEL
A dragon, a lion and a fire tamer… Are they men enough to share this chimera?
In a world of fated mates, Hazel doesn’t have a name tattooed on her wrist like everyone else.
She has three.
As part of the squad, a group of paranormal beings that frees their peers unjustly imprisoned by the authorities, she works beside the dragon shifter Petro, one of her mates. However, unable to contemplate dating two men at once, she broke up with him to be with another one of her tattoo mates, Paris.
When the para in need of rescue is Petro’s own brother, Hazel doesn’t hesitate to volunteer her help. Neither does Paris.
A chimera on a road trip with two of her mates is awkward enough, but to complicate everything even more, the man they’re on their way to save is Hazel’s third mate, Paul.
Defeating bigots and their guns is one thing. Overcoming fear, jealousy and bitterness will be an altogether different adventure.
SAVING MARIGOLD
His fated mate is trapped in her own mind. Can he reach her before her dragon destroys their world?
Chris is free at last.
In Sanctuary, he can be who he is – a telepath – without hiding his powers.
Marigold is free too… in theory.
After years of abuse, she found refuge in her own mind and remains in a comatose state.
Sanctuary’s leadership asks Chris to help Marigold, but entering her mind without her consent is not something he’s keen to do.
Soon, he realizes they are mates, fated to be together His telepathic powers could be the perfect tool to help her.
But if he fails to figure out how to reach her before her dragon breaks free, Sanctuary may be in danger…
EXCERPT
Burning Violet
As much as Idris loved wearing leather, there was no denying that it could make riding less than comfortable when he was aroused—and god, was he ever. After months without so much as seeing a woman, he would have flirted with anyone willing. He just hadn’t expected this particular woman to flirt back so quickly.
After all, whether they kept score on who had saved whom or not the fact remained that he’d stolen her bike. If someone had ever done that to him, he’d have been pissed, but she seemed to have forgiven that transgression easily enough, even allowing him to drive without so much as a protest… unless she wanted to torture him as punishment. Her hands did seem to slide lower and lower across his middle as time passed. They’d stopped once for gas a little earlier, and the look she’d given him then made it quite clear she knew exactly what she was doing.
Maybe he shouldn’t have teased her about working up an appetite…
He glanced down for the hundredth time or so in the last couple of hours. Her fingers were just inches from where his cock lay thick and hard, clearly defined by leather. If she’d just move a little lower…
Rather than going down, her right hand came up and tapped him on the shoulder. He thought for a second she was admonishing him to pay attention to his driving, but soon realized she was pointing out a sign on the side of the road. It advertised a diner. Time for lunch.
He took the exit, finding the restaurant right off the highway. Ladybird slid off the bike first. When he dismounted and turned to her, he was startled to see her in the same long, tight dress she’d worn when he’d first come out of the store to find her by the bike. He’d liked the jeans and t-shirt look, but he couldn’t deny this dress fit her perfectly. It didn’t help with the problem of his over-tight pants, and from the little smile she gave him as she looked him up and down, she knew that much.
“Shall we?” she asked, taking his arm.
As they walked in, he couldn’t help but reflect on how easily she’d reached out to him, as though they’d done this dozens of times before. He wondered if it’d feel just as familiar when he took her to bed.
A nagging feeling came to the surface of his thoughts as they followed a waitress to a corner booth, and he looked down at her wrist. It was once more wrapped in multiple bracelets that would hide her tattoo from anyone trying to get a peek. It couldn’t be his name there, could it?
“What is it?” she asked in an urgent whisper once they were seated and the waitress had walked away. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or a UIPP team.”
He shook his head, trying to smile.
“No, just wondering about something.”
Her arched eyebrow invited him to continue.
“You haven’t asked me my name,” he said. “All this time together, and you haven’t asked once. Any reason why?”
She picked up the menu and disappeared behind it. Was she trying to hide something, or did the subject matter so little to her? The exchange of first names, upon meeting someone of the gender one was attracted to, was one of those things everyone did with a small edge of trepidation until they found the person whose name matched their tattoo, and whose tattoo matched their name. People who didn’t ask others’ names had either found their mate already, or like Idris they didn’t care to ever find them.
“You haven’t asked me mine either,” she retorted. “Any reason why?”
He gave her a look of mock surprise over the edge of his menu. “Are you telling me Ladybird isn’t your name? I’ve been thinking of you as that since—”
He interrupted himself as someone walked past their table. He’d been about to say ‘the jail,’ but maybe a little discretion might be best.
“Since we met,” he finished.
“And I’ve been thinking of you as ‘thief’ for almost as long,” she replied playfully.
The return of the waitress stopped Idris from offering ‘James Watson’ as his name. They ordered quickly, and as the waitress left again Ladybird asked, “Speaking of thief and stol
en goods, where exactly do you intend to ride my bike to?”
So. She was more interested in her bike than in his name. Fine with him.
“How far do you intend to let me go?” he shot back, leering so that she’d know the innuendo was very much on purpose.
“Pretty far,” she replied with a straight face. “I’m not opposed to a little pleasure trip, especially seeing how I’m out of a job. I just like knowing what I’m consenting to.”
He couldn’t quite suppress a startled laugh. It was like playing a game of poker. ‘I see your innuendo, and I raise you a double entendre.’
She’d asked earlier where he was going and he had evaded the question. They’d been riding for hours now. He supposed he could tell her that much, so she could decide whether it was time for them to part ways.
“I’m going south. Close to the coast.”
“Is that where you’re from?”
“No. But it’s where I was living when I was taken. I’ve got some scores to settle with the people who sold me out.”
Something blazed in her eyes, although he’d have been hard pressed to figure out what it meant. She started saying something, but already the waitress was returning with their food.
“Paras or normals?” Ladybird asked sotto voce when they were alone again.
“Wolves,” he replied in the same tone. “I stayed with their clan for a while. From what I’ve pieced together one of them sold me out to save their own skin.”
She focused on her food, and while Idris picked at his own he couldn’t fail to notice she was frowning, seemingly deep in thoughts.
“You don’t approve of me taking my revenge,” he guessed, giving her a grim smile when she looked at him. “Is it because they’re paras? Are you going to try to convince me that we should stick together or something just because we’re freaks?”
“We’re not freaks,” she said fiercely, and that blazing fire was back in her eyes.
Continued in Burning Violet
OTHER SERIES AVAILABLE
THE FIRELANDS WARS
The Firelands, a world parallel to our own, is home to paranormal beings such as dragon shifters, phoenix shifters and vampires, as well as ‘regular’ people. The Argonis family, a clan of dragon shifters, rules the kingdom and peace prevails… until the king and his heir are killed, and all hell breaks loose.
- Mated
- Exiled
- Stolen
OUT OF THE BOX
A journey of lust and love for Virginia and her vampire lover Anando.
- Out of the Box
- Living Out of the Box
- Beyond The Edge
THE DEMONS AGE
In a world besieged by ferocious beast-like demons, vampires and humans live and fight side by side, and sometimes discover love in unlikely places.
- Fangs & Lullabies
- Demons & Lullabies
- One Last Lullaby
- The Blurred Trilogy
- Aria & Will
- Anterograde
- No Crayons On The Front Line
- His Sire’s New Pet
- His Sire’s New Game
- His Sire’s New Rules
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kallysten’s most exciting accomplishment to date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue the love of her life. She strives to give her characters the same ‘happy ever after’ she found… although their lives are significantly stranger than hers! But whether they have fangs or an inner beast, whether they play with magic or with whips, whether they’re looking for ‘the one’ or a single night of fun, in the end it’s all about love…
To see her other stories, visit http://kallysten.net. Subscribe to her readers group for free stories and exclusive content, and to get notices about new releases, discounts and giveaways.