Duncan’s Descent: Ethereal Foes series

by Marie Harte

  Duncan bit back an oath. “Your kind are supposed to respect the boundaries. Why are you here?” Duncan left the bed and Sapphira, though his body had other ideas. She stirred his hungers, and he couldn’t have been more pleased. Lust and love entwined, and he wanted her again, right now.

  “I’ll get to the point.” The blood elf grinned at the sight of Duncan’s arousal. “Your twin asked for a favor. One he said you would compensate.”

  Damn James and his constant messes.

  “What now?”

  “He’s in a bit of a bind. He needs his dragon to find him quickly, before the havoc carve him into little pieces.”

  Duncan froze. “The havoc?” No one knew much about the dark race, save that they ate their own and couldn’t be controlled by any Ethereal, human or being on any of the three planes. Even the dragons gave them a wide berth.

  “Apparently James wandered into their territory accidentally, or so he says. But the havoc don’t care about excuses. They want his head, and if they find him, they’ll do more than take his body. The havoc feed off souls, you know.”

  “They do?”

  “And the Ethereal have such a rich essence.” The blood elf looked hungry, and Duncan stepped protectively back near Sapphira.

  “Easy, demon. I’ve only come to pass the message. Now tell your sister to leave me well enough alone.”

  Ah. The blood elf had a soul. Not all of them did, but Eve had been doing her level best to sway the blood elves lingering on the brink of Decision.

  “What’s your name?”

  “I am called Trass.”

  “Fine. You want to linger on the brink, that’s your call. There are enough of you to keep Eve busy for a long time, anyway. But I don’t understand something. Who is James’s dragon?”

  “The prince. The one they call Teban.”

  Duncan frowned. Teban and Ranton had recently accompanied him into the upper realm, and Teban hadn’t mentioned anything about James. “Why does he need Teban’s help?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just the messenger.” Trass licked his lips. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share your female? It’s been a while since I’ve seen a nephilim.”

  “No.”

  Trass shrugged. “I didn’t think so. Best of luck with your brother. He’s made some powerful enemies. I don’t envy him his course.” Trass closed his eyes, and between one breath and the next, vanished into the shadows.

  “Duncan?”

  He turned to find Sapphira’s eyes wide. “You saw him?”

  “A blood elf.” She grinned, her expression so rapturous it was all he could do not to pounce on her and take that joy into himself. “I am so going to love it here. I’ve always wanted to see one. A dragon and a blood elf. Now what about the havoc?”

  What about them? “They’re dangerous and don’t associate with anyone outside of their own. Apparently, my brother has pissed them off to no end.” He laughed and shook his head. “Trust James to fuck up my honeymoon.”

  “Honeymoon?” Sapphira glanced around her. “I don’t see any flowers, and I know I haven’t received any gifts.”

  “Angel, this is your gift.” He waved his shaft in her direction and chuckled when she rolled her eyes. “Come on. I have to find Teban and my father, not necessarily in that order. And then you and I have a date with whipped cream you’re just going to love.”

  Sapphira cleaned and dressed. When she joined him again, she looked as fine as anything he’d seen. “About that. The whipped cream sounds fine. But do you think we could add a skin flick to that? Another thing I’ve always wanted to see.”

  Duncan grinned and kissed her smack on the lips. “Baby, you and I think alike. You’re definitely going to love it here.” He took her hand and teleported outside of his father’s lair. “Now don’t worry about Asael. He’ll love you. But not more than I do.”

  Sapphira smiled. “I’m so glad I’ve fallen, Duncan.”

  A subtle band of light clung to her, like the aura that shone around his father. And Duncan knew he’d found his own piece of heaven, right in the middle of hell.

  “Welcome home, Sapphira.”

  About the Author

  To learn more about Marie, please visit www.marieharte.com. Send an email to Marie at marie_harte@yahoo.com or join her newsletter at

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/M_Hgroup

  Look for these titles by Marie Harte

  Now Available:

  A Scorching Seduction

  Ethereal Foes: The Dragon’s Demon

  Enjoying the Show

  Rachel’s Totem

  I Dream of Dragons Volume 1

  Sins of Summer

  Coming Soon:

  Feral Attraction

  Do you believe in chance?

  Dark Chance

  © 2008 Melissa Lopez

  Absolution Book One

  A book of Netherworld.

  Olivia Sutcliff is a lost soul who has endured the tortures of Netherworld for more than a hundred years, but now she’s given one chance to get out—on a task set by the Dark Prince himself. She must use her sexual wiles to help damn an innocent man, and failure means a fate worse than hell.

  FBI special agent Malin Cross has devoted every waking moment to catching the killer who haunts his nightmares. Until he meets the woman of his dreams. She’s a perfect submissive, one who anticipates his every fantasy. But she also asks too many questions, leaving Malin to wonder if she’s as innocent as she seems…or if she’s bait to lure him into the killer’s web.

  As Olivia entices Malin deeper into a world that wants him destroyed, her second thoughts grow into a desire to save him from making a damning mistake.

  But as the forces of light and dark collide, their lives—and their souls—hang on the one sacrifice that could destroy them both.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Dark Chance

  Doing her best to hold back the trembling, Olivia huddled in her suspended cage. Her breathing hitched. Even after all the time she’d spent in this horrid place, her tormenters could bring her to her knees.

  The pain in her head brought about from Alastor’s snide remarks had disappeared, but her reprieve from Netherworld was over. She was home.

  She’d been so stupid to step out of line! But she’d wanted to protect Malin so badly. Now she’d never get to see him again.

  Below her, the slithering snakes’ hissing grew fiercer.

  Her need to urinate intensified. How she hated the torture of the snake dungeon. How many times had they already inflicted death? She’d lost count.

  The room went eerily quiet. Along with Olivia, the lost souls sharing her punishment held a collective breath.

  Olivia whimpered at the sight of the Dark Prince. He held a chain, attached to the jeweled collar of his mistress, Sienna. Since her arrival in Netherworld, Olivia had only been in the Prince’s presence one other time. And that’d been when he’d inspected her for his harem. To this day, she gave thanks she’d been found lacking.

  Alastor followed behind their Prince.

  The serpents separated to allow them to walk through the wiggling mass covering the dungeon floor.

  A female lost soul nearby started to cry when the Dark Prince stopped under her cage. He moved to stand at the opening.

  Without being asked, the slave scooted forward so her pussy and ass now settled over the slot on the bottom of the cage.

  His tongue darted out as he tasted her. After several long licks, their Prince stepped back.

  Olivia shivered as stark fear crawled up her spine. She shook her head at his smile. Then watched in terror as he waved his fingertips to a large, coiled snake. The creature uncurled itself, rose up on its body until its eyes were level to its Master.

  Satan stuck his tongue out and allowed the snake’s to caress his. Once finished, their lord faced Olivia’s direction and smiled. His amber gaze glowed to match the fires he ruled over.

  Olivia’s head swam. How could someone so truly
handsome be so completely cruel? Her mum had been right. Beauty was only skin deep. Like many of the nobles of her time, Satan abused his power.

  The snake turned its head to the blonde lost soul the Dark Prince had been tongue fucking moments ago. Ever so slowly, the serpent moved to the woman’s cage.

  She screamed in fright and scooted as far back as possible in her prison. There was nowhere for the condemned woman to escape.

  Olivia closed her eyes.

  At her cage the Dark Prince tsked, “Pet, do you want the same fate? I know how you love to play with my serpents.”

  Olivia cringed as the lost soul screamed. She didn’t dare look. Tears clogged her throat. “Please, Master… I’ll be good…” Her bladder pained her as a sob tore its way up from her stomach. Please keep the snakes away from me.

  “You understand our time constraint?” His could barely be heard over the other woman’s terror.

  “Yes, Master.” Desperate, she nodded. She didn’t understand anything other than they wanted to hurt Malin, but she nodded again. No one questioned the will of the Prince. “Yes, Master.”

  “There’ll be no trouble from you?”

  “I promise, Master…”

  Satan spared Alastor a glance. “Give her some space. Send a minion to keep watch.”

  “Yes, Master.” The demon bowed.

  The Dark Prince clasped Sienna’s hand to guide her away from Olivia’s cage. He held Sienna’s collar loosely in his other hand. “Olivia, dare fail me and my friend will also know you intimately.”

  The caged blonde’s screams had turned hoarse.

  “Yeesss…yes, Master.” Olivia barely had time to nod.

  On a gasp, she returned to her body cradled in Malin’s arms. “Olivia?”

  She blinked in utter relief and threw her arms around his neck before he could straighten up from the bed.

  “You all right?” His strong arms went around her back. “You fainted, but I no sooner had you settled on the bed than you came to. How do you feel? Still lightheaded?”

  Such kindness, such concern from him. A moan slid through her lips. She’d never be able to do him harm. She didn’t want to. Looking into his gaze, she knew what had to be done. No matter the cost, she’d try and save his soul.

  “I’m well.” She hugged him as if her life depended on the embrace. “Only lightheaded from not eating.”

  “Damn.” He caressed her from her hips to shoulders. “Of course, you’re hungry.”

  With sure motions, he continued to massage the length of her back. She moaned as warmth spread through her limbs. An unexpected craving hit her middle. Not one for food but for his touch. His caresses provoked something delicious deep inside her center. Nothing had ever felt so good. She moaned arching into his hard body.

  His breath quickened, exciting her all the more. Deep brown eyes darkened as she watched. Thick lashes lowered to shield his gaze.

  Moistening her lips, she regarded his mouth. She’d never noticed a man’s lips before. For decades she’d gotten used to cruel slurs being hurled from between them but Malin’s… Well, just the sight of his made her toes curl.

  A rush of liquid heat wet her pussy. She gasped at the pleasant feelings he caused. She ached to arch her body along his. To rub herself against his hard muscles. Her breasts swelled, her nipples tingled delightfully.

  His head lowered ever so slightly.

  Olivia closed her eyes in wonder. “Oh yes, Master.” Kiss me.

  He fell from grace to protect humanity—and found Heaven in her kiss.

  The Seraphim: Setheus

  © 2007 Rene Lyons

  After her mother’s deathbed confession changes everything she’s ever believed, Sabrina heads out on a quest to find out who—and what—her father was. Instead, she finds Seth, a man whose life is as steeped in secrets as her own.

  Thousands of years ago, Setheus made the ultimate sacrifice. He gave up Heaven to protect humanity from Hell. For years he has waited, biding his time for Sabrina to come to him for answers. But he is unprepared for the feelings her arrival awakens in him.

  As Seth and Sabrina discover a love that burns brighter than the light of Heaven, a deadly threat overshadows their happiness. Before they can find peace with each other, they must confront an enemy that would unmake the world…

  Enjoy the following excerpt for The Seraphim: Setheus:

  “Do you think I have it, Sabrina?”

  She pointedly ignored the way he practically purred the words. She knew he was not referring to his sex appeal—which he had in spades. “It doesn’t matter what I think. The bottom line is Bryce Mathers does. He wants it and he’s willing to pay you top dollar to have it.”

  He contemplated her words for a moment. “Even if I did have it, it wouldn’t be for sale. Not for any price.”

  She hadn’t thought it would be.

  Hakion’s Stone was a priceless artifact dating back to about five thousand B.C. Of course, as far as Sabrina was concerned, Hakion’s Stone was still just a myth. There was no hard evidence it truly existed. Until she saw it for herself, it was just whispered rumors that drifted down through the ages.

  As the legend went, God had picked three of his fiercest warrior-angels to guard the three stones here on Earth. The stones supposedly contained the hearts of three demons. The angels had to fall from Heaven, sacrificing themselves in order to walk the earth and keep the stones.

  After her mother died and Sabrina learned of the circumstances of her birth, she set out to learn all she could about the stones. Her search had led her to Bryce Mathers and, in turn, to Seth Raleigh.

  Instead of dirtying up his own hands, Mathers, who owned a small and rundown museum, enlisted his most overworked historian to interview—interrogate—Raleigh. Not that Sabrina minded. She wanted to come face-to-face with a man who might have known her father. A man who might hold the key to her finding out what part of her mother’s outrageous deathbed confession was true, and how much was from delirium caused by the pain of her cancer.

  “Do you know why Mathers wants the stone?”

  For some reason, Sabrina knew Raleigh was going to see right through the bullshit she was about to serve him. Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to tell him the true reason for her being there. More than anything else, she wasn’t ready to admit the truth about herself aloud. It was still difficult enough for her to say it in the privacy of her mind.

  “I don’t know and, honestly, I don’t care.” She looked right in Raleigh’s pitch-black eyes when she gave him that lie. She cared very much why Bryce wanted the stones, and planned on doing everything she could to keep them from him. “If he wants the stone, I’ll do everything I can to get it for him. My job is on the line if I don’t.”

  Given Raleigh’s expression, he didn’t like Bryce. She couldn’t blame him for that. She hated the man herself. “It figures a man such as Mathers would threaten a woman to get what he wants.”

  Mathers wasn’t going to win any humanitarian awards. He was a rat-bastard who made her skin crawl just by being around him. She was also not ashamed to admit that he scared the shit out of her.

  “That’s neither here nor there, Mr. Raleigh.”

  “Seth.”

  Sabrina held back a frustrated huff. “Seth,” she corrected. “Bryce believes you have the stone and he’s not going to stop until he gets it. So, let’s just put aside all the niceties…”

  “Sweetheart, I haven’t even begun being nice to you.” His voice was warm honey, causing a wonderful thrill to shoot through her. “Like I said, even if I did have the stone, I’d never give it up. Especially not to Mathers.”

  Knowing what she did about Bryce, Sabrina couldn’t fault Seth for that. Unfortunately, that didn’t help her. “You have to know how important these stones are. If they truly exist, they could change…”

  “The stones are nothing more than a myth.”

  Sabrina raised a brow at that announcement. “Then why are people willing to kill for
them?”

  Seth relaxed in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin as he regarded her with his steady gaze. “Men, I’ve learned, are foolish creatures who rush in before they know all the facts. They like the idea of absolute power and will do absolutely anything to acquire it. Even sacrificing life on the belief of a myth.”

  “Men? You sound as if you believe you aren’t among us humans.”

  His silence was cryptic. The look he gave her was chilling. Although Sabrina knew what he was, she said nothing about it to him. She didn’t know what he’d do if he discovered she was well aware of the truth about him. And so, she played the game of ignorance and hoped things would fall into place as she’d planned.

  There was no denying Seth was…different. The way he carried himself and the feral look in his mesmerizing eyes proclaimed he was something far more than human. That something seemed to reach out to Sabrina. It wrapped around her, seeped into the very core of her being. She felt robbed of breath and made her skin feel like it was on fire. Or was it his gaze that seared her? Whatever it was, she almost fanned herself to help cool the heat coursing through her.

  “I believe this business about the stones has come to an end, Sabrina.” The finality in his tone told her he’d not budge on the matter.

  “Well, that’s it then.” What a waste of two hours. Sabrina had hoped to leave here with a better idea of whether Seth possessed the stones or not. Or at least come away with a better understanding of the man himself.

  She collected the infernal pocketbook and stood Her skirt had ridden up—Raleigh’s eyes were locked on the expanse of exposed thigh—so she adjusted the material and stuck out her hand. “I believe our business is done. Thank you for your time, Mr. Raleigh.”