by SK Ryder
In the sky far above, the spiral pulsed.
And you’re a cocky bastard, Dominic. You always have been. To emphasize her point, Cassidy slid her hand down his tightly muscled chest and abdomen and took firm hold of him.
He closed his eyes and made a sound somewhere between a groan and a growl. But you love that about me . . . He felt more than a little distracted. The spiral spun faster.
Cassidy grasped the back of his neck and pulled him down until their noses touched. “Oui,” she whispered. “I do.”
His eyes filled with icy shadows, amusement fading. The waterfall roared ever louder, hammering the earth, tearing apart the world. The gusting winds wailed. Know me . . .
“I do,” she said again. “I do know you, Dominic. All of you. And with all of my heart, I accept . . . and love all of you.”
Moving as if in a dream, he covered her slick body with his own, pressing her down into the moss, the rock, the very fabric of this place—absorbing her into his being—and pushed into her slick heat. They trembled and clung to each other. Emotion welled in his eyes, spilled from hers. He caught her throaty moan in a fiercely passionate kiss. Slowly, savoring, then with ever greater urgency, they surrendered to the primal rhythm pounding in the water and throbbing in their blood.
What remained of their boundaries, their sense of self, dissolved. They melted into each other, heedless of where one ended and the other began. The heat burning in Dominic scorched through her. The need building in Cassidy devoured him. With sweet savagery, they demanded everything of each other and gave all in return. When Cassidy raced past the brink of ecstasy, Dominic held to her tight, strained deeper, took her higher still, until his own climax tore through them both and the crashing torrents could no longer drown out their cries.
They clung together, wondering if they had died and caring not at all.
The pearlescent mist thickened into a fog, dissolving the jungle and muting the waters. They lay entwined, spent and dazed, a single mind in two bodies falling free in space and time. After a while, the fog thinned and the light drained away. The wind became the lazy breeze from the overhead fan. The waterfall’s roar faded to the sea murmuring outside. The scent of snow mingled with the muted tropical decay of the cottage—and sex.
Cassidy’s eyes snapped open.
Dominic lay spilled across the bed with her in a tangle of long, lean limbs. One hand twined with hers, the other under her butt. His bare hips were wedged between her bare thighs, his pants nowhere to be seen. Ditto for her sleep shirt.
She gulped. “Guess we proved you wrong. Lover.”
He raised his head, panic shimmering through him. I lost myself in you. I almost . . . I could have killed—
But you didn’t. And you won’t. She touched his cheek. I know you won’t.
Moving with great care, he drew her closer. Nuzzling into her neck, he licked the wounds there, healing them. She could taste her blood through their bond, a passionate elixir of life. He practically vibrated with relief and awe as she stroked his thick, wild hair. He considered her the very heartbeat of his existence. If she died . . . he would die with her.
A memory floated up of how she appeared to him that first night, sweaty, furious and determined. Even then he had hungered for her in every way. Yet she refused his compulsions without knowing she was doing it.
You are aware of me, Cassidy. You always have been. That is how you refused me then, and why you survive me now. Even the beast knows you as a part of me. As long as our bond remains, it can no more harm you than it can harm me.
And I can feel the bond getting stronger every time you feed from me.
Dominic’s mind swerved to the treasure trove of information he had gleaned from Garrett’s mind. The serum in his bite was more than an anesthetic or hallucinogenic. It carried a virus that attuned the human’s mind with the blood-drinker’s. Once it reached a critical mass in the bloodstream, it also began a process of transformation that would culminate in death if not completed with a dose of vampire blood. This change, once complete, was genetic. For this, there could be no cure.
It’s all right, Dominic. You’re getting the hang of it. And I’m here for you. If you can’t go back, we’ll go forward together. One day . . . one night at a time.
He settled his head on her shoulder, his fingers squeezing hers in mute gratitude, but worry gnawed at him. He almost didn’t register the first whispers of dawn cresting the horizon.
“You’d have to feed from me every night for at least a week before I was weak enough to be turned,” she said, voicing the information in his mind to clarify it to herself. “We know the serum dissipates if you don’t. And it wears off completely after a couple of weeks.” Yet the shiver of unease up her spine was mutual. This bond meant everything. There was nothing they wouldn’t do to maintain it—except sacrifice her humanity, whether on purpose or by accident. If she became like him, the sun that was their union would be dead and the darkness complete.
“Maybe we are only delaying the inevitable,” he said, looking up. “Maybe this will turn you regardless. Only more slowly.”
“Or maybe you’re just—what?—enslaving me?”
“Never like this, no.” A tentative smile played on his lips as he trailed one fingertip down her nose. “The only way I will have you enslaved to me is by your own free will. Not because I command it, but because you crave . . . my touch.” He gave a gentle squeeze to one of her nipples, sending a hot zing straight to her groin where it was met with a slow, tantalizing grind of his pelvis. She gasped. A nip at her throat with blunt teeth, then he was at her ear, his voice like warm honey. “You, mon amour, will never again judge my cooking to be better than sex. This I promise you.”
Her whole body tingled under the caress of those sensual words. Beneath the playful seduction, she heard the thunder of the waterfall, the true magnitude of his feelings for her. He would stand by her without question—as her lover, her partner, her protector, her friend. Until death do them part.
“It’s not true,” she said in a strangled whisper.
He pulled back to look at her, his face an open book of raw emotion.
“There is one part of me that is your slave, Dominic, and has been ever since the night you first cooked dinner for me. When you told me that love has no secrets.”
He said nothing. He already knew the truth. She told him again anyway.
“My heart, Dominic. It was yours then. And now . . . now you are my heart.”
He looked like he might say something, but there was nothing, no words to express what his soul told hers so much more eloquently already.
So he gathered her into his arms and quietly breathed her.
Until dawn.
Thank you for taking the time to read Dark Heart of the Sun. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated. Thank you, S.K. Ryder
About the Author
S.K. Ryder is a software developer by day, a scribe by night and answers to Susan any time. She writes the type of stories she loves to read: heart-pounding adventures full of supernatural mysteries and relationships between strong, compelling characters. Though she calls South Florida home, she has also lived in Germany and Canada and has traveled widely, usually in the hot pursuit of wild and scenic nature. When not debugging code, complicating her characters' lives or plotting her next rafting adventure down the Grand Canyon, she can be found beach combing, scuba diving, sailing or just hanging out with a good book. When push comes to shove, she can also bake a halfway decent cake and stand on her head, though not at the same time.
Subscribe to S.K. Ryder's newsletter and be the first to know about new releases and special offers:
http://skryder.com/newsletter
Facebook: https://www
.facebook.com/sk.ryder.books/
Website: http://skryder.com
Also from S.K. Ryder and Soul Mate Publishing:
DARK LORD OF THE NIGHT
The only thing standing between a new vampire and eternal darkness is the mortal woman who claims his heart.
Youngling vampire Dominic Marchant struggles to master his deadly instincts as he hunts the urban jungles of South Florida. He keeps his hunger confined to the blood of the guilty with help from Cassidy Chandler, a human woman who can literally touch his soul. Their love is his last remaining tether to humanity, which is tested beyond endurance when powerful forces from his past introduce him to terrifying new appetites he could never have imagined.
His efforts to protect Cassidy from the depravity overtaking him push their relationship to the brink of shattering. Refusing to give up on the man who is her heart, she takes an unthinkable gamble toSS save him. But is she fulfilling an ominous prophecy that ensnares them both? Or has she become just another pawn in a cunning game played by the five-thousand-year-old vampire who claims Dominic as his own?
Desperate to rescue her from a fate worse than death, Dominic strikes a perilous bargain with his greatest enemies only to face an impossible choice--embrace his darkest self . . . or destroy the woman he cannot live without.
Available now on Amazon: DARK LORD OF THE NIGHT
DARK CHILD OF FOREVER
The world of night has a new lord and lady. Whether they like it or not.
Fate has cast vampire Dominic Marchant and the human love of his life, Cassidy Chandler, into roles they never imagined. Thanks to his mad sire, he is now the Lord of Night, and Cassidy, with her unique ability to merge her mind with his, has become the incongruous and vulnerable mortal queen of his immortal kingdom. Even as he dreams of seeing the sun again and she can’t imagine becoming a vampire, they vow to reshape their domain into a world where vampires feed on love rather than fear and leave their prey swooning instead of dead.
But not all their subjects are pleased with the change in leadership. A powerful ancient vampire and his cadre of followers serve Dominic his greatest challenge yet just when reclaiming the day looks like a real possibility. Soon friends turn up in ashes, and Cassidy and his human family become targets in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that leads them and their unlikely, vampire-hunting allies deep into the wilds of the Canadian Rockies—and straight into their worst nightmares.
With their lives and the very existence of the world of night hanging in the balance, Dominic and Cassidy must decide whether to chase an impossible dream or finally embrace their dark destiny.
Available now on Amazon: DARK CHILD OF FOREVER
