by Isabo Kelly
“Layla.” His voice dropped an octave. “They had to physically keep me away.”
She shook her head and shifted her gaze from his, though his hands stayed in place. She couldn’t bring herself to dislodge his hold. “No. That’s…that’s wrong. You never… Not before. I can’t…” Why wasn’t her brain working? Now she couldn’t form a coherent sentence? She faced him again, intent on arguing, but as soon as her gaze met his, all the words evaporated.
Her pulse sped, and as she watched, his pupils dilated, nearly overtaking the blue of his eyes.
Suddenly she understood. Elf-fire. The pheromone that elves exuded whenever they were about to have sex, or at least wanted to very badly. The drug that drew humans to elves and was said to make the sex so amazing, humans often became addicted—which was why the pheromone was also nicknamed elf-tears.
Elf-fire couldn’t be faked. It was a physical response, completely out of an elf’s control. But they had to actually be attracted to their partner. While elves could have sex without attraction, though they rarely did, they could never pretend to have an elf-fire reaction.
Which meant, whatever else Ulric was after, he wasn’t pretending to want her.
As she studied his eyes, watched the black widen more, the reality of the moment pierced her resistance. He was as affected by her as she was by him. She wasn’t sure why. She just couldn’t imagine what he saw in her to invoke lust. But in that moment, it didn’t seem to matter. She’d dreamed about having him for so long. Even if it was just this one night. Even if she couldn’t trust his other motives. She could trust his desire. And for a few hours at least, she could give in to her own.
“Elf-fire,” she murmured aloud. She raised a hand to his cheek, then trailed her fingers along his neck, watching in satisfaction as he sucked in a breath. His hands tensed on her jaw, edging her closer.
“Now do you believe me?”
“I believe you want me.”
A low growl escaped as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. “It’s about damn time.”
There’s no easy cure for a love of epidemic proportions.
A Breath of Winter
© 2013 Hailey Edwards
Araneae Nation, Book 4
Zuri and her mercenary brothers had a simple mission. Transport a captured harbinger to Erania and collect the bounty. But this job turns out to be anything but easy.
Their welcome to the northland is nothing short of frigid. A scuffle with border guards and her prisoner’s attempted escape leave Zuri injured—and she and her brothers stuck in quarantine. Worse, the bounty comes with silken strings attached. Strings held by a scientist with a daring, dangerous plan.
Because Zuri and her prisoner barged in before his fail-safes were in place, Henri had no choice but to lock them all down until he’s sure there’s no risk of spreading plague. He’d planned to study the harbinger, but it’s the mercenary holding the leash who intrigues him the most.
When Henri’s experiment goes awry, they learn they’ve all been pawns in a plan with one goal: bring the Araneae Nation to its knees. Zuri is forced to make a choice that could sign her death warrant—or sacrifice everyone she loves.
Warning: This book contains a chair-bound heroine who won’t let anyone—least of all a man—push her around. Expect tea-drinking, net-tossing, and knife-wielding. Should you feel compelled to indulge in a bear ride, please keep your hands on the reins and your feet in the stirrups. Author not responsible for possible maulings.
Enjoy the following excerpt for A Breath of Winter:
Six hours, he said. Well, I slept twelve. “You should have waked me instead of letting me sleep the day away.” By the time I joined Henri in the laboratory, all my tasks had been done for me.
Henri had tended to the third and fourth crates, plucked the next batch of petals, crushed them in oil and resumed his usual position at his regular table, hunched over three tiny glass vials and a syringe, leaving Asher to admit me. Henri was so lost in his work, he didn’t acknowledge my arrival.
Turning to the male paying attention, I asked Asher, “Why are you here?”
His gaze skittered toward the open hatch, as if he meant to step through it, so I blocked him.
“Kaleb and Tau decided to stay with Ghedi to lessen the chance of passing the plague on to you. Fynn joined Malik a few hours ago.” At my growl, he added, “Fynn wants to help out, and he’s well enough. Braden and I are swapping shifts between the stables and bastille until we’re sure those two can handle it.” He smirked. “Wouldn’t want your brothers trying to pet the pretty lady, would we?”
“Asher?” I curled my finger until he bent down. “Don’t talk about my brothers.” I threw all the force I could muster into punching him in the gut. He gasped, but he was already bent over, so it was hard to judge whether I had made my point.
I was about to expound when Henri decided that I did, in fact, exist. He straightened slowly with a rusty movement that made him wince.
“Asher’s on his way out.” Henri left neither of us any doubt he had meant it as an order.
I rolled aside and let Asher leave with a twinge of regret for my actions.
I should have led with my other fist.
“What are you up to this fine afternoon?” I pointed to his desk. “Is that the preventative?”
He chuckled as he stood. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”
I watched him pocket the syringe. “Curiosity is a professional failing of mine.”
“I’ve noticed.” He walked a slow circle around me. “Yet it’s a trait I admire in you.”
I forced myself to hold still. “What are you doing?”
A scuffling sound made me think he had knelt. “Checking the chair for signs of wear.”
“Ah.” My nape prickled under his regard. “Is its condition satisfactory?”
“It appears to be holding up well,” he said from much too near my ear. “I just need to…” He jostled me while making some adjustment or other. Metal groaned and I jumped at the rapid succession of clicks that raised my seat. After many tense minutes passed, the chair stopped rocking.
I waited a heartbeat before asking, “Are you finished?”
He leaned over my shoulder, and his breath fanned my throat. “It depends.”
My pulse spiked when he toyed with the hairs at my nape. “On?” I turned my head a fraction and caught him as he stared down the front of my gown. Wicked female that I was, I arched my back in what was dangerously close to invitation. “I can see you.”
“I know,” he said softly. “I think…you might be the only one who does. See me.”
I nuzzled his cheek. “You mean you’re usually stealthier when staring down females’ shirts?”
He must have smiled. I felt the scraping of his teeth against my skin, and my sight went blurry.
“Henri.”
We jumped apart at the sound of Asher’s voice. He was braced in the doorway, panting. We had been too lost in conversation to hear the hatch open, but I felt the draft from the hall seeping in now.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” Henri sounded less flustered than I would just now. Yet when he braced on my good shoulder, his thumb caressing my pulse, his hand trembled.
“Braden said I ought to take a spare room to stay close, but I headed to my room in the stables.” Asher’s shirt was slicked to his body, and his chest pumped while he gasped for air.
“What happened?” I peered behind him, into the hall.
“The animals,” he panted. “I blamed the storm. They always get wild when the weather turns.”
Henri poured Asher a glass of water and put a hand on his shoulder. “Slow down.”
“On the way to my room, I heard this thumping sound and went to investigate. It was Noir. She was throwing a hissy, ramming her stall door with her shoulder like she was trying to bust it down. Paladin Rhys warned us, said his brother favored the mad sow. I tried calming her, nothing worked.”
�
�Noir is temperamental.” Henri told me, “So is Farrow for that matter. It’s in the bloodline.”
Asher nodded. “I stuffed those herbs you left us for sedating trouble boars into a slab of varanus steak and tossed it to Noir. On my way to bed, I heard the noise again, this time near the exit hatch.”
“The one we used to enter the stables?” I asked.
“There’s only one exit hatch,” he snapped.
Henri cleared his throat.
Asher scowled at me. “I mean, yes. The noise came from the same hatch I led you through.” His breathing slowed. “I figured it must be one of the guards wanting to pass a message through. After I saw what that thing did to Ghedi, I wasn’t about to open so much as the post slot to receive a letter. I climbed the ladder and used the lookout to see what I was dealing with. A male was banging his fists on the hatch. At first, he seemed all right—frantic—but if more of those things might be out there…”
Henri became very still. “Did you open the hatch?”
“No. I didn’t get the chance.” Asher’s knuckles whitened. “Another male joined the first. When I didn’t let them in, they began snarling at one another. They attacked each other. That first one—he tore out the other’s throat and fell on him in the snow.” Asher blinked his wide eyes. “I’ve seen a lot in my time, all Mimetidae have, but nothing as brutal as those two. What are they? Why are they here?”
“They’re risers—corpses,” Henri said. “As to why they’re here…”
Our eyes met in the same moment, but I was the one to say, “They’ve come for her.”
The Darkness of Glengowyn
Isabo Kelly
They’ll risk forever death for one last chance together…
Fire and Tears, Book 2
Nuala of Glengowyn hasn’t left her home city in over a century, but not by choice. Her skill as a weapons master has made her a prisoner of her people. Held apart, protected in the extreme—until Sorcerers attack the human city of Sinnale.
Sent to supply her unique magical arrows to help the humans, she is far from free. The elf king and queen have sent a bodyguard, a fearsome warrior whose reputation has no rival. The only man she has ever wanted. Einar of Glengowyn.
Einar is known as a battle-crazed destroyer, so feared among elves he’s called by a single name: Darkness. And he has only one weakness—Nuala. Their union is forbidden, for melding their magics could destroy Nuala’s gifts. Yet as they journey to the war-torn city, no royal decree is a match for two hundred years of pent-up desire.
But even if they escape the war zone, their lives still hang in the balance. They must confront their sovereigns and prove love makes them stronger—or face their deaths.
Warning: This book contains a deadly elf hero, a heroine who’s his match, a lot of sexy misbehaving, some hard language, racing through the streets, owls, arrows, evil Sorcerers, wicked minions, and a very dangerous elf king and queen.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
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The Darkness of Glengowyn
Copyright © 2014 by Isabo Kelly
ISBN: 978-1-61922-046-1
Edited by Jennifer Miller
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: April 2014
www.samhainpublishing.com
