Seduction

by Laxmi Hariharan

  “Is that…? Are we…?”

  He chuckled. “Making love with a dragon has some unexpected side effects.”

  “Like setting us on fire.”

  “Mmm.” His lips widened in a pleased smile. He knew he was feeling cocky, but he couldn’t help it. That feeling of well-being that flowed through him was more of an aphrodisiac in itself. “How do you feel?”

  She lowered her eyes and licked her lips. “Ready for more.”

  He grinned. “You say the damnedest things, you know that?”

  She fluttered her eyelids. “I try, babe, I try.”

  His pulse jumped. “We need to fly back.”

  “Later.” She raked her nails over the back of his neck.

  He licked his lips. A pulse of heat raced down his spine.

  “And the beach must be rough for you.” He wanted to try to give her time to adjust to him, to take it slow.

  “It is.” This time it was she who wriggled her hips, just a small move.

  He hardened inside her and wondered if it was possible he would be ready to take her again—so soon? “Dios, you learn too fast.”

  She gazed at him from under lowered eyelids. “Ah, there’s one more side effect of our making love.”

  “What?” He frowned.

  She traced his cheeks, moved her touch down to his chest. Her face was lit as if by an inner glow, and that secret glint was back in her eyes.

  “Tell me?” He pushed back the hair that had fallen over her face.

  She took his hand and brought it to his chest. Her gaze lowered.

  He followed the direction of her gaze, and at first, he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. The expanse of his planes, muscles that flexed as he shifted to look at himself, the hair that dotted his chest and between them, the scars that seemed to be less prominent than what they had been before.

  “No, it’s not possible.”

  “I am a unicorn, after all, the most potent healer in the world.” She tilted her head back. “And I am your mate.” She sounded almost as cocky as him.

  “So, every time we make love? My scars will fade?” He spoke slowly, trying to make sense of it.

  “As will any other illnesses. Or anything that needs fixing. I think our joined essences are going to make you a very powerful shifter.”

  He huffed out a breath. “You know I’ve never wanted power like that. But if it can give me a chance to protect you against the Fae, or against anyone who tries to hurt you, then I’ll accept it.”

  “It’ll help with the music, too, when you’re on stage.” She watched him closely, as if waiting for a reaction.

  That was a thought. “I could do more concerts, sing more without my vocal cords hurting again.”

  She traced the scar tissue around his neck, which had already begun to shrink. “If I can do just one more thing to prevent you pain, I will.” She kissed the roughened skin.

  “All that matters is that I have you in my arms, with me, by my side. Always.” He couldn’t help the grin that threatened to crack his face in half. He ran his hands over her curves before resting his palm over the rise of her hips.

  He felt her indrawn breath. Her heart raced against his. Just her instant response to him turned him on even more. Perhaps they could delay flying back a little longer.

  “What other secrets do you have, I wonder?” He couldn’t wait to find out. He intended to spend the rest of his life finding out.

  She leaned up and rubbed her cheek over his. “Make love to me again, Neo.”

  38

  Trinity

  Trinity walked toward the guest room on the first floor of Eve and Cain’s temporary residence in Bombay.

  Neo followed close on her heels. He’d refused to let her go alone. He’d been her constant shadow since their arrival in Bombay a day ago. Not that she minded. It made her feel cherished. When he was with her, she felt stronger, almost invincible. She was sure her healing powers were growing, too, as a result of their mating.

  Just a few hours ago, Arjun had arrived in the city with the three unicorn shifters he’d rescued from Igor’s cells. She couldn’t wait to meet her fellow clan mates. But first she needed to check up on Vance.

  She paused at the threshold of the room. The figure laid out on the bed was so still.

  For a second, she stiffened.

  The light of her unicorn flowed through, and she sensed the deeper, sparkling gray of the vampire’s presence on the psychic plane.

  She relaxed, her body sagging against Neo’s chest. His arms steadied her. “You, okay?”

  She nodded, not taking her gaze off the prone figure. “I need to make sure he’s all right on the psychic plane.”

  Without a word, he walked ahead of her, leading her to the chair by the single bed.

  Trinity dropped onto it, and Neo stood behind her. Leaning forward, she placed a palm on Vance’s forehead.

  The silver of her light poured out of her heart through her fingers and bled into him. The spot between her eyebrows grew warm. She reached out to him on the psychic plane and found…him alone on a beach. He was such a lonely figure as he gazed out to the distance.

  He seemed aloof but also self-sufficient. As if he could stay just like that for hours. He seemed different. She couldn’t put a finger on it.

  She walked over to him and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

  The only sound was of the breeze that rustled through the sand. The waves were silent. The sun was high, but she shivered.

  It was a mirage, one Vance had created for himself. A refuge in which to hide. He was almost happy, more content than he’d ever been. It was as if he had resigned himself to being trapped in his alternate reality and being happy with it.

  Her pulse rate picked up. No, this was not good at all.

  “You can’t stay here forever.” Urgency bubbled through her veins. She pushed it down.

  “I can do whatever I want.” His words were paced apart at regular intervals. It made it sound like he was speaking in a monotone. “I am free here. Insulated from all the ups and downs of the real world.” He turned away from her.

  “You are a prisoner in your own head.” She kept her breathing steady.

  “It’s my choice.” His posture was relaxed.

  “What about those who miss you?” She made sure to keep her gaze trained on the horizon.

  He stiffened. There was a palpable drop in the temperature.

  Goosebumps bristled on her arms.

  “I don’t miss anyone.” His voice was hard. His shoulders bunched. This was not the Vance she’d left behind.

  She turned to him. “What about Serena?”

  “What about her?” Any last shred of emotion on his features bled away. His face looked pale, like he wasn’t really there. He felt empty, like every last ounce of empathy in him had been drained away.

  “What happened to you, Vance?” She reached for him. She half expected him to flinch.

  His gaze dropped to where her fingers touched his skin. When he raised his gaze back to her, the skin around his eyes wrinkled. His features contorted in a look that was almost familiar—it was greedy, avaricious—and he bared his teeth.

  His dark irises seemed to have turned to shards of ice, and the light crimson around them which had been almost invisible, flared to life.

  His fangs dropped. He moved toward her, and this time she took a step back.

  Darkness clung to him, like a stain in the sand.

  The light of her unicorn tried to reach out to him, to soothe him, only to come up against a sheet of opaqueness. It was as if there was someone else there with him, someone holding him back.

  He raised his hand, and she noticed his nails had slid out. He grabbed her wrist, and she jumped.

  “Leave.” His voice came out gravelly. Those dark eyes cleared for a second. It was as if just for a moment, the real Vance had pushed himself through.

  The scent of dry frost seeped into the air.

  She snatched her ha
nd back.

  He let her go.

  “Igor…he was here, wasn’t he?” Her heart pounded, her throat closed. Her legs trembled. She wanted to leave and yet she didn’t want to leave him.

  Trinity, what’s wrong?

  She pushed away Neo’s psychic presence. “Come with me, Vance. Together we can fight him. Together we are stronger.”

  “I have chosen, Trinity.” Just for a beat, the hard set of his features faded, and once more there was only the Vance she knew, the selfless doctor, the caring friend who had Neo’s back.

  “Tell Serena goodbye.”

  “No.” Her heart twisted, and her gut churned with the hurt and pain she sensed in him. That hopelessness. No, no one could be left alone when they were in such agony. Vance didn’t deserve this.

  Trinity. Neo’s voice called out more urgent. She sensed the pull on the mating bond as he tried to draw her back.

  “Go.” Vance closed the distance between them. He raised an arm and shoved at her shoulder.

  Then she was falling.

  When she snapped her eyes open, she was on the floor and cradled against Neo’s chest.

  “Serena.” She clutched his arm. The blood drained from her cheeks. “We must find her. Only she can help him. Only she can bring Vance back.”

  Epilogue

  A few days later

  Neo looked down from the stage, his dragon hunting through the sea of faces. She was there. He could sense her. He knew his heart beat only for her, calling to her as only he would to his mate.

  The crowd pounded their feet. The vibrations jolted through the ground, through the platform where he stood, jumping up at him, leaping through his blood.

  Yet below it all was that low thrum of awareness, that unmistakable hum that told him he was connected to her. He could feel her in his heart, in his blood.

  Behind him his drummer rolled his sticks, and the pounding joined the low bass his guitarist thrummed. The beats throbbed through the crowd, pushing them to a higher state of excitement.

  He smelled their adrenaline, their excitement, their need to see him stripped of all barriers and reveal himself, and yet he waited. He was in no hurry.

  He beat the heel of one foot against the stage. They were hanging on to his every word. He owned them, and he knew it. They knew it. And yet he waited.

  A Spanish wave broke out, ebbing and flowing, rippling over the arena, over their heads, the upturned hands. The expectancy built, and the smell of fighting, blood, and sex laced the atmosphere, all poured over crushed impatience. All waiting for him to begin.

  He paused, wringing out their anticipation.

  He raised his arms and clapped.

  The crowd followed him, as if they were but an extension of his soul. They could hear his every thought. He owned them; he could make them do what they wanted.

  Then he saw her.

  A shimmering bright beam of light walked through the crowd toward him.

  They parted for her as if they knew already she was different, she was his.

  A spotlight focused on her.

  It shined off the spun gold of her hair, the scarlet of her dress that marked her out from the crowd.

  He could have picked her out in darkness with his eyes blindfolded. All his senses tuned in to her.

  She reached the edge, the front row, and looked up at him. Eyes of silver, gold, and violet flashed their love, their need, their excitement. His heart pounded, and his chest felt like it was so full that it would burst.

  He flung his arm up, his hand made into a fist. Fire flared from it, soared up, then switched off.

  The crowd gasped and went silent. The anticipation stretched, filling the air.

  The music poured through the arena. The lights flashed, blinding the space, picking up the beat of the song.

  He walked to the edge of the stage, bent down, and flung out his hand.

  The spotlight weaved through the audience and highlighted her face.

  There was a gasp from the throng.

  She threw her head back and gripped his hand.

  He hauled her up on stage. “Trinity.” His husky whisper echoed over the overhead system and pulsed around the spectators.

  Around her the crowd chanted. “Trinity. Tri-ni-ty.”

  She blushed. He angled her head.

  A girl started crying, then another. And a third.

  Yeah, he was a taken man, but he had one more surprise up his sleeve.

  The spotlight paused on them, and the music stopped.

  The crowd silenced.

  In the silence that followed, he said, “Be my mate, Trina, forever and ever?” His voice echoed around the arena.

  The skin of her face glowed, and her hair rippled in waves from where it fell over his arm.

  Someone screamed and was shushed. Above them an eagle screeched as it dived down toward its prey.

  She looked up at him through half-closed eyelids. “On one condition.”

  Of course, she would never make things easy for him, would she, his fierce unicorn. “You complete this concert and give the fans what they’re waiting for.”

  He nodded. “You got it, babe.” He grinned. “I have a condition, too.”

  She tilted her head even more, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “I’m listening.”

  “You perform this song with me on stage.” He raised his arm, and the band struck up the music again. Without listening, he twirled her over his arm, then kissed her.

  On the psychic plane, the violet light swirled, their combined essences shimmering through his blood, making him feel higher…no, happier than he’d ever been before.

  His dragon growled with pleasure, wanting him to hide his mate from the eyes of the audience. He wanted to hide her away from everyone else.

  A normal reaction, Logan had warned him, for the newly mated. But that hadn’t helped much. Not when everything in him wanted to own her. Possess her.

  Mine.

  Yours she agreed, those silver eyes flaring with indigo sparks, showing she’d always be a part of him.

  His chest felt full, like he was bursting with this light that suffused every part of his body…and his soul.

  He felt high. The darkness that had haunted him his entire life was fading away, leaving behind an anticipation for the future. “You forgot to mention one more effect of our mating.”

  Her muscles stilled. She worked her lower lip with her teeth. This time, he did not hold back. Leaning down, he licked the glistening flesh. “It’s not just the scars on the outside, but the ones on the inside that also heal.”

  Can't get enough of Neo and Trinity? I couldn't either. So I wrote a special epilogue, just for you. It's passionate and so beautiful...You are going to love it. Claim your FREE bonus epilogue here

  I am a huge Matrix fan. Neo – Trinity? Did you guess. I’ve been wanting to write about a bad-boy rockstar and the girl from the audience he fell in love with, ever since I saw the video of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark. Yep, I am a fan of the eighties classics.

  Unicorns swept into my life with Trinity. They gave me hope that when the going gets tough...they’ll show me the right path.

  As I researched unicorns, I was almost not surprised to discover that unicorns represent feminine and dragons the masculine... This was after I started writing Trinity and Neo. Go figure!

  If you liked Neo and Trinity’s story, if you felt the magic of their incredible energies, then I do hope you’ll write a review here and let me know?

  I read all your reviews. They give me the energy boost to get the next book out

  Up next in Ascension, Arjun arrives in Bombay with a surprise. Vance tries to resist Igor’s influence. Zach and Mira leave on a mission to bring back Serena and face the wrath of the Dark Fae, all with unexpected consequences...

  Read on for a preview of Ascension, Zach and Mira's story (very early, unedited draft )

  It promises to be tempestuous!

  Mira

  His b
road shoulders flexed. The planes of his back stretched below that black T-shirt he wore and tapered down to meet tight flanks. The army pants he wore hung low on his waist. They clung to the hard corded ropes of muscles that were his thighs. He held his arms at his side, slightly pulled away from his waist. There was just a little bit of space between the bend of his arms and his waist and the light shone through. It outlined his body and brought it into even more sharper relief. Her mouth watered…she wanted to close the gap and slide her fingers over the hard curves of his shoulders. Place her fingers flush against his shirt and feel the warmth that would pour off him and…damn she was fantasizing about this man, worshipping his body from a safe distance.

  Coward. Why couldn’t she tell him how she felt?

  That she had a crush a mile wide on him. That every time she saw the harsh planes of his face she wanted to lean in and lick them to see if his cheekbones would cut into her flesh. That she wanted to run her fingers down his chest, down to his waist and grip his…

  She stumbled over a branch in her path. "Damn!" She would have fallen except, she was caught and yanked upright.

  The tangy scent of sea breeze laced with something spicy flowed over her.

  She was hauled against the hard planes of his chest.

  Her fingers splayed against his shirt. She felt the whisper of air against her skin. Goosebumps rose on her skin.

  The next second she was pushed away so fast that she stumbled again. He righted her with a quick touch to her shoulder.

  Then stepped back. Black obsidian eyes stared down at her. His eyebrows slashed down.

  Guess that was a good sign?

  At least there was some expression on his face. Instead of the sheet of blankness that she’d been used to for so long.