by Larissa Ione
“Dear goddess,” she breathed.
Uriel wrapped her in his arms. “Do you approve?”
She tilted back her head to meet his velvet brown gaze. “Very much, husband.”
“Mate,” he whispered softly.
“Not yet.”
He groaned, his fangs flashing in the firelight. “You’re ready?”
With a wicked smile, Kata shrugged off the spaghetti straps of her blue gown, allowing the satin fabric to slither down her body and pool at her feet. Her smile widened as he ran a hungry gaze down her naked curves.
“Completely and utterly.”
“Kata.”
With a speed that made her head spin, Kata found herself lying flat on the bed, surrounded by the earthy scent of roses and covered by Uriel’s hard, naked body. She hadn’t even noticed him removing his formal satin robe.
Laughing in delight, she looped her arms around his neck.
“I love a man of action.”
“And I love you.”
Holding her gaze, Uriel raised his arm and scored the inner skin of his wrist with his fangs. Then, with a solemn motion he pressed his bleeding wound to her mouth.
Kata closed her lips over the wound, greedily drinking the gift of his blood.
Her reaction was instant.
And wondrous.
Heat, pleasure, and overall an astonishing awareness of Uriel surged through her with giddy intensity.
Oh . . . goddess.
Moaning she allowed the golden warmth to fill her, his love for her a tangible force that healed the wounds of the past four hundred years.
“Now, Uriel,” she breathed.
Uriel gently removed his wrist, covering her mouth with a kiss of raw urgency.
Kata was quick to respond, wrapping her legs around his waist as he entered her with one slow thrust. At the same time, he sank his fangs into the tender curve of her neck, the momentary pain quickly replaced by an erotic bliss that made her nails dig into the broad width of his back and her hips lift to meet his frantic pace.
She cried out as pleasure exploded through her, followed swiftly by the sensation of Uriel’s own shuddering climax that echoed deep inside her.
Uriel pulled back to regard her with a startled glance, obviously as stunned as she’d been by the sheer intimacy of their bond.
“My mate,” he murmured, the guarded wariness that was so much a part of him at last shattered as their hearts and souls were melded together.
They were one.
Two parts of a whole.
Skimming her hands down his back, Kata basked in the knowledge that she was at long last home.
“For all eternity.”
Kane
JACQUELYN FRANK
Prologue
Kane burned. His mind, his every sense, but most of all his body burned with need and lust unlike anything he had ever felt before. The Samhain moon was growing heavy and full, it would be at its apex in a matter of days, but it may as well have been scorching its full influence into him in that very instant, that was how ravaged he was feeling.
Or maybe it was just because of her.
He’d followed her for three days now, either in person or with the power of his mind, stalking her every step since the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. He was Demon, a creature born to the night, born with powers beyond human understanding. Every Demon favored a specific element: Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Body, or, as in his case, Mind. He was powerful, capable of great feats . . . and yet always weaker than other Demons around him. They called him fledgling. A child. A nearly hundred year old child. He was a mere two years from earning a little more respect. Then he would be an adult. Not quite the deeply respected Elder that his brother was, nowhere near the astounding Ancient that Gideon was, but it would be better than that accursed title of fledgling.
But however much or little his contemporary Demons thought of him, this young female, this human, had lived for barely a quarter of his lifetime. She was ignorant of so much, ignorant of his kind and the other Nightwalkers that lived on the borders of her world. Maybe that was why she was so carefree in the way she lived her life. Granted, she was marred with emotional scars that others had so thoughtlessly burdened her with, but in spite of that she still managed to be vivacious and earthy, as vibrant as her brilliant red hair and sparkling green eyes. As clean and clear as her pristine pale skin.
Someone else had taken notice of her brilliance. He was unworthy. Even she thought so. The inept creature had bored her almost from the outset, and yet she carried on their date, trying to find comfort in his plainness and his constancy. Kane had been tracking this absurdity from a distance, pacing furiously as the ridiculousness of it all burned at his patience. But there was little he could do about it. She was human and to him she was forbidden. By all rights he should have turned his back on her days ago. He should have written her off completely. Keeping track of her, whether from near or from far, would only lead to trouble.
That trouble had come. It had come in the form of this overwhelming burning, this savage sense of lust and ownership that could not be denied. He couldn’t bear her being on that useless creature’s arm another second. Now he was flying to her side in a series of uncontrolled bursts of teleportation, each jump taking him closer to her and each jump leaving behind an ever more violent burst of smoke and sulfur in his wake. His emotions were out of his control and therefore his powers were also out of his control. But none of that mattered. He was close. Closer. Soon he would put this fiasco to an end. He would rip her from the side of this clown she was trying to make worthy of her.
He materialized on the seedy New York street in a violent flash, only his power to influence the minds of others camouflaging the frightening display from those nearby. His beauteous redhead and her so-called date walked on, completely oblivious to his presence.
He stalked after them quickly, his eyes tracking all the shadowy corners and alleys nearby. His distaste for her escort trebled. What male worth anything would bring a woman to a place such as this? Didn’t the fool realize the dangers all around them? Did that weak excuse for a human male honestly think himself capable of protecting her should danger present itself?
In truth, the thought wasn’t even in his mind, Kane realized as he scanned them both. The shocking fact was, he was barely even focused on the treasure walking by his side! All of this fool’s thoughts were eagerly focused on the film they were going to see. Apparently its special effects and coveted director warranted more attention than the one-of-a-kind sultry creature on his arm.
Disgusted, Kane seized control of both their minds at once. They stopped still for a moment and then Kane shaded out any awareness and recollection of her from the human male’s mind and sent him on his way to the moving picture that seemed to mean so much to him.
And now he was alone with her. Mere steps away. It would be child’s play for him to beckon her, to bring her to him as a willing, compliant thing. Oh, but that was not what he wanted. He wouldn’t take her as a mind-numbed slave. It was her spirit that so enthralled him.
He would only alter her perceptions a little bit, just so she would forget what she had been doing, thus opening an opportunity for him to enter her life. But first . . . first he needed to touch her. Just one blessed moment of contact. Something to soothe this burn within him. Something to calm it a little so he could think straight and function properly.
Kane reached for her, his hand trembling as he did so, the vibration indicative of the power of his feelings, of his weakening restraint. His palm burned with anticipation, prickles dancing the length of his long fingers so that they twitched. Her unknowing smile was soft and serene. It could be anything he wanted it to be. It could be beatific, it could be wildly ecstatic. For now it remained that lovely neutral as he touched the tips of his fingers to the curve of her high cheekbone.
Oh, Sweet Destiny. It practically hurt, the overwhelming sensation of rightness and relief that rushed through him. He cr
adled that gorgeous face against his palm and fought off an emotional wash of tears that pricked behind his lids. His. She was his. At last he had her in his grasp, he had crossed the line and, contrary to all the warnings pounded into him his entire life, lightning had not come to strike him down. What was so bloody wrong about this, he wanted to know. Yes, she was human and he was Demon, but weren’t they more alike than unalike? Were they not both made of flesh? Did they not both crave the touch and presence of that special someone . . . of a passion that blinded the soul? The world was not coming to an end! It was just beginning!
And then lightning struck.
Like the snap of a magician’s cape being pulled away to reveal a tiger in a cage, Jacob the Enforcer appeared before him. Dread and horror rushed into Kane from all vectors, the shock of suddenly standing toe to toe with his Elder brother slamming into him like a sucker punch. This was Jacob at his most frightening. His most terrible. Yes, he was still the same brother who had raised him and loved him all of his life, but this was the side of Jacob no Demon saw until he had crossed Demon law. This was the Enforcer. And he had come to punish Kane.
Kane’s throat went suddenly and brutally dry, his heart seizing in what he had to confess was fear. The punishment for what he had just done was the most severe a Demon could face, next to being put to death. His hand jerked away from the redhead’s cheek as if she’d burned him and his concentration broke from her. She blinked, suddenly becoming aware that she was sandwiched between two strange men and had no idea how she had gotten there.
“Take hold of her mind, Kane. Do not make this worse by frightening her.”
Kane obeyed instantaneously and she relaxed. The resulting peaceful beauty that washed over her was enough to distract him even from the knell of Jacob’s presence. He marveled at how soft and sweet she looked. He knew her mind and nature matched her looks. It was only the cold warning look from his sibling that kept him from touching her again.
“Jacob, what brings you out on a night like this?” he blurted out, unable to think of anything else to say. After all, they were blood brothers. If Jacob was going to give anyone a pass, wouldn’t it be him?
“You know why I am here,” the Enforcer said, nipping that thought right in the bud with a chill, disciplined tone that warned Kane not to test his mettle.
“So maybe I do,” Kane admitted. And still, the immediate danger didn’t seem to be getting through to the rest of him. It was taking everything in his power to keep from reaching for her again. Even though it made him look quite a bit guiltier than he really was, he lowered his gaze to the spotted, dirty sidewalk and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He gripped hold of the fabric on the inside of those pockets and forced himself to hold on. “I wasn’t going to do anything. I was just . . . restless.”
“I see. So you thought to seduce this woman to appease your restlessness?” Jacob asked bluntly as he folded his arms across his chest. His manner was that of a parent scolding a wayward child. It could have been an amusing thought, considering Kane was just about to enter his second century of life, but the matter was too serious by far.
“I wasn’t going to hurt her,” Kane protested. He would never hurt her. She was precious. She was everything. He would love her as deeply and as thoroughly as he could.
“No?” Jacob asked, his sarcasm very obvious. “Just what were you going to do? Ask politely if you could visit the savageness of your present nature on her? How does one word that exactly?”
Kane fell stubbornly silent. He knew that the Enforcer had read his intentions from the moment he’d decided to stalk his prey. Arguments and denials would just worsen the situation. Besides, the incriminating evidence of his transgression was standing between them.
For a brief, passionate moment, Kane’s thoughts filled with vivid mental imaginings of what could have been more incriminating. He suppressed a shudder of sinful response, his eyes falling covetously on the woman standing so beautifully serene before him. Had Jacob been even slightly off his irritatingly perfect game and come into the picture a half hour later . . .
“Kane, this is a difficult time for our people. You are as susceptible to these base cravings as any other Demon,” the Enforcer said with implacable resolve. It was as though Jacob were the one who could read Kane’s mind, rather than the other way around. “Still, you are a mere two years from becoming an adult. I cannot believe you have me chasing you down like a green fledgling.” There it was. That word again. That . . . term. “Think of what I could be accomplishing if I were not standing here saving you from yourself.”
The remark was like a kick in the pants, and it smarted. Sweet Destiny, it was true. Near Samhain his brother Jacob was weighted down by his responsibilities even more than usual. The last thing he had needed was to be chasing after his own baby brother. Jacob had never asked for his mantle of responsibility. He had inherited it suddenly and unexpectedly when their eldest brother Adam had suddenly gone missing, presumed dead at the hands of some necromancer and a nefarious summoning spell many centuries ago. Jacob had lost a beloved brother and inherited a ponderous duty in one fell swoop. Now he was the pariah of his people. A necessary evil, as it were. Sort of like the internal affairs division of the human police. They were necessary, they were members of the same brotherhood, but oh, how they were held in contempt.
“I’m sorry, Jacob, I really am,” he said at last. Kane felt utter shame washing over him as he appreciated the position he had put his beloved sibling in. It actually surprised him that he hadn’t thought of the consequences of his actions and how they would affect Jacob. He glared up at the Samhain moon and knew that was where the blame belonged. Kane’s throat closed with a sharp sense of remorse that knifed through him.
It was as overpowering as the dread that was welling up within him. He’d betrayed the sanctity of their laws, and there was a punishment for that. A punishment that made an entire species catch their breath and back away whenever the Enforcer entered the vicinity. Kane could suddenly feel the weight of Jacob’s position, and it sharpened his regret to a point of pain in his chest.
“You will send this woman home safely by reuniting her with her escort and making sure she remembers nothing of your misbehavior,” Jacob instructed softly. “Then you will go home. Your punishment will come later.”
“But I didn’t do anything,” Kane protested, a swift rise of inescapable fear fueling his objection.
“You would have, Kane. Do not make this worse by lying to yourself about that. Do not try to convince yourself that I am the villain others like to make me out to be. That will only cause us both pain.”
Kane recognized that truth with another upsurge of guilt. Sighing resolutely, he closed his eyes and concentrated for all of a second. Moments later, the redhead’s escort loped back across the street with a smile and a call to her.
“Hey! Where’d ya go? I turned the corner and suddenly you weren’t there!”
“I’m sorry. I was distracted by something and didn’t realize you’d gone, Charlie.”
Charlie linked his arm with his date’s and, completely oblivious of the two Demons barely a breath away, drew her off, chattering incessantly about that ridiculous movie he was so damn excited to see. It grated on Kane’s nerves to hear it, set off a screaming sensation in his blood to allow her to walk away from him. But what else could he do? She was forbidden and Jacob would fight him if he tried to do otherwise. Sweet Destiny, fight with the Enforcer? Even Gideon the Ancient had not been able to come out a winner against Kane’s powerful brother.
“Good,” Jacob commended Kane, unaware of how the fledgling had to struggle to stay where he was, to let her go into the dangerous night and a ridiculous date where she wouldn’t be even slightly appreciated for the wonder that she was.
Kane sighed. Nothing about this felt good. Not the position he was currently in, and certainly not turning her back over to that inept buffoon who knew nothing of how precious she was . . . of how exquisitely, painfu
lly she was capable of making a male feel just by her very presence in a room.
“She’s so beautiful. Did you see that smile? All I could think about was how much I wanted her to smile when . . .” Kane flushed as he looked at the Enforcer. He had not intended to speak aloud. He had not wanted to confess so much to his brother. Oh, nothing would change the inevitability of the consequences to come, but there was a sanctity to what he felt for his redheaded human torturer. It was private. Nothing to be shared with others. “I never thought this would happen to me, Jacob. You have to believe that.”
When it came down to it, Kane didn’t want Jacob to think he had purposely brought them to this pass. He loved his brother.
“I do.” Jacob hesitated for a moment, for the first time making it obvious to Kane that this had been a terrible struggle for him, no matter how well he projected otherwise. “Do not worry, Kane. I know who you really are. I know that this curse is hard for us to fight. Now,” he said, his tone back to business, “please return home. You will find Abram there awaiting you.”
This time, Kane brushed away the welling trepidation within himself. He did it for Jacob’s sake, knowing how deeply the situation cut the Elder Demon, even though the Enforcer’s thoughts were too carefully guarded for Kane to read. “You must do your duty as you would with anyone. I understand that, Jacob.”
Kane then gave the Enforcer a short nod of kinship. After glancing around to make sure they were unobserved, he exploded into a burst of sulfur and smoke as he teleported away.
It took everything . . . every fiber of control he could muster, not to stray from the course Jacob had demanded of him.
Chapter 1
Agony.
Sweet and bitter all at once, it raced through his blood, stretching every muscle and stripping down his control to the very thinnest of threads. Swallowing down a groan lest the others hear him, he bent forward in his chair and braced his elbows on his denim-clad knees.
