When Atticus came downstairs into the kitchen, Marga was sitting at the cooking island, glaring at him over her bowl of cereal. Ever since that other witch and Blondie—whom he’d successfully stared down in Marga’s room—had left, Atticus was in an exceptionally good mood, and after taking his first shower in twenty years, he was humming under his breath and walking with a bounce in his step. Much to Marga’s annoyance, as he could tell by the look she gave him. He met her glower with his biggest grin and enjoyed the following nervous tic of her eye. Ah, he’d never tire of teasing the hell out of her. It was just too much fun.
She’d showered as well, and had put on fresh clothes, the scent of her laundry detergent mingling with her natural aroma in a special blend that made him want to inhale deeper. Made him want to close the distance between them and taste her, in every possible way.
Hunger, raw and brutal, roared
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Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 8
Atticus stopped and looked at her, heart skipping a beat. “What’s wrong?” “You—you’re not going to do…that, are you?” Her eyes were wide, her face as red as he’d never seen it before, her aura trembling with embarrassment. His gaze flicked to the triangle of ginger curls between her legs, to the tempting pink flesh underneath, glistening with her arousal. He looked back at her face. “Do what? Eat you up like a delicious dessert?” She squealed and squirmed, delightfully bashful again. He bit back a grin. “I want to taste you. And not just your blood.” Brushing her mind with a wave of pure sexual intent, he ran his hands down the sensitive inside of her thighs, to her entrance, grazed it with his fingers. She panted even faster. He traced the curve of her swollen nether lips, slick with her desire. “I am going to lick
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 9
Janine Luscher’s spell hit Atticus square in the chest just as the magic Marga was weaving fused around them. The air shimmered, charged with power that seeped into his bones and changed the fabric of his being. For the span of a heartbeat lasting an eternity, every fiber in his body, down to the faintest pulse of his energy, merged with the age-old magic this world breathed. If not for the death grip Marga had on his hand, he would have dissolved into the power holding together the layers of time, space, and beyond. But she never let him go. When everything around him shifted and the world itself split into a thousand shards of untapped possibilities, Marga’s hand pulled him through, rooted him. The air fused back together, and all around him, the dizzying kaleidoscope of colors, sounds and scents dimmed as one reality took over and solidified. He only had a brief moment to blink at their new surroundings—a quiet street sw
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 10
He watched her walk toward the car, and for the first time in decades, he felt like he’d done something right in his life.“Gateway Transit Center?” Marga slanted a skeptical look at Atticus as he pulled the car to a stop in the deserted parking lot across from the MAX rail station. His shrug made the leather jacket creak. “It’s a good hunting ground.” At that, she silently raised an eyebrow to emphasize her glare. “You want me to take pain from someone who deserves it—this is the venue for it. Lots of lowlifes milling about.” Shutting off the engine, he leaned back in the seat and regarded her for a moment, shadows playing about his eyes. “You’ll wait here in the car.” “Like hell I will. I’m not letting you loose to hunt on your own.” His aura whispered of darkness barely contained. “You don’t want to see
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 11
Darkness curled around Marga.This, however, was different from the cold black swallowing her whole amid her crumbling world. Instead of the icy, numbing nausea that had crawled into her every cell, the darkness enveloping her now was rich, velvety, warm. Cocooning her, humming around her, it pulsed in sync with the beat of her heart.A part of her recognized the lethal edge in this dark energy, reminded her of the destruction this power had wrought just shortly before. She knew the danger whispering underneath it. And yet, as the darkness stroked along her senses, mingled with her own magic, nurtured it, something within Marga unfurled in the complete absence of fear.Taking a deep breath, she inhaled Atticus distinctive male scent, and opened her eyes—to darkness, again. She still couldn’t see a thing. A slight shifting of her position told her why. Atticus had curled her up in his lap, her head pressed facedown into his chest, and he’d wrapp
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 12
Marga sobered as if thrown in an icy Norwegian fjord, and she took a wary step back. “You’re an incubus?” Known for their overwhelming sexual magnetism and the nasty habit of impregnating any female that wasn’t up a tree by the count of three. That explained the underlying hint of danger she’d sensed beneath the outward attraction, the sense of wrong she’d gotten despite her uncontrollable surge of lust.Benjamin bowed. “At your service, darling.”She cleared her throat and inched further away. “Thanks, but I can service myself quite well.”At Atticus laughter, barely hidden in a cough, she realized what she’d said, her face flushing with heat.“Although,” Atticus said to her, grinning broadly, “you might have to work a bit harder for that now since we had to abandon your vibrator along with your car.”She flailed with her hands. “It’s an MP3 playe
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 13
She banged her head back against the seat and uttered a cute sound of frustration. “Gods, getting some straight info out of you is like pulling teeth. What did you do to piss off your own kind?” “Must be my stunning good looks. They just can’t take the combined force of my gorgeousness.” Even without looking, he knew she glared at him. It made him want to laugh. “Spill it already, Mr. Self-Absorbed!” “All right, all right,” he whined, “I’m telling! Just please, please don’t witch-slap me.” Putting a hand up as if to shield his head from a blow, he gave a mock sob. The Marga-glare intensified, and he grinned, slanting a glance at her. “What I’m doing for you now…Well, I used to do that for a living.” “Annoying the hell out of people?” He chuckled at that. &ldqu
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 14
Her face, already scorched, became impossibly hotter. “I can’t tell you.” Even though she might have been so forward as to jump his bones, she hadn’t shed all her inhibitions yet. Thinking about it was one thing, doing it another—but saying it? And dammit, he was cocky enough already—she almost snickered at that pun—there was no need to tell him how mouthwatering his—“I can’t.” Grabbing her ankles, he pulled her down toward him, until she lay flat on her back underneath his overpowering frame. “Yes, you can.” His hands, hot, branding, running over her hips, up to her waist, pulling off her sweater. “Tell me.” “No.” “Hmm.” A kiss on her belly. “Later, then.” It sounded like a mix between a promise and a threat. He nuzzled the curve of her waist, one hand sliding under her back, unhooking her bra. A sigh e
Forbidden Desire CHAPTER 15
Marga awoke to the faint sound of her cell phone ringing. With an effort, she pried her eyes open. The pull of sleep was so strong, it took her a moment to see anything at all, to get her brain working in a logical way. Her bones were molten in her body, every single muscle weighed down by blocks of concrete. She peered at the clock on the nightstand. It was half past four in the afternoon—they’d only slept about three hours. No wonder I feel like something the cat has dragged in. The phone was still ringing, the sound coming through the open door to the hallway where she’d dumped her purse earlier. With a groan of exhaustion, Marga disentangled herself from Atticus, who had wrapped himself around her in his sneaky, monopolizing way. She wriggled free of one of his arms and one leg, but as soon as she pried off the other two limbs, the first two snuck around her again. “Atticus. Phone. Need to answer.” He grunte
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- Forbidden Desire
THE FINALE BOOK 3: EPILOGUE
“Bye, Uncle Shay! Bye, Aunt Cara!”The door closed, shutting off the kids’ voices and their franticwaves.Cool night air stroked over Cara’s skin as she and Huxley descended the front steps to the sidewalk. Twining her fingers with Hux, she stole a glance at her mate—mate—and smiled, her heart ready to burst. She’d never get used to thisfeeling.“So,” she said, “howdidyou get to be scared of spiders? You never told me thestory.”He shot her a look from behind narrowed eyes, the silver in them catching the moonlight. “Won’t let it go, willyou?”“Like a dog with a bone. Nowspill.”He grumbled something incoherent, and she nudged him with herelbow.“Come on, Mr. Quire-orgy.”“Agastopia.” His smile made her belly fl
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 65
Sounds and lightfiltered through the darkness blanketing Huxley mind. His thoughts disentangling from a web of images and sensations, he became aware of his current surroundings. A pillow beneath his head, a mattress underneath his back, a soft sheet coveringhim.And two warm bodies pressed against hisown.Eyes flying open to semi-darkness, he looked to his legs, where Max snored softly, snuggled up to him. Hux turned his head, silky black curls brushing against his jaw. The scent of lush flowers and rain teased his nose, let him draw in a breath that threatened to burst hislungs.Cara.Her head resting on his shoulder, hands tucked between their bodies, she lay curled against him, one leg thrown over his. Eyes closed, her black lashes fanned out over her cheeks. Even though he hated to disturb her sleep, he couldn’t help brushing a lock of her midnight hair from her face, his fingers
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 64
“Huxley. Look at me.”Her vision swam, her throatraw.His aura had faded to all but anember.She stroked his cheeks, her lips trembling. “I love you. I’ll mate with you, quire-griffin style and all. I’ll fucking mate with you. But only if you holdon.”Her breath hurt, going in, going out, from her aching throat all the way down to her chest, to the epicenter of a pain so cutting it might annihilateher.“Please,” shewhispered.His lips parted. Silver-gold shimmered as he opened his eyes just a slit. Breath rattling in his throat, he met her anguished stare. “Holding…on.”She choked on a sob of relief. Her fingers tender on his skin, she caressed his jaw, histemples.Raising his hand, he touched her lips. “Tell me…” he rasped. “Need to…hear&helli
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 63
“Cara, no.” Venina cowered against the door, her face tear-streaked. “I’m not worth it. Don’t let—” Jacob’s raised arm silenced her without evenstriking.Trembling, Cara met Venina’s red-rimmed eyes. And saw something she hadn’t noticed before. There was steel in that emerald green, a courage Cara hadn’t reckoned with—no one had reckoned with, judging by how carelessly Jacob turned his back on Venina, his focus on Cara.Away from a threat he’d clearlyunderestimated.It showed in the surprise in his icy eyes when Venina wrenched the dagger from his hand. In the moment of shock when his features slackened after the young witch-turned-demon slit her own throat. In his gasp when she managed to slice through both femoral arteries on her thighs as well before she collapsed. Her blood gushed onto the floor, ruby red on the whitecarpet.
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 62
Forcedinto a glittering black and red nightmare of a dress that was as tacky as it was ridiculous, Cara walked down the hall in front of Jacob, otherwise known as Leading Asshole, her hands tied again, this time behind herback.“Tell me,” she said, flicking a glance over her shoulder and indicating the hideous dress, “did you ask Mira’s permission before you raided her 80swardrobe?”Jacob shoved her, making her stumble and crash down face-first on the carpeted floor. It still hurt like hell, since she couldn’t break her fall with her hands, and the recent wound from when he’d slashed her with his dagger started stinging again.Cara should have kept her mouth shut, but when it came to sadist bastards like him, she couldn’t resist the compulsion to poke athim.“How’s your side?” he asked with a sweet smile while she struggled to her
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 61
They should be herebynow.Staring at the digital clock on the nightstand, Cara clenched her jaw, her heart pounding in her chest. Her hands and feet were tied, the rope also fastened to the headboard of the bed the brutes had thrown her on after dragging her into the house, so Cara had no way to get free. It had surprised her how normal the house seemed, with nice if bland-looking furniture straight out of a catalog, and a level of cleanliness suggesting that either whoever lived here had some OCD going on, or this was a model home in a newcommunity.She tried—again—to loosen her bonds. To noavail.Honestly, where were Marga and the others? They shouldn’t need this long to trackher.Sounds of movement in the hall. She snapped her head up, her body tensing for whatever—whoever—was coming. The door to the room opened, and two demons slipped inside—fem
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 60
Shakingthe water from his hair, Hux jogged back to his truck, the cool night air seeping through his soaked clothes, his wet skin. When he reached his vehicle, he set the tanzaniteon the pickup’s bed, opened the tool box, and pulled out the towel and change of clothing he always kept there for visits to Lucas. With speedy efficiency he stripped, dried himself, and put on the fresh set ofclothes.Tanzanite securely tucked in his jeans pocket, he hopped into the driver’s seat and checked his phone, which he’d stored in the glove compartment for his audience with the Demon Lord. His heart jumped into his throat. There were several missed calls from Cara as well as Hunter, and text messages from both, asking him where hewas.Cara’s face before he left flashed through his mind, the utter despair, the tears glistening in her eyes, the hurt confusion when she saw him back out the door. She&rsquo
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 59
An audiencewith the Demon Lord always involved some form of humiliation. Like being forced to take the scenic lake route, and then showing up before Lucas dripping wet and chilled to thebone.Huxley waded out of the lake and trudged up onto the shore. Pausing for a moment, he shook his head, then peeled off his soaked tee and wrung it hard. Water hit the sand with a muffled splash.Ten years.Ten damn years of working for the son of a bitch, and he’d never figured out another way to reach Lucas lair. And there were other ways. Those closer to the Demon Lord traveled back and forth without arriving soakingwet.He eyed the crumpled, soggy lump in his hands and grimaced. He’d rather have the cool night air assaulting his bare skin than put that dripping wet T-shirt back on, but appearing topless before the Demon Lord was not an option. Not that Hux had any problem with showing some skin, no. Lucas s
- Forbidden Desire
CHAPTER 58
The stenchof fear permeated the air, so acrid it turned Draco’s stomach. Never mind that it was hisown.Above him, the single bare bulb hung from the basement’s ceiling, every now and then swinging with the vibrations of the people walking on the upper floor. Sometimes, when someone banged a door above, fine dust would drizzle down on his sweat-slick, blood-encrustedskin.I’m fucked.That realization should have been a given when Seth’s men grabbed him, but he’d held on to the sliver of hope that maybe he’d be able to escape later. He looked again at the magic-infused manacles shackling his arms and legs to the metal table.Yeah, not verylikely.The door to the basement opened, and warm light spilled in, before a shadow blocked the view of the hall beyond. The agastopiamale closed the door, and his heavy footsteps thudded on the stairs while he desce