Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1) (27 page)

“What
is it?” I asked, the words distorted from a yawn I couldn’t hold back.

He
started pulling on his pants and a shirt. “We’re being summoned.”

My
brows shot up. “By who?”

“The
new dean.”

That
was fast
.
Last I’d heard, Dean Prescott was locked away in Stonegate, awaiting trial. I
knew they’d eventually replace him, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.

I
sighed and climbed out of bed. Might as well get this over with.

After
rinsing my face and brushing my teeth, I quickly dressed and followed Hector
out the door. We walked silently toward the elevator that would take us to the
dean’s office. It felt odd but nice not to be shadowed by guards. “What do you
think he wants?” I asked, starting to grow worried. I felt like I was in high
school again, and I’d just been sent to the principal’s office.

“Don’t
know,” Hector said. He didn’t look as tense as I felt, but his eyes narrowed in
thought. “Guess we’ll find out.”

We
didn’t speak the rest of the way to the dean’s office. Once there, we paused
before the doors, and a guard announced us. After a moment, the doors opened
and we were ushered inside.

The
interior had been completely redone. It looked like a different room. Where
Prescott had favored drab browns and grays, resplendent reds and gleaming pinks
and pearl shone from every surface of the office. It was exotic and feminine,
much like the spectacular woman who stood to greet us.

She
looked like an empress, with her elaborate Oriental hairstyle and silk kimono.
Hector stopped and blinked, as if stunned, then his face broke into a wide
smile. “Musashi,” he said warmly, extending his hand. “It has been too long.”

She
shook it and smiled back at him. “It is good to see you again, Hector.” Her
voice was like wind, gentle but carrying an undercurrent of strength that said
she was far stronger than she appeared. Her eyes drifted to me. “You must be
Sally, the demon-slayer.”

I
took her hand and shook it. “Um, yes, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

“The
pleasure is mine,” she said smoothly, inclining her head. “Not many denizens of
the Underworld have the kind of power it takes to take on a demon.” She smiled.
“Nor the gumption.”

I
felt my face heat. “It was nothing.”

She
laughed. It sounded like bells, delicate and light. “I’m sure that it was no
small feat, though that is a story that will have to wait for another day. Now,
as for why I’ve brought you here…” Her gaze turned serious. “I know about the
two of you. You’re romantically involved.”

Hector
and I froze, but not before I’d sucked in a breath.

Musashi’s
head snapped my way, her eyes narrowing.

I
stared back at her, mouth open and lost for words. My mind combed through
possible ways out, but at this point, there was no use trying to cover up my
reaction.
Busted. Way to go, Sally.

“Miss,
I can explain,” I started, but she raised a hand.

“Do
you deny it?” she asked quietly, as if daring me to call her a liar. I knew she
was a Wind Witch - or Gray Witch - from the breeze that picked up around the
room, but I hadn’t yet gauged her power.

I
held my tongue, unsure how to respond, when Hector took my hand and squeezed.
“No,” he said firmly. “You’re correct. We’re in love.”

“I
see,” she murmured, tapping her crimson nails across the desk. She folded
herself in the chair like a ribbon, her movements flowing and easy. “Please,
sit.”

We
both did as we were told. I couldn’t relax. I sat with my spine rigid, unable
to stop tapping my foot.

This
was it. She was going to exile us for sure. That or demand we break up, and I’d
frankly would rather never be welcome in the Underworld again than bid Hector
an eternal farewell.

I
was about to tell Musashi as much when she said, “I have a proposition.”

Both
our eyes snapped up.

When
she was sure she had our attention, she said, “It has come to my attention that
there is a rather large educational gap in the curriculum here.”

I
frowned. What was she talking about? I didn’t know about the other sups, but
Hector had kicked my ass. He was a phenomenal teacher.

Musashi
got up and gazed out of the large bay window behind her desk. “There was one
good outcome from the demon, and that was pointing out a critical flaw in our
self-defense system. Or rather, lack thereof. It is clear the students - and
supernaturals, in general - don’t know how to protect themselves.” She turned
and looked at me. “I’m told you’ve had training in self-defense.”

I
looked at Hector. “Yes, some.”

“And
that you’re quite good at it,” Musashi said, a mischievous sparkle in her
startling blue eyes.

I
shrugged. “I’m okay.”

She
smiled. “More than ‘okay.’ It takes courage to take on a demon. The students
need that kind of role model.” Pause. “Which is why I’ve petitioned my pupil,
Elias, to let you stay on here as the new self-defense instructor.”

My
jaw dropped. “Okay, one, you were Elias’s teacher? And two, did you just offer
me a job?”

She
sat down and ticked off her answers on her narrow fingers. “Yes, I taught that
boy everything he knows about magic,” she said smugly.

I
almost snorted at her calling him “boy.” I wondered how old she really was but
knew better than to ask.

“As
it was,” Musashi said, lowering her voice, “he was quite inept at magic when he
was brought to me for reformation.”

This
had to be a record for number of times a person could be struck speechless in one
meeting. “No shit. Elias had to go through reform school.”

I
couldn’t picture that. Powerful, brooding Elias, a reject. Like I had been.

I
couldn’t help it. I smiled.

Musashi
smiled back. “I thought you may like that. As for your other question, yes, I am
offering you a position – on one condition.”

There
it was. I knew all things good had a price. “Name it.”

“End
your relationship with Hector.”

Hector’s
face turned grim about the same time I shot out of my chair. “What? Why?” I
yelled.

“Sally,”
Hector said, reaching for my arm, but I jerked free.

“No,”
I said firmly. “I’m not backing down. I’ve backed down from people my whole
life, because I was too scared to defend myself. Well, that’s changed, sister.
If you want me, you can get both of us.”

Musashi
pursed her lips. “I’ve been ordered to dismiss Professor Aurelius, on charges
of inappropriate conduct.”

I
placed my hands on her desk and leaned forward, coming eye level with her. “You
can’t afford to lose him, and you know it. He’s too damn good at what he does.
Tell you what, I’ll work for you, but only if Hector stays on too.”

“As
her partner,” Hector piped up, surprising me. “I won’t be a glorified gigolo
anymore. You get both of us or neither of us.”

If
I’d talked to Elias this way, he probably would have set me on fire while
pitching me out the door. I half expected a gale to rip through the room and
blast us out the window, but Musashi was surprisingly calm.

Slowly,
she smiled. “I’m impressed. You called my bluff and stood your ground.”

I
stared at her. “You mean you were
just screwing with us
the entire
time?”

She
shrugged. “I had to be certain I was making the right choice. We’re making some
staffing changes, and I like to surround myself with people who have an iron will.
You more than proved that in your rather passionate display.” She snapped her
fingers, and a contract appeared on her desk, along with a fountain pen. “Very
well. It is agreed. Aurelius, you will be moved from training succubi and
incubi to self-defense, along with Sally. And I-” she pointed to herself -
“will keep my mouth shut about your little love affair.”

“Wait,”
I said, “you mean, the board doesn’t know?”

“Not
unless I tell them.”

It
was a buried threat not to cross her. I got it. So long as we helped her, she
helped us. Didn’t mean I trusted her, but staying here with Hector, having him
all to myself, sounded a hell of a lot better than exile or returning to my
miserable day job at Vixens.

I
looked to Hector. “We have a deal?”

He
smiled and took the pen. “Where do I sign first?”

It
took a few minutes to sign all the contracts and swear a blood oath - a
magically binding contract - to Musashi. Once it was all said and done, Hector
and I returned to his room.

No
sooner was the door closed than he swept me up in his arms and kissed me with a
fervor that left me dizzy.

I
grinned like an idiot. “I can’t believe this is happening. I get a new job and
we can be together.”

“We’ll
still have to keep things hidden between us when we’re around everybody else.”

I
shrugged. “Then things won’t be any different from how they’ve been now, except
we don’t have to worry about us having to shag other people for energy. We get
that from each other.”

He
cupped my face and gently stroked my cheek with his thumb. “I would have done
it, you know.”

“Done
what?”

“Left
this all behind.” He gestured to the opulence around us. “You’re the first
woman in years to help me feel alive again. You saved me from a lonely
existence.”

I
twined my fingers with his and kissed his hand. “We saved each other. I don’t
know what I would have done if you hadn’t come for me in that awful place
Damien took me. I’ll have to think of a way to repay you.”

A
sexy grin spread on his face. “Oh, I can think of a few ways.”

With
that, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me into the bedroom. As he
tenderly laid me down on the bed and started kissing my neck, I was overwhelmed
by the feelings stirring in my chest. “I love you,” I said softly.

He
paused, as if astounded, then kissed me fiercely. “And I love you.” He started
unbuttoning my blouse. “And I plan on showing you just how much every day, for
the rest of our lives.”

I
smiled, tears welling in my eyes. “Sounds good to me.”

Then
I said no more as he finished tugging down my top and his mouth met mine in
what I knew was one of many kisses to come.

END OF BOOK ONE

Curious to see what Sally and Hector are up to next?
Turn the page for a sneak peek at their next adventure in
Sinful
, Book
Two of
Her Dark Desires
.

Coming early 2014

Excerpt

SINFUL

*subject to slight changes in the final
publication

Things
are looking up for succubus, Sally Sanders. She has the man of her dreams,
delicious incubus, Hector Aurelius, and she finally has a job she cares about
as a self-defense instructor at Elysian. But danger seems to have an appetite
for Sally, and it’s coming back for seconds.

When
the dean sends Hector and Sally on a mission to a sister school to help “whip
things in shape,” Sally and Hector quickly discover things are not as they
appear. The students are odd, willful at times and zombie-like at others, and
the headmaster, supposedly one of the most powerful vampires in the world,
doesn’t seem to be very concerned about the situation at all - though he is
keenly interested in getting into Sally’s pants. At the center of it all is a
Red Witch named Carmen, a former protégé of Hector’s who seems hell-bent on
getting him all to herself, even if that means killing everyone in her path -
Sally especially - to accomplish just that.

Vengeful
crushes, handsome vampires, and romantic thrills await in the second
installment in the
Her Dark Desires
series.

Chapter 1

His
hand trailed up my thigh, sending a cascade of shivers across my bare skin.

I
sighed as he caressed me, my nails biting into the silk sheets of our bed.
“Closer.”

Hector’s
lips gently kissed my jawline as he slowly lowered himself over me, grinding
the tip of his swollen shaft against my aching sex.

I
moaned, arching my hips up, ready to beg him to take me.

He
chuckled and nuzzled my neck, the deep, wonderful sound rumbling through me.
“You’re impatient tonight.”

“Well,
I haven’t gotten to see you this week. My schedule’s been so crammed, and
Musashi is keeping me busy as more students enroll. Even with Angela’s help,
it’s all I can do to keep up with their courses.” Hector also taught, as
Musashi had promised, but it was during an opposite shift, so we rarely saw
each other. If I wasn’t sleeping, he was, and vice versa.