Evermine: Daughters of Askara, Book 2 (26 page)

Concealed beneath his wings, I’d forgotten there was a world beyond the two of us. Then the realization I was half naked and he was working on stripping me nude made me cup my top to my chest and say, “We can’t do this out here.” I lowered my voice. “Someone might see.”

He growled possessively against my throat.

Then we were falling. Fabric ripped and he grunted on impact, rolling until he flipped me beneath him. I stared up at a framed network weighted with canvas, dimly registering the fact we had fallen into a tent. I met the silvery eyes of my mate before he sat back, jerked his shirt overhead and kicked off his boots. He slid his pants from his hips and resettled between my thighs. He lowered his face, nuzzling my breasts and working his way to my navel.

I stroked his jaw, relishing the feel of his lips moving over me.

More fabric tore.
Goodbye gown
.

“Buy you a new one,” he murmured when I tensed. His teeth found my hipbone, and he nibbled while his claws sliced me free of my panties. He tossed them aside, leaving me naked on a mound of silk.

His head lowered, and his tongue found my center. I grabbed his shoulders and sank my claws in deep. He shivered and captured my tender nub between his perfect lips while he licked maddening circles that drew my hips from the ground. My fingers sank into his hair and pulled him down or levered me up, I wasn’t sure which. I was panting, sweating, so close to dying from pleasure, I heard my eulogy murmured in the crazed rush of blood through my ears.

When his finger slipped inside me, I lost track of time. Muscles clamped and vision left.

Sightless, I heard his chuckle, felt his damp skin slide over mine until I knew if my eyes worked, I could stare up into his face as he took me. Hot and smooth, his hard length prodded my core. I spread my legs in welcome. His thumb circled my clit, made my hips buck off the ground, before guiding his erection inside me. The slow stretch of tender skin around hard male made me burn. He braced on either side of my head, his arms brushing my ears as he shifted.

“Open your eyes.” Soft lips brushed my eyelids.

I hadn’t realized they were closed. Blinking him into sight, I saw him smile and wanted to taste it. He bent his head to me, let me savor his cardamom and date flavor. My taste lingered on his tongue, but I didn’t mind. All I had ever wanted was this male, and now I had him. He was truly mine, always.

“I love you.” I spoke around his lips, unwilling to sever contact.

He murmured back, “Love you, Emma-mine.”

His gentle kiss deepened as he surged into me, tightening his mouth. His pace quickened until neither of us had enough air. He slid his palm behind my neck and cupped my skull, lifting my head off the floor. His fingers tangled in my hair as he dragged my face closer. His lips peeled back over sharp teeth, and he fused our mouths together while he drove harder into me.

He sank to his elbows, hooking my right knee over his shoulder without slowing his thrusts. My eyes rolled back and tried to shut out the pleasure. He caught my chin, tilted it.

“Look at me, Emma.” He pushed deep and held, circling his hips. “I want the words.”

My inner muscles fluttered along his cock. I was wound tight and throbbing. One hard kiss from him and I would come apart. I angled my chin up, seeking his mouth, but he refused.

Instead he buried his face in the bend of my neck and whispered, “I need to hear them.”

Hazy desire parted, allowing a trickle of reason to infiltrate my lust-addled brain.

I framed his face in my hands. “Harper Delany, I claim you as my male, as is my right.”

His fierce smile bumped our teeth together in the rough kiss I’d wanted. His hand skimmed down my stomach and slid between us. Parting my folds, his thumb found my clit and worked the bud until tears leaked from my eyes. Poised on the ledge, I was ready to go over. He removed his hand and planted his palms to either side of my shoulders. One long stroke filled me. His groan turned into a growl as I lost the last shred of sanity he’d left me. I threw back my head and screamed his name until my throat burned. He lasted two more strokes before his spine arched and wings burst to their full breadth. My name ripped from his throat as he came.

Harper met my gaze and his lips quirked into the most perfect, exhausted smile.

This was how we were meant to be. I was his, and he was forever mine.

About the Author

Hailey is a wife turned mother turned writer, who loves her husband, her daughter and alone time with her computer. Whenever southern living strikes her as too ordinary, she can be found squinting at her monitor as she writes her next happily-ever-after or with her nose glued to her Kindle’s screen. Wings and/or cupcakes are usually involved…

She loves to hear from readers at
[email protected]
.

You can also swing by
www.haileyedwards.net
for all her latest news.

Look for these titles from Hailey Edwards

Now Available:

Daughters of Askara

Everlong

Coming Soon:

A Hint of Frost

The most damaged heart can fly with the right pair of wings.

Everlong

© 2010 Hailey Edwards

Madelyn’s life is far from fairytale perfect. She is second in line for the throne of a corrupt, brutal monarchy. Or at least she was until her dark guardian sacrificed his life to hide her safely in a realm of infinite possibilities.

For years she’s lived among a colony of escaped slaves as her guardian’s widow. Even in this simple life, though, nothing is as it seems. Her hero kept a secret—a younger brother named Clayton Delaney. Warrior, winged demon…and the man who now wants to lay claim to her heart.

No longer cast in his brother’s shadow, Clayton meets all obstacles head on, including one named Maddie. His infatuation with her reaches the breaking point when she undergoes a royal rite of passage, going into heat and pushing them both over the edge.

Just as Maddie learns that some risks are worth taking, she discovers that her guardian may be alive. And she’s forced to make a choice between the man she’d thought she loved, and the demon willing to lend her his wings.

Warning: This book contains virginal angst, a hero who’s too nice for his own good, wings, claws, and convenient use of glamour. It contains heartbreaking loss, conversation with a woodland creature, and sweet, sweet demon loving.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Everlong:

Pushing up the trail harder than I should have, I almost missed the turn guiding me up the final incline to where the landscape dropped away before me. Trees and rocks jutted up off to my left and right, but ahead lay nothing. My legs ached from the effort of climbing to Emasen’s cliff edge, but the view made the burn worthwhile.

Exhausted, I shrugged out of my backpack, letting it slide down my arms to land with a soft thud on the compacted earth. Sweat stung my eyes. Perspiration beaded on my skin, struggling to squeeze through the coating of waterproof sunscreen Emma had made me apply before allowing me to leave the house.

I walked to the edge of the precipice and stood with the toes of my sneakers hanging over the sheer rock face of the cliff. My shoulders tensed, air whooshed into my lungs as I rolled to the balls of my feet, preparing for the impossibility of flight.

“Step back from the ledge,” Clayton’s soft voice coaxed from behind me.

“Clayton,” I groaned. “I wasn’t really going to jump.” I pointed towards my back. “No wings, remember?” As if either of us could forget.

I twisted abruptly, discounting the lingering tenderness in my knee, and lost my footing. Arms flailing, I tried to regain my balance and failed, toppling backwards from the ledge.

“Clayton!” I shouted his name as my body whistled through the air, plummeting towards the earth. Frantic heartbeats thundered in my ears, drowning out the sound of my screams.

As I fell, my earliest memories flickered through my mind. I pushed aside the barrage of images and settled on my favorite. That of a black-skinned boy with glittering onyx eyes. And wings. Tiny, ruby-red wings that had fluttered with his excitement and made my child’s heart long for the half of my heritage I lacked.

“Madelyn!” Clayton bellowed, leaping from the edge and following me into the sky.

I had only a fraction of a second to wonder if he would make it before his strong arms plucked me from my downward spiral.

His enormous scarlet wings opened wide, stretching out so far in either direction I couldn’t see the blackened tips and tiny, hook-like hands that topped them.

Clayton’s blunt chin dug into the top of my head. The muscular arms holding me close tightened until my breath wheezed from my lungs.

“Were you trying to get yourself killed?” he snapped. “What if I hadn’t been there? What if you’d been alone?” His skin trembled beneath my fingers.

“It was an accident.” I struggled in his hold, trying to free my arms from where he pinned them to my sides. “If you hadn’t startled me, I wouldn’t have fallen in the first place.”

“You can’t be so careless.” He held me dangling in the air before him, shaking me senseless, before tucking me back against his chest. His voice cracked. “What would I have done without you?” His thumb worked across a bony protrusion behind my shoulder blade, marking my absence of wings.

“It’s okay, really.” I rested my cheek against his chest since my hands weren’t free. “A fall from that height would have hurt.” I carefully avoided making a comment on my personal experiences. “But I would have healed eventually.”

“I don’t want to hear this.” His head tossed from side to side. “I don’t want to know how you know that.”

If I’d thought he couldn’t hold me tighter, I’d been wrong. I would wear bruises for a while, but for now, I allowed him to have what he needed, letting him squeeze until joints popped and pain blossomed. It was such a small hurt when compared to the anguish carried in his voice.

Using my chin to part the fabric of his shirt, I rested my face flush against his skin. His body shuddered beneath my cheek. His desperate groan filled my ear with his heated breath as he glided the last few feet and touched down.

Still gripping my upper arms, Clayton lowered me to the ground, sliding me down his body so slowly time felt suspended. With earth beneath my feet, I leaned into him, trying to calm his ragged nerves. Something hard pressed against my stomach, making me shift to get comfortable and him growl low in his throat. Oh.
Oh.

“Madelyn…” His voice grew husky.

I pulled back, meeting his gaze. “You really are worked up over this.” I twisted in a circle before him. “I’m fine. See?”

“Madelyn…”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it.” I touched his arm, the muscle beneath my hand pulled taut as a bowstring.

“Run,” he grated out over his lips.

I spun around, searching for another demon or a wild animal, unable to imagine anything Clayton couldn’t protect me against. We were alone in the ravine. No one or thing had followed us here. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Our eyes locked. I gasped and backed away slowly. Clayton’s pupils flashed silver, huge, luminous and spellbinding. His wings twitched with his effort to still them, but vibrant reds saturated his skin as his arousal heightened and called forth my body’s own response.

“Go.” He clutched his head, breaths ragged. “Run!”

I turned, but from the corner of my eye I saw him fall to the ground. Instead of leaving, I took a half step forward.

“Get away from me!” He slashed the air inches from my face with razor-tipped claws. “I can’t control myself. It’s too much. Your scent…” His wings stretched and then cloaked his body as he hid himself from me. “Find Figment, she knows the way.”

This time he didn’t have to ask twice. I spun on my heel and ran.

When life is a struggle, love is the ultimate luxury.

Reawakening Eden

© 2011 Vivi Andrews

Librarian Eden Fairfax knows exactly where to find books about survival. None of them mentioned how to manage in the aftermath of a worldwide epidemic—with two young orphans in tow.

On a journey south to warmer climes, she finds sanctuary for all three of them among a community of survivors in Seattle. Until she realizes the children are the centerpiece of their bizarre new religion. There’s no choice but to run as far and as fast as her stolen car will go.

Former Army Ranger Connor Reed had planned to live out the end of the world in peace. Yet he can’t stand by and do nothing while a lone woman defends two children from an armed thug. Even if doing
something
means taking the trio in.

Eden’s not sure if the armed hermit is her salvation or an even more dangerous threat. A blizzard forces her to trust him with their lives, and in Connor’s arms she remembers what it’s like to live
.

Just beyond the edge of the storm, though, the cult leader awaits his chance to get his hands on the children—and make Eden his next sexual sacrifice.

Warning: This book contains a strong, silent action-hero, a tough, tenacious heroine, a pair of steal-your-heart kids, and a pony-sized dog named Precious.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Reawakening Eden:

Rambo turned his attention to her, catching her staring. She didn’t look away and neither did he—not so much in a battle of wills as a waiting game, a strategic feint to see who would reveal their true intentions first.

His gun was held at the ready, but she wasn’t exactly pointing a lollipop at him, so she couldn’t really blame him. She didn’t precisely aim the rifle at Rambo’s head, but she didn’t put it down either.

No one moved until the sound of Ben’s engine had faded to a distant whine, and then it was Hannah Rose who broke the silence.