Felicity Heaton's Blog, page 106
October 31, 2011
Interview with a Source Blood - Amber
The first of today's interviews is with the lovely Amber from my vampire romance book,
Forbidden Blood
. I've already spoken to her vampire lover Kearn in a preview interview during my Halloween Spooktacular.
(The door to my interview room opens slowly and a head pops around it. Amber smiles at me, looking surprisingly bright and healthy considering everything she's going through, and then steps into the room. Her hazel eyes sparkle as she approaches and then settles in the black velvet armchair opposite me. Like Lady Lilith of my Vampires Realm series, she toes off her sneakers and settles her feet on the cushion, tucking them close to her bottom. She's wearing a deep red hoodie and jeans today, and it's strange to see her so casually dressed considering she's currently staying at Kearn's family mansion. Her long brown hair is up and she's sporting a rather new looking set of bite marks on her throat.)
FH: It's wonderful to see you again, Amber. You're looking well and those bite marks suit you. (she blushes) It's alright. I'm just a little jealous. You've landed yourself quite the vampire. Let's kick off with a little about you.
AMBER: I'm not sure where to start. I'm human, for now, and I was just going through life like everyone else, not a clue about the fact that vampires are real... and that they aren't the only supernatural species out there walking amongst us. I thought my life was going to be normal. I had a job, and was on the verge of moving to Paris to pursue my career when I met Kearn. I'm not saying that I prefer that life to the one I have now, just that I hadn't expected to meet a vampire that night or to discover that I'm a Source Blood. That might sound crazy to people who don't know what a Source Blood is. I'm human... but my lineage dates back thousands of years to a time when vampires were evolving. My ancestors broke away from them and remained human, but I share a gene with them. Because my bloodline didn't evolve, that gene has remained pure. Now, if a vampire drinks my blood, they can gain anything between a nice buzz if they only take a little... and if they drink a lot... well, I've seen what happens, and it scares me. My blood can restore the same deteriorating gene in theirs, reawakening their godlike powers. It's a frightening thing... both to know I carry the power to unleash the true powers of a vampire, and to know there are other women and men out there who share my blood... my family included. I want to warn them, but I'm not sure I can do it without sounding as though I've lost my mind. Kearn tells me that they'll be monitored and the Venators and the Sovereignty will keep them safe, but I still worry about them, and the others like me out there.
FH: Can you tell us about what happened in your story?
AMBER: I was attacked in an alley because I had witnessed something I shouldn't have. All I had done was see inside a factory courtyard where men were carrying heavy black sacks, and suddenly life as I knew it was over. Men attacked me, and a vampire fed me his blood... I thought I was going crazy but once you see fangs and you've tasted their blood... and can feel it inside you, controlling you against your will, then it's hard to deny they exist. Kearn rescued me. Every day I thank God that Kearn was prowling the area in search of the very man who attacked me. When he took me back to his apartment and explained some things, and asked me to assist him, I couldn't exactly say no. I knew the safest place for me was with him, and he was my only means of survival. The man wanted to taste my blood to discern whether I was a Source Blood and valuable to him as a blood slave, so he could harvest it and sell it to other vampires... he wasn't going to stop until he had me, and I wasn't about to leave Kearn's side until Kearn had him instead. Everything turned mad after that... I found out what Kearn was... and the man upped his game, and I still have to live with the memories of what happened. Sometimes I still have nightmares.
FH: It must have been hard to deal with everything, especially discovering the existence of vampires and other demons, and also the discovery about your blood.
AMBER: It was the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. Being told that I was different, and that the man after me wouldn't stop until he had me... I still get shivers now. I was lucky that Kearn was there. I know he's a vampire, but he's so different to how I pictured them. He's strong and steadfast, and he did everything to protect me. He sacrificed so much to keep me safe, and I love him all the more because of it. Vampires are as different to each other as humans are. Some of them, like Kearn, are good inside, even if they don't realise it. Kearn helped me through everything. He supported me and I couldn't have done it without him. I'm a strong woman, but there's only so much I can deal with... and being told vampires exist, that Venators are there to hunt those who harm Source Bloods, and that I'm one of those special humans... it's a lot to take in. I think I would have fallen apart without Kearn there to keep me together and give me something to focus on. It's far easier to deal with something when your mind is on something far nicer... like making a vampire with a closed-off-heart open up and fall in love with you.
FH: Your relationship with Kearn is very complicated because your blood is forbidden and he's not supposed to taste it. It must have been difficult for both of you at first, and not just because of the blood. There's the vampire thing too.
AMBER: Yeah, the vampire thing and the blood thing were hard to work out at first. When I confronted him about the fact he was a vampire, not just a Venator, and I saw the effect my blood had on him, I wasn't sure how to react. It's like a drug to them. It unleashed a different side to him, released his inhibitions and his passion. It's hard to be afraid of the fact a man, a vampire, has just tasted your blood when he's pinning you to the side of his car and kissing the breath from you in the most delicious way. He was still the man I knew, the one who would do anything to protect me... but all the emotions he usually kept locked away were unleashed and there was actually a small part of me that really wanted him to take more blood from me. Not just that night either. I wanted him so much, against my better judgement, and every time he tasted my blood, we grew a little closer. He finds it hard to keep things hidden from me when my blood is inside him. I can feel his emotions, so I could sense his pain and turmoil, all the dark things he wanted to hide from me. Kearn has been through so much. It was impossible not to fall for him, especially when I found out the things he had endured with his family and his exile. When I learned about his past, I also realised why he kept his emotions on such a tight leash, and why there were times when he refused my blood... like when we were making love.
FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?
AMBER: It's been so much quieter since then, but I know that Kearn still feels a lot of pain over the events that happened in our story, and in his past. I think he has a long way to go before he can move past it all and let it go. He's been even more attentive than usual, and I'm not going to say that I don't enjoy it. When he's not off on missions and we're together, he scores top marks in the romance stakes... actually, he scores high when he's away from me too. He calls me whenever he can to check in on me. I think he's worried that his family aren't treating me well when he's not around, but they're nice to me. He takes me with him on missions whenever he can, and says that it's because he can't bear to be apart from me, but I'm convinced it's because he doesn't want to leave me with his family. I've been working with some of the vampires to promote better treatment of humans amongst the species. It's amazing the work you can do, and the attention you get from even the darkest of vampires when you have Archduke Pendragon on your side. He oversees all the vampires in Britain, and since he introduced me into society, everyone has been very pleasant to me, even at the balls when Kearn and I break the rules by dancing together.
FH: Your story, FORBIDDEN BLOOD, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?
AMBER: Yes, it is part of a series, and I believe you're writing about Kearn's cousin Traegard Montagu next. I would love to read that book because in the few times I've met Traegard, he's been colder than the Antarctic around me. I don't think it's a human thing either. I think it's a woman thing. I've wanted to ask him about it so many times, but he's so quick to make an exit if we're left alone together. Traegard is a Venator too. Kearn says that he didn't know that his cousin had been chosen until they met again at the Savernake mansion the night that Kearn defeated the man who was after me. I believe the series focuses on the Venators, doesn't it, and in particular the vampires? Kearn has told me about Venators, and how they work for the Sovereignty and basically dish out punishment to every vampire who breaks the laws regarding Source Blood. He won't tell me much about the place they call the "endless dark" which is where the souls of those sentenced by the power given to the Venators by the Sovereignty go. He closes up if I try to get him to talk about it, and says that I don't want to know. I generally take that as a sign that I really don't want to know. The vampires aren't the only demon species that the Sovereignty governs. I've heard that there are angels, witches, werewolves and cat-shifters, and things called therianthropes... and even fairies! I haven't met any of them yet, and Kearn says that I probably won't as vampires don't tend to associate with other species, but I overheard someone talking about cat-shifters at a ball recently, and apparently a pride of them has moved to the countryside near the Savernake and Montagu mansions, so I might get to meet some after all.
FH: Describe yourself in one word?
AMBER: Strong. I think it's a requirement when dealing with a vampire fiancé and the whole crazy world they live in.
FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
AMBER: Thank you for having me here today and letting me ramble about Kearn. It feels good to talk to someone about everything and not have to worry that they'll think I've gone round the bend. I can't wait to catch up with everyone in other stories in the series. I'm sure any who read my story will be as interested in finding out how I turn out as the vampires I live with are!
FH: I'm sure they will. I can't wait to sit down with Traegard and have him tell me his story. I'll probably see you then!
AMBER: No doubt about that. Take care until we meet again then! I'm surprised you've lasted until this point in your event without receiving a set of bite marks from one of your guests. (she laughs)
FH: Well, there is still Venturi to come but I don't think he'll bite me. He wouldn't dare.
(Amber smiles and rises from her seat, slips her shoes back on and then leaves with a little wave and a big smile. It must be nice to be engaged to such a handsome vampire)
Did you all enjoy this interview with Amber? If you would like to know more about her and her love story, then here's some more information for you...
Forbidden Blood
Felicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $10.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1103572024
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-forbiddenblood-613573-139.html/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/forbidden-blood/_/R-400000000000000406450
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Forbidden-Blood-Vampire-Venators-Romance/book-mWkS9umUmkmp2XI4cX_woA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66030
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461132193/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1461132193/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1031509117
(The door to my interview room opens slowly and a head pops around it. Amber smiles at me, looking surprisingly bright and healthy considering everything she's going through, and then steps into the room. Her hazel eyes sparkle as she approaches and then settles in the black velvet armchair opposite me. Like Lady Lilith of my Vampires Realm series, she toes off her sneakers and settles her feet on the cushion, tucking them close to her bottom. She's wearing a deep red hoodie and jeans today, and it's strange to see her so casually dressed considering she's currently staying at Kearn's family mansion. Her long brown hair is up and she's sporting a rather new looking set of bite marks on her throat.)
FH: It's wonderful to see you again, Amber. You're looking well and those bite marks suit you. (she blushes) It's alright. I'm just a little jealous. You've landed yourself quite the vampire. Let's kick off with a little about you.
AMBER: I'm not sure where to start. I'm human, for now, and I was just going through life like everyone else, not a clue about the fact that vampires are real... and that they aren't the only supernatural species out there walking amongst us. I thought my life was going to be normal. I had a job, and was on the verge of moving to Paris to pursue my career when I met Kearn. I'm not saying that I prefer that life to the one I have now, just that I hadn't expected to meet a vampire that night or to discover that I'm a Source Blood. That might sound crazy to people who don't know what a Source Blood is. I'm human... but my lineage dates back thousands of years to a time when vampires were evolving. My ancestors broke away from them and remained human, but I share a gene with them. Because my bloodline didn't evolve, that gene has remained pure. Now, if a vampire drinks my blood, they can gain anything between a nice buzz if they only take a little... and if they drink a lot... well, I've seen what happens, and it scares me. My blood can restore the same deteriorating gene in theirs, reawakening their godlike powers. It's a frightening thing... both to know I carry the power to unleash the true powers of a vampire, and to know there are other women and men out there who share my blood... my family included. I want to warn them, but I'm not sure I can do it without sounding as though I've lost my mind. Kearn tells me that they'll be monitored and the Venators and the Sovereignty will keep them safe, but I still worry about them, and the others like me out there.
FH: Can you tell us about what happened in your story?
AMBER: I was attacked in an alley because I had witnessed something I shouldn't have. All I had done was see inside a factory courtyard where men were carrying heavy black sacks, and suddenly life as I knew it was over. Men attacked me, and a vampire fed me his blood... I thought I was going crazy but once you see fangs and you've tasted their blood... and can feel it inside you, controlling you against your will, then it's hard to deny they exist. Kearn rescued me. Every day I thank God that Kearn was prowling the area in search of the very man who attacked me. When he took me back to his apartment and explained some things, and asked me to assist him, I couldn't exactly say no. I knew the safest place for me was with him, and he was my only means of survival. The man wanted to taste my blood to discern whether I was a Source Blood and valuable to him as a blood slave, so he could harvest it and sell it to other vampires... he wasn't going to stop until he had me, and I wasn't about to leave Kearn's side until Kearn had him instead. Everything turned mad after that... I found out what Kearn was... and the man upped his game, and I still have to live with the memories of what happened. Sometimes I still have nightmares.
FH: It must have been hard to deal with everything, especially discovering the existence of vampires and other demons, and also the discovery about your blood.
AMBER: It was the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. Being told that I was different, and that the man after me wouldn't stop until he had me... I still get shivers now. I was lucky that Kearn was there. I know he's a vampire, but he's so different to how I pictured them. He's strong and steadfast, and he did everything to protect me. He sacrificed so much to keep me safe, and I love him all the more because of it. Vampires are as different to each other as humans are. Some of them, like Kearn, are good inside, even if they don't realise it. Kearn helped me through everything. He supported me and I couldn't have done it without him. I'm a strong woman, but there's only so much I can deal with... and being told vampires exist, that Venators are there to hunt those who harm Source Bloods, and that I'm one of those special humans... it's a lot to take in. I think I would have fallen apart without Kearn there to keep me together and give me something to focus on. It's far easier to deal with something when your mind is on something far nicer... like making a vampire with a closed-off-heart open up and fall in love with you.
FH: Your relationship with Kearn is very complicated because your blood is forbidden and he's not supposed to taste it. It must have been difficult for both of you at first, and not just because of the blood. There's the vampire thing too.
AMBER: Yeah, the vampire thing and the blood thing were hard to work out at first. When I confronted him about the fact he was a vampire, not just a Venator, and I saw the effect my blood had on him, I wasn't sure how to react. It's like a drug to them. It unleashed a different side to him, released his inhibitions and his passion. It's hard to be afraid of the fact a man, a vampire, has just tasted your blood when he's pinning you to the side of his car and kissing the breath from you in the most delicious way. He was still the man I knew, the one who would do anything to protect me... but all the emotions he usually kept locked away were unleashed and there was actually a small part of me that really wanted him to take more blood from me. Not just that night either. I wanted him so much, against my better judgement, and every time he tasted my blood, we grew a little closer. He finds it hard to keep things hidden from me when my blood is inside him. I can feel his emotions, so I could sense his pain and turmoil, all the dark things he wanted to hide from me. Kearn has been through so much. It was impossible not to fall for him, especially when I found out the things he had endured with his family and his exile. When I learned about his past, I also realised why he kept his emotions on such a tight leash, and why there were times when he refused my blood... like when we were making love.
FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?
AMBER: It's been so much quieter since then, but I know that Kearn still feels a lot of pain over the events that happened in our story, and in his past. I think he has a long way to go before he can move past it all and let it go. He's been even more attentive than usual, and I'm not going to say that I don't enjoy it. When he's not off on missions and we're together, he scores top marks in the romance stakes... actually, he scores high when he's away from me too. He calls me whenever he can to check in on me. I think he's worried that his family aren't treating me well when he's not around, but they're nice to me. He takes me with him on missions whenever he can, and says that it's because he can't bear to be apart from me, but I'm convinced it's because he doesn't want to leave me with his family. I've been working with some of the vampires to promote better treatment of humans amongst the species. It's amazing the work you can do, and the attention you get from even the darkest of vampires when you have Archduke Pendragon on your side. He oversees all the vampires in Britain, and since he introduced me into society, everyone has been very pleasant to me, even at the balls when Kearn and I break the rules by dancing together.
FH: Your story, FORBIDDEN BLOOD, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?
AMBER: Yes, it is part of a series, and I believe you're writing about Kearn's cousin Traegard Montagu next. I would love to read that book because in the few times I've met Traegard, he's been colder than the Antarctic around me. I don't think it's a human thing either. I think it's a woman thing. I've wanted to ask him about it so many times, but he's so quick to make an exit if we're left alone together. Traegard is a Venator too. Kearn says that he didn't know that his cousin had been chosen until they met again at the Savernake mansion the night that Kearn defeated the man who was after me. I believe the series focuses on the Venators, doesn't it, and in particular the vampires? Kearn has told me about Venators, and how they work for the Sovereignty and basically dish out punishment to every vampire who breaks the laws regarding Source Blood. He won't tell me much about the place they call the "endless dark" which is where the souls of those sentenced by the power given to the Venators by the Sovereignty go. He closes up if I try to get him to talk about it, and says that I don't want to know. I generally take that as a sign that I really don't want to know. The vampires aren't the only demon species that the Sovereignty governs. I've heard that there are angels, witches, werewolves and cat-shifters, and things called therianthropes... and even fairies! I haven't met any of them yet, and Kearn says that I probably won't as vampires don't tend to associate with other species, but I overheard someone talking about cat-shifters at a ball recently, and apparently a pride of them has moved to the countryside near the Savernake and Montagu mansions, so I might get to meet some after all.
FH: Describe yourself in one word?
AMBER: Strong. I think it's a requirement when dealing with a vampire fiancé and the whole crazy world they live in.
FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
AMBER: Thank you for having me here today and letting me ramble about Kearn. It feels good to talk to someone about everything and not have to worry that they'll think I've gone round the bend. I can't wait to catch up with everyone in other stories in the series. I'm sure any who read my story will be as interested in finding out how I turn out as the vampires I live with are!
FH: I'm sure they will. I can't wait to sit down with Traegard and have him tell me his story. I'll probably see you then!
AMBER: No doubt about that. Take care until we meet again then! I'm surprised you've lasted until this point in your event without receiving a set of bite marks from one of your guests. (she laughs)
FH: Well, there is still Venturi to come but I don't think he'll bite me. He wouldn't dare.
(Amber smiles and rises from her seat, slips her shoes back on and then leaves with a little wave and a big smile. It must be nice to be engaged to such a handsome vampire)
Did you all enjoy this interview with Amber? If you would like to know more about her and her love story, then here's some more information for you...
Forbidden Blood
Felicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $10.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1103572024
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-forbiddenblood-613573-139.html/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/forbidden-blood/_/R-400000000000000406450
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Forbidden-Blood-Vampire-Venators-Romance/book-mWkS9umUmkmp2XI4cX_woA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66030
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461132193/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1461132193/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1031509117
vampire romance book - Forbidden Blood - extended excerpt
I'm moving away from my Vampires Realm series now to talk about another vampire romance book. This time I'm offering a chance to download an extended excerpt from Forbidden Blood, a very fast-paced, twisting, emotionally charged vampire romance novel.
You've met Kearn, the hero of the book in a character interview during this event and I'll be speaking to his heroine, Amber soon, but here's your chance to meet her!
Forbidden Blood has a 4.1 / 5 star rating on Amazon.com and a 4.15 / 5 star rating on Goodreads from 27 ratings. It was also awarded a Top Pick at Night Owl Reviews.
Forbidden Blood
Felicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $10.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1103572024
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-forbiddenblood-613573-139.html/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/forbidden-blood/_/R-400000000000000406450
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Forbidden-Blood-Vampire-Venators-Romance/book-mWkS9umUmkmp2XI4cX_woA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66030
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461132193/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1461132193/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1031509117
EXCERPT
She shouldn't have looked.
Amber hurried through the dark side streets of central London, heading for the nearest Underground station. She glanced back over her shoulder. The man from the courtyard of the redbrick factory building stood on the other side of a busy road. The hood of his black coat obscured his face but Amber could feel his eyes on her—intent and cold.
She turned away, huddled up into her thin black suit jacket, and carried on walking. She could feel the man still staring at her.
The courtyard flashed across her mind. Two men with sacks and another sweeping disinfectant out into the street. She had never seen the wooden gates open before, but there was always a puddle of disinfectant outside in the mornings. What did they have in those bags? What were they trying to wash away?
Car headlights snapped her out of her thoughts. A white Audi sports car purred past her, rear lights flashing bright crimson in the darkness as it stopped at the junction ahead and then turned and roared away.
Amber undid the button on her jacket and one on her white shirt, hot from her leaving party and panic. She had to get a grip. She glanced back again, shifting her handbag on her shoulder. No one was there save a few Londoners making their way home from the pubs or going to nightclubs. She hated walking around the city so late at night. It always got her jittery and the few drinks she'd had with her work colleagues at the pub weren't helping.
It wasn't far to the Underground station. If she focused on thinking about good things, she would be there before she knew it and then she would feel foolish for being so nervous. She smiled when she thought about her leaving party. She had worked for the company for years, but it was time for a change and she couldn't wait to start her new life. In only a few weeks, she would be working in Paris. She would be able to see her brother more often and would be able to soak up a different culture. It seemed like a dream and she was so caught up in it that she didn't care about all the work she still had to do—the crash course in French, even though it was a British firm she was going to work for and there would be English speakers there, all the packing and things she had to arrange.
Amber turned down a narrow one-way street. A light on the wall of a building above her blinked on and off. Footsteps rang out behind her, echoing along the road. Pleasant daydreams about her future life in Paris disappeared. She walked faster, her heart beating quicker now as fearful thoughts crowded her mind.
She had almost reached the other end of the road when two men appeared, walking towards her. She went to cross the road to avoid them but they split up and motioned to each other. Her hazel eyes shot wide when she recognised them from the courtyard. She turned to go back the other way.
The hooded man stood at the other end of the street.
Amber searched for a way to get past him. Why had he followed her? Her heart beat harder. Long heavy black sacks. Pink disinfectant.
Bodies?
Blood?
A hand around her wrist sent a jolt through her and she tried to pull free. One man twisted her right arm behind her back and the other grabbed her left wrist. They pulled her backwards into the shadows.
Amber kicked her legs and opened her mouth to scream. A heavy gloved hand covered it. The smell of leather filled her nostrils and she breathed hard through her nose, staring wild-eyed at the man in front of her. The hood obscured his face but she could see his jaw, see the hint of a smile on his lips.
He nodded to the two men behind her and their grip increased. Amber flailed, desperate to escape. It was impossible. She stamped on their feet, kicked their legs, wriggled with all of her strength, but they wouldn't let her go.
The man motioned to one of the others holding her. The moment he removed his hand from her mouth, another covered it, keeping her silent. She tried to call out anyway, her eyes darting between her attackers and the street. The hooded man smiled at her, as though amused by the muffled sound and her panic.
Amber stilled when he reached inside his long black coat and pulled out a knife. Her eyes went round and her heart raced, fear thundering in her veins.
He was going to kill her.
She shook her head and didn't stop, not when the man took another step back and not even when he raised his left hand and drew the knife down the palm of his leather glove, cutting into his flesh beneath. Not a trace of pain showed on what she could see of his face. Was he trying to frighten her by showing how strong he was? She was already petrified. He stepped towards her and she redoubled her fight against the men, kicking with all of her might.
"Hurry," the man to her right said in a low voice as her heel connected with his shin. "Get to it already."
Tears rolled down her cheeks and a chill swept in constant waves over her skin, stealing her strength. She shook her head again and begged the man not to hurt her, but the other man's hand over her mouth turned her words into nothing more than a frightened murmur. Futile.
The hooded man stepped up to her, balled his cut hand into a fist, and raised it towards her face. What was he going to do? She kept her eyes fixed on the knife in his other hand, afraid that he would stab her if she dared to look away from it.
She gasped when the man holding her mouth released it but didn't have time to call out for help. He pressed his fingers into her cheeks, forced her mouth open and tilted her head back. Her gaze snapped to the hooded man's hand. He held it above her and drops of blood trembled on the edge of his black glove.
He was going to make her drink his blood.
She tried to move but couldn't. The men's grip on her increased again, fingers pressing hard into her arms, bruising her. The drop fell, landing on her tongue, and another quickly followed it. The hooded man tightened his fist and more dripped into her mouth. She tried not to swallow, didn't want to taste his blood. It slid down her throat, one drop after another, until she wanted to be sick.
And then she felt strange.
A hollow feeling opened inside her and her mind emptied.
His hand hovered above her, feeding her blood, and it no longer felt repulsive or frightening. It tasted good. Thick, heavy fog rolled into her mind, weighing her head down. She closed her eyes and then struggled to open them again.
The men behind her released her arms.
Amber stood there facing the hooded man, her shoulders relaxed and her head tilted to one side. He wavered in her vision as he raised the knife and licked the blade. It didn't scare her. Her handbag slid down her right arm to the crook of her elbow as she raised her hand. She held it out to him, palm up, and blinked languidly.
He took it in his, so gently that she smiled, and ran the knife over her palm. The sting of pain was pleasurable, flooding her with hazy warmth from head to toe, awakening blissful awareness of his touch and his hungry intent.
The man lifted her hand towards his mouth and dipped his head. Was he going to kiss it better? She continued to smile, amused by his chivalry.
What a nice man.
His tongue came out. White lights flashed across him.
They blinded her and she flinched away, afraid of the bright light that drowned out the world. The man released her hand and was behind her in an instant. Her handbag dropped to the floor and she tried to blink away the white spots in her vision and they multiplied.
The sound of footsteps echoed in her mind and she cursed the other men for fleeing. They would pay for leaving her here to deal with this Venator.
Her hands tightened into fists.
She couldn't risk fighting the Venator but she had to taste the blood. She raised her hand towards her mouth. This was an unexpected twist but she could work it in her favour. First, she had to be sure she was a Source, and then she would take care of the Venator.
What was a Source?
She stopped with her hand mid-way to her mouth. Blood pooled on her palm, black in the low light.
What was she doing?
The door of the white car opened and Amber looked at it. It was the Audi. A man stepped out and she moved back. Damn interfering Venator.
Amber frowned at her thoughts. What was a Venator? What was going on? She tried to remember but her thoughts became tangled with others, ones she didn't understand. They didn't feel as though they were her own.
She turned towards the hooded man. The car lights shone on the lower half of his face, highlighting his jaw and mouth. A tilt of a smile touched his lips. She needed to taste the blood.
"Get in the car," a male voice said behind her, deep and intense.
She refused. She had to taste the blood and then leave. She raised her hand and poked her tongue out. A taste was all it would take. Then she would know.
"Now!"
Amber jumped, startled by the volume of that word. She looked at her palm, horrified by what she had been about to do, and then at the hooded man. He continued to smile at her and she felt compelled to do as he silently wished.
"Car, now!" the man behind her said. He was right. She had to get away from the man who had cut her but she couldn't move.
Her thoughts became strange and distant again, and no matter how many times she told herself to run, her feet wouldn't cooperate. She wanted to go with the hooded man, even though she knew he would kill her.
Her head spun.
She took a step towards him, her mind heavy and thick again.
Someone grabbed her arm from behind and then a bright blue flash burst out of the corner of her eye. She stared at the silver handgun beside her head and the strange blue marks on the man's hand. They glowed. Shiny. Amber reached out to touch them.
The new man moved his arm away from her and pulled her back, so she was almost behind him. She tried to focus on his arm and the gun. The fog descended on her mind again, swamping everything, turning her numb and empty. Her gaze moved of its own accord, shifting to the man's face. Silver hair. Green eyes. Damned Venator.
She struggled against his grip, clawing at his hand.
"Calm down." He glanced at her and then back at the hooded man. "Lower the knife and come peacefully."
"Peacefully?" She yanked on her arm in an attempt to free herself, twisting her wrist in his tight grip and not caring that it hurt. She had to get away from him. The silver-haired man turned her way, his vivid green eyes bright in the car headlights and boring into hers. She sneered. "I will never come peacefully, Venator."
"Let her go," he said and she shook her head.
Amber kept shaking it, trying to clear the weird dull feeling and get her mind into order. How did she know this man? The knowledge she sought shifted and evaded her grasp, as though it was a living thing and could anticipate her. The haze in her head lifted long enough that she saw the silver-haired man clearly at last. His eyes were cold as he stared into hers, pupils narrowed and an edge of darkness about his handsome face.
"I said, let her go." He turned to the hooded man.
Amber looked there too. She couldn't see them, but she could feel his eyes on her, and could feel him inside her head and her body. She scrubbed her throat with her hand, her mouth, trying to get him out of her. The silver-haired man held her tighter. What was he waiting for? Shoot him. He had tried to kill her. He had put something inside her and now she felt strange.
The silver-haired man started to pull the trigger.
"No!" she screamed and knocked his hand away. She stared at his raised gun and her outstretched hand. What the hell was she doing? She wanted the man dead, so why had she stopped him?
The man holding her shoved her backwards and then ducked away from her. A silver streak shot past her wide eyes. The knife clattered to the floor a short distance behind her and a thin dark line flowed down the man's neck from his ear, soaking into his white shirt. He raised his gun again but she grabbed it and pulled it around to point at her.
He froze.
The hooded man laughed.
Amber's gaze shot from the barrel of the gun to him. She stared at his mouth.
Fangs.
He grinned and it felt as though he was looking straight through her. Whispered voices filled her head, clashing with each other so she couldn't make out what they were saying. She tried to focus on one of them but couldn't. The clamour in her mind rose and a deep sense that she wasn't alone washed through her. Someone else was in her head with her. The hooded man's smile widened. Him. How? One of the voices rang out above the rest and her questions fell away, leaving her docile again. He knew something about her that she didn't. Something important. She had to know too.
She took a step towards him and he was gone, leaving the street empty in front of her. Why? She went to walk after him and frowned when her arm lagged behind her, held fast by something. Her eyes drifted to her wrist and the hand tightly grasping it.
"Are you all right?" the silver-haired man said and her head suddenly felt lighter.
Her gaze ran up his left arm to his shoulder. A trail of blood stained his white shirt and she followed the drips and dashes downwards to the black holster around his shoulders. His gun was in it but not secured. If she made a lunge for it, would he reach it before her? Amber shook that thought away. This man had saved her. Why would she do such a thing to him? Because he was dangerous. She didn't want to go with him. She wanted to find the man. The feeling ran deep in her blood, flowing through her veins, compelling her. She needed to find the man.
This Venator would be her downfall.
Amber shook her head again and the haze in her mind dissipated for long enough that she felt her normal self again. Her panic and fear returned full force, crashing over her. What was happening to her? She kept thinking about things she wasn't familiar with, like Venators and Sources, and wanted to do things that went against her nature, like injuring someone.
The man held his bleeding ear with his right hand. There were pale tribal markings on it. They wove down over his wrist and under his white shirtsleeve. Those markings had glowed ethereally earlier. She couldn't have imagined it.
"You need to come with me," he said, and before she could take in what was happening, he dragged her to the white Audi R8 and pushed her into it on the passenger side.
He closed the door, picked up the knife and her handbag from the pavement, and rounded the car. Amber sat there, thoughtless and empty, her eyes fixed on the spot where the hooded man had been. She should have gone with him.
No. She shouldn't have. She didn't know what she was thinking anymore.
The car moved and she became gradually aware of the man next to her. Her gaze slid to him. He was handsome, his green eyes fixed on the road now, shadowed by a frown of concentration, and the messy finger-length strands of his silver hair brushed back out of his face. He didn't look old enough to have such white hair. He seemed barely five years her senior.
Venator.
It echoed in her head, as though something inside her knew it applied to him even when she had never heard the word before tonight.
"What is your name?" His deep voice soothed her, easing away some of her tension even when she felt she should be on alert, or escaping.
Amber didn't reply. Her eyes dropped to the gun tucked under his left arm when he clipped the leather strap over it, securing it in place. It unnerved her but not as much as the fact that she wanted to use it against him, or the fact that his arm had glowed blue and the other man had fangs. None of that made sense, even when she felt it did.
The man looked at her and she glanced up, meeting his gaze. The streetlights flashed on his face, stealing all colour and warmth from his eyes. They were so cold that she couldn't tear hers away. She stared into them, chilled by the detached air that he emanated but fascinated by him at the same time. Was he as empty inside as his eyes? She had never met anyone who looked as hollow and emotionless as this man did. Something terrible must have happened to him to make him look this way.
She remembered the way his arm had glowed.
Inhuman.
Her head spun.
Venator.
She wanted to get away from him. Her priority was to escape, not fall under a spell.
They pulled to a halt at a set of traffic lights and her hand went straight for the door. She shoved it open and the man grabbed her, pulling her back against him. The door slammed shut without her touching it and the locks clunked into place. She elbowed the man in the ribs, struggled out of his grip and lunged for the door again, frantically tugging on the handle. It wouldn't open. Her eyes darted over the moulded leather of the door. No way of unlocking it. The Venator would stop her before she could find the button on the dashboard that would unlock the doors. She spat out a curse. Never mind. If she couldn't escape, she could at least taste her blood.
"You cannot leave. You are in too much danger out there."
Amber stared down at the cut on her right palm. It had bled all over her trousers.
She had to lick the blood and taste it.
She raised her hand but the man caught her wrist.
"What happened?" He frowned at the cut.
Amber tried to get her hand back but his grip was vice tight. Interfering Venator. She gritted her teeth and twisted her arm. He didn't let go. Her stomach turned when she saw the blood on her palm and her vision distorted. She stopped struggling and looked at the man. His expression was soft, silently reassuring, and the longer she stared at him, the calmer she felt, until the sense that she wasn't in control of herself disappeared again.
Amber tried to remember what had happened to her hand but it slipped through her fingers every time she came close, as though she didn't really want to recall it.
"He gave you his blood, didn't he?"
That memory popped to the forefront of her mind and she nodded. The man had made her drink his blood. It had been disgusting and she could feel it inside her.
"Hold on." He released her hand, put the car into gear and roared off the white line.
Amber did. She grabbed the edge of the seat with her left hand as they raced through the streets of London so fast they were a blur. She couldn't take her eyes off the road and the cars as they swerved around them, barely missing each one. Her heart lodged in her throat, her right hand trembling where she held it out in front of her. What was happening? It felt as though she had slipped into some dreadful fantasy world and she wanted out.
He turned the car around a corner so sharply that the tyres screeched and she slammed against the door, and then they were going down a slope towards an underground garage. The car spun around in the brightly lit space, coming to a halt facing the exit, and the engine cut out. A grey shutter slowly rolled down, eclipsing the world outside.
Amber stared at it, still trying to catch up.
The man had given her blood, and then he had cut her. She needed to taste her blood before the Venator stopped her. She was about to lick her palm when the door beside her opened and he pulled her out of the car.
"Damned Venator!" She kneed him in the groin and ran for the garage door.
He reached it before her and stood in her path, his eyes darker and colder than ever. He glared at her and drew his gun.
"Let her go," he whispered, voice strained.
She grinned, satisfied by the pain in his voice.
"No." Amber tried to pass him.
"You do not want to leave, woman. You do not want to do as he bids."
Amber stopped. "As who bids?"
The strange feeling inside her grew worse, something telling her to keep going and not listen to him. She had to get past the man and drink her blood. That was all that mattered now.
"Listen to my voice." He put the gun away and stepped up to her.
The moment his hands touched her shoulders, Amber felt different. She stared into his eyes and her thoughts fell into better order, enough that she could recall things clearly again.
Her heart pounded.
"The man made me drink his blood… I saw him in that place with the gates and the disinfectant and then they were after me. He cut me." She held her hand out and it trembled between them, fluttering in time with her heart. "I just want to go home. I want this nightmare to end. Please? I can't take this. Please?"
The man stepped back, his eyes still fixed intently on her face, the frown not leaving his.
"The man will come for you."
"Fangs," she whispered and her eyes widened. Her heart missed a beat and then slammed painfully against her ribs. "He had fangs. He was going to drink my blood."
"I will not hurt you. You must ignore your instincts and listen to me. I will not allow him to harm you. You will be safe here," he said, so calmly and softly that the deep waves of fear surging through her eased to gentle ripples. "He will find you if you leave. I can protect you. I will not allow the man to harm you."
Amber looked at the closed garage door and then back at him.
There was honesty in his green eyes and her options were limited. Either she stayed here with him, or she ventured outside where there were monsters. If she did that, and the man found her, she wouldn't escape him a second time. He had fangs. He had been about to drink her blood.
Something inside her said that she would be fine outside, and that she wanted to find the hooded man again. She wanted him to taste her blood. Desired it more than anything. This man was lying to her.
No. Amber closed her eyes, battling the compulsion to leave, and then looked back into the silver-haired man's eyes.
The other man had wanted to kill her and drink her blood. This man had saved her. He said he could protect her.
"I will bandage your hand and make you feel better if you come upstairs," he said in a low voice, one that soothed her ears and quelled her fear. The desire to escape him drifted away, replaced by a need to remain.
"Will you tell me what's happening to me? I feel strange."
He held his hand out, pointing to his left. "If you come with me."
Amber looked at the dark grey metal door far to her right across the empty garage and then back at the man. His gaze held hers, cold but honest, and she ignored the voice inside her that was screaming for her to leave and taste her blood.
She nodded and went with him.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
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You've met Kearn, the hero of the book in a character interview during this event and I'll be speaking to his heroine, Amber soon, but here's your chance to meet her!
Forbidden Blood has a 4.1 / 5 star rating on Amazon.com and a 4.15 / 5 star rating on Goodreads from 27 ratings. It was also awarded a Top Pick at Night Owl Reviews.
Forbidden Blood
Felicity HeatonIn a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $10.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1103572024
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Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66030
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461132193/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1461132193/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1031509117
EXCERPT
She shouldn't have looked.
Amber hurried through the dark side streets of central London, heading for the nearest Underground station. She glanced back over her shoulder. The man from the courtyard of the redbrick factory building stood on the other side of a busy road. The hood of his black coat obscured his face but Amber could feel his eyes on her—intent and cold.
She turned away, huddled up into her thin black suit jacket, and carried on walking. She could feel the man still staring at her.
The courtyard flashed across her mind. Two men with sacks and another sweeping disinfectant out into the street. She had never seen the wooden gates open before, but there was always a puddle of disinfectant outside in the mornings. What did they have in those bags? What were they trying to wash away?
Car headlights snapped her out of her thoughts. A white Audi sports car purred past her, rear lights flashing bright crimson in the darkness as it stopped at the junction ahead and then turned and roared away.
Amber undid the button on her jacket and one on her white shirt, hot from her leaving party and panic. She had to get a grip. She glanced back again, shifting her handbag on her shoulder. No one was there save a few Londoners making their way home from the pubs or going to nightclubs. She hated walking around the city so late at night. It always got her jittery and the few drinks she'd had with her work colleagues at the pub weren't helping.
It wasn't far to the Underground station. If she focused on thinking about good things, she would be there before she knew it and then she would feel foolish for being so nervous. She smiled when she thought about her leaving party. She had worked for the company for years, but it was time for a change and she couldn't wait to start her new life. In only a few weeks, she would be working in Paris. She would be able to see her brother more often and would be able to soak up a different culture. It seemed like a dream and she was so caught up in it that she didn't care about all the work she still had to do—the crash course in French, even though it was a British firm she was going to work for and there would be English speakers there, all the packing and things she had to arrange.
Amber turned down a narrow one-way street. A light on the wall of a building above her blinked on and off. Footsteps rang out behind her, echoing along the road. Pleasant daydreams about her future life in Paris disappeared. She walked faster, her heart beating quicker now as fearful thoughts crowded her mind.
She had almost reached the other end of the road when two men appeared, walking towards her. She went to cross the road to avoid them but they split up and motioned to each other. Her hazel eyes shot wide when she recognised them from the courtyard. She turned to go back the other way.
The hooded man stood at the other end of the street.
Amber searched for a way to get past him. Why had he followed her? Her heart beat harder. Long heavy black sacks. Pink disinfectant.
Bodies?
Blood?
A hand around her wrist sent a jolt through her and she tried to pull free. One man twisted her right arm behind her back and the other grabbed her left wrist. They pulled her backwards into the shadows.
Amber kicked her legs and opened her mouth to scream. A heavy gloved hand covered it. The smell of leather filled her nostrils and she breathed hard through her nose, staring wild-eyed at the man in front of her. The hood obscured his face but she could see his jaw, see the hint of a smile on his lips.
He nodded to the two men behind her and their grip increased. Amber flailed, desperate to escape. It was impossible. She stamped on their feet, kicked their legs, wriggled with all of her strength, but they wouldn't let her go.
The man motioned to one of the others holding her. The moment he removed his hand from her mouth, another covered it, keeping her silent. She tried to call out anyway, her eyes darting between her attackers and the street. The hooded man smiled at her, as though amused by the muffled sound and her panic.
Amber stilled when he reached inside his long black coat and pulled out a knife. Her eyes went round and her heart raced, fear thundering in her veins.
He was going to kill her.
She shook her head and didn't stop, not when the man took another step back and not even when he raised his left hand and drew the knife down the palm of his leather glove, cutting into his flesh beneath. Not a trace of pain showed on what she could see of his face. Was he trying to frighten her by showing how strong he was? She was already petrified. He stepped towards her and she redoubled her fight against the men, kicking with all of her might.
"Hurry," the man to her right said in a low voice as her heel connected with his shin. "Get to it already."
Tears rolled down her cheeks and a chill swept in constant waves over her skin, stealing her strength. She shook her head again and begged the man not to hurt her, but the other man's hand over her mouth turned her words into nothing more than a frightened murmur. Futile.
The hooded man stepped up to her, balled his cut hand into a fist, and raised it towards her face. What was he going to do? She kept her eyes fixed on the knife in his other hand, afraid that he would stab her if she dared to look away from it.
She gasped when the man holding her mouth released it but didn't have time to call out for help. He pressed his fingers into her cheeks, forced her mouth open and tilted her head back. Her gaze snapped to the hooded man's hand. He held it above her and drops of blood trembled on the edge of his black glove.
He was going to make her drink his blood.
She tried to move but couldn't. The men's grip on her increased again, fingers pressing hard into her arms, bruising her. The drop fell, landing on her tongue, and another quickly followed it. The hooded man tightened his fist and more dripped into her mouth. She tried not to swallow, didn't want to taste his blood. It slid down her throat, one drop after another, until she wanted to be sick.
And then she felt strange.
A hollow feeling opened inside her and her mind emptied.
His hand hovered above her, feeding her blood, and it no longer felt repulsive or frightening. It tasted good. Thick, heavy fog rolled into her mind, weighing her head down. She closed her eyes and then struggled to open them again.
The men behind her released her arms.
Amber stood there facing the hooded man, her shoulders relaxed and her head tilted to one side. He wavered in her vision as he raised the knife and licked the blade. It didn't scare her. Her handbag slid down her right arm to the crook of her elbow as she raised her hand. She held it out to him, palm up, and blinked languidly.
He took it in his, so gently that she smiled, and ran the knife over her palm. The sting of pain was pleasurable, flooding her with hazy warmth from head to toe, awakening blissful awareness of his touch and his hungry intent.
The man lifted her hand towards his mouth and dipped his head. Was he going to kiss it better? She continued to smile, amused by his chivalry.
What a nice man.
His tongue came out. White lights flashed across him.
They blinded her and she flinched away, afraid of the bright light that drowned out the world. The man released her hand and was behind her in an instant. Her handbag dropped to the floor and she tried to blink away the white spots in her vision and they multiplied.
The sound of footsteps echoed in her mind and she cursed the other men for fleeing. They would pay for leaving her here to deal with this Venator.
Her hands tightened into fists.
She couldn't risk fighting the Venator but she had to taste the blood. She raised her hand towards her mouth. This was an unexpected twist but she could work it in her favour. First, she had to be sure she was a Source, and then she would take care of the Venator.
What was a Source?
She stopped with her hand mid-way to her mouth. Blood pooled on her palm, black in the low light.
What was she doing?
The door of the white car opened and Amber looked at it. It was the Audi. A man stepped out and she moved back. Damn interfering Venator.
Amber frowned at her thoughts. What was a Venator? What was going on? She tried to remember but her thoughts became tangled with others, ones she didn't understand. They didn't feel as though they were her own.
She turned towards the hooded man. The car lights shone on the lower half of his face, highlighting his jaw and mouth. A tilt of a smile touched his lips. She needed to taste the blood.
"Get in the car," a male voice said behind her, deep and intense.
She refused. She had to taste the blood and then leave. She raised her hand and poked her tongue out. A taste was all it would take. Then she would know.
"Now!"
Amber jumped, startled by the volume of that word. She looked at her palm, horrified by what she had been about to do, and then at the hooded man. He continued to smile at her and she felt compelled to do as he silently wished.
"Car, now!" the man behind her said. He was right. She had to get away from the man who had cut her but she couldn't move.
Her thoughts became strange and distant again, and no matter how many times she told herself to run, her feet wouldn't cooperate. She wanted to go with the hooded man, even though she knew he would kill her.
Her head spun.
She took a step towards him, her mind heavy and thick again.
Someone grabbed her arm from behind and then a bright blue flash burst out of the corner of her eye. She stared at the silver handgun beside her head and the strange blue marks on the man's hand. They glowed. Shiny. Amber reached out to touch them.
The new man moved his arm away from her and pulled her back, so she was almost behind him. She tried to focus on his arm and the gun. The fog descended on her mind again, swamping everything, turning her numb and empty. Her gaze moved of its own accord, shifting to the man's face. Silver hair. Green eyes. Damned Venator.
She struggled against his grip, clawing at his hand.
"Calm down." He glanced at her and then back at the hooded man. "Lower the knife and come peacefully."
"Peacefully?" She yanked on her arm in an attempt to free herself, twisting her wrist in his tight grip and not caring that it hurt. She had to get away from him. The silver-haired man turned her way, his vivid green eyes bright in the car headlights and boring into hers. She sneered. "I will never come peacefully, Venator."
"Let her go," he said and she shook her head.
Amber kept shaking it, trying to clear the weird dull feeling and get her mind into order. How did she know this man? The knowledge she sought shifted and evaded her grasp, as though it was a living thing and could anticipate her. The haze in her head lifted long enough that she saw the silver-haired man clearly at last. His eyes were cold as he stared into hers, pupils narrowed and an edge of darkness about his handsome face.
"I said, let her go." He turned to the hooded man.
Amber looked there too. She couldn't see them, but she could feel his eyes on her, and could feel him inside her head and her body. She scrubbed her throat with her hand, her mouth, trying to get him out of her. The silver-haired man held her tighter. What was he waiting for? Shoot him. He had tried to kill her. He had put something inside her and now she felt strange.
The silver-haired man started to pull the trigger.
"No!" she screamed and knocked his hand away. She stared at his raised gun and her outstretched hand. What the hell was she doing? She wanted the man dead, so why had she stopped him?
The man holding her shoved her backwards and then ducked away from her. A silver streak shot past her wide eyes. The knife clattered to the floor a short distance behind her and a thin dark line flowed down the man's neck from his ear, soaking into his white shirt. He raised his gun again but she grabbed it and pulled it around to point at her.
He froze.
The hooded man laughed.
Amber's gaze shot from the barrel of the gun to him. She stared at his mouth.
Fangs.
He grinned and it felt as though he was looking straight through her. Whispered voices filled her head, clashing with each other so she couldn't make out what they were saying. She tried to focus on one of them but couldn't. The clamour in her mind rose and a deep sense that she wasn't alone washed through her. Someone else was in her head with her. The hooded man's smile widened. Him. How? One of the voices rang out above the rest and her questions fell away, leaving her docile again. He knew something about her that she didn't. Something important. She had to know too.
She took a step towards him and he was gone, leaving the street empty in front of her. Why? She went to walk after him and frowned when her arm lagged behind her, held fast by something. Her eyes drifted to her wrist and the hand tightly grasping it.
"Are you all right?" the silver-haired man said and her head suddenly felt lighter.
Her gaze ran up his left arm to his shoulder. A trail of blood stained his white shirt and she followed the drips and dashes downwards to the black holster around his shoulders. His gun was in it but not secured. If she made a lunge for it, would he reach it before her? Amber shook that thought away. This man had saved her. Why would she do such a thing to him? Because he was dangerous. She didn't want to go with him. She wanted to find the man. The feeling ran deep in her blood, flowing through her veins, compelling her. She needed to find the man.
This Venator would be her downfall.
Amber shook her head again and the haze in her mind dissipated for long enough that she felt her normal self again. Her panic and fear returned full force, crashing over her. What was happening to her? She kept thinking about things she wasn't familiar with, like Venators and Sources, and wanted to do things that went against her nature, like injuring someone.
The man held his bleeding ear with his right hand. There were pale tribal markings on it. They wove down over his wrist and under his white shirtsleeve. Those markings had glowed ethereally earlier. She couldn't have imagined it.
"You need to come with me," he said, and before she could take in what was happening, he dragged her to the white Audi R8 and pushed her into it on the passenger side.
He closed the door, picked up the knife and her handbag from the pavement, and rounded the car. Amber sat there, thoughtless and empty, her eyes fixed on the spot where the hooded man had been. She should have gone with him.
No. She shouldn't have. She didn't know what she was thinking anymore.
The car moved and she became gradually aware of the man next to her. Her gaze slid to him. He was handsome, his green eyes fixed on the road now, shadowed by a frown of concentration, and the messy finger-length strands of his silver hair brushed back out of his face. He didn't look old enough to have such white hair. He seemed barely five years her senior.
Venator.
It echoed in her head, as though something inside her knew it applied to him even when she had never heard the word before tonight.
"What is your name?" His deep voice soothed her, easing away some of her tension even when she felt she should be on alert, or escaping.
Amber didn't reply. Her eyes dropped to the gun tucked under his left arm when he clipped the leather strap over it, securing it in place. It unnerved her but not as much as the fact that she wanted to use it against him, or the fact that his arm had glowed blue and the other man had fangs. None of that made sense, even when she felt it did.
The man looked at her and she glanced up, meeting his gaze. The streetlights flashed on his face, stealing all colour and warmth from his eyes. They were so cold that she couldn't tear hers away. She stared into them, chilled by the detached air that he emanated but fascinated by him at the same time. Was he as empty inside as his eyes? She had never met anyone who looked as hollow and emotionless as this man did. Something terrible must have happened to him to make him look this way.
She remembered the way his arm had glowed.
Inhuman.
Her head spun.
Venator.
She wanted to get away from him. Her priority was to escape, not fall under a spell.
They pulled to a halt at a set of traffic lights and her hand went straight for the door. She shoved it open and the man grabbed her, pulling her back against him. The door slammed shut without her touching it and the locks clunked into place. She elbowed the man in the ribs, struggled out of his grip and lunged for the door again, frantically tugging on the handle. It wouldn't open. Her eyes darted over the moulded leather of the door. No way of unlocking it. The Venator would stop her before she could find the button on the dashboard that would unlock the doors. She spat out a curse. Never mind. If she couldn't escape, she could at least taste her blood.
"You cannot leave. You are in too much danger out there."
Amber stared down at the cut on her right palm. It had bled all over her trousers.
She had to lick the blood and taste it.
She raised her hand but the man caught her wrist.
"What happened?" He frowned at the cut.
Amber tried to get her hand back but his grip was vice tight. Interfering Venator. She gritted her teeth and twisted her arm. He didn't let go. Her stomach turned when she saw the blood on her palm and her vision distorted. She stopped struggling and looked at the man. His expression was soft, silently reassuring, and the longer she stared at him, the calmer she felt, until the sense that she wasn't in control of herself disappeared again.
Amber tried to remember what had happened to her hand but it slipped through her fingers every time she came close, as though she didn't really want to recall it.
"He gave you his blood, didn't he?"
That memory popped to the forefront of her mind and she nodded. The man had made her drink his blood. It had been disgusting and she could feel it inside her.
"Hold on." He released her hand, put the car into gear and roared off the white line.
Amber did. She grabbed the edge of the seat with her left hand as they raced through the streets of London so fast they were a blur. She couldn't take her eyes off the road and the cars as they swerved around them, barely missing each one. Her heart lodged in her throat, her right hand trembling where she held it out in front of her. What was happening? It felt as though she had slipped into some dreadful fantasy world and she wanted out.
He turned the car around a corner so sharply that the tyres screeched and she slammed against the door, and then they were going down a slope towards an underground garage. The car spun around in the brightly lit space, coming to a halt facing the exit, and the engine cut out. A grey shutter slowly rolled down, eclipsing the world outside.
Amber stared at it, still trying to catch up.
The man had given her blood, and then he had cut her. She needed to taste her blood before the Venator stopped her. She was about to lick her palm when the door beside her opened and he pulled her out of the car.
"Damned Venator!" She kneed him in the groin and ran for the garage door.
He reached it before her and stood in her path, his eyes darker and colder than ever. He glared at her and drew his gun.
"Let her go," he whispered, voice strained.
She grinned, satisfied by the pain in his voice.
"No." Amber tried to pass him.
"You do not want to leave, woman. You do not want to do as he bids."
Amber stopped. "As who bids?"
The strange feeling inside her grew worse, something telling her to keep going and not listen to him. She had to get past the man and drink her blood. That was all that mattered now.
"Listen to my voice." He put the gun away and stepped up to her.
The moment his hands touched her shoulders, Amber felt different. She stared into his eyes and her thoughts fell into better order, enough that she could recall things clearly again.
Her heart pounded.
"The man made me drink his blood… I saw him in that place with the gates and the disinfectant and then they were after me. He cut me." She held her hand out and it trembled between them, fluttering in time with her heart. "I just want to go home. I want this nightmare to end. Please? I can't take this. Please?"
The man stepped back, his eyes still fixed intently on her face, the frown not leaving his.
"The man will come for you."
"Fangs," she whispered and her eyes widened. Her heart missed a beat and then slammed painfully against her ribs. "He had fangs. He was going to drink my blood."
"I will not hurt you. You must ignore your instincts and listen to me. I will not allow him to harm you. You will be safe here," he said, so calmly and softly that the deep waves of fear surging through her eased to gentle ripples. "He will find you if you leave. I can protect you. I will not allow the man to harm you."
Amber looked at the closed garage door and then back at him.
There was honesty in his green eyes and her options were limited. Either she stayed here with him, or she ventured outside where there were monsters. If she did that, and the man found her, she wouldn't escape him a second time. He had fangs. He had been about to drink her blood.
Something inside her said that she would be fine outside, and that she wanted to find the hooded man again. She wanted him to taste her blood. Desired it more than anything. This man was lying to her.
No. Amber closed her eyes, battling the compulsion to leave, and then looked back into the silver-haired man's eyes.
The other man had wanted to kill her and drink her blood. This man had saved her. He said he could protect her.
"I will bandage your hand and make you feel better if you come upstairs," he said in a low voice, one that soothed her ears and quelled her fear. The desire to escape him drifted away, replaced by a need to remain.
"Will you tell me what's happening to me? I feel strange."
He held his hand out, pointing to his left. "If you come with me."
Amber looked at the dark grey metal door far to her right across the empty garage and then back at the man. His gaze held hers, cold but honest, and she ignored the voice inside her that was screaming for her to leave and taste her blood.
She nodded and went with him.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
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Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
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Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461132193/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1461132193/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1031509117
Introducing the Vampires Realm romance series
Vampires make an ideal Halloween read so I thought I would spend some time this morning introducing you all to the
Vampires Realm romance series
. I have an entire site dedicated to my
Vampires Realm series
, so don't forget to head on over there and check it out: http://www.vampiresrealm.com
A few of you, okay, a lot of you have been brave enough to confess that you're new to my vampires but that you would like to know more about them. Hopefully, you'll decide to give them a try. I'm sure there are readers among you who will vouch for the vampire romances I write, and I know I have a few hardcore fans of my particular brand of vampire. If you've found me through my angel romance books, then you'll find that my vampire romances are just as emotionally intense, action-packed, and passionate. I would say they're a little darker than my angel romance books, but since writing Her Guardian Angel , I can't really say that anymore. lol.
So, here's a little about each book in the series, in the series order. There are two free reads among them -- the Eternity story and Reunion.
Prophecy: Child of Light , which is the very first book in the series, is available in ebook for just $0.99 and is a great introduction to the series, but you don't have to start there. The Vampires Realm series , with the exception of the Prophecy Trilogy and Spellbound, can be read in any order. It's more a world than a series.
Here's more about the books, including links to where you can read reviews and excerpts from them and find out where to buy:
.blogbookwrapper, .blogbookwrapper .blogbook {width: 460px; display: block; clear: both; overflow: hidden;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbook {padding: 10px 0 10px;} .blogbookwrapper h2 {font-size: 16px; padding: 15px 0; margin: 0;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookcover {width: 140px; padding-right: 10px; float: left;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation {width: 310px; float: left;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation p {font-size: 12px; padding: 0 0 10px 0; margin: 0;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation p.blogbookdetail {font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #666; padding: 0 0 2px 0;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation p.blogbookreadmore {padding: 10px 0 15px;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation h3 {font-size: 14px; margin: 0; padding: 0 0 7px;}
![Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1] - Paranormal Vampire Romance Ebook](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380449271i/1835348.jpg)
Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]A vampire unlike any other, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she encounters Valentine, a gorgeous vampire who is both her enemy and the man who will change her life forever. Convinced that the prophecy about her is wrong and unable...
paranormal vampire romance book135000 wordsreleased: March 2007Read more at My Website![Prophecy: Caelestis and Aurorea [book 2] - Paranormal Vampire Romance Book](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380468480i/3010483.jpg)
Prophecy: Caelestis and Aurorea [book 2]The final battle draws closer. Prophecy's world becomes darker and more dangerous, pushing her to the limit and testing her strength and her heart, almost breaking her. Old friends turn their backs, leaving her to fight with the help of an...
paranormal vampire romance book109500 wordsreleased: April 2007Read more at My Website
![Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising [book 3] - Paranormal Vampire Romance Book](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380468480i/3010484.jpg)
Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising [book 3]An enemy with unimaginable power and bloodlines with centuries of hatred bred into them, two things that threaten to tear Prophecy and Valentine apart as they fight for their lives and their future together. Their vain attempt to join their houses...
paranormal vampire romance book116000 wordsreleased: May 2007Read more at My Website
Eternity: The BeginningEvery vampire has a beginning, a turning point, a moment of being born into the dark world of their species. In 986bc, Hyperion, current lord of the mighty Validus bloodline, discovered the afterlife wasn't as he'd expected. Condemned to a life...
paranormal vampire romance book9000 wordsreleased: July 2007Read more at My Website
SpellboundWhat's a girl to do when the two men she loves are suddenly her love slaves? A vampire and leader of her bloodline, Prophecy celebrates her Death Day in style with a two night ball. Everyone is there, but all she can think about is getting her mate..
paranormal vampire romance book17550 wordsreleased: October 2007Read more at My Website
ReunionThe Law Keeper for the Venia bloodline, Marise doesn't want to return home but duty dictates that she must investigate the attempt on her lord's life by another vampire. When she sets eyes on her lord, Marise realises that she might have been...
paranormal vampire romance book27100 wordsreleased: January 2008Read more at My Website
Seventh CircleBorn with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a...
paranormal vampire romance book106112 wordsreleased: November 2008Read more at My Website
Winter's KissTheir lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is...
paranormal werewolf romance book78000 wordsreleased: June 2009Read more at My Website
Hunter's MoonThe horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when...
paranormal werewolf romance book65000 wordsreleased: February 2011Read more at My Website
I hope that you'll take a moment to read about the Vampires Realm series now that you know a little more about the books.
For those of you already in love with the series, are you all looking forward to Masquerade? It will come out in January 2012 and I'll be working on editing it soon.
A few of you, okay, a lot of you have been brave enough to confess that you're new to my vampires but that you would like to know more about them. Hopefully, you'll decide to give them a try. I'm sure there are readers among you who will vouch for the vampire romances I write, and I know I have a few hardcore fans of my particular brand of vampire. If you've found me through my angel romance books, then you'll find that my vampire romances are just as emotionally intense, action-packed, and passionate. I would say they're a little darker than my angel romance books, but since writing Her Guardian Angel , I can't really say that anymore. lol.
So, here's a little about each book in the series, in the series order. There are two free reads among them -- the Eternity story and Reunion.
Prophecy: Child of Light , which is the very first book in the series, is available in ebook for just $0.99 and is a great introduction to the series, but you don't have to start there. The Vampires Realm series , with the exception of the Prophecy Trilogy and Spellbound, can be read in any order. It's more a world than a series.
Here's more about the books, including links to where you can read reviews and excerpts from them and find out where to buy:
.blogbookwrapper, .blogbookwrapper .blogbook {width: 460px; display: block; clear: both; overflow: hidden;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbook {padding: 10px 0 10px;} .blogbookwrapper h2 {font-size: 16px; padding: 15px 0; margin: 0;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookcover {width: 140px; padding-right: 10px; float: left;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation {width: 310px; float: left;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation p {font-size: 12px; padding: 0 0 10px 0; margin: 0;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation p.blogbookdetail {font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #666; padding: 0 0 2px 0;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation p.blogbookreadmore {padding: 10px 0 15px;} .blogbookwrapper .blogbookinformation h3 {font-size: 14px; margin: 0; padding: 0 0 7px;}
Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]A vampire unlike any other, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she encounters Valentine, a gorgeous vampire who is both her enemy and the man who will change her life forever. Convinced that the prophecy about her is wrong and unable...paranormal vampire romance book135000 wordsreleased: March 2007Read more at My Website
Prophecy: Caelestis and Aurorea [book 2]The final battle draws closer. Prophecy's world becomes darker and more dangerous, pushing her to the limit and testing her strength and her heart, almost breaking her. Old friends turn their backs, leaving her to fight with the help of an...paranormal vampire romance book109500 wordsreleased: April 2007Read more at My Website
Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising [book 3]An enemy with unimaginable power and bloodlines with centuries of hatred bred into them, two things that threaten to tear Prophecy and Valentine apart as they fight for their lives and their future together. Their vain attempt to join their houses...paranormal vampire romance book116000 wordsreleased: May 2007Read more at My Website
Eternity: The BeginningEvery vampire has a beginning, a turning point, a moment of being born into the dark world of their species. In 986bc, Hyperion, current lord of the mighty Validus bloodline, discovered the afterlife wasn't as he'd expected. Condemned to a life...paranormal vampire romance book9000 wordsreleased: July 2007Read more at My Website
SpellboundWhat's a girl to do when the two men she loves are suddenly her love slaves? A vampire and leader of her bloodline, Prophecy celebrates her Death Day in style with a two night ball. Everyone is there, but all she can think about is getting her mate..paranormal vampire romance book17550 wordsreleased: October 2007Read more at My Website
ReunionThe Law Keeper for the Venia bloodline, Marise doesn't want to return home but duty dictates that she must investigate the attempt on her lord's life by another vampire. When she sets eyes on her lord, Marise realises that she might have been...paranormal vampire romance book27100 wordsreleased: January 2008Read more at My Website
Seventh CircleBorn with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a...paranormal vampire romance book106112 wordsreleased: November 2008Read more at My Website
Winter's KissTheir lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is...paranormal werewolf romance book78000 wordsreleased: June 2009Read more at My Website
Hunter's MoonThe horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when...paranormal werewolf romance book65000 wordsreleased: February 2011Read more at My Website
I hope that you'll take a moment to read about the Vampires Realm series now that you know a little more about the books.
For those of you already in love with the series, are you all looking forward to Masquerade? It will come out in January 2012 and I'll be working on editing it soon.
angel romance book - Her Guardian Angel - extended excerpt
It's time to shake things up again and step away from the vampires and werewolves for a moment to take a look at an equally mysteriously and sexy species, angels.
Anyone who has read any book in my Her Angel romance series knows that I write passionate angels who are quite likely to steal your heart in one way or another. The sexy heroes of my Her Angel romance series all came together in Her Guardian Angel (which is the first novel, but the fourth book in the best selling series and features Marcus as the hero) to kick some serious ass.
Her Guardian Angel can be read out of order with the others in the series. I've had lots of readers use this book as their introduction to the series and not have any problem...
Her Guardian Angel has a 4.9 / 5 star rating on Amazon.com from 7 reviews, and a 4.2 / 5 star rating on Goodreads from 35 ratings.
Here's a little more about it, a teaser excerpt, and the link to the downloadable PDF
Her Guardian Angel
Felicity Heaton
A simple mission becomes a fight for survival in this fantastic instalment in the Her Angel series.
A guardian angel dedicated to his duty, Marcus will do whatever Heaven asks of him, but even his loyalty has its limits. When his superior orders him to gain Amelia's trust through seduction, Marcus starts to question his mission and his feelings for the beautiful woman he has watched over since her birth.
Amelia has gone from one bad relationship to another, so when a gorgeous guy moves in next door looking like Mr Right, she hopes he doesn't turn out to be another black knight in disguise. But there's more to Marcus than meets the eye, and when he rescues her from three demonic men, Amelia is thrust into his nightmarish world—a world where God and the Devil exist, and only one angel can save her from death—Marcus, the angel she's falling in love with.
On the run from demonic angels and the Devil himself, aided by Marcus's angel friends and their amazing women, fighting for survival against the odds, Marcus and Amelia discover a love that will last forever.
A love so strong it will shake Heaven and Hell.
DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal angel romance
length: 110000 words
rating: sultry
released: July 2011
Book 4 in the Her Angel series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Guardian%20Angel
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-guardian-angel-felicity-heaton/1104775871
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herguardianangel-607692-140.html
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Her-Guardian-Angel-Her-Angel/book-lVb0k7lC80OOiMBAOa-Ldg/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77776
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1463788363/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1463788363/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-guardian-angel-felicity-heaton/1032773836
EXCERPTMarcus stretched his left arm out above his head on the pillows of his double bed, buried the fingers of his right hand into his overlong black hair and stared into the inky dark of his bedroom. The open window to his left allowed pale light to filter in from the street far below but it barely cut through the gloom and it wasn't the reason he had lifted the sash around midnight. The stifling summer's day had given way to a humid night that showed no sign of cooling down before dawn broke and heralded the next unbearably hot day. A light breeze washed in through the open window, refreshing him as it caressed the left side of his bare body. The heat wasn't the only thing robbing him of sleep.
The banging came again, more persistent this time, and Marcus clenched his teeth to contain his growing irritation, his focus wholly on the hall outside his apartment. The man had been attacking the door of his neighbour for almost twenty minutes now, rousing Marcus from sleep and throwing him straight into a bad mood that had gradually deteriorated into a desire to beat some sense into the mortal.
He drew in a long breath, held it a moment in a vain attempt to regain control of his temper, and then exhaled slowly. The man hurled another string of impotent threats at his neighbour's door and Marcus's anger spiked right back up. His silver-blue eyes slid towards the digital clock on his bedside table. The display mocked him with the ungodly hour this man had chosen to air his bitter disappointment to not only the female but the entire apartment block. Three in the morning.
Because of the humidity that showed no sign of abating and had made it impossible to get comfortable, Marcus had only been asleep for a scant few hours. He hated waking early, especially when he was stuck in the hell known as the mortal realm.
The man banged again, rattling the wall with a tremor that reached Marcus. He was no threat to the woman because she wasn't foolish enough to answer her door, but it grated on Marcus's nerves nonetheless.
His temper frayed when the man shouted foul accusations at her.
All of them false.
Marcus had known Amelia all of her life, although she had only known him this past month. He had watched over her and she was a pure soul with terrible luck when it came to men, and the man knocking down her door didn't deserve her.
Unable to bear another second and sensing Amelia's increasing fear through the wall that joined their apartments, Marcus rose from the bed and slung on a pair of dark grey jogging bottoms. He walked through his unlit apartment with ease, not bothering with the lights as he could easily map a safe path around the furniture without seeing it, and unlocked his front door. He yanked it open and stepped out into the dull cream hallway on the other side, his gaze immediately fixing on the mortal that was daring to break his sleep and threaten Amelia.
The dark haired man looked at him.
Marcus coolly stared back.
"What's your problem, mate?" The man's fingers curled into fists at his sides. Marcus noted everything about him in under a second.
He was drunk. He was itching for a fight. And he was a fool who thought this sort of abuse would win Amelia back. On the surface, the man wanted to upset her and hurt her, but Marcus could see beyond the façade to the pale hope in this man's heart that Amelia would be his again.
That was something Marcus would never allow.
"You." Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbed sleep from his eyes, and then leaned back against the doorjamb, folding his arms across his bare chest and crossing his legs at his ankles.
The man regarded him for a moment and then turned back to Amelia's door.
"I think you should leave now." Marcus stepped forwards, bringing the man's attention back to him so he wouldn't bang on the door again and cause Amelia's fear to increase. "Before things get out of hand."
The man smiled, amusement touching his dark brown eyes. "What you gonna do about it? She's my girlfriend… not yours. Piss off back inside and get your nose out of my bloody business before I break it."
Marcus sighed. He had warned the man. He had done everything by the book. His patience wearing thin, he looked the man over again, taking in his dark jeans and the loose t-shirt that covered a physique half his own and the way his fists shook as he shouted at Amelia's door. Without resorting to violence, Marcus wasn't sure how to convince the man to leave. He could compel him, but using his powers on such a base creature was beneath him and would do nothing to teach the man a lesson in manners towards women.
The man banged on the door again before Marcus could stop him, hard enough this time that the white painted wood creaked under the attack, and he heard Amelia gasp.
"That is it." Marcus took another step forwards and the man swung at him. Marcus dodged his fist, clamped his left hand down on the man's wrist, and twisted his arm behind his back. The man bent forwards to stop his shoulder from popping out of its socket, facing away from Marcus, and grunted in pain. Marcus glared at the back of his head. "I said to leave."
The man struggled in his grip but stilled when Amelia's apartment door eased open a few inches and she peered around it. Marcus stared at her, frowning at the tears that streaked her flushed cheeks and the fear in her grey eyes, and tightened his grip on the man's arm until he let out another deeply satisfying grunt.
"What do you want?" she whispered, voice hoarse and trembling.
It wasn't like Amelia to look afraid of anything. Marcus had seen her fight it out face-to-face with her exes without showing a trace of fear but this one had rattled her. Weariness shone in her grey eyes, lending them a cold edge he hadn't seen before. Her gaze tracked up Marcus's arm, lingering a moment on his bare torso, and then reached his face.
"I'm sorry if he woke you." Her gentle tone dissolved some of his anger.
Marcus loosened his grip on the man's wrist but held on to him. "It's not a problem. I couldn't stand by and do nothing."
The man twisted enough to look back at Marcus over his shoulder and then turned his head towards Amelia.
"Oh, I see how it is. Dump me and then move on to the next bloke, right? You've probably been fucking him from the moment he moved in. Well, I'm sure Mr Muscle is a great catch…" The man wrenched free of Marcus's grip and stumbled forwards a few steps before righting himself. "But I'm gonna have to fuck up that pretty face of his."
Marcus reacted on instinct and launched his left fist at the man to counter his attack. The moment he did, he felt the strength drain from his arm and pushed harder. He had been holding back to avoid seriously injuring the mortal but now that Heaven had stripped him of his immortal strength he needed to do the opposite and give it everything he had.
He leaned back to avoid the man's punch while still pushing forwards with his own and slammed his fist hard into the man's jaw, cracking his head to one side and sending him crashing into the cream wall. The man bounced off it, hit the dark banister opposite and then collapsed into an ungainly heap on the wooden floor of the hallway.
"Shit." Pain shot along every bone in Marcus's hand and up his arm to his elbow. It had actually hurt.
The man groaned and dragged himself to his feet and Amelia hesitated in the doorway of her apartment, looking as though she couldn't decide whether to assist him or keep back. Marcus shook his hand and waited for something to happen. Instead of the instant punishment he had expected, there was only silence as the man stared hard at both him and Amelia, and then stumbled down the stairs to the next floor.
Marcus still waited.
Part of him couldn't believe that he had struck a mortal and the rest couldn't believe that he wasn't being punished.
Heaven had limited his power the moment he had subconsciously decided to hit the man, leaving him with only the strength of a mortal and therefore open to attack himself. The punch had hurt him. Perhaps that was punishment enough. Perhaps all of this was punishment for his misdeeds.
Marcus sagged against the wall and blew out a sigh, clutching his injured hand to his chest, convinced that Heaven would call him in to reprimand him soon enough. He had committed an act of violence against what could be considered an innocent human. Marcus couldn't think of the man that way. He was vile and cruel, seeking to scare Amelia and hurt her. Marcus had only done his duty by protecting her.
He opened his eyes and looked across at her where she stood at the banister peering down into the stairwell, her hands clutching the wooden railing.
His gaze drifted down over her shoulder-length straight dark hair to the plum-coloured slip that only emphasised her sensual curves, to the lean lengths of her legs. She was so soft and pure. Delicate yet strong of heart. Her fear was gone now, leaving behind the confident woman he was used to seeing in her.
She looked across at him and his eyes dropped to her bare feet. He frowned at the tattoo on her left ankle. A cherub? The plump winged babe sat just above her ankle bone, staring back at him. He smiled. Is that what she thought his kind looked like? The image humans had of angels couldn't have been more wrong. It amused him, stealing away his pain and pushing it to the back of his mind.
His strength returned and the pain dulled further, leaving only a gentle throbbing and bruised knuckles behind as a reminder of what he had done.
"I really am sorry about that." Amelia's soft voice stole into his thoughts and he glanced up at her. She crossed the hall to him and peered at his left hand. "You should put some ice on that."
Marcus studied his red knuckles. Is that what humans did in this sort of situation? In his world, they had angels with the ability to heal others. Such an angel could easily fix this issue for him. Even if he couldn't find one, the red marks would be gone in less than a day, his body's superior healing ability quickly erasing them.
"Would you like to come in for some coffee or a drink? It's the least I can do as payment for being my hero."
Marcus stared at her. Coffee was payment for being a hero? He hadn't indulged in such drugs in a long time and while he knew about the sexually stimulating effects that caffeine had on his kind, he had no interest in drinking coffee with Amelia. If he did that, he wasn't sure what would happen between them, but it would certainly be embarrassing for him.
"No, thank you," he said and when she looked as though she needed a reason for his refusal, he added, "It will keep me awake."
She still didn't seem satisfied. She shifted foot to foot, her gaze darting down to her hands in front of her, and then looked right into his eyes again.
"How about I ice those knuckles instead then?"
Marcus glanced into her low-lit apartment and then back at her, and caught the fear in her eyes as she looked down at the stairwell. She was afraid that the man would return and begin harassing her again. He would accept her offer but not because he needed her to assist him with his healing. He would go with her because he could see that the man had won and had shaken her up, and that she was asking him to stay with her a while because she was scared.
It was his duty to protect her. Tonight, that duty could extend to guarding her a little more closely than usual. Once she had settled and was comfortable with the idea of being alone again, he would take his leave.
He nodded when her attention returned to him.
Amelia led the way into the apartment, leaving him to muse what he had done tonight and his duty.
She deserved better.
A better life.
That was the reason he was here—to keep her safe and watch over her. To protect her from the creeps and from something else.
To give her that better life.
He was sure of it.
Marcus followed her towards the kitchen, noting that the layout of her apartment differed slightly to his as he passed through the pale square lounge. There were no windows in it, just like his one, because the bedroom and bathroom lined the exterior wall opposite him. Their positions in the apartment were reversed in his. He stared through the open door of the room to the right. Her bedroom was next to his and the head of her bed rested against his wall. She slept so close to him, yet he couldn't feel her when he was in bed, couldn't sense her on the other side. At such proximity, he should have been able to even when her signature was dulled by her sleeping. His gaze fell to rest on the long cream couch angled towards the television set to his right in the corner of the lounge. A pillow occupied one arm of the sofa and a scrunched up dark blue blanket sat at the other end.
Did she sleep on the couch?
He looked through into the bedroom again, frowning at the smooth covers on the double bed.
Was that why he couldn't feel her when he was in his bedroom?
Back when he had been watching over her from Heaven, she had always slept in her bed. Had something happened recently to change that? If it had, it must have occurred in the past month when he had been in the mortal realm. When he was here, he couldn't watch over her as he had in Heaven, able to view her through buildings using the power granted to the angels of his division. He had to physically see her.
Amelia came back out of the room to his left. He dragged his gaze away from the bedroom and the bathroom next to it, and finished crossing the room to the open double doors that led into the kitchen. Her small kitchen was brighter than his, the cupboards a pale type of wood, with stainless steel appliances.
Some former owner of his apartment had deemed it stylish to have a dark kitchen. Marcus deemed it impractical. It was a nightmare to keep clean so he had given up feeding himself shortly after moving in and had resorted to eating take away food, instant meals or eating out.
Marcus leaned against the kitchen counter, his hand throbbing. It had been a while since he had felt physical pain. He couldn't remember the last time it had hurt to punch something.
He couldn't remember the last time he had fought someone.
Amelia placed a red and white chequered tea-towel down on the side and emptied out several trays of ice cubes into it. She gathered the ends and twisted the bulk of the cloth around to keep the ice in, and then came over to him. He started when she took hold of his hand, gently slipping her fingers under it so they brushed his palm, and raised it. Heat travelled up his arm and it had nothing to do with pain this time.
She rested the ice pack on his knuckles and he didn't feel the cold at all. He stared at their joined hands, urgently trying to decipher how she had warmed him with only a light touch and alarmed by the hard beat of his heart against his chest. She looked up into his eyes, her grey ones full of warmth again, softening her delicate features and holding his attention.
"Thank you." She glanced away again, her gaze briefly dropping to their hands and the ice pack, and then met his eyes. His pain faded in an instant, driven away by the heat of her touch and her concerned expression, and he marvelled at the effect she had on him. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. She was his duty and that was all she could ever be. Once he had fulfilled his mission, he would finally request his transfer and would never see her again. Her thumb brushed his and fire shimmered over his skin. "I really am sorry that he woke you and that you had to hit him."
"I said it was nothing." Marcus hadn't needed to hit the man. He could have compelled him to stop but he had reacted on instinct, and for some reason that instinct had been to punch him. He could think of a million situations with mortals when he had been in danger and had compelled them. Why not this time?
Had Amelia's presence as a witness deterred him?
Or was she the reason he had struck the man?
He had been consumed by anger, enraged by what the man had said about himself and Amelia, driven to violence by a handful of words.
He was Amelia's protector. Her guardian.
He was not her lover.
Her fingertips grazed his palm as she removed the ice pack and inspected his left hand. A shiver tripped up his arm and down his spine, and his shoulder blades itched. He took his hand away from her and rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension building there.
His wings wanted out.
"How are they feeling?"
Marcus's head snapped up, his eyes immediately locking on Amelia. His wings? She nodded towards his knuckles and relief swept through him.
"Fine," he said absently and breathed slowly to steady his racing heart.
There was no way she could know about his wings but, for a moment, it had felt as though she had been reading his mind. It had been a while since his wings had wanted to come out. After five centuries of living with them sealed away, he had grown used to them not being there. It had been strange becoming accustomed to them again when the binding curse had started to lose effect over thirty years ago. Most of the time, he was content to physically put them away as he was now. It took concentration to maintain their disappearance but it used less energy than hiding them from human eyes with a glamour, and it was far easier to move around in the mortal realm without worrying about accidentally knocking things over with them.
"Are you alright?" Amelia ducked towards him, interrupting his view of his knuckles and replacing it with an altogether more pleasant one of her face and her cleavage.
Marcus stared at her plump full breasts, his pulse picking up again, and then averted his eyes. Women had no shame. It was little wonder his master had decided that they should not serve him. They were wily, manipulative, a distraction, and considered by most as the source of all sin.
"Fine," Marcus repeated and took the ice pack from her, ramming it onto the back of his hand when all he wanted to do was stick it down his jogging bottoms to bring his libido under control.
His fellow warriors had warned him about women, especially ones as beautiful as Amelia, and he wholeheartedly believed every word that they said. Women were dangerous. He would not falter though. Amelia was his mission and his allegiance was to his master, his loyalty to his duty, and nothing would change that.
Once this irksome mission had ended, he would return to Heaven and request his transferral as originally planned, and would join the ranks of the soldiers who protected the realm of Heaven from intruders and wars. He would defend that which he believed in. Not this mortal world, but his world.
He had never physically guarded a human before but was certain that his assignment to act as her next door neighbour was a sign that his mission was progressing and soon he would be free of it.
He couldn't wait to return home.
"How are you feeling?" Marcus took the ice pack away from his hand and set it down in the stainless steel sink beside him.
Amelia shrugged. "Better, I guess."
She didn't look better. The weary edge was back in her eyes, draining them of warmth, and he found himself desiring to comfort her.
"He won't come back." His words had the desired effect and she brightened for a brief moment and then it faded again.
"You don't know that." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I do pick them."
Marcus turned and ran his hand under the cold water, letting it wash away the trace of blood on his knuckles. When he reached for the tap to shut it off again, he felt Amelia's eyes on his bare back, boring into his shoulders, and lingered a moment. Would she mention the marks he had revealed by carelessly turning his back on her?
"It won't be long before I drive you away too."
Those words, softly spoken, caused him to look over his shoulder at her, a frown drawing his dark eyebrows tightly together. She dropped her gaze and then met his with resolution that didn't surprise him. This was the Amelia he had come to know these past three decades. Strong, able to face anything head on, unflinching.
"What makes you say that?" Marcus turned back to face her, aware now that he was bare from the waist up and was probably only encouraging any attraction she might feel towards him. He should have put on a t-shirt before leaving his apartment but he'd had one thing on his mind—getting the irritating bastard in the hallway to shut up so he could sleep.
Or was it purely so he could sleep?
He stared at Amelia, taking in the way her cheeks coloured as he did so and how she couldn't hold his gaze.
He had thought only of protecting her.
Defending her.
"The last bloke who lived alone next door to me left only a couple of months after moving in."
Marcus knew for a fact that the man had been forcibly evicted due to a minor error in payments caused by Heaven's intervention but had later won money on the lottery that had allowed him to place a down payment on the house of his dreams. The young man had been the easiest target to remove in order to place Marcus close to Amelia. The old lady who lived in the apartment on the other side of Amelia was frail and had lived in the building for over twenty years and relied on those around her to assist her. She also slept heavily, meaning that Amelia's ex-boyfriends didn't wake her when they came to knock down her door. Marcus would have had a contender in the guardian stakes if the young man had remained living next to her and they had moved the old lady.
"You do live alone, don't you?" There was a tremble to that question.
Marcus nodded without thinking and then considered the implications of his answer when Amelia's grey eyes warmed again. A loaded question. She had cleverly used it to discern his availability.
He briefly considered making up a girlfriend in order to obliterate any attraction she might feel towards him so he could continue his mission in peace but couldn't get the words out when he looked into her eyes again.
The space between them shrank until it felt as though she was barely inches from him. Her soft breathing filled his ears, drawing his attention down to the sensual bow of her dusky pink lips. The tip of her tongue swept across them, leaving moisture in its wake, luring him in.
How long had it been since he had kissed a woman?
Not in this lifetime, that was for sure.
Marcus dragged his eyes away from her, shutting down his emotions at the same time. Amelia was a mission. He couldn't allow things to become complicated. Not when he wasn't even sure why he had to protect her.
He couldn't get involved with her.
He had to maintain his distance.
No matter how impossible that seemed now.
No matter how much he wanted her.
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Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Guardian%20Angel
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Anyone who has read any book in my Her Angel romance series knows that I write passionate angels who are quite likely to steal your heart in one way or another. The sexy heroes of my Her Angel romance series all came together in Her Guardian Angel (which is the first novel, but the fourth book in the best selling series and features Marcus as the hero) to kick some serious ass.
Her Guardian Angel can be read out of order with the others in the series. I've had lots of readers use this book as their introduction to the series and not have any problem...
Her Guardian Angel has a 4.9 / 5 star rating on Amazon.com from 7 reviews, and a 4.2 / 5 star rating on Goodreads from 35 ratings.
Here's a little more about it, a teaser excerpt, and the link to the downloadable PDF
Her Guardian Angel
Felicity HeatonA simple mission becomes a fight for survival in this fantastic instalment in the Her Angel series.
A guardian angel dedicated to his duty, Marcus will do whatever Heaven asks of him, but even his loyalty has its limits. When his superior orders him to gain Amelia's trust through seduction, Marcus starts to question his mission and his feelings for the beautiful woman he has watched over since her birth.
Amelia has gone from one bad relationship to another, so when a gorgeous guy moves in next door looking like Mr Right, she hopes he doesn't turn out to be another black knight in disguise. But there's more to Marcus than meets the eye, and when he rescues her from three demonic men, Amelia is thrust into his nightmarish world—a world where God and the Devil exist, and only one angel can save her from death—Marcus, the angel she's falling in love with.
On the run from demonic angels and the Devil himself, aided by Marcus's angel friends and their amazing women, fighting for survival against the odds, Marcus and Amelia discover a love that will last forever.
A love so strong it will shake Heaven and Hell.
DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal angel romance
length: 110000 words
rating: sultry
released: July 2011
Book 4 in the Her Angel series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Guardian%20Angel
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-guardian-angel-felicity-heaton/1104775871
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herguardianangel-607692-140.html
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Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77776
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B005EUJIG8/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1463788363/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1463788363/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-guardian-angel-felicity-heaton/1032773836
EXCERPTMarcus stretched his left arm out above his head on the pillows of his double bed, buried the fingers of his right hand into his overlong black hair and stared into the inky dark of his bedroom. The open window to his left allowed pale light to filter in from the street far below but it barely cut through the gloom and it wasn't the reason he had lifted the sash around midnight. The stifling summer's day had given way to a humid night that showed no sign of cooling down before dawn broke and heralded the next unbearably hot day. A light breeze washed in through the open window, refreshing him as it caressed the left side of his bare body. The heat wasn't the only thing robbing him of sleep.
The banging came again, more persistent this time, and Marcus clenched his teeth to contain his growing irritation, his focus wholly on the hall outside his apartment. The man had been attacking the door of his neighbour for almost twenty minutes now, rousing Marcus from sleep and throwing him straight into a bad mood that had gradually deteriorated into a desire to beat some sense into the mortal.
He drew in a long breath, held it a moment in a vain attempt to regain control of his temper, and then exhaled slowly. The man hurled another string of impotent threats at his neighbour's door and Marcus's anger spiked right back up. His silver-blue eyes slid towards the digital clock on his bedside table. The display mocked him with the ungodly hour this man had chosen to air his bitter disappointment to not only the female but the entire apartment block. Three in the morning.
Because of the humidity that showed no sign of abating and had made it impossible to get comfortable, Marcus had only been asleep for a scant few hours. He hated waking early, especially when he was stuck in the hell known as the mortal realm.
The man banged again, rattling the wall with a tremor that reached Marcus. He was no threat to the woman because she wasn't foolish enough to answer her door, but it grated on Marcus's nerves nonetheless.
His temper frayed when the man shouted foul accusations at her.
All of them false.
Marcus had known Amelia all of her life, although she had only known him this past month. He had watched over her and she was a pure soul with terrible luck when it came to men, and the man knocking down her door didn't deserve her.
Unable to bear another second and sensing Amelia's increasing fear through the wall that joined their apartments, Marcus rose from the bed and slung on a pair of dark grey jogging bottoms. He walked through his unlit apartment with ease, not bothering with the lights as he could easily map a safe path around the furniture without seeing it, and unlocked his front door. He yanked it open and stepped out into the dull cream hallway on the other side, his gaze immediately fixing on the mortal that was daring to break his sleep and threaten Amelia.
The dark haired man looked at him.
Marcus coolly stared back.
"What's your problem, mate?" The man's fingers curled into fists at his sides. Marcus noted everything about him in under a second.
He was drunk. He was itching for a fight. And he was a fool who thought this sort of abuse would win Amelia back. On the surface, the man wanted to upset her and hurt her, but Marcus could see beyond the façade to the pale hope in this man's heart that Amelia would be his again.
That was something Marcus would never allow.
"You." Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbed sleep from his eyes, and then leaned back against the doorjamb, folding his arms across his bare chest and crossing his legs at his ankles.
The man regarded him for a moment and then turned back to Amelia's door.
"I think you should leave now." Marcus stepped forwards, bringing the man's attention back to him so he wouldn't bang on the door again and cause Amelia's fear to increase. "Before things get out of hand."
The man smiled, amusement touching his dark brown eyes. "What you gonna do about it? She's my girlfriend… not yours. Piss off back inside and get your nose out of my bloody business before I break it."
Marcus sighed. He had warned the man. He had done everything by the book. His patience wearing thin, he looked the man over again, taking in his dark jeans and the loose t-shirt that covered a physique half his own and the way his fists shook as he shouted at Amelia's door. Without resorting to violence, Marcus wasn't sure how to convince the man to leave. He could compel him, but using his powers on such a base creature was beneath him and would do nothing to teach the man a lesson in manners towards women.
The man banged on the door again before Marcus could stop him, hard enough this time that the white painted wood creaked under the attack, and he heard Amelia gasp.
"That is it." Marcus took another step forwards and the man swung at him. Marcus dodged his fist, clamped his left hand down on the man's wrist, and twisted his arm behind his back. The man bent forwards to stop his shoulder from popping out of its socket, facing away from Marcus, and grunted in pain. Marcus glared at the back of his head. "I said to leave."
The man struggled in his grip but stilled when Amelia's apartment door eased open a few inches and she peered around it. Marcus stared at her, frowning at the tears that streaked her flushed cheeks and the fear in her grey eyes, and tightened his grip on the man's arm until he let out another deeply satisfying grunt.
"What do you want?" she whispered, voice hoarse and trembling.
It wasn't like Amelia to look afraid of anything. Marcus had seen her fight it out face-to-face with her exes without showing a trace of fear but this one had rattled her. Weariness shone in her grey eyes, lending them a cold edge he hadn't seen before. Her gaze tracked up Marcus's arm, lingering a moment on his bare torso, and then reached his face.
"I'm sorry if he woke you." Her gentle tone dissolved some of his anger.
Marcus loosened his grip on the man's wrist but held on to him. "It's not a problem. I couldn't stand by and do nothing."
The man twisted enough to look back at Marcus over his shoulder and then turned his head towards Amelia.
"Oh, I see how it is. Dump me and then move on to the next bloke, right? You've probably been fucking him from the moment he moved in. Well, I'm sure Mr Muscle is a great catch…" The man wrenched free of Marcus's grip and stumbled forwards a few steps before righting himself. "But I'm gonna have to fuck up that pretty face of his."
Marcus reacted on instinct and launched his left fist at the man to counter his attack. The moment he did, he felt the strength drain from his arm and pushed harder. He had been holding back to avoid seriously injuring the mortal but now that Heaven had stripped him of his immortal strength he needed to do the opposite and give it everything he had.
He leaned back to avoid the man's punch while still pushing forwards with his own and slammed his fist hard into the man's jaw, cracking his head to one side and sending him crashing into the cream wall. The man bounced off it, hit the dark banister opposite and then collapsed into an ungainly heap on the wooden floor of the hallway.
"Shit." Pain shot along every bone in Marcus's hand and up his arm to his elbow. It had actually hurt.
The man groaned and dragged himself to his feet and Amelia hesitated in the doorway of her apartment, looking as though she couldn't decide whether to assist him or keep back. Marcus shook his hand and waited for something to happen. Instead of the instant punishment he had expected, there was only silence as the man stared hard at both him and Amelia, and then stumbled down the stairs to the next floor.
Marcus still waited.
Part of him couldn't believe that he had struck a mortal and the rest couldn't believe that he wasn't being punished.
Heaven had limited his power the moment he had subconsciously decided to hit the man, leaving him with only the strength of a mortal and therefore open to attack himself. The punch had hurt him. Perhaps that was punishment enough. Perhaps all of this was punishment for his misdeeds.
Marcus sagged against the wall and blew out a sigh, clutching his injured hand to his chest, convinced that Heaven would call him in to reprimand him soon enough. He had committed an act of violence against what could be considered an innocent human. Marcus couldn't think of the man that way. He was vile and cruel, seeking to scare Amelia and hurt her. Marcus had only done his duty by protecting her.
He opened his eyes and looked across at her where she stood at the banister peering down into the stairwell, her hands clutching the wooden railing.
His gaze drifted down over her shoulder-length straight dark hair to the plum-coloured slip that only emphasised her sensual curves, to the lean lengths of her legs. She was so soft and pure. Delicate yet strong of heart. Her fear was gone now, leaving behind the confident woman he was used to seeing in her.
She looked across at him and his eyes dropped to her bare feet. He frowned at the tattoo on her left ankle. A cherub? The plump winged babe sat just above her ankle bone, staring back at him. He smiled. Is that what she thought his kind looked like? The image humans had of angels couldn't have been more wrong. It amused him, stealing away his pain and pushing it to the back of his mind.
His strength returned and the pain dulled further, leaving only a gentle throbbing and bruised knuckles behind as a reminder of what he had done.
"I really am sorry about that." Amelia's soft voice stole into his thoughts and he glanced up at her. She crossed the hall to him and peered at his left hand. "You should put some ice on that."
Marcus studied his red knuckles. Is that what humans did in this sort of situation? In his world, they had angels with the ability to heal others. Such an angel could easily fix this issue for him. Even if he couldn't find one, the red marks would be gone in less than a day, his body's superior healing ability quickly erasing them.
"Would you like to come in for some coffee or a drink? It's the least I can do as payment for being my hero."
Marcus stared at her. Coffee was payment for being a hero? He hadn't indulged in such drugs in a long time and while he knew about the sexually stimulating effects that caffeine had on his kind, he had no interest in drinking coffee with Amelia. If he did that, he wasn't sure what would happen between them, but it would certainly be embarrassing for him.
"No, thank you," he said and when she looked as though she needed a reason for his refusal, he added, "It will keep me awake."
She still didn't seem satisfied. She shifted foot to foot, her gaze darting down to her hands in front of her, and then looked right into his eyes again.
"How about I ice those knuckles instead then?"
Marcus glanced into her low-lit apartment and then back at her, and caught the fear in her eyes as she looked down at the stairwell. She was afraid that the man would return and begin harassing her again. He would accept her offer but not because he needed her to assist him with his healing. He would go with her because he could see that the man had won and had shaken her up, and that she was asking him to stay with her a while because she was scared.
It was his duty to protect her. Tonight, that duty could extend to guarding her a little more closely than usual. Once she had settled and was comfortable with the idea of being alone again, he would take his leave.
He nodded when her attention returned to him.
Amelia led the way into the apartment, leaving him to muse what he had done tonight and his duty.
She deserved better.
A better life.
That was the reason he was here—to keep her safe and watch over her. To protect her from the creeps and from something else.
To give her that better life.
He was sure of it.
Marcus followed her towards the kitchen, noting that the layout of her apartment differed slightly to his as he passed through the pale square lounge. There were no windows in it, just like his one, because the bedroom and bathroom lined the exterior wall opposite him. Their positions in the apartment were reversed in his. He stared through the open door of the room to the right. Her bedroom was next to his and the head of her bed rested against his wall. She slept so close to him, yet he couldn't feel her when he was in bed, couldn't sense her on the other side. At such proximity, he should have been able to even when her signature was dulled by her sleeping. His gaze fell to rest on the long cream couch angled towards the television set to his right in the corner of the lounge. A pillow occupied one arm of the sofa and a scrunched up dark blue blanket sat at the other end.
Did she sleep on the couch?
He looked through into the bedroom again, frowning at the smooth covers on the double bed.
Was that why he couldn't feel her when he was in his bedroom?
Back when he had been watching over her from Heaven, she had always slept in her bed. Had something happened recently to change that? If it had, it must have occurred in the past month when he had been in the mortal realm. When he was here, he couldn't watch over her as he had in Heaven, able to view her through buildings using the power granted to the angels of his division. He had to physically see her.
Amelia came back out of the room to his left. He dragged his gaze away from the bedroom and the bathroom next to it, and finished crossing the room to the open double doors that led into the kitchen. Her small kitchen was brighter than his, the cupboards a pale type of wood, with stainless steel appliances.
Some former owner of his apartment had deemed it stylish to have a dark kitchen. Marcus deemed it impractical. It was a nightmare to keep clean so he had given up feeding himself shortly after moving in and had resorted to eating take away food, instant meals or eating out.
Marcus leaned against the kitchen counter, his hand throbbing. It had been a while since he had felt physical pain. He couldn't remember the last time it had hurt to punch something.
He couldn't remember the last time he had fought someone.
Amelia placed a red and white chequered tea-towel down on the side and emptied out several trays of ice cubes into it. She gathered the ends and twisted the bulk of the cloth around to keep the ice in, and then came over to him. He started when she took hold of his hand, gently slipping her fingers under it so they brushed his palm, and raised it. Heat travelled up his arm and it had nothing to do with pain this time.
She rested the ice pack on his knuckles and he didn't feel the cold at all. He stared at their joined hands, urgently trying to decipher how she had warmed him with only a light touch and alarmed by the hard beat of his heart against his chest. She looked up into his eyes, her grey ones full of warmth again, softening her delicate features and holding his attention.
"Thank you." She glanced away again, her gaze briefly dropping to their hands and the ice pack, and then met his eyes. His pain faded in an instant, driven away by the heat of her touch and her concerned expression, and he marvelled at the effect she had on him. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. She was his duty and that was all she could ever be. Once he had fulfilled his mission, he would finally request his transfer and would never see her again. Her thumb brushed his and fire shimmered over his skin. "I really am sorry that he woke you and that you had to hit him."
"I said it was nothing." Marcus hadn't needed to hit the man. He could have compelled him to stop but he had reacted on instinct, and for some reason that instinct had been to punch him. He could think of a million situations with mortals when he had been in danger and had compelled them. Why not this time?
Had Amelia's presence as a witness deterred him?
Or was she the reason he had struck the man?
He had been consumed by anger, enraged by what the man had said about himself and Amelia, driven to violence by a handful of words.
He was Amelia's protector. Her guardian.
He was not her lover.
Her fingertips grazed his palm as she removed the ice pack and inspected his left hand. A shiver tripped up his arm and down his spine, and his shoulder blades itched. He took his hand away from her and rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension building there.
His wings wanted out.
"How are they feeling?"
Marcus's head snapped up, his eyes immediately locking on Amelia. His wings? She nodded towards his knuckles and relief swept through him.
"Fine," he said absently and breathed slowly to steady his racing heart.
There was no way she could know about his wings but, for a moment, it had felt as though she had been reading his mind. It had been a while since his wings had wanted to come out. After five centuries of living with them sealed away, he had grown used to them not being there. It had been strange becoming accustomed to them again when the binding curse had started to lose effect over thirty years ago. Most of the time, he was content to physically put them away as he was now. It took concentration to maintain their disappearance but it used less energy than hiding them from human eyes with a glamour, and it was far easier to move around in the mortal realm without worrying about accidentally knocking things over with them.
"Are you alright?" Amelia ducked towards him, interrupting his view of his knuckles and replacing it with an altogether more pleasant one of her face and her cleavage.
Marcus stared at her plump full breasts, his pulse picking up again, and then averted his eyes. Women had no shame. It was little wonder his master had decided that they should not serve him. They were wily, manipulative, a distraction, and considered by most as the source of all sin.
"Fine," Marcus repeated and took the ice pack from her, ramming it onto the back of his hand when all he wanted to do was stick it down his jogging bottoms to bring his libido under control.
His fellow warriors had warned him about women, especially ones as beautiful as Amelia, and he wholeheartedly believed every word that they said. Women were dangerous. He would not falter though. Amelia was his mission and his allegiance was to his master, his loyalty to his duty, and nothing would change that.
Once this irksome mission had ended, he would return to Heaven and request his transferral as originally planned, and would join the ranks of the soldiers who protected the realm of Heaven from intruders and wars. He would defend that which he believed in. Not this mortal world, but his world.
He had never physically guarded a human before but was certain that his assignment to act as her next door neighbour was a sign that his mission was progressing and soon he would be free of it.
He couldn't wait to return home.
"How are you feeling?" Marcus took the ice pack away from his hand and set it down in the stainless steel sink beside him.
Amelia shrugged. "Better, I guess."
She didn't look better. The weary edge was back in her eyes, draining them of warmth, and he found himself desiring to comfort her.
"He won't come back." His words had the desired effect and she brightened for a brief moment and then it faded again.
"You don't know that." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I do pick them."
Marcus turned and ran his hand under the cold water, letting it wash away the trace of blood on his knuckles. When he reached for the tap to shut it off again, he felt Amelia's eyes on his bare back, boring into his shoulders, and lingered a moment. Would she mention the marks he had revealed by carelessly turning his back on her?
"It won't be long before I drive you away too."
Those words, softly spoken, caused him to look over his shoulder at her, a frown drawing his dark eyebrows tightly together. She dropped her gaze and then met his with resolution that didn't surprise him. This was the Amelia he had come to know these past three decades. Strong, able to face anything head on, unflinching.
"What makes you say that?" Marcus turned back to face her, aware now that he was bare from the waist up and was probably only encouraging any attraction she might feel towards him. He should have put on a t-shirt before leaving his apartment but he'd had one thing on his mind—getting the irritating bastard in the hallway to shut up so he could sleep.
Or was it purely so he could sleep?
He stared at Amelia, taking in the way her cheeks coloured as he did so and how she couldn't hold his gaze.
He had thought only of protecting her.
Defending her.
"The last bloke who lived alone next door to me left only a couple of months after moving in."
Marcus knew for a fact that the man had been forcibly evicted due to a minor error in payments caused by Heaven's intervention but had later won money on the lottery that had allowed him to place a down payment on the house of his dreams. The young man had been the easiest target to remove in order to place Marcus close to Amelia. The old lady who lived in the apartment on the other side of Amelia was frail and had lived in the building for over twenty years and relied on those around her to assist her. She also slept heavily, meaning that Amelia's ex-boyfriends didn't wake her when they came to knock down her door. Marcus would have had a contender in the guardian stakes if the young man had remained living next to her and they had moved the old lady.
"You do live alone, don't you?" There was a tremble to that question.
Marcus nodded without thinking and then considered the implications of his answer when Amelia's grey eyes warmed again. A loaded question. She had cleverly used it to discern his availability.
He briefly considered making up a girlfriend in order to obliterate any attraction she might feel towards him so he could continue his mission in peace but couldn't get the words out when he looked into her eyes again.
The space between them shrank until it felt as though she was barely inches from him. Her soft breathing filled his ears, drawing his attention down to the sensual bow of her dusky pink lips. The tip of her tongue swept across them, leaving moisture in its wake, luring him in.
How long had it been since he had kissed a woman?
Not in this lifetime, that was for sure.
Marcus dragged his eyes away from her, shutting down his emotions at the same time. Amelia was a mission. He couldn't allow things to become complicated. Not when he wasn't even sure why he had to protect her.
He couldn't get involved with her.
He had to maintain his distance.
No matter how impossible that seemed now.
No matter how much he wanted her.
DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
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vampire werewolf romance book - Winter's Kiss - extended excerpt
I'm sticking with my
Vampires Realm series
for my next extended excerpt. This time I'm offering a chance to read a long excerpt from my vampire werewolf romance book
Winter's Kiss
.
You've met the hero of Winter's Kiss in a character interview and also in the flash fic I posted on Sunday. You've also met his heroine in her character interview in my previous post. Here's your chance to learn more about this vampire and werewolf and their forbidden love story!
As usual, here's some information about the book plus a teaser chapter to get you all started and the link to the PDF download.
Winter's Kiss
F E Heaton
Their lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter's world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he's fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he's torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2009
Book 8 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
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Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
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EXCERPTA scream rent the still night air.
Winter raised his head. The brush in his right hand paused against his horse's sleek black flank. He frowned, calculating the distance from where he stood in the stable courtyard to the person who had shrieked. The human female voice could carry for miles on nights as calm as tonight. If she screamed again, he would be able to pinpoint her location to within one hundred metres.
A Watchman of the Validus bloodline, Winter had spent years honing his skills in tracking, hunting and killing to the highest echelon of perfection. They gave him the ability to ascertain that whoever the victim was, she was over three miles away.
He returned to his work, lovingly stroking the huge beast's glossy coat and murmuring soothing words to him. It had been too long since he'd had the chance to ride. The rotation of duties within the household and Hyperion's plan to spread their empire wider across Europe had left him with longer shifts at the gate. It was an honour to protect his lord, but long nights spent braced against the freezing winds that scathed the landscape in this part of Russia were tiring and left him little time before dawn to ride. His eyes closed. Honour wasn't the only good thing to come of standing guard from sunset to sunrise.
He saw her more often.
An image of her flashed across Winter's mind. Pale blonde hair hanging in waves down her back. Sparkling green eyes that glittered under the moonlight. A cherub's rosy lips that promised sweet kisses and an imp's smile that spoke of mischief. That image had branded itself on his mind the first night he had seen her as an adult. Every night that she passed and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, she burned her face a little deeper into his heart.
His horse kicked impatiently at the floor, scratching the scattered hay away from the dirt and leaving a long groove.
Winter patted Midnight tenderly on the neck and placed the brush down. Gathering the large black saddle, he positioned it on the horse's high back and let his thoughts wander while he buckled the straps.
They instantly roamed back to her. Many years had passed since Winter had first seen her. She had been a little girl then. Now she had become a beautiful woman. Perhaps soon she would find the courage to speak to him for longer. She had stopped a few times, always singling him out even though his black armour covered him from head to toe, leaving only the section across his eyes exposed. She had spoken to him tonight, asking him why he wore armour and guarded the mansion. He hadn't answered her. He had no place talking to humans when he was on duty.
There had been a beautiful lack of fear about her. Not even the sight of the naginata that he and the other Watchman held bothered her. Perhaps one day he could turn her. He cursed under his breath and tightened the last strap on the saddle. Those were not thoughts that he should be entertaining. His loyalty was to his lord and his bloodline first and foremost. He had a debt to repay. Once he felt as though he was worthy of asking his lord for permission to court the girl, he would, but until then he had a duty to do.
And that duty came first.
No matter what his feelings for her were.
A ride would clear his head.
A wolf howl sliced through the night.
Winter tensed and instinctively brushed his long heavy black cloak aside and reached for the sword hanging at his side. His fingers closed around the hilt as he calculated the distance to the howl.
Three miles.
Was the wolf after the woman?
Another scream shattered the returning silence. This time, it was a word.
"Niet!"
Winter's eyes shot wide, an emotion rushing into his heart that he hadn't felt in long years. Fear. The girl. He would know her voice anywhere.
With the preternatural speed and grace of his kind, Winter mounted the horse and bolted straight for the stable entrance. Midnight thundered forward, hooves pounding the dirt in a sure confident gallop. The gates barely had time to open as they approached. Winter tucked into the horse, bringing his feet up behind him along with the stirrups. The half-open wrought iron gates brushed his knees as they raced through, almost knocking the guards over.
Someone shouted something abusive in his direction.
He didn't have time to slow down. The moment they had turned onto the road, he urged Midnight on, lowering his feet again but leaning forwards against its neck. It stretched forwards too, mimicking his move and galloping harder as though it had sensed his desperation.
The bottom of Winter's chest armour dug into his hips as he rode. His long cloak streamed out behind him. The light flurry of snow became bitter darts of ice that cut into his eyes, forcing him to squint. He changed, his eyes turning purple to reveal his bloodline as his senses sharpened. The thundering hooves of his horse were the only sound in an otherwise still world. Winter snapped the reins. Midnight snorted and galloped faster, heading directly for the woods with no sign of slowing.
Winter willed the woman to make another noise, or the wolves to break their silence. He needed to get a fix on their location but it wasn't only that driving him to beg the woman to shout or scream. He needed to know that she was still alive.
He hunkered down against his horse's neck when they entered the thick forest of pines. Snow exploded from the branches as they crashed through them, heedless of the pain it caused them both. His armour would protect him from the whip-like branches of the trees, and his horse, Midnight, would go wherever he bid him to, regardless of whether it hurt.
A branch hit Winter directly across the black leather and metal mask covering his nose and mouth. It smacked the armour against his nose and forced a flinch from him as pain shot out in warm waves across his skull. He turned Midnight to his right and towards a more open area of forest. While the pain didn't bother him, it would dampen his senses and he needed those as sharp as possible.
He pulled Midnight to a halt in a clearing and scanned the darkness, stretching out with his senses and searching for her. The wintry weather hadn't managed to penetrate the dense trees and the ground was clear of snow, leaving him without a visible trail to follow. He breathed deep, catching a faint hint of her scent on the breeze. She had been here. He cursed. Where was she now?
Was she dead?
Had the wolves killed her already?
That thought made a dull ache settle in his chest. Winter refused to believe it. He wouldn't believe it until he saw her body for himself. Another deep breath caught a stronger scent. A growl rumbled up through his chest.
Not wolves.
Werewolves.
His eyes narrowed into dark slits between his black helmet and facemask. He stared into the distance as one hand left the reins and closed around the hilt of his sword. Blood would spill tonight. Not only because werewolves had dared to enter Validus territory. If they had killed her, no, if they had even touched her, they would die by his hand.
A distant scream reached his ears.
He pulled on Midnight's reins.
Midnight reared onto his hind legs, whinnied and then broke into a gallop. Winter sneered behind his facemask, his blood calling for violence.
* * * *
Nika walked the quiet winding path through the woods, wishing she had chosen to wear her thicker coat. Thick fake fur lined the long black coat she wore and it would have been warm enough under normal circumstances in late spring, but tonight was bitterly cold and the icy wind was searching, discovering cracks and places it could sneak into the coat and chill her to the bone. It was strange to have such wintry weather this side of spring. When she had left, the weather had been pleasant enough, and the snow had melted. Now it had come back with a vengeance. She had hoped the weather would be warm and sunny by the time she had returned from the city.
She folded her arms across her chest, trying to keep a little heat in. Her coat and dress reached the floor, both grazing the leaf litter and twigs that covered the path. The wind found its way into there too and blew upwards, snaking around her legs and sending her shivering. Her honey hair blew across her face as she turned and she clawed it away, thankful she'd had the good sense to take two long strands from beside her temples and plait them before tying them at the back of her head. It kept the bulk of her hair in place but left the long strands from that point downwards to dance in the breeze.
At least the snow couldn't make it through the trees.
Nika hummed quietly to herself while she walked, thinking about how nice it would be to arrive home and sit down in front of the fire. The thought of that warm blaze made the cold feel distant. She wasn't far from the village now. Soon she would be safe in her family's home, out of the frigid night and bleak woods. It felt like months rather than weeks since she had gone away to St. Petersburg. A smile touched her lips when she recalled walking past the mansion. He had been on guard duty again, silent and sentinel outside the gate with another man. She knew it was him. Those beautiful dark eyes had spoken to her as they always did, telling her words that her heart loved to listen to. He never looked at her, but there was always a strange emotion in his eyes when she stopped in front of him. The cold emptiness that used to fill them disappeared, leaving what her heart interpreted as warmth behind.
She didn't know who he was, or even what he looked like beneath his armour, but she knew one thing. She wanted no other man in this world.
Her heart lightened as memories of him came back, always protecting the gates of the large mansion. On the few occasions that she had plucked up the courage to speak to him, he had never uttered a word back at her. He hadn't even spoken tonight when she had mentioned the tales about the man he guarded. Terrible tales they were. Stories of demons and death, of bloodshed and violence. Her whole village whispered of them. They were right in a way. There was something different about the men there. In all the years that she had passed those gates, that man had never changed. Not when she was a child and not now that she was an adult. It was the same man. He hadn't aged one year in the twenty she had seen him. She was sure of it.
Through the trees, pinpricks of light flickered in the darkness. The village. She doubled her pace, thinking only of the warm fire and seeing her father again.
A howl sliced the night in two.
Nika froze to the spot, ears pricked and heart thundering.
Perhaps it had been the wind.
Low growls made her head snap around. Seven large dark shapes slinked out of the shadows. Their fur spiked in a line down their backs, wriggling like a snake when they shook themselves and growled at her. They stepped onto the path between her and the village. These were no ordinary wolves. She remembered them from her childhood. They had killed half of the village.
The one in front lowered its head and stared at her with bright amber eyes that promised a painful death. It snarled to reveal huge canines.
Nika screamed.
Before it could attack, she turned, dropped her bag and ran. She grabbed the front of her coat and skirt, lifting them so she could sprint unhindered, and headed through the woods in the direction of the mansion.
It wasn't long before her legs were beginning to tire. Their muscles strained under the pressure of running over the uneven ground and seized up as the fear broke into her mind, sending panicked thoughts pounding through her skull.
She was going to die.
The voice at the back of her mind told her to give up, but she wouldn't. She wasn't ready to die. It was something that happened to someone else, not to her or the people she loved. If she could make it to the mansion, she would be safe. The men there would fend off the wolves. The man would protect her.
Nika shrieked again as she tripped on a branch hidden beneath the frozen leaf litter and hit the ground hard. She immediately scrabbled to her feet and ran blindly into the forest, desperate to escape the wolves. Behind her came their thundering feet and heavy panting. They were closing in.
In the blink of an eye, it was over. The full weight of one of the wolves hit her in the back, sending her tumbling to the floor. Another howled. She turned and wrestled the wolf off her, scrambling across the dirt away from it. One of them grabbed her ankle, the thick leather of her boot the only thing protecting the delicate joint. It growled. Nika screwed her eyes shut and brought her hands up in front of her face as the others leapt at her.
"Niet!"
Nika kicked the wolf off her ankle, eliciting a whimper from it, and pushed against the others. Breaking free, she got to her feet and ran again. Moonlight broke through a gap in the trees some distance ahead of her, illuminating a small shack.
Her heart willed her to make it there. It was her only chance.
She screamed again when one of the wolves snapped at her, trying to grab her arm. She punched it across the face and kept running, desperate to survive.
A thundering sound joined the cacophony of wolf growls and snarls and her rough breathing. Nika looked ahead of her to see the shack and then a large black horse with rider. She reached out to him, a silent plea for him to help her, and then fell when the wolves pounced on her. Pain erupted in her leg. Her heart missed beats as claws and teeth tore through her clothes.
Her last hope left her when she found herself face to face with the largest wolf. Hot breath washed her face, stealing her own. She sent a prayer to God and stared into the wolf's yellow eyes, into the eyes of death.
The thundering hooves stopped. Above her the horse's legs appeared, kicking out as the huge black beast whinnied and snorted. The wolves scattered, leaving her pressed into the dirt and frozen leaf litter, petrified and in too much pain to move.
The horse snorted again as it came down onto all four feet beside her and the rider appeared in her tear-blurred view.
"Hand," he said in a muffled Russian voice and extended his towards her.
Nika feebly raised hers towards him. She wanted to take hold of that black gloved hand and escape this nightmare. He shook his impatiently. She struggled to move faster, weak from the white-hot pain burning inside every inch of her body. He bent forward on the saddle, caught her hand, and pulled her up into the air as though she weighed nothing. He settled her on the saddle in front of him. Pain shot up her leg and lanced her stomach. It stole her senses, filling them until she knew nothing but the warm pulsing throb. She was vaguely aware of his arm against her back and his hand on her waist, and the wolves closing in.
He turned the horse. Nika gritted her teeth and leaned into him. Each step of the horse's gallop jostled her on the saddle. The pain was unbearable, wracking her to the depths of her bones with each movement, but the alternative made her cling to consciousness and life. The wolves growled, closer now. The horse suddenly stopped and the man lowered her to the ground. Her legs buckled beneath her. He caught her before she could collapse and held her close to his hard chest.
"Run!" he said and she hazily wondered if he was talking to her. She didn't think that she could run. The pain in her leg was too intense, blinding. The horse whinnied. Was he talking to it?
Her heart beat faster, each pulse sending stabbing needles sweeping around her body. Darkness encroached at the edges of her mind, sending her thoughts fuzzy and her body numb. The man carried her into somewhere and set her down on something soft but lumpy. The sound of wood scraping and heavy objects slamming made her open her eyes. She frowned, vaguely aware that they were in the small shack she had seen and that he was barricading the door.
A wolf howl sounded just outside.
She flinched in pain when she curled up, the wounds on her body stinging. Her left leg burned as though it was on fire. She couldn't move it. She left it lying limp in front of her. The man looked at her and then around the small hut.
"Do not be frightened," he said, as though those four words could erase all her fear.
It crushed her chest and stole her breath. She struggled to suck in air, panic closing her throat and pain making the slightest thing too hard. Her leg was wet. She could feel the steady slide of blood down her arms. Oh God. She was going to die.
Her panic only increased when the dreadful sound of claws against wood filled the small shack. Snarls came in under the door and growls made her skin crawl. She tried to back away but the sound surrounded her, leaving her nowhere to go. The man stood at the door, his tall figure a black shadow in the low light. He didn't move. He stood sentinel with his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side.
The blade of which gleamed when he began to draw it.
The wolves scrabbled faster at the door and walls, as though they were trying to dig their way through. Nika reached out to the man, numb and petrified. He stepped towards the door and her heart slammed against her chest.
The two small windows on either side of the door exploded, showering her and the man in glass. The wolves leapt high, paws scrambling for purchase on the windowsill. They disappeared again only to attempt another go at getting into the building.
The man fully drew his sword.
She extended her hand further towards him. "You can't fight. There's too many!"
A terrible scream made them both jump. She had never heard such a horrifying and inhuman sound. A chill swept over her back and down her arms. The scream came again amidst a discordant symphony of growls and snarls. She closed her eyes and used the last of her strength to cover her ears, not wanting to hear the horse as it died.
Dreadful silence fell.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
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Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
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Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
You've met the hero of Winter's Kiss in a character interview and also in the flash fic I posted on Sunday. You've also met his heroine in her character interview in my previous post. Here's your chance to learn more about this vampire and werewolf and their forbidden love story!
As usual, here's some information about the book plus a teaser chapter to get you all started and the link to the PDF download.
Winter's Kiss
F E HeatonTheir lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter's world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he's fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he's torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2009
Book 8 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winter039skiss-620974-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7932
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456489895/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
EXCERPTA scream rent the still night air.
Winter raised his head. The brush in his right hand paused against his horse's sleek black flank. He frowned, calculating the distance from where he stood in the stable courtyard to the person who had shrieked. The human female voice could carry for miles on nights as calm as tonight. If she screamed again, he would be able to pinpoint her location to within one hundred metres.
A Watchman of the Validus bloodline, Winter had spent years honing his skills in tracking, hunting and killing to the highest echelon of perfection. They gave him the ability to ascertain that whoever the victim was, she was over three miles away.
He returned to his work, lovingly stroking the huge beast's glossy coat and murmuring soothing words to him. It had been too long since he'd had the chance to ride. The rotation of duties within the household and Hyperion's plan to spread their empire wider across Europe had left him with longer shifts at the gate. It was an honour to protect his lord, but long nights spent braced against the freezing winds that scathed the landscape in this part of Russia were tiring and left him little time before dawn to ride. His eyes closed. Honour wasn't the only good thing to come of standing guard from sunset to sunrise.
He saw her more often.
An image of her flashed across Winter's mind. Pale blonde hair hanging in waves down her back. Sparkling green eyes that glittered under the moonlight. A cherub's rosy lips that promised sweet kisses and an imp's smile that spoke of mischief. That image had branded itself on his mind the first night he had seen her as an adult. Every night that she passed and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, she burned her face a little deeper into his heart.
His horse kicked impatiently at the floor, scratching the scattered hay away from the dirt and leaving a long groove.
Winter patted Midnight tenderly on the neck and placed the brush down. Gathering the large black saddle, he positioned it on the horse's high back and let his thoughts wander while he buckled the straps.
They instantly roamed back to her. Many years had passed since Winter had first seen her. She had been a little girl then. Now she had become a beautiful woman. Perhaps soon she would find the courage to speak to him for longer. She had stopped a few times, always singling him out even though his black armour covered him from head to toe, leaving only the section across his eyes exposed. She had spoken to him tonight, asking him why he wore armour and guarded the mansion. He hadn't answered her. He had no place talking to humans when he was on duty.
There had been a beautiful lack of fear about her. Not even the sight of the naginata that he and the other Watchman held bothered her. Perhaps one day he could turn her. He cursed under his breath and tightened the last strap on the saddle. Those were not thoughts that he should be entertaining. His loyalty was to his lord and his bloodline first and foremost. He had a debt to repay. Once he felt as though he was worthy of asking his lord for permission to court the girl, he would, but until then he had a duty to do.
And that duty came first.
No matter what his feelings for her were.
A ride would clear his head.
A wolf howl sliced through the night.
Winter tensed and instinctively brushed his long heavy black cloak aside and reached for the sword hanging at his side. His fingers closed around the hilt as he calculated the distance to the howl.
Three miles.
Was the wolf after the woman?
Another scream shattered the returning silence. This time, it was a word.
"Niet!"
Winter's eyes shot wide, an emotion rushing into his heart that he hadn't felt in long years. Fear. The girl. He would know her voice anywhere.
With the preternatural speed and grace of his kind, Winter mounted the horse and bolted straight for the stable entrance. Midnight thundered forward, hooves pounding the dirt in a sure confident gallop. The gates barely had time to open as they approached. Winter tucked into the horse, bringing his feet up behind him along with the stirrups. The half-open wrought iron gates brushed his knees as they raced through, almost knocking the guards over.
Someone shouted something abusive in his direction.
He didn't have time to slow down. The moment they had turned onto the road, he urged Midnight on, lowering his feet again but leaning forwards against its neck. It stretched forwards too, mimicking his move and galloping harder as though it had sensed his desperation.
The bottom of Winter's chest armour dug into his hips as he rode. His long cloak streamed out behind him. The light flurry of snow became bitter darts of ice that cut into his eyes, forcing him to squint. He changed, his eyes turning purple to reveal his bloodline as his senses sharpened. The thundering hooves of his horse were the only sound in an otherwise still world. Winter snapped the reins. Midnight snorted and galloped faster, heading directly for the woods with no sign of slowing.
Winter willed the woman to make another noise, or the wolves to break their silence. He needed to get a fix on their location but it wasn't only that driving him to beg the woman to shout or scream. He needed to know that she was still alive.
He hunkered down against his horse's neck when they entered the thick forest of pines. Snow exploded from the branches as they crashed through them, heedless of the pain it caused them both. His armour would protect him from the whip-like branches of the trees, and his horse, Midnight, would go wherever he bid him to, regardless of whether it hurt.
A branch hit Winter directly across the black leather and metal mask covering his nose and mouth. It smacked the armour against his nose and forced a flinch from him as pain shot out in warm waves across his skull. He turned Midnight to his right and towards a more open area of forest. While the pain didn't bother him, it would dampen his senses and he needed those as sharp as possible.
He pulled Midnight to a halt in a clearing and scanned the darkness, stretching out with his senses and searching for her. The wintry weather hadn't managed to penetrate the dense trees and the ground was clear of snow, leaving him without a visible trail to follow. He breathed deep, catching a faint hint of her scent on the breeze. She had been here. He cursed. Where was she now?
Was she dead?
Had the wolves killed her already?
That thought made a dull ache settle in his chest. Winter refused to believe it. He wouldn't believe it until he saw her body for himself. Another deep breath caught a stronger scent. A growl rumbled up through his chest.
Not wolves.
Werewolves.
His eyes narrowed into dark slits between his black helmet and facemask. He stared into the distance as one hand left the reins and closed around the hilt of his sword. Blood would spill tonight. Not only because werewolves had dared to enter Validus territory. If they had killed her, no, if they had even touched her, they would die by his hand.
A distant scream reached his ears.
He pulled on Midnight's reins.
Midnight reared onto his hind legs, whinnied and then broke into a gallop. Winter sneered behind his facemask, his blood calling for violence.
* * * *
Nika walked the quiet winding path through the woods, wishing she had chosen to wear her thicker coat. Thick fake fur lined the long black coat she wore and it would have been warm enough under normal circumstances in late spring, but tonight was bitterly cold and the icy wind was searching, discovering cracks and places it could sneak into the coat and chill her to the bone. It was strange to have such wintry weather this side of spring. When she had left, the weather had been pleasant enough, and the snow had melted. Now it had come back with a vengeance. She had hoped the weather would be warm and sunny by the time she had returned from the city.
She folded her arms across her chest, trying to keep a little heat in. Her coat and dress reached the floor, both grazing the leaf litter and twigs that covered the path. The wind found its way into there too and blew upwards, snaking around her legs and sending her shivering. Her honey hair blew across her face as she turned and she clawed it away, thankful she'd had the good sense to take two long strands from beside her temples and plait them before tying them at the back of her head. It kept the bulk of her hair in place but left the long strands from that point downwards to dance in the breeze.
At least the snow couldn't make it through the trees.
Nika hummed quietly to herself while she walked, thinking about how nice it would be to arrive home and sit down in front of the fire. The thought of that warm blaze made the cold feel distant. She wasn't far from the village now. Soon she would be safe in her family's home, out of the frigid night and bleak woods. It felt like months rather than weeks since she had gone away to St. Petersburg. A smile touched her lips when she recalled walking past the mansion. He had been on guard duty again, silent and sentinel outside the gate with another man. She knew it was him. Those beautiful dark eyes had spoken to her as they always did, telling her words that her heart loved to listen to. He never looked at her, but there was always a strange emotion in his eyes when she stopped in front of him. The cold emptiness that used to fill them disappeared, leaving what her heart interpreted as warmth behind.
She didn't know who he was, or even what he looked like beneath his armour, but she knew one thing. She wanted no other man in this world.
Her heart lightened as memories of him came back, always protecting the gates of the large mansion. On the few occasions that she had plucked up the courage to speak to him, he had never uttered a word back at her. He hadn't even spoken tonight when she had mentioned the tales about the man he guarded. Terrible tales they were. Stories of demons and death, of bloodshed and violence. Her whole village whispered of them. They were right in a way. There was something different about the men there. In all the years that she had passed those gates, that man had never changed. Not when she was a child and not now that she was an adult. It was the same man. He hadn't aged one year in the twenty she had seen him. She was sure of it.
Through the trees, pinpricks of light flickered in the darkness. The village. She doubled her pace, thinking only of the warm fire and seeing her father again.
A howl sliced the night in two.
Nika froze to the spot, ears pricked and heart thundering.
Perhaps it had been the wind.
Low growls made her head snap around. Seven large dark shapes slinked out of the shadows. Their fur spiked in a line down their backs, wriggling like a snake when they shook themselves and growled at her. They stepped onto the path between her and the village. These were no ordinary wolves. She remembered them from her childhood. They had killed half of the village.
The one in front lowered its head and stared at her with bright amber eyes that promised a painful death. It snarled to reveal huge canines.
Nika screamed.
Before it could attack, she turned, dropped her bag and ran. She grabbed the front of her coat and skirt, lifting them so she could sprint unhindered, and headed through the woods in the direction of the mansion.
It wasn't long before her legs were beginning to tire. Their muscles strained under the pressure of running over the uneven ground and seized up as the fear broke into her mind, sending panicked thoughts pounding through her skull.
She was going to die.
The voice at the back of her mind told her to give up, but she wouldn't. She wasn't ready to die. It was something that happened to someone else, not to her or the people she loved. If she could make it to the mansion, she would be safe. The men there would fend off the wolves. The man would protect her.
Nika shrieked again as she tripped on a branch hidden beneath the frozen leaf litter and hit the ground hard. She immediately scrabbled to her feet and ran blindly into the forest, desperate to escape the wolves. Behind her came their thundering feet and heavy panting. They were closing in.
In the blink of an eye, it was over. The full weight of one of the wolves hit her in the back, sending her tumbling to the floor. Another howled. She turned and wrestled the wolf off her, scrambling across the dirt away from it. One of them grabbed her ankle, the thick leather of her boot the only thing protecting the delicate joint. It growled. Nika screwed her eyes shut and brought her hands up in front of her face as the others leapt at her.
"Niet!"
Nika kicked the wolf off her ankle, eliciting a whimper from it, and pushed against the others. Breaking free, she got to her feet and ran again. Moonlight broke through a gap in the trees some distance ahead of her, illuminating a small shack.
Her heart willed her to make it there. It was her only chance.
She screamed again when one of the wolves snapped at her, trying to grab her arm. She punched it across the face and kept running, desperate to survive.
A thundering sound joined the cacophony of wolf growls and snarls and her rough breathing. Nika looked ahead of her to see the shack and then a large black horse with rider. She reached out to him, a silent plea for him to help her, and then fell when the wolves pounced on her. Pain erupted in her leg. Her heart missed beats as claws and teeth tore through her clothes.
Her last hope left her when she found herself face to face with the largest wolf. Hot breath washed her face, stealing her own. She sent a prayer to God and stared into the wolf's yellow eyes, into the eyes of death.
The thundering hooves stopped. Above her the horse's legs appeared, kicking out as the huge black beast whinnied and snorted. The wolves scattered, leaving her pressed into the dirt and frozen leaf litter, petrified and in too much pain to move.
The horse snorted again as it came down onto all four feet beside her and the rider appeared in her tear-blurred view.
"Hand," he said in a muffled Russian voice and extended his towards her.
Nika feebly raised hers towards him. She wanted to take hold of that black gloved hand and escape this nightmare. He shook his impatiently. She struggled to move faster, weak from the white-hot pain burning inside every inch of her body. He bent forward on the saddle, caught her hand, and pulled her up into the air as though she weighed nothing. He settled her on the saddle in front of him. Pain shot up her leg and lanced her stomach. It stole her senses, filling them until she knew nothing but the warm pulsing throb. She was vaguely aware of his arm against her back and his hand on her waist, and the wolves closing in.
He turned the horse. Nika gritted her teeth and leaned into him. Each step of the horse's gallop jostled her on the saddle. The pain was unbearable, wracking her to the depths of her bones with each movement, but the alternative made her cling to consciousness and life. The wolves growled, closer now. The horse suddenly stopped and the man lowered her to the ground. Her legs buckled beneath her. He caught her before she could collapse and held her close to his hard chest.
"Run!" he said and she hazily wondered if he was talking to her. She didn't think that she could run. The pain in her leg was too intense, blinding. The horse whinnied. Was he talking to it?
Her heart beat faster, each pulse sending stabbing needles sweeping around her body. Darkness encroached at the edges of her mind, sending her thoughts fuzzy and her body numb. The man carried her into somewhere and set her down on something soft but lumpy. The sound of wood scraping and heavy objects slamming made her open her eyes. She frowned, vaguely aware that they were in the small shack she had seen and that he was barricading the door.
A wolf howl sounded just outside.
She flinched in pain when she curled up, the wounds on her body stinging. Her left leg burned as though it was on fire. She couldn't move it. She left it lying limp in front of her. The man looked at her and then around the small hut.
"Do not be frightened," he said, as though those four words could erase all her fear.
It crushed her chest and stole her breath. She struggled to suck in air, panic closing her throat and pain making the slightest thing too hard. Her leg was wet. She could feel the steady slide of blood down her arms. Oh God. She was going to die.
Her panic only increased when the dreadful sound of claws against wood filled the small shack. Snarls came in under the door and growls made her skin crawl. She tried to back away but the sound surrounded her, leaving her nowhere to go. The man stood at the door, his tall figure a black shadow in the low light. He didn't move. He stood sentinel with his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side.
The blade of which gleamed when he began to draw it.
The wolves scrabbled faster at the door and walls, as though they were trying to dig their way through. Nika reached out to the man, numb and petrified. He stepped towards the door and her heart slammed against her chest.
The two small windows on either side of the door exploded, showering her and the man in glass. The wolves leapt high, paws scrambling for purchase on the windowsill. They disappeared again only to attempt another go at getting into the building.
The man fully drew his sword.
She extended her hand further towards him. "You can't fight. There's too many!"
A terrible scream made them both jump. She had never heard such a horrifying and inhuman sound. A chill swept over her back and down her arms. The scream came again amidst a discordant symphony of growls and snarls. She closed her eyes and used the last of her strength to cover her ears, not wanting to hear the horse as it died.
Dreadful silence fell.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winter039skiss-620974-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7932
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456489895/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
Manday Hotties Hop!
It's time for the first Manday Hotties Hop! I thought it would be awesome to make this into a blog hop so you can all overdose on hot men on Mondays and it will carry you through the week!
I've had a lot of hotties on my blog already over the past few days because of my Halloween Spooktacular event (that is still in progress) but my Manday Hottie this week is this double delectable treat...
Remember to click on him to make him get bigger *wink*
Isn't that just a yummy treat to start the week with?
Visit the other blogs in the hop:
October 30, 2011
Interview with a werewolf - Nika
I've already interviewed the other half of this forbidden relationship, Winter, so now it's time to meet and chat to Nika. Nika is the heroine of my werewolf/vampire romance novel
Winter's Kiss
and she's a newly turned werewolf, still learning the ropes.
(The door opens and Nika enters, her blonde hair tied into a neat high ponytail and her slender body pulled into a deep gold corseted dress. I smile when she leads Winter into the room, her hand tightly clasping his, and they walk over to me. She sits Winter back down on the black velvet armchair and settles herself on his lap. His arms go around her waist and he doesn't seem to care that he's back here again. He seems content with holding Nika)
NIKA: I hope you don't mind that I brought company?
FH: (shakes head) Not at all. I had expected you would when Winter went off to find you. You're not the first person to have their partner here during their interview. Prophecy came bursting in on Valentine's interview. (Nika giggles at that) So, what have you been up to since we last saw you?
NIKA: I attended the Creator Day masquerade with Dmitri and a section of our guards. It was fascinating. (Winter smiles at that word and the sparkle in Nika's green eyes, and gives me a look that has 'I told you so' written all over it) It was a little frightening to be surrounded by so many vampires though.
WINTER: I would not have allowed any of them to harm you, Nika.
NIKA: (she turns to him and smiles affectionately) I know, but I didn't want you placing yourself at risk for me. The Law Keepers would have realised that something is happening between us if you had defended me.
WINTER: Not necessarily. Lord Hyperion said that the Validus were to protect all of the werewolves from the other bloodlines should there be a dispute. It would have covered my actions... besides... I do not care if it placed me at risk. I would protect you regardless of that danger. You are too dear to me.
FH: Get a room. I am trying to conduct an interview here, Winter. If you keep going with the sweet soulful words then she's going to be kissing you and I'm never going to get any answers to my questions. Now, Nika, it must have been exciting for you though?
NIKA: Absolutely. It was strange coming back to Saint Petersburg. I haven't been back since I became a werewolf. I've spent most of my time at the bastion. The only other place I've been is the Validus mansion when I'm sent there as an envoy.
FH: (smiles) We all know that's just secret code for 'sent to see Winter and stop him from driving Hyperion insane'.
(Nika and I giggle. Winter frowns)
WINTER: You make me sound as though I am some lovesick youngling.
FH: I was under that impression. (his eyes switch to purple, the colour of his bloodline and something that only happens when he's changed into his true face) I'm just kidding. You don't have to bite me. (Nika touches his cheek and his gaze shifts to her, his eyes returning to blue) Thank you, Nika. I think you just saved my neck.
NIKA: He just feels uncomfortable when people can see how deep his love is for me. I like it though. He's so open and honest with his feelings and it makes me feel so loved.
FH: Things weren't always that way though, were they? It was hard for you both at first.
NIKA: Very difficult. I didn't understand why at first but now that I've spent time around the werewolves and the vampires, I can see why Winter was so cautious and believed that we shouldn't act on our feelings. It's so easy to forget the danger when I'm around the werewolves, and even when I'm at the Validus mansion at times. When I saw the Law Keepers at the ball, and sensed their strength... and the other vampires there who looked upon me and my kind with disdain... well, that made it painfully clear what vampires truly think of werewolves and any vampire who dares to involve themselves with one.
WINTER: Nika, my love... do not think all vampires are the same. Times are changing. It will be a slow process but we have all the time in the world. If we are patient, there will come a day when we can be together all the time.
NIKA: (curls up on his lap and leans into him) I want that so much.
WINTER: (presses a kiss to her temple) I know. I want it too.
FH: Well, I clearly don't need to ask how your relationship with Winter is doing. So, how about I ask some fun questions to lighten the mood? Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
NIKA: Yellow. It's so bright and warm. Winter teases me and says I look as deadly as the sun when I wear yellow, but the look in his eyes says that he means it in a good way.
WINTER: I say it because you look too beautiful in it. It kills me to have to suffer you looking so beautiful when I cannot touch you.
(Nika kisses him)
FH: I am still trying to interview you. I can always get Hyperion in to pull you two apart if you don't start behaving. The interview will be over soon. What's your favourite smell?
NIKA: Winter. He smells so good.
FH: You two like the smell of each other. I really hope it's a vampire werewolf thing... or a comfort thing. I find it a little disturbing. Your favourite possession?
NIKA: My cross necklace, which Winter keeps safe for me.
FH: Favourite thing to do?
NIKA: Ride with Winter. Sometimes we ride together when I visit the Validus mansion. Lord Hyperion lends Winter his horse and I ride Winter's. I think it's very kind of Lord Hyperion.
FH: I think he's meddling again just like he loves to. And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
NIKA: Oh, I don't know. They're all so different. I'm still getting used to my senses and all the different smells and sounds are exciting. All of them.
FH: Winter said the same thing too, but his reasoning was that he loves to see you so fascinated by the different seasons.
NIKA: He did? You're so sweet. I love you. (she kisses him again)
FH: I think I'll leave it there. Winter, you're free to take Nika away now. Thanks for letting me interview you Nika!
(She doesn't respond. Winter rises from the seat with her cradled in his arms, her mouth still fixed to his in a passionate kiss, and carries her away)
FH: That's the last time I'm allowing partners to invade during an interview.
They make a cute couple don't they? Ah, there's nothing quite like forbidden love.
If you want to know more about these two and how they came to be together, then you can read their vampire/werewolf romance book, Winter's Kiss. Here's a little more about it.
Winter's Kiss
F E Heaton
Their lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter's world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he's fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he's torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2009
Book 8 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winter039skiss-620974-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7932
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456489895/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
(The door opens and Nika enters, her blonde hair tied into a neat high ponytail and her slender body pulled into a deep gold corseted dress. I smile when she leads Winter into the room, her hand tightly clasping his, and they walk over to me. She sits Winter back down on the black velvet armchair and settles herself on his lap. His arms go around her waist and he doesn't seem to care that he's back here again. He seems content with holding Nika)
NIKA: I hope you don't mind that I brought company?
FH: (shakes head) Not at all. I had expected you would when Winter went off to find you. You're not the first person to have their partner here during their interview. Prophecy came bursting in on Valentine's interview. (Nika giggles at that) So, what have you been up to since we last saw you?
NIKA: I attended the Creator Day masquerade with Dmitri and a section of our guards. It was fascinating. (Winter smiles at that word and the sparkle in Nika's green eyes, and gives me a look that has 'I told you so' written all over it) It was a little frightening to be surrounded by so many vampires though.
WINTER: I would not have allowed any of them to harm you, Nika.
NIKA: (she turns to him and smiles affectionately) I know, but I didn't want you placing yourself at risk for me. The Law Keepers would have realised that something is happening between us if you had defended me.
WINTER: Not necessarily. Lord Hyperion said that the Validus were to protect all of the werewolves from the other bloodlines should there be a dispute. It would have covered my actions... besides... I do not care if it placed me at risk. I would protect you regardless of that danger. You are too dear to me.
FH: Get a room. I am trying to conduct an interview here, Winter. If you keep going with the sweet soulful words then she's going to be kissing you and I'm never going to get any answers to my questions. Now, Nika, it must have been exciting for you though?
NIKA: Absolutely. It was strange coming back to Saint Petersburg. I haven't been back since I became a werewolf. I've spent most of my time at the bastion. The only other place I've been is the Validus mansion when I'm sent there as an envoy.
FH: (smiles) We all know that's just secret code for 'sent to see Winter and stop him from driving Hyperion insane'.
(Nika and I giggle. Winter frowns)
WINTER: You make me sound as though I am some lovesick youngling.
FH: I was under that impression. (his eyes switch to purple, the colour of his bloodline and something that only happens when he's changed into his true face) I'm just kidding. You don't have to bite me. (Nika touches his cheek and his gaze shifts to her, his eyes returning to blue) Thank you, Nika. I think you just saved my neck.
NIKA: He just feels uncomfortable when people can see how deep his love is for me. I like it though. He's so open and honest with his feelings and it makes me feel so loved.
FH: Things weren't always that way though, were they? It was hard for you both at first.
NIKA: Very difficult. I didn't understand why at first but now that I've spent time around the werewolves and the vampires, I can see why Winter was so cautious and believed that we shouldn't act on our feelings. It's so easy to forget the danger when I'm around the werewolves, and even when I'm at the Validus mansion at times. When I saw the Law Keepers at the ball, and sensed their strength... and the other vampires there who looked upon me and my kind with disdain... well, that made it painfully clear what vampires truly think of werewolves and any vampire who dares to involve themselves with one.
WINTER: Nika, my love... do not think all vampires are the same. Times are changing. It will be a slow process but we have all the time in the world. If we are patient, there will come a day when we can be together all the time.
NIKA: (curls up on his lap and leans into him) I want that so much.
WINTER: (presses a kiss to her temple) I know. I want it too.
FH: Well, I clearly don't need to ask how your relationship with Winter is doing. So, how about I ask some fun questions to lighten the mood? Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
NIKA: Yellow. It's so bright and warm. Winter teases me and says I look as deadly as the sun when I wear yellow, but the look in his eyes says that he means it in a good way.
WINTER: I say it because you look too beautiful in it. It kills me to have to suffer you looking so beautiful when I cannot touch you.
(Nika kisses him)
FH: I am still trying to interview you. I can always get Hyperion in to pull you two apart if you don't start behaving. The interview will be over soon. What's your favourite smell?
NIKA: Winter. He smells so good.
FH: You two like the smell of each other. I really hope it's a vampire werewolf thing... or a comfort thing. I find it a little disturbing. Your favourite possession?
NIKA: My cross necklace, which Winter keeps safe for me.
FH: Favourite thing to do?
NIKA: Ride with Winter. Sometimes we ride together when I visit the Validus mansion. Lord Hyperion lends Winter his horse and I ride Winter's. I think it's very kind of Lord Hyperion.
FH: I think he's meddling again just like he loves to. And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
NIKA: Oh, I don't know. They're all so different. I'm still getting used to my senses and all the different smells and sounds are exciting. All of them.
FH: Winter said the same thing too, but his reasoning was that he loves to see you so fascinated by the different seasons.
NIKA: He did? You're so sweet. I love you. (she kisses him again)
FH: I think I'll leave it there. Winter, you're free to take Nika away now. Thanks for letting me interview you Nika!
(She doesn't respond. Winter rises from the seat with her cradled in his arms, her mouth still fixed to his in a passionate kiss, and carries her away)
FH: That's the last time I'm allowing partners to invade during an interview.
They make a cute couple don't they? Ah, there's nothing quite like forbidden love.
If you want to know more about these two and how they came to be together, then you can read their vampire/werewolf romance book, Winter's Kiss. Here's a little more about it.
Winter's Kiss
F E HeatonTheir lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter's world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he's fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he's torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2009
Book 8 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winter039skiss-620974-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7932
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456489895/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
Paranormal hottie number three - Alcide Herveaux
We're back to True Blood for my third paranormal hottie, the werewolf Alcide, played by the gorgeous Joe Manganiello... I don't think I need to say much in way of an introduction other than that for this man... I'm sure most of you are familiar with the droolworthy were!
Drool away, ladies...
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Which was your favourite picture? As usual, I've left my favourite one until last... although they're all damn fine! He just looks cuddly and sexy in that last pic.
Drool away, ladies...
[image error]
Which was your favourite picture? As usual, I've left my favourite one until last... although they're all damn fine! He just looks cuddly and sexy in that last pic.
Interview with a vampire - Hyperion
Really, I think the title of this post should be 'interview with a god' because Hyperion is more than just a vampire. He's probably one of the most intriguing and mysterious and popular vampires in my
Vampires Realm
series. I get a lot of people asking about him and when he's going to get his own story. It's so tempting to just keep having him appear in other heroes and heroines novels in the series because I don't want his quirky personality to change due to him finally having his love by his side. I'm not sure his personality would change, but he might be a little distracted by her and not amuse himself with everyone else's love lives as much. lol.
As I've said above, Hyperion doesn't have his own love story yet. I did write a short piece about his origins and you can read it on my Vampires Realm website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com/freestory_eternitythebeginning.php
Now, I've been waiting to interview this man for a long time, so on with the show...
(It feels as though I've been waiting forever for this moment, and that I'm going to have to wait a little longer. Minutes tick by. I tap my pen against the clipboard with my notes on it. Maybe he's going be a no-show. The door creaks open and the man himself enters, casually dressed in a loose black shirt that has the top few buttons undone, revealing bronzed skin and the valley between his chest muscles. He saunters across the room to the black velvet armchair and drapes himself in it, crosses his black-clad legs and smiles at me, revealing slightly extended canines. His purple eyes are beautiful in the firelight, mesmerising, but I know better than to fall into their trap)
HYPERION: When will you write my story, little lady? (the mixture of accents in his voice make his birth nationality hard to place but I know he was born over three thousand years ago in Egypt)
FH: Soon, I think. A few people want to read it. Every appearance you make in the series intrigues them a little more. I think you have a fan club. I'm tempted to change that to 'fang club' as I think these readers are just longing to imagine they're your heroine.
HYPERION: (smiles slowly) It can be arranged. I am always looking for fresh entertainment. The days can feel so long when I have so much on my mind and cannot sleep. I wouldn't say no to a little midday snack.
FH: Hmm, but I have the impression that's all they would be to you. You flirt so well with everyone but would you ever go further than a quick bite?
HYPERION: (his eyes darken and he looks away to the fireplace on his right, causing his irises to reflect silver in the light) Perhaps once upon a time I would have. I am afraid I would have to disappoint any ladies looking for more than just the pleasure of my bite now. My heart belongs to another.
FH: Tell me something I don't know. Things have certainly been busy for you recently though, so that must have occupied you to some degree?
HYPERION: (he turns back to me and smiles again) Most entertaining. It does amuse me when these vampire hunters believe they are any kind of match for my kind. I am still disputing certain outcomes of the event at the Venia mansion with Winter though. I am sure he is lying. There isn't the slightest possibility that he beat me.
FH: You're a sore loser. Does that come with age?
HYPERION: (laughs) No... my cavalier attitude and the right to pry into others' relationships came with age. I have to amuse myself somehow. If you lived for three thousand years, you would likely end up the same. I do not think any would dare dispute my right either.
FH: They're all scared of you. You could probably kill most of the vampires in the seven bloodlines with just a flick of your finger. There aren't any who can stand against your strength.
HYPERION: Now, there you are wrong. There is my beloved sister.
FH: That is true. Ineru is probably the one vampire in the world who could kill you with only a few words.
HYPERION: Not the only vampire. There is another. Women... they are man's only weakness.
FH: Very true. We can destroy men without flinching. Your sex isn't as strong as you think.
HYPERION: Your species isn't as strong as it thinks.
FH: Touché. I'll give you that one. So, do you have any other adventures planned?
HYPERION: I do indeed, and I think I shall need you to write them down for me. It is high time that my story was told. I grow tired of waiting... you are the only human in the world who can keep me waiting... perhaps the only person too. No vampire would dare. Not even Ineru.
FH: I'll write it. Don't worry. I do need to write your sister's story and also Lilith's sister's story too, and I think those should come first.
HYPERION: You place two stories before mine. I grant you leave to write my sister's story first, but to write Lilith's sister's story before mine... sheer madness, my little human. Why does she get precedence over me?
FH: Because her story came first. So shush, behave yourself. I know that your story sort of started shortly after Winter's story, but it hasn't ended yet and it's easier to write a story when it has ended and I have both hero and heroine present to recount it for me. Win your heroine and then we'll talk about writing your story, okay?
HYPERION: (frowns) Fine, if you insist it be that way, then I will do all in my power to make it happen. It will certainly be an adventure worth writing down though. I can promise you that.
FH: I'm sure readers are glad to hear it. They probably expect nothing less from you and I think every time you appear in a book, they're secretly hoping you've found someone to love and they'll get to read about it.
HYPERION: It isn't a case of finding someone to love. I have already found her, but I thought she was lost to me. It is more a case of finding where my love has gone.
FH: Either way, people want to read about it. I'm sure your 'fang club' will be desperate to read it when I've written it.
HYPERION: Then perhaps we should move things along and I can see about making my story happen.
FH: All of you vampires are so impatient. I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
HYPERION: Purple. It wasn't a colour I was familiar with when human. The first time I saw it in Ineru's eyes, it became my favourite colour. She has beautifully clear purple eyes.
FH: Sometimes you sound a little too in love with your sister. (he scowls at me) And moving swiftly on... your favourite smell?
HYPERION: The desert at night when the sand is cooling and the wind carries the faint scent of water and greenery. It has stayed with me for three millennia.
FH: Your favourite possession?
HYPERION: My ravens.
FH: Favourite thing to do?
HYPERION: Stargaze with my sister. We often did it back in Egypt. There you could see so many stars. I think we used to do it because it made us both feel that not everything had changed. The world was still the same and the stars were still the same. It made it easier to cope with what happened to me, and what I had done to Ineru.
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
HYPERION: Winter. The nights are longer in Russia then and very clear. Ineru finds it easier to get away from her place of exile too because the guards are less inclined to leave their houses and check on her.
FH: You really do care a lot about your sister. I can understand it though. She's been with you for three thousand years and was your only companion until you found your bloodline. Do you still feel bad about turning her?
HYPERION: (shakes his head) No. It is what she wanted and I don't think I could have coped with watching her wither and die. I don't think I would have made it past my first decade as a vampire without her at my side.
FH: That's very sweet. You're a good brother to her. Now, I'll let you get on with that business of finding the woman you love. Good luck!
HYPERION: (nods) Thank you. I shall bring back a story worthy of your skill with words.
FH: Get on with you. Compliments get you nowhere.
(Hyperion smiles, rises from the seat, and bows in a way that has me staring down his half-open shirt. Whoever has captured this man's heart is one lucky lady!)
Ah, I think I'm more in love with him than ever. What about you?
As I've said above, Hyperion doesn't have his own love story yet. I did write a short piece about his origins and you can read it on my Vampires Realm website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com/freestory_eternitythebeginning.php
Now, I've been waiting to interview this man for a long time, so on with the show...
(It feels as though I've been waiting forever for this moment, and that I'm going to have to wait a little longer. Minutes tick by. I tap my pen against the clipboard with my notes on it. Maybe he's going be a no-show. The door creaks open and the man himself enters, casually dressed in a loose black shirt that has the top few buttons undone, revealing bronzed skin and the valley between his chest muscles. He saunters across the room to the black velvet armchair and drapes himself in it, crosses his black-clad legs and smiles at me, revealing slightly extended canines. His purple eyes are beautiful in the firelight, mesmerising, but I know better than to fall into their trap)
HYPERION: When will you write my story, little lady? (the mixture of accents in his voice make his birth nationality hard to place but I know he was born over three thousand years ago in Egypt)
FH: Soon, I think. A few people want to read it. Every appearance you make in the series intrigues them a little more. I think you have a fan club. I'm tempted to change that to 'fang club' as I think these readers are just longing to imagine they're your heroine.
HYPERION: (smiles slowly) It can be arranged. I am always looking for fresh entertainment. The days can feel so long when I have so much on my mind and cannot sleep. I wouldn't say no to a little midday snack.
FH: Hmm, but I have the impression that's all they would be to you. You flirt so well with everyone but would you ever go further than a quick bite?
HYPERION: (his eyes darken and he looks away to the fireplace on his right, causing his irises to reflect silver in the light) Perhaps once upon a time I would have. I am afraid I would have to disappoint any ladies looking for more than just the pleasure of my bite now. My heart belongs to another.
FH: Tell me something I don't know. Things have certainly been busy for you recently though, so that must have occupied you to some degree?
HYPERION: (he turns back to me and smiles again) Most entertaining. It does amuse me when these vampire hunters believe they are any kind of match for my kind. I am still disputing certain outcomes of the event at the Venia mansion with Winter though. I am sure he is lying. There isn't the slightest possibility that he beat me.
FH: You're a sore loser. Does that come with age?
HYPERION: (laughs) No... my cavalier attitude and the right to pry into others' relationships came with age. I have to amuse myself somehow. If you lived for three thousand years, you would likely end up the same. I do not think any would dare dispute my right either.
FH: They're all scared of you. You could probably kill most of the vampires in the seven bloodlines with just a flick of your finger. There aren't any who can stand against your strength.
HYPERION: Now, there you are wrong. There is my beloved sister.
FH: That is true. Ineru is probably the one vampire in the world who could kill you with only a few words.
HYPERION: Not the only vampire. There is another. Women... they are man's only weakness.
FH: Very true. We can destroy men without flinching. Your sex isn't as strong as you think.
HYPERION: Your species isn't as strong as it thinks.
FH: Touché. I'll give you that one. So, do you have any other adventures planned?
HYPERION: I do indeed, and I think I shall need you to write them down for me. It is high time that my story was told. I grow tired of waiting... you are the only human in the world who can keep me waiting... perhaps the only person too. No vampire would dare. Not even Ineru.
FH: I'll write it. Don't worry. I do need to write your sister's story and also Lilith's sister's story too, and I think those should come first.
HYPERION: You place two stories before mine. I grant you leave to write my sister's story first, but to write Lilith's sister's story before mine... sheer madness, my little human. Why does she get precedence over me?
FH: Because her story came first. So shush, behave yourself. I know that your story sort of started shortly after Winter's story, but it hasn't ended yet and it's easier to write a story when it has ended and I have both hero and heroine present to recount it for me. Win your heroine and then we'll talk about writing your story, okay?
HYPERION: (frowns) Fine, if you insist it be that way, then I will do all in my power to make it happen. It will certainly be an adventure worth writing down though. I can promise you that.
FH: I'm sure readers are glad to hear it. They probably expect nothing less from you and I think every time you appear in a book, they're secretly hoping you've found someone to love and they'll get to read about it.
HYPERION: It isn't a case of finding someone to love. I have already found her, but I thought she was lost to me. It is more a case of finding where my love has gone.
FH: Either way, people want to read about it. I'm sure your 'fang club' will be desperate to read it when I've written it.
HYPERION: Then perhaps we should move things along and I can see about making my story happen.
FH: All of you vampires are so impatient. I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
HYPERION: Purple. It wasn't a colour I was familiar with when human. The first time I saw it in Ineru's eyes, it became my favourite colour. She has beautifully clear purple eyes.
FH: Sometimes you sound a little too in love with your sister. (he scowls at me) And moving swiftly on... your favourite smell?
HYPERION: The desert at night when the sand is cooling and the wind carries the faint scent of water and greenery. It has stayed with me for three millennia.
FH: Your favourite possession?
HYPERION: My ravens.
FH: Favourite thing to do?
HYPERION: Stargaze with my sister. We often did it back in Egypt. There you could see so many stars. I think we used to do it because it made us both feel that not everything had changed. The world was still the same and the stars were still the same. It made it easier to cope with what happened to me, and what I had done to Ineru.
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
HYPERION: Winter. The nights are longer in Russia then and very clear. Ineru finds it easier to get away from her place of exile too because the guards are less inclined to leave their houses and check on her.
FH: You really do care a lot about your sister. I can understand it though. She's been with you for three thousand years and was your only companion until you found your bloodline. Do you still feel bad about turning her?
HYPERION: (shakes his head) No. It is what she wanted and I don't think I could have coped with watching her wither and die. I don't think I would have made it past my first decade as a vampire without her at my side.
FH: That's very sweet. You're a good brother to her. Now, I'll let you get on with that business of finding the woman you love. Good luck!
HYPERION: (nods) Thank you. I shall bring back a story worthy of your skill with words.
FH: Get on with you. Compliments get you nowhere.
(Hyperion smiles, rises from the seat, and bows in a way that has me staring down his half-open shirt. Whoever has captured this man's heart is one lucky lady!)
Ah, I think I'm more in love with him than ever. What about you?
Vampire romance flash fiction - Stolen
This is the third of the four flash fiction pieces I wrote for my Halloween Spooktacular!
A flash fiction is a short piece of work, normally around 1000 words long. It's pretty much a single short scene. All of my flash fics this weekend are based in my Vampires Realm world.
This time we're jumping into Winter's world and also sneaking into the story of Masquerade (out January 2012). Winter is a vampire of the Validus bloodline, and is commander in the Watchmen, which is the guard of that bloodline. He's also secretly involved with a werewolf, Nika, which is a major no-no and very forbidden in the Vampires Realm world - punishable by death. You can read their love story in Winter's Kiss .
The flash fic is behind the cut...
STOLEN
So, did you enjoy this little stolen moment between Winter and Nika?
A flash fiction is a short piece of work, normally around 1000 words long. It's pretty much a single short scene. All of my flash fics this weekend are based in my Vampires Realm world.
This time we're jumping into Winter's world and also sneaking into the story of Masquerade (out January 2012). Winter is a vampire of the Validus bloodline, and is commander in the Watchmen, which is the guard of that bloodline. He's also secretly involved with a werewolf, Nika, which is a major no-no and very forbidden in the Vampires Realm world - punishable by death. You can read their love story in Winter's Kiss .
The flash fic is behind the cut...
STOLEN
Winter stepped out onto the stone patio of the Venia mansion, the music pouring through the open doors at his back along with the sound of merriment. Lord Hyperion's voice rang out above the crowd, causing a smile to tug at his lips. He did indeed have a prior engagement and he didn't want to keep her waiting.
He tipped his head back, pushed the black dragon-like mask up to rest on his forehead so he relieved the pressure on his nose, and dragged in a long deep breath of cold night air. A thousand different scents flooded his senses but one stood out amongst them.
Nika.
He lowered his mask again, settling it over his eyes, and tracked her scent down the steps to his left. It led him into the dark gardens past the large yew hedge maze. Groups of guards, a mixture of vampires and werewolves, lined the perimeter wall in the distance. More guards moved around the grounds, passing him. The Validus among the vampire groups acknowledged him with a salute. The werewolves acknowledged him with a wary glance. They were all Dmitri's men and were all used to seeing him at the bastion now but he had yet to gain their trust. He could understand their wariness now. They were vastly outnumbered but Lord Hyperion had guaranteed their safety. If any vampire from the other bloodlines stepped out of line, the Validus had orders to defend the werewolves.
"You look handsome," a feminine voice said from his right, softly accented with a Russian edge and a touch of playfulness.
Winter contained his smile, paused mid-stride, and turned to face her.
She blended into the darkness with her black turtleneck and dark trousers, but her pale fair hair stood out against her backdrop of hedge.
Nika tucked her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. "I wish I could dress up and attend your fancy ball."
Winter checked his surroundings with his senses, ensuring no one was coming, and then walked towards her. Her eyes sparkled at him in the low light, bright with amusement. He loved it when she was like this, playful and teasing, full of life and happiness.
Happiness he knew he caused with just his presence.
"It is not my fancy ball. I am just a guard given the honour of attending to protect my master should there be an attack. I do not have leave to dance or socialise," he said in a low voice and a frown pinched her fair eyebrows.
"And would you dance if you could?"
He smiled now, seeing straight through her. She didn't like the thought of him dancing with another woman, with a vampire. She was jealous.
"I would." Winter held his smile when her frown became a dark scowl, her lips compressing and the spike in her anger evident in her blood scent. He held his black gloved hand out to her. "I would dance with you."
She glanced at it and then huffed and turned her nose up, folding her arms across her chest at the same time. "I do not have leave to dance. You will have to find another pretty partner to amuse yourself with."
"Nika," Winter said, a note of warning in his tone. While her jealousy often amused him, it perplexed him too. When she got into moods like this it was hard to get her out of them again. He rarely found the right key to unlock her and bring her back to him. He glanced around in all directions and caught her arm.
Nika struggled as he pulled her into the maze entrance.
"What are you—"
Winter silenced her with a kiss. She instantly melted against him, her breath escaping in a sigh, her hands pressing against the breast of his black formal jacket. He groaned at her warmth and her taste, ached deep in his heart at the feel of her in his arms again. He had missed her, had thought constantly of her since their last meeting, and had imagined this moment a thousand times each night they were apart.
"Winter," she whispered against his lips, her brushing his name softly across them. "You'll get us in trouble if someone sees us."
"No one will see us." Winter pulled her with him as he backed further into the maze. "I just want a few minutes with you. Is that too much to ask?"
The warmth that filled her eyes as she looked up into his said that it wasn't and that she understood his need, that she felt the same one deep inside her.
"I've missed you," she said and kissed him again, her mouth sweet and warm on his, relaying her love to him in each sweep of her lips over his.
Winter settled one arm around her waist and clasped her hand with his other, moving her without her realising as she kissed him. They had been dancing for almost a full minute before she drew back and smiled into his eyes, her look so full of love that he wanted to pause and drink it in, to make the most of this stolen moment with her.
"I thought I refused to dance with you?"
Winter turned with her and shrugged, leading her step by step deeper into the maze. He wanted more than just a few minutes with her in his arms now. He craved the taste of her, hungered to touch her and ached to make love with her again. Even a few days apart was torture to him now. He couldn't bear being away from her.
"Do you always get what you want?" she said and he frowned at her from behind his mask.
"If I did, then I would live with you, Nika, somewhere far away where the laws had no meaning. I do not think I always get what I want... I think you always get what you want."
She smiled. "Because you let me have my way."
"No," Winter whispered and brushed the backs of his fingers across her soft cheek, holding her gaze. "Because I love you."
"Enough to run away with me and not regret it?" Her smile turned hesitant, her heartbeat tremulous in his ears.
"Yes... more than enough to do that... and how much does my little wolf love me?"
Nika sighed, stopped their dance and reached up to cup his cheek. The look in her eyes said it all, her heart speaking to his through them, but she said it anyway.
"I love you enough that I would never ask you to do such a thing, because I know how important your duty is to you."
Winter warmed inside at those words and the love and honesty behind them. He drew her close and danced with her again, slow this time, shifting with her in step with the distant music, savouring how it felt to love and be loved.
"Soon, my little wolf," he whispered and pressed a kiss to her hair as she rested her head against his chest. "One day the law will change and then we shall be together."
"Forever?" she said and held him closer.
Winter sighed. He wanted that more than anything.
"Forever."
So, did you enjoy this little stolen moment between Winter and Nika?
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