Teaser Tuesday
Caressed by Night (Rulers of Darkness #2)
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“What was that about?”
Kerstyn asked once Dimitri finished off his water.
He looked up, his eyes locking on hers.
Kerstyn held back a gasp. His gaze was cold, unfeeling, and she knew she was
looking into the face of death. She ignored the voice in the back of her mind that
told her to run. Instead, she stayed seated on the living room floor and inched
closer to him. She could feel the heat and malicious power radiating from his
body. She placed a hand on his bicep, the muscle flexed beneath her touch as
his hand fisted.
“Business,” he said, his
voice deep and thick.
“Bad news?”
“Quite the opposite in
fact.”
His voice was even and
smooth despite the sharp, hard look on his face. Something pure evil lurked
just beneath the surface. Her flight response was going off like a fire alarm
in her head, but she did not move. She knew Dimitri would not lash out at her,
but what about the vampire? Silvie had warned her to be cautious. Her heart
told her he would never intentionally hurt her, her brain was telling her to
run until her legs gave out.
Like I would be able to
out run him,
she thought.
Violence. Brutality. A
caged demon existed within him, was part of him, and for the first time Kerstyn
was beginning to doubt his ability to control the natural instincts that
belonged to a vampire. Cruelty. Bloodlust. She could see the restraints
cracking beneath the pressure.
Swallowing her
nervousness, she asked, “Then what’s with the homicidal glare?”
Kerstyn watched as the
shadows faded and his charming smile returned. He was undeniably handsome when
angry, deathly gorgeous when his vampire side paid a visit, but he was
deliciously sexy when he smiled. His diamond eyes danced with smoldering
crystal flames. The malevolent tension that had filled the room vanished. She
knew he had drawn the negative energy into himself and unease pricked her
flesh.
“I apologize. Business
of this nature tends to bring out―”
“Your dark side,” she
finished with a light laugh as she picked a piece of pepperoni off her pizza,
then popped it in her mouth.
He nodded and pushed his
plate aside, his appetite gone. His stomach knotted and cramped, not from the
greasy, yet tasty pizza, but from what was to come.
Everything was working
just the way he had planned. The attack had been successful and Gabriel was able
to evacuate all the humans from the warehouse. Silvie was currently
working on erasing their memories and replacing them with a pleasant past.
Tonight, everything was
set into motion and there was no stopping Fate. This would be his last evening
of peace.
Dimitri took a deep
breath, the air warming his lungs.
After a long debate with
himself, he decided to take Silvie’s advice. The Shaw witch had insisted that
he tell Kerstyn about Ven. The traitorous vampire would be coming to Las Vegas
in a few short weeks and Kerstyn needed to know the dangers that awaited her.
She deserved to know what was headed their way. If they were to have a true
future together, he needed to be honest and open.
How much should he tell
her? What exactly should he say? He closed his eyes and dropped his head. God,
how he wished he had someone to whom he could turn, someone he could ask for
advice. Dorian was the only king to have found his mate and he surely
experienced the same dilemma, but, for the moment, Dorian still believed him
dead.
Should he confess all?
Should he lay bare his black soul and reveal all his sins? If she knew what he
had done, would she turn from him? If she knew that vampires existed because of
him, would she flee?
He ran an unsteady hand
through his hair. Never had he experienced such emotional turmoil. His heart
begged for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, but his instincts screamed
at him to keep his mouth shut. He did not want to lose her. He could not lose
her.
If only she knew of our
true relationship,
he thought. If she knew we were destined…maybe she would accept me…maybe she
could look past all the evil that surrounds my soul.
Dimitri shook his head
and allowed another deep breath to heat his lungs. He needed to hear her say
everything was going to work out, that Fate did not hate him as he believed.
That she would live through this month and stay with him for all eternity.
“Earlier, in the kitchen, you had said nothing
was wrong, but I’m willing to bet that there is something seriously wrong.”
The sound of her sweet,
musical voice dragged him back from his dark thoughts.
“That call had nothing
to do with monetary business.”
“Vampire stuff?”
He nodded.
“Bad vampire stuff?”
Dimitri nodded again.
Kerstyn used one of the
paper napkins that arrived with the pizza to wipe off her hands. Once she was
done, she turned her body sideways so that she could face him.
“Do you recall the way
everyone was looking at me when we entered Dark?”
Kerstyn nodded. She would never be able to
forget the way Dimitri had walked through the club. His shoulders squared with
defiance, his eyes cold and challenging. Menace had burst from him like a hot
wave of air. The vampires in the club had been shocked and terrified of him.
“As if I have come back from the dead,”
he said, using her phrase from that night.~
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