Stephanie Burke - Lucavarious.pdf - Stephanie Burke - smerry

LUCAVARIOUS

STEPHANIE BURKE

MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-267-9

Mobipocket (PRC) ISBN # 1-84360-268-7

Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), & HTML

Ellora's Cave, Inc. USA

Ellora's Cave Ltd, UK

This e-book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by email forwarding, copying, fax, or any other

mode of communication without author permission.

Edited by Martha Punches & Karen W. Williams

Cover Art by Darrell King

Warning:

The following material contains strong sexual content meant for mature readers. LUCAVARIOUS has

been rated NC17, erotic, by three individual reviewers. We strongly suggest storing this electronic file in

a place where young readers not meant to view this ebook are unlikely to happen upon it. That said,

enjoy…

Chapter One

She could feel them gaining on her, getting closer every second. The fading darkness of the woods no

longer protected her, no longer held her within its cold black embrace. The crash of their headlong chase

gave her feet new life as she renewed the exhaustive pumping of her legs.

"Just a bit further," she panted, encouraging herself as she raced onward towards the glowing purple orb

that marked the boundary between the pack lands and him . She slipped and almost fell to the

leaf-covered ground as her soft slippers flew from her feet, but ignoring their meager protection, she paid

no attention to their loss and struggled onward.

Then, for a moment, there was complete, utter silence. The change had begun. They were transforming

into their secondary bodies, and that frightened her more than any thoughts of him . If they caught her, all

her plans would be ruined, her deathbed promise useless.

Turning again, she continued her flight into the approaching dawn, towards the glowing shield that was

now her only goal, her only hope.

She felt its power first, felt it pulsing and growing. The smell of it was foreign to her, different from the

power with which she was accustomed, stranger than anything that she could have imagined.

But thoughts of those differences spurred her onward. Again she lost herself in the rhythm of pounding

feet and straining muscles. Looking back over her shoulder, she noted that she could barely make them

out, dark shadows streaking across the land behind her.

With a frustrated sob welling in her throat, she turned and almost ran straight into that wall of energy and

power. Jolted by its glowing presence, she paused in front of it, just looking at it, tasting the air around it,

basking in its energy.

"Dark!" a voice wailed.

Dark snapped back to herself, turned and then gasped in shock. They were almost upon her. She had no

choice.

Praying that she would not be killed despite the invitation, and struggling against the urge to turn back,

she crossed her arms over her face and plunged through.

There was a snapping sound and she suddenly felt as if there were electric jolts shooting through her

body. Her ears popped and a pale glowing light burned her eyes where she peeked through the barrier of

her arms. Tears of pain welled up and flowed down her cheeks. The air was forced from her lungs as she

opened her mouth to let out a cry of distress, then just as suddenly, she was forced through the barrier.

Gasping for breath, she fell to her knees, inches away from the purple shield, and lowered her head to the

soft ground.

"Dark!"

She spun around to see pale yellow eyes glowing at her from beyond the other side of the dome.

Massive jaws and razor-like teeth snapped ineffectively at the barrier, unable to break through. Even so,

her heart raced as she scrambled further away on trembling knees and torn hands from the wall of the

protective dome.

"Dark!" another sinfully seductive voice growled as she pulled herself to her cut and bleeding feet and

again raced towards the castle. Those voices had the power to mesmerize. She didn't want to be caught

in that trap.

"No!" the voices chorused together as she reached the castle steps. But she paid no attention, even as the

two calls coalesced into a howl of anger and rage. She had a date with the devil and it was an

appointment she was determined to keep.

* * * * *

The room wasn't what she'd expected. When speaking of the Vampesi, one thought of nothing but

darkness, cold power, and dampness. But this room, this circular room was almost… pleasant.

Totally encircled by long dark draperies, no light could enter the room from any angle. Even the brightest

rays from the sun would be absorbed into this absolute darkness.

She took a cautious step forward and sank into plush carpet so thick and luxurious it almost made her

ashamed of her dirty bare feet and tattered sleeping gown.

As she stepped further into the room, a constant dull ache in her abdomen made her clench her teeth

against the discomfort and curse the fates that added this latest issue to her existence.

Gritting her teeth, she looked around the room and finally noticed a large desk in the rear, centered

perfectly, but nothing else. Turning, she visually circled the room, searching for some sign of life.

"Lucavarious!" she called, a sudden fear making her voice loud and authoritative.

"Wolfen-child," came the light reply.

Her attention snapped to the center of the room again, as if for the first time seeing the wide high-backed

chair that sat there, faced away from her.

"We have business to discuss," she said, trying to interject braveness into her voice.

"Do we?" questioned the amused voice. It was dark and dangerous, far more seductive than the voices

of the two she’d just avoided.

"The contract, Lucavarious; it must be fulfilled."

"Really, Wolfen-child?"

"Don't play games with me!" she screamed, losing patience. The ache was gnawing at her, the night was

catching up to her, and anger was slowly threading its way into her voice.

"Games, Wolfen-child?"

"Damn it, Lucavarious. Show yourself."

Slowly the large black chair began to rotate and a small dim light seemed to glow around it. Dark felt her

breath catch as she awaited her first glimpse of the monster that she had come to see.

He was…not what she expected.

Long tendrils of curly black hair dropped carelessly over his forehead and into his eyes. He stared at her

with pale black eyes from beneath long lashes. His steepled fingers framed a set of full, well-formed lips.

His nose was straight and wide, giving him a feline look. Even his hands were different, the little finger of

each one crowned with a noticeably longer nail painted pure onyx, each sharp nail pierced with a small

silver hoop.

Around both wrists were several silver bangles that tinkled and sang with the movement of the chair. One

leg was casually thrown across the arm of his chair, a silver toe ring gracing one perfect toe, the other

folded neatly beneath him.

As if to contrast all of the blackness that surrounded him, he wore a loose-fitting shirt and pants of a

near-blinding white.

"Not what you were expecting, Wolfen-child?" he asked as he tilted his head to view her at a different

angle. A faint howl grabbed his attention and he turned to face the drape-covered windows.

His ear was also pierced, she saw. A large diamond pierced the top of his ear while several tiny silver

hoops jingled with his movements. So much for the myth that silver poisoned the Vampesi. The man was

a walking silver mine.

"You are not what I had expected," she finally conceded. He was much more than she expected.

"Not bad for a 400-year-old man?" he laughed as he agilely leapt to his feet. "Friends of yours?" he

asked, tilting his head in the direction of the mournful howls.

"About that contract," she changed the subject. "You have to honor it."

"I have to do no such thing." He laughed as he turned his pale black eyes back on her.

"You signed this!" she cried, slapping a tattered piece of parchment on the desk in front of him, her

sudden anger making her forget her fear of crossing the room to face him.

"I signed that with your parents, Wolfen-child, not with you. Where are they?"

"Dead."

"And your entourage?"

"They tried to prevent this meeting."

"How?"

"Poison," she breathed, knowing that he meant her parents.

He hissed a long deep breath and the room noticeably chilled. She shivered as the temperature dropped

several degrees. "I am sorry, Wolf-child."

"They made me promise to come," she added.

"When?" he again asked, meaning her parents.

"T-Tonight."

He noticed the gleam of pain and the sheen of tears in her eyes.

"And them?" he asked, tilting his head towards the window.

"They are nothing!" she cried as she jerked her eyes to his. He didn't need to know that some of her

parents’ top advisors had wanted to stop this contract. And she had to act quickly. Dawn was fast

approaching. She could feel it singing in her blood. She had to hold off until then. Then she would have

the advantage.

"They are the Wolfen Clan, Wolfen-child." He settled an amused look upon his face. "Can you not hear

their complaints?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she screamed, the cramps gripping her again. Crossing her

hands over her stomach, she tried not to show him any signs of her distress.

"The children of the night," he laughed, quoting a long-lost book of fiction. With a flourish, he leapt to the

ledge that encircled the room and tossed aside the curtain. "What beautiful music they make." He threw

back his head as if relishing their mournful wails coming from beyond the barrier.

"It fits somehow." He let the curtain fall back and turned to face her again. "Wolfen and Vampesi," he

laughed.

"Stop it!" she suddenly screamed. Her cramps were becoming uncontrollable. Fire was licking its way

through her body.

"But I thought togetherness was the whole point to this contract, Wolfen-child?"

"We have to settle it tonight, Lucavarious," she gritted out, trying not to double over. His scent was

driving her crazy. His power was driving her crazy. He was making her insane.

"And why is that, Wolfen-child?" His voice suddenly became low and dangerous.

"Because I'm going into heat."

"And we both know that I am the only thing keeping them from having you flat on your back taking turns

to fill you belly with their seed and stealing all of your power." The Vampesi was serious now; keen

intelligence shone from his eyes. He knew what he was up against if he fulfilled the terms of the contract.

There would be no keeping him in the dark.

"They are scared," she reasoned just as the first rays of the new sun touched the sky.

"They are fools," he returned as he stepped down from the ledge and faced her, inhaling her scent,

forcing her to lose her train of thought.

"You have to fulfill the terms!" she screamed, finally feeling forced enough to use desperate measures.

She raced past him to the curtains and latched on tightly. "You have to fulfill the terms," she cried again,

anguished over what he was forcing her to do. It was not in her nature to wish harm upon anyone, but he

was forcing her hand. "If you don't agree, I'll pull this open. The sun is shining now. I swear I will pull it."

"So you'll kill me to force me to aid you?" he quipped, laughter in his voice.

"I will!" she cried and realized that she meant it. All of her emotions and hormones were out of control. A

volatile mixture of anger, frustration, and shame flooded her body. She now felt things, smelled things,

heard things that she had never before noticed. Like the musky scent of him, the low boom of his heart

beating, how his presence filled every inch of this room.

So lost was she that she barely noticed him walking up and surrounding her small hand with his larger

Stephanie Burke - Lucavarious.pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: