Unfortunately, he was found nailed to a cross in the center of the city a couple of days ago, igniting violent responses on both sides. Still, Nicole was hopeful that this was the beginning of change.
Change was definitely on the horizon for vampires, anyway. The most stunning developments of all following the battle were still happening.
Four clans from around the Pacific Northwest had sent representatives to Hunter. Word of the battle had spread, and MoonBound was becoming something of a legend. Kars had been on the right track when he tried to rally clans behind him—vampires were ready for a leader. But he wasn’t it. Now clans were lining up behind Hunter and Aylin, their desire for a united vampire nation spurring them on.
But the situation with ShadowSpawn was the thing Aylin found the most amazing. Kars had sent a peace offering, a white dove that had to have been Rasha’s idea. And with it was a message:
I, Karshawnewuti Redmoon of ShadowSpawn clan, declare eternal peace and allegiance to MoonBound clan, so long as I live.
Holy. Shit.
Rasha had been true to her word, but how she’d accomplished such a feat was a mystery. And Aylin figured it would remain that way.
The one dark cloud hanging over the clan was the presence of someone who had given away secrets and put MoonBound in danger. But she, Hunter, and Riker had agreed that right now, the risk of sabotage was low, given the growing peace among the clans. So for the time being, they thought it best to play it cool, to give the person a chance to think he or she was off the hook. The traitor would eventually screw up, and in the meantime, Hunter and Riker could devise a trap. They would get their spy—they just wanted to do it without hurting anyone else.
A tap at her chamber door came right on time, and Aylin opened it to find Nicole standing there in a lacy green knee-length dress. She grinned when she saw Aylin.
“You’re gorgeous,” she said. “Hunter is going to flip out.”
Aylin hoped so. Hunter’s Cherokee background had fascinated Aylin, so she’d researched traditions and clothing, and with only days to prepare, she and several clan members had put together an ensemble fitting for a mating ceremony with a clan chief.
Hard to believe that just a month ago, Aylin had thought her future was lost. Now she was about to officially mate the chief of the largest clan in the Pacific Northwest. A chief who now commanded the respect of multiple clans. A chief who wasn’t just mating with her for political reasons.
He loved her.
She couldn’t wait to make it official. Especially because she’d insisted on keeping separate chambers until the ceremony, and tonight would be the first night she and Hunter spent together since the full moon.
Tonight was the new moon, when the female moon fever would rule, and she could already feel the pull tugging at her.
She cast a final glance in the mirror, wondering if the feather and turquoise headdress was too much. She adjusted it. Took it off. Put it back on.
Finally, a deep male voice made the decision for her. “If you wear that,” Hunter said from the doorway, “we won’t make it all the way through the ceremony.”
Smiling, she pivoted to face him. Nicole had conveniently disappeared, leaving Aylin alone with the male she was about to commit to.
And if she’d had any doubt before, the sight of him, his dark gaze glittering with excitement and admiration, demolished it. His ebony hair fell in a shiny curtain over his broad shoulders and chest, which were bare except for a silver and amber necklace fashioned in MoonBound’s symbol of the half-moon circled by a serpent. A single braid woven with a leather thong and eagle feathers hung from his right temple, secured by a miniature version of the MoonBound pendant.
And hanging low on his hips were supple buckskin leathers that hugged his muscular thighs as if they’d been painted on.
Reaching out, she put her palm on his chest. “We don’t have to wait until after the ceremony.”
“We’ll be late.” He stepped close and pressed his lips to the pulse in her throat. “But I’m sure everyone expects that.”
Heat flooded her veins, and beneath her hand, his heartbeat raced. “Then let’s not disappoint them.”
His hands circled her hips, and as if she weighed nothing at all, he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. “Thank you, Aylin,” he whispered in her ear.
She clung to him, rotating her hips against the hardness of his erection. “For what?”
“For saving my life.”
“You’ve already thanked me.”
“For bringing me back from the dead, yes.” He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, sending a shock of arousal straight to her core. “But not for saving me. I was headed down a path that wouldn’t lead anywhere. Then Rasha happened, and if I’d mated with her, my path would have turned . . . ugly. You did more than bring me back from the dead, Aylin. You resurrected me.”
Emotion clogged her throat. “You did the same for me. I wouldn’t have survived being sent to NightShade.”
“I think,” he said roughly, as he slid inside her, filling her, completing her, “that you’d have done fine. You’re strong, Aylin, and it’s your strength that saved me. Saved us both.”
She moaned at the delicious possession. “You broke me out of ShadowSpawn’s chains and gave me the freedom to be strong,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I could belong to a clan and still be free, but here I am.”
He braced her between his big body and the wall and moved against her, his hips pumping slowly, sensuously. “I would never chain you, sweetheart.” He gave her a naughty smile. “Unless you want me to.”
“Mmm . . . maybe later.”
Leaning in, he scraped his fangs over her clavicle, and she shuddered with pleasure. “I have dreams about that,” he said, his voice dripping with erotic promise. “Having you at my mercy.”
“Before you came along, dreams were all I had. And you’ve made every one of them come true.” She reconsidered that. “Well, most of them.”
He froze. Pulled back. Looked down at her with heartbreaking worry. “What dream haven’t I fulfilled?”
Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. “Just one. But it’ll happen.”
He scowled. “What is it?”
“Children,” she murmured. “All my life, I was told I wouldn’t be allowed to have them. And in a way, it was a blessing. I couldn’t raise a child in a clan like ShadowSpawn or NightShade. But I can’t think of a better place to raise them than here, with you as their father.”
Hunter’s dark eyes grew liquid, and his throat worked over and over on swallows. When he finally spoke, his words were edged with emotion.
“Only if Nicole finds a way to make giving birth safe. I can’t lose you. I love you, Aylin. Samnult is a bastard, but he was right about one thing.” Dipping his head, he brushed his lips over hers. “I chose wisely.”
Yes, he had.
They both had.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
HUGE, SINCERE THANKS to everyone on the Pocket Books team who helped bring this book to publication under less than optimal circumstances. Your patience and understanding kept me sane, and I appreciate you more than I can say. Extra huge hugs to Lauren McKenna and Elana Cohen for all your hard work. You went the extra mile for me, and I can’t thank you enough.
About the Author
Larissa Ione is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Demonica series, The Lords of Deliverance and Sydney Croft books, and other contemporary novels. An Air Force veteran, she traded in her career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion for writing. She lives in Wisconsin with her US Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, Hexe. Visit her at LarissaIone.com.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Larissa-Ione
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Pocket Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Larissa Ione
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Cover illustration by Craig White
ISBN 978-1-4767-0018-2
ISBN 978-1-4767-0020-5 (ebook)
CONTENTS
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Acknowledgments
About the Author