His Final Seduction Read online

  Duncan’s Descent

  © 2008 Marie Harte

  An Ethereal Foes story

  As a demon of the Ethereal, it’s Duncan Sinclair’s job to sway humans toward the path to hell. Duncan is very good at his job—until a prank gone wrong lands him in the upper realm doing penance. Now he’s being bombarded with love, kindness, and affectionate sex…and it’s killing him. The only way out is to agree to sway souls for heaven, with an angel as his partner, by all that’s unholy!

  Sapphira may be an angel of the upper realm, but she chafes in a bland existence where everything is so pure. It’s hard to hide her secret yearning for sin. Even harder with Duncan, who’s everything the dark core of her soul craves: handsome, sexy and refreshingly naughty.

  Confronted with an angel who drinks, swears, and takes him to bliss with her sinfully delightful body, Duncan finds himself at risk of losing his heart to the enemy.

  Loving this angel could land him right where he doesn’t want to be—heaven. But what’s a demon to do when he’s falling?

  Warning: This title contains annoying angels, smart-assed demons, beer, hotter-than-hell sex, and justice for all.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Duncan’s Descent:

  She blinked and quickly turned away from the passion in his gaze. “Ah, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come here first.” Glancing down, she seemed to notice she’d finished her second beer already. To Duncan’s amusement, she looked none the worse for wear. His angel, apparently, could drink a mean game.

  “Another?” Before she could protest, Duncan waved the lone waitress to their table. She stumbled all over herself to help him, and he had her return with four more beers, on the house. After the waitress left, he donned a put-upon expression. “Sapphira, I’m not done drinking yet. I’d like another.” He nodded to Sapphira to finish hers. “Drink while we talk. It’ll make my presence that much easier to bear,” he added caustically.

  “Good point.” Sapphira started on another, and Duncan hid a smirk. If this kept up, she’d be the fastest seduction he’d ever made. And despite the poor challenge she presented, his hunger deepened at thoughts of taking such a ripe, sensual female.

  “Now tell me more about Shepherd. He’s on the fence about his Decision, right? So what’s heaven’s angle?”

  As she told him what Uriel had explained to her when she’d disappeared while Duncan had been changing, he lost the train of conversation as he studied her. Such earnest intentions. She truly appeared to believe in commanding the souls they’d been sent to find. Yet the spark of darkness, the mischief Duncan could feel bubbling just under her skin warmed him.

  And damned if he didn’t find her heinously attractive. Heinous, he thought, was too good a word for it. Duncan had lost count of all the women he’d slept with in his short four hundred years. He’d had all manners of race, size and shape, and had no real preferences for any particular color. Gender, however, mattered. Unlike James, Duncan preferred females. His brother…the book hadn’t yet been written, but it wouldn’t surprise Duncan to find James sharing sex with a man in his future.

  Sapphira, however, was as far from a man as a woman might be. Her darker skin had a richness, a vibrancy that made him think of home. And though he loved females in all shapes and sizes, preferably ones who liked sex without so much love and devotion attached, he’d always been drawn to a full, womanly shape. Though tall and slender in some places, in others Sapphira kicked with curves. She had full breasts that would fill his palms, he was sure. He’d mentally cupped them a dozen times since seeing her. And that ass… He finished his beer and downed half of another one.

  That ass would feel right as he held her down and fucked her again and again. He could too easily imagine riding her, channeling into that sweet pussy before taking her in the ass, where no one ever had before. She had most likely had sex, but he doubted her partners had been very creative. Duncan snorted. Angels were incredibly boring. In his eternity of a stay in the upper realm, he’d received blowjobs and taken a few angels missionary style. But nothing more creative than coming over a pair of tits.

  Sapphira, now, she’d be an inventive lover. She’d swallow him whole with those full lips, taking him deep in the back of her throat. And when he finished coming, he’d pull her around on her hands and knees, spread her wide, and shove his dick into her ass, easing through her tight tissue with steady pressure until she gave him her all.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Sapphira asked unsteadily, the glimmer of blurred annoyance in her gaze a sign from the dark powers, surely.

  “We stopped here for you.” Duncan snapped his fingers and dropped the wad of cash that suddenly appeared on the table, a thank you to his hell-bent waitress. “Now I need a stop before we collar Shepherd for your team. Humor me, angel.” He grinned at her irritation. “I’ll try to be quick.” The first time.

  “Oh, all right. As long as you promise not to mention this little side trip.” She stood without wavering and preceded him out the back door. He wondered if he’d made a mistake about her sobriety. Then she turned and gave him a sloppy smile. “I did it for you, to show you I can take whatever you have to dish out. I’m not one of them, not really.” She glared up at the sky. “I’m so much more than that.”

  Thanking Lucifer for his good fortune, Duncan caught Sapphira in his arms and turned her against the only clean part of the wall he could see.

  “How much more, angel? Show me.” He fused his mouth to hers, stealing any protest. But a second after inhaling her breath, he was lost to her touch. And in moments nothing mattered but getting as close to his angel as humanly, or demonly, possible.

  Their fiery love could overpower the enemy…or destroy them both.

  Prince of Fire

  © 2009 Tawny Taylor

  Black Phoenix, Book 1

  Once the self-indulgent, hedonistic heir to the Phoenician throne, Prince Talen Jacek has lived a cursed existence for over two thousand years, sacrificing his life so that strangers may live. Suffering one violent death after another, though, is nothing compared to the soul-eating agony of the emotional isolation he endures. Until he sets his eyes on the enemy’s next victim.

  Every morning, computer programmer Keri Maddox gets up, goes through her daily grind, and returns home to a frozen meal and a book before bed. Her life may not be filled with glamour or excitement, but predictability is her mantra. Then she discovers Talen in her apartment wearing only a towel—and suddenly her safe and tidy world is yanked from under her feet.

  An inferno of carnal need erupts between them, hotter than the phoenix’s fire. Yet the power of their igniting love may not be enough to save Keri from a killer who’s determined to deliver the inevitable death stroke.

  Warning: Contains a sexy, dominant man with a fierce body, a hot tattoo and an unconventional use for scarves…and many scrumptious scenes displaying his finer assets (and skills). Sex. Explicit sex. More sex. Hot sex with light bondage. And did I mention the tattoo?

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Prince of Fire:

  It took several minutes for Keri to fully wake up and remember what had happened.

  Oh my God, it had been like a scene straight out of a Lifetime movie! She’d just gone to bed when she’d heard a noise. The next thing she knew, a strange man was standing next to her bed, saying things she didn’t understand.

  She’d run. Made it as far as the living room. He’d caught her. Talen came bursting into her apartment. Right about then, she’d started seeing stars, thanks to the terror. And her head felt like it had exploded. The rest was hazy. But not forgotten.

  A nightmare had woken her up.

  Bathed in sweat and gasping, she threw off the covers and lurched forward. “Where am I?”

  “It’s okay. You’re safe. I brought you back to my place.” Talen appeared out of the thick darkness and immediately pulled her into his arms. She stiffened for a split second, unable to help herself. But the edge of her terror softene
d by his steady strength and warmth, she relaxed against him.

  She wanted to thank him, but her throat was closed up too tightly and her teeth chattered. All that escaped was an occasional stifled sob. She tried to control the quaking but couldn’t. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, that the air wasn’t getting into her lungs fast enough. Her head started spinning again as the horrifying scene in her apartment played over and over in her mind.

  He held her tenderly, smoothing a hand up and down her back. A simple gesture but so appreciated. He said nothing, just held her. Finally, after who knew how long, the spinning slowed. The air moved in and out of her lungs easier. The shuddering eased.

  She tipped her head to look at his face.

  His lips were pulled into a thin line, his eyes dark.

  “It wasn’t who I thought,” she whispered.

  “Who?”

  She shivered. “The man who attacked me. I didn’t know him. What’s going on?”

  Talen’s mouth thinned even more. “I’ll find out.”

  “We should call the police.”

  “I’ll take care of it, while you rest.”

  She wanted to call now, get it over with, while the memories of the man’s face were still fresh, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be a short conversation. Quite the opposite.

  She glanced around, found a clock. It was just after three. She’d only been sleeping for a couple of hours.

  Her head hurt.

  She was tired. And still shaking.

  She rubbed at her temples. “You’ll call the police?”

  “Yes, in a few minutes.” Talen eased beneath the covers beside her and, taking her with him, lay on his back, cradling her head. He tucked her against him, until she lay flush to his side. Despite the pounding in her head, a current of sensual awareness rippled through her body.

  So big. And brave. And strong.

  She’d been an absolute idiot for leaving his apartment earlier. Granted, she’d had absolutely no clue how much danger she was in. But to think her stung pride had almost cost her life…and worse, Talen his. She’d never be able to live with the guilt if he’d been hurt, let alone killed.

  Tears burned her eyes. “Dammit, if I wasn’t so freaked out and exhausted, I might handle this better.” Mad at herself for crying, she dragged the back of her hand across her eyes. She sniffled. “I’m sorry I left.”

  He caught her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. Gently, he wiped a tear from her cheek. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m the one who should be saying I’m sorry.”

  “Why? What do you mean? If I hadn’t gone back to my place, the attacker wouldn’t have found me, and you wouldn’t have practically gotten stabbed to death.”

  “And if I hadn’t kissed you…” He pulled her tighter to his side.

  The tiny ripples inside her started getting bigger.

  Great, now she was horny, on top of mad…and scared…and confused. God help her, she wanted him to make her forget. For a while. “I liked the kiss. I wanted more.”

  He nuzzled her hair. “So did I.”

  “Then why stop?” She smoothed a hand over his chest, mapping the line of the scar beneath his T-shirt. “I wasn’t complaining.”

  He caught her hand just as a fingertip found a hard nipple. His fingers clamped around her wrist like a vise. Rolling, he dragged her arm over her head and pinned her body beneath his.

  Ooooh, yes. She’d just pushed a button, a pretty lethal one, at that. For some crazy reason, the terror of the earlier attack made the physical contact with Talen that much more powerful. No, essential.

  She needed his touch, desperately. She needed to know she was alive. To be certain someone realized she existed. To feel another human being’s hands on her body, arms locked around her waist.

  Staring up into eyes that had gone dark and wild, she dragged in a deep breath. Above her was a man on the verge of losing control.

  She was in heaven.

  His heartbeat pounded so hard and fast she could feel it thumping against her breasts. And his breaths were so quick and shallow they puffed like soft gusts over her face. Her heart started racing too.

  “I don’t know what it is about you,” he whispered, his gaze jumping from her eyes to her mouth and then back to her eyes again.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” The heat swelling in her body was making her feel squirmy.

  Pulsing. Thrumming. Liquid heat.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve touched a woman like this, since I’ve dared. Or since anyone has touched me.”

  His words shocked her, and the hollow tone of his voice left her feeling empty. Yet the throbbing need swelling inside her didn’t ease. In fact, it increased until her face flamed.

  This man had more than a few secrets. He had lots of them, and God help her, she wanted to know every one.

  “Touch me, Talen. Please. I’m begging.”

  A long stretch of silence dragged between them, only somewhat softened by the sounds of their shallow breathing. It was agony and ecstasy both. To be so close and yet have him refuse to lay his hands on her.

  “Talen?”

  “Oh, may the gods forgive me.”

  Talen’s kiss was nothing like earlier. It was a hard, hungry possession. Tongue, teeth, lips. He tasted and took, conquered and seduced.

  Suddenly finding both arms pinned over her head, she returned every stroke and stab, every sigh and moan.

  The pounding ache between her legs intensified once again as flames of desire danced and twisted in her chest. She dragged her feet apart, allowing Talen’s hips to nestle between her thighs. More sweet torture.

  God yes, this was so good, so right. Talen was everything she’d ever wanted in a lover. Strong and powerful, sensual and attentive, a little mysterious. And also, in a strange and unexpected way, vulnerable.

  She had no idea what it would take to keep him around after all this craziness was over, but somehow she’d do it. This man, she wanted for more than a night or two. By revealing his weakness, by allowing her to see how desperately he wanted her, he had done what so many others had failed to do.

  He had already left a tiny mark on her heart.

  Burning up. So hot.

  Too much material between them, a torturous barrier.

  A whimper bubbled up from deep inside, slipped between her lips, to be swallowed up by Talen.

  How much longer would he torment her like this? Cruel bastard!

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