VISIONS OF PARADISE by Tianna Xander

VISIONS OF PARADISE by Tianna Xander

Paradise Series Book 16

Can Milla finally settle down and have a family of her own or will the carnival be her life…forever?

Milla leaves the carnival where she made her living for twenty years, with visions of finding the perfect town where she could make a new life for herself. At forty-five years old, it’s too late to hope for children, but happiness is still within her reach. However, the owner of the carnival doesn’t want to lose his best fortuneteller. When he and his carnival follow Milla to Paradise, he discovers that his people aren’t the only ones with secrets.

Being bond mates never crossed Jonas’ and Mel’s minds. Hell, they don’t even like each other and barely get along. However, when they find a woman frightened and alone, they put their differences aside to help her secure the most basic of human, or shifter, rights—the freedom to choose.

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~Excerpt~

Milla stared at the tarot card and sighed. This was the fifth day in a row that she’d turned over the death card in her tarot spread. The storm outside grew fierce, the wind buffeting the walls of the small hotel. She resigned herself to the fact that she would have to leave this place.

“On the winds of change,” she said with a sigh.

Death never meant a physical death like so many people thought. It stood for change. Usually, it meant the death of something old and the birth of something new. In her case, it meant that she had to move…again. It wasn’t surprising. Had she thought she’d be able to stay, she would have rented a house instead of a hotel room. She would pack up her things today and head out in the morning.

For now, though, she wanted to hike up the mountain and look down at the town one last time. She had grown fond of Mason. Not as fond as she’d hoped, but, so far, this town had been the closest to what she’d been looking for in a place to finally put down some roots. It was too damned bad the cards had just told her to move on.



The storm over, the early morning sun broke through the clouds, the rays shining like a beacon, lighting up the spot on the mountain where she wanted to go. It was another sign. One that she interpreted as an indication that she’d made the right decision.

After hiking up the side of the mountain, Milla sat down on a fallen log. Moisture seeped through the seat of her pants, but she didn’t care. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and took a deep breath. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about,” she said with a sigh.

There was nothing like clean, crisp air to do a body good. There was just something about a fresh mountain breeze after a cleansing summer rain.

Mason was close to what she wanted in a hometown but not quite. Maybe that was why the cards indicated she should leave. Milla wanted a small town with small-town values. She wanted to see men open the doors for women. She wanted common courtesy and chivalry. Maybe, just maybe, she wanted the impossible.

“I was born in the wrong time. That’s my problem.” She gave the picturesque town one last look and headed back to her hotel. It was time to leave—today. Something told her that it was time to go. Now. It was the same strange foreboding that preceded the arrival of the carnies sent out to look for her. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? It wasn’t as though she owed them money. In fact, they owed her. It was one of the reasons why she left in the first place. There was nothing like working for peanuts.

She hurried down the side of the mountain, the feeling of urgency growing stronger. They were close. It was only a matter of time before they caught up to her. She’d have to take the time to stop at the hotel, pick up her things and hit the grocery store for some sandwich stuff on her way out of town.

After that, she’d head west again. Sooner or later she would run into a town that suited her old-fashioned standards…she hoped.

Until then, she would just keep looking. Milla had been on the road for nearly a year searching for her vision of paradise. She knew the town of her dreams was out there somewhere. It was just a matter of finding it.

After packing, she began lugging her belongings from the room. The worst part of not having a home was living out of her SUV. She carried everything she needed with her, but loading the vehicle was a pain in the butt and growing more painful with every stop.

Every time she moved, she gathered a little more stuff for her dream home. Dish towels here, bath towels there. If she wasn’t careful, she’d fill her truck soon, and then where would she be? She’d have to buy a trailer and haul that around with her, too. Then what?

Out of breath, her heart pounding with exertion, she hauled her suitcase out to the SUV and attempted to lift it into the back.

“Here, let me help you with that.”

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HER ANCIENT HYBRID by Marisa Chenery

HER ANCIENT HYBRID by Marisa Chenery

Brolach is old. Ancient. A hybrid, half vampire and half werewolf, he’s a true immortal who can never die. He’s lived for three thousand years, but has slept buried for two of them. It isn’t until a female comes to the hill where he sleeps does he come awake, ready to protect her, his vampire side knowing she’s his mate.

Physically threatened by her ex-boyfriend while out on a hike in the grasslands has unexpected results for Waverly. A man, muddy and covered in dirt, explodes out of the ground to rescue her. After he turns into a wolf and chases off her ex, she soon loses it when he turns his attention to her.

With the help of Waverly, Brolach adjusts to the new world he’s awakened in to. The new life he sets about making with his mate is soon threatened by one of the vampires who’d killed his family and had buried him alive.

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Excerpt

Brolach was three thousand years old and had “slept” through two thousand of them. He was the only one of his kind—a hybrid, half vampire and half werewolf. Even though he’d been under the ground for so long he’d been partly aware of the surface world. People traversed the area, and as the years went by, the language they spoke changed. His mostly-asleep brain learned it enough to understand it.

Something brought his mind closer to wakefulness before he was ready to be roused. There was a presence on the hill where he was buried. It drew him and captured his attention as nothing had done for centuries. It was female, which caused a part of him to stir.

Soon a male joined her. Brolach listened to their conversation, his sensitive hearing able to pick up each word spoken. The longer he listened the more he awakened from his long slumber. The need to protect the female came to life. Never before had he’d felt like that toward a member of the opposite sex. The vampire side of him instinctively knew she was his. His mate. The werewolf wouldn’t know for sure until he had her scent in his nose.

The sound of the male’s voice raised in anger would have had Brolach’s hackles rising if he’d been in wolf form. It wasn’t until the female screamed did he come fully awake. The sound was full of fear.

Brolach burst out of the ground. His fangs lengthened at the sight of the male holding the female by the arm with a raised fist, ready to strike. Brolach snarled his upper lip and growled a warning. All his protective instincts roared to the surface. He latched his gaze on to the human who threatened his mate.

He surged into action. Brolach closed the distance between them, broke the male’s grip on the female and tossed him away. He landed with a shriek, then whimpered as Brolach approached him. He was tempted to kill the weaker male, to drain him of the blood he needed after his long sleep, but he decided against it. This new world he awoke to wasn’t the same as the one he’d known. Death wasn’t doled out so easily or frequently as it’d once been.

Rather than take the male’s life, Brolach reached for the werewolf half of himself and brought on the change. He took on his wolf form in a matter of seconds. His hackles rose and he growled as he made a threatening step toward the male. That was enough to send the human scuttling backward before he clumsily gained his feet and took off running down the hill.

Once he was sure the male wouldn’t come back, Brolach turned to take his first good look at the female who was his mate. She had long, light brown hair that she wore loose around her shoulders. She was the perfect height to tuck her head under his chin when he held her against his chest. Her hazel eyes were wide and filled with fear, but that didn’t take away any of her beauty. His cock stirred to life for the first time in two thousand years.

He slowly walked toward her, which had a whimper pushing out of her. Even though she was scared of him, Brolach didn’t stop until he stood directly in front of her. He shifted back to his human form, thinking she’d find it easier to handle.

He took a deep breath. Her scent filled his lungs and his head. He found it intoxicating, and it set off his werewolf’s senses. His wolf side recognized her as his mate along with the vampire. She was his. A mate. The first woman he’d ever wanted to claim.

Brolach reached out for her only to have her suck in a lungful of air and then let it out in a high-pitched scream. That didn’t bother him so much as how fast her heart beat. The sharp bitter scent of her fear grew stronger. As she opened her mouth to scream again, he caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look him in the eyes.

With his vampire ability to compel lacing his words, he said softly, “You’ll no longer fear me. You’re perfectly safe. No harm will come to you. We’ll leave this place and you’ll take me to your home to provide me with food and clothing.”

All at once, she calmed down. Her heart beat at a normal rate, and the scent of fear blew away on the slight breeze. She nodded as her gaze remained fixed on him. “Okay,” she said, sounding in a daze.

“What’s your name?”

“Waverly.”

“I’m Brolach.”

“Brolach,” she repeated in the same dazed voice.

“I’ll release you now. No more screaming. You’ll always feel safe with me.”

He stopped compelling, releasing the hold he had over her mind. Waverly blinked a few times, coming back to herself. Brolach hoped never again to have to use it on his mate. If there had been any other way to have calmed her, he would have chosen it rather than take her free will away.

Waverly took a deep breath and looked him up and down. “Come on. We’d better get out of here before someone sees you.”

Brolach stayed at her side as she headed down the hill. As they walked, he gazed at the landscape around them. It really hadn’t changed much over the last two thousand years. He still recognized it as the land where he’d hunted buffalo and deer.

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A WARRIOR TO LOVE by Marisa Chenery

Today on our Cyber Launch Party Blog, we're celebrating a new release in Marisa Chenery's popular Warrior Hunger Series with Ellora's Cave!

A WARRIOR TO LOVE by Marisa Chenery

Book four in the Warrior Hunger series.


After a disastrous blind date leaves Alexis stranded, she hits up a handsome stranger in the restaurant for his cell phone. She connects to more than the cab company. One look from him has her pulse racing and other notable body parts standing at attention. Their instant chemistry has her night making a turn for the better.

A Warrior of Anubis since 1920, Konner finds the loneliness of his life getting to him. And being celibate for the last five years certainly isn’t helping matters any. But the sexy damsel in distress stirs passions long buried. He has to have her—in his life and in his bed. She’s everything he’s ever wanted in his long existence. But the nature of who he is could end this love affair before he has a chance at forever.

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An Excerpt From: A WARRIOR TO LOVE Copyright © MARISA CHENERY, 2012 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. “I was going to suggest we do something else after we eat, like going to a nightclub, but how would you feel about going to my place? We can play some video games,” he said with a smile. “See who the better gamer is.”  Alexis had the distinct impression that if she said yes, playing video games wouldn’t be the only thing they would be doing. Not that that bothered her. She’d use any excuse to get someplace alone with Konner.  “All right. You’re on,” she said. “So what does the winner get?”  Heat flared in Konner’s eyes. “Anything they want. Within reason, of course.”  “Of course.”  Alexis would try her damnedest to be the winner. The thought of telling Konner to take his clothes off while she watched sent a flood of warmth through her body. Though ending up the loser would more than likely be something she’d enjoy as well. The way his gaze seemed to eat her up as he stared at her, Konner’s thoughts could be going down the same road as hers.  “Then we’re on?” he asked in a voice that had gone a little husky.  “Definitely. Just be prepared to get your ass beat.”  “You’re pretty confident you’ll win. You’ve never played against me before. I might be the one beating your cute ass.”  She gave him a smile. “We shall see.” Even though it was an offhanded remark about her ass, a thrill still went through Alexis to know Konner thought it was cute.  They finished the rest of the food. To speed things up a bit, Alexis packed in the chopsticks and picked up the rolls with her fingers. Konner paid their bill, and they were soon outside getting into his car.  When they reached the Southport Corridor neighborhood, Alexis realized Konner had never said what he did for a living. Whatever it was, she had a feeling it paid really well. That was proven correct when he pulled into the driveway of a majestic-looking Queen Anne house that sat on a large corner lot. The property had black wrought-iron fencing all around it. It also looked to be worth a fortune. Konner parked in front of a two-car detached garage and shut the engine off.  Alexis waited for him to come around and open the door for her. Konner seemed to be a gentleman that way, always opening and closing it. With a hand on the small of her back, he guided her to the double doors at the front of the house. Inside, they stepped into an entranceway that had mosaic floors.  “How big is this place?” she asked as Konner shut the door they’d come through behind them.  “It’s sixty-four hundred square feet.”  “That’s huge. I guess you don’t have to worry about feeling you’re running out of space.”  Konner chuckled. “No, I don’t. Come on. I’ll show my media room. That’s where I have my systems set up.”  He led her to a door that had a flight of stairs going down to what turned out to be a finished basement. Her eyes widened when she took in the catering kitchen.  “Someone could use this basement as an apartment with the kitchen and all.”  “I like my privacy too much for that, and I don’t need renters to pay for the place. Besides the kitchen and media room, I have a thousand-bottle wine cellar down here as well.”  She blinked. “A thousand bottles? You can’t have that many down here.”  Konner chuckled. “No, I don’t. The cellar is more for a wine collector, which I’m not.”  He led her to his media room. There was a large LCD television hanging on one wall with a thick-cushioned couch facing it. The entertainment unit sitting under the TV had two gaming systems set up on it and the shelves inside were filled with games.  Alexis sat on the couch as Konner walked over to the entertainment unit. “So what game do you have in mind for us to play?” she asked.  He selected one off the shelf and held it up. “This. It’s a shooter. Whoever gets the most kills during a match wins.”  “You’re on. Just to give you fair warning, I’m pretty good at games like this.”  Konner turned on one of the systems, then put in the game disc. “So am I,” he said as he took a seat next to her before he handed her a wireless controller.  As they played, Alexis soon found out Konner was as good as he’d said. He was definitely giving her a run for her money. She even wondered if she’d be able to beat him. Plus, it didn’t help that he sat so close their thighs touched. His body heat sank into hers, making her very aware of him. With each breath she took, she pulled in the scent of his aftershave and the one that was totally his own. Alexis found it hard to keep her full attention on the game, which caused her to make some silly mistakes that worked out in Konner’s favor. If he was as affected by her nearness as she was by his, he didn’t show it. And it sure didn’t seem to hinder his playing abilities, either.  But somehow Alexis managed to pull off the win in the last few seconds of the match. She let out a whoop as their scores appeared on the TV screen. The difference was only by one kill, but she’d take it.  “I guess that makes me the better gamer,” she said as she turned to look at Konner.  “Or you just were lucky,” he replied.  “Either way I still won.”  Konner took the controller from her, then stood and returned hers and his to the entertainment unit. He took out the game disc and shut off the system before he once again sat beside her.  “All right, winner. You can have anything you want. So what will it be?”  Alexis didn’t even hesitate. “You.”   LIKED THE EXCERPT?? CLICK HERE TO BUY THE eBOOK

A SUMMER IN PARADISE by Tianna Xander

A SUMMER IN PARADISE by Tianna Xander

Paradise Book Twelve

Two men, one woman and one isolated lake add up to one hot summer in Paradise.

Pearl didn’t expect to run into anyone on the mountain over Paradise when she went home for a visit. She planned to spend a few weeks in the wilds at a line cabin between Sabbats to try and recover from her last encounter with her ex-boyfriend. She didn’t expect to find two males on the lake sunning themselves, naked, while the fish took off with their fishing poles.

Duncan and Jarrod loved the mountains. It was why they decided to go to the lake. Between Sabbats there was nothing more to do than swim, fish and get a tan. Planning to live off the land, while they contemplate ways to find their mate, the two men are surprised to discover that the mountain over Paradise can provide everything they need—even a beautiful female to help pass the time.

Three souls, one cabin and one isolated lake add up to one hot summer in Paradise.

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~Excerpt~

Duncan fisted his hand in Pearl’s dark hair and drew her closer. When she was just a girl, she had always smelled of flowers and sunshine and sexy, sexy woman. Even though it had been hell to be around her when she was younger, they always anticipated her visits.

Though she never knew it, they heard her coming when they had come up here to relax all those years ago. They could hear her walking through the woods, talking to the animals while she made her way up the mountainside.

She had been so full of life, of innocence. At first they had thought it was her love of life that drew them to her so inexplicably. It was only after she left, when they thought her lost to them, that they realized that she could have been their mate.

Perhaps it was for the best that she had gone. If she had stayed and had been violated like her sister, it would have driven them mad. Their beasts would have sought out and killed the men responsible for raping her. In their rage, they would not have been careful, they would have sought out the men and killed them as viciously as they could. Inevitably, someone would have seen them and their cover would have been blown.

He slanted his mouth gently over hers, loving the feel of her soft lips pressed against his. No, her leaving had been for the best. Perhaps it had even saved all of their lives.

When she opened for his questing tongue, he thrust inside.

She tasted of the honey she used on the biscuits he had made. The cabin, always well stocked, had the makings of several meals in the pantry. With no electricity, the meals were simple, but nourishing and he’d used some of the flour to add to their meal.

Duncan felt Jarrod’s head near his as the other man nuzzled her neck, his hands cupping her full breasts. This was what they had dreamed of all these years. This woman completed them.

Hell, no wonder he was so fucking horny he could drive a railroad spike through a tree trunk with his dick, he was so fucking hard. His **** jutted up, pressing against her stomach. No embarrassment here. No difficulty in getting his **** to stand at attention for this woman. Relieved that his equipment wasn’t defective after all, he pressed forward, rocking her against his hard length.

Breaking their kiss, he moved lower, his lips and tongue gently tasting every inch of her jaw and neck as he pushed her oversized t-shirt aside to suckle the tight peak of her breast.

He inhaled deeply, loving her scent as he moved from one breast to the other while Jarrod held them up for his loving attention.

Bending his legs, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter against him as he continued to suckle and lave the hardened nubs.

He almost chuckled when she groaned, her head falling back to rest on Jarrod’s shoulder. This was how they were meant to be together. This was why his body wouldn’t respond to another. It had waited for her to return.

“Spread your legs, baby,” he whispered against her breast. Gooseflesh covered her arms and legs as his hands skimmed over her lightly tanned skin, as his hand made its way past the elastic waistband of the shorts he’d hidden here so many years ago. He thrust his hand between her spread thighs, his fingers delving deep between her slick folds.

Not once did he come back here to retrieve them. He knew that once he had her scent in his nostrils again, he wouldn’t stop until he found her. Then, when he finally came to the decision to go in search of her, she returned to his side.

She hadn’t changed a bit. She was the same girl who left here all those years ago. The only difference was that she was no longer that little teenaged girl. She was a woman who could drive both Jarrod and himself wild with just a smile or an innocent glance.

He straightened his legs, lifting her off the floor when her legs gave out. He continued to suckle her breast while Jarrod moved toward one of the double beds and turned the covers down.

Gently, Duncan lowered her to the bed. Before joining her, they both shed what little clothing they wore and left it in two forgotten heaps on the floor. He moved down her body, removing her clothes as he went. He didn’t know what he would do if she turned him down now. He hoped to God he could stop before he hurt her. His beast rode him hard to bury his face between her legs and drink of the sweet nectar it knew it would find there.

He needed to fully taste this woman more than he had ever needed anything before in his long life.

Once he had removed her clothes, with Jarrod’s help, he settled himself between her legs. Pressing the palm of his hand on her lower stomach, he rested his chin on her mons. “Tell me to stop this madness now, Pearl, or I will continue to love you, to taste you.”

“Yes, baby,” Jarrod whispered in her ear, just loud enough for him to hear. “He’s going to settle himself between your creamy thighs and eat your pretty little *****, until you scream.”

Pearl whimpered, her breaths coming in short pants as Duncan continued to slide his fingers through her creamy flesh.

“He’s right, Pearl.” He leaned down to breathe on the glistening, plump lips. “I’m going to eat this pretty ***** until you beg me to make you come.”

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BLADE SONG by J.C. Daniels

BLADE SONG by J.C. Daniels

The Colbana Files

Kit Colbana—half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades—has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.

So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters—especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.

Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails—she’s dead.

If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long to collect her fee…

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~Excerpt~

Two hours.

No luck.

And it was getting dark.

As we cut back up the street, I had to admit that Keeli, whoever she was, just didn’t want to be found.

Okay.

Maybe we’d try to come back—

“Hey.”

I heard the low, wasted rasp of a voice and looked down the alley.

Damon caught my arm.

I stopped and glanced at him. I wasn’t an idiot.

Popping my wrist, I turned to the sound of the voice and waited.

A shadow moved. “Hear you’re looking for Keeli.”

“You’ve got good ears.” Or you’ve just been in the area for the past few hours, I thought sourly.

The shadow crept closer. Light reflected off a man’s face before he eased back into the shadow.

“I can tell you where to find her…but it will cost you.”

Wow. What a surprise, that.

Fishing a bill out of my pocket, I knelt down on the ground and found a rock. I wrapped the bill around it and tossed it into the alley. “There.”

Silence stretched out. “That’ll do, kid. But…trust me. You don’t want me shouting this news.
You’re looking for news on the Alpha’s boy, right?”

Damon tensed at my back.

“What do you know?” I asked, staring into the alley.

I could see him.

Dirty face. Young. Grimy.

He smiled at me.

“I know all sorts of things, girl,” he murmured.

My skin crawled, but if he knew something…

I slid Damon another look. His eyes were glowing. His hand gripped my arm. But when I stepped forward, he was right there by me.

They went for him first.

Through the roar of blood in my ears, I heard Damon swearing. That was kind of funny. There were four of them and he was cussing them out?

But then one of them howled… A death scream. One that made the skin on my nape crawl as I slashed through the air with my blade.

She was made like a rapier, but heavier. I could hack away for hours if I had to, and the fool in front of me was bleeding from more cuts than even I could count; he was either too weak or too underfed to heal them well. He made another lunge at me and I drove the blade through his heart, twisting it and jerking upward. Skin smoked as it met the silver and I watched as the life in his eyes faded.

Jerking my blade free, I turned, braced for another attack.

All I saw was Damon. Walking toward me with blood dripping off him, falling in fat drops from his fingers.

“Show off,” I muttered.

A flash of white appeared in his face. I almost thought he was smiling.

But that faint smile was gone in another second as shadows came rushing at us from all around.
I found myself shoved to the ground.

There was a rumbling sound—something I couldn’t identify.

And another sound—one I could.

The ground was shaking, I thought. As I pushed up onto my elbows, I saw a giant shape rushing into the alley.

Goliath.

Hell was about to break loose.

Then a cat roared and I heard somebody scream. Maybe it already had.

As the fighting raged over my head, I rolled to the side and flexed my wrist. My blade was gone. I managed to get my back to the wall of the busted, broken building behind me, using it for support and shadow as I surveyed the mess in front of me.

Five, six, seven—yeah. Seven scraggly wolves fighting Goliath and Damon. The wolves had shifted. Damon and Goliath hadn’t. Two wolves were trying to take Goliath down and he casually caught one, ripped its head off. My gut went a little queasy at the sight.

The second one didn’t fare much better.

Damon wasn’t quite so casual.

Quick, brutal.

But for every one they took down, several more came crawling out of the shadows.

What the hell—

Panting for breath, I flexed my wrist and called my blade.

Off to the side, I heard a snarl.

The wolf came for me just as I turned to face it.

I never even got my blade up.

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WARRIOR'S SURRENDER by Marisa Chenery

WARRIOR'S SURRENDER by Marisa Chenery

Book Three in the Warrior Hunger Series

Jaxon never wanted to tie himself down to a single woman, not even when he was mortal. When a sexy temptress collides with him on the street, dumping her coffee all over his chest, he sees the opportunity for another installment of his modus operandi - seduce, bed and then leave. But this fiery woman sees through his attempts and refuses to be just another notch on his bedpost.

Chyna is prepared to walk away when it becomes clear Jaxon plans to hit it and leave. She has a plan of her own and knows seduction is a two-way street. Once she gets him in bed, he won’t want to leave. But she gets more than she bargained for when her lover shows his other, furry side and reveals his true nature - as a shifter and warrior to an ancient Egyptian god. She must then decide if she is brave enough to stay...or if she will be the one to walk away. 

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Chapter One

Jaxon strolled down the street with no real destination in mind. Even though he’d hunted his prey for most of the night before, he’d taken to the streets of San Diego the following day, midafternoon. Not to hunt. He was just restless. The thought of sitting at home, waiting for the sun to set once again so he could seek out evildoers, as was his job as one of Anubis’ warriors, wasn’t something Jaxon wanted to do. Thus, he was out wandering.

French by birth, he’d been alive since 1772. He’d taken his vow to serve Anubis in 1798 when he’d been a soldier with Napoleon’s army. They’d been in Egypt to take the first step against British India to drive the British out of the French Revolutionary War. Taking part in the last battle where the British had defeated the French, Jaxon had almost lost his life, had been pretty near death. He’d been wounded during a naval attack by Nelson in the Aboukir Bay, just off the coast of Egypt. Jaxon had been on the French ship Orient. Wounded by British cannon shot, he’d managed to escape the burning ship before it exploded. Barely reaching the shore, Jaxon had called out to any Egyptian god to save him, and Anubis had been the one to answer.

Now he lived in San Diego. For the most part, he was content with his new life. Every once in a while he’d get restless, but he always managed to get over it. He’d grown accustomed to being alone. And he didn’t miss the fact there wasn’t a woman at his side to share his life. Even as a mortal he hadn’t wanted a wife.

He turned a corner, which took him to the front of a coffee shop. Jaxon grunted, then sucked in a sharp breath as a woman talking on her cell phone, who had come out of the building, crashed into him, spilling her hot coffee on the front of his shirt. Ignoring the stinging burn on his chest, he grabbed her by her arms to right her.

She pulled her cell away from her ear and gave him a look of horror. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Were you scalded by the coffee?”

Luckily for him, being immortal meant whatever burn he received had healed in a matter of seconds. The only damage done was to his shirt, which had a big stain across the chest.

“I’m fine,” he said. “No harm done.”

The woman said a few words into her phone before she ended the call and put it inside her purse. “Look what I did to your shirt. Here, hold this.”

She passed him her cup of coffee before she dabbed at the front of his t-shirt with one of the paper napkins she held. Obviously not satisfied with that, she pushed another up under his shirt and dabbed it from the inside as well as the outside.

Jaxon’s cock stirred as the backs of her fingers rubbed against his chest. While she was busy trying to clean him up, he took the time to get a really good look at her. She was pretty with the kind of looks that drew him to a woman. Her long, brown hair fell over her shoulders, looking soft to the touch. He had the sudden urge to sink his fingers in the silken mass and take her mouth with his until she moaned. His dick liked that idea because it went rock hard two heartbeats later.

She must have noticed the state he was in. Her movements stilled just before her brown-eyed gaze lifted to his. Her breath seemed to catch as she stared at his mouth. A pale shade of pink appeared on her cheeks. She pulled her hands away.

“Ah, I’m really sorry,” she said. “Let me make it up to you. I’ll buy you a drink this evening. And I’m Chyna, by the way.”

Jaxon ran his gaze down her body, liking what he saw outlined by her blouse and fitted skirt. The high heels she wore made her legs look long and toned. He wouldn’t mind getting her into bed for a night, having them wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her. He could afford to take the night off from hunting. With the crime rate in San Diego low, there weren’t as many evildoers around as there had been when he first moved to the city over ten years ago.

He nodded. “A drink would be nice. I’m Jaxon.”

She smiled. “Great. Meet me at the Waterfront Bar, say around seven? Do you know where it is?”

“Yes. And seven sounds fine.”

“I’d stay and talk but I’m in the middle of my lunch break and I have to get back to the office. So I’ll see you later this evening.”

After taking her coffee back, Chyna gave him one last smile, then walked away. Jaxon turned to watch her, his gaze landing on her bottom. The restlessness he’d felt earlier had magically disappeared with the prospect of meeting up with Chyna again, and the chance of getting to know her a whole lot better while he had her in his bed.

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