Vampire Council Of Ethics - Carinian's Seeker Part 21

Enjoy the following excerpt for If Wishes Came True: Maddy had hated that Rafe had been there, distracting her with his good looks. After a week of unmitigated boredom he'd begun to tell her stories to pa.s.s the time, stories about his family and incidents from childhood, stories about busts that had gone well and others that had him convinced he'd never live through them.

h.e.l.l, he'd even shown her his scars. Axe wound to the back of his head from an enraged suspect, ten st.i.tches. Knife wound across the ribs from a ten-year-old crack addict, seventeen st.i.tches.

He'd lifted his shirt for her to have a look at the jagged scar across his ribs. She'd stared at his six-pack and the fine cover of blond hair disappearing into the waist of his trousers. Oh, man.

Then he'd teased her into showing him hers.

"I don't have any." She turned bright red. He wasn't seeing that one.

"Come on, Langton, I know you have one."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"How would you know?"

"Cops talk, you know that."

"So who's been blabbing?"

"Luke Nelson's not known for his discretion."

"Luke's a cretin."

"Come on, Langton. I've shown you mine. Fair play."

She hesitated, then shrugged. "Only in the spirit of fair play."

Maddy undid the b.u.t.tons on her jeans and slid them over her hips. She pointed out the scar on her inner thigh.

"Gunshot wound from a trigger-happy junkie during a raid, twenty-one st.i.tches."

Rafe leaned in for a closer look. "That looks nasty. I heard you almost died."

"It wasn't that bad."

"I hope you plugged the a.r.s.ehole."

"He's doing a ten stretch. He won't pa.s.s parole, the guys will make sure." "If I'd been there I would've nailed him."

"What are you so mad about?"

"Just look what he did to you. The f.u.c.king creep."

Maddy stared at the shiny skin of the scar on her thigh. "It's not that bad, for G.o.d's sake."

Then, as realization dawned, a burning heat started up the back of her neck. "And you're only upset because I'm a woman, aren't you? You're such a f.u.c.king throwback, West."

She began to pull up her jeans, struggling when the tight material clung to her skin. Rafe grabbed her wrist to still her furious tugging.

"Come on, Maddy. You expect me to be happy about seeing this? He almost killed you. As it is he scarred you for life."

"Listen, a.r.s.ehole, you expect me to ooh and ahh over your stupid battle scars but when I show you mine you come over all self-righteous." She slapped at his hand. "I'm not one of your moronic blonde bimbos, all right? I can take care of myself. Now leave me the f.u.c.k alone!"

Instead he captured both wrists and hauled her towards him. She stumbled to her knees, struggling as he tried to hold her still. Tears sprang into her eyes and quivered on her eyelashes.

Oh, s.h.i.t, she was such a girl!

"I'm sorry, Maddy, all right?" He enveloped her in a bear hug. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Rafe's unexpected concern sent the tears spilling over her cheeks. Soon she was sobbing into his shoulder, her nose pressed against hard, warm muscles. Luxuriating in the strength of his arms wrapped around her body, Maddy turned her head and rested her lips against the warm pulse beating in the powerful column of his neck. And licked. s.e.x can be the most devastating weapon

Scorch 2007 Nage Archer Available now at Samhain Publishing

Frank Aston has what most men would consider a dream job. As bodyguard to Lady Jacqueline, the heir to Baron Ceston's throne and fortune, he gets to watch her every moment of every day. He knows each inch of her cruel, tantalizing body from her almost black eyes to her long, sensuous legs. But he can never lay a hand on her, not even to save his own life. He can't even reveal a conspiracy against his own liege, the baron, for fear some harm will come to her. On the other hand, Lady Jacqueline has absolutely no regard for his safety or sanity at all.

Lady Jacqueline's dangerous string of seductions leads Frank deeper and deeper into a conspiracy he's unable to reveal. Worse still, the heiress is h.e.l.l bent on dominating him, breaking his will until he becomes just another man willing to do anything to please his Mistress.

Enjoy the following excerpt for Scorch: And just like that, he was gone, leaving me alone with Dr. Naran.

"Come."

She turned and entered the inner office. I had never been here before and I didn't like the look of the place at all. The room wasn't very large. Off to the side was something that looked like a cross between a bed of nails and a clam. There were obvious protrusions on both the top and the bottom, suspended in some sort of gray cushion. The other side of the room consisted of a large panel, hosting a number of b.u.t.tons, levers and dials, which obviously controlled the table.

"Get undressed."

I began to unb.u.t.ton my shirt. She watched, focusing on me in a way that made me most uncomfortable. I shrugged the shirt from my shoulders and pulled it off. Her eyes never wavered. I wondered if this is what women felt like when they stripped for me.

Of course, this woman was a complete stranger. I didn't know her at all, had never seen her before our recent introduction. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been embarra.s.sed undressing in front of a woman. I had thought those days were behind me, but I was wrong.

She must have sensed my mood, for she spoke. "There is nothing to be embarra.s.sed about, Frank. During the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be working with your body and your mind, inside and out. You will have no secrets from me. I will share your darkest nightmares and your most intimate experiences. I will know you better than you even know yourself. I will surf your most secret thoughts and mold them to my will. When I am done with you, you will be what I want you to be, no more, no less."

I didn't say anything, but noticed my hand shaking as I placed it on the strips that held up my pants. It amazed me that after all these years, men's trousers were still fastened in this manner. I jerked and the sound of my fly coming undone tore through the room. It was the only act of defiance I would be allowed. I let my pants drop to the floor and stepped from them.

"All of it."

I shrugged, bent over and slid off my briefs. Then I rose and stood before her, the very act almost a defiance in and of itself. I would not cower or act embarra.s.sed. Nor would I allow her to make me her toy. I had a will and would use it.

"Now what?" I asked.

She gestured to the machine. "Make yourself comfortable." I turned to regard it. I had a feeling this would be horribly unpleasant, but then, disobeying a direct order would be worse. I approached it and reached out a hand. The foam was comfortable and even the protrusions were softer than I'd thought they would be. Without wasting any more time, I sat on the edge of the table, then lay down. I felt my naked body sink into the foam.

Dr. Naran walked to her control panel and pressed a b.u.t.ton. The top half of the machine closed over me until my body was engulfed. I wondered how I'd breathe. I couldn't speak. I felt a moment of profound claustrophobia and fought it down. I soon realized I could feel nothing, see nothing, hear nothing. I had once been in a sensory deprivation chamber and it was much like this.

I seemed to have no trouble breathing, which was something of a relief. Still, I felt anything but relaxed. Then Dr. Naran's voice entered my mind.

"h.e.l.lo, Frank. Ah, good, I see you can hear me. I'm going to run a few tests on you. Primarily responses to different stimuli. I need to know what makes you react and how. Some of this will, no doubt, be painful. At other times you may feel pleasure. Just relax and let yourself go. The more you fight, the longer this session will last."

I found myself holding my breath and released it. What seemed like a long time later, I felt the temperature drop. An icy wind pa.s.sed through my entire body, starting with my toes and working its way up. It was as if someone had decided to pull a sheet of frost over me. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone.

It grew hot. Perspiration coated my body. I wanted nothing more than to withdraw from the sensation, but that wasn't allowed and in fact, after a short while, the heat increased in intensity until I could no longer stand it. My m.u.f.fled screams didn't alter the level of pain, but I was powerless to struggle. Even if the machine didn't hold me in place, it seemed I had no control over my muscles. I mentally writhed in agony, until, many minutes later, the heat faded, leaving me gasping and sobbing.

For a long time, nothing happened. Then I felt tiny electric shocks touch various portions of my anatomy. My fingers, toes, nipples. Here and there, as if some tiny flying insect were circling my body, irritating me each time it landed. The charges increased in both frequency and power and it was more than just irritation. The back of my neck, behind my left eye, my right knee, my left t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e. The sensation grew more unpleasant, bordering on painful and the intensity continued to increase. Each new shock took me to a higher level of pain, until I thought I would die from it. This time, however, I found I could not scream. I had to lie motionless and endure it. I had no way to measure the pa.s.sage of time, but I was sure it went on for hours. When it stopped, I was no longer certain I was within the boundaries of sanity.

I felt my body shudder and felt my c.o.c.k begin to harden. I didn't want it to and fought the sensation. It was uncomfortable, considering it was pointing in the wrong direction. I could feel it pushing up into the foam. But as it grew harder, I felt my desire grow as well, until I couldn't think of anything but release. I found myself gasping for air and uselessly tried to grab my c.o.c.k. I had never known such desire and when it ended, I wept as I'd never wept before. But this was only the beginning of the torment.

"I can see your thoughts, Frank. You're angry with me. You want to hurt me, but you can't.

You're powerless to do anything against me."

The next voice that spoke was that of my mother, who had died when I was ten. "Frankie, you know better than that. Behave yourself, young man."

Then I heard a new voice, belonging to one of my teachers. She had taught Interstellar History and I'd barely been able to concentrate, as I'd been distracted by her large, firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s and narrow waist. Her long brown hair reached almost all the way to her nicely rounded a.s.s. I couldn't even remember her name, but I recognized her voice immediately.

"I know you want me, Frank. Why don't you come here. That's a good boy. Suck on my t.i.t, Frank. Suck! Suck hard! Ohhh yes, that's good. Suck it, boy. Suck my t.i.t!"

In my altered state of consciousness, I almost didn't recognize this as one of my own adolescent fantasies. My c.o.c.k grew hard again, as hard as before and I sucked and sucked, as she bade me.

On some level I knew I was still in the machine, but that no longer mattered. I finally had my tutor where I'd always wanted her. I sucked even harder, hands sliding down over her curves.

Her own hands responded, touching me, trailing down my cheek, neck, chest, lower and lower, until I thought I would die from antic.i.p.ation. She touched my c.o.c.k and I felt it jump. I moaned and tried to fight the sensation. I was still in the clam and Dr. Naran was still watching. I wondered if she was doing anything else. I wondered what her body looked like, beneath that white lab coat.

Then my teacher's hand grabbed my c.o.c.k more firmly and I was returned to the moment. Her eyes glazed over as she stroked, up and down. I clenched my teeth, but couldn't stop myself from thrusting into her.

"That's very good, Frank. Sooo good."

Her hand moved harder and faster, until I was panting. I couldn't think anymore. I could barely see. The only sensation in the world was that of her fingers on my c.o.c.k, stroking and squeezing. I needed to come more than I'd ever needed anything in my life.

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