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Kenric St. James wants revenge. After two centuries of denying his body’s needs and with vengeance finally at hand, the last thing he expected to find was the one woman he burns to claim as his own. If only giving her his love wouldn’t surely mean her death.

All Emily Ross desires is time alone to learn who she is without a man and to save the home that holds her heart. The last thing she wants is another controlling, dominant male calling all the shots, in bed and out. Never would she have thought stopping her car one night to save a dying man might change her mind, and her life, forever. But is what they have, their desire, worth dying for?

REVIEW

....Brilliantly written and flawlessly delivered, Desire To Die For is going on my keeper shelf.

Reviewed by: Whipped Cream Reviewer, Fern
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EXCERPT

His head hurt like a bitch.

Someone was trying to pickax their way out of his skull.

The metallic smell of dried blood weighed heavy in the air. A wave of hunger coursed through him, tightening Kenric’s stomach into an agonizing spasm. His veins burned, demanding to be fed.

A thick fog clouded his mind. Where the hell was he, and what the hell happened?

Muffled voices chattered in the distance. The lethargy throughout his body had sealed his eyelids.

Pushing through the haze muddling his brain, he assessed his surroundings. Along with blood, there was an acrid scent of antiseptic. Above his head, the repetitive sound of a mechanical heartbeat pinged. Shit!

How long had he been in a hospital?

Through the insistent pounding within his skull, the memory of his battle with the DEADs returned. He’d been about to call Guerin when he’d blacked out. Where the hell was his phone? He had to get out of here. The itch beneath his skin, like a fucking sundial, warned him time was running out.

The heart monitor over his head lurched into a rapid succession of beats. Get a grip, Kenric. He couldn’t risk drawing any unwanted interest. With a fierce hold on the gurney’s rail for strength, he focused on the pounding of his heart, slowing it to a steady rate.

Now, to find his damn phone. He searched along his left side, feeling for the lining of his coat. A cool draft floated in under the thin sheet. Shit! Where the hell is my coat…and the rest of my damn clothes?

Approaching footsteps and a trio of voices grabbed his attention. Taking a deep breath, he stilled his movements.

“You guys go ahead and get out of here. Can you give me a rain check on breakfast? I want to check in on our John Doe one more time before I leave.”

“Come on, Emily. You’ve been here a year already, and you keep turning me down every time I try to get you to meet someone. Jake is really interested. I know you two would hit it off if you’d give it a chance.”

“I promise I will. Soon. Just not this morning. Not yet.”

“Fine,” a female said with a sigh.

The sharp sound of metal rings sliding over a rod near his head indicated one of them had entered his area.

Emily closed the privacy curtain of the trauma treatment room. The unidentified patient she’d found earlier at The Docks lay unconscious on the hospital gurney. Bloodstained bandages covered his flank and neck.

Once the paramedics had gotten him here, the ER had been able to stabilize him with a few universal-donor transfusions. He remained in need of additional units to bring his hemoglobin into an acceptable range, though. Unfortunately, the lab was taking longer than usual to type and cross-match him. They’d found some kind of anomaly present in his blood work. There was even talk that he possibly had some form of leukemia on top of everything else, due to the extreme elevation in his white-blood-cell count.

Emily followed the slow and easy rise and fall of his chest. She couldn’t help but admire the sheer will this man had to survive. And she couldn’t ignore the fact that even though he lay there covered in bandages, he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.

His hospital gown stretched to encompass the breadth of his shoulders, while the arm openings strained to contain his biceps. She did love a nice set of biceps. The bedsheets covered the contours of his torso, but she remembered how his body tapered to a narrow waist and those amazing, washboard abs.

Wavy hair, a little longer in front than back, fell over his forehead, almost covering his eyes. The color was amazing. A black so deep, it shone under the fluorescents.

The dark waves framed a regally defined face; beautiful, but not in the feminine sense. Not too perfect. In fact, a pale, thin scar ran along his right cheekbone, ending about an inch above his lip. To others, the scar may have damaged his looks; to her, it added character that accentuated his masculine features. His nose was long and straight, ending above lips that, God, she could kiss all night. From the moment she had laid eyes on him, everything about him had captivated her.

Her tongue traced her upper lip, and her body tingled.

Stop it, Emily! You’re a professional nurse who shouldn’t be ogling a patient. Just take his vital signs and get out of here. She needed to leave this man alone.

Lifting his arm to check his blood pressure, she noticed a tattoo wrapped around part of his right bicep. Unable to resist, she traced the outline of the connecting loops. It formed a figure eight lying on its side. Infinity.

The symbol intersected with a dagger that pierced the center of the joining circles. Red drops of what looked to be blood dripped from the blade.

“What were you doing out there tonight?” she whispered.

Everything about this man was a very intriguing mystery.



Kenric lay perfectly still as the female approached him. Until he knew whom and what he was dealing with, he didn’t want to give away any clue that he was conscious. She paused at his bedside for a moment before lifting his right arm and placing a cool device under his bicep. She must be a nurse. He savored the warmth of her hands on his skin as her fingertips glided over his bicep. She traced the symbol of the Enclave. His flesh tingled in the wake of the pads of her fingers.

Suddenly her touch disappeared as a cuff tightened around his arm. He clenched the fist of his opposite hand, struggling to maintain his tenuous control. Why had she stopped touching him? His fist ached from keeping such a tight hold on his denial. He wanted to grab her hand and beg for one more brush of her fingertips. Anywhere. Everywhere.

Her hair teased his chest, sending chills skating across his body. Desire stormed. He drew in a long, deep inhale in hopes of calming his thundering need. The scent from her hair and skin filled his nostrils, burrowed deep inside his mind. And did nothing to quell the storm or soothe the growing need that threatened to unravel the edge of his control.

Her fragrance reminded him of wildflowers after a spring rain. Warm, sweet, and spicy.

Another deep breath filled him, sparking every neuron in his brain. She was intoxicating.

Good God. The blood that remained within him surged into his groin, lust and hunger intermingling. Get a grip, man, before you do something you’ll regret.

His mind struggled to hold the vampire in check.

As if starved for her scent, he inhaled again, stifling a groan. His fangs lengthened. The drive to feed the hunger twisted in his gut.

Time had run out.

Harnessing the strength that his hunger provided, Kenric opened his eyes and reached for the woman.

She swung her head around with a startled shout. A wave of dark auburn hair fell over her shoulder.

Breathtaking.

Long, dark eyelashes framed hazel eyes specked with a hint of blue, green, and brown at the center. Her heart-shaped face held a small, upturned nose and rose-colored lips, the bottom one slightly fuller than the top. Lips that were made to form a perfect, warm satin glove for the hard ridge of a man. No, not any man’s cock. His.

Kenric dragged his gaze away from her mouth. He needed to concentrate on holding her attention, not linger on the fantasy his mind and groin wanted to study in greater detail.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he whispered.

“I’m fine. Are you…okay?” Her gaze met his, giving him all the opening he needed. Kenric slipped inside her mind to give her the mental nudge she’d need to accept his verbal commands.

“Don’t be afraid. I need you very calm and very quiet. You are safe. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” His voice resonated, maintaining his hold. “What’s your name, Wildflower?”

“Emily… Emily Ross.”

“Emily, I need your help to get out of here. I want you to disconnect me from these monitors and tubes without bringing attention to us.”

She didn’t move; instead, her mind pushed back, attempting to block his control.

“Now, Emily.” He pushed in return, harder this time. His body trembled from the effort to maintain his presence in her mind and the rhythmic beat of his heart, so that the heart rate monitor kept its orderly beat. Red hair suited this female. The color matched the spirit of her fight.

Emily removed the leads of the cardiac monitor from his chest and the IV from his forearm. She moved about the room, as if on automatic pilot. Her compliance took every ounce of telepathic influence and skill left at his disposal.

Once completed, she returned to his side.

He caressed the right side of her face, the warmth of her skin a heated embrace to his cool palm. With the gentle persuasion of his hand, Kenric brought her gaze back to connect with his.

“Lean closer to me, Emily.”

She complied, lowering her head. Kenric pulled her in, positioning her neck near his lips, and brushed a stray curl away from her neck.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered against her skin. “If there were another way, I would take it. You see, you have something I’m in desperate need of.” He didn’t know why he felt the sudden, overwhelming desire to explain. He had to feed. And he would make sure she didn’t remember when he finished. But something inside him needed her to understand and not be scared. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I promise, I will be as gentle as possible.”

He savored another whiff of her sweet scent before tasting the area above her pounding pulse. She shivered, wringing a groan from his throat. He could wait no longer.

His fangs pierced her supple flesh. Tightening his hold, he held her immobile, not wanting to tear her skin. A moment later, Emily’s body relaxed. He loosened his grip and gently caressed her arms, soothing her as he drank.

Her blood spilled into his mouth, a flood of hot and sweet. It filled his starved body in a tidal wave of sensation and pooled in his groin. He’d never tasted anything as luscious as the woman in his arms. And he wanted more. With each pull at her neck, his erection pulsed, greedy for her affection.

Reaching farther around her body, Kenric lifted her onto the gurney with him. He wanted, no needed, the feel of her whole body next to his. Her hip pressed against the length of him. His eyes rolled in exquisite pain. If he were in a different place and it were a different time, he would be buried so deep inside of her, she would no longer know where he stopped and she began.

Reluctantly, he withdrew his fangs, licking the remaining spicy droplets of blood from the small twin holes on her neck. Pressing his tongue to the wound, he held pressure on the area for a few seconds to ensure clotting had taken hold with the aid of the agent releasing from its surface.

“Thank you, Emily,” he whispered into her ear, easing his arms from around her. She slumped.

“Shit!” He hadn’t stopped in time. What the hell was wrong with him? A frantic shuffle ensued as he worked to slide out from beneath her and onto his side. Holding his breath, he checked for a pulse.

There was a strong beat.

Air rushed from his chest with relief. She’d passed out.

Good man, Kenric. This is really the way to get out of here unnoticed. He punched the pillow beneath them and silently groaned when he’d have much rather shoved his fist through a wall.

Now, not only do they have a slashed-up John Doe who will go missing but also an unconscious nurse with bite marks on her neck.

Nice inconspicuous exit, asshole.