Category Archives: new release

Hunter’s Moon – werewolf romance book – chapter 2

Posted on 5th March 2011 by Felicity Heaton

To continue the celebration of my new release, here’s the second excerpt from Hunter’s Moon, my latest werewolf romance book / vampire romance book. This is a novel in the Vampires Realm series, but you don’t have to read the other books to understand what’s happening in this one. The books in the Vampires Realm are connected by world rather than story arc.

Hunter’s Moon
F E Heaton
Having witnessed vampires slaughtering his werewolf pack during their escape from the horror of the compound where they had been held captive, Nicolaeâ€™s hatred of the species burns deep in his veins. A century has passed since that night and the months in which he travelled to the Canadian wilderness to escape it, but the nightmarish visions and his failure as an alpha still haunt him, forcing him to live alone and keep his distance from other werewolves.

When a night hunt with the local timber wolf pack leads to a run-in with unfamiliar hunters, Nicolae tracks the scent of blood permeating the forest to an injured woman and races to save her, but has he made a terrible mistake in doing so? When she attacks him, revealing her true nature, he canâ€™t believe his eyes or the fact that he canâ€™t bring himself to kill her. Sheâ€™s beautiful, and a vampire.

Tatyana is on a mission. Far from home and bearing a heart filled with grief, sheâ€™s intent on killing the hunters sheâ€™s tracking, but her plan didnâ€™t include being shot with poisoned arrows. When she comes to in the presence of a glowering handsome male werewolf, she isnâ€™t sure what to expect. His dark demeanour and cold tone warn her that he isnâ€™t like the subservient werewolves sheâ€™s used to, and that she might not be out of danger yet, but she doesnâ€™t let it discourage her. Working with him to discover why the hunters have come to Canada, she attempts to shatter his antiquated opinion of vampires, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it becomes to battle the forbidden hunger he stirs in her.

Will Nicolae be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and his memories, and embrace his desire for a vampire? Can Tatyana face her fear about the Law Keepers and risk her heart and her life for the sake of forbidden love? When they discover what the hunters are after, will they be able to stop them before itâ€™s too late?

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series

Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/

Excerpt
Nicolae set the woman down on the bed in the corner of his small cabin and went to the fire next to it. He threw some logs onto the dwindling flames, took an iron from the rack, and stoked it, knocking the ash down into the grate. Every muscle in his body ached as he moved, stiff with cold. The flames burned more brightly, warming his bare shins and his hands.

He glanced at the vampire and then stared into the fire. What had he been thinking? Even if he could save her, she wasnâ€™t likely to share information with him. Vampires didnâ€™t like werewolves prying into their business. He had learnt that the hard way, with lashings and beatings that had left him numb to anything other than pain.

He shrugged those memories away and focused on the fire. She was dredging up things that he wished he had forgotten long ago. Focus on the small things. It helped him most at times when he couldnâ€™t control the onslaught of images. Small things were a distraction. They kept his hands busy while his mind sorted itself out.

The fire crackled and popped as the flames greedily devoured the logs he had placed onto it. He prodded them with the iron, turning them so they caught on all sides, waiting for calm to fill him again. Warmth stole through his body, the fire chasing the cold from it, and a sense of peace followed. He placed the iron back in the rack of tools beside the fire.

Near to the vampire.

Nicolae moved it to the other side of the fireplace, away from her, just in case she woke in a bad mood. It wasnâ€™t the first time he had seen a vampire close to death. Experience made him wary. They were unpredictable and savage when dying. Their survival instinct made them deadlier than they were under normal circumstances.

He didnâ€™t fancy being skewered by a fire iron. It would be one hell of an ending to what was turning out to be a bad night.

His gaze shifted to the short arrows still protruding from her body. Would she resort to using them to defend herself? He had wanted to wait until they were safe in his cabin before removing them but now he wondered if it had been a wise decision. The shock to her body would rouse her and the main room was small. It would be difficult to evade any attack she made. He frowned. Unless he added a certain herb to the medicine to knock her out. It had been a long time since he had made such a drug, but most of the ingredients grew in the woods on the mountain, and others were probably in his store cupboard. It was amazing what simple herbs could become, and how much they could affect a vampire.

Or a werewolf.

The same single herb would knock him out cold too. He had used it before, to escape the hell of his past and give himself peace and a dreamless sleep. It worked far better than the alcohol he had tried before it.

Nicolae went and stood over her. His palms sweated and he flexed his fingers to ease the tension building inside him. He hesitated and then leaned down and placed his hand on her forehead. Still cold. Good. He had time to create the drug.

His gaze flickered to the arrows. She was going to bleed badly when he removed them.

Her hand clamped down on his arm. She yanked on it, causing him to stumble onto the bed, and sprung at him. Her canines sunk into his left shoulder near his neck and sharp claws seized his other arm. Pain blazed outwards from the point where her fangs penetrated his flesh and he growled when she gave a sharp pull on his blood.

A split second later, she recoiled and snarled, backing into the corner of the bed furthest from him.

Nicolaeâ€™s hand flew to his shoulder, covering the wound, and he was at the other end of the tattered brown couch in front of the fire before she could attack again. Blood pulsed through his fingers, warm and filling the small room with the heavy scent.

She growled, exposing long bloodied fangs, and swiped at the air in his direction.

Nicolae pinned her with a cold glare. His neck ached, sending deep throbbing waves of pain through him, and he applied more pressure to the wound. Anger coiled tight in his stomach. Strangely, the emotion wasnâ€™t in response to what she had done. It was aimed at himself. He was stupid for letting her get to him, for allowing his guard to slip around a vampire for even a fraction of a moment. He knew better than that.

The woman looked down at herself and her orange eyes narrowed on the darts. She growled again. Nicolae reached for her but wasnâ€™t fast enough. She tore the bolt from her chest and roared. The agony in her cry echoed on her pale face. It contorted as she tipped her head back, her fangs bared and eyes screwed shut. He backed off again when she snarled in his direction and dropped the arrow onto the bed. She wavered, her lids drooping, and clawed at the wound, bloodying her fingers. It had been foolish of her to remove the bolt. Her heart might not beat but she could still die from blood loss. The arrow had been stopping the wound from bleeding.

Blood slid down her jacket, soaking into the black material and sticking it to her skin.

She eyed the second dart.

Nicolae shook his head, his heart pounding at the thought she might try to remove it too. She was breathing. A clear indication that she was younger than he was. Most vampires over the age of two hundred overcame their instinct to breathe. If she was younger than one hundred, the combination of blood loss and poison could easily kill her before noon.

Her orange gaze lit on him, briefly scanning his face before falling to his hand where it covered the bite mark on his left shoulder. She looked away, casting her eyes downwards, her blonde hair falling to cover one side of her pale face.

Her move irked him.

Was she disgusted by the fact she had bitten him? She had recoiled the moment she had tasted his blood.

The moment she had realised what he was.

Well, it sickened him too. He was disgusted at himself for letting it happen and disgusted by her reaction.

She snarled when he moved a step closer.

He ignored her. She had caught him off guard and it wouldnâ€™t happen again. If she attempted another attack, he wouldnâ€™t hold back. She wasnâ€™t strong enough to fight him. He would have her unconscious before she could touch him.

â€œWhat the hell are you doing here?â€ It was difficult to keep the sharp edge of anger from his voice when his shoulder was burning. She glared at him, eyes narrowed and full of fire. He tamped down his emotions, struggling against their surging tide within him, and managed to soften his tone. â€œWhy are there hunters after you?â€

She growled the moment he mentioned them. Her gaze darted around, taking in everything and then fixing on him again. She huddled into the corner and bore her fangs.

It was pointless trying to question her when she was like this.

She wavered again, slumping against the wooden logs of the cabin wall and breathing hard. Her face screwed up and she whimpered. Nicolae had never heard such a pathetic sound, not in all his years in the compound or after. Her breathing quickened and she reached for the dart puncturing her stomach.

Her fingers closed around it.

â€œNo.â€ Nicolae dashed forwards, his hand outstretched.

The vampire snarled, her expression full of fury and darkness, and he backed off again when she released the dart. Her fingers shook. Anguish shone in her eyes. She yelled and banged her head against the log wall, hard enough that the structure trembled. Nicolae lunged for her, catching her right arm, but he wasnâ€™t fast enough to stop her. Her head hit the wall again.

She collapsed into his arms, her forehead against his cheek, as still as a corpse.

Only corpses didnâ€™t have body heat.

And neither did vampires normally.

Nicolae touched her face. Her fevered skin explained why she had taken such desperate measures.

The poison was killing her.

She had wanted to end her suffering.

Given the choice between a slow painful death as poison destroyed him and he bled to death or being blissfully unaware of his end, he would choose to knock himself out too.

Nicolae laid her down again, careful to avoid disturbing the remaining crossbow bolt. The lengths of her blonde hair stuck to the beads of sweat on her face and spilled over her shoulders. He picked up the bolt she had removed and sniffed it. It still smelt like the drug that hunters in Europe often used on her kind. He rested his palm on her forehead. She was burning up. It wouldnâ€™t be long before the poison killed her. He had to move swiftly if he wanted to get answers to his questions.

If he wanted to save her.

He paused, looking down at her peaceful face. She looked so small and vulnerable, and felt so weak on his senses. It all spoke to him, coaxing a response that he hadnâ€™t anticipated. He really did want to help her. He wanted to help a vampire, and he had the terrible feeling that it had nothing to do with information. He wanted to stop her from suffering.

He went into the small kitchen, turned on the single naked light, grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans off the pile of washing and slipped them on. Blood eased down his chest from his throat. He washed the dirt off his hands in the sink and then the blood off his chest and throat, dried himself with a tea-towel, and then took the medical kit down from one of two wooden wall cupboards. He didnâ€™t have a single sticking plaster large enough to cover the wound so he covered each puncture mark with a separate plaster. The wounds would bleed through. He checked how many plasters he had left in the box. Enough to last until the bite started to heal. It could take days. Vampire bites were a bitch.

Nicolae smiled grimly, briefly picturing returning the favour and biting her. Werewolf saliva was a pain to vampires, making his bite far worse than hers was. She would take weeks to heal if it got into her system. He shook the image away and focused back on healing her. She was already on the brink of death. Biting her would tip her over it.

The store cupboard near the back door of the cabin produced most of the herbs he needed to make the medicine that would cleanse her body of the poison. There was one vital ingredient missing. He opened the back door and stopped on the porch when he found himself face to face with the grey alpha timber wolf.

The wolfâ€™s yellow eyes held his.

Silent communication passed between them through a connection he had forged with blood.

â€œNo. She isnâ€™t human.â€ Nicolae closed the door behind him. He strode barefoot into the woods, his gaze scouring the ground for the remaining herb.

The wolf kept pace with him. Nicolae glanced at him, stopped and nodded.

â€œI know what I said. That was a long time ago.â€ He sighed when the wolf looked up at him, and crouched so he was level with it. It was best to face such questions in this way. He never liked to look down on the alpha. The wolf was king here. â€œIâ€™ll find the hunters. They wonâ€™t harm the pack. She wonâ€™t harm the pack. Vampires are not interested in animal blood.â€

The alpha snarled.

Nicolae felt his reservation deep in his own blood.

â€œShe wonâ€™t attack humans either. There wonâ€™t be a chance for the humans to mistake her marks for a wolf attack. The pack will be safe. Iâ€™ve always kept my word, havenâ€™t I?â€

The alpha huffed and looked skyward. The full moon shone down on them both, instilling a sense of peace in Nicolae as the rays caressed his skin. Long fingers of silver-lined clouds drifted below it, stretching across the horizon, and the snow on the distant mountain peaks shone ice-blue in the clear light. The scenery was beautiful and never failed to soothe him on nights like this, and he had never needed its calming effect more than he did now.

It offered him respite from the storm of his emotions, a balm that eased the darkness from his heart and cleared his mind of the insidious words whispered by his lingering desire for revenge.

His problem was with the Tenebrae, not the Nocens. No matter how much the presence of a vampire in his cabin, in his life, angered him, he would remember that it was not her kind he sought revenge against, but that of a bloodline who was likely also her enemy. The European bloodlines had often feuded in the time he had lived there, fighting for power amongst themselves. It was possibly still the case now. Vampires never learned. Never evolved. They remained constantâ€”aggressive, vicious, cruel, and heartless.

He would see that when she woke, and it would clear away the strange sense of concern he felt towards her. Once she had answered his questions and was back on her feet, she was gone and out of his life.

Nicolae held his hand out. The grey wolf nuzzled it and then trotted into the woods. It looked back at him from the fringe of trees.

Nicolae nodded. â€œI have not forgotten.â€

He watched the alpha go. Had he come all this way just to ensure that Nicolae wouldnâ€™t forget their bargain, or had he truly been concerned about the woman?

He found the herb near a thicket of saplings he had planted last year. Small and black, it looked like nothing more than a dark variety of clover. He had always found it odd that such an inconspicuous plant could knock something as powerful as a vampire or werewolf out cold. It was this herb alone that would do such a thing. The rest were to stop the poison and help her heal. He picked some and took it back to the cabin.

His mind wandered as his fingers made quick work of measuring out the herbs on the kitchen counter. He paused to touch the plasters on his throat. What was she doing here? A pure European vampire outside their home continent was virtually unheard of. They never left it except for rare times when they were visiting another bloodline, and that couldnâ€™t be the case this time because there were no vampires in these parts.

That was exactly the reason he had chosen to come here.

And it was exactly the reason he hadnâ€™t suspected she was a vampire until she had attacked him.

It had shocked him.

He hadnâ€™t seen a vampire since escaping Europe.

Nicolae placed half of the herbs and a small amount of water into a pan and heated them on the stove. He took two squares of muslin and made a poultice with the remaining mixture, folding them neatly so none of the contents would spill out. The brew in the pan didnâ€™t take long to come to a boil. He turned it down, letting it simmer.

The liquid gradually turned black. He took the pan off the heat to cool. A faint smile curved his lips as he remembered learning how to make the medicine. He had always been good at making remedies and antidotes from plants. His sire, the previous alpha of his pack, had taught him everything he knew. Over the years, Nicolae had honed his skills and passed the knowledge on to others. The local werewolf pack was one of them. It was easier to treat injuries or ailments themselves rather than relying on human doctors and risking exposing their kind. While their bodies were closer to a humanâ€™s than a vampireâ€™s was, they were still different enough that a doctor might notice, especially when it came to their blood. Just like the vampires, werewolf DNA mutated during their turning. While their blood would appear similar to human blood under a microscope, laboratory tests would reveal a startling difference.

Nicolae stared at the liquid and then dipped his finger in to test the temperature. Warm and cooling fast.

How many times had he made similar remedies for his pack? Never in his life had he thought he would end up using his skills to help a vampire.

He poured half of the liquid out into a shot glass, placed the two poultices on a plate, and tipped the rest over them. He hadnâ€™t made much and for good reason. The dose had to be small and strong. Vampires couldnâ€™t ingest solids or most liquids other than blood. She could react badly if he gave her too much. A single potent dose would have to do.

Nicolae placed everything onto a tray, picked up the medical kit, and carried them both through into the main room of his cabin. He set the tray on a small coffee table next to the worn couch and put the medical kit down beside the bed. She hadnâ€™t stirred. She lay straight as a rod on the dark bedcovers, her face ashen but beaded with sweat. The only hint of colour on her lips was his blood.

He nudged her leg with his bare foot.

She didnâ€™t wake.

Picking up the shot glass from the tray, Nicolae stared at the black liquid that filled it close to the brim and then at her. This was not going to go down well.

He knelt with his right knee on the bed and his left foot on the floor, and checked that his footing was sure so he could brace himself if he needed to. She still didnâ€™t wake. With his heart in his throat, he carefully lifted her head off the bed with his left hand and cradled her. Nothing. His heart trembled. He sighed out his breath and wet his lips at the same time as he brought the shot glass to her mouth. He tipped it enough that a single drop of liquid touched her lips and slipped inside.

She jerked awake, retched and then coughed violently. Nicolae evaded her first swipe but the second caught him across his right shoulder, almost knocking the glass out of his hand. He tensed and held his breath, taking another hit as he tried to avoid spilling the precious liquid. His patience snapped and he snarled, grabbed her shoulder with his left hand and slammed her down onto the bed. He pinned her there with his full weight. She wasnâ€™t strong enough to fight him but she struggled regardless, thrashing around on the bed and hissing at him.

â€œIt will stop the poison.â€

She stilled. The wild edge to her amber eyes gave way to awareness. They flickered to the glass. She slowly opened her mouth.

Nicolae stared at the tips of her fangs and swallowed. If she was doing this just to lure him into getting close to her so she could bite him again, he was going to knock her out the old-fashioned wayâ€”with his fist. He edged the glass towards her, cautious now, his gaze constantly monitoring her for a sign that she was going to attack.

She didnâ€™t.

The glass reached her lips. He tilted it and tipped the entire contents into her mouth. She grimaced, looked as though she was going to throw it up, and then swallowed. A second later, she shuddered and relaxed beneath him.

Nicolae waited.

When his heart had calmed and his senses no longer screamed danger, he took his left hand and lifted her right eyelid. Black greeted him. No trace of colour or white remained.

He blew out a long sigh and sat back on his leg, staring at her. His broad shoulders slumped and he lowered the glass to rest on his knee. The drug would keep her under for hours in her condition. Without fear or an ounce of care, he took hold of the arrow in her stomach and yanked it out. He tossed it away to join the other one on the floor. Her black jacket and shirt followed it. Blood stained her torso. He went to the kitchen, filled a bowl with water, grabbed a cloth and came back to her. He cleaned around the arrow wounds and left the rest of the blood. She could wash up when she regained her strength. He eyed her black bra. He wasnâ€™t about to remove that and heâ€™d have to in order to clean her.

Nicolae ran a hand over his messy dark hair and sighed again. What was he doing? Helping a vampire. He shook his head at the thought, let alone the reality. She wasnâ€™t that bloodline though, and she had information. It had to be done. Regardless of how he had felt earlier, this wasnâ€™t about helping her. This was about protecting his life here and the local wolves. When the hunters were gone, then so was she, and she could go to Hell for all he cared.

He applied a poultice to each wound, rubbing it over her skin to clean any poison away and then pressing down so the liquid seeped into the holes. It was a struggle to bind the wounds when she was lying down. He bound her waist first, raising her off the bed each time he needed to pass the bandage underneath her, and pinned the end of it in place. Her shoulder was more difficult. He slipped the strap of her black bra off over her arm and then bound the wound as best he could, keeping his eyes off her breasts. When he was done, he put the bra strap back in place on her shoulder and then checked both of the bandages were tight enough. Her fevered skin was damp beneath his fingers and it was difficult to remember that she was a vampire. She was so soft. How long had it been since he had touched a woman?

Nicolae reminded himself that she wasnâ€™t a woman.

Vampire.

He would do well to remember that.

His gaze crept up over her torso, skimming slowly across her breasts to her face. Waves of her blonde hair cut across it, wild and beautiful.

Not beautiful.

Vampire.

He brushed the hair from her face, following the strands down to the ends where they were stained crimson, and then stopped himself. What the hell was he doing?

Nicolae tossed everything back onto the tray and carried it into the kitchen. He slammed the tray down on the counter and then gripped the edge of it and stared out of the small dirty window at the dark clearing. The alpha was right. This woman didnâ€™t belong here. He needed to get her away from him as soon as possible. He should have left her in the woods.

He pushed away from the kitchen counter and rubbed his hand across his face as he paced the cramped room, the tiles freezing beneath his feet. It took barely two strides to reach the other end. Not enough distance to clear his head. The cabin felt too confined, suffocating him.

Nicolae yanked the back door open, quickly took the steps down from the porch, and stopped when he reached the dirt. The feel of it beneath his feet, cold and hard, was nothing like the feeling it evoked in him. He felt calm and warm, soothed by the earth and the scent of nature in his lungs. He took a long slow breath and scrunched the dirt with his toes. It grounded him.

A desire to run in the woods swept up inside him.

He paced the clearing instead, letting nature flow through him, giving him some peace and respite.

He needed to get rid of the vampire but he couldnâ€™t until she had healed. It could take days for her to regain enough strength. Unless she drank blood. She would heal more quickly with fresh blood in her body.

Nicolae touched the claw marks that cut across the right side of his chest. They were already starting to heal. He had no blood to offer but his own and she had made it clear she didnâ€™t want that.

He would never give it to her anyway.

He tipped his head back and stared at the indigo sky above the trees. There would be blood in the local hospital. The thought of taking from them turned his stomach. They had been good to him in the small town down in the valley and winter was coming. It was a dangerous time of year, when snow isolated the area and accidents were commonplace. They would need all the blood they had. He couldnâ€™t take from their precious supplies.

Nicolae went back into the main room of the cabin, his gaze coming to rest on the vampire. He had to. He didnâ€™t have a choice. She wasnâ€™t like him. Animal blood wouldnâ€™t do her any good right now. It had to be human, or close to human, if it was going to replenish what she had lost. The local werewolf pack wouldnâ€™t help. Even if they did, she would probably reject the blood because of its taste.

He sat on the arm of the couch and stared at her in silence. Minutes passed, ticking away, and he didnâ€™t move. His thoughts leapt back and forth between getting her blood and leaving her to heal without it, a constant war in his mind that only ended when he felt the sun rising. He lifted his head and looked at the wall above the fireplace, sensing beyond it to the lightening world outside.

He rubbed his face again, scratching the dark stubble that lined his jaw, muttered a curse, and went into the kitchen. He tugged on a white t-shirt, a thick black button down shirt and a warm pair of socks. He was still debating whether he was really going to go through with it when he was jamming his feet into his black boots. It was one thing helping her heal, completely another to steal for her, especially from people he knew and cared about.

â€œDamn it.â€ Nicolae grabbed the keys to his Jeep and left the cabin, locking the door behind him in case she woke when he was gone.

Or someone came knocking.

The hunters were still out there.

Instinct told him they would meet again.

Sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned for a third and fourth excerpt from Hunter’s Moon…

Posted in 2011 releases, Hunter's Moon, new release, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance | Comments Off

Hunter’s Moon – werewolf vampire romance novel out now!

Posted on 27th February 2011 by Felicity Heaton

Â Hunter’s Moon, my new werewolf / vampire romance novel in the Vampires Realm series is available now as an e-book for only $2.99. What are you waiting for? Here’s the book blurb and excerpt to entice you into purchasing.

This book will be available soon on Kobo, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader, iBookstore, and Fictionwise. I’ll post links as soon as the book appears at these places.

I will also be making this book available in paperback format and will post links as soon as it’s available.

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series

Excerpt
Crisp air rushed through Nicolaeâ€™s black fur in a constant stream, shifting with him as he wove through the dark forest, keeping pace with the bulk of the local timber wolf pack. The group ahead of him, led by the grey alpha, snarled and played, riding up on each otherâ€™s shoulders as they ran. Nicolae bounded after them, his paws pounding the uneven ground and his footing sure. He ducked under a low branch and then leapt over a fallen tree, landing softly in the fresh leaf litter on the other side. Mountains stretched into the distance before him through the woods, their craggy peaks highlighted by glowing white snow. The fat moon flickered between the bare branches above him and called to his blood.

Nicolae obeyed.

He raced with the pack down the slope towards the hidden glade in the forest. Leafless trees gave way to tall pines that towered above him, blocking the light, and his eyes adjusted, the dark world around him sharpening and his senses following suit. Cool fingers of wind caressed his ears as he headed in amongst the pack and joined in their play, enjoying the clear wintry air and the bright night with them. Several younger wolves in the pack snarled and nudged him, and he playfully responded, gently shouldering them as they ran and fighting for dominance. He let them win even though they were far smaller than he was.

Nicolae wasnâ€™t interested in gaining rank within the pack. He was here to enjoy the moment and the company. Running with the timber wolves under a full moon excited him, took him away from the complications of the human world and set him free. There was nothing in the world as exhilarating as surrendering to his true nature.

Animal sounds filled his ears, undetectable to the humans who lived in the rugged mountainous region of Canada. The deer down in the valley ahead were moving, heading for a safe place to spend the night. He could picture them now as they waited nervously in the shadows of the trees around the glade, alert and aware of the wolves that ran in the dark forest. They would move and make it out onto the narrow strip of grazing land between the banks of woods at the valley bottom before the wolves reached them.

Tomorrow, there would be reports of a wolf attack on the deer, and how the Caseyâ€™s horses had panicked, and Nicolae would have to pretend that it startled him to hear such a thing.

That he hadnâ€™t participated in the hunt and the kill of deer.

That he wasnâ€™t a wolf.

A burst of wings broke the silence, owls fluttering from their roosts and heading high into the sky. Hungry wolf eyes instantly tracked them for a heartbeat of time and then the pack moved on, their focus returning to playing and hunting the deer. The day birds settled down in their nests, safe from predators for another night, unbothered by the wolves running below.

The pack began to streak ahead and Nicolae returned his attention to them. His blood rushed and his heart thundered. He felt wild. Alive. The leaders were dark blurs in the distance, almost blending in with the night, silent predators built for this terrain. Younger wolves jostled for position nearer to him. He raced to catch up, the cold air burning in his lungs and a sense of freedom flowing through him.

A howl cut the night and the wolves shifted as one, turning right towards the mountain, away from the glade and the grazing land beyond. Something had caught their attention. The howl came again and Nicolae listened this time, deciphering it. Wolf-speak was old and varied from pack to pack, but he had studied this one closely, and long enough that they had accepted his presence on the mountain. They no longer feared him. It had taken him a century of working with each generation, but he had gained their trust and their friendship, and had learned how to communicate with them.

He pounded up to the peak of a bare hillock, threw his head back, and howled at the moon through the barren trees.

The answering call told him why the wolves were now running with intent.

There were men on the mountain.

Men who didnâ€™t belong there.

Nicolae ran down the other side of the hillock and rejoined the wolves, running close to them now, amongst the pack. The sense of calm and playfulness disappeared. The wolves were hunting, a sliver of fear flowing through the entire pack, alertness that called to his instincts. He focused on the woods ahead, mapping them and monitoring for a sign of the men. It was unusual for hunters to come onto the mountains at night, especially when winterâ€™s grip was closing on the area.

A distant noise snapped the group to attention. The alpha snarled. Nicolae stretched his superior senses farther ahead of them. They whispered of danger. He sniffed and caught the scent of men on the wind. No one that he recognised. The grey alpha snarled again, this time in Nicolaeâ€™s direction. Nicolae answered with a growl. There was no reason to fear the humans.

He would protect them if it came to a fight.

He doubted that it would. Humans rarely hurt the wolves and never bothered him. They were probably looking for deer. He glanced at the moon. It was late to be hunting, and not just in the year. The sun had set hours ago and midnight was approaching. What prey were they after? The bears were already heading into hibernation, and deer didnâ€™t come this far up the mountain in winter. The only animals up here were small game and the timber wolves.

A trickle of fear slithered down his spine. His hackles rose in response.

Were they after the wolves?

Nicolae snarled, sending a message to the pack.

They turned and moved in a silent dark stream down into the valley, away from the hunters. Nicolae lumbered onwards alone, towards the hunters he could sense in the distance. It was rocky ground where they were and the sparse trees would offer him little cover, but it was a risk he had to take. If the hunters saw him, he would head back down towards the valley, where the forest was thicker. He had to make sure that these men werenâ€™t a threat. He needed to protect the wolves.

Nicolae slowed to a trot as he reached the stony ground and lowered himself until his softer stomach fur brushed the leaf litter and rocks. He crawled forwards, moving as quietly as possible, stalking the hunters. They stood in a clearing, the moon highlighting them with threads of silver. Nicolae stopped behind the broad trunk of the nearest tree, as close as he could get without them noticing him.

Their murmured conversation masked the sound of his soft huffs. His heart thumped against his ribs.

Four men. Dark haired. They were difficult to make out even in the moonlight. He could tell they were tall, and that the two who had their backs to him were broad built, possibly even bigger than he was in human form. Their black fatigues caused them to blend into each other and the woods beyond, and he couldnâ€™t make out any of their faces or the builds of the other two men.

â€œIâ€™m telling you sheâ€™s gone down towards that valley,â€ one of the men whispered, his accent local sounding enough. He was Canadian at least. Nicolae couldnâ€™t see him clearly from his position behind the tree and bushes, but he couldnâ€™t risk moving.

â€œDid you see how she moved? Iâ€™ve never seen something move that fast. Is that normal?â€ This voice had a tremor in it that spoke of inexperience and fear.

What were they hunting? Referring to animals as female was nothing new to him but it didnâ€™t sound as though they were hunting bear or deer. Were his suspicions correct and they were after the wolves?

Nicolae looked down towards the valley. The local timber wolf pack were all there and most of them had been with him all night. The distant howl that had alerted them to the presence of the hunters had been a scout. It hadnâ€™t given word of an altercation with the men. If there had been one, the wolf would have reported it to the pack.

He glanced the other way, towards the peak of the plateau and his cabin. Beyond it was the settlement. Were they hunting his sort of wolf? Impossible. No one in these parts knew of the werewolves. They lived quietly amongst the humans, blending in and keeping to themselves. None more so than him. He didnâ€™t belong to that pack. He didnâ€™t belong to anyone.

He cast his gaze over each hunter in turn, scrutinising them with his senses and putting their scents to memory. What were they doing on the mountain? One of the men looked in the direction of the valley and Nicolae stilled. They werenâ€™t dark haired. They were all wearing black woollen hats, and the one he could see had night-vision goggles on.

Nicolae shuffled back a step and hunkered down when the man turned towards him. Even the bushes around the trees had lost their foliage this far up the mountain. If he moved so much as a millimetre, the man would spot him through the infrared goggles. His heartbeat doubled and it felt impossible to keep still. He wasnâ€™t sure what sort of weaponry they had, but with the goggles, the men already had the advantage. They would be able to see him at a distance. There would be no quick escape into the darkness. Anticipation sent adrenaline to his muscles and they coiled in readiness. The wolf pack howled in the distance. The man turned away. Nicolae dared to peek through the twigs of the bushes at the men.

The one who had looked towards him was facing the others again, his hand hovering on the hilt of a vicious-looking hunting knife that hung from his utility belt. Nicolae glanced at the man next to him. A similar knife hung from his belt. Were they armed only with knives? He tried to see their hands but most of the men had them in front of them, or the bodies of the others hid them. They started talking again, calm and unfazed by the surrounding darkness and distant wolf howls.

Something about them didnâ€™t feel right. Their poise, their calmness, set them apart from the casual hunters that often came to the area, and gave him the impression that they were experienced in night manoeuvres and possibly trained in combat. In fact, he would hazard a guess that either they were in the military or they used to be. The only one who didnâ€™t feel like a threat was the one who was afraid. His heart pounded faster than the other three menâ€™s did, pushing at Nicolaeâ€™s desire to attack. He clawed for control, his focus turning inward for a moment as he struggled against his animal instincts.

â€œI say we go down.â€ The one in the middle of the group this time. His agreement with the first voice caused a murmur to run through them. The three men who had spoken turned towards the fourth, tallest, man.

The man stepped forwards, into the clearing, and Nicolae got a good look at him. The cold calculating edge to his expression warned Nicolae that this man was more than a hunter of animals. He had seen such faces before, in his past, on merciless killers that were acquainted with death and cruelty, and revelled in it.

Nicolae slunk further into the shadows, battling dark splintered memories that branded his mind with horrific images of violence and bloodshed, and seared his body with fierce pain. Each scar on his skin turned to flame beneath his black fur and he fought the urge to snarl. It had been so long since he had relived the nightmare of his past that he had forgotten how to deal with the pain. It threatened to cripple him, to force him from his animal state and expose him to the hunters. He battled the memories, using every ounce of his strength and willpower to remain hidden and as a wolf, but his control began to slip.

Screams taunted him, pleas for mercy and desperate cries for protection. His muscles bunched tight, bordering on cramping, and his heart wrenched in his chest as he relived everything in such vivid detail that it felt as though he had been transported back to that time, to the hellhole in which they had tortured him and his blood kin. Images of them swam in his mind, shifting in and out of focus, bloodied and beaten, eyes full of despair that turned to hope as they fell on him. He felt himself reaching out to them even though he couldnâ€™t move, trying to grasp the fragile visions as frantic need to comfort them flooded him. They slipped through his fingers, faces turning hollow and emaciated as they screamed, clutching themselves. His limbs shook, weak down to his bones, and he tried to shun the images, not wanting to witness their deaths again.

Not wanting to relive the horror of his failings.

He ground his teeth, biting down hard until his sharp canines cut into his gums and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. The metallic scent brought darker memories with it. They crowded his mind, driving him to the edge of despair, and threatening to break his hold on his wolf form. He couldnâ€™t lose it here. The hunters would see him. They would kill him before he had a chance to fully transform and escape into the woods. He would expose everyone to danger. He fought to remain focused, clamping his jaw and sucking in deep gulps of night air through his nose. The crisp edge to the air and the scent of the woods grounded him enough that he could shift his focus to the present and his surroundings, pushing away the terrifying memories.

â€œWe go down,â€ the hunter said at last, snapping Nicolae back to them and giving him a point of focus to hold on to, helping him clear his mind.

He breathed hard, gradually bringing himself back under control. The smell of the night soothed him and his pulse began to level again, his blood no longer blazing in his veins.

Nicolae looked up at the moon through the trees, needing to see it and see that he was free. His past laid thousands of miles away and a hundred years ago. Out here in the wild, he was free of the world that had once enslaved him. He was free of the vampires.

Two of the men moved past the one who Nicolae had decided was their leader. They brought their night-vision goggles down over their eyes and shouldered weapons that caused Nicolae to hesitate. The fourth man moved and did a sweep of the area.

Nicolae stared at the crossbow and the shiny tip of the dart aimed straight at him, his breathing faltering at the sight of it. The man moved on, scanning behind the group, and then followed them down into the woods.

Bows?

When was the last time he had seen a hunter use a bow? He couldnâ€™t recall one in recent years. Everyone used high-powered rifles with accurate sights now. Even he did.

The timber wolves howled in the valley.

Nicolae tried to make out what they were saying but it was difficult with the men distracting him. He crawled through the undergrowth, tracking them from a distance. Whenever one of the men turned his way, sweeping the area with their crossbow, he flattened himself against the ground and waited. Their progress through the forest was slow but they were heading towards the wolves. If they came too close to the pack, he would break cover and head down to warn them.

The hunters maintained their silence as they wove through the woods, giving Nicolae difficulty. It was hard to move without making a sound when the leaf litter was so deep and crisp. He placed each paw carefully, moving with stealth and keeping far enough away that they wouldnâ€™t hear him.

â€œI still say that she went up,â€ one of the men whispered after they had been walking for over twenty minutes and Nicolae caught sight of the leader through the dense tree trunks.

The man held his hand up in a fist and the group halted. Nicolae stopped too, one paw in the air. It trembled with the exertion of holding it there. He gradually lowered it to the ground, holding his breath as he did so, and then exhaled when none of the hunters looked his way. The leader turned towards the man who had spoken and something silent passed between them.

Nicolae knew a threat when he felt it. It seemed the man who had spoken did too because he bent his head and remained silent as the group continued down towards the glade. Nicolae reached out with his senses, searching for both the wolf pack and the prey of the hunters. Could it be a bear?

They had talked about her being quick. Bears were fast when they had to be. Heâ€™d been on the receiving end of a few charges in his lifetime. They werenâ€™t as fast as wolves though.

He sensed the timber wolf pack on the grazing land far below. The alpha howled and Nicolae paid him no heed, only using the sound to confirm their position on his senses was correct. He couldnâ€™t feel any other animals besides a few birds and small creatures. The high-tech crossbows these men were packing said that they werenâ€™t after prey smaller than a wolf, not unless they enjoyed a challenge. Even then, they would probably go after big game. Hunting large animals with only a bow would be more exciting and dangerous. A challenge most hunters would relish. Which brought him back around to bears.

The men stopped a few hundred metres up the mountain from the glade. Their leader raised his goggles, looked towards the rugged horizon, and then turned towards the other three.

â€œShe might have gone to ground.â€ It was the one who had almost seen him. The leader looked thoughtful, his face shadowed and difficult to make out.

Two of the men he hadnâ€™t got a good look at earlier were in broken moonlight now, their night-vision goggles pushed up on their foreheads. They were young, one of them around his late twenties and the other into his thirties. Nicolae suspected it had been the youngest man who had sounded scared. The other one had a hard set to his jaw and coldness in his eyes. The sort of look a man got after seeing a lot of death.

Nicolae had that look sometimes.

â€œI shot her.â€ There was certainty in the manâ€™s gravelly voice. None of the others looked as though they were about to doubt him.

Nicolae sniffed, trying to catch a scent on the chill air. If they had shot whatever animal they were after, then it would be bleeding. He would be able to track it.

â€œThe poison will take care of her in that case.â€

Nicolae froze. Poison? He looked at the bolts loaded in the crossbows. Just what was it they had shot and now wanted to find? Hunters didnâ€™t normally poison their prey.

Not unless their prey was strong enough to survive arrows and bullets and come after them. He shook that thought away. There was no reason for him to get jittery. In the century he had lived in the area, not once had anyone attacked the werewolves.

â€œI donâ€™t want to risk it. I want to find her.â€ The leader this time.

The alpha wolf howled again and Nicolae listened.

Blood.

They were hunting something.

Nicolae tensed, torn between breaking cover and heading down to see what the wolves had smelt, and remaining to listen to the men and ensure they left the mountain.

He raised his nose to the breeze and sniffed. He could smell it now, sharp and coppery, coming up from the valley.

A bolt zipped past him, thudding into a tree barely inches from his nose. Nicolae ran, keeping his rear down and weaving through the narrow gaps between the trees to cover himself. Another bolt narrowly missed him.

â€œDonâ€™t waste ammo unless youâ€™re sure itâ€™s what weâ€™re here after,â€ the leader said.

Nicolae pounded through the forest, away from the men and down towards the valley. He picked up the scent of blood and followed the trail. It grew stronger, fresh and sharp in the clear air, cutting through it. He sniffed the ground at intervals, trying to see if the animal had bled onto it so he could investigate the scent and determine what sort of creature it was.

The pine trees grew dense around him as he neared the glade. Their scent obscured the subtler one of the blood, making it impossible for him to tell what it belonged to. It didnâ€™t smell animal.

It wasnâ€™t werewolf.

He rounded a tree and spotted something in the clearing ahead.

Human.

The timber wolves broke out of the woods on the other side to Nicolae, heading for the body. His heart slammed against his ribs and he crashed through the undergrowth and out into the glade. He dashed across the open ground, passing the body, and leapt into the group, snarling and snapping at them, driving them back. His teeth clashed with those of the more persistent wolves but he was careful not to draw blood. His attack wasnâ€™t about hurting them. It was purely to force them to leave the human alone. It was to protect them. If they ate the body, the locals would hunt them down and slaughter them all. He couldnâ€™t allow that to happen.

The alpha growled.

The rest of the pack cowered, lowering their rears and bowing their heads. Some of the younger ones at the back whimpered and whined.

The grey alpha came forward, smaller than Nicolae but bigger than the other wolves, and stared at him.

Nicolae breathed hard and held the alphaâ€™s yellow gaze.

The pack was hungry. With winter setting in, it was important that they fed well, but he couldnâ€™t allow them to harm this human. The alpha didnâ€™t move. Nicolae could understand his need to protect his pack and provide for them.

He huffed, turning the air misty for a second with his warm breath, and then came to a decision. He looked deep into the alphaâ€™s eyes, communicating with him alone. He would hunt and leave them a deer at his cabin in exchange for the human. Was that acceptable?

The alpha wolf stared at him a moment longer and then turned and trotted silently into the forest. The pack followed.

Nicolae huffed again.

He would do as he had promised and give them a deer as soon as he could go out and hunt. During harsher winters, he often provided for them. Wolves were a proud race, just like their werewolf brethren, but this pack no longer took offence at his offerings.

Nicolae knew the pain of not being able to provide for the pack, of failing in his duty to protect them, and because of those experiences he knew that he had asked a lot of the alpha tonight. He was grateful the wolf had chosen to accept the deer and, to show it, he would find the largest one he could.

He turned and sniffed his way back to the human. She lay on the leaf litter, motionless and pale. Covered in blood. It had a strange smell. Some part of it was human but the scent was different, familiar. Was it the poison that made it smell so wrong?

The womanâ€™s eyes were closed, her fair hair spread across the ground in a golden wave. Moonlight shone down into the glade, the bare branches of the trees splitting it into bright shafts that bathed her. He sniffed again and listened. No heartbeat but he couldnâ€™t be sure. Twin darts punctured her black fatigues, one in the left of her chest, up from her heart, and the second in the right side of her stomach. Could she have survived that?

He caught the scent of the hunters on the darts.

Why had they killed her?

She was dressed like them.

Nicolae listened again for a pulse. None came.

There were some things that he couldnâ€™t do as a wolf. He shuffled back a few paces to give himself more room and then focused. His bones popped and body twisted, the black fur on it slowly disappearing as he transformed back into his normal form. He grimaced and growled quietly, containing his pain for fear of alerting the hunters to his presence. He wasnâ€™t sure if they had gone and he wasnâ€™t sure if the woman was dead. He couldnâ€™t let either of them know what he was. His ribs stretched and his limbs cracked back into human forms still covered in patches of fur. It swept backwards, towards his shoulders, revealing deformed fingers that pushed out into normal shapes. His muzzle compressed, his teeth receding, and he moved onto his hind legs, standing with a wobble. Pain ripped down his spine with the final shift of his bones beneath his now human skin, and he bit back his desire to throw his head back and scream out his agony.

Nicolae clenched his fists and breathed deep, waiting with closed eyes for the pain to pass and his heartbeat to level again.

Centuries of life as a werewolf and whenever he spent too long in his animal form, he still felt the pain as he had during the first change.

The moment it subsided, he crouched beside the woman, naked and unashamed. He touched her throat. She was cold and he couldnâ€™t feel a pulse. Dead.

He ran his hand over his messy dark hair and frowned, thinking over what he should do.

His gaze assessed the two darts. Blood saturated the black material around them. He touched it, brought his fingers to his nose, and sniffed. He could smell the poison. Strong. Why had the hunters killed her? If he had found her before coming across the hunters, he would have said they had belonged to the same party. Only this woman wasnâ€™t armed.

Nicolae looked around the clearing for a weapon.

When he looked back at the woman, she was staring at him with dark eyes.

Her left fist flew towards him.

Nicolae rolled backwards into a crouch, barely avoiding the punch. She lunged, trying to grab him, gasping and wheezing. Blood pumped from around the arrow in her abdomen. The dart must have punctured her lung.

His gaze met hers again and he froze. The words of warning to keep still fled his lips.

Fiery orange eyes pinned him with the deadliest of stares.

Nocens.

She bore her fangs and Nicolae backed away, his eyes still locked with hers, panic sending an icy wave through his blood.

What was a vampire of the Nocens bloodline doing in Canada?

She snarled and then slumped backwards, hitting the dirt hard. Nicolae didnâ€™t move. He couldnâ€™t tell if she was dead or not but he wasnâ€™t about to risk his neck by checking her. His gaze darted between the arrows. There was a lot of blood on her, and around the glade. The arrows were poisoned. He dragged in a shaky breath.

The scent of her blood hit him and, now that he knew why he recognised it, he couldnâ€™t bear the smell.

Nicolae shook his head at the first assault of memories, desperate to keep them at bay. He wasnâ€™t there now. He was free. He had paid for it in blood and death, but he was free. The images came, relentless, horrifying visions of violence and pain, punishment in dark barred corridors, screams that echoed through the entire compound. He fell forwards, breathing hard, clawing the dirt into his fists and holding on. Cries. Blood. The sting of the whip against his back. He arched forwards and growled, his teeth elongating. The laughter of his cruel masters. His neck burned, aching under the pressing weight of an iron collar. The humiliation of his brethren.

Blood ran in a fetid river before his eyes, trickling over damp dark stones and along the gutter in front of the cells, mixing with faeces and urine. Shackles clanked in the dim light. Bars rattled under the duress of a fruitless attack by a prisoner.

He wasnâ€™t there.

Nicolae yelled his rage at the starlit sky. It burst from him, desperate and feral in its sound, and echoed around the distant mountains. A disconsolate howl from the valley answered him. The alpha. The sound of it and the message it contained soothed him and granted him relief. He shut the pain down, clearing his mind of the past and focusing on the present, but there was no comfort in it now.

His gaze snapped to the vampire.

He pushed himself back onto his feet and stood over her, staring with hatred burning in his gut. The hunters were still searching for her, and it wouldnâ€™t be long before they reached where he was. They would finish her off. If she managed to survive both the hunters and the poison until daybreak, then nature would take care of her. The sky was clear. When the sun rose, it would spill into the glade. She wouldnâ€™t be strong enough to escape it. Her kind deserved to feel pain.

He would never involve himself with vampires.

He strode away from her.

No matter how beautiful they were.

That thought arrested his steps. He frowned over his shoulder at her. The cold air curled around him, chilling and stiffening his bare body. He stared at the vampire and then at the horizon through the trees, and realised with self-loathing that he wasnâ€™t strong enough to do it. As much as he despised her kind, he wasnâ€™t a monster like them. She wasnâ€™t the same bloodline as the ones who had enslaved him. She had done nothing to deserve his bitterness. If he left her, it would plague him and he would regret it. If he needed a reason to help her, he would do it for the sake of information about the hunters. They had to be the reason that she was so far from home.

Nicolae went back to her. She looked small and fragile as she lay on the dirt. Her appearance belied her true nature but it couldnâ€™t fool his senses. When she had come around, he had felt her strength. Was she strong enough to fight the poison? He placed his palm against her forehead. She wasnâ€™t burning up yet. If the poison was the type most vampire hunters used, then there was still time to help her.

Part of him said to leave her. Her kind had given him nothing but pain. She should feel it in return.

He couldnâ€™t bring himself to do such a thing. Watching a dying vampire succumb to the sun and poison would be a petty form of vengeance. His heart had let go of his desire for revenge almost fifty years ago now, cleansed by his quiet life in the wilderness. Only the nightmarish memories kept it alive in him.

Nicolae sighed and picked her up, shifting her into his arms and cradling her against his bare chest in a way that didnâ€™t disturb the bolts. If she woke again, he would drop her in a flash and distance himself. He doubted that she would though. She had probably used the last of her strength fighting him.

Was he really going to do this? If he brought her into his home, if he helped her heal, then he would be helping the enemy.

In times of war, it was acceptable to help the enemy of your enemy. The hunters had tried to kill her. They were a threat to everything he had built here, and everyone that he knew.

He had to help her.

Even when he knew it would place him in danger.

The hunters were after her.

They would be after him too now.

Posted in 2011 releases, Amazon Kindle, Hunter's Moon, new release, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance | Comments Off

B&N Nook – Paranormal Romance Books now available!

Posted on 6th February 2011 by Felicity Heaton

I’ve had quite a few readers emailing me asking when my books will be available on Nook, and I’m pleased to announce that my latest five stories are now available!

Here’s the micro-blurb and links for each book…

Love Immortal
Rescued from monsters by Julian, a mysterious immortal, Lauren discovers that she’s the latest incarnation of a goddess on an ancient mission to defeat the first werewolf, Lycaon, before he gains revenge on Zeus. Pulled into a dark world, she fights for her life, protected by Julian and people with amazing powers. But can Lauren succeed in defeating Lycaon when all of her predecessors have failed?

Buy now for only $3.99 on Barnes and Noble Nook: Â
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011179648/

Her Dark Angel
Serenity is shocked when a gorgeous black-winged angel shows up in her city of Paris claiming that she called him when she was only casting a simple vengeance spell. He’s no other than the angel of death! When Apollyon offers to obey her and help her have revenge on her cheating ex, she can’t resist the temptation, but can she resist him? Can an angel ever fall for a mortal woman like her?

Buy now for only $2.99 on Barnes and Noble Nook:Â
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Her-Dark-Angel/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011095184/

Her Fallen Angel
Lukas is gorgeous and way out of Annelie’s league, but when he confesses that he wants her, she can’t resist his passionate kiss and seizes the moment, and Lukas, with both hands. But Lukas has a secret, one that will test Annelie’s love for him and threaten to tear them apart. He’s a fallen angel. Can she help him prove he didn’t commit a terrible crime? Is she brave enough to love an angel?

Buy now for only $2.99 on Barnes and Noble Nook:Â
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Her-Fallen-Angel/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011118494/

Her Warrior Angel
Einar, Heaven’s best hunter, is on a mission to find three demons. When he discovers the first battling a beautiful woman, he saves her life. Taylor fights demons every night but working with Einar is her biggest challenge yet. She wants him but she can’t let herself fall for him. He’s an angel. She’s half demon. Love between their species is forbidden, but resisting their desire is impossible.

Buy now for only $2.99 on Barnes and Noble Nook: Â
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Her-Warrior-Angel/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011180330/

Vampire for Christmas
It was one last mission. Shannon, a hunter, is desperate to ditch the small town and her vampire partner, Rafe. Things are getting complicated and she wants out, but Rafe isn’t about to let the woman he’s fallen for go so easily. Can Rafe make her see that he loves her and make her face her feelings? Will a wish on a star bring Shannon what her heart truly desires–a vampire for Christmas?

Buy now for only $2.99 on Barnes and Noble Nook:Â
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Vampire-for-Christmas/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011177187/

Posted in Barnes and Noble Nook, Her Angel Series, Her Dark Angel, Her Fallen Angel, Her Warrior Angel, Love Immortal, new release, paranormal romance, Vampire for Christmas, vampire romance | Comments Off

Love Immortal – Vampire Romance book is out today!

Posted on 15th January 2011 by Felicity Heaton

My new vampire romance book is out today. Love Immortal is a passionate, action-packed, heart-wrenching and dramatic novel that you won’t be able to put down and will never forget. Trust me. Just check out the reviews I posted before. Here’s an excerpt to get you all hooked!

Love Immortal
Felicity Heaton
Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she’s ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she’s the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.

With the help of Julian and an organisation of people with supernatural abilities, Lauren fights for her life, their future and the fate of mankind against Lycaon and his deadly army, but can she succeed when Lycaon has killed all of her predecessors?

Can she crack the armour around Julian’s heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he’s been through?
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $12.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance book
length: 157000 words

e-book purchase links:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Love%20Immortal
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Immortal-ebook/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Immortal/dp/B004HYHHME/

paperback purchase links:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Immortal-Felicity-Heaton/dp/1456487884/

Excerpt
Monsters existed.

Lauren had always suspected it to be true, and now she had all the evidence she needed.

One was standing twenty feet in front of her.

It towered over her, yellow eyes glowing in the dim alley between the old redbrick houses of her neighbourhood. Tufted black wiry fur covered it from tail to pointed ears, from the long claws on its colossal paw-like hands to the thick trunks of its hind legs. Her fevered mind said that it was only an escaped wolf from London Zoo, but Lauren couldnâ€™t bring herself to believe it. Sheâ€™d seen the wolves once. This creature was nothing like them. This was something else.

Its mouth opened to reveal jagged teeth, each the size of her thumb.

Why Grandma, what big teeth you have.

All the better to eat you with.

Icy fingers clutched her heart and Lauren trembled, cold sweat trickling down her back beneath the skinny-fit brown t-shirt. The mad rush of her pulse made her dizzy and unexpended adrenaline stole her strength. Whoever had said that adrenaline made you invincible was a liar. Her legs were shaking so much that they were close to buckling, the gym bag on her shoulder was too heavy, and her thick black winter jacket felt impossibly tight, as though it was squeezing the air from her lungs.

Instinct told her to run.

If only her feet would cooperate.

Her shoulders slumped when the monster took a step towards her and her kit bag dropped to the ground. The shinai case slid down her other arm but she caught it at the last second. The feel of the bamboo sword through the black canvas bag was reassuring and instilled a strange sense of calm in her. Lauren tried to remember her kendo training and everything she had just practiced in class but nothing came to her. She stared at the monster, still trying to comprehend what was happening.

Instinct changed its mind.

Her other hand automatically reached across and undid the ties on the shinai bag. Lauren swallowed and kept her movements slow, not wanting to startle the beast into reacting. The end of the bag flapped open and she reached inside, locking her right hand tightly around the white leather hilt of the bamboo sword. She drew it and let the carry-case fall to the ground.

This was insane.

Her shinai would last five seconds against such a huge creature.

It didnâ€™t matter. Her only chance of escape was to stun it with a direct hit and run for her life. Her knees wobbled. That was, if she could run.

Taking deep breaths, Lauren shuffled backwards as the beast advanced and moved into a fighting stance. She brought her shinai around in front of her, clutching it so tightly with both hands that her knuckles turned white.

One breath. Two. Three.

With a loud cry, she launched herself at the creature. It reacted slowly, glowing yellow eyes widening. Lauren struck it between its ears and it yelped. The sound brought a smile to her face.

It was a short-lived smile.

The monster lashed out, flinging a heavy paw into her stomach and sending her flying into the wall of the alley. Her breath left her on impact and pain blasted through every inch of her. She grunted and fell onto the hard tarmac. Another huge paw flew at her and she rolled forwards to avoid being pulverised. She turned at the last moment and grabbed her shinai, desperate to protect herself. She was too damn young to die.

A low snarl sent a shudder down her spine and fear stole her breath away. Lauren scrambled to her feet and backed off, her bamboo sword trembling in front of her. The moon peeked out from behind a cloud and lit the world. Her heart stopped.

Holy God, the monster was more frightening in the light than it had ever been in the darkness. Long strings of saliva rolled down its fangs and dark fur tufted down its spine, raised like hackles. It wasnâ€™t a wolf, but it wasnâ€™t a man either. It was somewhere in between. An abomination. Something straight out of her dreams.

Sheâ€™d dreamt of wolves and monsters before, and each time she had ended up fighting for her life.

It lowered its head and snarled again, hunkering down. It was going to attack.

This wasnâ€™t a dream. It was a living nightmare.

Laurenâ€™s fight left her and she moved backwards, faster now. Her heart started at a pace, thumping erratically in her throat. She clutched her shinai and glanced around. It was only just gone ten at night. Someone would pass by. Her neighbourhood wasnâ€™t normally this quiet. Any moment now, someone would come and help her. Sheâ€™d only left her kendo class fifteen minutes ago and sheâ€™d been first out of the door. A couple of the men in her class lived near her. One of them would come. Someone would. Anyone? Thirty-four was definitely too young to die. She didnâ€™t want to be killed in the night as her parents had been.

She opened her mouth to call out for help but no sound left her lips. Her voice had died the moment her eyes had locked with the monsterâ€™s ones. She saw her death reflected in them, saw how easily it would tear her to shreds and how she wasnâ€™t going to make it out of this alive. Emptiness settled in her mind, ringing in her ears.

Cold stillness shrouded the world.

The beast leapt.

Her heart leapt too.

Shrieking, Lauren raised the bamboo sword to defend herself and flinched away, screwing her eyes shut. Only sound came to her.

The sing of metal cutting through air, an ear-splitting howl of pain, and then a wet slapping noise.

Silence followed.

Lauren breathed hard, hunched up with her bamboo sword still held in front of her face. Her rough gulps of air filled the night. When everything had been quiet for a minute, she realised that something had happened to the monster and that she wasnâ€™t dead. She cracked an eye open.

The first thing she saw made her retch.

Spread across the alley were guts, blood and the two halves of a naked man. Her stomach rolled in response to the gruesome sight and she took a step backwards. It hadnâ€™t been a man a moment ago. Her eyes hadnâ€™t been lying to her even though her mind had. It had been a monsterâ€”a wolf that could stand on its hind legs, over six feet tall, and had tried to kill her. She looked at her bamboo sword. Splatters of blood covered the length of it, soaking into the white leather cap at the end. She couldnâ€™t have killed him with it. It wasnâ€™t possible.

The sound of steel sliding against something made her look up.

Her eyes widened and she dropped her weapon.

A tall man stood opposite her on the other side of the dead person. His long black coat fitted snugly to his slim frame and the stand up collar rose so high that it created a funnel that masked the lower half of his face, held closed by two thick bands of bright gleaming metal across the front. The wind tousled the finger-length spiked strands of his dark hair, shifting them across his pale forehead.

Shimmering silver eyes stared at her, pupils wide in the low light.

Her heart thudded in response to the jolt she felt when her eyes met his.

How many times had she looked at someone and not felt anything? Every day she met the eye of people on the Tube or at work, or even her opponent in kendo, but sheâ€™d never experienced a jolt that shook her to her core.

Never had she been so aware of making eye contact.

The longer she looked into his eyes, the calmer and warmer she felt, until she wanted to stare into them for forever. Something about those eyes, about this man, was so familiar. She was sure that she didnâ€™t know him, but at the same time, she was certain she did.

He stood unmoving, a sense of resolve about him. Everything suddenly felt like nothing but a nightmare, a vivid dream that this man had roused her from. His eyes narrowed. Invisible arms wrapped around her, holding her as soothing whispered words filled her mind. She was safe now.

Instinctively, she took a step towards him.

He lowered his head, giving Lauren the impression that he was bowing to her, awaiting a command or perhaps something else.

The man raised his head a fraction, so his eyes met hers again.

She snapped out of her trance when, without any sign of emotion, and with precise and practiced grace, he slid the long curved katana he held into the sheath hanging at his waist. The blade was clean but blood splattered his hands.

Lauren swallowed her heart and the fear that rushed through her again. Lost in his eyes, sheâ€™d forgotten what had happened. Everything had seemed so normal and the monster hadnâ€™t existed. Now she was back in reality, standing in an alley with a dead man at her feet and the man who had killed him opposite her.

His silver eyes flashed in the moonlight.

Another monster?

She made no move to run, or to look away, not when he approached her and not even when he stopped two feet away, towering over her. She couldnâ€™t move. His eyes had mesmerised her again. They melted from brightest silver to ice blue and she didnâ€™t even try to convince herself that sheâ€™d imagined it. They had changed. Ribbons of black hair caressed his forehead and her fingers itched to brush them away, to stroke his skin in their place and sweep them from his eyes so she could see them more clearly. A strange wave of calm washed over her again, only this time the feeling went deeper. She felt at peace with the world.

Because no matter what happened, this man would protect her.

He extended his hand to her. Before she could consider what she was doing, she was reaching for him.

â€œWe must leave.â€ His voice was smooth and sensual, deep and accented in a way she couldnâ€™t place but she knew that she liked it because the sound of it added to her boneless feeling.

Without hesitation or fear, Lauren placed her hand into his. His fingers closed over hers.

A sense of connection filled her.

â€œIt is not safe here,â€ he said and, without thinking, she nodded.

His hand left hers and claimed her upper arm. He strode at a pace so quick that she was almost jogging. Lauren gazed at the back of his head, catching glimpses of his profile.

It seemed right to go with him. Something inside her said that she knew him and she knew he would never hurt her. He had saved her from the monster.

She didnâ€™t care where they were going. She ran with him, empty and unable to think clearly. Her mind raced over everything that had happened, darting back and forth through her encounter with the monster. The man was right. It wasnâ€™t safe. A monster had attacked her and she had a feeling that more were coming, some sense of imminent danger that she couldnâ€™t ignore. She had to run and she had to stay with the swordsman. Only he could keep her safe.

â€œWhat was that thing?â€ she said between breaths and tried to look over her shoulder towards the dead man. The world wobbled so much she couldnâ€™t focus.

â€œThey are after us.â€

Her stomach fluttered and she looked at the swordsman. It was worth asking, even if it would only confirm that sheâ€™d gone insane.

â€œWho are they?â€ Her voice trembled enough that she was certain he would know that she was frightened of asking that question.

He stopped and looked at her, his pale blue eyes narrowing with his frown. Lauren wished she could see the rest of his face, could open the collar that obscured the lower half of it. She hadnâ€™t realised until now just how much of what a person was thinking showed in their expression. His eyes betrayed nothing.

â€œThe monsters?â€ he said and her heart skipped a beat. â€œI almost lost you in the alley. I was foolish but I will not allow it to happen again. We must hurry.â€

When he looked past her, she glanced over her shoulder. Two men were coming down the street. She stepped towards them, convinced that they were from her kendo class, but the man held on to her arm, stopping her. She looked at him and then back at the two men. The streetlights highlighted their faces and she realised that she didnâ€™t know them. The sense of danger inside her worsened and the voice at the back of her mind told her to keep running. They were coming for her.

Before she could speak, the swordsman was running with her again. His grip on her arm was unrelenting, his pace so fast that she struggled not to trip.

Lauren looked over her shoulder. The men were following them. She rushed on, her thoughts running at a million miles per hour now. Was she really safe with the swordsman? She wasnâ€™t so sure, but he did seem to be the lesser of two evils. If the two men that were following them were actually monsters then sheâ€™d probably chosen the right side.

A flash of silver eyes crossed her turbulent mind.

Perhaps she hadnâ€™t. The swordsman was possibly as much a monster as the wolf-man had been. She glanced at the manâ€™s hand and then at his face. He had his eyes fixed on the distance, his jetty eyebrows knitted tight. She had to get away before something happened. The man had said they were after them, but she couldnâ€™t believe that. What reason would they have to be after her? She hadnâ€™t done anything in her life to enrage monsters or make a single enemy. It had been quiet and safe. Now she felt as though sheâ€™d fallen into someone elseâ€™s life and she wanted her own boring one back. She had to get away.

It wasnâ€™t far to her house now.

The man turned down a side road between two houses, heading towards her street. He knew where she lived? Sodium lights flickered on the walls high above. The heavy stomp of boots echoed in her stomach and she turned as the swordsman stopped. The men had caught up with them. They came to a halt a short distance away and the swordsman moved to stand in front of her. Lauren had the terrible feeling she was about to witness a showdown.

â€œStay close,â€ the swordsman said.

He threw his arm out, sending his long coat swirling from the waist down and revealing his katana. In one swift, graceful move, he drew it and was in a fighting stance. Lauren backed into the wall, fascinated but frightened.

A low growl caught her attention. Her knees threatened to give out when the men tore their t-shirts off and dark fur erupted in waves across their skin. Their bodies twisted and distorted, limbs elongating as their noses and chins pushed outwards and became muzzles. Ears sprouted from the top of their heads and their eyes changed to yellow. They snarled in unison and she pressed hard into the wall.

It was real.

The swordsman changed position, raising his katana. He looked over his shoulder at her. His silver eyes gleamed as brightly as his blade in the streetlight.

Oh God, it was real.

The swordsman disappeared. A loud cry split the silence a moment later. No, he hadnâ€™t disappeared. The monsters and the man were both moving so fast that it was hard for her to keep track of them. They were a blur in her eyes, shifting violent shapes as they passed her. Turning, she clung to the wall and watched the fight. She had never seen a man move with such agility or fight with such astounding grace. Each attack was beautiful and polished. Each counter by the monsters just as fluid. A deadly ballet.

A perfect chance.

He couldnâ€™t stop her and the monsters at the same time. They wanted him, not her. She hadnâ€™t done anything to upset them. If she just left quietly, perhaps they would leave her alone. She could go the long way round to her house, get some things and then leave before the swordsman could find her. She could go to her friendsâ€™ house and hide until everything was sane again.

Backing away into the shadows, Lauren breathed slow and shallow, afraid that even that sound could alert either the man or the monsters to the fact that she was leaving. Her hands trailed along the brick wall, rough under her fingertips, a feeling that grounded her and kept her going. The darkness engulfed her but she didnâ€™t take her eyes away from the blur of the fight, not until the very last second when her hand finally ran out of wall.

With a sigh, she turned away and then froze.

Black tufted fur filled her vision. Her gaze rose to take in the massive bulk of the wolf-like monster and stopped when it reached its jaw. Sharp teeth greeted her as its jowls peeled back in a snarl.

She began to shake her head.

The monster backhanded her, sending her crashing into the wall. Pain erupted across her skull as her head hit the pavement and a trembling sickness passed over her. She pushed herself up on unsteady arms and looked towards the man where he fought the other monster, keeping it at the other end of the alley, and then behind her at the one that had hit her.

It was coming.

Vivid yellow eyes filled the darkness. She couldnâ€™t look away. The sound of fighting swam in her ears and then drifted into the distance, replaced by the noise of heavy feet pounding the tarmac. She threw a glance back towards the man to see the other monster coming for her. Her stomach heaved. She had been wrong. The monsters werenâ€™t after the man at all.

Lauren froze right down to the marrow of her bones.

They were after her.

Turning back to face the one nearest her, she screamed when she saw that it was almost on her. Its sharp jaws opened.

Blood exploded up the wall and the monster tumbled to the ground. Lauren shuffled backwards, away from it, not even thinking about the other monster that had been coming at her from behind.

Her hand hit a puddle.

Only it hadnâ€™t been raining.

And puddles werenâ€™t warm.

Sick to her stomach, she snatched her hand back and retched when she saw the blood covering it. She frantically wiped it on her jeans, her heart fluttering against her ribcage. Both men were dead, cleaved cleanly in two. Her stomach heaved but nothing came up. Bending over, she grasped the pavement with both hands and tried to be sick again. Nothing.

The swordsman grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. The motion jarred her vision and made her headache worsen.

â€œAre you hurt?â€ he said, voice soothing. Lauren looked up at him, instantly lost in his silver eyes.

He frowned when she didnâ€™t respond and then touched her forehead above her right eyebrow. It stung and Lauren flinched away. His touch lightened, becoming so tender that it felt like a loverâ€™s caress rather than a simple concerned touch. She stared into his eyes as he inspected what she presumed was a cut. The pain seemed so distant. Everything did. His eyes gradually changed from stunning silver to icy blue again and she found herself wondering why he worried so much about her safety.

And why she felt as though she knew him.

His hand caught her wrist and they were moving again. She almost tripped when they passed one of the bodies and it began to disintegrate before her eyes.

â€œStay close,â€ the swordsman said.

Lauren glanced at him and then down at his hand on her wrist. She didnâ€™t think that she had much choice. The strength in his grip was incredible.

Why was he protecting her? What did he want from her? Why were monsters after her?

She had to be insane to be running around London with a man she didnâ€™t know and fighting monsters that were after her for some reason.

The man turned down another street. Lauren yanked her hand free and started back in the opposite direction. This had gone on long enough. She wasnâ€™t sure where she intended to go but she had to get away before it all got crazier. She didnâ€™t think it could, but something deep inside said that it was going to if she kept letting the madman drag her around.

He grabbed her wrist again.

Lauren tried to tug it free but his grip tightened. When she hit his hand, he let go and backed away a step. Was he trying to calm her down?

Finding her courage, she avoided looking him in the eye and put her hands on her hips.

â€œIâ€™m leaving and youâ€™d better not try to stop me,â€ she said and it sounded quite convincing to her own ears.

The man stepped back again. His coat fell open to reveal the hilt of his sword.

â€œThere is no going back,â€ he said. â€œThey will find you again.â€

Her head was splitting now that sheâ€™d stopped moving and threatening a man with a sword suddenly didnâ€™t seem so clever.

She edged backwards.

â€œThere is no going back,â€ he repeated, his tone as calm as a millpond, instilling a sense of peace in her. He was right. She told herself that he wasnâ€™t. He was wrong and he could do strange things to her with his voice and his eyes. She had to escape. â€œIf you do, you will die.â€

Laurenâ€™s head snapped up, her eyes locking with his. She wasnâ€™t sure whether he was threatening her or insinuating that the monsters would kill her.

â€œBut my bag,â€ she whispered, desperate for a reason to get away.

â€œIs there anything in it that could link you to tonight?â€ he said and she thought for a moment. She touched her jeans pockets and then her jacket pockets. Her purse, keys and mobile phone were all with her. The only thing in her bag was her kendo armour.

She shook her head.

â€œForget it then.â€ With a move so fast that she didnâ€™t even see it happen, he snatched her wrist and began walking. She stumbled along behind him, trying to prise his fingers off her. As a last resort, she slapped his hand again but this time he didnâ€™t let go. â€œMy duty is to protect you. We must leave before others come.â€

Great, now she had her own Terminator and she wasnâ€™t even sure how sheâ€™d come to have him. Was she someone important?

Important enough to protect?

The swordsman had fought to defend her. Heâ€™d killed three monsters for her sake and she got the feeling that he would kill more if he had to. Her gaze roamed over the strong line of his shoulders and up the funnel neck of his coat to his face. His eyes remained fixed on the distance. She had an overwhelming urge to pull down the collar of his coat so she could see what he looked like. His eyes were incredible but something told her that collar hid a face that was more than that.

â€œWhere are we going?â€ she said, her voice weak.

No answer.

Lauren was about to ask again when the redbrick Victorian houses of her street came into view. Sheâ€™d never been so glad to see her home with its bay sash-windows and red door. Memories of her childhood and her parents came flooding back, filling her with a strange mixture of warmth and cold, and reminding her that no comforting arms waited for her in the house, not anymore. Her parents were gone and the pain of losing them hadnâ€™t faded in the months since their deaths. At the door, Lauren fumbled with her keys and then breathed a sigh of relief when she finally managed to slot the key in and turn it.

The slam of her house door behind her was comforting and she leaned back against it. The house was quiet and cold, but it still made her feel safe. She glanced at the man where he stood to her right, looking around her messy living room. When his gaze came back to meet hers, her heart began to slow and her breathing came normally. Heâ€™d saved her and for some reason she didnâ€™t feel threatened by him. She felt safe. A dry laugh pushed past her lips. She was definitely going crazy.

Or was she?

Everything that had happened seemed so incredible and impossible, yet she knew that it was real. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back into the door, sighing on an exhale.

The alley flashed across her closed eyes, the scene playing out again in the darkness of her mind. Sheâ€™d never seen anything so horrible.

Her eyes shot open when she remembered all the blood. She raised her hands and stared at the crimson stains, her breathing laboured and throat dry. Her fingers shook, wavering so much that she couldnâ€™t focus on them. If the blood was on her hands. She looked down at her chest. Black lines criss-crossed her brown t-shirt. Where else had it hit her? With trembling fingers, she touched her face and felt sick when she found wet patches.

Lauren raced up the stairs in front of her, following them around the corner, and ran into the small peach coloured bathroom at the top. She slammed into the sink and grasped it with both hands.

Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw her reflection in the cabinet mirror.

Red streaks marked her face, matching the colour of her hair.

The monsters flashed before her eyes, followed by the swordsman.

Her gaze fell to her hands and she raised them palm upwards. The blood had seeped into the cracks of her skin, leaving dark jagged lines. Her fingers trembled and her stomach twisted. She turned on the tap and tried scrub the marks away with a nailbrush, rubbing her skin raw. A tight swirling feeling mounted inside her. The blood wouldnâ€™t go away. Each glance at her hands revealed it was still there, coating them as it had in the street. It wasnâ€™t going away. She wanted it to go away.

She didnâ€™t want monsters to be real. They werenâ€™t real. She clawed at the blood. It wouldnâ€™t come off. A noise from downstairs made her tense and she stared wide-eyed into the mirror. The man was coming. He was a murderer. Any feeling of safety heâ€™d given her was just an illusion. It was her mind playing tricks, just as the monsters had been.

Monsters.

She saw them again, bisected and dead.

Why wouldnâ€™t the blood come off?

Lauren locked the bathroom door, yanked the shower curtain aside, turned the shower on, and stepped under the warm jet. It soaked her clothes through but the blood on her hands still wouldnâ€™t go away. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, burying her face in them as she sobbed, weak and tired. The water bounced off her back and trickled over her scalp. It dripped from the ends of her near-shoulder length red hair and masked her tears as she rocked back and forth.

Was it real or was she going insane?

Why was the swordsman so familiar and why did she want him to come to her, need him close by?

Her eyes widened and she stared at the water running down the plughole.

She had a horrible feeling that he was right.

The monsters were after her.

And only he could protect her.

ebook price: $4.99
paperback price: $12.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance book
length: 157000 words

paperback purchase links:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Immortal-Felicity-Heaton/dp/1456487884/

Happy reading!

Posted in 2011 releases, Love Immortal, new release, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampire romance, vampires | Comments Off

Love Immortal – now available on Amazon Kindle!

Posted on 6th January 2011 by Felicity Heaton

Because it takes so long sometimes for Amazon to approve the book and get it onto the Kindle store, Love Immortal is up there nice and early. That means all the lucky Kindle owners or ap users out there can buy it and read it now! I’d be excited to see what you all thought of it, so if you have the time and enjoy the story, please leave a review for the book.

Love Immortal

Felicity Heaton

Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she’s ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she’s the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.

Can she crack the armour around Julian’s heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he’s been through?
Price: $3.99
Length: 157,000 words
Genre: Paranormal vampire romance book

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Immortal-ebook/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Immortal/dp/B004HYHHME/

Happy reading everyone and happy new year!

Posted in 2011 releases, Amazon Kindle, Love Immortal, new release, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampire romance, vampires | Comments Off

Posted on 20th November 2010 by Felicity Heaton

Exciting day today as it’s the release of Her Warrior Angel, the third instalment in my paranormal angel romance book series, Her Angel. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the others yet. They all stand alone so you can dive in wherever you like!

Here’s the official excerpt for the story.

Her Warrior Angel
Felicity Heaton
Einar is one of Heavenâ€™s best hunters and heâ€™s on a mission to uncover why an angel was working with demons. When he finds the first demon fighting a beautiful woman named Taylor, he intervenes and saves her life. Taylor has spent her whole life protecting London from the lowest demons and sheâ€™s not about to let an angel waltz into her city and take over her job, and sheâ€™s certainly not about to fall in love with him, even if he is gorgeous. The reason why she canâ€™t is simpleâ€”sheâ€™s half demon.

There is no love in this world more forbidden than that between an angel and a demon.

Sense tells Taylor to get out before she gets her heart broken, but she winds up convincing Einar to partner with her instead. Einar is certain that working with Taylor is a bad idea, and not only because he canâ€™t focus when heâ€™s around her, but he canâ€™t let her go. The mission leads them deep into the cityâ€™s underworld, where old flames burn Taylor while new flames of passion and fear of the consequences consume them, and the threat of Einarâ€™s demons hangs over them both.

Can a love so forbidden ever have a happy ending or are they destined to break each otherâ€™s hearts?

ALL OF THE STORIES IN THE HER ANGEL SERIES STAND ALONE, JOINED BY CHARACTER AND WORLD ONLY, AND DO NOT NEED TO BE READ IN ORDER.

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal angel romance
length: 36000 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2010
Book 3 in the Her Angel series

purchase links:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Warrior%20Angel
Alinar Publishing: http://www.alinarpublishing.com/books.php?title=Her%20Warrior%20Angel
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Warrior-Angel-Romance-ebook/dp/B004CFAS06/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Warrior-Angel-Romance/dp/B004CFAS06/

Excerpt
She was heading for trouble.

Einar watched the raven-haired woman walking straight towards a male coming the opposite way through the quiet moonlit park. He beat his wings, keeping his position high above them in the cool air.

The woman appeared and disappeared as she passed under the intermittent streetlamps that lined the paths through the park. The lights werenâ€™t strong enough to cut through the darkness, leaving the area as a black hole in a sea of glittering golden and white pinpricks. London stretched out as far as he could see in all directions. The yellow halo over the city drowned out the stars and made the shadowy shapes of the buildings visible to him.

Einar swooped lower in the night, wanting to get a closer look at the two people and needing to be near in case he was right and the man wasnâ€™t a man at all. If the demon showed any sign of attacking the woman, he would intervene. Until that happened, he would watch. It wasnâ€™t his place to interfere in things. He was here to hunt, not protect.

The steady rush of wind over him chilled his skin. Summer was on its way out and autumn was encroaching as surely as the night. The days were growing short and he still hadnâ€™t found his demons. Heavenâ€™s Court were becoming restless with the desire to know why a commander of theirs called Amaer had sided with three demons, assisting them in the disposal of over one hundred human bodies, and had incriminated a fellow angel, setting him up to take the fall.

The angel, an intervention specialist and mediator called Lukas, had fought back though and had proven his innocence. Amaer was dead. Now Einarâ€™s only lead were the demons.

The woman neared the man. Einarâ€™s hand went to the hilt of the blade hanging from his waist. The vambrace protecting his forearm was cold against the strip of stomach exposed between his rich brown and gold breastplate and his dark loincloth. He would soon have to resort to wearing winter armour.

A noise from below caught his attention. The woman was under attack. Einar dived towards her and then halted in mid-air barely a few metres above them when the woman drew a short silver blade from beneath the back of her black jacket and started to fight.

She was breathtaking.

Einar could only stare at her as she fought the male demon, still in his human skin. Her movements were fluid, made only more graceful by her tall slender form and the tight clothes she wore. She swung her leg around, kicking the man in the head. The moment her foot touched the floor, she brought it back again, catching the man unawares and unguarded.

She attacked then, putting the demon on the back foot and keeping him off balance with lunges and swipes of the short blade. It gleamed brightly under the moonlight, flashes of white and silver lines marking its deadly path.

Einar beat his wings to keep steady, mesmerised by the woman and her ability to fight. He had never thought a female could have such skill. He had only ever met females that needed tending to and protecting. This one was different. She could handle a weapon with ease, and with skill almost matching his own, and she radiated confidence and strength. She could take care of herself and he couldnâ€™t bring himself to intervene in her fight, even when his instincts were screaming at him to go down and assist her.

The male demon snarled and shifted his shoulders. Black ragged scaly wings erupted from his back, tearing through his dark shirt, and his hands became talons. Einarâ€™s eyes narrowed.

The history recorded in the pool in Hell had revealed the type of demon that had committed the sin of killing the innocent humans.

This man was one of their breed.

Einarâ€™s dark gaze flickered to the woman. She didnâ€™t even hesitate at the sight of the manâ€™s wings and claws. She continued her attack. If anything, she was putting more effort into it now that the demon had revealed himself.

She wasnâ€™t a stranger to this sort of creature.

The demon screamed and launched himself at the woman, still half in his human guise. The woman blocked each swipe of his talons with her short sword but the demon was forcing her backwards, putting her off balance this time. She rallied, kicking the demon in the shin and then going for the chest. The demon caught her ankle and turned, hurling her along the pavement. She tumbled, losing her weapon, and stopped a few metres away from the demon. Her long dark hair covered her face as she struggled to get to her feet.

Cold fury curled through Einarâ€™s veins, tightening his muscles. He flexed his fingers around the hilt of his sword and gripped it tightly.

He had seen enough.

The demon ran at the woman.

Einar swept down, drew his sword, and blocked the demonâ€™s attack. The man snarled and hissed, and leapt backwards, placing some distance between them. With a deep breath, Einar readied himself, standing tall and stretching his wings out to shield the woman behind him. He used his senses to check on her. She wasnâ€™t badly injured. The rich smell of her blood filled the air and she was muttering dark things under her breath. Other than that, she seemed fine. He would tend to her once he had dealt with the demon.

â€œGet out of my damn way, you big oaf,â€ the woman said just as the demon charged them.

Einar turned, confused about whether she was speaking to him. She crouched, tugged the right leg of her dark jeans up, revealing her black leather boot, and the next thing Einar knew, she had a knife in her hand and was running past him. Resilient, resourceful, but foolish.

Unless she wanted to get herself killed.

The demon lashed out, slamming the back of his right hand into the side of her head and sending her skidding across the dewy grass. She landed in a heap and didnâ€™t move.

Grasping his sword, Einar beat his tawny wings and shot towards the demon. He didnâ€™t have time to react. Einarâ€™s sword was through his gut before he could even turn towards him, and Einar twisted it, his eyes locked with the demonâ€™s ones.

â€œTell me where the others are hiding,â€ Einar said and the flicker of fear in the demonâ€™s eyes told him everything he needed to know. He was right. This demon was one of them. â€œTell me, and you will live. Do not tell me, and I will banish you to Hell to face your master instead.â€

The manâ€™s eyes widened and he shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak and there was a strange rush of cold from below Einarâ€™s feet. A column of darkness swept up and around them, engulfing both him and the demon. Intense heat and a vivid golden glow lit the ground beneath them. The column expanded rapidly and flung Einar backwards. He tumbled head over heels in the air and then stretched his wings out and flapped, righting himself and stopping his descent. He swept back down towards the demon but he was too late. There was a flash and the demon was gone, leaving nothing but a charred circle on the floor and the sickening stench of brimstone hanging in the cool night air.

A dark curse rolled off Einarâ€™s tongue. He landed gently, sheathed his sword, and walked to the burnt patch of path. Crouching, he touched the warm ashes and then sighed. Had someone done this to stop him from talking? It wasnâ€™t the Devil. He took no interest in such affairs and Einarâ€™s threat had been just thatâ€”a threat. The Devil wouldnâ€™t do anything if Einar banished a demon to Hell to face the consequences. If anything, he would probably congratulate the demon for doing something to annoy Heaven and the angels.

A groan from the darkness snapped Einar out of his thoughts.

The woman.

She was trying to push herself up off the grass but was having difficulty. Her long dark hair hung in messy strands, obscuring her face. She mumbled black things to herself. The smell of blood was stronger now. The woman touched her arm, flinched, and then collapsed. Einar rushed over to her and knelt at her side. He swept the lengths of hair from her face. She was pale, the moonlight turning her skin milky. Dark patches of blood marred it near her jaw and across her chest above the low line of her black top. There were three long gashes in the right arm of her leather biker jacket. The demon. He must have caught her with his claws.

Einar slid his arm under her back and carefully lifted it off the wet grass, supporting her. She moaned and writhed against him, and then stilled. He stared down at her pale beauty, captivated by it as much as he had been by her fighting. Perhaps he had been mistaken.

Perhaps he was the one heading for trouble.

He touched the blood on her cheek and frowned.

What was troubleâ€™s name?

Was it as beautiful as her looks and the way she fought?

She moaned and then lurched towards him and tackled him to the ground, pinning his wings awkwardly beneath him. He grimaced and tried to get her off him but she pressed her full bodyweight down onto his stomach, groin and chest.

â€œWho the hell are you?â€ Her dark eyes were wild, watching him without fear but with anger. She wet her luscious full lips and frowned. Her left hand slid off his damp breastplate and he instinctively caught her to stop her from falling. She shoved his hand away and fixed him with a deadly glare. â€œGet off me. Bloody angels. Always interfering.â€

She wavered a moment later and clenched her jaw.

Her eyes slipped shut and then shot open again.

â€œIt is the toxin,â€ Einar said in a quiet voice, not wanting to enrage her. He rested his hands beside his head on the damp grass, trying to show her that he didnâ€™t intend to hurt her, and smiled. â€œI can fix that for you.â€

She glanced down at her right shoulder and then pressed a knife against his throat. It trembled, touching his Adamâ€™s apple, and she blinked several times, as though trying to clear her head. How long did she have? Demon toxins worked fast.

â€œI donâ€™t need your help.â€ She pushed off him and stumbled across the grass in the empty moonlit park, muttering to herself about her sword.

Einar stood, stretched his wings and flapped them to get his feathers back into place. She was no stranger to angels either judging by the way that she was speaking. He frowned down at his wet backside and legs, and then cocked his head to one side and watched her. Regardless of what she said, she did need his help. The most virulent demon toxin only took a few minutes to work its way into blood and only another hour on top of that to spread through the body and kill the host. It was difficult to get rid of and he was certain she knew that. What did she plan to do? Human drugs had little effect on such poison. It would take another demon to remove it. Was she in league with them? He hadnâ€™t wanted to believe such a thing when he had first seen her, but he couldnâ€™t deny that it was a possibility.

She stooped to pick up her sword and collapsed into a heap.

Einar was beside her in an instant. He collected her blade, jamming it into his sword belt, and then lifted her into his arms. He didnâ€™t care what she had done before tonight, he wasnâ€™t going to let her go and seek the aid of demons now that he was here.

He froze.

Was he protecting her?

Why?

His gaze traversed her delicate face.

He was definitely heading for trouble.

It was forbidden for him to have any sort of feeling for her.

He stared at her a moment longer, torn between leaving her to find her own way of clearing the poison from her blood and taking her with him to his place and removing it for her. The hunter in him said to leave her. She wasnâ€™t worth anything and would only cause him trouble.

The man in him said to save her.

Einar closed his eyes, cradled her to his chest, and took flight.

He couldnâ€™t leave her to fend for herself. It didnâ€™t matter that Heaven forbid him to intervene in such matters or to feel anything for her. His heart whispered to help her and he would do just that. He would rid her body of the poison and restore her strength. If anyone asked him why he had done such a thing, he would lie and say that he had done it for information.

Not because he was drawn to her.

She woke during the flight to his hotel. He kept his gaze on the rooftops of London, charting his course and checking it for any sign of trouble. The sky was his tonight, shared only with the constant circling planes above him as they waited to land at one of the busy airports. They were too high to bother to him. He couldnâ€™t fly at that altitude when carrying mortal cargo. The air was too cold and too thin for such a fragile creature.

He glanced down at her, meeting her dark eyes. They shone with something between confusion and anger.

â€œHow are you feeling?â€ Einar fixed his gaze ahead again, sensing that if he continued to stare at her, she was likely to start fighting him.

â€œIâ€™d feel a lot better if you put me down.â€ She pushed his chest so quickly that he almost lost his grip on her. A moment later, she was clutching the edges of his deep brown breastplate and curled up against him, fear pounding in her veins so strongly that he could sense it as though it was his own. â€œChrist Almighty, weâ€™re flying.â€

He smiled.

It touched his lips before he could even think to contain it.

She had made him smile.

Not a forced one as he generally managed, but a real smile.

He tightened his grip on her knees and her ribs, and swooped lower with her, so she wouldnâ€™t be afraid. He levelled off just above the rooftops and narrowed his eyes on the spot in the distance where the hotel was located.

â€œKeep going, Romeo, all the way down.â€ She tugged at his breastplate, as though she could control his descent by doing such a thing and force him to land.

â€œI do not think so.â€ Einar glanced at her again. â€œYou are particularly resilient to demon toxin but you are in no fit state to be left alone. I will tend to you once we are somewhere safe.â€

â€œThereâ€™s nowhere safe in this city,â€ she mumbled and then, as they flew over a higher building, she twisted out of his arms.

Einar went after her. She turned and twirled in the air like a cat finding its footing during a fall, and landed soundly on her feet on the roof of the building. Stupid woman. She made it ten steps before collapsing.

â€œShit.â€ She got to her feet and tried to run again, this time reaching the edge of the roof and balancing there, staring down into the street below.

â€œWhere do you intend to run to?â€ He landed behind her and caught her arm, afraid that she would fall. She turned to look at him with wide eyes that spoke of fear, her lips parted and teasing him with temptation. Desire tugged at his gut. He pulled her back into his arms, lifted her again and cradled her close to his chest. He stared at her mouth, almost willing to give in, and then forced his gaze up to meet hers. â€œYou are in no fit state to run.â€

â€œI felt better.â€ She frowned, looked herself over, and then met his eyes again. â€œAnd then I felt terrible.â€

He smiled for a second time. â€œIt is my presence that staves off the toxin. The moment you were away from my touch, the infection returned. I do not intend to harm you… whoever you are.â€

She swallowed, blinked, and then looped her arms around his neck and smiled saucily. â€œYou donâ€™t get my name that easily, Romeo.â€

Einar looked down at her arms and shivered when she tangled her fingers in the short threads of his ponytail. Her fingertips grazed his neck, sending another wave of tingles trickling down his spine. Her breath washed his face as she leaned in close, pulling herself up and pressing her cheek to his. Her lips grazed his ear and he was lost, empty inside, unable to focus on anything but the feel of her against him and the anticipation of hearing her speak.

â€œYouâ€™ve got to tell a girl your name first,â€ she whispered into his ear. Was it the toxin making her act so strangely, or was she always like this with men, so forward and teasing? â€œItâ€™s considered polite.â€

He closed his eyes, swallowed to ease his dry throat, and resisted his desire to clutch her to him, to hold her where she was so he could feel her body against his a moment longer.

â€œEinar.â€ He breathed his name on a sigh, unable to find his voice for some reason. What was she doing to him? Was she temptation sent by the Devil to test him?

â€œMmm, thatâ€™s a strong name for a strong boy.â€ She ran her hands down his biceps and they trembled under her soft touch. He shook when she cupped his cheeks, sending warmth racing through every inch of him, and drew back to look into his eyes. She smiled. â€œNow… put me the hell down!â€

She head-butted him and he stumbled backwards, losing his grip on her. Before he could grab her, she had leapt to the next building and was running again. Einar touched his forehead and frowned. Why was she running from him? Was she afraid that he was going to harm her? He had no intention of hurting her. He only wanted to help.

He stretched his wings and flew after her, keeping his distance this time. She would falter soon enough. He hadnâ€™t lied to her. It was only his touch and presence that slowed the effects of the poison on her body. He gave her a minute before she collapsed again and became compliant once more.

She didnâ€™t even last that long. Before she was halfway across the rooftop, she tripped and fell flat on her face. She didnâ€™t get back up. She lay there on the damp black tar roof, breathing hard.

Einar landed close beside her and she grabbed his ankle and looked up at him out of the corner of her eye, threads of her long hair cutting across her cheek.

She said something he couldnâ€™t make out. He crouched close to her and her hand touched his bare knee.

â€œMaybe Iâ€™ll take you up on that offer.â€ Her words were so quiet that he barely heard her. She closed her eyes and sighed. â€œNot feeling myself today.â€

Einar carefully lifted her back into his arms. She lay there, lax against him, breathing softly and slowly. He could feel her fatigue. She had only made things worse by trying to escape. Exerting herself had quickened the process of spreading the poison through her body. She shivered and moaned.

â€œTaylor.â€

He frowned.

Her eyes fluttered open, their dark depths capturing his attention and holding it. She almost smiled.

â€œMy name… itâ€™s Taylor.â€ She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against his shoulder and bicep.

Einar held her close to him and looked at her. Taylor.

A strong but beautiful name for a strong beautiful woman.

He took flight with her again, heading for the hotel and pondering this strange twist of fate that had brought her into his life. She was turning his world, distorting its axis, and he was sure of only one thing.

He was heading for trouble.

Posted in 2010 releases, Her Warrior Angel, new release, paranormal romance, urban fantasy | Comments Off

Her Warrior Angel – Amazon Kindle E-book out now!

Posted on 18th November 2010 by Felicity Heaton

Exciting news! Her Warrior Angel is available now at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk as a Kindle E-book. If you’re a Kindle owner or Kindle PC user, you get to read the book before everyone else! Here’s the blurb and links to entice you into reading this third installment in my paranormal angel romance book series.

There is no love in this world more forbidden than that between an angel and a demon.

Can a love so forbidden ever have a happy ending or are they destined to break each otherâ€™s hearts?

ALL OF THE STORIES IN THE HER ANGEL SERIES STAND ALONE, JOINED BY CHARACTER AND WORLD ONLY, AND DO NOT NEED TO BE READ IN ORDER.

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal angel romance
length: 36000 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2010
Book 3 in the Her Angel series

download a sample or buy now:
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Warrior-Angel-Romance-ebook/dp/B004CFAS06/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Warrior-Angel-Romance/dp/B004CFAS06/
Â

Posted in 2010 releases, Amazon Kindle, Her Warrior Angel, new release, paranormal romance, urban fantasy | Comments Off

Paranormal Romance E-book out now – Vampire for Christmas

Posted on 13th November 2010 by Felicity Heaton

I forgot to post that Vampire for Christmas is out now everywhere! My new paranormal romance e-book is perfect for warming up and chasing away the winter chill… Rafe will have you hot and flustered by the end of the book!

Vampire for Christmas
Felicity Heaton
It was one last mission. Shannon, a demon hunter with the agency, is looking forward to leaving behind the small town and the vampire sheâ€™s been stuck with for the past two years. Things are getting complicated fast and she wants out. A fresh start, free of her vampire partner, awaits her if she can survive their final mission and the lonely Christmas holidays.

It was one last mission. Rafe, a vampire doing time with the agency, watches it approach with dread weighing heavily in his stomach. Two years of working with Shannon has been difficult, especially since he started falling for her, but he doesnâ€™t want their partnership to end. He has barely a few days to make her face her feelings and stop her from leaving, and he intends to do just that.

When a slimy demon threatens the season of peace and goodwill, itâ€™s the chance Rafe has been waiting for and the moment Shannon secretly fears. Rafeâ€™s determination to prise open her heart and her own resolve to keep it closed clash as violently as they do with the demon, and threatens to end as messily.

Can Rafe make Shannon see that his love for her is real and that she feels something for him too? Can Shannon face her fears and her past, and stop herself from running away from both? Will a wish on a star bring her what her heart truly desiresâ€”a vampire for Christmas?

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 30000 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2010

purchase links:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Vampire%20for%20Christmas
Alinar Publishing: http://www.alinarpublishing.com/books.php?title=Vampire%20for%20Christmas
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-for-Christmas-ebook/dp/B004AM59T6/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vampire-for-Christmas/dp/B004AM59T6/
Fictionwise.com: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b115596/Vampire-for-Christmas/Felicity-Heaton/?si=0

Don’t forget that you can save 15% at Fictionwise until Monday!

Excerpt
His favourite prey.

Rafe stood on the lawn, his dark eyes following her from room to room in her large house. Shannon disappeared from view on the top floor only to reappear in the living room. He couldnâ€™t see much through the open curtains but his senses made up for what he lacked in vision. He tracked her with them, focusing until the dark world around him drifted into the distance and there was only her.

She was muttering.

A smile tugged at his lips.

How many times had he told her not to mutter?

She reappeared and stood in the middle of the living room, tying her long fair hair up into a ponytail, her gaze on the television. The twinkling lights hanging around the room cast a myriad of colours, turning the scene from warm to cold and back again. She looked pale tonight. Had she been getting enough sleep? They had last worked together two weeks ago and she hadnâ€™t seemed herself. He had tried to ask her what was wrong, but had failed to find his voice, instead leaving her to mull over whatever was bothering her in silence.

Rafe had killed the vampire that night. She hadnâ€™t even noticed it. Heâ€™d had to report it to the agency. In a toss up between her being angry with him for telling her superiors about her dangerous lack of concentration and her being safe, the latter would always win with him.

She smiled.

His chest ached.

He hadnâ€™t seen her smile in a long time. He stood in silence, unmoving, absorbing this rare beauty before him. She was a goddess when she smiled, and it always tugged at his insides, luring him to her. She turned towards the window and her smile slowly faded, her expression turning distant.

What was she thinking in there?

She couldnâ€™t see him. Human eyes werenâ€™t sharp enough to pick him out in the shadows of the tall trees on her lawn. The lights in the room would steal what little night-vision she had. He could observe her from the darkness without fear, could watch her and think over the things that plagued him every night.

The feelings.

During the day, Rafe could almost pretend they didnâ€™t exist. The sun stole the world from him and his emotions with it, leaving him in a deathly slumber. At night, when he came to her, when he saw her again, everything returned, and each time it came back stronger.

He knew that Shannon didnâ€™t like working with him, and the past two years had been difficult for them both at times, especially at the start, but it didnâ€™t stop him from feeling something for her. They had been through so much together, so many fights for their lives, so many long nights passed in quiet company when no demons showed up, and so many long conversations when her guard slipped. When they had first been assigned to each other, he had wanted out of the deal straight away, but now he almost looked forward to the times they were required to work together.

His dead heart called him a liar.

He didnâ€™t almost look forward to it at all. He waited for it. Yearned, in fact.

Rafe sighed and leaned back against the broad rough trunk of the pine tree.

It was no use anyway.

Come the New Year, the agency would separate them and relocate them at opposite ends of the country.

He stared at her. She swept a few rogue strands of golden hair back, tucking them into her messy ponytail, and laughed at something. The light from the television flickered across her face. Rafe smiled at the same time as she did. The sight of her chased the winter chill from his body.

He was going to miss her.

His little vampire hunter.

He had never wanted a partner, but she had changed that. Now, he didnâ€™t want any partner except her.

Shannon smiled again and zipped up her red jumper, until the tall collar of it covered her neck. She pushed shorter lengths of her hair behind her ears and then looked out of the window again, and he felt as though she was looking right at him. She was so beautiful when she was unaware of him. Naturally so too. No trace of make-up touched her oval face. No kohl to highlight the depths of her green eyes, or lipstick to enhance the sensual swell of her coral lips. Everything about her was natural, right down to her curvy shape. He had tended to her wounds a few times before, each time battling his desire as he swept his fingers over her soft skin and laid eyes on the toned body she hid beneath her clothes. She trembled for him sometimes and refused to look at him whenever she did, and he was convinced that her shivers werenâ€™t born of fear. He was convinced that part of her was attracted to him too. Her gaze shifted and settled on something partially obscured by the pale curtains.

He frowned and tried to make out what it was.

Ragged dark shape that tapered upwards. Shiny coloured lights. Glittering orbs. Tufted strings of foil.

A Christmas tree.

It surprised him that she celebrated the occasion. He had thought she would be indifferent to such human things since she was a demon hunter, but there she was, standing in a room bathed in twinkling lights, tinsel and festive trimmings. The entire street was alive with flashing reindeers, singing Santas, and fake snow on roofs. No decoration touched the outside of her two storey home, but it was different on the inside.

Rafe studied her as she adjusted a bauble on the tree. He might have been talking about her. The exterior she showed to him and others was different to how she was on the inside. He knew that best at times like these when he was watching her from the shadows. This was the real her, the one she hid beneath her armour and would never let him see. This was his only way of seeing the side of her that he wished she would show to him, and he couldnâ€™t help himself.

He told himself that it wasnâ€™t stalking. It was observing. It was hunting. It was having the chance to see the woman he wanted her to be around him and taking it.

Shannon moved away from the tree, towards the back of the house, her hips swaying in her snug blue jeans. His gaze slipped to her backside and he growled, desire spearing him in the gut. He loved the way she walked even when she thought no one was watching. There was something sexy about it, alluring. He cocked his head to one side and fought the urge that rose inside him.

It was useless.

She would never be his.

She had looked at him differently sometimes, almost as if he was human, but those moments rarely lasted. The barriers were swift to come back up, protecting her heart before he could reach out and capture it. During their past few hunts, he had struggled with the right words, trying to form them into a semblance of order and put his feelings in a way that she wouldnâ€™t reject outright, in a way that would make her see that his emotions were real and that he would never harm her. He had never found the perfect moment though, or the perfect words.

And time was running out.

The ticking clock made him reckless. It didnâ€™t matter anymore if she rejected him. He couldnâ€™t let the chance slip through his fingers again. It was now or never.

This was their last mission together.

He wouldnâ€™t leave without trying to make her see what he felt for her.

Shannon came out of the back room, her jacket in her left hand, and stopped in front of the Christmas tree again. She touched the same bauble she had before but this time her expression changed, turning troubled and distant. What was on her mind? Rafe had seen that look before, normally when she was lost in her thoughts, like the time he had reported to her superiors. They had told him not to worry about it and that they would speak with her. He wanted to be the one to speak to her about it. He wanted to know why she had joined the agency. She was young, barely over thirty, and she had never mentioned her family. Did her reason for hunting demons have something to do with them? Did it have anything to do with vampires?

He only hunted his own kind because the agency had him by the balls on several murder cases. He was a vampire. All of his species were susceptible to temptation and he was far from saintly. He had fought his addiction though and had come out the other side a better vampire for it. A stronger vampire because of it. He didnâ€™t kill anymore. He could control that side of him now, and maybe it was time he made the agency realise that and made them let him go.

Rafe shook his head at the way he sounded. Childish. Petulant. Everything that a vampire his age shouldnâ€™t be. And why? Because he didnâ€™t want to leave her. He didnâ€™t want to be reassigned to someone else, or sent off to work alone. He wanted to stay here, with Shannon, where he belonged.

She tugged her short black wool jacket on and Rafe knew it was time to make a move. She was expecting him and he had never been late before.

He moved further back into the shadows on her front garden when she approached the window. She didnâ€™t see him. She closed the curtains, hiding her from view, and he resorted to tracking her with his senses again.

A car passed along the street behind him. The sound of carol singers drifted on the chill breeze. Rafe looked up at the crisp night sky and the twinkling stars. Christmas. He couldnâ€™t remember if he had ever celebrated it.

He had forgotten so much about his former life on becoming a vampire.

His gaze dropped and stuck on something on her porch.

Mistletoe.

Rafe raised an eyebrow and then smiled as he left his hiding place and walked towards the front door.

Some traditions he definitely remembered from his life as a human.

* * * *

There was a knock at the door. Shannon knew from the impatient clip it had who would be waiting on the porch, and she took her time because of it. It wouldnâ€™t look good if she rushed to answer it. The last time she had opened the door within a minute, because she had been passing it at the time, Rafe had teased her the whole night about how she had been waiting for him on the other side, desperate to go out with him again, and how attracted to him she was.

Total crap of course.

She wouldnâ€™t be attracted to him if he was the last man on Earth. Shannon smiled to herself. He wasnâ€™t even a man. She would have to be down to the last vampire too before she would ever consider him in that way.

Shannon slipped a stake into the inside pocket of her thick black wool jacket and another into the back pocket of her dark jeans. It was always a good idea to be well armed when out on a hunt. She wasnâ€™t about to let the holiday season lure her into a false sense of security. Wretched demonkind didnâ€™t celebrate the occasion, and some of her busiest times had been over the Christmas period. Besides, the stakes werenâ€™t just for use on the bad vampires. Sometimes she considered using them on the apparently good vampires too.

Shannon opened the door.

Rafe stood on the other side, six feet plus of dark handsome devil perfectly capable of pushing every right button in a woman.

At least, every woman except her.

The left side of his sensual mouth tugged into a half smile that revealed the tip of a canine and his deep brown eyes slid up towards the porch ceiling. Her eyes followed out of curiosity.

Mistletoe.

Her gaze snapped back to him. He had to be kidding. He stared at her, dark eyes locked on hers in a silent challenge, and rocked expectantly on his heels. He clasped his hands behind his bottom, the action dragging his long black coat back too, revealing the athletic physique that his dark shirt failed to hide.

Shannon stepped backwards into the safety of her house.

Rafe frowned.

She could almost hear what he was thinking, could read it in his eyes. She didnâ€™t care if he thought she was rude because she had never invited him into her home. She had neglected to do so for good reason. It was handy at times like these when he was making her heart jitter and pulse race.

She was not going to kiss him.

There were a million reasons why, but she settled on the safety aspect because her heart couldnâ€™t overrule that one.

If she abided by tradition and kissed him, she would be placing herself firmly within his grasp, and that was a place she didnâ€™t want to be. What would start as a harmless festive kiss would end as a bloodbath with his fangs in her throat. Just the thought of it happening shook her deep inside, dredging up memories best left forgotten and pain she had fought to erase. She would never let anything like that happen again.

Never.

Rafe continued to stare, his dark gaze cool but demanding.

Sometimes, Shannon wished the agency hadnâ€™t paired them together. She had never wanted to work with one of natureâ€™s freaks. She just wanted to kill them and get revenge for what they had done to her and her family.

â€œNever going to happen.â€ Shannon pushed past him, slammed the door behind her, and locked it. She didnâ€™t break her stride. Before he could respond, she was at the end of her garden path and walking towards the centre of town.

She didnâ€™t hear him move. One moment he wasnâ€™t there, and the next he was keeping pace beside her.Â Her heart leapt at his sudden appearance.

â€œI told you not to do that.â€ She drew her hand away from her back pocket. It had jumped to the stake on instinct. One of these days, he was going to surprise her and she was going to give him a nasty surprise of her own.

â€œNo need for that.â€ He appeared on the other side of her, his hand slipping over hers and easing it away from the stake. He smiled at her, his cool fingers lingering against hers. â€œThere is a no staking your partner policy at the agency, remember?â€

Shannon snatched her hand back and wished she didnâ€™t remember. It was the only thing stopping her from killing him. A quiet voice at the back of her mind whispered that it wasnâ€™t the only reason she couldnâ€™t bring herself to stake him. She shooed it away.

â€œSo, where are we heading?â€ Rafeâ€™s deep voice swept around her, bathing her in warmth she tried to deny, and she kept her gaze fixed ahead. If she pretended he wasnâ€™t there, she might just make it through the next few hours, and then she was home free. It was one last mission.

For some reason, that caused a dull ache to settle inside her.

She had thought she would be happy. She should be happy. No more working with the enemy. They were reassigning her to warmer climes and a partner-free role. She had proven herself worthy of working alone, just as she had wanted from the start of her career with the agency, and she was finally getting that wish.

So why wasnâ€™t she happy?

â€œTown,â€ Shannon said distractedly, frowning at the pavement and trying to piece together an answer to her own question. There had to be a reason and it couldnâ€™t be the vampire walking beside her. She had grown used to him. Thatâ€™s all it was. He had become a sort of friend. The only person she actually spoke to apart from her handler and a few people at the agency, and she had never told them a thing about herself. She had never talked them, not as she had to Rafe. Shannon cursed herself. She should have kept her distance and not gotten involved, just as she had planned, but two years was too long to work with someone without saying anything to them.

Rafe had slipped in unnoticed, had passed the first of her defences and somehow got her talking one night, and since then, she couldnâ€™t stop her mouth sometimes. Sometimes it all became too much and she had to speak to someone, and he was always there, willing to listen to her silly troubles and doubts about her ability to hunt, her skill, and her future with the agency.

And he always reassured her, and made her feel better.

â€œAnywhere particular in town?â€ Rafe said and her attention snapped back to him. She stared up at him, still half lost in her thoughts, and found herself looking straight into his eyes. Windows to the soul. Rafeâ€™s hid nothing from her. They betrayed everything that he was feeling, and sometimes it frightened her.

Not when he was showing his vampire side. His pale eyes didnâ€™t scare her or the malice that she saw in them, the hunger for violence and bloodshed. It was this side of him that scared her. The gentle side. The one who looked at her with warmth and undeniable affection.

â€œAre you feeling alright?â€ He cocked his head to one side, his gaze holding hers, sparkling with tender concern.

Shannon forced her eyes down to the pavement and studied the cracks as she walked, unable to bring her voice above a whisper.

â€œIâ€™m fine.â€

There was a long pause, full of expectation and unspoken things.

Sometimes, when this feeling washed over her, she had a sense that he wanted to say something to her. He never had though, and she often found herself wondering what it was he couldnâ€™t put a voice to.

â€œSo, where are we going? Into town, or beyond town… perhaps you called me all the way out here on a freezing cold night just to make me go gift shopping with you. If that is the case, I have to say it is in poor taste, as I am a vampire… I do not celebrate Christmas as you do.â€

â€œI donâ€™t.â€ Shannon wished she could take those two words back. They were going to cause questions that she didnâ€™t want to answer. She glanced at Rafe, briefly making eye contact, and then looked away to her right, her gaze eating the streetlamp lit grass and shrubs that she walked past. He sighed but said nothing. She waited a moment longer, afraid that he might just be building up to it, and then released the breath she had been holding. â€œThe report states that there was a demon sighting in the local cemetery just outside the town centre.â€

â€œCemetery?â€ Rafe sounded positively disgusted.

She glanced at him again. He looked it too. He seemed to take it as a personal affront whenever they had to hunt demons in places like old churches, cemeteries and disused factories.

â€œSome demons have no taste.â€

Shannon smiled. â€œSpeak for yourself.â€

He frowned at her but it didnâ€™t stick. It melted into a smile that threatened to steal her breath and she averted her gaze again. What was she doing? Her heart skittered about in her throat and she knew he would be listening to it, and he would know that he was affecting her. She could do this.

It was just one more mission.

And then she would be able to escape these feelings.

She was not going to fall for him.

He was a vampire. She was a hunter.

Her gaze snuck back to him, studying his noble profile, and her heart thudded hard against her chest.

There was no love more forbidden than this.

Posted in 2010 releases, new release, paranormal romance, Vampire for Christmas, vampire romance, vampires | Comments Off

Vampire for Christmas – paranormal romance e-books out now

Posted on 5th November 2010 by Felicity Heaton

Vampire for Christmas, the latest of my paranormal romance e-books, is due for release tomorrow. It’s available now at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for the lucky readers who have Kindles or use Kindle PC (like I do). Here’s the blurb for this vampire romance e-book… I’ll post an excerpt this weekend!

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance e-books
length: 30000 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2010

purchase links:
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-for-Christmas-ebook/dp/B004AM59T6/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vampire-for-Christmas/dp/B004AM59T6/

Happy Reading Everyone!

Posted in 2010 releases, Amazon Kindle, new release, paranormal romance, Vampire for Christmas, vampire romance, vampires | Comments Off

Her Fallen Angel – paranormal angel romance e-book out now!

Posted on 16th October 2010 by Felicity Heaton

Her Fallen Angel is out now at my website, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Alinar Publishing and Fictionwise (where you can save 15% off the cover price until monday)

Her Fallen Angel
Annelie fell for Lukas the moment he walked into her pub three years ago. Heâ€™s stunning, his vivid green eyes lending to his otherworldly beauty, but heâ€™s seriously out of her league. When he tells her that sheâ€™s beautiful and confesses that he wants her, she canâ€™t resist him and his passionate kiss. She unleashes her desire and seizes the moment and Lukas with both hands. But Lukas has a secret, one that will test Annelieâ€™s love for him and threaten to tear them apart.

Heâ€™s an angel.

Annelie canâ€™t believe it when Lukas says that their feelings for each other arenâ€™t a sin, but she can believe his pain when he tells her the reason heâ€™s on Earth. He is fallen, cast out of Heaven as punishment for a crime he didnâ€™t commit. Lukas isnâ€™t about to give up and accept his fate though. Heâ€™s determined to prove both his innocence and his love for Annelie, and to show her that the intense passion they share is real.

When Lukas and Apollyon discover who framed him, will he be able to stop them from going after Serenity and Annelie? Will he be able to protect the woman he loves and fly away with her into their forever after?

ALL OF THE STORIES IN THE HER ANGEL SERIES STAND ALONE, JOINED BY CHARACTER AND WORLD ONLY, AND DO NOT NEED TO BE READ IN ORDER.

ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal angel romance
length: 30000 words
rating: sultry
released: October 2010
Book 2 in the Her Angel series

available now at:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Fallen%20Angel
Alinar Publishing: http://www.alinarpublishing.com/books.php?title=Her%20Fallen%20Angel
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Fallen-Angel-Romance-ebook/dp/B0046ZRNEG/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Fallen-Angel-Romance/dp/B0046ZRNEG/
Fictionwise.com: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b114586/Her-Fallen-Angel-/Felicity-Heaton/?

EXCERPT
Lukas was looking worse for wear.

Annelie had never seen him drink alcohol. She had often wondered why he came to her pub but stuck to soft drinks. Seeing him slowly sliding down towards the bar, his head propped up on his hand and his eyes closed, she was no longer surprised that he lay off the booze. He couldnâ€™t handle it.

His scruffy sandy locks fell forwards when his head slipped from his hand and he jerked up. He rolled his eyes a few times while blinking and then pulled a face as he inspected the damp elbow of his black shirt and the wet bar where he had been leaning. A sigh lifted his shoulders and he stared at the half-full glass of whisky in front of him. Perhaps she should have cut him off after his third, but his charming smile had persuaded her to supply him with a fourth, and a fifth. She regretted it now. At the time, he had looked as though he would be fine. Now, he looked as though he was going to pass out.

Perhaps she shouldnâ€™t have given him the first shot. What if he didnâ€™t drink because he was an alcoholic and she had just ruined his recovery? She could never live with herself if that was the case.

She handed some change to a patron and walked along the length of the dark wooden bar to Lukas, neatening her appearance as she did so. She tugged the hem of her back baby-doll t-shirt down to sit smoothly along the waist of her black jeans, and combed her fingers through her long red hair. She always felt as though she looked like a mess when things got frantic behind the bar, and she wanted to look her best for Lukas.

The pub was quieter now that it was approaching closing time. A few regulars remained along with a group of people she didnâ€™t recognise that sat in the corner near the old bay windows. She could finally speak to Lukas without interruption.

Annelie leaned on the damp bar opposite Lukas and swept his fair hair out of his eyes. He leaned away, almost fell off his stool, and then looked at her. She felt an all too familiar jolt when his green eyes met her brown ones and her heart fluttered in her chest when he smiled lopsidedly.

â€œYou okay?â€ She went to take her hand away but he took hold of it, bringing it down to the bar and toying with her fingers.

His gaze fell there, a look of fascination entering his eyes, and she told herself not to read into it.

So what if this was the first bordering-on-intimate contact theyâ€™d had? So what if he had made her heart stop the moment he had first walked into her pub three years ago and it had stopped every time she had seen him since? It didnâ€™t mean anything.

At least, it didnâ€™t mean anything to him.

Sure, they had talked and whiled away the hours, and Lukas was an amazing listener and always seemed genuinely interested in her problems and helping her solve them, but he had never once shown any interest in her beyond friendship.

She wished that he would.

He was drop dead gorgeous. Six feet plus of masculine beauty. And she wanted to pounce on him whenever he walked through the door.

Which had been almost every other night until recently.

He had gone away for three long weeks without a word, leaving her wondering if something terrible had happened to him. Then the moment he walked back into her life, he hit the drink, hard.

Lukas didnâ€™t answer her. His green gaze remained fixed on her hand and he turned it this way and that, his hands warm and gentle against hers. Her heart whispered that this was interest beyond friendship.

Someone stepped up to the bar at the far end and she waved to Andy to serve him. She couldnâ€™t leave Lukas until she knew what was going on in his head and why he was suddenly drinking, or at least until she was sure he wasnâ€™t about to fall off his stool and hurt himself.

Annelie bent lower so she could see his face. His gaze finally left her hand and met hers again, bright in the lights from the rows of drinks behind her.

â€œI said you okay?â€ She searched his eyes.

His pupils were wide. He raked his gaze down over her chest, fire following in its wake, and then back up to her face. It remained fixed there, as though he was studying her, intense and focused. A blush crept onto her cheeks.

â€œHell of a week.â€ His reply was so quiet that she barely heard him.

â€œYouâ€™ve been gone three.â€

His eyebrows rose. â€œThree?â€

She nodded. He released her hand and ran his over the messy finger-length strands of his hair, preening it back. He brought his hand down, pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed his eyes shut.

â€œHell of a three weeks.â€ Lukas smiled but she saw straight through it.

Something was up. Andy tried to call her over but she waved him away again. Andy had been tending bar long enough to handle problems on his own now. Lukas needed to talk. She had seen it the moment he had sat down tonight, but the pub had been so busy that she hadnâ€™t been able to talk to him other than taking his order. He had never really spoken much about himself and the one time he needed to she hadnâ€™t made time for him. He had always made time to listen to her. What sort of friend was she?

â€œI was wondering where you were.â€ Her tone was jest but her heart meant the words.

Lukas looked at her as though hearing that had made his day and then dropped his gaze to his drink. He ran his finger around the rim of the whisky glass and then sighed.

â€œSorry about that.â€

She never had been able to place his accent. It wasnâ€™t British. She had asked him about it once and he had simply said that he had lived in many places. She had told him her whole life story and he hadnâ€™t even told her where he was from. She was fine with that though. It added a sense of mystery to him that she liked.

He picked up his glass and she took it from him.

â€œI think youâ€™ve had enough of that.â€ She tipped the contents away behind the bar and stashed the glass there. â€œHow are you getting home tonight?â€

He frowned, propped his head up on his palm, and closed his eyes. â€œThe usual way.â€

â€œI canâ€™t let you drive.â€

A smile curved his delicious lips. â€œI donâ€™t drive. I fly.â€

She laughed. â€œWell, I canâ€™t let you drink and fly.â€

He was drunk if he thought he could fly home.

Annelie covered his other hand with hers and he opened his eyes, their green depths meeting hers again. They were sharper now but not enough to satisfy her.

â€œIâ€™ll give you a lift if you wait until weâ€™ve closed.â€ Hopefully he would have sobered up a little by then and could direct her to his place. She had never seen him outside work before.

He stared into her eyes for what felt like hours and then nodded. Annelie took her hand back and smiled, relieved that he would wait for her. She didnâ€™t want him going home alone and perhaps she could talk to him during the drive and find out why he was suddenly drinking.

The bar would close in twenty minutes but it would be at least another hour before she had finished cleaning up. She glanced back at Lukas. He rested his arm on the counter and used it as a pillow, his eyes closing. He hadnâ€™t drunk that much, but it was still best that he slept it off. Andy would go home when the pub closed and she would be quiet while she counted the money and cleaned the place.

Before long, the pub was empty except for her and Lukas. Annelie tied her long red hair back into a ponytail and wiped the bar down, avoiding disturbing Lukas as he slept. She stopped by him and stared at his face. He looked so peaceful and gorgeous when asleep. She hesitated and then, with her heart in her mouth, brushed the tangled strands of his fair hair from his forehead. His lips parted and he murmured something. She smiled and brushed his skin again, lightly so he wouldnâ€™t wake, but enough contact to make her feel a little giddy. When had she fallen for him? It had come on so slowly over the past three years that she hadnâ€™t realised she had those sorts of feelings for Lukas until he had gone away, and then she had been worried that he wasnâ€™t coming back.

But here he was again, at her bar in the same stool he always occupied, and she was happy to see him.

Even if he was asleep.

He stirred and blinked slowly, as though trying to wake himself.

Annelie didnâ€™t take her hand back. She was feeling brave tonight.

â€œHow are you feeling?â€ She combed her fingers through his hair.

Lukas frowned, his green eyes fixed on the distance, and then groaned. She took that as a negative answer.

â€œNo better yet?â€

He nodded, moving her hand with him, and she stroked the curve of his ear. A smile touched his lips and then faded again when he closed his eyes.

â€œIâ€™m almost done. Iâ€™ll have you home soon.â€ She went to walk away but he caught her wrist, sat up, and looked at her with such earnest eyes that her heart beat harder.

â€œI ever tell you that youâ€™re pretty?â€ Those words rocked her to her core. Her pulse raced and her throat turned dry. She shook her head and he reached out with his other hand and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. There was nothing but honesty and warmth in his eyes. They sparkled with it, looking brighter now even though the lights were lower, entrancing her. â€œYour beauty puts angels to shame.â€

Annelie tried to convince herself that it was the drink talking. Tried and failed. She had worked in pubs since she was in her early twenties, almost ten years ago, and had run this one since her parents had retired early. She had enough experience to spot levels of inebriation. Lukasâ€™s eyes were sharper and his words werenâ€™t slurred. He wasnâ€™t drunk anymore. He was definitely still tipsy, but that excuse didnâ€™t hold with her heart. It believed him. He really did think that she was beautiful. She blushed. It burned her cheeks before she could get the better of herself. She worked at a bar. She was used to men telling her that she was beautiful at the end of the night, but the way Lukas said it, the fact that it was him, made her believe him.

â€œYou really are.â€ His hand slipped from her cheek to her jaw and he grazed his fingers along the curve of it. He smiled and her heart thudded. He was beautiful. She had never seen a man like him, with such deep green eyes and a smile that could make her heart pound and body tremble. â€œBeautiful.â€

â€œHush.â€ She took his hand away from her face and held it a moment. â€œQuit making me blush, Lukas.â€

His smile held. â€œI love the way you say my name. Say it again.â€

Annelie rolled her eyes. â€œLukas.â€

â€œNot like that.â€ He drew his hand towards him, luring her with it, until she was close to him. She stared into his eyes, her mind racing forwards to contemplate things it shouldnâ€™t be. He wasnâ€™t going to kiss her. Even if he was looking more sober now, she couldnâ€™t let things go down that avenue. â€œSay it like you mean it. Like you said it just then.â€

Annelie looked deep into his eyes, lost in them and the way the flecks of pale gold seemed to shift and move against their emerald backdrop, and blinked slowly. Her voice dropped to a whisper. â€œLukas.â€

â€œMmm, that is more like it.â€ He pulled her closer and tilted his head.

Annelie broke free, pulse rocketing, and ignored the disappointed look on his face. She couldnâ€™t kiss him, no matter how tempting it was.

â€œLet me finish cleaning and Iâ€™ll take you home.â€ She hurried away to the other end of the bar, not daring to look back at Lukas, not while she wanted to kiss him and was weak enough to go through with it.

By the time she had finished cleaning, Lukas was looking far more sober and he was watching her. Annelie could feel his eyes on her, following her around the room as she placed the chairs upside down on the tables. She would wash the floor in the morning before opening time.

She walked over to Lukas and he turned on the stool to face her. His eyes held fire that burned within her, enticing her to kiss him after all. She cleared her throat, averted her gaze, and nodded towards the door.

â€œCome on.â€ She didnâ€™t wait for him to get down off the stool. She started towards the door and Lukas was soon beside her. She snuck a glance at him. He always looked good in the black shirt and jeans he wore. They hugged his figure just the right amount, giving subtle clues about how sexy the body they hid was and luring her into picturing him naked. Even when she shouldnâ€™t be.

She closed the door behind him and locked up.

â€œYou okay?â€ She pocketed her keys and started down the quiet dark road with him towards the car park at the back of the pub.

â€œI have been better.â€ He tilted his head back, staring up at the night sky, and sighed. There was such a look of melancholy in his eyes. What was he thinking?

â€œWhere did you go, Lukas?â€ She took her car keys out of her pocket, turned the corner into the car park, and pressed the button on the fob. The lights on her small car flashed. â€œI really was worried about you.â€

He stopped and looked at her. She turned and met his gaze, letting him see that she wasnâ€™t just saying that. He had disappeared without a word and it had frightened her. She had missed him. He stepped up to her and touched her face again, his palm warm against her cheek. His eyes held hers and she swore she saw another flicker of affection in them.

â€œI had to go away. I should have told you, Annelie. I should not have worried you.â€ There was black magic in his voice and the way he said her name, soft but with an underlying note of passion, and she was under his spell. He stroked her cheek, sending a shiver through her, and smiled into her eyes. â€œI did not think I would be gone so long. I promise I will not do it again.â€

Annelie told herself to break free but she couldnâ€™t. She didnâ€™t want to. She wanted to stand there in the warm night, feeling hot from head to toe because of Lukasâ€™s caress and the ardent look in his eyes. She wanted to believe that his words meant what she thought they did and that he liked her and things between them would be different now. She hadnâ€™t looked at another man since Lukas had walked into her life, had dreamed the impossible of him falling for her, and now it felt as though the impossible was possible after all.

Lukas wanted her as much as she wanted him.

She stepped into his embrace, her heart thundering against her chest, and stared up into his eyes. His fingers stroked her neck, his thumb brushing over her chin and then under her jaw. He tilted her head back, his eyes fixed on hers, and lowered his mouth. She shivered when their lips met and then pressed her hands against his firm chest and melted into him as he kissed her. It started out slow, a bare meeting of lips, but before she could draw another breath, his mouth covered hers and he stole it away.

It was everything that she had imagined it would be. She craned her neck, slid her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him, their lips meeting and parting, tongues tracing each other. He groaned and it was music to her heart, driving her on. She licked his lower lip, tangled her tongue with his, and kissed him harder, her breathing coming faster now.

Sense reared its ugly head but she shoved it away, not interested in anything her mind had to say on the matter. The kiss was divine. Lukas was divine. It didnâ€™t matter that he was still a little tipsy and that they were kissing in the middle of an unpleasant car park. She knew in her heart that this wasnâ€™t the drink talking.

He pulled back, breathing hard, and his eyes searched hers. The fire in them matched the inferno burning within her. Did she look so hungry too? She wanted to devour him.

â€œAnnelie…â€ He started and looked as though he was going to kiss her again, but then he stepped back. â€œI am sorry. If I have offendedâ€”â€

â€œNo.â€

His eyes darted to hers.

She couldnâ€™t bring herself to say it. She wanted him too. She had wanted that kiss more than anything. She was on the brink of saying it but other words came out instead.

â€œWe should get you home.â€

He looked disappointed again and nodded. Annelie walked to her car, cursing herself, feeling Lukas trailing behind her. She was aching all over to feel his hands and lips on her again. Why couldnâ€™t she have just said what she had wanted to? Lukas, it was fine that you kissed me because I want to do that to you and a lot more besides. It was so easy to say it in her head.

She walked around the car and glanced at him. His eyes were on her again, drifting over her body, bringing the fire back in their wake. She burned for him. She burned so much that she felt as though she was going to die if he didnâ€™t touch her and kiss her again, if he didnâ€™t quench the flames as only he could.

If she had said what she had wanted to, would he be kissing her again now? Would that divine body be against hers and his hands be on her, skimming over her in the way she was craving, bringing her to life with passion and need?

Annelie yanked the car door open and got in. Lukas slid into the passenger seat beside her and she started the engine, put the car into gear and drove. He was quiet, only giving her directions across London to where he lived. When they reached it, she pulled the car to a halt in a space outside and stared at the building. It was a beautiful pale Georgian four-storey townhouse.

â€œYou live here?â€ She couldnâ€™t quite bring herself to believe it. She had never figured Lukas for a moneyed type. He had never once looked as though he had more than a few hundred pounds to his name.

Lukas nodded and got out of the car, not waiting for her. Had she put him in a bad mood? Her eyes followed him. He was walking in a straight line, not wavering at all, and seemed sober now. If he kissed her again, she wouldnâ€™t be able to resist him anymore. She wouldnâ€™t have a reason to.

Annelie stepped out, locked her car, and hurried across the quiet road to him. He waited at the black front door of the building, his gaze on her again. She stopped at the bottom of the steps, waiting for him to say something. All he had to do was invite her in. If he invited her in, she would take it as a sign that she hadnâ€™t messed anything up and that he still wanted her.

His eyes held hers for what felt like hours and then he spoke.

â€œI just want to be clear about one thing. I did not kiss you because of the drink.â€ He glanced away and then met her gaze again. â€œThere is a reason I like to sit at the bar and talk to you, Annelie. There is a reason I kissed you.â€

He looked as though he had wanted to say more but she didnâ€™t give him a chance. She ran up the steps, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He stumbled backwards into the door and wrapped his arms around her waist, his tongue delving into her mouth and duelling with hers. This was Heaven. She couldnâ€™t hold in her moan.

Lukas fumbled with the door behind him and they fell into the entrance, still locked in each otherâ€™s arms, their mouths fused in a kiss that drove Annelie crazy with hunger. She moaned again and kissed him harder, pouring out her passion and need into it until it became choppy and rough, a clashing of lips and teeth. Lukasâ€™s groan sent a wave of heat scorching through her and she gasped into his mouth when he grabbed her backside. She hopped and wrapped her legs around his waist and he hit the wall with her, pinning her there, his body hard against hers and making her tremble with the images of them that flashed through her mind. She wanted all of them to happen right now, this instant, wanted to live out every hot dream sheâ€™d had of Lukas.

â€œWhich floor?â€ She managed between kisses, too hungry for him to break contact for more than a second.

â€œFourth.â€ There was a laugh to his voice that brought out her smile. He kissed her again and turned with her, heading for the stairs. Was he serious? He couldnâ€™t carry her all the way to the fourth floor while kissing her.

Lukas seemed intent on proving her wrong. He held on to her, his hands grasping her backside, his body shifting between her hips in the most delicious way, and kissed along her jaw as he took the steps two at a time.

Annelie didnâ€™t pay the slightest bit of attention to her surroundings. All she could think about was what would happen when they reached his apartment and how good it felt to be in his arms. She kissed his throat, earning quiet moans from him whenever she nipped it with her teeth or sucked. The rougher she was, the louder he groaned, and it drove her on, making her want to bite him harder.

She wriggled against him, hot all over, moist in her knickers, and moaned when he nibbled her neck, kissing and licking it, sending shivers dancing over her skin and stoking the fire of her hunger for him. She leaned her head back and he held her closer, devouring her throat, taking her higher and higher, and not only towards his apartment.

â€œAlmost there,â€ he whispered into her mouth and her temperature soared with anticipation. He kissed her throat, her cheeks, and then her lips. He paused there and said the one thing that shattered her reservations, the one thing she had wanted to hear above all else. He breathed it against her lips in a husky voice, turning three simple words into the most erotic thing she had ever heard. â€œI want you.â€

Annelie trembled in his strong arms, swept away by her need and his passion, and she kissed him.

She wanted him too.

And she was damn well going to have him.