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CHAPTER ONE

PRESENT DAY

ENGLAND

BESIDE THE LUSH BANKS of a pond, a woman beckoned, familiar Yet Marrok of Cadbury had never seen her face in his life

Vivid grass and multicolored flowers rioted around her A cityscape towered in the background None of that held his gaze rapt Her bare-to-the-skin nakedness and dangerous beauty did

The wo under the swell of a generous breast topped by a berry nipple—and fra a birthmark he kneell

She no longer possessed the platinum tresses into which he’d once thrust his hands Her new face was delicate—higher cheekbones, pert nose, pillowy uise herself fro haunted his nightmares

Morganna

Lust crashed into hiut Need stiffened his cock He wanted her as he never had, with a frightening desperation Bollocks! Was he daft enough to let her lure him to further doom?

Acid hatred aze caressed her shs glistening Lued him to walk away

Marrok didn’t—couldn’t—do either

Morganna bewitched hiht of shared pleasure an eon ago The strawberry ht backthem as he’d succumbed to temptation and tupped her senseless For that mistake, he’d paid dearly

With the last fifteen centuries

Mist swirled around her like the h she was deadly, Morganna in this new form captivated him Today, society had clinical ter the treacherous bitch to release hi else mattered

With an alluring curl of her fingers, she suritted his teeth To yield would onlycloser, his cock swelling painfully Cursing, he closed his eyes

If he must resist her to be free, he feared he was doomed

Marrok opened his eyes as a fresh rush of desire sla was as new as a baby’s first breath…and as welcoanna’s tricks

Though he dug his fingers into his thighs, her haunting eyes pleaded with hie to touch her

Then she waved her hand Suddenly, she clutched to her naked breasts the ornate red book he knew meant the difference between his life and death, and she backed away

Nay!

Marrok launched hile of breaths, ar lock still firmly closed

Before he could grab it, she latched slender ar him with her lush curves

“Marrok, love me”

Her plea spiked his fevered lust He ached to sink deep into her But he had to resist this fatal woman Somehow

“Release rowled

She clung tighter, then writhed against his erection By God, she et He was on fire for her A heartbeat fro how treacherous she was

“Open the book!”

“You want me” Her whisper made him shiver

Why deny that? A waste of time and breath

As she wriggled under hiainst her and groaned The need to utterly possess her screah him Later, he’d remember all the reasons he could not

Marrok dropped his hands to her thighs and pried theive you All I give you”

“Anything”

Morganna’s nipples burned his chest as he lifted her legs over his arms From one instant to the next, his clothes melted away and he poised himself at her entrance

Groaning, he buried his face in her fragrant neck Incredible Inevitable More intoxicating than ever Marrok had sworn never to touch Morganna again—a promise he had kept for centuries—but now…he had to be inside her

“Everything…” she encouraged

As he surged forward, Morganna grabbed the book Desire chained hirasp

With a wave of her pale hand, Morganna unlocked the volues, as she faded away

“Give it to me!”

He shouted at fog She—and the book—were gone

Again, she’d used her power against him Desire sizzled deep but he was, as ever, cursed Desolation slashed hi his soul to bleed

His anguish anna’s loss He would, in fact, spit on her grave if she had one

“I ah the wind “Find me”

Marrok dragged hi a primal screanized as London There, he could find her His torment would never end without that book—and without a taste of her flesh

Around hiasp, his bed rus Bare walls, carved bed A sword beside his hand Glock under his pillow

His cottage, not a anna

The book! Marrok whipped his gaze around On his bedside table rested the leather-bound to torment, the key to his freedom, was still here and still locked

It had been but a dream

Or perhaps a anna had once enjoyed reaching froard the e—she had returned to this mortal realm as an ethereal brunette, able to unlock the volu it

He rose, deteruise She alone could end the torture of his ages-old existence Shadow and torranted him what he wanted most in life

Death

A sharp rap against the cottage’s frontstartled Marrok—the same sound that had awakened him He hadn’t had a visitor in a decade, and preferred it that way Guests were both unexpected and unwelcome

Marrok slid the book into the safe hidden beneath loose floorboards in his bedroom, then took up his sword and stalked down the hall As he slid around the corner, his heart raced with the anticipation of ih the , illulea wooden floor

If soreet them with bloodshed

Marrok crept forward, crouched for attack The shadow disappeared A faint crunch of footsteps outside replaced the silhouette He slipped toward the door silently, weapon in hand