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She knew she didn’t have a choice The pain increased and she surrendered abruptly

She had a sense she had fallen into his arain, she heard a very soft, al sound Warm sweet breath flowed over her face and down her neck More of his incredible leathery spicy scent drifted into her nose all over again Desire engulfed her as well as tremendous relief

He hadn’t done it

He hadn’t taken thebreath, opened her eyes, then , longing She drifted the back of her fingers over his cheek "You’re o"

"Shit," he hed but tears shiain," he said

She sighed "I wish you wouldn’t go"

"Don’t have a choice"

She closed her eyes Despair forged a wedge in her heart once more She hurt to her toes

He put his hand on her forehead She surrendered Hershe knew she sat on the third step of the cement stairs, alone She looked aroundup for the night?

She crossed her ar to hold so but for the life of her she didn’t knohy The feeling was fa her heart south, which spoke to every longing she had ever had for a full life, a complete life Maybe she didn’t knohy she sat where she sat, or the present cause for tears on her cheeks, but alone-and-weeping lanced at her feet and noticed a business card sitting between the tips of her shoes She reached down and picked it up A red rose, lying prone against a glossy black background, lay beneath words printed in a lovely scarlet script, THE BLOOD AND BITE

How strange was this? She’d dreahtclub several times over the past teeks

Marcus stood behind his massive desk, phone receiver in hand He was in shock Goddarip on the phone then hung the dalass, which topped his desk, to the sculpted gnarled base below The base had been assembled from massive pieces of driftwood retrieved from the coast of the Olympic Peninsula and topped by a custoth and width of a small car Fabricated by a local artisan, the table had cost him over two hundred thousand dollars, a drop in the bucket coer of losing everything because of this one single fucking phone call

He glanced at his TV CNN ran twenty-four/seven He knew Mortal Earth He’d oddammit This was his life, the life he wanted, the life he’d chosen

He turned to face the , each hand now in a tight fist He had an office near the top of a high-rise, which allowed for a et Sound Another storm pounded Seattle and rain hit thein successive waves, like a thousand fingertips tapping the panes all at once, releasing, then tapping again Usually the sound soothed hie off

He hadn’t heard that particular voice, an edgy sharp female voice, in two centuries Endelle had not spoken a word to hiroup of warriors, not since he walked out on all the vows he had taken, not since the day he’d flipped off his warrior brothers and left theo

And now she’d called hiainst the Commander had heated up, her warriors orked to the max, and she needed him to take Kerrick’s place because the bastard had a uard, or would as soon as the female answered her call to ascension

Whatever

For a split second he thought about hunting for theher away froain, as he to say as right for anyone else? Even he hadn’t left Second because he didn’t love his world He did He left for other reasons, reasons that still haunted him

Fuck

At least he’d only have to return for a handful of days, a few pebbles from the ass-end of the riverbed of his life, Endelle had said

Like hell it would begin and end there

Nor could he refuse and she knew it

Goddas with three of his boards over the next few days Several international construction bids were in the works and one ht he was scheduled to have dinner with a representative from one of the Middle East royal fa-date with an exquisite Canadian actress He had an eher ht He would leave her with the necklace accole ood-bye She wouldn’t reht be a little dizzy over the next two days

Now he’d have to cancel his evening