Unlike several of his brothers, Athan Maxwell accepted the curse inherent in his DNA and solved the problem a century ago by mating his one true mate and saving her life at the same time. Now they only meet up four times a year to exchange blood and keep themselves healthy because that was the deal. Yet after a hundred years, his mate has only become more beguiling and intriguing, and when he discovers a new threat on her tail, his promise of sitting back and leaving her alone goes right out of the window.

Ivy O’Dwyer has enjoyed the last century as an immortal being, evolving from being a farmer’s daughter to the successful CEO of an Internet company. Sure, life gets lonely without the chance to date, and yes, she’s grateful to her vampire mate for saving her life so long ago, and yet the dreams she has of the sexy male won’t desert her. So when he storms in to save her life, in all vampire-possessive mode, it’s difficult to stand her ground. Unfortunately, when they finally discover that living forever but alone isn’t worth it, it might be too late.

Series:

Dark Protectors / Rebels

Can be read as a standalone

Book Type:

Paranormal Romance

Excerpt: A Vampire’s Kiss

Two motorcycles rode up behind him, and both riders started firing green lasers—immortal weapons that’d turn into raw steel the instant they hit flesh.

He glanced behind himself to make sure Ivy was still down. She wasn’t moving, but at least she was out of the line of fire. So, he concentrated fully on the two enemies and their supercharged bikes. They were on unmarked black motorcycles with helmets, and both looked tall and broad, though he couldn’t determine their species. A minivan and Town Car were in front of him, so he let them slow him down enough.

The guy on the left quickly approached, and Athan spun around and nicked him with his back bumper. The attacker flew off the motorcycle and through the window of what looked like a shoe store.

Athan spun around a corner to see two of his soldiers careening his way, both on bikes. The only way to handle Los Angeles traffic was on motorcycles. He spun again and let the men ride past him and take over, driving rapidly north and then backtracking several times before barreling into an underground parking garage. The door immediately shut after him, and he screeched to a halt near the elevator.

Klyde moaned next to him and then shook his head, sitting up. Blood cascaded down his face, and he prodded his cheekbone, which had a bone sticking out. “I think I was shot.”

“I think you were, too,” Athan said, nearly ripping open the back door to reach for Ivy.

She still wasn’t moving. He gently pulled her out and checked her for injuries. She wasn’t cut, but she was bruised and had a lump the size of an egg on her forehead. He cradled her gently and ran to the elevator with Klyde stumbling along behind him.

“Did you see who it was?” Klyde gasped, leaning over and sucking in air. He had the Maxwell dark hair, but his eyes were a light tawny brown. Normally. Right now, they were a furious silver.

“No. Could have been anybody,” Athan muttered, the adrenaline still shooting through his veins.

“Yeah, right,” Klyde said.

Athan nodded. “I know, but it could be. I don’t know who it was. Hopefully, we caught at least one of them.” At the moment, he’d like nothing more than to interrogate whoever had shot at them.

He punched the button for the penthouse, and they rose to the top of the building that mainly housed high-end executives who worked in Hollywood. The penthouse was his and used exclusively for surveillance. He bypassed the living quarters for the main control room, where his people were already scrambling to bring up CCTV footage from the entire area. They would find out who these guys were, trace them back to the source, and then Athan would finally go to war.

He gently laid Ivy on a leather sofa that had been pushed to the far right. Two chairs and a coffee table littered with soda and water bottles flanked the couch. His men had been at it all night since he was in town, surveilling the entire area. It was shocking they hadn’t seen the two motorcycle assassins coming, and he wanted to know why.

But first, he crouched and smoothed Ivy’s strawberry-blond hair away from her pale face. Her lashes were startlingly dark, considering her pale coloring. A light smattering of freckles dotted her pert nose. Reaching out since she was still unconscious, he gently ran his knuckles along her smooth skin. “Ivy, wake up now, sweetheart.”

She didn’t stir. He looked again at the lump on her head. It seemed to be going down in size. She was immortal like him, so this wouldn’t last long, but she was out for the duration. He looked around for a blanket to cover her, but the control room had none.

He checked her skin, and she felt warm enough. Without being able to help himself, he leaned over and kissed her forehead, making sure the ribbon was still in his pocket like always.

Shoving any and all emotions away, he stood and headed for the nearest console, his gaze on the wide screen on the wall showing the greater downtown Los Angeles area. “Let’s find these assholes.”