Erica Hayes - [Shadowfae Chronicles 00] - Hellcursed (), Angielskie [EN](4)(2)
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Hellcursed
Erica Hayes
Hellcursed
2
Author's note:
Hellcursed
is a companion short story to my urban fantasy novel
SHADOWFAE, about a succubus, Jade, who's in thrall to a demon lord
for a thousand years.
You don't need to read
Hellcursed
to understand the novel. And
Hellcursed
has an historical setting, where SHADOWFAE is
contemporary. So please don't be misled into thinking the novel is an
historical.
But I think
Hellcursed
is an intriguing (and sexy!) little introduction.
Especially if you're wondering how Jade ended up in thrall to a demon
in the first place.
And when you're finished, you can read on for an exclusive preview of
SHADOWFAE. Hope you enjoy it.
Hellcursed
Copyright © 2009 by Erica Hayes. All rights reserved.
Excerpt from Shadowfae
Copyright © 2009 by Erica Hayes. All rights reserved.
Erica Hayes
3
Hellcursed
My new master stared at me, ash drifting from his golden hair.
I shivered. Even for a demon lord, Kane was creepy.
No smile on his crimson lips, his black eyes scorching with
promise and power, he reclined on the sunken lounge, elegant
in black silk. Idle scarlet flame flickered between his fingers,
throwing eerie shadows on the marble palace wall, and the air
thickened with his delicious scent of thunder. "Will you sit with
me?"
"Not a chance." I tugged at my bodice, flushing. My torn
blue gown had been to hell and back—literally—and no longer
covered me properly. Sultry midnight breeze drifted into
Kane's bedroom from the wide stone courtyard, but I didn't
feel warm. Silken drapes masked the ceiling. Opium smoke
drifted like ghostly dragons between green-tiled columns,
stinging my nose like acid.
Kane's soft voice grated like metal. "Sit down, Jade."
I crossed my arms, satin sleeves ragged, and opened my
mouth to tell him to go back to hell.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
Hellcursed
4
My voice jammed in my throat like a cork. The golden
hellbangles he'd clamped on my wrists last night buzzed and
scorched like angry wasps. Bumps rippled my skin, and
compulsion spread in my veins, dark like lust, ashen stink
clogging my nostrils. My pulse thudded. Heat flushed my
belly, a lover's sly caress, and I burned inside. His will
effortlessly overpowered mine. I wanted to sit down. I
needed
to. If I didn't, I'd scream, or claw my eyes out.
Or die.
My leg muscles dissolved to water, and I crumpled to the
green satin divan, magical nausea gnashing in my intestines
around a core of hot, undeniable need. As my thighs hit the
cushions, pleasure broke within me, tiny but definite, gentle
waves of sweet contentment that I'd obeyed him.
And that was my first glimpse of the life I'd made.
Succubus. Soulthief. Hellbitch. Demon's thrall-slut. Those
epithets still lay in my future. But my thrall had already begun.
Yesterday, I was a different kind of prisoner, slave to my
own foolishness, chained in a rusty dungeon by the sorcerer
who'd pretended to love me. But last night, my treacherous
captor gambled with Kane, and lost. I was the prize. And now
Kane owned me.
At least, that's what Kane thought. We'd see about that.
He leaned his head on one jeweled wrist, blond locks
tumbling. His black silken shirt and trousers drew my eye to
his body's tempting curves, the glimpse of smooth demon skin
where his collar fell open, the hard line inside his thigh where I
could run my fingers, taste his skin, let my tongue explore.…
He waited for me to catch his eye, and smiled faintly, hot
blue sparks crackling in his hair. "Do you see?"
My palms itched, yearning for the hardness of his chest, his
golden hair's soft crush, the smoothness of his naked skin. I
flushed, and tidied my dirty brown ringlets, irrational warmth
filling me. Oh, I saw, all right. With his gentle cheekbones and
soft mouth and altarboy hair, he wasn't even to my taste. He
Erica Hayes
5
was enchanting me with these cursed magic bangles, filling me
with lust not my own to make me obey him.
I gave him my fiercest scowl, practiced for years in brothels
and taverns. "Don't ever do that again."
Distaste swirled scarlet in his eyes. "Don't order me, Jade. It
doesn't make you pretty. You will do as I desire. You must."
My hungry gaze fixed on his lips, watching them move. I
imagined them brushing my throat, kissing me, his hot tongue
licking at my pulse.… With an effort, I scrambled away across
the cushions, my body burning inside. My torn dress rasped
across my suddenly sensitive skin. My nipples ached. If he
grabbed me, I'd let him. "Get out of my head. I didn't ask for
this. Leave me be!"
He didn't grab me. Didn't move. Just lay there, luscious
black silk and golden locks and dark stormy scent. "Too late for
that. The bangles are part of you now. It's called
rapture
.
Rapture is your power, so don't deny it. Learn to use it, and no
one will be able to resist you."
My bangles tingled again at his commands, rippling hot
sensation through my veins. Everything he said, every offhand
order he gave, I burned to obey.
Horror crawled in my blood. My vision crackled around the
edges like melting wax. I wanted to scream, to claw his face
bloody, to climb onto him and crush his velvet hair in my fist
and take what my body craved.
I scrabbled back, shaking. "No one owns me, demon. I'd
rather die than submit to you."
"Don't pretend. If I wanted you, you couldn't stop me." Ice
crystals crackled in his hair, his black eyes glinting a dangerous
blue. "If I said the word, you'd beg."
I fell backwards off the divan, cracking my knees on hard
stone, torn ringlets falling in my face. Fury rippled my lust
harder. I fought to my feet, threadbare blue skirts tripping me,
and spat at him, moisture darkening the satin cushions. "Don't
count on it," I snarled, and stalked out.
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Hellcursed
Erica Hayes
Hellcursed
2
Author's note:
Hellcursed
is a companion short story to my urban fantasy novel
SHADOWFAE, about a succubus, Jade, who's in thrall to a demon lord
for a thousand years.
You don't need to read
Hellcursed
to understand the novel. And
Hellcursed
has an historical setting, where SHADOWFAE is
contemporary. So please don't be misled into thinking the novel is an
historical.
But I think
Hellcursed
is an intriguing (and sexy!) little introduction.
Especially if you're wondering how Jade ended up in thrall to a demon
in the first place.
And when you're finished, you can read on for an exclusive preview of
SHADOWFAE. Hope you enjoy it.
Hellcursed
Copyright © 2009 by Erica Hayes. All rights reserved.
Excerpt from Shadowfae
Copyright © 2009 by Erica Hayes. All rights reserved.
Erica Hayes
3
Hellcursed
My new master stared at me, ash drifting from his golden hair.
I shivered. Even for a demon lord, Kane was creepy.
No smile on his crimson lips, his black eyes scorching with
promise and power, he reclined on the sunken lounge, elegant
in black silk. Idle scarlet flame flickered between his fingers,
throwing eerie shadows on the marble palace wall, and the air
thickened with his delicious scent of thunder. "Will you sit with
me?"
"Not a chance." I tugged at my bodice, flushing. My torn
blue gown had been to hell and back—literally—and no longer
covered me properly. Sultry midnight breeze drifted into
Kane's bedroom from the wide stone courtyard, but I didn't
feel warm. Silken drapes masked the ceiling. Opium smoke
drifted like ghostly dragons between green-tiled columns,
stinging my nose like acid.
Kane's soft voice grated like metal. "Sit down, Jade."
I crossed my arms, satin sleeves ragged, and opened my
mouth to tell him to go back to hell.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
Hellcursed
4
My voice jammed in my throat like a cork. The golden
hellbangles he'd clamped on my wrists last night buzzed and
scorched like angry wasps. Bumps rippled my skin, and
compulsion spread in my veins, dark like lust, ashen stink
clogging my nostrils. My pulse thudded. Heat flushed my
belly, a lover's sly caress, and I burned inside. His will
effortlessly overpowered mine. I wanted to sit down. I
needed
to. If I didn't, I'd scream, or claw my eyes out.
Or die.
My leg muscles dissolved to water, and I crumpled to the
green satin divan, magical nausea gnashing in my intestines
around a core of hot, undeniable need. As my thighs hit the
cushions, pleasure broke within me, tiny but definite, gentle
waves of sweet contentment that I'd obeyed him.
And that was my first glimpse of the life I'd made.
Succubus. Soulthief. Hellbitch. Demon's thrall-slut. Those
epithets still lay in my future. But my thrall had already begun.
Yesterday, I was a different kind of prisoner, slave to my
own foolishness, chained in a rusty dungeon by the sorcerer
who'd pretended to love me. But last night, my treacherous
captor gambled with Kane, and lost. I was the prize. And now
Kane owned me.
At least, that's what Kane thought. We'd see about that.
He leaned his head on one jeweled wrist, blond locks
tumbling. His black silken shirt and trousers drew my eye to
his body's tempting curves, the glimpse of smooth demon skin
where his collar fell open, the hard line inside his thigh where I
could run my fingers, taste his skin, let my tongue explore.…
He waited for me to catch his eye, and smiled faintly, hot
blue sparks crackling in his hair. "Do you see?"
My palms itched, yearning for the hardness of his chest, his
golden hair's soft crush, the smoothness of his naked skin. I
flushed, and tidied my dirty brown ringlets, irrational warmth
filling me. Oh, I saw, all right. With his gentle cheekbones and
soft mouth and altarboy hair, he wasn't even to my taste. He
Erica Hayes
5
was enchanting me with these cursed magic bangles, filling me
with lust not my own to make me obey him.
I gave him my fiercest scowl, practiced for years in brothels
and taverns. "Don't ever do that again."
Distaste swirled scarlet in his eyes. "Don't order me, Jade. It
doesn't make you pretty. You will do as I desire. You must."
My hungry gaze fixed on his lips, watching them move. I
imagined them brushing my throat, kissing me, his hot tongue
licking at my pulse.… With an effort, I scrambled away across
the cushions, my body burning inside. My torn dress rasped
across my suddenly sensitive skin. My nipples ached. If he
grabbed me, I'd let him. "Get out of my head. I didn't ask for
this. Leave me be!"
He didn't grab me. Didn't move. Just lay there, luscious
black silk and golden locks and dark stormy scent. "Too late for
that. The bangles are part of you now. It's called
rapture
.
Rapture is your power, so don't deny it. Learn to use it, and no
one will be able to resist you."
My bangles tingled again at his commands, rippling hot
sensation through my veins. Everything he said, every offhand
order he gave, I burned to obey.
Horror crawled in my blood. My vision crackled around the
edges like melting wax. I wanted to scream, to claw his face
bloody, to climb onto him and crush his velvet hair in my fist
and take what my body craved.
I scrabbled back, shaking. "No one owns me, demon. I'd
rather die than submit to you."
"Don't pretend. If I wanted you, you couldn't stop me." Ice
crystals crackled in his hair, his black eyes glinting a dangerous
blue. "If I said the word, you'd beg."
I fell backwards off the divan, cracking my knees on hard
stone, torn ringlets falling in my face. Fury rippled my lust
harder. I fought to my feet, threadbare blue skirts tripping me,
and spat at him, moisture darkening the satin cushions. "Don't
count on it," I snarled, and stalked out.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]