Dark Lover - Bung.co.nz

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SIGNET ECLIPSE Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England First published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. First Printing, September 2005 Copyright © Jessica Bird, 2005 All rights reserved SIGNET ECLIPSE and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. //br// Printed in the United States of America PUBLISHER'S NOTE This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content. Dedicated to:
You, with awe and love. Thank you for coming and finding me. And for showing me the way. It was the ride of a lifetime, the best I've ever had. Acknowledgments Thank you so very much: Karen Solem, Kara Cesare, Claire Zion, Kara Welsh, Rose Hilliard. To my Executive Committee: Sue Grafton, Dr. Jessica Andersen, Betsey Vaughan. Burning up the Internet, the phone lines, and the Hutchins and Seneca Park ring-arounds with you has kept me focused, sane, and smiling. With love to my family. Glossary of Terms and Proper Nouns Black Dagger Brotherhood (pr. n.) Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, brothers possess immense physical and mental strength as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the brotherhood upon nomination by the brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of the other classes except when they need to feed. They are the subjects of legend and the objects of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds, e.g., a gunshot or stab to the heart, etc. blood slave (n.) Male or female vampire who has been subjugated to serve the blood needs of another. The practice of keeping blood slaves has largely been discontinued, though it has not been outlawed. the Chosen (n.) Female vampires who have been bred to serve the Scribe Virgin. They are considered members of the aristocracy, though they are spiritually rather than temporally focused. They have little or no interaction with males, but can be mated to warriors at the Scribe Virgin's direction to propagate their class. They have the ability to prognosticate. In the past, they were used to meet the blood needs of unmated members of the brotherhood, but that practice has been abandoned by the brothers. doggen (n.) Member of the servant class within the vampire world. Doggens have old, conservative traditions about service to their superiors, following a formal code of dress and behavior. They are able to go out during the day, but they age relatively quickly. Life expectancy is approximately five hundred years. the Fade (pr. n.) Nontemporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity. First Family (pr. n.) The king and queen of the vampires, and any children they may have.
Page 1 and 2: Dark Lover Color-- -1- -2- -3- -4-
Page 3: pyrocant… Praise for Dark Lover "
Page 7 and 8: vampire (n.) Member of a species se
Page 9 and 10: "Shit. Here he comes," Tohrment mut
Page 11 and 12: ut at least there were streetlights
Page 13 and 14: Beth bolted out of the alley, holdi
Page 15 and 16: and a dilettante who had his head u
Page 17 and 18: his salt, he could dematerialize at
Page 19 and 20: Fifteen minutes later she was in a
Page 21 and 22: Marissa finally stood before him, a
Page 23 and 24: to your face?" She put her hand up
Page 25 and 26: "I'm taking Darius's death as a per
Page 27 and 28: "You're such a liar." "Hey, at leas
Page 29 and 30: "Let me know how it goes." Butch he
Page 31 and 32: The lock was in place. The courtyar
Page 33 and 34: She turned away and slapped her rig
Page 35 and 36: For that split second of payoff, he
Page 37 and 38: "Yes, sensei." Billy bowed his head
Page 39 and 40: assault, stalking, some petty theft
Page 41 and 42: Ten minutes later he came up to the
Page 43 and 44: She was an angel sent to carry him
Page 45 and 46: that fragrant smoke, and as it hit
Page 47 and 48: He eyed the cigarillo. Well, that's
Page 49 and 50: None of them liked the arrangement.
Page 51 and 52: Decades passed. And more decades. A
Page 53 and 54: He thought of the living cells down
Page 55 and 56:
"Yeah?" The voice that had told her
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"Hmm?" "Don't worry about Billy Rid
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"What do we have from Strauss's pho
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Beth's alarm clock went off, and sh
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Mary Mulcahy had been a beautiful l
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were a couple of all-night diners a
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that shame and embarrassment were i
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Loser settled back against the seat
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"Yeah, I did." Wrath put the tray d
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Chapter Thirteen "Dinner was great,
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"Careful there, Randall," he said.
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"I want to know who he is, too." "I
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"Don't touch her," Wrath snarled. "
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He loosened his grip on the cop's t
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"Only because I came." Wrath growle
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"I'm not going to answer that." "Wh
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likes of you. And this is all happe
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Chapter Seventeen Wrath walked up t
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"You cool?" Wrath said to his broth
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He gestured with his arm. "After yo
Page 95 and 96:
What a crock, she thought. "So wher
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She slapped him, hard. Right across
Page 99 and 100:
She choked and jerked upright. "I'm
Page 101 and 102:
"I don't have a sugar bowl." "So it
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"Wrath?" "Because I had to," he rep
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With dread, he realized he wanted t
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Mr. X eyed Loser, who was still try
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"Not well. They weren't together lo
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Wrath wasn't here with her now. It
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Her lover was a vampire. She tilted
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"Does Wrath have a shellan already?
Page 117 and 118:
Beth scribbled her last edit on a p
Page 119 and 120:
Zsadist? He hadn't even considered
Page 121 and 122:
"What the hell does that mean?" But
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"Enter," he said. It was the recept
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"I'm not doing it as a favor," he s
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"I have broken the covenant with Wr
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"I called your cell and you didn't
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inner hatred as an old friend. "I c
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Perfect date material, she thought.
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Her stomach lurched. She wasn't goi
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He leaned forward. "There's always
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"Who do you go to now?" "God, you r
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as he watched her bite down. When s
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He looked up as she sat beside him.
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"I'm not so sure about that," she s
Page 147 and 148:
Mine. As he kissed her lips, he not
Page 149 and 150:
Good lord. Was she actually living
Page 151 and 152:
This was more like it, Mr. X though
Page 153 and 154:
It didn't. "That's not like him." R
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"Where?" He leaped off the bar stoo
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When it was all over, the creature
Page 159 and 160:
"Bet you're pissed you needed a rid
Page 161 and 162:
"Belly hurts." "Yeah. I can imagine
Page 163 and 164:
But that didn't mean he could get s
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"Yes, sensei." "Good boy." Chapter
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"Lose?" "Who did the lessers take f
Page 169 and 170:
She stayed in the bed. But of cours
Page 171 and 172:
His voice sounded different. He fel
Page 173 and 174:
Wrath dragged her into his arms and
Page 175 and 176:
"Yesterday afternoon." "'Are they g
Page 177 and 178:
"So?" "I hacked into the coroner's
Page 179 and 180:
Wrath crossed his arms and leaned b
Page 181 and 182:
Butch looked up. The guy was wearin
Page 183 and 184:
Wrath was getting desperate. He cou
Page 185 and 186:
As she disappeared in a huff, he no
Page 187 and 188:
Her arms tightened around his shoul
Page 189 and 190:
Butch paced around the drawing room
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"Butch." He touched his broad chest
Page 193 and 194:
He brushed her cheek lightly. Stare
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Ah, shit, not this again, Butch tho
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Chapter Thirty-seven Beth rolled ov
Page 199 and 200:
He pulled away and kissed her on th
Page 201 and 202:
"May I? Butch?" "Anywhere," he brea
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you." His horror at what he'd said
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"Let him go," she commanded gently,
Page 207 and 208:
When Marissa walked into her bedroo
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"It has been a long time, warrior."
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"What say you, warrior?" Yeah, like
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"Sensei." Billy bowed his head. "Ho
Page 215 and 216:
"What, leelan? Are you all right?"
Page 217 and 218:
"We all do," Vishous murmured. "Tha
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"Males like them, they get all rile
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Somehow that was not a surprise. "N
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Butch offered her his arm. "That ok
Page 225 and 226:
he wouldn't mind shelving for the n
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He'd ripped the side off the chair.
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Wrath quickly glanced around. "Watc
Page 231 and 232:
"I'm going to cry." Wellsie covered
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"We're going to make the presentati
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Beth weaved on her feet as she watc
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"Yeah, I could do with a bar crawl.
Page 239 and 240:
Havers went into the front hall, ta
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"I saw Havers in an alley." Wrath f
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Hours later, Beth woke up hungry. S
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"You got something on your mind, Z?
Page 247 and 248:
Beth put some leftover filet mignon
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The problem was, if Mr. X summoned
Page 251 and 252:
As the anguish in his voice snuffed
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Her palms, clammy before, ran wet w
Page 255 and 256:
Beth repeated his words, pressing t
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"Easy, girl. We're not going to hur
Page 259 and 260:
After he'd made the offer to Zsadis
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The instant Beth felt the bed shudd
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"Four in the afternoon. It's Thursd
Page 265 and 266:
She smiled at him and leaned down f
Page 267 and 268:
Havers seemed to wobble from shock.
Page 269 and 270:
José watched the man walk over to
Page 271 and 272:
"She is no longer alone." "That is
Page 273 and 274:
"I've come to help you recover," it
Page 275 and 276:
She nodded, marveling that he could
Page 277 and 278:
"Keep talking," he said in her ear.
Page 279:
Private Demon: A Novel of the Darky
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Dark Lover - Bung.co.nz

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