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A life alone . . .
For nearly two centuries, vampire Ryder Latimer had lived alone, uncomfortable in the vampire world and unloved in the human world. Ryder had never dared hope that he'd find love in his endless existence.
Brought together . . .
Fate brought FBI Agent Diana Reyes into Ryder's world and in the five years since they met, they've battled long and hard for a life together. With Ryder's love, Diana has climbed out of a dark abyss that had kept her prisoner for far too long.
A Vampire Reborn . . .
It's been a month since Diana and Ryder became man and wife. A month since Ryder almost lost his life to protect his wife and their newborn child. But now something is happening in Ryder's body that is making him more human at a time when he needs to be at full vampire strength to protect his loved ones.
Will fear and doubt drive Ryder to embrace his vampire self and be reborn at the cost of his new family? Or will Diana's love battle back the darkness that threatens?
Look for FIGHT FOR LOVE, the continuation of Diana and Ryder's story
and a new romance for slayer Benjamin, in Early Summer 2014.
and a new romance for slayer Benjamin, in Early Summer 2014.
Excerpt:
Chapter
1
Ryder Latimer wiped the
steam off the mirror and stared. For the first time in nearly two
hundred years, his image stared back.
Granted it was barely
there. Almost ghostly, but it was definitely his image. It was
weird to see himself, to see how others might see him, after so long.
He gingerly rubbed his hand
over his jaw and the beard there. Shifted his hand upward to drag
his fingers through the longer strands of his hair.
It had been nearly a month
since he’d had his ass kicked by Connall Burk, psycho vampire.
Nearly a month since he’d almost died, but worse . . .
It had been nearly a month
since he’d failed his family.
He had no intention of
failing them again.
He pushed off the edge of
the sink, wincing as his bones and muscles complained with the
action. He had worked himself hard that afternoon, running through a
series of martial arts drills in addition to an intense workout in
the gym. Plus, he still hadn’t fully healed from that beating. It
was part of the reason for the beard and the longer hair. The most
basic grooming hurt much like the rest of his body still ached from
the damage he’d sustained and the way he had been pushing himself.
But that wasn’t going to
stop him from protecting his newlywed wife and newborn daughter.
My family,
he thought, and smiled through the twinge in his jaw.
Charlie’s mewl drifted in
from the bedroom and his gut tightened with both joy and fear.
Driving away the fear, he whirled from his almost spectral image and
hurried out to where his wife sat in a rocker, nursing their
month-old daughter.
The sight of his lover
never failed to stir him.
Diana's head was down
turned and her nearly seal-black hair fanned forward to hide most of
her face, except the faint smile that graced her lips as she watched
their daughter nurse.
At his entry, Diana met his
gaze and her smile broadened, but then her exotic gold-green eyes
narrowed. Her cop’s eyes were way too perceptive. “Are you
feeling okay?”
“Never better,” he
lied. He walked to her side and kneeled, still amazed by the miracle
with which they’d both been blessed.
The baby’s soft full
cheeks moved with each suck and at a strong pull, Diana jumped a bit.
“Hungry little thing,
isn’t she?” he said and gently skimmed his index finger along the
baby’s face.
“Like her dad,” Diana
teased, cupped his jaw, and tenderly forced his head upward. “You’re
not a very good liar, you know.”
Chagrined, he said, “Maybe
you’re just more observant than the average person.”
She frowned. “You’re
still hurting. I don’t get how that’s possible.”
He didn’t either. He was
a vampire for Christ's sake. In the past, he’d healed from a
number of injuries virtually overnight. But then again, he’d never
been beaten to within an inch of his life.
And he’d never fed from
a slayer elder who was now also a vampire.
“I can see myself,” he
said and held his hand out in front of him, searching for other
differences. Skimming his gaze down his naked body to examine
himself before facing her again.
Diana’s forehead furrowed
and she looked at him as if he was losing it. “Of course, you can
see yourself.”
He shook his head and even
that simple movement caused a throb of pain at the back of his head
where Connall had smashed it into a solid brick wall during his fight
with the sadistic vampire. “No, darlin'. In the mirror. I can
see myself in the mirror. Just faintly, but my image is there.”
He waited for her
disbelief, but instead there was only calm acceptance as she trailed
her hand across his cheek and then skimmed it along the bare skin at
his shoulder. “You’re warmer, too. When you’re not in your
vampire state that is. I noticed that you were warmer the other night
in bed.”
He’d thought so also, but
had been afraid that it was just his imagination or maybe even the
changes in Diana.
Much like he’d had a
taste of slayer blood, so had she in order to save her life during
the birth of their daughter. Combined with his turning her, she was
now a dhampir like their newborn child, and gifted with some vampire
strength and healing, but also saddled with mortal limitations like
aging. Albeit very slow and prolonged aging.
“Do you think it’s
possible that . . . I’m different? That the slayer blood did
something?” he asked.
The baby squirmed and
mewled again.
Diana raised Charlie to her
shoulder, softly rubbed her back, and after a healthy burp, his wife
shifted the baby to her other breast, where Charlie greedily latched
on again and resumed her suckling. His groin tightened at the
thought of how much he wanted a taste as well, but it would have to
wait until his daughter had satisfied her needs.
“Do you
feel different?” he wondered aloud, surprised that in the weeks
since Charlie’s birth and both their near deaths, they had never
discussed it.
Thanks for sharing this, Amy!
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