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The Hanged Man: The Eternal Kiss
by Diana Castilleja
"Then you're fired," she came back. "I don't need another
person trying to put me on a shelf."
His hand cupped her chin, his thumb stroking the soft skin
in his palm. "Cara, listen to my words, not the dictate. You
are not safe. I have to keep you safe." His tone gentled, his
heart slamming hard with her in his hold once more. "And
make no mistake, Brakka has decided to come after you. He
does not stop until his goals are reached." He stepped closer,
feeling her body's heat through his clothing. "I am the only
one who can stop Brakka. Not Houston, not David, and not
some token paid guard. I know him. I trained with him, and
he is relentless."
"How do you know him so well? He hates you." She had
stopped retreating, finally listening. "The night of the fight, he
was so cold, so angry. I knew the second he discovered you.
Hatred almost overwhelmed me." Her eyes studied him; he
could almost feel their caressing touch. He sat in the back of
her thoughts, feeling her work her way through her anger,
her hatred of being controlled. He should have known. She
had been protected not only by her family because of her gifts
and talents, but by her friends for her entire life. She would
resent one more person curtailing her joy in life.
Diego sighed. He slid his hand around her neck, her skin
warm, her pulse beating strongly into his palm. "Brakka was
my best friend. He did not hate me until I refused to follow in
his footsteps. We grew up together, fought together, trained
together. We are not related, but now we are bonded by
blood, and I did not take the path he has chosen." He reached
for her, needing her in his hands to complete him. "I did not
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The Hanged Man: The Eternal Kiss
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lose my soul. He has. He hates me for that alone. I hate him
for destroying me."
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87
The Hanged Man: The Eternal Kiss
by Diana Castilleja
Chapter Seven
"Destroying you?" Her voice was soft, and it sank into his
blood again. Just one of those things she could do. "Like a
company? Did he ruin you financially?"
He shook his head, wishing it were so simple. He did not
care about money. "No." He edged closer, pulling her into his
arms. He needed her to be there. He needed to feel her
period. "He did something far, far worse." His voice had
deadened, the remembered ache, the pain of his betrayal of a
sacred friendship burning so deeply, he tasted the bitterness
on his tongue.
"I'm sorry, Diego." Titania wrapped her arms around his
waist and he held on, his chin resting on the top of her head,
her silken tresses warming him. He accepted her compassion
greedily. "I can feel your pain," she said, her face pressed
into his chest. "You loved him like a brother."
"Once."
She let out a tremulous breath. "And you have absolute
faith he will come for me?"
His chest ached with the knowledge that he was right. "I
am certain his reasons have doubled now. Retribution for
your interruption and..." He tucked a finger beneath her chin,
lifting her luminous gaze to his. "Because you have become
important to me."
He meant it only as a brush of skin, his lips to hers, an
exclamation of his growing feelings for her, but the instant his
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The Hanged Man: The Eternal Kiss
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lips found hers, all reasoning deserted him. She was sweet
and hot, soft and seductive to his senses.
The earth moved beneath his feet, rocked him to his soul,
and he held her tighter to keep himself from flying off into
space. Her body matched perfectly to his, meeting his planes
and hard angles with the curves and valleys of a woman's
body. An unknown urge screamed in his head and pounded at
his temples. To claim her. To make her completely his. To be
able to protect her, regardless of time or distance.
He shoved the thought far away. He would never pass on
his curse. He would not condemn this woman of compassion
to a life of death. Instead of dwelling on the impossible, he
shifted his weight, bringing her flush against him. He pushed
a hand through the thick weight of her hair, savoring every
electric sensation on his skin.
He tasted her lips, nibbling at the corner of her mouth,
feeling her breath against his skin, sipping at her lips until she
gave in, and he burned.
He moaned, a low sound of hunger when he found the
moist sweetness of her. Molten heat coursed through his
veins while hunger devoured him as he consumed her. White
hot lightning arced between them.
Diego's mouth glided from her nectar-filled lips to the
underside of her jaw. The sweet scent of her filled his mind,
bombarded him with raging hunger. She moved closer, and
he could feel every lush, rounded inch of her. She was trim
with firm muscles beneath smooth skin. Full breasts pushed
against him, and desire flared brighter.
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He nipped gently at her ear, and she moaned, a sighing
sound that fed his own passions to a higher heat. His incisors
exploded at the sound. He breathed her name, fearing for his
sanity.
Distantly, he heard the sound of clothing hitting the floor.
Then her hands were running up and down his back, slipping
beneath the edges of his coat to find his ribs. Hunger flared
anew, raged, burned.
He found the delicate skin beneath her ear and swirled a
scorching path down her neck. He ignited with her in his
arms. He found her pulse unerringly, the sound of rushing
blood, feeling the beating of her heart beneath his lips. His
teeth scraped back and forth, seducing her. He could hear the
pounding of her heart, hard, enticing. "Titania," he groaned,
unable and unwilling to fight it. "Please. I need this. I need
you."
She arched into him, and he was lost, his teeth sinking
deep. Everything that he was took her in, drank in need, in
insatiable hunger.
Heat enveloped him; he became the blaze of his hungers.
It had happened. He had officially lost all control with her. Her
hands tugged at clothing, and he pressed into her questing
palms, groaning with a primal hunger when she touched his
enflamed skin for the first time. He lost all sense of time, of
place. Cells soaked up her offering. Feeding earlier had not
prevented this, meant nothing when he had her in his arms.
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