Evil Abounds: An Alpha Guardians Prequel (5 page)

“You must bond to each other through the stone, give it life,” Mere Marie said. She pulled out a tiny, wicked-looking blade, every inch of it etched with foreign words. “Through blood.”

“Of course,” Gabriel muttered.

Rhys reached out for the knife and Mere Marie handed it over. He sliced his palm, ignoring the bite of pain. Thrusting his hand out, he let his blood drip onto the letters carved in the stone. They flared with a soft burst of light, but only for a moment.

Gabriel took the knife next, mimicking Rhys’s actions. This time, the stone flared a little brighter, a little longer.

Aeric was last, and when his blood hit the stone, the burst of light was nearly blinding. Mere Marie didn’t share her blood, but she did close her eyes and recite an incantation. Rhys felt the cut on his palm throb, and for a moment he was transported.

He was outside himself. He was the stone. He felt three presences, felt the warmth of their blood. He considered their offering, testing their strength. Yes, they would do. They could withstand his power.

Rhys snapped back into himself just in time for a brilliant wave of light to pulse from the stone, pulling at some part deep inside him. In the moments before he fainted, his only thought was this:

How well could an adventure possibly end if it began with losing all consciousness and control of himself?

He could only wait and see, for at the present everything went dark, and Rhys Macaulay knew no more.

S
ee No Evil
, the first full book in the Alpha Guardians series, tells the story of big, brawny Scot Rhys Macaulay and his sassy, curvy mate-to-be.

Read on for a sample of
See No Evil - Alpha Guardians Book One
:

T
he second Rhys
moved forward Echo retreated a few steps, moving back toward the door. In a heartbeat Rhys was crowding her up against the door, his nostrils flaring as he drug in several lungfuls of her tempting scent. He could still smell the sunshine and flowers on her skin, but now there were underlying notes of anxiety and excitement. Arousal, too, though it was no doubt dampened by all the other emotions flitting through Echo’s mind at the moment.

Rhys was having none of her ambivalence. He caged her against the door with his arms, taking a moment to appreciate her delicate stature as she tipped her face up to look at him. He watched her for long seconds, trying to read the myriad expressions flickering in her wide lilac eyes, but she was a puzzle too complex for him to solve as yet. Echo’s tongue darted out to wet her lower lip, her apprehension and desire becoming evident, and Rhys could wait no longer.

He drew the moment out, wanting to savor the first taste of his mate. He brushed back her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Then he traced the line of her jaw near her ear with his thumb, noting her shiver with a note of deep male satisfaction. He slid his thumb under her jaw and angled her face up to his liking, leaning down slowly, letting his breath fan over her lips for a beat before he pressed his lips to hers.

The second their lips touched, something happened inside him, deep in his chest. It was as if a feeling of tightness was eased, while at the same time something loose within him was made fast and unmovable. Echo made the softest sound and moved closer, her hands skating up his shoulders and lacing behind his neck. Her lips moved against his and then parted sweetly, a clear invitation to deepen the kiss.

Every ounce of Rhys’s blood was roaring in his ears as he curled one hand over Echo’s ribs and thrust the other into the silken mass of her hair. His bear was bellowing, a fierce and satisfied sound, driving him on. Time had slowed for a moment, but now it sped up.

Rhys flicked his tongue against Echo’s, tasting her fully. She responded, her fingertips digging into his nape, her breasts burning his chest where they crushed against him. Rhys groaned into her mouth when her hips brushed his, and he felt her startle when she found him hard and wanting.

Truth be told, he’d been hard since the moment he laid eyes on her, but the barest touch from Echo set him aflame. Breaking the kiss, Rhys tugged her head to the side and nipped her earlobe, nearly losing himself when Echo moaned for him.

Unable to stop himself, he buried his mouth at the juncture of her neck and shoulder and marked her with his lips and teeth. Not a mating claim, not without her consent and awareness, but a hint of what was to come. His free hand came up to cup her breast, finding and teasing her hardened nipple through her dress and bra. He explored the fullness of her breast, pleased at its round weight, and trailed kisses over her exposed collarbone.

Only then did Rhys slow, realizing that it would be brutish of him to fuck her and claim her without any understanding on her part. And if he took her here, now, bent over the bed just the way he was imagining, Echo shouting his name as he ruined her for all other men…

Well, if he did that, he’d be unable to keep himself from claiming her. Something told him that Echo, a thoroughly modern woman, would take exception to Rhys dominating her in that way. She would accept it, and soon, but… perhaps she’d need some time to adjust to him.

“Rhys?” Echo asked, her chest heaving as she tried to control her breathing.

“I don’t…” Rhys paused, uncertain how to phrase it. “I don’t want to take advantage. We’ve only just met.”

Echo looked up at him with such confusion, it nearly killed him. Rhys stepped back and took her hand, pulling her over to the bed.

G
et
See No Evil - Alpha Guardians Book One
right now!

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ivian is an erotic romance writer
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Vivian has been an autodidact from a young age, and to this day she'll read anything she can get her hands on - back of the cereal box, billboards, whatever. When she's not reading or writing romantic stories, Vivian likes making drinks from her Trader Vic's cocktail recipe book, snuggling her badly behaved dog, and drinking great coffee on rainy wraparound porches in New Orleans.

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