Invisible Entente, Tome 3: Shadows in the Garden Hotel

Chapter 1

Power uncoiled within Allegra Rossi’s muscles, and she arched her back with pleasure. Heat and lust pulsed from her core, rising up to simmer through the pores of her skin. The cool draft from the ceiling fan peppered the dampness of her back in icy kisses. Every smooth movement of her body shifted the currents of energy running through her, crashing them onto the banks of her mind, until her thoughts drifted away on their intoxicating sweetness.

The man beneath her ran his fingers over her hips, reminding her that he was there. She looked down at him, at the glazed eyes under the heavy eyelids, at the parted lips that begged her to taste them again.

It would be rude to disappoint them.

She lowered herself to her elbows and shifted the rhythm of their bodies, heightening her own passion. Sweat trickled down her chest as her stomach grumbled. She couldn’t wait any longer.

Allegra smiled at her breakfast, revealing a hint of her pointed canines, and the familiar rush of exhilaration coursed through her veins as his eyes widened. The lusty glimmer in his gaze sharpened into fear, and she sniffed the air to appreciate the tart bouquet that began steaming from his skin.

He bucked beneath her, fighting to free himself, but she squeezed her thighs tighter around his hips and firmed her grip around his wrists to keep his arms pinned above his head. He tried to yank his left hand away, the hand that had been so eager to caress her body only a short time ago, but she left no room for him to gain leverage. A crack echoed between them as a bone snapped. He cried out, and she dipped her head to lock her mouth against his.

He struggled to escape her, but she forced her tongue between his lips and inhaled. His wiggling beneath her only increased her pleasure. The muscles of his jaw twitched as he prepared to clamp his teeth down on her tongue, but she ground her hips against his, driving him deeper inside her. His jaw loosened with an involuntary gasp, followed by another cry from inside his throat as she sucked the breath from him. She moaned at the complex taste of his soul. The skin around her eyes warmed as her power filled them, and the heat spread, the strength of his energy filling every cell of her body. She squeezed his wrists harder — not because she had to keep him still, but because she could. The power was intoxicating.

After one final breath, the body beneath her sagged. Allegra gasped as a final shudder of gratification vibrated from her skull down to her toes, and then rolled onto her back. She offered the ceiling a blissful smile. Her stomach was full, her mind was clear, and her muscles were nothing but strips of jelly.

She couldn’t laze around and enjoy her conquest, however. Even though it was muted now, the nagging desire for more still burned in her blood, searing away some of her peaceful contentment. She squeezed her hands and closed her eyes, breathing deeply to gain control over the feral part of herself that she had never been able to eliminate. It filled her brain with thoughts of tearing her breakfast’s corpse to pieces and feasting on his flesh.

Allegra swallowed hard and cleared the images from her mind, focusing on the hunger she’d already satisfied to try to reclaim her relaxed state.

But the moment had passed, and the satisfaction of her victory was washed away under the bitterness of self-loathing. Ignoring the inevitable crash, she stretched across the sheets to loosen her remaining tension and focused on her breathing until the last of her darker instincts subsided.

She still wasn’t ready to get up and face the day yet, but unfortunately her taxi was on its way, and she couldn’t afford to dawdle.