Alternate Ending
This was the original ending of Velvet Haven which was cut because my editor felt there was a stronger ending to be found for them. I always liked this scene, and especially like the way Bran is tender here with Mairi—also a bit vulnerable. So, I’ve saved it for you guys to enjoy. There could be a mild spoiler in there….I’m not telling, though!
Bran opened the door of the chamber he shared with his Fate, expecting to find her waiting naked on the bed, as she had promised. Instead, he found Mairi standing beside the stained glass window, looking out into the moonlit hills. Her thin nightgown was transparent in the shaft of moonlight, revealing the swells of her heavy breasts and the small mound of her belly. He ached to have her again. His body hardened, the anticipation to feel her taking him deeply within her was a primitive urge he could not shove aside. The urge to mark and claim was just as strong now, as it had been the night of their Lanamnas. He still needed her, still needed to know that she belonged to him.
“Muirnin?” Bran came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as she clutched onto him like a drowning man clutches a rope. He felt the fear in her, and he squeezed her tight as he buried his face in her perfumed hair.
“Talk to me, muirnin,” he murmured, trying to stave off the little tremors wracking her body with his warm arms. “Please, talk to me.”
He found her left hand and traced the band of the moonstone ring he’d given her. Quietly, he brushed the gold that had bound them for eternity, hoping to draw her out of her trance-like fear. But still as a stone she stood, enveloped in his arms. He felt her body pulling him in, and he knew that she was taking his comfort, drawing it into her. And he liked it. Knowing he was her anchor, her safety shield. Knowing he had the power to make her feel protected and safe, as well as adored, was a rush so powerful Bran knew he was already addicted.
“What do you feel?”
“Suriel.”
“Where is he?”
She trembled. “The Abyss. Locked away. Tortured.”
“We’ll find him.”
“I know. His part in this is not yet over.”
“What else troubles you, Mairi?”
“He’s out there, Bran,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper.
“Who is out there, muirnin?”
“The Destroyer.”
The hair on his arms rose to full height, and he lifted his face from the cloud of Mairi’s hair and peered down into her face. She was pale, her eyes huge in the moonlight. She’d been crying, the dried tracks of her tears marred her alabaster cheeks. He stroked the path her tears had taken with his thumb.
“I feel it. I feel the same desperation and yawning emptiness as I did that night in the club. I feel pain, rage, hate, desperation,” she murmured before she started to cry. “He is here. Somewhere out there, he is awakening.”
“Muirnin,” he said, his voice shaky. “Your body trembles. Is it fear? Pain?”
“Both,” she said, turning in his arms, she buried her tear stained face into his naked chest. “I feel…so much,” she whispered, her voice muffled by his chest. “I feel this Dark Soul, and I also feel someone else. I feel terror. Pain. And my wrists,” she murmured as she lifted her face from his chest. “They burn.”
Bran captured her wrist and held it out to the window where the moonlight shone on her pale skin. The long straight lines that were usually white, were now red and angry looking.
“Something evil is coming. And he…” she glanced at the window. “He is out there now, awakening. And he is…looking for someone. Someone to destroy.”
“Come back to bed,” he said, not able to say anything else. His mind was reeling with what his wife was telling him. He feared for her now, knowing that she could sense this Dark Soul. Would he sense her, This Destroyer they sought? Did Aaron know of her new powers? Did he know she saw?
This is what Suriel had given her, along with his gift of immortality. This powerful weapon to see their enemy. But at what cost to her?
“Come away from the window, my love,” he urged. “Let me take away your pain.”
She followed him, allowing him to help her to their bed. As she laid back, he followed her, warming her with his body. “I’ll protect you,” he vowed. “I swear it, muirnin. Nothing will come between us.”
“Take away the pain, Bran,” she whispered against his ear. “Take it all away as only you can.”
When he slipped gently inside her, Bran felt her body soften as she accepted him. Fear and tension still coiled deeply in her, but he whispered away her fears and loved her until she could see, feel and hearing nothing but him, his, strength, his undying love.
Excerpt (Intended for adults 18 years or older)
Jumping, the two of them whirled around, only to find themselves looking up at a giant. A beautiful, golden giant with eyes that shimmered in the strobe lights. His beauty was beyond anything Mairi had ever seen. And his body…her gaze slid over the tight black T-shirt that showcased his pecs and arms, she’d never seen a body like his.
There was something inhuman about him, he was that drop-dead gorgeous.
He smiled, a slow sensual grin that was almost hypnotic. “Welcome to Velvet Haven. We’ve been expecting you.”
“We’ve?” Mairi glanced back at the DJ who was still playing music.
The man grinned and moved to the left, revealing the most dangerous, sexiest man Mairi had ever laid eyes on. When he looked at her, her entire body jolted and images flooded her brain as he walked—no, stalked—slowly towards her. He was dark, brooding, intense; reminding Mairi of a black thundercloud. Menacing, yet strangely fascinating. Capable of a powerful storm, yet hauntingly beautiful.
There was a fierce tempest brewing inside him. Mairi could feel it, a strange energy radiating off of him. Her body lit up like a nuclear power plant and her breasts suddenly grew heavy as she studied his self-assured steps. She was aroused, and her arm tingled where the feather had landed on her. Blinking, she fought the visuals that suddenly clouded her thoughts, but they were all she could see now as they slammed into her as her dream from only a few hours before came back to haunt her.
A drop, in the shape of a tear, trickled between the shoulders of a tattooed back. Sweat. She inhaled the scent of man as she watched the crystal fluid run between the rippling muscles that quivered and strained.
He was naked, back ripped and sculpted; arms thick and defined, spread out at his sides. His face was covered by black hair that was long and damp, clinging to his brow. His ass was hard—sculpted—the smooth skin stretched taut over contoured muscles. His thighs were thick, powerful, possessing stamina and sheer strength.
His was a body made to master a woman’s.
Straddling his hips, she licked away the rivulet of sweat, tasting salt and arousal as she traced the sword tattooed along his spine with the tip of her tongue. A blast of heat wrapped around her despite the dampness between them. He arched, trying to connect once again with her tongue. Beneath her, she felt his ass flex, rising up hard between her thighs to nestle between the folds of her sex.
He moaned as the heat from her core swamped his skin, coating him with her own arousal.
Tormenting him more, she dragged her nipples along his back, scraping the pointed tips over his skin as her tongue flicked up his spine in teasing, insinuating lashes. He was shackled, his wrists in black manacles, his fingers curled into fists. On his left hand he wore a ring that bore an oval stone, the color of fire. With her lips and teeth she pulled it from his finger, allowing him to feel her mouth wrapped around his finger. She sucked it, teasing him, giving him a glimpse of what she could do with her lips and tongue.
“I am your slave,” he said in a voice intoxicated with lust.
Never more did she realize the truth of his words than now. Never had she seen him so aroused, so eager for her. But she wanted him hotter. Harder. She wanted him begging.
Sitting up, she placed his ring on her index finger and admired the glow of the stone. It felt warm on her finger, the remnants of his heat, the hint of power contained within the gem.
Reminding her that she had left him aching, he strained beneath her, rocking against her sex. She was wet. She let him feel that wetness before she reached behind her—between his thighs. He groaned and shifted, the manacles straining with his immense strength.
“You are too impatient,” she whispered in his ear.
“I would feel you now,” he growled, a sound that made her shiver in desire, and the slightest bit of fear.
“All right.” Reaching between his thighs, she teased him until he lifted his hips from the bed. He wanted her to reach for his cock. Instead, she reached for something just as hard.
Lifting the sword in the air, she brought it down, but he turned his head and looked up at her, his strange, haunting eyes glaring at her through strands of damp, black hair.
“After all this?” he murmured, “after everything we’ve done, you would betray me now?”
“Mairi?” Rowan whispered, pulling her out of the memory as the man stalked closer and closer to them.
“What is it?”
“I…I,” she turned to her friend. Biting her lip, she tried to stay strong, tried to tell herself it was just some stupid dream. She was overtired that was all there was to it. “I had the dream again. This afternoon.”
“Was it like all the others?”
Mairi shook her head. No, this one had been different.
“Was it the same guy?”
“Yes.”
“Was it…” Rowan glanced up the man with the long hair. “Is it him? Is that why you’re remembering the dream now?”
“No, I don’t think so. It’s not the same guy. How could it be?” she asked, looking at her friend with horror.
“Then tell me what’s got you shaking, Mairi.”
“The guy,” Mairi murmured, swallowing hard as she looked at the man who was slowly coming to her. “The one in my dream. I…I… killed him.” |
