Dangerous Games

"What?" I stared at him blankly. "How did that miracle occur?"

Rhoan smiled. "It's wonderful what the threat of losing his best two guardians can do. You have six weeks."

"Six weeks?"

"Yes. Use the time wisely, young pup."

I smacked his arm. "I'll use it to harass and a

"Which is what you normally do, and the aim of this time off is new directions."

New directions. A new start and the time to explore dreams. Just the possibility had a smile breaking out. Six weeks of doing nothing except what I wanted to do. Six weeks of exploring new horizons, new places, new people.

Six weeks of finding out if Kellen and I really could be soul mates.

Excitement bubbled through me. I wanted that. Wanted it badly.

But new begi

Qui

It pretty much matched the turmoil within me.

I held out the coffee cup to Rhoan. "Hold this for me. I won't be long."

He didn't say anything, just accepted the cup. I rose and walked toward Qui

I couldn't ever imagine not wanting him. But I was not the sum of my hormones, and I was tired of our game. I needed this new start Rhoan had offered, I truly did.

We stopped in the middle of the street. His gaze met mine, his eyes obsidian stone and expression shuttered. The emotions I'd sensed earlier were gone, carefully concealed behind the wall of his careful non-expression.

It only served to reinforce the Tightness of my decision.

"It ends here, tonight."

"It'll never end between us, and you know it."

"What I know," I said softly, "is that you've used me, and continued to use me, these last ten months. You swear to care, and yet I am never first in your thoughts, never the one you rush to when things go wrong. Your own aims and needs are always first and foremost. You proved this by using the link we'd formed to leash and control the very desires that make me what I am."

"What did you miss out on?" he said, a touch of anger in his voice. "A few nights with strangers? Big deal."

I stared at him, unable to believe he couldn't see the wrongness in what he'd done. "What you did is really no different to what Talon, Misha, or even Starr have all done to me. You tried to force me down a path that was not my choosing. Damm it, you hated it when it was done to you, Qui

He didn't say anything. Hard to refute something that was nothing more than the truth, I suppose—though I am surprised he didn't try. He usually did.

"Jack's given me six weeks off work," I continued. "And I want double that to sort out my life. During that time, I don't want any contact from you. I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear from you, I don't want you in my thoughts or in my dreams. I want a total and absolute break."

"For only three months?" His voice was still flat, and yet I had an odd feeling he was controlling himself very tightly.

Which was half the damn problem.

How could I trust what I never, ever saw?

How could I trust emotions he kept telling me about but never really showed in action or deed?

"After three months, I'll see where my head is at. There's no guarantee whatsoever that I'll ever be with you again, Qui

He didn't say anything for several heartbeats, just stared at me, his obsidian eyes darker than the night and a hell of a lot more dangerous.

Then he grabbed my arms and crushed me against him, his mouth finding mine almost savagely. I could have fought. I really could. But I didn't want to. If this was a good-bye, then I sure as hell intended to enjoy it.

And if it wasn't? I'd enjoy it anyway, and smack him later.

Because this kiss was like nothing I'd ever felt before. It was a wild, erotic, and very unapologetic affirmation of what he wanted. What he felt. He might never, ever have said the words or hinted at emotions, but it was there, right there now, in his kiss, in the press of his body, in the thick, desperate heat that swirled around us.

But it was too little, too late. I needed time. I needed to think. I broke off our kiss, pulled out of his grasp.

"No," I said, holding out a hand and backing away from him. "Enough. You owe me time, Qui

"Don't ask for things you don't really want," he said, voice little more than a harsh rasp. "Because you might just get them."

With that, he wrapped the shadows around his body, spun around, and walked away. I let out a slow, shuddery breath.

"Well, that went a whole lot better than I expected," Rhoan said from across the road.

I laughed softly and spun around.

And suddenly, gloriously, felt free.

"How about we go to the pub and I buy you a steak and a beer?" I shoved my hands in the pockets of my borrowed coat and offered him my arm.

He handed me my coffee, then hooked his arm through mine and began walking down the street. "And after?"

"I call Kellen and start making plans."

"Good."

It was good.

Because for the first time in ages, I was actually looking forward to the future. My future.

And that, after everything that had happened over the last ten months, was an excellent place to be.

About the Author

Keri Arthur received a "Perfect 10" from Romance Reviews Today and was nominated for Best Shapeshifter in PNR's PEARL Awards and in the Best Contemporary Paranormal category of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards. She lives with her husband and daughter in Melbourne, Australia.

Smart, sexy and suspenseful, the Riley Jenson novels are rapidly gaining fans world-wide. And now, following the rapid-fire publication of the first four books in four months comes Riley's fifth epic adventure—less than three months later!

Embraced by Darkness

by

Keri Arthur

Coming from Dell in July 2007

Here's a special preview:

EMBRACED BY DARKNESS

On sale July 2007

The only trouble with getting away from it all was actually getting away from it all.

Six weeks of lazing around on secluded and luxurious Monitor Island, with nothing to do except cat, drink, and lust after the occasional hot-bod sounded like heaven itself. And it was.

For the first three weeks.

But now, with the fifth week done and dusted, the wolf within was begi

My pack might now only consist of my twin brother Rhoan, his lover Liander, and my lover Kellen, but I was missing them all something fierce.

Especially Kellen. He'd been here for the first three weeks, and the result had been a deepening and strengthening of our somewhat fragile relationship. Even so, I hadn't really expected to miss him this much. Not after only a couple of months of being together—and especially considering we'd probably spent more time apart than together in those months. Of course, I knew now that a lot of that separation was due to Qui