Deadly Is the Kiss Read Free

been kicking back and living wild. He looked hard and mean and tough, and her insides did a little rumba at the reality of having all that raw male aggression and intensity focused directly on her.
It was said among the clans that the complex nature of the Deschanel was a delicate balance between the light and dark aspects of the world, and Ashe Granger was a prime example. He was a thing of outrageous beauty, and yet…he was also a thing of sinister danger. The complex duality of his nature was a helpless allure to most women, and Juliana knew damn well that he never lacked for female companionship when he wanted it. She’d also been told, by his close friend Morgan Scott, that none of the women who shared his bed ever meant anything to him, which wasn’t surprising. Men like Ashe Granger weren’t the type to settle down and fall in love. They enjoyed their variety—and she’d seen Ashe in action enough times at her family’s compound to know he liked his sexual assortment of partners more than most. Which meant she would never be foolish enough to get tangled up with him, even if he didn’t treat her like a criminal.
It was no secret that he didn’t like her. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding a way to make the badass hunter believe her story, because she needed his help.
Once, she’d risked everything and lost, because she’d risked it on the wrong man. She had no guarantees that Ashe could be trusted, but she had to give him a shot. He was the one she’d been directed to find, and she was in too deep to pull back now. If he refused, she knew that Morgan and the other shape-shifters that Ashe worked with would do their best to help her. Or even Gideon, who would likely have the same important contacts that Ashe would, since he was a Förmyndare, as well. But her gut told her that it should be Ashe.
Juliana didn’t foresee them having an easy time of it, but at least his natural animosity toward her would keep things on a professional level. One without any of the sexual advances she assumed would come from Gideon, whose flirtatious personality was so at odds with his brother’s rough demeanor there were times when they seemed polar opposites.
Then again, she mused, noticing the way several women who’d walked past him were looking back over their shoulders, Ashe never seemed to have any trouble attracting and flirting with females of all species and ages. It was just her he treated like a leper.
And that’s a good thing, she reminded herself, eyeing him as he waited impatiently on the opposite side of the road, the heavy traffic keeping him from immediately crossing. I just need his help to save my family. Nothing more.
It might have seemed like a long shot, considering the last time she’d seen him he’d said something along the lines of I won’t be coming back; have a nice life. Even when spoken in the warm, husky blend of his Eastern European and British accent, the words had been painfully harsh. But while an ass, she also knew that Ashe Granger was a man who had committed his life to fighting against injustice and taking down criminals. He might not want to help her, but she had a feeling he’d be willing to do it for the rest of her family, so long as she could convince him that she was telling the truth.
She didn’t want to have the coming conversation on the restaurant’s patio, but she also didn’t want him to think she was running. Since she’d already paid her bill for the first truly delicious meal she’d had in years, she hefted her backpack over her shoulder and moved to the entrance of a narrow, shadowed lane that ran along the side of the restaurant, and waited for him there.
Chewing on the corner of her lip, Juliana wondered how he’d found her. She’d come to London searching for him, just like the letter in the pack she’d found outside the secret exit from the Wasteland had told her to do. She’d spent the day making inquiries at hotels, only targeting