Shadowed (Dark Protectors) Read Free

nipples pebbled against his chest. Need ripped through her blood as his mouth pulled. Images of his mouth exploring her body in other ways flashed in picture-form through her brain, and she moaned.
    Slowly, the deadly points retracted, and he licked the wound. His tongue was slightly abrasive. She shivered.
    He set her down. She released his shoulders and glanced up at his face.
    Lust shimmered in his eyes, and crimson spiraled across his high cheekbones. His fingers remained tangled in her hair. Keeping her gaze, he lifted his free wrist and slashed with his fangs. Securing her, he slid his bleeding wrist against her lips.
    The moment held much more intimacy than she’d expected. Tingles jabbed her mouth. She opened, and the liquid slid in.
    Fire.
    She drank, and sparkles popped down her throat. Electricity shot inside her veins. It was almost too much. She turned away, and he removed his wrist. Tightening his grip, he tugged her back around to face him.
    Her gaze wide on his, her veins flashing with power, she licked the remaining blood off her lips.
    His eyes flared. His lids dropped to half-mast.
    Then his mouth took hers.
    Hot, desperate, he kissed her hard. She opened her mouth in reaction, and he dove in. Seeking, taking, he swept inside.
    Lava bubbled through her veins, and her nerves fired. Desire crashed into her with an unnatural force. She’d thought she’d been kissed before. Not so. Or maybe this wasn’t just a kiss.
    It was a claiming. Her body ignited. Her heart rammed into full gallop.
    Heat and hard male stepped into her.
    He held her tight, the kiss fierce and deep—teeming with hurt, loneliness, and hope. All emotions he hadn’t shown. With emotions that maybe he couldn’t remember how to show. As he tethered her so she couldn’t escape, as he gave everything he had, something inside her shifted.
    She kissed him back, accepting all he was. All he could be. All they might be.
    Finally, he broke the kiss and released her.
    Stepping back, he ran a rough hand through his hair, his gaze shuttering closed.
    Her lips tingled. Her scalp ached. Her sex pounded.
    Going on instinct, she lifted her chin. She wanted to live, and life was full of dangerous risks. Always had been—for her, always would be. They both teetered on a precipice, trying not to fall over. Maybe they could save each other. She had to clear her throat to force out words. “I accept your offer, Jase Kayrs.”

Chapter 2
    J ase Kayrs stood in the swirling snow, his gaze on the row of windows lining the hospital’s south side. “Why did you follow me?”
    His brother shrugged and shuffled leather shoes in the powder. Kane apparently hadn’t planned on venturing outside. “Why did you follow Brenna?”
    “I wanted to see where she was going.” Jase angled to the west in order to better look inside the building. Cedar blocks made up the walls, and it was at least eight stories. “I’m tired of people babysitting me.”
    Kane ran a rough hand through his dark hair. “I’m not babysitting you, but we do need to talk. If I have to follow you all over Dublin to make it happen, then I will.”
    Jase’s older brothers were overbearing assholes, but at least Kane was the only one who’d flown to Ireland with Jase. “Talk about what?”
    “Brenna,” Kane said.
    As if on cue, the woman swept into a small room where several children played with games, toy cars, and blocks while sitting on a plush rug. A stuffed Santa sat in the corner, and Christmas lights had been strung across the walls. At her entrance, the room brightened from pale to full sunshine. Several kids leapt up to receive hugs and kisses.
    Jase narrowed his gaze. Brenna’s dark hair brushed her slim shoulders, while her unique gray eyes sparkled. Her seven older sisters were all redheads with green eyes. She was one of a kind, though just as petite as the other women. Then he focused on the kids. “The kids are all burned. She’s visiting a burn unit.”
    Kane peered