Unchained (Men in Chains Book 3) Read Free Page A

shown up.
    “The wavy lines are gone.” Her light-blue eyes went wide. “Why is that?”
    “I just dropped my disguise, which makes me vulnerable, but I want you to be able to trust me. Your vision has confirmed that you’re the right woman, the one I’ve been looking for. Please come with me. Let me show you my world and talk to you in depth about what’s going on.”
    “And you really are a vampire?”
    He nodded.
    She put two fingers to her temple and rubbed in a circle, squeezing her eyes shut. “I feel so dizzy.”
    “It’s probably the telepathy. I had to punch pretty hard against your mind to break through, another indication of your level of natural power. I can explain everything later. I don’t want you to be scared, but I need to take you away right now.”
    “You don’t want me to be scared? You’re gripping my arms, you’re the size of a tank, and now you’re talking about needing to cart me off somewhere.”
    “Shayna, we’ve got a bad guy running lose and he’s trying to take over our world. The thing is, if he succeeds, he’ll be after yours next and there will be nothing you can do to stop him.”
    She searched his eyes for a long moment, frowning. “Even if all this is true, what can that possibly have to do with me? I’m an anthropology grad student here at U-Dub. I’m not exactly superhero material. More like an egghead-type who happens to be curious about other cultures.”
    “Then maybe look at it this way: You’ll be able to see an entirely different civilization firsthand. Doesn’t that intrigue you a little?”
    He saw her eyes flare and knew with just a little more back-and-forth he could persuade her. This could almost work. If only she’d stop looking so pale and shocked out.
    She pressed her hands to her face. “I’ll wake up soon. I just know it. This isn’t a hallucination, this is just a really vivid dream. Those crab cakes I had at dinner tasted funny.”
    Marius didn’t know what else he could say and his instincts told him it was only a matter of minutes before he was discovered here.
    And she’d had a vision in which they’d been together. She’d seen the future.
    As he looked at Shayna, as he factored in her vision, suddenly time slowed to a crawl. Though he had seen pictures of her on her blog, a few candid photos from a recent trip to Honduras, he hadn’t seen her close up, not like this, just inches away.
    Her complexion was like milk, her hair white-blond, and her eyes a light, unearthly blue. She was so beautiful that he swore his heart stopped beating for a few seconds. When it began again, it was a dull thud against his rib cage.
    He hadn’t expected this, to be so drawn to the woman who could save his world.
    Her hair was straight, and she wore it past her shoulders. She had a lovely nose with a beautiful curve near the bridge. Her brows were arched slightly.
    His gaze drifted to her neck, then down to the notch at the base of her throat. He watched her heart beating and his fangs began to thrum in his mouth. His hunger rose as well, followed sharply by a desire so profound that without thinking he drew her against him. If somewhere in the back of his mind he knew his conduct was completely inappropriate and not at all useful, he couldn’t seem to help himself.
    “What … what are you doing?” Her voice was a whisper.
    She stilled in his arms as he sniffed her hair and nuzzled along her cheekbone, then toward her ear, smelling what was the softest, most intoxicating scent, a delicate floral. He flicked his tongue over her skin.
    You taste like heaven, Shayna. My God, I hadn’t expected this.
    What would her blood be like filling his mouth, easing his deepest vampire need?
    He slid his lips down the side of her cheek, kissing and tasting as he went.
    Then he found her lips and began kissing her, willing her to respond, loving the feel of her mouth beneath his. He had to get inside her, so he traced his tongue along the seam of her