S K Yule - The Darkest 02 - Darkest Desires.pdf - zachomikowane - Em3A

Darkest Desires

Cover art by Anastasia Rabiyah © February 2010

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used

form.

ISBN: 978-1-936279-03-6

Amira Press, LLC

Baltimore, MD 21216

www.amirapress.com

Dedication

To my father. I miss you every day. You never let the fear of failure stop you from doing

anything in life. Thank you for passing that trait on to me.

Chapter One

TinyfingersofdreadtickledhernapeDread?Wasthattherightwordtodescribewhatshe’d

beenfeelingthroughoutherotherwisenormalweekendroutineatwork?NoDreadwaswhatshe’dfelt

as she walked to the front of the classroom in Junior High when her Study Hall teacher had demanded

shereadthenotehe’dconfiscatedoutloudTheoneshe’dbeenpassingtoafriendmooningabouthow

gorgeous her eighth grade crush, Joey Robinson, was—who, by the way, sat in the front row. So what

wasitshewasfeeling?Shewasn’tsurebutsomethingdidn’tfeelrightSomethingfeltoffbalance

Herskintingledinwarningbutofwhatshedidn’tknowSomethingsheundoubtedlywasnot

going to like, something life changing. Good God, Avril Taylor! Get a hold of yourself. Since when did you

turn psychic? Yeteventhementalscoldingshegaveherselfcouldn’tshakeoffbasichumaninstinctThe

solethingoncesoheavilyrelieduponforsurvivalThethingmosthumansdidn’tnoticeexisted in

today’smodernworlduntilitwastoolateThethingthatpeopleshookoffassomeridiculousfeeling

caused by stress or fatigue instead of recognizing it as the hard-wired tool of the human psyche that

notifies of impending danger.

She took a deep breath and nearly groaned as the smell of stale smoke, alcohol and cheap

cologneassailedhernostrilsNomatterhowlongsheworkedatMac’sTavernshe’dnevergetusedto

the unsavory smells or tasteless décor that plagued the old hole in the wall. She glanced around the

room and sighed. The walls were covered with posters of scantily clad women and neon beer signs. The

only thing it had going for it was its cleanliness, which was due to the fact that she kept it that way.

Cleaningwasn’tpartofherjobbutshewasn’tsureshe’dwanttocontinueworkingatthedankplaceif

it went back to the filthy state it had been in when she had first taken the weekend bartending position

a couple years ago.

Her eyes rested on the deer head with huge antlers hanging above her and she grimaced. That,

in particular, made her stomach crawl in sympathy for the once magnificent animal that sported them.

Its dead, black eyes stared back at her. She tried hard not to look at the offending trophy as the same

horror movie played in her mind every time she allowed herself to focus more than twenty seconds on

the thing. Even now the image of the beautiful, living creature in his natural habitat—scenting a

gorgeous, brown-eyed doe—danced in slow motion through her over-active imagination. His head

raised on a thick, golden neck while he sniffed the air for his doe, cautiously approaching his target only

to find an intruder on two legs had tricked him with spray that smelled like his potential mate.

The buck, now terrified, would turn and run, belatedly fleeing. Shot down with one clean bang,

his life ended in a pool of blood caused by man. Avril knew that it was a necessary thing to control

certainspeciesofanimalpopulationsbutitdidn’tmeanshehadtolikeit

She placed an iced mug under the tap, and let the beer flow until the foam hovered half an inch

over the rim in a neat cap that sat precariously on top of the golden liquid. She rolled her eyes after

sliding the mug down the slick surface of the bar to the dark man sitting at the end where he neatly

stopped it with his hand from crashing to the floor before giving her an exaggerated wink. Being a

bartender had its ups and downs. One of the ups was the cushion the income provided in addition to her

full-time dayjobattheCityHallRecord’sDepartmentConstantlybeingpickeduponbythelocaldrunks

was one of the downs. Especially, since she had pretty much given up on men altogether, having not

metoneinthelastfiveyearswhohadn’tturnedouttobeachauvinistic pig. Dealing with her small

town’slushesonaregularbasiswhoseegoswereinflatedtothesizeofblimpssupportedthat

decision.

Lately, she began to wonder if she was fatally flawed where relationships were concerned, and

had given some serious thought to giving up on men altogether. Yet, her sub-conscious refused to allow

the recurring dream of Mr. Right, a picket fence, and two point five kids—one of the most sought after

American dreams—die a respectable death. Yeah,likethat’sever going to happen. Agitated, she blew

out an agitated breath and began wiping down glasses with a fluffy, white rag until they squeaked in

clean glee.

A small smile tugged at her lips as she thought about her best friend. Ebony had gotten married

over a year ago and already had a new son, Marcus. Ebony had dated literally three or four men the

whole time Avril had known her. She was shy and had still been a virgin at twenty-seven—which Avril

was amazed, shocked, and proud of—when she met her husband, Ashe Aleksandrov. The fact that

Ebony found her true love was not surprising, as Ebony was a genuine, down-to-earth, sweet girl.

However, Avril had been completely thrown off-kilterwhenshe’dfoundoutthatEbony’shusbandand

family were vampires. Not to mention her best friend was now one, too.

She had thought Ebony was cuckoo—as any normal human would—whenshe’dfirsttoldher

what the Aleksandrovs were, but that was before she had attended a ball thrown by the family and

witnessed, with her own eyes, two lovers in a seemingly normal embrace. Normal until she realized that

theman’steethhadbeenburiedinthewoman’sthroatwhilethewoman’sheadhadbeenthrownback

innotfearbutecstasyShehadattendedtheballwithistononeofshe’sbrothersyet another

chauvinisticpigHedefinitelywasn’thardontheeyesbyanymeans—none of the Aleksandrov men

were—and he had a suave charm about him, undoubtedly from years and years of practicing the art of

womanizingShedidn’tliketothinktoomuchabout Aiston, as no matter how vehemently she denied it,

she was attracted to him, plain and simple. Yepthat’smeIshouldhaveasignstampedonmyforehead

All losers apply here.

It had taken her awhile to accept the fact that vampires existed, among many other creatures

thatshedidn’tevenwanttothinkaboutatthemomentshiverrandownherspineremindingher

onceagainthatherlittleworldofrealitynowcontainedthingsthatatonetimeshe’dneverthought

possible. Things that would give the term bump-in-the-night a whole new, terrifying meaning.

S K Yule - The Darkest 02 - Darkest Desires.pdf

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