Demon's Kiss by Devereaux, J. (best sci fi novels of all time .TXT) 📗

Demon’s Kiss

V.J. Devereaux

Book 1 in the Demon Allure series.

Gabriel Nicholas is kidnapped and dragged into a vastunderground chamber. Spotlighted in the center of that room is something—someone?—quiteunbelievable. He’s also, without doubt, the most magnificent specimen ofmasculine beauty Gabriel has ever seen. He is absolutely stunning.

Despite the circumstances, Gabriel burns to touch all thatgorgeous, gleaming skin—a living palette of shifting red and black. She wantsto run her fingers through his silken ebony hair, feel those strong hands onher flesh…feel that sinuous tail twine around her body.

He is Asmodeus, the Demon of Lust. He is legend come tolife. Able to shift from demon to human form, Asmodeus must feed on sex and theblood of women to sustain his power. Gabriel has been brought here for him. Toslake his every need. But she soon realizes Asmodeus is just as much a captiveas she is.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing

www.ellorascave.com

Demon’s Kiss

ISBN 9781419931239

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Demon’s Kiss Copyright © 2011 V.J. Devereaux

Edited by Pamela Campbell

Cover art by Dar Albert

Electronic book publication January 2011

The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks ofEllora’s Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may notbe reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without writtenpermission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 HomeAvenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons,living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. Thecharacters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

Demon’s Kiss

V.J. Devereaux

Dedication

To Laura, who believed in this story from the beginning.

And to my beloved husband, for his patience, understandingand sense of humor.

Chapter One

It happened so fast Gabriel had no time to react, barelyenough time for her heart to sink, to feel the sting of sharp regret for allthe things she had not done and bitter recrimination at having let her guarddown. It was late and she was tired from a long day at work. Something hadchanged recently on one of her ongoing cases but she had yet to figure out whatit was so she was distracted. She was also in her own apartment building whereshe should have been safe. None of that mattered—she should have been morealert.

No place was safe. No place. She knew that.

Even as she stepped out of the elevator and registered themovement, the presences, even as she dropped the groceries she held in herarms, she knew it was too late for her to draw her own weapon. A gun wasalready pointing at her.

She’d made a lot of enemies over the years but few of themwere brave enough, or crazy enough, to risk this.

It was still happening though.

Will I register the report before I die? shewondered. She heard a sharp pfft and felt a sting at her throat. Adart?

They weren’t there to kill her, at least not right away. Shehad enough time for a flash of horror before darkness closed in.

That was the last thing she remembered until men hauled herroughly to her feet and half carried, half dragged her out of an unfamiliarroom. None of them said a word. There were far too many of them—those silentmen, all of them armed—for her to fight alone.

Dazed, groggy from the drug, she registered that she wassomewhere other than her apartment building as she tried to regain her feet, togain some sort of control. Her weapon and badge were missing. The gun’sfamiliar weight was absent at her hip, her badge was gone from her waist. Shestill wore the suit she had worn when they took her.

The ceiling of the vast chamber the men dragged Gabriel intoarched so high above them it disappeared into the shadows cast by the spotlights.

Those lights speared down to an enormous circular stage. Shehad a vague sense of stadium-style seating that arched in a great half-circlearound that stage but she couldn’t see it for the brightness of the lights.From the shadows, a voice chanted steadily and monotonously.

Gabriel shook her head to try to clear it.

The stage area captured her attention. She was transfixed,riveted by what she saw there. Her heart seemed to stop.

Spotlighted in the center of that vast chamber was, withoutquestion, the most magnificent specimen of masculine beauty she had ever seenin her life.

A rush of heat raced from her head to her toes.

He was absolutely, stunningly gorgeous.

And impossible.

Tall, he had to top at least six foot six, give or take aninch or so, and every single one of those marvelous inches was beautifullymuscled. The firm curves of those muscles gleamed as if they had been oiled.His chest and shoulders were broad, his pecs deeply curved and his stomach gavea new definition to washboard abs. His waist and hips were narrow, every musclein them, including his obliques, sharply defined. Even his legs were gorgeous.

Hair as dark and glossy as a raven’s wing streamed as smoothand straight as a ruler to his broad shoulders, framing a face that might havebeen carved by a master sculptor. Every line was clean, perfect, from his broadforehead to his high cheekbones with their deep hollows, from his finelybridged nose to the defined line of his square jaw. His mouth was a thing ofbeauty—firm, neither too thin nor too lush. There would probably be dimples ifhe smiled.

Completely naked from the top of his horned head to hisclawed feet, it was impossible for her to miss any part of him.

That included the horns, short and curved, that sprang