Blood Entangled
Blood Vine series #2
By Amber Belldene
Blurb:
KOS MARAS's orderly life is in shambles-he must distribute Blood Vine to a population of ailing vampires, but Hunters block him at every turn. To make matters worse, each night he watches over a temptingly beautiful woman sleeping in his bed. He is convinced love cannot last a vampire-long lifetime and an entanglement will only cause them grief, but he doesn't have the heart to send her away.
From a long line of blood servants, LENA ISAAKSON is destined to serve a vampire, but a string of humiliating rejections thwarts her pleasure. When Kos shows her kindness, she hopes he will claim her. Instead he proves himself a coward in the face of love and sends her to serve another.
Will the dark seduction of a rakish new vampire finally bring Lena the pleasure she desires or deliver her into the hands of Hunters who want to destroy everything the Maras family has worked for?
Excerpt:
Lena's neck flushed with Kos behind her. Was he looking at her, or was she just imagining he was? More importantly, had he noticed her staring at his mouth? He must think she was a total freak. Some kind of succubus who'd turned her attention to him since she'd failed to seduce his father.
She swung open the door to the pantry and flipped on the lights. A folding step stool hung from a hook on the wall, and she placed it on the floor in front of the shelf. Kos's gaze left a trail of embarrassed heat down her body. Maybe she just wanted him to be looking at her, while in reality he was reading the labels on her obsessively organized shelves.
"The case of honey is on the top." She pointed. "I can't see it from here. It must have been pushed behind something." The distant top shelf spanned the room about nine feet off the ground.
"Why did you put it all the way up there?"
"Pedro did it months ago. I took one jar out and he put the box on the shelf."
Kos climbed the ladder and looked down at her over his shoulder. "What does it look like?"
"It's just a regular cardboard box, maybe a foot square."
"Labeled?" he asked, winking.
She smiled, feeling a little more like herself. "Oh, I don't know. Probably not."
"I still don't see it. I'm going to have to stand on the top of the ladder. Would you mind keeping it steady?"
"Of course."
Her view of the shelf was blocked by his very nicely shaped butt. She bit the inside of her cheek. It was seriously a tragedy that he was so beautifully built, and she would never get to touch him the way she wanted. Her fingers twitched. Good thing her job was to keep the stool steady or her hands would be all over him.
Above her, boxes scraped against the wooden shelves. "Any luck?"
"No, nothing that matches that description."
"Darn. I guess I better look."
He stepped down. She put her foot on the first rung then faltered.
He braced the stool. "Don't worry. I'll hold you steady and catch you if you fall."
She rubbed at her chest where his words made her ache. But he only meant fall off the ladder, and it was true, he'd saved her from worse. She kicked off her kitchen clogs, climbed up to the very top of the ladder and started reading the labels on boxes anywhere close to the right size.
"Do you see it?"
She could feel his hot breath on her hip. He had the same view of her that she'd just enjoyed of him.
"No. I don't see it." She stood on her toes to peer around another box.
"Lena, that's not safe." He grabbed her ankles.
Her body betrayed her-moisture pooled between her legs. Oh no! He would smell her. How many times had he known from her scent she was turned on by Andre's bite? Succubus, succubus, succubus.
"Damn." Still gripping her ankles, he whispered so quietly she barely heard.
She had to crane her neck to look at him. "Kos?"
He gazed at the stool between her feet. "I can smell you. So sweet." After a moment, he looked up. "Really?"
There was no lie that would spare her from the humiliating truth. "Yes."
"Damn." He turned and walked out the door.
Character Spotlight :
Meet Pedro Torres, the real hero of Blood Entangled.
Don't let anyone tell you this book is about Kos and Lena. Ask any fan of Amber Belldene and they will give it to you straight-I am the hero of The Blood Vine Series. All the readers are rooting for me, thanks to my good looks, charming sense of humor, and my triumphant spirit.
Yeah, Ethan Bennett screwed me up pretty bad. Yeah, I wasn't exactly planning on becoming a vampire. And yeah, I've got quite a mess on my hands with Lucas. Who frickin' knew that feeding from him would ruin me for plain old human blood? Now I can only feed from Lucas, whom I hate, even if he did save me from his brother in the end. It wouldn't be so bad if only the Hunter were a little less to die for in the tall-dark-and-handsome department.
Jesu Cristo, he smells good. There's not a single place in the Kaštel Estate where I can get away from his scent. So I will have to feed from him, but I don't have to forgive him. Eventually, Bel will figure out a way to get me unhooked from Lucas's blood. And in the meantime, I can use all my new vampire super strength to show him who's boss.
About the Author:
Amber Belldene grew up on the Florida panhandle, swimming with alligators, climbing oak trees and diving for scallops…when she could pull herself away from a book. As a child, she hid her Nancy Drew novels inside the church bulletin and read mysteries during sermons-an irony that is not lost on her when she preaches these days.
Amber is an Episcopal Priest and student of religion. She believes stories are the best way to explore human truths. Some people think it is strange for a minister to write romance, but it is perfectly natural to her, because the human desire for love is at the heart of every romance novel and God made people with that desire. She lives with her husband and two children in San Francisco.
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