Dark Taste of Rapture
Read Dark Taste of Rapture Online
Authors: Gena Showalter
“I won’t go easy on you.” Truth. He couldn’t. Not if he was going to be rid of her. Maybe it was unfair of him to want her kicked out because he was attracted to her. Didn’t matter. She was rich. She’d get over it.
“Go easy on me? Why, Agent Mean, I’d be disappointed if you did.”
“All right. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Oh. Okay.” Eyes gleaming, she lifted her tank and bra. “I’ve got thirty-six C’s.”
The male trainees might have whistled, the females might have gasped. Hector couldn’t be sure because he lost focus of everything but those perfect breasts. Honest to God, his thoughts derailed, his nerve endings going white-hot throughout his body.
Rose-colored nipples, beaded and ripe for sucking. She had no tan lines, was the same sweet cream and honey all over. And she was closing the distance between them, tempting him, daring him. Totally within reach.
He flexed his fingers; he wanted to reach.
She double tapped him in the mouth so hard he was spitting blood as he fell. Stars winked through his line of vision before he landed. And then, when he hit, his skull cracking against the ground, the stars vanished and thick black cobwebs took their place.
Lights. Out.
Turn the page to read praise for Gena Showalter and her bestselling novels of danger and desire…
PRAISE FOR THE ALIEN HUNTRESS SERIES
Ecstasy in Darkness
“A glued-to-your-seat kind of book. Pick it up and you won’t want to put it down. The action is hot and fast-paced.… Showalter is a master of creating unique, fun, and super-sexy characters. The banter between Victor and Ava will stick with you days after you’re done reading.”
—
Romantic Times
Seduce the Darkness
“[A] compelling and entertaining story of lust, deception, intrigue.…”
—
Romantic Times
Savor Me Slowly
“Hot, hard-hitting science fiction romance.… I’m so glad she took the characters to their sensual and emotional limits—and beyond!”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Susan Sizemore
“Danger and sensuality are hallmarks of Showalter’s style.… An intense read!”
—
Romantic Times
Enslave Me Sweetly
“Sizzling romance and nail-biting suspense.… Entertaining.… [A] roller-coaster-like adventure.”
—
Booklist
Awaken Me Darkly
“Mia Snow is perfect as the alien hunter with the secret.”
—
Booklist
“A heady mixture of speculative fiction, romance, and chick lit.”
—
Romantic Times
“Sizzles with intrigue.… Similar to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series.… Brilliantly written.… Amazing.”
—Fresh Fiction
“A fantastic read.… Fascinating characters.… Gena Showalter has created a very interesting world that readers will enjoy visiting over and over again.”
—A Romance Review
“The final spin will shock.… Mia is a fabulous ‘bad girl.’ ”
—The Best Reviews
MORE PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF
GENA SHOWALTER
“Gena Showalter delivers an utterly spellbinding story!”
—Kresley Cole, #1
New York Times
bestselling author of
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
“I love this author!”
—P.C. Cast, #1
USA Today
bestselling author of the House of Night series
“Gena Showalter’s sparkling voice shines … the perfect canvas for her sizzling and enthralling paranormal imagination.”
—Deidre Knight, acclaimed author of
Butterfly Tattoo
“Showalter at her finest.”
—Karen Marie Moning,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Shadowfever
“Sizzles with sexual tension!!!”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Sharon Sala
All of Gena Showalter’s Alien Huntress novels are also available as ebooks.
Also by Gena Showalter
Awaken Me Darkly
Enslave Me Sweetly
Savor Me Slowly
Seduce the Darkness
Ecstasy in Darkness
Deep Kiss of Winter
 | Pocket Star Books A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com |
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Gena Showalter
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Pocket Star Books paperback edition September 2011
POCKET STAR BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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.
Cover design by Lisa Litwack
Illustration by Cliff Nielsen
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-4391-7578-1
ISBN 978-1-4391-7580-4 (ebook)
To my amazing editor Lauren McKenna, who saw the diamond in the rough, then helped me see it, too!
To the fabulous Louise Burke and all the wonderful folks at Pocket, for the support and enthusiasm (and such a gorgeous cover
)!
To the awesome Megan McKeever, for helping me out any time I came a-calling!
And to the adorable pocket rocket Jill Monroe, for the pep talks!
And to the incomparable Kresley Cole for the love
.
Acknowledgments
To you, my readers, for falling in love with Noelle and asking for her story!
T
WO MEN STOOD IN
the middle of a shadowed, barren field. Both were human. One was tall, muscled, with dark hair and a busted-up face. His syn-cotton shirt was torn, his jeans dirty, and his boots scuffed. There were telltale weapon bulges under his arms, at his wrists, and at his ankles.
Clearly, he was the bodyguard.
The other wore a perfectly tailored silk business suit, his Italian loafers freshly polished. His sun-kissed hair was expensively coiffed, and the only bulge he sported was the one in his pocket, where he kept his wallet.
Clearly, he was the money.
Acrid wind shrieked as if someone had cranked a hard rock song on a radio, dancing thick dirt granules in every direction, Money radiated impatience mixed with glee—until two other men materialized a few feet away, and the impatience vanished.
The newcomers had appeared in a blink, without walking a single step: a white-haired Arcadian—an otherworlder with the ability to teleport, among other
things—and another human, this one wearing a suit as well, only his was ill-fitting and made from a cheap synthetic fiber.
The human’s arms were cuffed behind his back. He smelled of pungent fear and urine. Poor bastard must have pissed himself.
Without a word, the Arcadian pushed the trembling male to his knees.