Deep Kiss of Winter

Under the cover of wintry dark shadows, passion's magic ignites a fire too hot to touch—and too wicked to die . . . .

Praise for the
New York Times
bestselling authors of
DEEP KISS OF WINTER

K
RESLEY
C
OLE

“. . . knows what paranormal romance readers crave and superbly delivers on every page.”

—Single Titles

“Cole deftly blends danger and desire into a brilliantly original contemporary paranormal romance. . . . Simply irresistible.”

—
ReaderToReader.com

“You can trust Cole to always deliver sizzling sexy interludes within a darkly passionate romance.”

—
Romantic Times

G
ENA
S
HOWALTER

“. . . [takes her] characters to their sensual and emotional limits—and beyond!”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Susan Sizemore

“A heady mixture. . . . Hard to resist.”

—
Romantic Times

“Sizzles with intrigue. . . . Similar to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. . . . Brilliantly written. . . . Amazing.”

—Fresh Fiction

Untouchable
by Kresley Cole

Acknowledgments

Glossary of Terms from The Living Book of Lore

Epigraph

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Epilogue

Tempt Me Eternally
by Gena Showalter

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

About Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter

Kresley Cole

Dedicated to Lauren McKenna and Gena Showalter, two incredible ladies and unstoppable forces of nature, for a thousand reasons why (and not just because my fabulous editor put me in a book with my favorite author).

Much love to all my fellow rabid Showalter fans, for sharing a boundless admiration and warm affection for all things Gena. To those of you about to be initiated: Yes, we have T-shirts and we meet in the bar.

And thank you to Swede, for your wintry insights and nonstop support. You didn't have to drag me over the finish line on this one, but it means a lot to me that you were ready to.

“. . . and those sentient creatures that are not human shall be united in one stratum, coexisting with, yet secret from, man's.”

• Most are immortal and can regenerate from injuries. The stronger breeds can only be killed by mystical fire or beheading.

• Their eyes change to a breed-specific color with intense emotion.

“When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies in battle, Wóden and Freya heed her call. The two gods give up lightning to strike her, rescuing her to their hall, and preserving her courage forever in the form of the maiden's immortal Valkyrie daughter.”

• Take sustenance from the electrical energy of the earth, sharing it in one collective power, and give it back with their emotions in the form of lightning.

• Possess preternatural strength and speed.

• Without training, most can be mesmerized by shining objects and jewels.

• Two warring factions, the Horde and the Forbearer Army.

• Each vampire seeks his
Bride,
his eternal wife, and walks as the living dead until he finds her.

• A Bride will render his body fully alive, giving him breath and making his heart beat, a process known as
blooding
.

• 
Tracing
is teleporting, the vampires' means of travel. A vampire can only trace to destinations he's previously been or to those he can see.

• 
The Fallen
are vampires who have killed by drinking a victim to death. Distinguished by their red eyes.

“In the first chaos of the Lore, a brotherhood of vampires dominated by relying on their cold nature, worship of logic, and absence of mercy. They sprang from the harsh steppes of Dacia and migrated to Russia, though some say a secret enclave, the Daci, live in Dacia still.”

• The Fallen comprise their ranks.

“. . . his crown stolen, Kristoff, the rightful Horde king, stalked the battlefields of antiquity seeking the strongest, most valiant human warriors as they died, earning him the name of Gravewalker. He offered eternal life in exchange for eternal fealty to him and his growing army.”

• An army of vampires consisting of turned humans, who do not drink blood directly from the flesh.

• Kristoff was raised as a human and then lived among them. He and his army know little of the Lore.

“A warrior nobility who ruled over all the demon serfs in their realm.”

• Were
Féodals,
an ancient term for feudal overlords, which became shortened to
Fey
.

• Masters in the art of poisons.

• Males prefer to be called Drais.

• Over time, divided into numerous subsets, including fire, ice, and forest fey.

“Only through death can one become an ‘other.'”

• Some beings, such as the Lykae, vampires, and demons, can turn a human or even other Lore creatures into their kind through differing means, but the catalyst for change is always death, and success is not guaranteed.

“And a time shall come to pass when all immortal beings in the Lore, from the Valkyrie, vampire, Lykae, and demon factions to the witches, shifters, fey, and sirens . . . must fight and destroy each other.”

• A kind of mystical checks-and-balances system for an ever-growing population of immortals.

• Occurs every five hundred years. Or right now . . .

“They say I'm as fickle as winter, as shy as frost, and as indifferent as a blizzard. It's rumored my body is pure as driven snow. Nobody imagines that I might be full of fire.”

—
D
ANIELA THE
I
CE
M
AIDEN,
V
ALKYRIE AND RIGHTFUL
QUEEN OF THE
I
CERE
,
THE FEY OF THE FROZEN NORTH

“Women are like bottles of liquor. They should be sampled, savored, then discarded. Matrimony is for men who can't handle their liquor.”

—
M
URDOCH
W
ROTH,
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WARLORD,
MODERN VAMPIRE SOLDIER

The French Quarter, New Orleans

Present day

“She's . . . near.”

At his brother's weak and broken words, Murdoch Wroth's eyes narrowed in anger toward the one who'd brought the proud Nikolai so low.

Myst the Coveted, a female immortal with a vicious heart.

And Nikolai's fated Bride.

“How can you tell?” Murdoch asked.

“Because I can
feel
her,” Nikolai said.

Murdoch adjusted Nikolai's arm, which he'd slung across his shoulders to help his brother walk as they searched. The humans milling all around them merely assumed Nikolai was another drunk.