Hard Irish (36 page)

Aerik feared the vampire race would soon face extinction, despite him leading the Blood Defenders in the war against the slayers.

So even though she bore the tiny birthmark of a vampire’s mate, he refused to bring her into the cursed world in which he lived.  At least that had been his resolve over the years. But with each passing season that resolve grew harder to keep, for his body throbbed harder to know hers from the tip of his fangs to the depths of his immortal soul.

The scrolled iron doors of the crypt and the confines of his hooded cloak kept him from seeing as much of her as he wanted, but he was close enough to breathe in her soft scent of seductive flowers and sweet blood.  It was a torture he couldn’t resist.  Fisting his hands, he sank his fangs into the flesh of his mouth as desire rushed through him in a hot, muscle-hardening wave of desperation.  As much as he tried, he’d been unable to assuage his need with another woman, mortal or immortal.

He should be known as
Aerik the Foolish
for living in this tormenting limbo.  Perhaps if he kissed her just once, he’d learn she wasn’t as special as he imagined.  He could do it tonight.  Steal into her room, put her into a trance and kiss her.  No harm would be done to her. She’d only awaken the next morning with the pleasant sensation of having dreamed of something pleasurable.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t invited him to do so.

What harm could one kiss bring? 

About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles/ JL Saint/ Jennifer Saints might have a split personality.  Or as a nurse and mother of three, she knows how to multi-task.  She writes in a number of genres from gothic historicals, paranormal thrillers, romantic suspense, and sexy contemporary romance.  She has won a number of awards for writing excellence including, two National Reader’s Choice Awards, two-time Maggie Award Winner, Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award, along with RT Book Club’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Gothic/Mystery.  She loves hearing from her readers via her
website
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Twitter @jenniferstgiles

From the Author's Mouth

What can I tell you about me?

I don’t play video games or watch horror because I can’t take the heat, but give me a kickass thriller every minute of every day and I am there. Be prepared for a Hoover Dam meltdown if you’re with me and the movie is sad. So, to avoid disaster, I love romantic comedies.

Never coffee. Always tea. Never beer. Always champagne. There’s more, but hey, gotta save some secrets until after the first date, right?

I grew up in Miami. Went to nursing school in Georgia, where I now reside. I raised and home schooled three great kids. I wrote for nine years before I sold a book, which made me a firm believer that a person should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP ON THEIR DREAMS.

I remember my father’s remark after a particularly scandalous story about one of my ancestors, a story that involves a conspiracy, treason, betrayal, murder, and execution, a story that after a drink or two in the bar, I might be enticed to share. Anyway, what my father said was, “You can’t keep a good man down.” And I kind of see that in myself. Not that I am necessarily good, because the definitions of moral words are often relative, but I do persevere, and I am resilient. Nothing in life has ever worked out the way I planned for it too. In many areas of my life, I have yet to reach the level I thought I would, of where I envisioned I would be, but I haven’t given up. I won’t give up. I continue to work hard and do everything I can to help who I can and to make my dreams come true.

Besides great kids, family, and friends, that perseverance has so far garnered me a USA Today Bestselling tag and twelve plus books on the shelf in a number of genres (contemporary romantic suspense, historical suspense, paranormal suspense, and contemporary romance). I’ve won a number of writing awards, two National Choice Awards, three Maggie Awards, a RT Book Club Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award, the Marlene Award, and the Golden Heart Award to name most of them. I work with several amazing women in a charity to raise money for a shelter that helps abused and homeless women and children. I’ve revived my nursing career after a long hiatus, have renewed my license, and have found the right job for now.

I know there are many more great things ahead.

I write romance because I believe that when you boil all of life down to its essence, if you take a human being to the very core of his existence, then you will find that what matters more than anything else is to be loved and to give love.

Life is all about choices and to pull from one of Erich Fromm’s quote,
I choose to create and to love rather than destroy and to hate.

I hope you enjoy my stories.

Go forth, dream, believe, create, inspire, and love,

Jenni  (J.L. Saint, Jennifer St. Giles, Jennifer Saints)