A Glimpse of the Dark Side: Adult Paranormal Erotic Romance Collection (13 page)

"Wow," Marielle exclaimed. "What did you say to
her?"

"Nothing too complicated," he replied with a
slight smile. "She needed to understand why her actions weren't
acceptable. She'll most likely be calling you tomorrow in a highly
apologetic frame of mind."

"Where did you come from and how in the hell did
you see her?" Marielle continued to interrogate him.

"I just happened to be out taking a walk and
heard her screaming. I followed the sound of her voice and here I
am."

"Well, we can't thank you enough, right
Secret?"

Secret hadn't uttered a word throughout the
exchange. It was clear to her in a flash that this man was her
watcher.

"Hey, why don't you come in and have a glass of
wine with us? It's the least we can do, right Secret?" Marielle
continued to try to elicit some response from Secret.

"I'm quite sure that he's got more important
things to do than spend his evening with us, Mari. Will you please
go check on the shrimp? I'm afraid it may boil over."

"Um, sure, okay," Marielle said in a puzzled
voice.

As soon as Marielle was out of hearing, Secret
turned back to face the man standing on her front porch.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"I apologize. I've neglected to introduce myself
in all the excitement. My name is Kane Broussard. It is a pleasure
to meet you."

"Mr. Broussard, I do thank you for your help
this evening. However, I won't be inviting you into my home. You
see, I know what you are. Obviously, my friend does not. I also
know that you've been tracking me for some time now. I'm not sure
what I have that you could possibly want, but I do know that your
kind doesn't stalk someone without a reason. Please go away and
don't come back."

Before he could reply, she had closed the door
in his face. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he was angry or
amused. In the end, he decided that he found her reaction to him
very entertaining. He also found that he was quite excited by her
lack of fear, even with the knowledge of what he was.

Fine, he would leave for now. But this was not
going to be their last meeting.

He and Ms. Secret Lavalle had a lot to discuss;
and discuss these things, they would. Her beauty notwithstanding,
she had a spirit that attracted him like no other woman ever had.
He knew that she was still watching him through the peephole in her
door. That knowledge made him smile at her and incline his head in
a slight nod.

Then, just as she had demanded, he turned and
left.

***

Next Book in the IN THE BLOOD Series:

KINSHIP TO THE BLOOD

His skin tone slightly paler than most, with
a firm build and impressive height, Kane's raven-black hair and
cerulean eyes ignite women with heated desire. Secret senses their
inevitable meeting with caution as he leads her on with his
supernatural charm.

The night after Kane and Secret's first
meeting amid shattered glass and psychic fallout, he continues to
eye her from afar. One question is on his mind as he waits for
their next meeting: Will she know who I am?

Secret is no stranger to vampires. A
nightwalker of New Orleans since her teenage years, she first
sensed a vampire at the same time she realized she had a special
knack for premonition. Not only is she an adept psychic, she also
senses superhuman qualities in people when she sees them. Secret
remembers her first meeting with a beautiful young vampire
temptress, the one who's had a mysterious fear of Secret.

But Kane is unique -- he is attracted to her
like no other. Her preternatural abilities are exceptionally
alluring to him, but since meeting him, Secret notices that
vampires keep appearing on her doorstep, like they sense something
they want in her blood....

Is Secret in danger, or is she about to find
her past, her present, and her future?

***

PICTURE PERFECT DREAM: ANGEL-AT-LAW 1

by Sandra Ross

***

"HONESTLY, DR. ADDISON! This is all a huge
misunderstanding!"

Dr. Dreama Addison studied the attractive young
woman sitting across from her. She was a bit on the thin side with
long, brown hair and deep brown eyes, but she was pretty enough. At
the moment, she was fidgeting without seeming to notice it. To
Dreama, this was a sign of lying.

"Allison, do you understand why you've been
court-ordered to see me?" Dreama asked.

"Of course, I understand why the judge
thought
I might need some therapy sessions, but I
promise
you that it is all a misunderstanding!" Allison
replied with her voice squeaking into higher levels at certain
points.

"Why don't you tell me why the judge feels that
you need to see me, Allison?"

"Well, because Daniel said that I was
stalking
him, of all things! But I wasn't stalking him. We
just happen to eat and shop or whatever at the same places. Just
because we aren't together just now shouldn't mean that I have
change my favorite places."

"Allison, how long have you and Daniel been
apart?"

"Well, about six months ago, he said that we
needed to take a break, but he's going to come back to me."

Repressing a sigh, Dreama made a few notes and
then looked back at her patient.

"Allison, I was under the impression that Daniel
and his wife had reunited. Is that correct?"

"Oh that's just what
she
says! You see,
Daniel just had to
pretend
to go back to her, don't you see?
He's just waiting for the right time before he comes back to
me."

"Allison, let me explain to you what I've been
told and then we can discuss it together," Dreama said.

Then she read all of the facts regarding her
patient.

Allison Gardner and Daniel Bradley had begun an
affair over a year ago. Approximately, six months previously,
Allison had begun to demand that Daniel leave his wife and commit
to Allison. Daniel refused and, instead, left Allison after
deciding to give his marriage another try.

That was when all of the trouble began.

Allison simply could not, or would not, accept
that Daniel was no longer a part of her life. She began to stalk
him, although she adamantly refused to admit that it was anything
more than just running into him when they were both out dining or
shopping. Of course it also made perfect sense to Allison that they
would run into each other at such places as the public library,
coffee shop, diner at lunch, and even the car wash. They simply
must have maintained the exact same schedule for these things.

There might not have been any action that Daniel
could take if she had just kept to these places where anyone had a
right to be no matter who else may have been there.

However, Allison branched out to parking down
the street from Daniel's house.

She also took to following Daniel's wife all
over the place and gave her threatening glares. These instances
increased by leaps and bounds, but they still had not reached the
point where any legal action could be taken.

That all changed one night, when Allison broke
into Daniel's house while they were out.

She went into the master bedroom and
meticulously cut all his wife's clothing items into ribbons with a
pair of scissors. Then she left all of the evidence strewn across
the, bed as well as the floor and dresser. Next, she poured bleach
all over Daniel's clothes, leaving white discoloration
everywhere.

Once she had left as much damage as possible,
she went back outside to her car, which she had left parked a few
houses down. In fact, she had not even attempted to hide. She had
waited until Daniel and his wife returned home so she could witness
their reaction to what she had done.

This meant that she was still watching when the
police arrived to investigate. This made it so much easier for them
to arrest her for breaking and entering, plus malicious
vandalism.

Since Allison had a clean record with not even a
parking ticket in her past, she was let off easy as long as she
attended regular therapy sessions with a psychiatrist. Dreama
offered to take a few court-ordered cases each month, depending on
her caseload. She just happened to have a few vacancies at the
moment so she had agreed to take on Allison as a patient.

Allison was proving to be quite interesting. So
far, Dreama could see that this woman was completely delusional.
But that was only scraping the surface. There were many more layers
to this woman's personality and Dreama intended to uncover them
all.

She watched Allison's face as she heard the
accusations against her. It was clear that Allison didn't accept
them. She had excuses for all of the stalking incidents. As for the
breaking and entering and vandalism, she simply refused to
acknowledge or discuss that.

"Well, Allison, you and I have quite a bit of
work to do but I'll be here with you every step of the way. The
first step is for you to understand what has actually taken place
and what the difference is between reality and what you perceive as
reality. So far, you don't seem to comprehend what your situation
is and that is what we need to work on first. Do you understand
what I am saying to you?"

"Of course I understand what you're saying! Do
you think I'm a complete moron?" Allison cried.

"No, Allison, I don't think you're a moron --
complete or any other kind. But we do have some work to do so that
you can fully comprehend what has happened. However, I cannot help
you until you agree that you need treatment."

"I don't need anything, Dr. Addison. That's what
I am trying to
tell
you! This has all been a complete and
total
misunderstanding!
"

"Allison, if you are refusing to work with me,
you leave me no choice but to hospitalize you for a few days to
stabilize you. In case you do not understand, the court has ordered
that you either work with me or you will be remanded to
custody."

"What does that mean? They can't
force
me
to do this!"

"Actually, Allison, they can. But I would much
rather that you work with me willingly rather than having to
hospitalize you for a bit. That will be up to you, though."

At this point, Allison came completely
unglued.

ALLISON BEGAN SHRIEKING at the top of her lungs,
gnashing her teeth and thrashing about on the sofa.

Quickly, Dreama pushed a concealed button
underneath her desk while opening a draw and withdrawing a syringe
and a vial containing a sedative. She kept these on hand for just
such emergencies. They didn't happen often but one of these
situations only had to happen once to insure that she wasn't caught
unawares again.

Within seconds, Noah, her assistant was in her
office and was in the process of restraining Allison long enough
for Dreama to give her a shot. The sedative was fast acting and
started to take effect almost instantly.

Allison gradually stopped shrieking and started
to fall over.

Noah caught her and laid her gently on the
sofa.

"Wow," he said as he stepped back and stood with
Dreama. "What happened to her?"

"She's very delusional," Dreama answered
quietly. "I didn't realize just how serious it was until it was too
late. Thank you for your help. I'm going to have to hospitalize
her. I'll call and make the arrangements."

"Okay, Doc," Noah said. "Do you need for me keep
an eye on her for you?"

"No, she will be fine. I expect she will remain
unconscious until the ambulance arrives, but thank you."

"Sure thing. That's why you pay me the big
bucks," he said over his shoulder as he left her office and headed
back to the reception area.

Noah Chase was a true lifesaver. Not only was he
a registered nurse but was a body builder proficient in several
forms of martial arts as well as a great office manager. With Noah,
she got an office manager, emergency nurse and a bodyguard all in
one. She damn well paid him what he was worth and then some.

He was, quite simply, irreplaceable.

Dreama made the phone calls to arrange what she
needed for Allison. She had really hoped to avoid this step, but it
was pretty clear that she had no choice.

Allison was not functional enough to be on her
own. She had at least 72 hours to work with Allison and try to get
her grounded somewhat.

Beyond that, she would have to see.

The ambulance arrived in record time, and
without flashing lights or sirens. Dreama had requested that they
not draw any more attention to themselves than necessary. She had
explained that the patient was sedated for now and was in no
immediate danger.

Most of the EMTs had worked with her at one time
or another and she had a good relationship with them, that's why
they paid attention to her requests when she needed to call on
them. She was happy to say this wasn't all that often.

Noah let the EMTs into her office and she
explained the situation. She told them what she had given Allison
and how much of it. They noted everything as they loaded her onto a
gurney.

"I will be at the hospital shortly," she told
them as they were leaving with Allison.

Noah would need to postpone her last two
appointments of the day and reschedule them. She was going to need
to make sure Allison was settled and receiving medication
immediately.

Well, maybe she would at least be finished in
time to make dinner with Hollianne and Erick, she thought.

She had promised them for ages that she would
visit them, but something always seemed to get in the way.
Hollianne had come into Moon Bay a few times so that they could
grab lunch and do some dress fittings for Holli's upcoming wedding
to Erick Angell. But, so far, Dreama hadn't quite made it to the
castle.