BAYOU NOËL (5 page)

He studied her upturned face for a long,
tender moment, almost as if he were memorizing how the moonlight
played over her features.

“I’ve devoted my life to my career, always
convinced that I could never be a good mate or father if I was
thousands of miles away.” Regret was threaded through his voice.
“But the thought of actually losing you has made me look at myself
and admit that I’ve been a coward.”

Molly felt her cat crouch inside her, warily
curious to discover where this was going. “Coward?”

His hand slid to circle her neck, holding her
gaze as his thumb pressed against her thundering pulse.

“I loved my parents, and more than that, I
respected them, but I never truly felt like I had a home,” he
confessed, unknowingly echoing the words his mother had shared
earlier. “When I was small I used to think if I could just be good
enough, or smart enough, or talented enough, my parents would want
to be with me. Then, one day, I just stopped hoping.” He leaned
down, pressing his lips against hers in a kiss that made her knees
weak. “Until you.”

Her hands grabbed his upper arms, her heart
melting at the thought of the lonely little boy who was afraid to
wish for a true home.

“Oh.”

“It terrified the hell out of me to suddenly
long for something I’d spent so many years denying I could have,”
he continued, his hand compulsively stroking up and down her neck,
as if he was hungry for the feel of her warm skin. “So I kept you
at a distance, even when every single part of me was aching to draw
you closer.”

A fragile, terrifying hope began to spread
through Molly’s heart. “What do you want from me, Garrick?” she
breathed.

His eyes glowed with the power of his cat,
his enticing musk teasing at her senses.

“Everything,” he growled, sweeping his lips
over her forehead. “Your heart.” He used his tongue to trace the
shell of her ear. “Your soul.” He nipped her lower lip. “Your
body.” He skimmed his lips down the curve of her neck. “Your
future.” He lifted his head to study her with a wistful expression.
“Be my mate, Molly.”

She tentatively reached up to touch the face
that had haunted her dreams for years.

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my
life,” he rasped.

“But your career—”

“Is just that,” he interrupted, wrapping his
arms around her waist so he could haul her tight against his body.
“A job. You are my life.”

She hesitated. She’d been disappointed so
many times. Then, seeing the stark need that glowed in his honey
eyes, she allowed a slow smile to curve her lips.

It might have taken her walking out to bring
him to his senses, or maybe a wish upon a Noël star, but she wasn’t
about to allow happiness to slip through her fingers.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she went
onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth.

“And you’re mine.” Another kiss. This one
deeper…lingering. “All mine.”

He growled low in his throat. “As much as I’d
like to stay and complete our mating, we don’t want to miss
lighting our candles.” He gently took the candle and picture from
her hands, threading their fingers as he pulled her toward the bank
of the bayou. “Together.”

“
Together,” she echoed, pure joy filling her heart as they
stepped onto the barge that Garrick had thoughtfully decorated with
sprigs of holly. Minutes later they began floating down the canal
lined by trees already glowing with candlelight.
“
Joyeux
Noël,
Garrick,” she murmured softly.

He sent her a smile filled with the promise
of a thousand tomorrows.

“
Joyeux
Noël, my sweet Molly.”

Alexandra Ivy
is
a
New York
Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of the
Guardians of Eternity series, as well as the Immortal Rogues. After
majoring in theatre she decided she prefers to bring her characters
to life on paper rather than stage. She lives in Missouri with her
family. Visit her website at
alexandraivy.com
.

Book list:

Guardians of Eternity

Hunt the Darkness

June 3, 2014

978-1420125153

Wicked Firsts

August 19, 2013

Darkness Avenged

June 4, 2013, Zebra

ISBN 978-1420111385

Levet

March 26, 2013

Fear the Darkness

September 1,2012, Zebra

ISBN 978-1420111378

Bound by Darkness

December 6,2011, Zebra

ISBN 978-1420111361

The Real Werewives of Vampire County

November 2011, Kensington

ISBN 978-0758261588

Supernatural

September 2011, Kensington

ISBN 978-1420109887

Yours for Eternity

September 2011, Kensington

ISBN 978-1420112283

Devoured by Darkness

November 2010, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN 978-1420111354

Beyond the Darkness

April 2010, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN 978-1420102987

Darkness Unleashed

November 2009, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN 978-1420102970

Darkness Revealed

March 2009, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN 978-1-4201-0296-34

Darkness Everlasting

May 2008, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN 978-0-8217-7939-2

Embrace the Darkness

November 2007, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN-10: 0821779370

ISBN-13: 978-0821779378

When Darkness Comes

January 2007, Zebra Paranormal

ISBN 0-8217-7935-4

Immortal Rogues Series

*
Please note this
series is a reprint from the 2003 Historical Vampire Series written
as Deborah Raleigh
*

My Lord Vampire

#1 in the Immortal Rogues Series

February 28, 2012, Zebra

ISBN 978-1420122718

My Lord Eternity

#2 in the Immortal Rogues Series

December 4, 2012, Zebra

ISBN 978-1-4201-2861-1

My Lord Immortality

#3 in the Immortal Rogues Series

December 31, 2012, Zebra

ISBN 978-1-4201-2272-5

Sentinel Series

Predatory

Sentinel Anthology

May 7, 2013

ISBN 978-1-4201-2512-2

Born in Blood

Book #1 Sentinel series

December 31, 2013

ISBN 978-1420125146

Bayou Heat Series

Bayou Heat Raphael & Parish

Book #1 and #2 in the Bayou Heat Series

January 7, 2013

ISBN 978-0-9886245-0-4

Bayou Heat Bayon & Jean-Baptiste

Book #3 and #4 in the Bayou Heat Series

April 11, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-9886245-1-1

Bayou Heat Talon & Xavier

Book #5 and #6 in the Bayou Heat Series

ISBN 0988624575

July 8, 2013

Laura Wright:

USA Today
best
selling author of the Mark of the Vampire series,
Laura Wright
is passionate about
romantic fiction. Born and raised in Minnesota, she was an actor,
singer, and competitive ballroom dancer prior to becoming a writer.
Laura now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two young
children, and three lovable dogs. Visit her website at
laurawright.com

Booklist
:

Mark of the Vampire

Book 1: Eternal Hunger

978-0451231499

Book 2: Eternal Kiss

978-0451233844

Book 2.5: Eternal Blood (Especial)

Book 3: Eternal Captive

978-0451235879

Book 4: Eternal Beast

978-0451237729

Book 4.5: Eternal Beauty (Especial)

Book 5: Eternal Demon

978-0451239754

Book 6: Eternal Sin (November 5, 2013)

978-0451240163

Bayou Heat Series

Bayou Heat Raphael & Parish

Book #1 and #2 in the Bayou Heat Series

January 7, 2013

ISBN 978-0-9886245-0-4

Bayou Heat Bayon & Jean-Baptiste

Book #3 and #4 in the Bayou Heat Series

April 15, 2013

Bayou Heat Talon & Xavier

Book #5 and #6 in the Bayou Heat Series

July 9, 2013

Bayou Heat Sebastian & Aristide

Book #7 and #8 in the Bayou Heat Series

November, 2013

BAYOU NOEL

‘
Tis the season for new
beginnings

Molly is through with spending Bayou Noel
alone - after waiting five years for Garrick to notice her as more
than just his mother’s caregiver. The aggravating male might always
have a place in her heart, but she’s determined to find someone who
wants to build a family with her. She has no idea that writing a
letter of resignation will bring Garrick back to the Wildlands.

It will take a miracle to bring them
together

Garrick can’t believe that Molly is willing
to walk away. She’s not only become irreplaceable to his mother,
but he’s become addicted to her letters when he was far away from
home. He’ll be damned if he is going to let her slip away. But once
back in the Wildlands, Garrick is forced to choose between opening
his heart to the female he loves or risk losing her forever.

Sneak Peek for

by

Alexandra Ivy

Coming December 31, 2013

From Zebra Publishing

PROLOGUE

Valhalla had always been shrouded in
mystery.

Named for the home of the Norse gods, the
leaders of the sprawling compound claimed that it was a safe-house
for those people too unique to live among normal society.

Of course, everyone knew that was just a
polite way of saying that it was a home for freaks.

Witches, psychics, necromancers, Sentinels
and God only knew what else roamed the grounds protected by a layer
of powerful spells.

For the past century, Valhalla had been a
source of fear and fascination throughout the entire world, but
most especially for the citizens of the small, Midwest town that
could see the shimmer of blue reflecting off the protective dome
that hid the buildings from view.

Not surprisingly, there were citizens who
called for the entire place to be nuked.

The freaks were dangerous, they insisted,
with powers that none of them truly understood. Who knew what the
monsters would do if someone pissed them off?

Then there were others that said they should
be locked away and studied like lab rats. Perhaps their mutations
could be used to help normal people.

Most, however, preferred to ignore Valhalla
and the high-bloods...as they preferred to be called...living
behind the dome.

Until, of course, they needed them.

CHAPTER 1

Kansas City, KS

Sergeant Duncan O’Conner was late to the
party.

Nursing a hangover from hell, he took two
painkillers with a gallon of hot coffee and steered his POS cop car
through the light Sunday traffic and entered the gated community in
the southwest suburbs.

The call had hit his cell phone at three in
the afternoon. An hour before he’d hauled his sorry ass out of bed.
It’d taken another half hour under the shower to peel his throbbing
eyes open and get rid of the stench of cheap whiskey and even
cheaper cigars.

His first thought had been to call in and
tell them to find someone else. Wasn’t it supposed to be his damned
weekend off rotation? Let Caleb deal with the latest stiff.

Then the thought that the entire station
would suspect he’d spent the night of his ex-wife’s latest wedding
getting shit-faced drunk sent him stumbling to his car. Yeah, cause
his bloodshot eyes and old man shuffle wasn’t going to give the
game away, he acknowledged wryly. But while he could take the
razzing, he couldn’t take the thought of them feeling sorry for
him.

Never that.

He might be a pathetic loser, but he was a
pathetic loser who was damned good at his job.

Entering the cul-de-sac, Duncan parked his
car and headed into the brick house. He ignored the speculative
glances from the neighbors that had gathered in a little clutch
across the street. He was accustomed to females checking out his
spare, well-honed body shown to advantage in a pair of faded jeans
and black tee. Even with his short, pale blond hair damp from the
shower and his stubborn jaw shadowed with a golden stubble, he had
the look of a man who knew what to do with a woman. Match that with
a pair of hazel eyes that sparkled with wicked charm and they were
like putty in his hands.

The men tended to be more interested in the
gun holstered at his side and the hard expression on his lean face
that warned he only needed an excuse to kick someone’s ass.

His own attention was focused on the house as
he stepped into the small, but elegant foyer. Not the sort of house
a young woman could afford without some help. From daddy. Or more
likely, from sugar daddy.