Authors: Tessa Adams
Dark Embers
Table of Contents
Desire Burns Hotter Than Fire
H
e wrapped his free hand around her waist and tugged until she was standing between the deep V of his open legs, so close that the outsides of her thighs were touching the inner part of his.
She was cool compared to him, but the difference in their body temperatures only made the contact feel better. More forbidden.
He’d spent the past few centuries having sex with every female dragon that would have him—all in search of a mate. There was something liberating—something infinitely arousing—in his attraction to this woman who was so very different from him.
This woman who so obviously was not meant for him.
He took a deep breath, and his chest brushed against her breasts. She started, tried to move back, but his hand was still wrapped around her lower back and he wasn’t ready for her to move away. Not by a long shot.
“Dylan.” Her breath was coming much too fast, her pupils dilating until they all but covered the bright blue of her irises. Her apricot skin had once again flushed to a most becoming pink, and her nipples were poking through the thin cotton of her shirt. It took all his concentration to rip his eyes away.
“Phoebe.” His voice came out low and deep, sounding more like the dragon than he would have liked as he drew his gaze back to her face. But there was no help for it. She was delicious—every part of her sweetly desirable—and he wanted her. Even knowing she wasn’t the one for him, even knowing that it would complicate things unbearably if he had her, he couldn’t stop the burn.
HEAT
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First published by Heat, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, July 2010
Copyright © Tessa Adams, 2010 All rights reserved
HEAT is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:
Adams, Tessa.
Dark embers: a dragon’s heat novel/Tessa Adams.
p. cm.
eISBN: 9781101457733
I. Title.
PS3623.O57D37 2010
813’.6—dc22 2010009817
Set in Minion Regular
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For Emily and Becky
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W
hile writing a book is a solitary process, getting it to print is anything but, and, as always, there are many people I need to thank.
All of the people at NAL, especially Claire Zion and Becky Vinter, for giving me a chance to write what I love, and the art department for the beautiful, beautiful covers I am always lucky enough to be blessed with.
Charlotte Featherstone, for her incredible words of encouragement as I worked my way through this book.
My family, who put up with ready-made meals and a very messy house as my deadline closed in on me.
Sherry, Shellee and Courtney, the best roommates and friends a girl could ever ask for.
And because I couldn’t have written this book without them:
Emily Sylvan Kim, my patient, intrepid and absolutely fantastic agent who makes the business of writing a true joy.
And Jhanteigh Kupihea, my new and wonderful editor. She has taken terrific care of me and this book despite getting stuck with us midstream, and I will be forever grateful for her help and enthusiasm.
PROLOGUE
H
e’d failed. Again.
Locked inside his head, tormented by shades of what might have been, Dylan MacLeod stepped into the night and closed the heavy wooden door behind him.