Seduced by Pain (22 page)

Oh, and a note from the author: I have the best parents and
most amazing family. The extreme dysfunction in this book is not based on real
life. I get to make stuff up, remember?

Finally, my deepest gratitude to Vickie Dold of IO Book
Tours and Daring Books Design & Marketing for supporting my work and
looking for ways to give my books more visibility, and to Jan Rippingale, for
believing in me even when I didn't believe in myself.

Kimberly Kinrade was born with ink in her veins and magic in
her heart. As a child, where others saw shapes in clouds, she saw words. But she
was also an entrepreneur at heart. So when her business arrangement with the
Tooth Fairy ended, she went pro by writing her fantastical stories and selling
them to all her neighbors.

Fast forward… um… many years and many college degrees later…
and she is now a published author after a long career as a journalist and
freelance writer.

Though she has written in many genres and fields, she's most
passionate about the world of romance, paranormal and fantasy where she writes
award-winning books for children, teens and adults.

When Kimberly's not writing, editing and writing some more, she
runs
Daring Books Design & Marketing
with her husband.

Kimberly lives with her three little girls who think they
are princess ninjas with hidden supernatural powers, her two dogs who think
they are human, her two cats who think they are gods (and probably are) and the
one man who is her husband, soul mate and writing and business partner—Dmytry
Karpov.

Find her at
www.KimberlyKinrade.com

On Twitter:
@KimberlyKinrade

On Facebook:
/KimberlyKinrade

And subscribe to her newsletter for special perks. For a fun
fan-based experience, check out
IPIAcademy.com
and become an Agent-in-Training with International Paranormal Investigations.

SAPPHIRE EYES

An erotic short story

Get it on
Amazon
.

~~~~~

We are pulled to
each other like magnets. Or moths to a flame perhaps? Let's hope the burn doesn't
scorch too badly. Can you handle the heat?

Time and space
disappear and we are alone. The where is irrelevant. Only the who is of any
consequence. You and I. For now. Until such a time that there is no you and I
to speak of. Bodies merged into one.

And then we
dance.

***

Escape into this
erotic short story by award-winning, bestselling author, Kimberly Kinrade and
get lost in the seduction that can happen between heartbeats.

Adult sexual
content. Graphic sex.

Look for other
romance titles from Kimberly Kinrade

SUNRISE & NIGHTFALL

By Kimberly Kinrade
& Dmytry Karpov

Historical Fantasy
Romance

Add it on Goodreads
here
.

He'll risk everything to save her life.

She'll sacrifice it all to save his
soul.

Danika Star
will die soon, her visions have foretold this, and they are never wrong.

Andriy Zorin
will live forever, but not without a price.

They never
expected to fall in love, especially with each other, but fate had other plans.

To save the
woman he loves, Andriy must defy the rulers of his kind and make her immortal.

But even
immortals can be killed.

Set during the
early Renaissance in Venice, Italy under the threat of the Inquisition, Sunrise
& Nightfall is a story about love, death, immortality and the power of
redemption.

Outside of
Venice, Italy

Andriy Zorin

17 May 1522

One year ago
today I lost my heart and gained my soul, because she chose to believe that
anyone could be redeemed from their past, no matter how bloody. I have stayed
busy in that year, rebuilding what had been lost, creating the life she would
have wanted for me—for all of us. Her memory weighs heavy on me always,
but I have, to date, stayed ahead of the grief, if by only a half-step, until
today.

Today I take pause
to grieve and remember and tell the story of the woman who changed the world.
Her name will not be written in books of history, but it will be forever carved
into my soul. Her stack of letters, written in her final days, sit unopened by
this journal, waiting for me to find the courage to read them.

She hasn't
come to me since that night, but I feel her always. Her story mustn't be
forgotten, and I will make sure it's not. This is my story, and her story. Our
story, and the world's story. It is the story of every being who walks the
night or basks in the sun.

The pain is
still so raw, the loss fresh, that once I open this first letter, I know I too
will be ripped open once again, exposed to the pain anew. Why then do I torture
myself in this way? Because with the pain comes the love and the joy of
cherished memories, moments too sweet to let rot from fear.

She would have
wanted me to move on, to live fully, and so I shall try, if only for her.

***

Venice, Italy

Danika Star

17 May 1521

Death stalks
us all, in one form or another. Most fear the death of the body, but this is
the cycle of life, a natural progression to a new reality. It is not to be
feared. But humans act rashly to avoid the unknown, and in so doing often make
deals with the devil, sacrificing their very soul for a longer taste of
life—a sweetness that inevitably turns bitter.

When the first
vision took me, I had no fear. My own death would bring about something greater
than any one life.

When the
second vision took me, I knew the worst kind of fear, and I knew that I only
had a short time to alter the path he had chosen, to save his soul before he
could no longer be redeemed.

I write this
now as I near the end, in hopes that this story, our story, will live on as a
reminder to him… and to others… that no one is past redemption and forgiveness,
and to show that death is not the end, merely the beginning of a new kind of
journey.

***

Venice, Italy

Danika Star

20 October 1519

The chill of
late fall settled in my bones as I hurried through the empty streets of Venice.
A dark cloak made of thick wool protected me from the cold, and from prying
eyes bent on keeping women in their place. Philip kept pace with me, acting as
an unorthodox chaperon for our illicit midnight rendezvous. We had little time
to complete our mission. Within a few hours, the air would fill with the scent
of fresh bread, as the baker prepared for the start of his day. Street urchins
would stake their territories in anticipation of a hot meal. The world, so
quiet now, would slowly awaken, greeted by the sunrise, by the promise
of a new start.

And I had to
be back before any of this happened, or all of our lives would be forfeit.

Tension
vibrated through Philip's stocky form, his green eyes creased in worry. "This
is far too risky, Danika. We should have waited for her at the manor."

A dark tendril
of curl fell out from my hooded cloak as I jerked my head to scan the streets.
The force with which I set it in its place pulled a few strands loose at the
scalp. "My vision left no room for caution. She's in danger and we must
find her."

Sinister
forces brewed in the underbelly of the city, though neither my visions nor our
network of sources had given shape to the ominous weight I felt. We'd been
lucky so far, in as much as we could call it luck. Venice still remained a
haven for the Gifted and Nephilim alike, a place we could all live in peace.
But that peace would soon be shattered, I feared.

We walked
without fire to light our way in order to stay hidden in the shadows. But
Philip's kind ruled the shadows. Though not of the Court of Nightfall, having
been born Nephilim and not turned by blood magic, he still possessed heightened
senses that enabled him to walk as if in full day. The Daywalkers of the Court
of Sunrise had all the power of their Nightwalking kin, with fewer weaknesses.

I stayed close
to him and wrapped myself in my own magic to avoid tripping on the uneven dirt
roads and pebbled paths.

It seemed to
take longer than it actually did to arrive at The Four Bridges Inn, which
ironically was not located near any bridges. The Inn Keeper, a grizzled man of
unknown years named Giovani, greeted us at the back door with a hushed voice
and nervous glances over our shoulders.

A thick accent
turned his words into puzzles to decipher. "She be here, but you not be
taking her any time soon."

I shivered as
a gust of wind blew past me. "We must. Already we have pushed the
timetable for this. Where is she?"

The map of
time that was his face creased in an extraordinary display of tunnels and ridges
when he frowned. "She be with the horses."

Philip flashed
his sharp incisor teeth and the glow of golden white wings shimmered behind his
back. Giovani gasped and cowered into his kitchen, allowing us entrance. Philip
pierced him with a stare. "You are well paid to aid our friends who travel
to Venice. How dare you treat even one of them like livestock."

Nephilim
rarely showed their wings, and though they still remained hidden in a thin veil
of nearly transparent magic, it was enough to remind Giovani that we took our
charge's health and safety very seriously.

A wave of
nausea swept through me and I bent at my waist and clutched my stomach. "I
need to see her. Now!"

Philip
steadied me and carried our bags as Giovani ushered us to the barn. Sweat dripped
from his round face despite the temperature outside, and I began to suspect him
of more than just neglecting our charge. Philip and I exchanged a glance and he
nodded once, sharply. We would have to be on our guard with him, and we might
have to find a new rendezvous spot, if this one had been compromised.