Her Dark Lord Read Online Free PDF Page A

entertained humans on occasion, fed them before feeding on them.
    “Wow.” It no longer seemed so hard to imagine Sean really lived here.
    Ronan chuckled. “I take it you like what you see?”
    She summoned an answer, but before she realized his intention, he caught her hand in his and then tugged her inside behind him.
    Breath whooshed from between her clenched lips. No! She swiveled toward him, her heart galloping at double speed. The fool had crossed the threshold—uninvited—into the great vampire’s lair.
    Ronan gave a half smile, then murmured, “Welcome to my home.”

Chapter Four
    Her throat went dry. A roar in her ears intensified then receded, dizziness assailing her as carefully withheld emotions spilled free, overwhelming and intense. She stumbled, and Ronan—Sean—steadied her with an iron grip.
    “ You’re Sean?” she whispered, dazed. But it all made so much sense in hindsight. She’d been so blinded by him, her thoughts so scattered, she’d never once registered that her senses didn’t buzz forewarning as they did with other nightwalkers.
    Hysteria surged, a bitter laugh almost spilling free. He wasn’t just any other vampire. He was the Ancient One, a dark lord whose unearthly aura was effortlessly contained. He had more power, more control and more knowledge than she’d probably ever have even if she did happen to live to his present age.
    It was rumored he was a freak of nature, a gifted elder vampire, to have thwarted so many enemies and survived such a lifespan.
    “Sean Edward Ronan Maximillus—” he swept a theatrical bow “—at your service. But, please, call me Ronan.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice cracked. “Why play games with me?”
    His hard stare appeared to soften. “It’s never been a game,” he rasped. “I desire you like no woman ever before.” Grooves etched into his smooth brow. “Is it so bad to have you want me, for me? And not because I’m the Ancient One?”
    Something joyous quivered to life within her, but the emotion quickly dissolved, as the blood drained from her face. Light-headedness gradually receded, but her pulses jumped in alarm. Had she come all this way, searched frantically for the Ancient One, only to discover he couldn’t help her mother after all?
    His frown deepened, a mocking glint in his stare. “I’m not that big a disappointment, surely?”
    “I thought…I’d hoped, you could help me,” she whispered.
    He stepped closer, his hand curling around her arm once again before he drew her to a low and comfy lounge. He sat beside her, all lean animal grace. “What makes you imagine I can’t?” he asked.
    She pressed a hand to her brow, looking straight ahead. “I…I thought you’d be different.” She turned to him. Her hand dropped and she shrugged. “Older.”
    “You expected some evil, pasty-faced vampire straight out of a horror novel?” At her silence he clucked his tongue and said, “You really have been kept in the dark. Such a shame.”
    She raised her chin. How could he possibly understand her deep-seated mistrust of her own kind? She swallowed past the tightness in her throat and admitted, “My mother brought me up as mortal.”
    If he disapproved, he didn’t show it. Even so, she found herself leaping to her mother’s defense. “If she hadn’t, vampires would have killed her—just for her awareness of the immortal race.”
    He crooked a dark brow and said softly, “You don’t really believe your presence wasn’t noticed, do you?”
    “What do you mean?” But the sinking feeling deep in her belly confirmed her growing suspicion.
    “Youngling vampires may have been fooled by your humanness , but the elder of our species certainly weren’t.”
    “So you knew about me?”
    “Yes.” He smiled, completely unrepentant. “Half-breeds are extremely rare. We keep track.” His eyes darkened. “And we’ve never made it a practice to kill off mortal parents who know how to keep