Mere Passion Read Online Free PDF Page A

cheeks. Dark circles hung under his eyes. What’s more, he’d finally gotten word from Dr. Grathers about his next fishing location. It would take at least another week to arrive at the habitat, but soon enough Gracie would find out they were hunting mere again.
    But for Chrissakes, it wasn’t like she didn’t already know what he did for work. Why the hell she stayed on board was a mystery. He didn’t blame her for whatever role she played in the last mermaid escapes. She’d had a rough time of it when she was a lab-rat. He could understand that she wanted revenge, but if he tried to quit Dendric, his family and coven would be banging on his door in no time, guilt-tripping and quite possibly torturing him to go back to the company.
    With a broad swipe, he spread a layer of shaving cream across his jaw and pulled the skin tight for the first swipe of razor. For a moment, a hint of white teeth shone from his mouth, and his pulse raced before he could temper his excitement with a dose of reality. A heavy shrug shook his body. For so many years Karon had looked hopefully at his mouth, thinking that one day his fangs would finally grow. It was a kid’s fantasy. Unfair as it might be, he was born human, despite the vampire genes hidden, un-activated in his DNA.
    Sure every few weeks Dr. Grathers’ assistants shot him full of some new treatment or another meant to switch on the blood-lust. After five years, Karon was starting to feel like a research subject himself. Likelihood had it he would never live to see the benefits of the mad scientists’ work. If his haggard face and red-tinged eyes were any indication, the treatments might even be making him sick.
    Karon rinsed off the last of the soapy mess and stroked his hand against his buttery skin. He remembered the way Gracie used to press her cheek against his after he shaved…right before she’d blow him for information on the company. The smell of her perfume, heck the smell of her, hung in his quarters. He could barely stand to look at his own desk, imagining her body sprawled across it.
    The handle clicked on his sliding door behind him, and a small hand curled around the edge as it opened. The succubus stood in his doorway, her head bowed. Her long, brown hair hung in front of her face, almost covering it. When she finally looked up, those sexy hazel eyes that always grabbed him were filled with tears.
    “John, I’m sorry. I realize now I should have gotten off when you asked me to. I’ll disembark at the next port.” Her face was puffy and drawn, but more than that she looked gray or maybe hungry. He wondered if maybe she hadn’t been getting enough sex now that they weren’t screwing anymore. Not that that was his problem.
    He grunted in relief. “Sure thing, Gracie. Thank you. We’ll be in Svalbard in about a week and a half.”
    Her eyes widened in interest. “That archipelago north of Norway?”
    If possible, his mood dropped even lower. “Yeah, I know it’s a crap place to have to get off, but I don’t have time to stop sooner. I hear there’s an airport there. I’ll give you some cash to fly to mainland Europe.”
    She searched his expression. “Didn’t you hunt in that area once before?”
    “That’s none of your damn business.” He didn’t mean to snap, but his days of letting her bleed him dry for secrets were over.
    She nodded and turned to go. He stepped forward, unable to stop himself. “Listen, are you okay? No offense, but you don’t look so hot.”
    Gracie didn’t look his way but said in a small voice, “I’ll be fine.” The memory of how she had thrown around seduction like a weapon in Key Sirena still stung, but the way she sounded so defeated and resigned now made him feel very small.
    “Are the guys, y’know, pitching in their fair share?” He knew it was none of his business, but the idea of her suffering caused a faint ache in a heart he thought had turned to stone.
    “You know I don’t sleep with the crew