Of A Darker Nature Read Online Free PDF Page A

always goes behind your back, especially when it benefits him.” He breathed a little easier as her fingers loosened in his hair. “You’ve blinded yourself to the truth. It’s become second nature. Do you want me to ignore it too?”
    Isabella's lips brushed against his. Crimson lipstick smeared across his mouth. Her voice fell lower, to a more dangerous level. “What is that supposed to mean? I have the best interests for my blood-clan, for my city. Are you going to tell me how to run my enterprise? Do you think you could do better?”
    Some sick part of him enjoyed the games she played. “You and I both know the answer to that.”
    Isabella swung a slender leg over the chair to straddle him. She had fed recently, the blood still fresh on her breath. Marcus's hunger stirred. Her lips brushed against his and fingers tickled across his chest. With her pressed so intimately against him, he could feel the heat from other, more clandestine areas. Once upon a time, the reek of her lust would have left him rigid and aching. He felt nothing but malevolence toward her now. Marcus stared at her in silence. He learned long ago that affection or any pale resemblance of it came with a tremendous price.
    Isabella was lovely, no one would deny that. At one time, he believed she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Now he viewed her with different eyes, no longer disillusioned by her shrewd lies or sensual ways. As years wore on, her mind succumbed to beliefs of grandeur, and he could no longer disregard it.
    Her pink tongue snaked out and traced the curve of his bottom lip. Teeth nipped at his mouth and begged for his attention. It was all he could do to keep from throwing her off him. He would not act upon those desires, not this time. She had no idea how much restraint he exercised. Or perhaps she did. It would explain why she did her damnedest to knock him off balance. She did this to him, he suspected because he no longer desired to be her bedmate. The truth was, he hadn’t for a long time, but all men had needs, and Isabella knew that better than most.
    She gripped handfuls of his hair, and her lip pulled up in a sneer.
    “Trent is under the witch’s control. He’s the one who told her where to find our place of rest. Trent helped her burn us out. In case you forgot, I lost five of my enforcers in the fire. We almost lost you.” Marcus’s voice was stiff with fury.
    “No. He would never lower himself to work with a meager human, witch or otherwise.” Isabella grew bored with trying to seduce him. She stood then brushed a hand down her skirt. With a dismissive wave, she walked to the door. “I do not believe it.”
    “You can’t be serious, not when your life is at risk.” He stood now, anger forced him forward. He wiped away the lipstick and saliva she'd left on his lips. “There are people out there who aim to kill you!”
    “That is what I have you for, my love. Your sole reason for living is to keep me happy and safe.”
    He narrowed his eyes, but chose not to argue the point. “I will find the witch and stop her from taking control of the city. And when I find Trent…”
    “If Trent is in contact with Starr Carter, it is on my behalf. He must be trying to stop her himself.”
    Marcus groaned. “It's a shock that you've survived this long.”
    “Until you get that fantasy about Trent out of your head, your time is better served at my side. I will keep an eye on you, Marcus.”
    “Don't put me on a leash, Isabella.”
    Laughter danced up her throat, silvery and light. She arched one pale brow and offered an icy smile. “You have always been on a leash, dear one. Consider it shortened.”

 
    Ominous storm clouds hung in the late afternoon sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance and electricity drifted on the humid breeze. Emily parked in front of the mortuary then lifted the hair off the back of her neck in hopes of cooling off.
    Wren, the cleaning lady, alternated between watering plants and