Redemption (A NOVEL OF THE SEVEN SIGNS) Read Online Free PDF

Broadway—Broadway!—and she was celebrating, still dizzy from the lights, the crowd, the adrenaline. The man who’d caught her eye through the smoke in a lantern-lit bar in Chelsea wore a velvet-soft leather jacket, jeans in cowboy boots, a smile that licked her sex from across the room. He’d danced a passionate rumba with her, intoxicating, the feel of his body a rich delight. She’d swooned, drowning in his hot ashen scent…
    Rose’s cheeks burned. She’d thought herself so streetwise, a girl from the projects who’d seen it all. Fit, trained in self-defense, pepper spray in her purse. Besides, she’d dated—ahem, read slept with , she didn’t have time for real dating, not with stage rehearsals and shows until late, and looking after Bridie since Mommy had sold one baggie too many and earnedherself ten-to-twelve in the state pen—she’d dated guys who were a lot less classy. Just warm bodies, staving off loneliness. But this man had style, charm, a hint of sexy threat that tempted her breathless.
    Surrender , he’d whispered later, in his firelit bedroom on Fifth Avenue, the scent of sultry summer blossoms drifting through the open French doors. A beautiful body, lean and muscular, his skin adorned with strange markings, that sexy violet-tinted hair sifting silken heat over her thighs. He wore a threaded necklace of teeth around his neck. Polished human teeth, clinking against her chest as he kissed her. Not real, of course. How could they be real?
    Surrender to me. Just a sex game, right? The way he held her down drove her wild. How his mouth tortured her breasts, her back arching into his caress. His tattooed fingers crushing her wrists, the shattering force as he speared into her, filling her, dragging her screaming to completion. Nothing ever felt this good…and then…
    In the moonlit street, Rose forced a smile. Her nipples hurt. She wanted to cover them, deny her horrid hunger. But still her curse responded to him, yearning for his dark glory…
    She coughed. “I’m tired, master. What do you want?”
    “To discuss your debt, of course.” Fluvium kissed her hand with lips slick like hellfever. His spiked ring scratched her palm and sucked up the blood like a living creature. “The moon’s nearly full. You know what that means.”
    Rose shuddered. Fluvium’s demonic powers waxed with the moon. And this month, he had some big scheme plotted, a grand catastrophe he’d conspired and giggled over with his little demon friend, the sly crimson-haired one called Zuul.
    Zuul—ugh!—Zuul was as creepy as Fluvium, in his way. He liked pain, which made him Fluvium’s new best buddy. She’d heard the two of them, howling and groaning in the dark. Sometimes Zuul played evil hide-and-seek games with the coven vampires, games that ended in rivers of blood.
    Whatever they had planned for that full moon? Not good.
    She resisted a shiver. “My debt? We’re square, aren’t we? I’ve been working.”
    “I can see that, you sexy bitch.” Fluvium sniffed the new angel’s feather knotted into her hair. “Mmm. Is that for me? My beautiful consort. Say you love me.”
    The bitter ashen taunt on his breath sickened her. Unwilled, she recalled that wild golden angel, how he’d tasted her, drank her in, hungered for her touch… She faked a smile. “Umm…”
    “Marry me, Rose. We’ll be so happy.” Fluvium tilted her chin up, and swept her into a kiss.
    Ugh. Hot, slick, talented, so disgusting she retched. His lips bore down, bloodstained and hungry and so vile… She gagged, and broke away.
    She staggered, panting. She’d refused her demon prince. Not a good survival strategy. He was her master. He could kill her, torture her, take her powers away on a whim. Send her to hell, where Bridie waited for her…
    But Fluvium just clicked his tongue, gloating. “That’s no way to treat your future husband. Isn’t there meant to be submission involved in this wedding business? I’m afraid I shall have to