The Darkling's Desire Read Online Free PDF Page B

pulled her in tight.
    Grunting against the forced embrace, Anastasia shoved solidly
at his back. He was mildly surprised when she managed to free herself enough to
peer around his chest. She spoke before he was able to form words.
    “Petra?” He heard the slight hitch in Anastasia’s steady pulse,
knew it was nerves. How did she know this ghost from his past? “What are you…I
mean… Nastavnyk . Petra. I am honored with your
presence.”
    “ Nastavnyk ?” Jasper’s eyes raked
over the woman. She was dressed in something skintight and black, her pale gold
hair pulled into a severe knot at the nape of her neck. The last time that he
had seen her had been nearly twenty years ago, and she was as attractive now as
she had been then.
    Unlike when he had seen her last, his cock didn’t ache for her
touch, nor did his heart still bleed at her betrayal.
    Also unlike that last time, her heart rate did not accelerate
at the sight of him. She no longer feared him, and he didn’t know what, exactly,
that meant.
    His former lover levelled a look at him, her crimson lips
curving into a smile while heavy lids lowered over steel-colored eyes that
looked dead.
    Anastasia seemed to sense that something was off, but lowered
her head in deference regardless. Jasper didn’t like seeing his spitfire of an
Amazon so subdued. Twisting, yet still keeping an eye on Petra, he took
Anastasia’s chin in his hand, forced her to lift her eyes to meet his own.
    “What is Nastavnyk ? How do you know
her?”
    Anastasia pushed against Jasper’s back, and was insistent
enough that he finally released the grip that he had on her hips. Moving forward
until she stood beside him, she retained the deferential air, but he noted that
she didn’t approach the woman.
    Smart Anastasia. Danger hung heavily in the air, so thick that
he could have eaten it with a spoon.
    “ Nastavnyk is…mentor. She trained
me.” Anastasia spoke hesitantly, as if revealing a deep secret. He watched as
emotions played over her face. She knew something was wrong, and didn’t know
why.
    “You’ve come a long way.” Jasper waited for Petra to say
something, to explain.
    She did not, and he couldn’t even begin to guess. His mind had
been fogged by the woman that he was trying now to protect, by her mysterious
supernatural nature, by her humanity, something that other Amazons lacked.
He…well, he felt something for her that he’d never felt before.
    Now wasn’t the time to analyze that feeling, but he would
protect this woman so that he could explore it further.
    Anastasia may not fully understand yet that she needed
protection—in fact, she seemed to be confused, and Jasper sensed that Petra was
someone very important to her. But Jasper knew his ex, knew how bloodthirsty and
ruthless her nature was.
    Whatever Petra’s reasons for appearing here, they wouldn’t be
good.
    Anastasia looked back and forth between Jasper and Petra.
“You…know each other?” The slightest trickle of mint trickled into her scent,
and Jasper recognized it as the barest whisper of jealousy.
    He liked it, even in this odd, dangerous situation he liked
it.
    Petra shook her head slowly from side to side, the light of the
moon glowing in her eyes as she moved. Jasper thought that the reflection made
her look more than a little crazy.
    Petra smiled at him, reached out a hand in his direction. “I’m
surprised that that little brain of yours hasn’t figured things out by now.”
    That “little brain” was whirling now, trying to make a
connection, to discover what Petra was here for.
    “The past is the past. It doesn’t explain why you are here.”
Jasper turned back to Petra, still glaring. None of it made sense. He wanted to
hear an explanation from her deceitful lips, but was also buying time. It
couldn’t be a coincidence that Anastasia had stumbled his way, not if she was
Petra’s protégé.
    “I’m here to finish what my little one here couldn’t.” Even
though her teacher