The Nightlife: Las Vegas (The Nightlife Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

him like this.  A very attractive proposition.
    He made the decision without
once thinking of the consequences.  He had to have her, had to acquire her.  For keeps.  He couldn’t imagine leaving without her.
     
    * * * *
     
    Anastasia lifted her arms in
invitation, waiting for him to decide.  He made his move, changing both their
lives irrevocably as he enfolded her in his welcoming embrace.  He whispered in
her ear, “You’re mine, and I’ll never let you go.”
    All that power flowing off
him prickled her skin like static electricity.  His aggressive-possessive-ownership
response really did it for her.  She had been looking for this all her life, since
the age of sixteen, walking down the road with everything she owned in a
garbage sack.  She needed to be his, needed him to own and possess her.
    She had finally found the
missing piece of the puzzle, that which could make her whole.  His dark predatory
nature meshed seamlessly with her darkest desires.  She had a nasty history of
being victimized by predatory men.  It started with her mother’s boyfriend, and
spiraled out into an inescapable cycle.  Her attraction to the wrong kind of
man had made her a regular victim of abuse.
    She recognized a key
difference with this one.  He was truly the most powerful male she’d ever
encountered, but she sensed his gentleness, his reserved nature.  He would
never purposely harm her, would never beat her or treat her with the
maliciousness and psychotic abuse of the other men she’d dated.  He represented
the best of both worlds.  All that power and aggression wrapped up in neat
little mild mannered package.
     
    * * * *
     
    Aaron knew she was no saint. 
The girl had issues, big time flaws, and a raging drinking habit that came
along with it.  She downed liquor like water, a fish.  But he understood her
plight all too well.  Much like Michelle, Ana’s remarkable beauty incited
constant pursuit by men.  But in the men she chose it led to a very unhealthy
codependent possessiveness and violent jealousy.  Poor Ana was not made tough
like Michelle.  She needed a protector to shelter her from the envy, jealousy,
and abusive tendencies of the human cattle.
    As he delved deep into Anastasia’s
soul, sifting through her mistakes and sins, a powerful urge to protect and
defend seized him.  He squeezed her tight against his body.  She accepted his
embrace and hugged him back.
    “No one will ever hurt you
again.  This is my promise.” he vowed.  She’s my property now––never to be
victimized again.
    She was so very tired of
being beat up by the world, by men, by life in general.  She’d gladly take all
the protection he offered, no questions asked.  Her first spoken words were,
“Thank you.”
     
    * * * *
     

 
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Aaron smiled when he read how Ana perceived him as a
relatively attractive young man.  She knew his outward appearance was a façade,
a wrapper hiding the underlying truth.  She felt the caged beast lurking within. 
The creature inside called to her far stronger than any fleeting attraction
she’d had for other men.
    What she sensed intuitively about Aaron’s hidden nature
arose from that nasty incident in New York.  The trauma of the massacre unleashed
something inside him, a primal consciousness, a dual personality.  This
aggressive predator had been called forth from the dark recesses of his
vampiric nature by Michelle’s desperate cry for help.
    The predator didn’t go away after dispatching the detectives. 
It remained, lurking in the shadows of Aaron’s subconscious mind.  It
occasionally leaked over into his nightly life, tainting his thoughts with its
violent carnal nature.  He had to monitor himself constantly, verifying his
thoughts were truly his own, and not the animalistic drive and hunger of the
predator.
    This strange desire to possess and protect Anastasia was a new
facet of the predator.  He had never experienced this urge to acquire pets