Death Bringer

“Be my guest.”

She looked down and instantly clutched hold of him even tighter. “Here?”

“I won’t let you fall. I’ll never let you fall.”

“I suppose I’ll have to trust you, then.”

“Yes, you will.”

She kissed him again, and unaccustomed warmth unfolded in his chest. She might not be a conventional female by the standards of her own world, but in his, she was a true warrior.

He respected that.

With a wave of his hand, he had her naked and straddling him, her hot, wet core pressed against his hard cock, her nipples tightening against his chest. He lifted her over him and let her slide down slowly over his willing flesh. When he was deep inside her, she started to move on him, and he planted his feet firmly against the tree trunk to hold them both steady.

He slid his hand into her blond hair and wrapped it around his fist until she tilted her head for his kiss. Such a beautiful female, and his for all eternity—if he played his cards right.

Her inner muscles squeezed his cock, and he lost his train of thought.

Her feelings flooded his mind, of her first meeting him at the SBLE offices and admiring his ass, of their being stuck in the elevator shaft and the shock of their unexpectedly erotic mating.

“Ella...”

More images. This time of her hurt and betrayal, and of her need. She’d never let him see such things before, never let him in so completely. She was giving him the gift of herself, reminding him that love comes in many different forms and showing him her most vulnerable self. He doubted anyone else even knew such an Ella existed.

“I’ll never leave you, I swear it on my blood.”

He wrapped his thoughts and love around her and held her there, in his mind, in his arms and in his heart.

* * *

“Vadim, concentrate. Can’t you tell I want to come? ”

“Come, then.”

He buried his face in the curve between her neck and shoulder. She climaxed around his shaft, and he gave himself up to her until he couldn’t give anymore, then followed her into bliss.

After a long while, when it was completely dark and even he was starting to feel cold, she touched his cheek. “Can we just go home?”

“I’d like that.”

“So would I.” She glanced up at the sky. “Can you fly me there?”

“Like this?” He scooped her even closer and anchored his arm around her hips. He pushed off the branch and they were airborne.

She clutched at his shoulders. “Wait! My clothes!”

He kept flying. In a while she might remember that she could do magic and fix the problem herself. But he sure wasn’t going to mention it...

Revenge was sometimes rather unexpected and remarkably sweet.

* * * * *

Dear Reader,

It’s possible I say this every year, but I love October. To me, this is the month that signals the start of a season of hot apple cider, evenings by the fire, and curling up on the sofa with a good book, dressed warmly in sweatpants and a comfy shirt and snuggled under my favorite fuzzy blanket. We at Carina Press can’t provide most of those things, but we can provide the good books, and this month we have more than a few good books!

In Running Back, the highly anticipated sequel to Allison Parr’s new-adult contemporary romance Rush Me, Natalie Sullivan is on the verge of a breakthrough most archaeology grad students only dream of: discovering a lost city. Her research points to a farm in Ireland, but to excavate she needs permission from the new owner: the Michael O’Connor, popular NFL running back.

If you’re like me, there are certain tropes in romance that you fall for every time. One of mine is the main theme of Christi Barth’s newest book, Friends to Lovers. (Gee, can you guess what it is?) Daphne struggles with revealing her longtime lust for Gib, sparking it all off with a midnight kiss on New Year’s Eve—only Gib doesn’t know it’s Daphne he’s kissed! Also in the contemporary romance category is First and Again by Jana Richards, which has a special place in my heart because this emotional story takes place in my home state of North Dakota.

For months, this Red Cross head nurse has been aiding Allied soldiers caught behind enemy lines, helping them flee into the neutral Netherlands. It’s only a matter of time until she’s caught in Aiding the Enemy, a historical romance by Julie Rowe. If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, be sure to check out the rest of Julie’s historical romances.

We have two mysteries for readers to solve this month. British crime author Shirley Wells returns to the sleepy northern town of Dawson’s Clough with her popular Dylan Scott Mystery series in the next book, Deadly Shadows. And in Julie Anne Lindsey’s Murder by the Seaside, counseling is murder, but it’s never been this much fun.

Erotic romance author Christine d’Abo brings us the story of Alice’s obsession with a brooding lawyer at her firm, which takes Alice on a journey of self-discovery through the rabbit hole and into the world of BDSM in Club Wonderland. Also this month, the Love Letters ladies, Ginny Glass, Christina Thacher, Emily Cale and Maggie Wells, round up five sizzling-hot stories to finish off their sexy stampede through the alphabet with Love Letters Volume 6: Cowboy’s Command.

Edgar Mason is losing Agamemnon Frost despite everything they’ve been through—the passion, the torture, the heat. Frost’s fiancee Theodora is back, and Mason can feel his lover gravitating toward her. Every day he sees them together, it tears at his heart. Don’t miss Agamemnon Frost and the Crown of Towers, the conclusion to Kim Knox’s male/male historical science fiction trilogy.

Because October is the perfect month for the paranormal, we have a wide selection of fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal to share with you. In Jeffe Kennedy’s fantasy romance, Rogue’s Possession, neuroscientist Gwynn’s adventures in Faerie continue in the long-awaited sequel to Rogue’s Pawn. And in the sequel to Soul Sucker, a powerful magic user is stealing people’s faces in San Francisco, and empath Ella Walsh and shifter Vadim Morosov have been called in to investigate in Death Bringer by Kate Pearce. Also returning with another book in her Blood of the Pride series is Sheryl Nantus, with her paranormal romance Battle Scars.

Combining futuristic fiction, fantasy and urban fantasy, Trancehack by Sonya Clark is a compelling cross-genre romance. In a dystopian future where magic is out in the open and witches are segregated, a high-profile murder case brings together a police detective and a witch with unusual powers that combine magic and technology. But dangerous secrets, a political cover-up, and the law itself stand between them. Don’t miss this exciting new world of witchpunk!

Carina Press is pleased to introduce three debut authors this October. Science fiction erotic romance author Renae Jones gives us a Taste of Passion when lust strikes hard for Fedni, an empath who can taste emotion, but her off-worlder neighbor is horrified by the caste system that the former courtesan holds dear.

Two urban fantasy authors debut with us this month. In Kathleen Collins’s Realm Walker, a realm walker hunts a demon intent on destroying both her and the mate who left her