Karen Chance - Claimed by Shadow

Здесь есть возможность читать онлайн «Karen Chance - Claimed by Shadow» весь текст электронной книги совершенно бесплатно (целиком полную версию без сокращений). В некоторых случаях можно слушать аудио, скачать через торрент в формате fb2 и присутствует краткое содержание. Жанр: Современная проза, на английском языке. Описание произведения, (предисловие) а так же отзывы посетителей доступны на портале библиотеки ЛибКат.

Claimed by Shadow: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

Предлагаем к чтению аннотацию, описание, краткое содержание или предисловие (зависит от того, что написал сам автор книги «Claimed by Shadow»). Если вы не нашли необходимую информацию о книге — напишите в комментариях, мы постараемся отыскать её.

A recent legacy made Cassandra Palmer heir to the title of Pythia, the world's chief clairvoyant. It's a position that usually comes with years of training, but Cassie's circumstances are a little…unusual. Now she's stuck with a whopping amount of power that every vamp, fey, and mage in town wants to either monopolize or eradicate – and that she herself doesn't dare use.
What's more, she's just discovered that a certain arrogant master vampire has a geis on her-a magical claim that warns off any would-be suitors, and might also explain the rather… intense attraction between them. But Cassie's had it with being jerked around, and anyone who tries it from now on is going to find out that she makes a very bad enemy…
***
Claimed By Shadow is the follow up to Karen Chance’s exciting debut novel Touch The Dark. The story in Claimed By Shadow follows on straight from where Touch The Dark left off and although the author does a good job of filling in the back story during the first couple of chapters, because the story is somewhat complex I would recommend that readers unfamiliar with this series start by reading Touch The Dark first – rather than jumping straight in with Claimed By Shadow. (Touch The Dark is an excellent read – I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed!)
Claimed By Shadow starts about a week after where Touch The Dark finished, with Cassie still in Las Vegas and still trying to find a way to extract herself from her many problems, before someone kills her and solves all her problems for her. There is no shortage of would-be assassins. Tony, the Mafioso vampire that she turned into the Feds is still gunning for her – even though he is in hiding. The Vampire Senate want Cassie to be their tame Pythia; if she won’t do their bidding they will have no qualms about eliminating her. The Circle (the ruling council of good magic users) wants her out of the way so that someone of their own choice can inherit the Pythia’s power – and that’s just for starters!
Myra, the previous heir to the power of the Pythia will stop at nothing to eliminate Cassie so she can claim the title of Pythia back for herself. As Myra can travel through time her attempts to kill Cassie are not limited to the present and she hatches a plan to kill Mircea (the vampire who has protected Cassie since he discovered that she the potential to be a Pythia) in his past there by altering the timeline for Cassie’s life. If Mircea is dead, he will not be around to protect Cassie in the time before she obtains the Pythia’s power and Cassie will never come into power. Confused yet?
The problem with time travel in any novel is that the mixed up timelines can soon become confusing, Claimed By Shadow suffers a bit with this and when you add a trip to Faerie into the mix it’s enough to make any brain go into information overload (well, it did mine anyway!) There is a huge amount of information to take in, plus several twists and turns in the storyline, so the reader has to pay attention or risk losing the plot.
Luckily there is plenty to hold the readers attention. The action that starts in the second chapter doesn’t let up until the last page of the book as Cassie and her small band of allies fight their way from present day Las Vegas, through Victorian London into the Faerie kingdom and back again. The characters are multi-faceted and engaging, you just can’t help but like Pritkin the war mage and even his golem seems endearing.
The vampires in Claimed By Shadow are by turns super-sexy and super-scary and Cassie’s ambivalence towards them strikes just the right note in the face of their highly suspect morals and motivations.
Claimed By Shadow is an original, richly imagined tale and a solid follow-up to Touch The Dark, making this novel a must for urban fantasy fans.

Claimed by Shadow — читать онлайн бесплатно полную книгу (весь текст) целиком

Ниже представлен текст книги, разбитый по страницам. Система сохранения места последней прочитанной страницы, позволяет с удобством читать онлайн бесплатно книгу «Claimed by Shadow», без необходимости каждый раз заново искать на чём Вы остановились. Поставьте закладку, и сможете в любой момент перейти на страницу, на которой закончили чтение.

Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

A rumble of laughter sounded in my ear. "It hurt far more, seeing you every day, being surrounded by your scent for months, and not being allowed to touch you. I lived with you for half a year, yet I never saw your body. I will remember this," he said wonderingly, his hand gliding down my side.

"I won't risk hurting you," I insisted, trying to sound stronger than I felt.

Tomas laughed again, and laid me back against the cot. He bent over me, his hair forming a tent around our faces that was intimate instead of suffocating. Only his eyes were clearly visible, brimming with humor. "I think we can do this," he whispered, "if you promise to be gentle.”

I couldn't help it-I laughed, and the next moment he was kissing me with an intensity that left me breathless. I slid my arms under the heavy mane of hair and clasped them around Tomas' neck. His grip was strong but careful, and although I could feel the weight of him against my leg, hot and hard and ready, he held back, waiting for me to make the first move. Suddenly, there was no more doubt. It wasn't just the geis tugging at me. It wasn't just that I wanted a way out of the current mess. I wanted him.

"Do it," I said, "quick, while we have time.”

"Quick is not what I had in mind," Tomas said, frowning. "Particularly not the first time.”

"We don't have time for anything else," I said impatiently. For once the geis, the power and I all agreed on something, and Tomas was being difficult.

I wrapped my hand around him and was rewarded with a deep shiver and the wonderful feel of sweet, ardent flesh against my palm.

I desperately wanted to watch that thick shaft disappear into me. I knew it would stretch me to the limit, that the fit would be tight, the friction maddening, and that sounded perfect. I wanted to feel him work his way into me, wanted the pressure, craved the burn.

"It will hurt you," he protested, his voice ragged.

I ran my tongue up the column of his neck. "Let it.”

Tomas was trembling but was stubbornly not giving in. I decided to forget about talking and persuade him another way. I kissed him, my mouth hungry against his, then slid down to fasten my teeth firmly on the joint of his neck and shoulder. It was exactly where a vampire would bite, but instead I sucked some of that taut skin into my mouth, marking him. I let my hands wander where they would, memorizing the contours of the muscle and sinew under that warm, satin skin. Then, without warning, I bit down.

Tomas' breath had been making low growls in his throat, but at the feel of my teeth sliding into his flesh, he groaned. Judging by the way the hardness pressing into my hip expanded in a sudden leap, it wasn't in protest. His narrowed eyes glittered when I finally released his neck. "You don't fight fair," he complained, his voice dark and heavy. He drew in a deep breath, released it and slid a finger inside me. I gasped at the unexpected invasion, and arched, tightening convulsively around him. "Not fair at all," he said hoarsely.

I tangled my hands in his hair as a talented tongue replaced the finger. He drew my flesh into his mouth, the suction pulling my hips with it, causing me to fall into a rhythm I couldn't even think about resisting. He pushed my legs wider for better access, until one was dangling inelegantly off the cot. I didn't care-the sight of him devouring my body made my breath catch almost as much as the sensation did.

My world narrowed to that luscious mouth; that slow, wet glide; those big, strong hands. Warm, rough palms smoothed again and again over the muscles of my abdomen as if they couldn't stop, then finally slid to my hip, slowly kneading the trembling muscle they found there. God, a girl could fall in love with those hands.

His mouth felt like liquid flame as he explored me, finding places that sent shock waves of ecstasy through my body. I gasped softly, amazed by the gentle, intimate examination, the deep, delicate touch. I collapsed back against the mattress and let those wet touches drag me under. Surges of pleasure rippled up my spine as he caressed me from the inside, and suddenly the angle and pressure were perfect. It seemed like his mouth was everywhere, tasting, sucking, touching, filling. He polished his performance quickly, picking up the clues from my body, noting what made me cry out and repeating it until sunbursts of pleasure started exploding behind my eyes. Every move of his lips seared along my nerves until it threatened to take the top of my head off.

"Tomas! Please!" Before I'd finished speaking, he had changed positions and was poised over me. He stopped, struggling for control, and I growled at him. Finally he moved forward, sinking slowly into me. And, God, it was good-no, better than good, if the sparks behind my eyelids were anything to go on. He had laid me open to a dance of sensation with his hands and tongue alone, but the feel of him moving into my body was even better, stretching, wonderfully filling, remaking my flesh until I fit him like a glove.

He was ample enough to be a tight fit, but his firm flesh was smooth and yielding, molding to mine with only a slight ache when he moved across skin abraded in the attack. But he bit his lip, keeping all that power on a thin leash, his breath coming in ragged gasps from the excruciating care he was taking. He slid forward a scant half-inch at a time, warming me by fractions when I wanted the whole searing length of him. But finally he was there, nestled fully within me, radiating heat to my very core. His eyes were closed, his long lashes sweeping his flushed cheeks as he held himself motionless for a long moment. He left me breathless.

His entrance hadn't hurt, but waiting for him to move, to shift position, to do something before I completely lost my mind, did. When he started withdrawing again, with that same agonizing slowness, my patience broke. I twined myself around him as he pulled out, then suddenly thrust up to meet him, sinking him completely inside me again in a single, groan-inducing stroke.

Tomas looked both surprised and vastly relieved, his breath coming out in a hiss of pleasure. He got the idea, and began to pick up speed. My hips shifted and began to rotate of their own accord as Tomas set up a slow circular motion, caressing, pleasuring, and stretching simultaneously.

I soon found that I couldn't control the sounds I was making. I was burning up, scored by sensation, sobbing with it. I was lightheaded and my breath was coming faster and my hips were bucking and my sight was going dark. A thundering sensation was building inside me and, before I even realized what was happening, orgasm was spilling over me, my body spasming helplessly under Tomas' steady rhythm. A lovely, yellow glow suddenly suffused the room, a color so pure, so lush, that it seemed as if happiness had been condensed and given form. For a moment, I thought it was all part of the sensations running through me, but it kept building, drowning out the lamplight as if a small star had burst to life around us. Wildly twining filaments of white and gold energy sizzled and writhed everywhere, building in intensity until, like grounded lightning, they blinded me.

Without warning, the world fell away. I was plunged into a maelstrom of sights and sounds and colors, all swirling together far too quickly to follow. I couldn't sense Tomas, couldn't see him or even feel him. A vortex was rushing towards me at terrific speed, and I was powerless to do anything but let it come.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. When the afterimages faded enough for me to see again, I found myself alone on a hill, looking up at a temple. Behind it, an ocean sparkled under a hot yellow sun. I felt the brush of lips on my neck and heard a rumble of rich masculine laughter in my ear.

"I approve of my avatar," a voice said. I knew it came from the man behind me, but it seemed to echo from all directions at once, as if the temple, sky and ocean were also speaking. "The son of another of my priestesses-really, a nice touch.”

Читать дальше
Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

Похожие книги на «Claimed by Shadow»

Представляем Вашему вниманию похожие книги на «Claimed by Shadow» списком для выбора. Мы отобрали схожую по названию и смыслу литературу в надежде предоставить читателям больше вариантов отыскать новые, интересные, ещё непрочитанные произведения.


Karen Chance - Masks
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Tempt the Stars
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Hunt the Moon
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Inked
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Death's Mistress
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Midnight's Daughter
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Curse the Dawn
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Embrace the Night
Karen Chance
Karen Chance - Touch The Dark
Karen Chance
Karen Harper - Chasing Shadows
Karen Harper
Karen McCombie - In Sarah’s Shadow
Karen McCombie
Отзывы о книге «Claimed by Shadow»

Обсуждение, отзывы о книге «Claimed by Shadow» и просто собственные мнения читателей. Оставьте ваши комментарии, напишите, что Вы думаете о произведении, его смысле или главных героях. Укажите что конкретно понравилось, а что нет, и почему Вы так считаете.

x