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  Additional Titles by the Author

  Tales of the Darkworld Book 1: Shifting Winds

  Tales of the Darkworld Book 2: Hot Water

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  TALES OF THE DARKWORLD BOOK 1: SHIFTING WINDS

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Copyright © Lex Valentine, 2009

  Cover Art ® 2009 by RottNRoll Productions

  Edited by Mary K. Wilson

  Electronic Publication Date: March 2009

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  , Grimes, IA 50111

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  Tales of the Darkworld Book 1: Shifting Winds

  By Lex Valentine

  Vampire Elysia Granville gets more than she bargained for when she attends the Undertaker’s Ball on Halloween. She’s looking for a one night stand, but the man she chooses is Declan Antaeus, a home and hearth black dragon who has had a secret crush on her for years. Can the powerful dragon make the commitment shy vampire extend one night into forever?

  Her lips curved into a seductive smile. Maybe she would just have to discover the truth of that old adage about big men. Declan was certainly handsome enough. Black hair that shone like a raven’s wing. Golden eyes that glowed as if lit by a fire within. Sun bronzed, supple skin. Beneath the baggy robe, she knew he had a tall and muscular body, the kind that looked best in a faded pair of jeans and a tank top that showed off his biceps.

  “Buy me a drink?” she purred, deciding to start as she meant to go on. She was horny. He was hot. Seemed like a match made in heaven to her.

  One dark brow winged up. “It’s an open bar. I’ll get you whatever your heart desires,” he told her in a voice filled with innuendo.

  Deciding the drink wasn’t necessary; Elysia stopped him from turning away by putting one hand on his arm. He looked back at her with a question in his eyes.

  “What if my heart desires something other than a drink? Will you get me that?” Her eyes held his boldly.

  Declan’s face became a mask of pure masculine desire. He cupped her elbow, just as he had three years ago at the convention, steering her toward the lobby. Once they were away from the crowd, he pushed back his hood and bent toward her. “Do you know what you’re doing, Elysia? What you’re inviting?” he growled softly.

  Elysia smiled at him, reaching up to stroke her fingers over his hard jaw line. His skin felt hot to the touch. Her whole body tingled and she could hear his heart beating, feel the rush of his blood in his veins. She drew in a breath, the scent of his blood tart and crisp in her nostrils, like biting into a Granny Smith apple… Her fangs slid from their sheath as her panties grew damp. Yes, Declan Antaeus was definitely the right choice. Her body already wanted him fiercely. None of the men at the ball would satisfy her now. Besides, backing down after coming on to a man like Declan wasn’t wise because he was easily the most powerful man at the party, both professionally and physically.

  “I’m not a child, Declan. I know exactly what I’m doing. Do you need me to spell it out for you?” She tilted her head to one side inquiringly, wondering if he would take her up on her offer or if this was just a game to him.

  His lips quirked. “Yeah. Maybe I do. After all, I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

  Shifting Winds

  Lex Valentine

  PPB

  Dedication

  For The Bar Bitches – Jen, Mary, and Laurie. You were all there when I began this part of my writing journey, when I stepped foot into The Bar. You taught me about dragons and working together to make something great. Thank you for always having my back.

  And to Mary W. for taking a chance on a woman who doesn’t like cowboys.

  Prologue

  Austin’s words rang painfully in her ears, all the more so because they’d been crafted with an eye to Elysia’s public humiliation in front of her peers. Elysia stalked from the convention hall, her head held stiffly high despite the suppressed tears that made her shake uncontrollably. A warm hand cupped her elbow, steering her to an exit. Once out of sight of the staring crowds, she looked up to find a black dragon in human form, watching her with sad amber eyes.

  “He deserves to be horsewhipped for treating you like that,” Declan Antaeus said in a low voice filled with barely leashed emotion.

  Elysia shrugged. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t want me and any way you slice it, those words hurt,” she mumbled, a haze of pain numbing her.

  “He’s a stupid ass. His brother got all the brains, which is why Austin cut you loose. He’s too dumb to realize what he had. Every man in that convention hall is simultaneously glad and angry that he did this,” Declan declared.

  Elysia turned and stumbled away from him, headed for the elevator. “Thanks. I have to go now before I throw up,” she said dazedly. “I appreciate your help.”

  She stepped into the elevator, her anguished, tear filled eyes meeting his before the elevator doors closed. Declan’s expression was fierce, determined. Briefly, she wondered why, but then her pain took over and the black dragon receded from her thoughts.

  Chapter One

  The huge vase of tulips hid the face of Granville Cemetery’s receptionist as she carried the flowers into the elegant office of the Chief Financial Officer. At least they weren’t red roses, Elysia thought as Marnie set the vase on the corner of the rosewood executive desk, pushing it closer to Elysia’s morning cup of coffee.

  “You’d think they’d be roses,” the receptionist sniffed, unknowingly echoing her boss’s thoughts. “You’re the CFO here, Miss E. You deserve the best.”

  A choked chuckle emerged from one of two leather wingback chairs across the desk from Elysia. Marnie stepped closer to the occupied chair and swatted the tall blonde man on the back of the head.

  “That’s what you deserve, Mr. Colin. You’re always in here bothering her. Don’t you ever work?” she hissed at him sarcastically before walking out. The door shut softly behind her.

  Instead of smirking at the way their receptionist goaded her younger brother, Elysia turned an evil look on Colin. “Don’t say a word,” she ground out, shifting her glare from her sibling to the card peeking from between a couple of purple tulip buds.

  “Obviously, you know who they’re from without opening the card,” Colin observed.

  “Yeah, I know who sent them.” Elysia snatched up the card before Colin leaned over the desk and grabbed it. She stared at the expensive vellum, afraid to open the small envelope and have the sender confirmed.

  “You’re not going to tell me, are
you?” Leather creaked as Colin sat forward in his chair. “C’mon, Lys. You always tell me your secrets. I never spill them to Marius.”

  Elysia winced at the mention of their older brother. The last thing she needed was for Marius to find out about the flowers. Not that Colin would tell. She always confided in him and he always kept it to himself. If not for Colin, she probably would have died of stress years ago. She had difficulty keeping her emotions bottled up inside her. This time, what bothered her was something Marius would want to know… and exploit. And since it was something intensely personal, Elysia didn’t want Marius to have even the tiniest inkling.

  “Lock the door,” she muttered grimly, turning the small cream-colored envelope over in her hands. She recognized the florist. They were the best in the county. “I can’t have Marius walk in on this conversation.”

  Colin shot out of his chair with lightning fast reflexes that were a blur to human eyes. Fortunately, Elysia was no more human than Colin. In the blink of an eye, he returned to his chair, his mouth quirked in a grin that showed off the white points of his fangs. He must really be excited to hear her gossip if his fangs were out.

  “So where were you last night?” he asked. “Is it related to the flowers?”

  Elysia nodded. “I went to the Undertaker’s Ball.”

  Colin’s dark blue eyes widened. “You’re shitting me. You really went to that thing?”

  She sighed and ran a hand through her long honey blonde hair. “Yes. Marius bugged me about it for a solid week. I agreed to go just to get him off my back. I don’t know why he couldn’t have sent you. I’m sure you would have enjoyed it much more than me. You like dressing up on Halloween.”

  Colin laughed. “Of course, I do. I find it ironic to dress as Dracula or Nosferatu on Halloween. Last night, I did Nosferatu. I was scarier than Max Schreck, but that skull cap thing itched. And I had trouble getting the makeup off.”

  Elysia cocked an eyebrow up as her brother ruffled his dark blonde curls. She noticed tiny little bits of latex and glue in his hairline along with faint smudges of grey white makeup. “You’ve still got some on your face. Go upstairs and use that stuff Callie has in the prep room,” she said. “That will take it off.”

  Colin nodded absently, his envious eyes on her coffee cup. “Yeah, I planned on it, but I had to stop here first to find out where you disappeared to last night. It’s not like you to miss my Halloween party.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you went to the Undertaker’s Ball. For one, it’s an industry thing. You don’t like industry events. For another, I can’t believe you caved in to Marius. You never do.”

  “I know. I know. Believe me; I hadn’t intended to give in.” Elysia sat back in her chair, placing her hands flat on the leather blotter on her desk. She stared at her long fingers for a moment, their plain unadorned expanse, short oval nails, uncolored, unexciting… except that last night they had been excited… in a frenzy of touching…

  She jerked her mind away from those thoughts and looked up, meeting her brother’s eyes. “Declan Antaeus was there.” She said the words casually and watched her brother’s eyes widen.

  “Really?” Colin sat forward a little. “Did he talk to you about business? Marius said he’s been angling for a meeting for six months.”

  “We didn’t talk about work much,” she mumbled, thinking they hadn’t talked much at all.

  “So what did you go as?”

  Elysia rolled her eyes. “Elvira. I know, I know. Predictable and boring, but you should have seen Declan. He was worse.”

  Colin began to laugh. “Oh, no. He didn’t. Tell me he didn’t.”

  Elysia nodded. “He did. It was an obvious choice for a man of his height, but still, coming as the Grim Reaper was totally predictable and dull.” She smiled at her brother as she recalled Declan stalking through the crowds dressed in the long black robe. “He was the only Reaper too.”

  Colin snorted derisively. “Of course. Everyone else had more creative costumes, didn’t they?”

  “Yes. He and I were probably the most boring costumes there, barring Alfred in a white sheet,” she told him with a reminiscent smile.

  “You’re kidding. Alfred Stone wore a white sheet?” Colin’s eyes danced with laughter at the thought of the head of the Funeral Director’s Guild dressed as a ghost in a plain white sheet.

  “He did. And he had that same shiny black suit on underneath. You know, the one you call his undertaker’s suit.”

  The two of them laughed at the old-fashioned way of dressing that Alfred Stone of Stone Mortuary Services had cultivated. Alfred was a techie. He loved all things technology based, but when it came to clothes, he always looked like an undertaker from 1900. Elysia usually loved talking to Alfred because she was the computer geek at Granville Cemetery and they had a lot in common. However, she didn’t like industry events. At least, not since she’d been rather spectacularly dumped by Alfred’s brother Austin at the Darkworld’s annual Funeral Director’s convention three years ago. That experience taught her that the immortal world was just as hungry for gossip as the human world. Their hunger meant no one ever forgot the most humiliating and painful moment of her life.

  Colin let out a sigh, his eyes meeting Elysia’s. “So the tulips are from Declan Antaeus?”

  “I think so.” She opened the card that lay on her desk.

  You are so much more beautiful than these flowers, but the texture of their petals reminded me of your skin. Dinner tonight? You and me and that gorgeous skin of yours…

  I’ll call you.

  Declan

  Elysia sucked in a shaky breath. The man definitely had a way with words. Her heart pounded so hard that she wondered if Colin could hear it.

  He stared at her with an arrested expression. “Holy shit, Lys. Don’t tell me you slept with Declan Antaeus!” he said in a low, astonished voice.

  Her lips tightened in annoyance. “Okay, I won’t.”

  Colin flopped back in his chair, his expression concerned. “What possessed you to do such a thing?”

  “Oh, I dunno, Colin. Hormones?” she quipped, her words just a touch angry. Her irritation grew. Colin acted as if she’d done something completely out of character. Declan Antaeus wasn’t the first man she’d had a one night stand with, and he probably wouldn’t be the last either. Although, as far as Colin knew, he was the first man she’d been with since Austin had dumped her three years before. Maybe that was what had Colin’s briefs in a bunch. Luckily, the two other quick encounters she’d had in the last year hadn’t been with anyone her brothers knew. “Declan is a good looking man,” she admitted with a nonchalant shrug.

  “He’s a freaking shifter, Lys. A dragon. Not one of us.” Colin’s words were exasperated.

  She gave him a sour look from her violet eyes. “I never realized what a prejudiced snob you are,” she said stiffly, still wondering where her brother’s weird attitude came from. She’d never noticed that he disliked dragons before.

  Colin ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the golden curls. “I’m not! I swear I’m not. It’s just that Marius has this fucked up notion that the reason Declan wants to meet with him is that Antaeus International intends to suck us up.”

  Elysia’s eyes widened in surprise. Antaeus International was a huge conglomerate. They bought all of the little mom and pop mortuary and cemetery operations they could get their hands on. Afterward, they turned them all into highly profitable cremation based ventures. Granville Cemetery was very old and catered to the elite in the vampire world. They offered cremation, but vampires tended to not go that route. There was something about being reduced to a pile of ash that vamps didn’t care for. They were influenced by too many cheesy movies about the undead, Elysia thought wryly.

  “So Marius thinks AI is after us?” she asked aloud.

  Colin nodded. “He said the only reason Declan would want a meeting is because AI wants to buy us out.”

  Her brother frowned ferociously. Obviously, Colin d
idn’t favor the idea of being bought out. She didn’t either, but unlike Colin, who rarely stuck his head into anything related to financials, she knew that the company’s fiscal strength would withstand any buyout attempt by AI. However, she now wondered if Declan’s plans for Granville Cemetery had fueled his easy acquiescence to her come on last night. She bit her lip.

  Colin, seeing her expression and knowing her better than anyone, leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “I’m sure that’s not why he slept with you, Lys,” he said gently. “Every man in the Funeral Director’s Guild, married or single or gay, wants to fuck you.”

  Elysia smiled. Colin exaggerated, but not by much unfortunately. It was one of the reasons Marius dealt with industry stuff instead of her, even though finance was her area. The fact that men didn’t take her business acumen seriously had always been annoying in the past. For some reason, last night at the Undertaker’s Ball, she just hadn’t cared. She’d wanted to find someone who could take away the ache in her gut and Declan Antaeus fit the bill perfectly. Now, however, she had to figure out what to do about him. Obviously, he wanted to continue on from where they’d left off, but Elysia just wanted to forget it happened.

  “It’s hard to fake a hard on,” she joked. “I’m pretty sure he wasn’t thinking about mergers last night.”

  Colin let go of her hand and sat back, looking at the tulips. “Did you go to his place?”

  Elysia made a face. “Yeah, after the first time.”

  Her brother’s eyes registered shock. “Don’t tell me you fucked him in the cemetery, Lys. That’s just… just…”

  “Too Halloween-ish even for you?” Elysia’s expression turned wry.

  “Well, yeah.” Colin let out a deep sigh. “I know you don’t listen to my advice very often, but Lys, have you thought about what you’re getting into here? Declan Antaeus isn’t the kind of guy you just have fun with.”