What chance does one witch have against
five vampires? Alone, not much. But Rayvin’s allies are gathering…
The battle between good and evil
supernatural forces heats up in the long, cold November nights of the former
mining town. But how will Rayvin’s motley crew of spellcasters and
shapeshifters cope when they discover the threat they face is even greater than
they imagined?
The Talbot Trilogy:
0. Mist and Midnight (prequel)
1. Wind and Shadow
2. Blood and Fire
3. Crystal and Wand
“What kind of maniac tortures his lover?”
she whispered. Her throat was still hoarse from screaming.
“Some people find they enjoy what you call
‘torture’,” he countered. Supporting her body with his, so her chin was secured
against his shoulder, de Sade slid his hands under her sweater to unfasten her
bra.
The confident movement of his hands against
the taught, sensitive skin of her back was making her temperature rise. He
lowered her brassiere away from her chest, gently reaching up the sleeves of
her sweater to thread the straps through so he could pull the black lace
garment from under her clothing. De Sade was moving with deliberate care,
taking his time, and he could probably tell from the rise in her pheromones
that it was turning her on in spite of herself.
How
could this be happening to me?
She couldn't stand it.
Her systems may have been weakened by
electric shock, and her magick worn down by pregnancy, but Rayvin refused to
give in.
As the vampire continued lazily undressing
her, she gritted her teeth and focused on a drawer next to the stove.
The handle shook for a moment, before the
drawer slid open and released a large carving knife that hovered in the air.
Rayvin lifted her chin from de Sade’s shoulder, leaving room for the knife to
ease itself next to the vampire’s neck. The tip positioned itself under his
earlobe.
De Sade paused for a moment. “You can
threaten me all you like, but the truth is that I am stronger than you. You
cannot help but be affected by me.” He ripped the front of her hoodie in one
smooth gesture, tearing the fabric away from her body.
Rayvin sat straighter in the remains of her
hoodie. The t-shirt she was wearing underneath did little to conceal the way
her breasts had swollen with her pregnancy. De Sade stepped away from the
hovering knife to remove his own shirt, and she directed her eyes at another
drawer.
The vampire smiled at the peeler she sent
toward his ribs. It pressed against his skin but did not penetrate.
“You don’t have the heart for it, love.
You’re not a killer.”
The cupboards flung themselves open, and
all of her mugs and glasses hurled themselves to the ceiling. The vampire
didn't even flinch at the noise of their shattering. Hundreds of shards and
jagged fragments aimed in his direction.
Rayvin’s voice was low, but clear.
“Leave now, before I cut you into a
thousand pieces.”
De Sade unbuckled his trousers, let them
fall, and stepped out of them. He hadn’t bothered wearing any underwear. “You
don’t really mean that, now do you? I have something you want.”
His body never failed to shock her with its
magnificence. Perfectly sculpted muscles. Pale, but hairy where a man should
be. His arousal was clear. Rayvin felt herself growing wet, her whole being
fighting to draw closer to him. Her hands clenched around the edge of the table
in a last-ditch effort to hold on to herself.
“I don’t want you.”
She sent her fury toward a shard of
porcelain. It obeyed her command, darting past the vampire to slice a thin line
on his cheek. A single drop of dark blood trickled down his cheek.
He held her gaze. “Now you and I both know
that that is a lie.”
Rayvin took a deep breath and lowered her
feet to the floor. She wasn’t quite strong enough to hold herself upright, but
the table held firm against her weight. “I don't need you or want you in my
life, asshole. I’m done with you. Get the fuck out of my house.”
De Sade clucked his tongue. “Haven't we
always been honest with each other?” He kicked his pants aside, and then his
shoes. “Before me, you were boring. Unimportant. I made you special when I
chose you. I’ve given you a new purpose. And when I fuck you, I make your world
explode.”
His words killed a little more of her
confidence. How did he know exactly what to say to mess with her mind?
Rayvin glowered as she stepped toward him.
Her weapons moved with her, closing in on his body so he was surrounded by a
glittering cage of blades. De Sade looked down at her as she approached, but he
didn’t move. Her throat ached and her body burned. “You’ve turned me into a
fucking addict! I don’t want to be like this anymore!” Her voice cracked. “Get
out! I’m taking back my invitation!”
De Sade laughed in her face. “It’s too late
for that. Our bond is stronger than a broken invitation, and it is stronger
than any of the magick you have attempted. You gave yourself to me of your own
free will. There is nothing to be done.”
She roared at him, battering his chest with
her fists as her tiny spears of glass and porcelain razed his skin. The vampire
continued to laugh. He grabbed her wrists and held them away from them both as
if she were a small child.
“Bastard!” Rayvin spat at him, her nails
digging into her palms. Her voice attempted to produce a scream, but instead it
could only rasp. “I hate you! I’ll kill myself if you touch me again!”
In a move so fast she couldn’t see it, de
Sade had pinned her arms to her sides, shoved the table to one side, and forced
her against the wall. His knee had spread her legs and he’d pressed the length
of his body to hers even before the table he had pushed away had a chance to hit the floor, the elderly
legs cracking and splintering on impact.
“You won’t do that, dearest Rayvin,” he
whispered, nuzzling her nose with his. She fought the melting sensation in her
loins, but her will was ebbing with every thrust of his hips against hers. “You
love life too much. You are not destined for death by suicide. And as I told
you before, you are allowed to hate me. This isn’t love. It’s fucking, and you
want it with every inch of your sweet little body.”
His lips descended on hers, and the last of
Rayvin’s self control fell away, along with the remains of her glassware. Her
will drowned in a sea of passion, overwhelmed once again by the touch of his
mouth and tongue. Somewhere in the back of her mind, reality screamed at her to
fight it, but it was as though a screen had lowered between knowledge and
sensation.
Sensation was all that mattered in the
moment.
After her first heartbreak, Tori found
solace in two things: reading romance novels and listening to an after-dark
radio program called Lovers and Other Strangers. Throughout the summer and fall
of 1990, the new kid in town found reading fiction and writing her own short
stories gave her a much needed creative outlet. Determined to become a
published author, Tori amassed stacks of notebooks and boxes of filed-away
stories, most only half-finished before another idea would overtake her and
demand to be written down. Then, while on parental leave with her second baby,
one story formed and refused to be packed away. Between teaching full-time,
parenting, and life in general, it would take almost seven years before the
first novel in her first trilogy would be completed. In the process, Tori finally
found her stride as a writer.
At present, on her off-time, Tori not
only enjoys reading, but also listening to an eclectic mix of music as she
walks the family dog (Skittles), attempts to turn her thumb green, or makes
needlework gifts for her friends and family members. She loves to travel,
collect and make miniature furniture, and a good cup of tea during a
thunderstorm or a blizzard. Under it all, she is always intrigued by history,
the supernatural, vampire and shapeshifter mythology, romance, and other
dangers.
Tori is currently working on Crystal
and Wand: Book Three of The Talbot Trilogy. She lives in Kirkland Lake,
Ontario, Canada with her husband and two children. She is a full-time teacher
at a local high school.
Thank you so much for having me on Love Bites and Silk Ties!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Tori
You're welcome, Tori!
DeleteKay xx