Free Dark Alpha's Embrace by Donna Grant Page A

looked for him when he wasn’t in the room. She sought him out when he was. How? Why? She managed to stay away from guys after she graduated school in nearly every capacity. Why was this happening now?
    “Oh crap,” Jordyn said. “I left my laptop in our chamber. I need to get it.”
    River didn’t move as both Jordyn and Baylon left. A moment later, Fintan turned on his heel and walked away. Leaving her alone with Kyran.
    He moved around the table and came to stand in front of her. “You’ve suffered a great deal.”
    “My family has suffered.”
    “Aye. Now everything is on your shoulders. It’s a heavy burden, but you carry it well.”
    River turned her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want it. Nor will I put this on another’s shoulders. It will end with me.”
    “Aye,” he whispered.
    She looked to find him within inches of her. His red gaze was hooded and focused on her mouth. Her heart skipped a beat when his finger caressed her jaw with the softest of touches.
    “It will end,” he vowed, his red eyes meeting hers. His head lowered slowly, almost as if he wasn’t sure if he should.
    River lifted her face, both eager for the kiss and frightened of where it might lead. Then she looked into his eyes. That’s when she saw it, there in his gaze.
    “You know who’s been killing my family.”
    A mask fell over his face as he took a step back. “I do.”
    “Who is it? Is it the same one who began this whole mess?”
    He gave a firm shake of his head. “Nay, but after I have a talk with them, their attacks on you and your family will end.”

Chapter Ten
    Cael strode through the jungle of flowers. He didn’t carefully pick his way through as he usually did. This time he didn’t care if he pissed off Death—because he was too furious.
    The white tower rose toward the clouds, the sunlight nearly blinding. Bees buzzed, birds chirped, the breeze rustled the leaves.
    But he heard none of it.
    He reached the tower and tried the metal handle. It didn’t budge. If Cael thought he could break through the oak door, he’d do it in a heartbeat. But it was fortified by Death’s magic. Nothing was getting through that Death didn’t want.
    Cael took a few steps back and looked up. He saw the shutters open high above him. “You can’t keep me out forever.”
    “Of course I can,” came the soft reply behind him.
    He whirled around and came face-to-face with Death. One of the fiercest creatures in the universe only reached as high as his shoulders. Death wasn’t a skeleton or even a man.
    Death was a woman.
    She blinked at him with eyes a soft shade of lavender. Long, thick black lashes framed the unusual hue. Wide lips, full and alluring, didn’t tilt up in a smile—though that wasn’t out of the norm.
    Hair as black as pitch fell past a slim waist to narrow hips. An onyx silk gown encased a figure that made his hands ache to touch. The skirt was full, as typical, with crimson edging the trim. It faded to black, mixing with the black.
    He held Death’s gaze, waiting. It wouldn’t do any good to argue. Because Death never lost.
    “Let me inside,” he said between clenched teeth.
    Erith sighed. She turned her head to the side when a dragonfly circled her face, the sunlight glinting off its iridescent wings.
    She held out her hand, and the dragonfly alit upon her palm. To his shock, Cael saw her lips tilt up in a smile. In all the thousands of years he’d known her, not once had he seen such.
    As if she realized she wasn’t alone, the grin disappeared. A moment later, the dragonfly flew away. Erith slid her gaze to him. “I don’t want to beat the information out of Seamus, Cael. I want to flip him to our side.”
    “He ventured into the Netherworld for Bran. Seamus isn’t going to switch sides so easily.”
    Death’s head cocked to the side. “I can be very … persuasive … when needed.”
    Without a doubt he knew that to be true. It only took one look for males