Free Dark Desire by Shannan Albright Page A

Laris . What, surprised to find me still breathing?” He let
out a harsh bark of laughter, which chilled her. “You have lousy aim, wife. You only nicked my heart.” He spat the word at her. “When you attempt to
kill someone, you really need to be sure the body isn’t breathing.”
    She shook her
head in confusion. The man had her mixed up with another. No way could she ever
take another life, could she? “Please let me go. I’m not who you think, I would
never do anything like that. I’m just a stripper.”
    His fingers bit
into her upper arms causing her to wince in pain, his voice harsh in her ears.
“You’re quite the little actress. Sorry, but you’re still going to pay, and I
promise you I will enjoy every moment of your pain.”
    She struggled
against his hold in a futile bid for freedom, but he proved too strong for her
to overpower physically. She needed to rely on her mind if she held any hope
for escape. The sour taste of fear filled the back of her throat as her heart
battered against her ribcage like a wild beast fighting to break out of chest.
    She looked at
the handsome, insane stranger wondering what weakness he may have to exploit.
Something deep within her stirred, an instinct she never before experienced
that told her she could fight this man. She reached for it with a desperate
determination, letting it fill her with the confidence and surety of a warrior
long used to battle.
    Images flashed
in her head of training and combat, her hand strong and sure as it gripped the
handle of a sword in one hand and a small three pronged weapon in her other.
She envisioned her body flowing in motion with the sword and jabbing out with
the deadly object in her other hand, cutting through her adversaries with quick
efficient strokes.
    Suddenly, she
knew what to do and let her body meld with the memories flashing through her
mind. With a sharp twist of her hips, she brought her right arm up, and her
fist connected with his jaw. His head snapped back on impact, loosening his
grip on her arms. Swiveling her body the other direction she swung again, this
time with her other arm. Her fist contacted with a solid punch to his temple,
and the blow forced him to stumble back giving her room to move into a crouch.
    “Fucking son of
a bitch!” he snarled, shoving his shades back onto his face.
    “Just walk away.
I have no idea who this Laris is, but I assure you
it’s not me. I’ve never seen you before now, so I can’t be your wife and I certainly
never hurt anyone.” An uneasy feeling crawled up from the pit of her stomach.
She had no memory of her life before she came to in the alley by Golden Gulch.
Could she have really done what he claimed and tried to murder him? If so, then
she could very well be looking at her husband. “I don’t remember anything up
until seven months ago,” she admitted reluctantly.
    The man just
stood there, so still and quiet that she wondered if he heard anything she just
said. Then his head tilted slightly to the side, lips thinning. She wished he
had kept those blasted shades off. She found it impossible to gauge his
emotions with his eyes covered by the dark glass.
    “So, let me see
if I got this right. You’re claiming amnesia? Not very original and it changes
nothing. You are still going to die. Just not today.”
    She shifted her
stance, rolling onto the balls of her feet preparing to run. His words echoed
in her head bringing the frigid touch of fear and a whole shitload of panic. He
seemed to sense her next move, lunging unexpectedly for her, gripping her tight
around the waist. Electricity jangled her nerves, the hair on her arms rising
as her world went dark, and a scream tore from her lips only to be swallowed up
by the black void surrounding her.
      Looked like he lied. She would be dying sooner rather than later.

Chapter Ten
     
    Edwin Pope
watched from behind the two-way glass as they brought in the vampire and
chained him to the observation table. His brown eyes