Free Dark Desire by Shannan Albright Page B

narrowed in a long,
angular face, his head covered with thinning mousy brown hair. A small man with
a slight build, no one would ever call him the picture of masculine sexuality
by any stretch of the imagination. No, physically he didn’t have much to offer,
but intellectually?
    Ah, few could
match him there.
    He ran the
Preservation Society like a well-oiled machine. Feeding the hatred and distrust
for anything different. And the dark breeds were as different as you could get.
He built his small group of likeminded dissenters into an army, recruiting more
each day. He interspersed within his organization a dozen handpicked
mercenaries, his sergeants who eagerly went to work whipping his people into
shape.
    The best money
he ever spent, he thought as two of those hired thugs finished securing the
vampire and moved out of the room. He studied the unconscious dark breed with
excitement. Oh, he had such plans for this one. The door behind Edwin opened. A
whoosh of displaced air at his back sent a chill up his spine. He could never
abide anyone behind him. Turning he studied the merc .
    “Nate,
good job.” He praised the huge man lounging against the door, massive arms crossed over
his barreled chest.
    Nate wore a grey
hoodie stretching to accommodate his wide shoulders, his black emotionless gaze
reminding Edwin of a shark, his buzzed blond hair enhancing the harsh angles of
his face. Not a handsome man, too rough for that, but one whose very presence
demanded loyalty. Nate was the obvious leader of his band of mercenaries. His
voice rumbled through the small room, rough and deep. “You pay for results, you
get them. The bloodsucker will be out for a while yet. We had to taser his ass to get him compliant. Even with the dose of
silver nitrate he was a bitch and a half to handle.”
    “Let Dr. Haub know his latest lab rat is here, and please have the
vamp ready for the initial tests. Knowing the good doctor he will want to start
right away.” Edwin practically rubbed his hands together in expectation. He
knew the doctor had been chomping at the bit to get his hands on this
particular vampire. An Enforcer who caused them far too many
casualties lately.
    “Right
away, sir.”
    Everyone assumed
he ordered these tests to find a quicker way to terminate the breeds, which was
only marginally correct. The true goal never wavered from finding a way to introduce
DNA into a human to make them stronger, faster, and less easy to kill. Improve
on God’s design, so to speak. So far the doctor held a dozen different breeds.
    Edwin moved past
Nate, toward the room holding the newest subject. Soon the lab would come alive
with the bloodsucker’s screams. The procedures were positively excruciating. He
allowed the smile to form on his lips, feeling a heady shot of expectation
tingle down his spine at the thought of the vampire’s agony.
    He was so
engrossed in his thoughts that Edwin almost ran into the woman standing in the
corridor. Taking a step back he took in the tall, dark haired beauty, her
flawless skin of light bronze speaking of a mixed ancestry. Large brown eyes
filled her small heart-shaped face giving her an exotic flair. A flash of
amusement sparkled in her gaze as she caught him openly admiring her lithe
form, clad in designer jeans, which clung to her curves riding low on her hips,
her cream-colored blouse, cropped just high enough to flash an inch of a toned,
flat stomach.
    “You’re in an
authorized zone, lady.” Nate’s oh-so-obvious statement brought home the fact he
hired this merc for his brawn and not his
intelligence.
    “My name is
Elise,” she offered with a charming smile. “And you must be Mr. Pope?”
    “That’s all,
Nate. I have this.” Edwin brushed the big man away, his entire focus on the
woman before him, standing eye level to his five-foot-ten height. He normally
liked his women much smaller, but there was something about the exotic beauty
that drew him in.
    He barely
noticed Nate’s retreat,