Free Darkest Prince by K.A. Jones

very long time to come.” Really? From where I was standing it looked as though he wanted to kill me himself!
    He slam du nked me to the floor with the moves of a wrestler and straddled my mid section and bent down so his face was inches from mine. “This isn’t a game my little Diana, goddess of the hunt. Today you learn that playing with vampires can get you killed.”
    I bucked quickly and twisted throwing Dario to one side, my knee came up and caught him in the groin and I took the opportunity to rise to my feet. Dario rolled to his knees and caught this breath. “My crown jewels are my most prized possession Shyla; most wouldn’t want to damage the chance of me fathering a new Prince.”
    “As romantic as that was – today is the day you learn not to piss off a hunter!” I rolled my shoulders and bounced on my feet. If he wanted to play rough then rough was what he was going to get.
    The need to prove to him that I wasn’t some defenceless female rose to the forefront, and with a new purpose, I launched into an attack.
    Dario deflected a few of my moves but I got in a few good hits, but it wasn’t time to do a victory dance yet. If anything , it was time to up the ante as Dario went into full vampire mode. His teeth descended and his eyes had taken on a feral look, one that made me pause briefly before instinct took over, and things got crazy. From thinking that I loved this man to feeling as though I wanted to kill him was confusing. I found myself holding back, but as soon as one of his hits made it home and I saw stars, I soon forgot that I didn’t want to hurt him.
    I had never unleashed so much fury, so much vengeance as I did when Dario came in for another attack. My ribs were killing me from the previous blows and there was no-way in hell that he was going to get more free shots at me.
    Something inside of me snapped and I attacked him with everything that I had and everything that I was – and all that I was, was now vampire.
    ‘ Let go Shyla, let me see what you are made of. Let me see your vampire.’ At best, it was a taunt, one that worked!
    Launching into a full on attack Dario became something so much worse than I had ever faced during my training, he turned into something far worse than I had ever faced on the streets. His mouth became a weapon, teeth slashed my arm, and hands pummelled my body. He was right – my hunter training was useless in a good old fashioned brawl between vampires.
    The attack went on an on, I tried to defend against his powerful blows; I dodged a few and even got in some more hits against this vampire. My teeth ached with a need to slash and tear him apart, yet I couldn’t get close enough to do any damage.
    I lay sprawled on the ground after another failed attempt to best him. I found myself flinching away from him as he approached. ‘Shyla, don’t. I would never hurt you.’
    Scrunching up into a ball I let the tears flow. I had been defeated and what’s more, it was by Dario. He brought me here to see what I was made of, I had given it my all and it wasn’t good enough, and now he was telling me that he would never hurt me? He told me before we had started that he would never hurt me, yet here I lay, feeling broken at his hands. The guy was a jerk!
    “Shyla, please, let me see to your wounds.” That said it all – my wounds! He held out a hand to help me to my feet. Ignoring it, I forced myself to my feet and made my way to the stairs without giving him a second glance. Dario walked silently behind me. I could feel him trying to speak into my mind but forced him away. I couldn’t deal with him now. I had wounds to lick and whisky to drink.
    Making my way to his private level, I turned to face him before going up the stairs. “Do you object to me using your lounge or would you prefer it if I went to my room?”
    Dario’s hand lifted to stroke my face; I ducked out of the way and glared at him. “Shyla, you’re being unreasonable and I don’t know