I’m a HUGE fan of Kerry’s and this duology is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. Seriously it is. I devoured both books in hours and was blown away by the story of Dylan and Alice. I do have to say I think Kerry is the master at creating characters who are so deliciously flawed that we overlook those flaws. Dylan and Alice are two of her best characters, and their path to HEA is one fraught with lots of intrigue and emotions. If you missed Glimmer I recommend reading that one first as it starts the whole series.
Alice Reed never dreamed she’d escape the stigma of her disturbing past. That’s why she was shocked when, out of the blue, she was recruited to join the elite Durand Enterprises by the enigmatic CEO himself, Dylan Fall. The erotic charge between them was fast and deliciously forbidden. But as Alice opened up to worlds she’d never known, everything changed once again with a stunning discovery: there’s much, much more concealed in the shadows of Alice’s troubling childhood, and her life is about to change forever.
Now, with another piece of the puzzle of Alice’s identity revealed, a mysterious adversary plots to destroy it all—and Dylan is determined to protect her. But as Alice’s sexual addiction to Dylan turns helplessly to love, she can’t help but wonder: how deeply can she really trust him? What were his true motives in drawing her close to him? And what other secrets does he know about her past that even she has yet to learn?
Excerpt
She flipped over to her other side, leaning up on her elbow to restlessly punch at a flattened pillow. She paused at a squeaking noise, going on high alert with her fist planted deep in the feathers.
The outer screen door gave another screech. Her heart jumped into her throat at the sound of the lock sliding back. She heard the soft sigh of the front door opening and then the quiet thud as it shut again.
Alice sat up in bed, her back ramrod straight, prepared to fly off the far side of the bed.
The overhead light came on.
Dylan stood just inside the room, his hand still on the light switch. In his other hand she noticed he held a ring of keys. Of course he had a key to this cabin. He owned this property, didn’t he?
They’d been having a cool spell. He wore a pair of jeans and a soft-looking denim shirt that stood in marked contrast to his long hard body. His jaw was shadowed with whiskers, giving him that dark piratical look she loved, but which also intimidated her. His mouth was pressed into a grim line. Her stunned brain left her temporarily mute.
“Let’s go,” he said simply.
“What?” she squeaked, her voice just above a whisper. Both she and Dylan glanced over at Kuvi’s bed. Shit. Kuvi was sitting up partially, rubbing her eyes and staring incredulously at the vision of Dylan Fall standing in their cabin.
“Sorry to wake you,” Dylan apologized. “This will just take a moment. Alice?” he addressed Alice levelly. “I waited until the camp was quiet, but I’m not going to wait anymore.”
“You can’t just break in here and expect me to get up and go with you!” Alice exclaimed, barely managing to keep her voice at a low volume.
“I do expect it. Because that’s what we agreed to, wasn’t it?” he asked quietly, taking a step toward her, the glint of anger in his shining dark eyes making her skin roughen in trepidation and mounting excitement. Yes. Excitement. The sight of him in her cabin, so solid and beautiful and demanding thrilled her, despite it all.
“I agreed to let you go on as if everything was normal, as long as you agreed you’d spend the nights and weekends with me up at the castle. You’ve broken your promise tonight.”
She glanced anxiously at Kuvi, who was now watching their tense exchange with wide hazel eyes.
“You don’t have to worry about Alice,” Dylan said to Kuvi, a small smile curling his mouth. “She made an agreement with me.”
Alice gritted her teeth in the silence that followed as both of them looked at her looked at her expectantly. “I’m not going with you,” she insisted.
“Would you like me to carry you?” Her anxiety ramped up when she couldn’t gauge if he was joking or not.
“Just try it,” she hissed.
“Maybe you’d prefer I spent the night here then?” Dylan asked, taking another step toward her bed.
She cursed under her breath and threw off the covers.
“Convenient of you to go to bed dressed,” Dylan said when she stood jerkily, his gaze running over the length of her in what struck Alice as an insolent manner. He was insinuating she’d known he was going to come and claim her like some kind of caveman. She was wearing a pair of soft running shorts and a T‑shirt.
“It’s what I wear to bed.”
His slight shrug seemed to say it all.
Not anymore, you don’t.
Posted by arrangement with Berkley Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © Beth Kery, 2015.
