Title: Kai (A Dark Assassins Novel Book One)
Author: Valerie Ullmer
Genre: Paranormal Romance
3-Year Book Anniversary
Blurb
There are two words that described Kai.
Remote and Deadly.
And until six months ago, he was fine with that description. But when the vampire assassin spots a curvaceous woman, a human no less, who would come to fill his thoughts, he would gladly shake his persona for a moment in time with her. Instead, he kept his distance, watching out for her and learning more about her every time their paths crossed. But he had yet to speak to her. When a turn of events thrusts her into his solitary life, he must decide whether to complete his assignment, or protect her.
Olivia Sabin had dedicated her life to her work; finding a cure for cancer. She had hidden behind the mask of a scientist who cares little about anything beyond her laboratory, and for a long while she believed it herself. But when a mysterious man came to frequent the diner she visited nightly, her awareness of him devastated her concentration, and she came to look forward to the glimpses of him, however brief.
When she stumbles upon a horrific experiment at work, she knows he’s the only one she can turn to. She’s willing to sacrifice everything in order to protect him and others of his kind from the same fate. But first, she needs to find a way to get him to hear her explanation.
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That was the moment he spotted her from the corner of his eye.
Her mass of cascading dark, curly hair bounced against the burgundy mid-length trench coat wrapped tightly around her to ward off the chill of the late September night. But with her head tilted down, he was unable to see her face. Even from the distance of over two hundred yards, he could hear her mumbling to herself. As hard as he listened, he couldn’t quite make out the words. The coat did nothing to cover her curves hidden underneath, and he found himself enthralled by the sway of her hips. His gaze traveled down her curvy body, and his groin tightened with every step she took.
Before he could contemplate his actions, he leapt from the deck and flew down the mountain, stopping when he stood, hidden in the darkness, a few feet from her. He forced himself to widen the distance between them, and started trailing her.
Experience and his enhanced senses kept him out of sight from her and the others who ventured out on the cold night. He soon found that she was so absorbed in whatever happened to be on her mind that he could have stood right in front of her, and she would’ve ignored him and kept walking.
He trailed her as she closed in on the diner on the corner, learning that the small eatery was her destination on most nights. She chose that moment to brush her long hair out of her face. With that tiny movement, her fragrance of lemongrass and green apple drifted back toward him. A low snarl erupted from his throat as his body stiffened in shock; the unexpected reaction to her scent was so fierce, he was torn between his instant desire for her and self-preservation. The sound he hadn’t managed to smother must’ve reached her, because her head turned toward him and her brows drew down in confusion. A split second before her eyes landed on where he stood, he stepped back, pissed at his infinitesimal loss of control. A silent sigh of relief passed his lips as she shook her head, not able to spot in him the dark, and continued on her way.
In his over two hundred year existence, he’d never been attracted to a human. Blood was the one reason that he interacted with humans, and even that could be taken from a donor without him having him drink from the source. But as he tried to pass off a reason he reacted to her in such an elemental way, he continued to follow her, finding himself outside the door that read Blue Plate Diner. Obscured by the door, his eyes tracked movement as the waitress greeted her as if they were old friends. For a reason he couldn’t fathom, he felt a surge of jealousy. He was still a stranger to this captivating human, and she intrigued him.
Without quite knowing why he had followed her, he opened the door and walked into the chrome and tiled cafe, taking the time to pull up the hood of his sweatshirt. He scanned the place and settled for a booth at the back of the restaurant, where he could watch her without being detected.
By the time he’d sat down and scanned for any possible dangers, she had pulled out a laptop along with a sheaf of papers filled with formulas he couldn’t decipher. Between typing and writing in the margins of the already filled pages, the concentration on her work was total.
He found himself mesmerized by the play of emotions on her face as she worked. A smile for when she figured out a problem, or a frown when something didn’t quite fit, and everything in between. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. When she bit her lip in concentration, it took all of his control to keep his distance from her. He found that he had to grip the table to keep himself still, when all he wanted to do was devour her.
The spell was broken when the waitress had placed a club sandwich with a side of fries on the free space next to her elbow. He forced himself to relax, but kept his eyes on her when she reached for the sandwich absently and ate without really paying attention to anything else but the work in front of her.
After several hours, her hand covered a small yawn. She glanced at her watch, and he felt the side of his mouth tilt as she rolled her eyes. Thanking the waitress, she reached for two tens in her pocket and dropped them on the table before she packed up and left.
From that night on, he made a point to arrive at the diner minutes after she was seated, and spent hours scanning her face as he watched her work. And every night, he slid into the shadows as she walked home to her small cottage, with its bright white siding with cornflower blue shutters that matched her perfectly. Each night, he waited until she was safely inside with the door locked, before he made his way back to his home on the mountain.
His attraction also came with a somewhat unwanted reaction. Protectiveness. He estimated her height at under five and a half feet tall, and although she walked everywhere in their relatively safe little town—to her job at Standard Biotech and her home, several blocks from the diner—he had to tamp down his need to protect her. From what, he couldn’t explain, even to himself.
Author Bio
Valerie writes paranormal and contemporary romances with strong alpha males and brilliant, beautiful heroines. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her wonderfully supportive husband and their funny and wise black lab. She's addicted to coffee, crime shows, and reading and writing character driven romances.
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