Darkest Caress

by Kaylea Cross

Overview

Two-hundred-year-old Daegan Blackwell is one of the last remaining Empowered, an ancient magical race. Daegan's duty is to lead and protect his remaining Brethren in the coming war foretold by prophecy. The last thing he expects is to meet the one woman who will either save or destroy him—his destined mate.
Fiercely independent Realtor Olivia Farrell believes darkly handsome Daegan is simply a prospective client. Until she's attacked by a man with a strange aura—and Daegan fights him off, taking away her pain with just his touch. At first, Olivia refuses to believe she's part of a magical race, yet mounting evidence and her powerful chemistry with Daegan are too strong to deny.
But as Daegan's partner, Olivia becomes a target in the battle between good and evil that threatens her life, as well as the very existence of the Empowered. And the only one who can save her is the man claiming to be her destiny...
92,000 words

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426893667
Publisher:	Carina Press
Publication date:	02/11/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	281
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers' Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and family.

Read an Excerpt

First time in weeks she'd seen that creep, and still she came down with a migraine.

Liv Farrell downed two extra-strength Excedrin then checked her rearview mirror again. The road behind her was empty, but she couldn't shake the thought that he might have followed her.

Stop. You're being paranoid. And you have more important things to worry about right now.

She squinted as she pulled into the mansion's long driveway, but those damned sparks started to dance before her eyes. She loved her youngest piano student, but the same couldn't be said of the girl's father. After he'd been sexually inappropriate with her one time too many, she'd threatened to stop teaching the girl unless the mother brought her to and from her lessons. The arrangement had worked fine, until tonight.

Now, because of him, Liv had the mother of all headaches to deal with while she faced what might be the most important property showing of her realty career.

A blast of muggy, sea-tinged air hit her face when she climbed out of her car. She winced. Not even the sight of the gorgeous stone mansion could dim the pounding in her head. Swallowing hard against the slicing pain, she fought back the wave of nausea that threatened to bring up what little dinner she'd forced down her throat. More than anything she just wanted to go home and curl up in the dark with an ice pack on the back of her neck, but this was one appointment she couldn't reschedule.

As she neared the walkway to the front door, a blessedly cool breeze whipped up from the ocean at the foot of the bluff. She gazed up at the sprawling house before her with a strange sense of familiarity. Of all the high-end properties on her list, this was her favorite by far. Set on seven acres of park-like grounds, the three-story limestone mansion looked like it belonged outside of Paris, with its graceful slate roofline and twin vers-de-gris cupolas. The deceased's executor had finally cleared the legal hurdles and made the decision to list the property last night, so it wasn't even officially listed yet. She had no idea how this prospective buyer had found out about it.

On her way to the front door the heady scent of roses mixed with the rich perfume of the stargazer lilies, punctuating the thick border on either side of the path. Ordinarily she loved flowers, but right now the smell made her stomach roll.

When she stepped inside the house, the clean scent of lemon oil soap greeted her, along with a breath of cool air from the air conditioning. Sighing in relief, she set her briefcase down and took a moment to look around the huge vaulted mahogany ceilings of the foyer and family room before her gaze strayed to the west facing windows on the far wall. The view beyond was enough to take her breath away, but there was something about this house that called to her. Something that had resonated inside her when she'd driven past it the first time a few months ago, long before it landed on her list.

Too bad she didn't have the tens of millions to buy it. And then another million a year to maintain it and pay the taxes.

Whoever he was, the man coming to meet her must have more money than he knew what to do with. Doing a quick run through of the main floor to make sure everything was as it should be, she stopped in the kitchen and turned on some soft lights over the stainless steel range and under the moldings above the rich cream cabinets. It cast the room in a soft, inviting glow.