Title: Bitten Shame
Series: The Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy Book 2
Author: Olivia Hardin
Release Date: May 25, 2012
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 232
Words: 52,310
ISBN-10: 0615645380
ISBN-13: 978-0615645384
ASIN: B0085W2BAW
On the day she
became a vampire her youthful innocence ended, but Doc’s love rescued her from
being consumed by the darkness. The shadow of that former life continues to
loom over her, keeping her from realizing her own self-worth. Running from her
past only brings her closer to a destiny that is inextricably connected to what
she is trying to escape…
Jill stood in what had become her
bedroom in her friend's house and watched as Devan walked away. As she murmured
another goodnight, she felt a prickle run along her skin bringing her attention
back to the fact that Langston was waiting outside her room for her. Her lips
drew into a severe line when the giant man quietly opened the door and
approached her with steps too soft for his massive body. His size was such that
he should have sounded like a herd of elephants entering the room. He exuded
calm and patience and she tried to draw from his composure but her stomach
still turned into knots. Even being a
vampire, Jill experienced all the same emotions and feelings she’d had before
she was changed. At this very moment she was both terrified and sickened.
Langston’s easy smile didn’t help
soothe her any, but instead caused her to open her mouth and begin talking in
short breaths. “I wish we had more time. I wasn’t prepared to do this yet. I
don’t like doing this at all, you know? It’s not right. It makes me feel
dirty…”
“It is not dirty when it is
consensual. It is the best way to prepare you. We do not have time now, and we
all need the rest,” Langston began to use his large hands to unbutton his grey
shirt.
Horrified, Jill reached out and waved
her hands to keep him from removing his
clothing any further. “No,” Jill shouted, “I can take just as well from your
wrist. I can’t… I can’t from your neck. That’s too intimate… you know?”
He touched her chin in a gentle
manner, not as a lover would do but more as a father might. “Shoulders back,
Jill. Tomorrow you will be free, no matter if you succeed in your quest or
not.”
It was an ominous sort of comment,
because failure meant her death. Still, strange as it seemed, his words
provided her with a sort of solace; an end to her life would at least stop her
constant torment. Releasing the ball of tension in her gut, she laughed and
shook her head. “Ah, Andre, you’re something else, ya’ know that?”
He showed little or no reaction to
the pet name. There was no denying the
impressive stature of this tall and beefy guy. When they first met she’d
thought instantly of Andre the Giant, and the name had just stuck in her mind.
She took his enormous hand in her
small one, marveling at how warm he felt to her touch. As a vampire, her body
was forever cold and although she could register the feeling, she couldn’t warm
herself with it. The heat passed through her and disappeared just as quickly.
“The reverie,” she whispered,
her lips trembling as she hovered them just over his skin. “Are you sure?
There’s no reason not to. It isn’t right for you to feel pain for my benefit…”
she trailed off as she felt his eyes bore into hers. They had discussed this,
several times actually, since the moment he first suggested she should feed off
his blood. Each time he refused the reverie which would hypnotize him and
thereby allowing her to pierce his skin and suck his blood without pain.
Jill brought his wrist to her lips
and closed her eyes. She willed her incisors to lengthen, and with a quick and
sure thrust she dug them into his skin. Langston remained immobile. When the
first metallic taste of his hot blood splashed her tongue, she tried to pull
away, but he took the back of her neck and held her fast to his wrist. Giving
in, she sagged against his side and began to suck like a hungry babe.
The taste of him was intoxicating.
She hadn’t had fresh blood in such a long time. She was like an addict taking a
hit after years of sobriety. And to complicate matters further, Langston’s
blood was bursting with strength. His magic tingling her throat with each deep
swallow of the luxuriously thick and decadent liquid. Her limbs began to throb
and pulse with energy.
This was why she’d fought so hard
against the idea of taking Langston's blood. She was afraid that getting just a
taste of the real thing again would destroy her ability to resist in the
future. She didn’t want to stalk hosts in the night and she didn’t want to take
a supplicant; she didn’t want to drink the life-blood from a living creature
again.
Most importantly of all, she didn’t
want to remember that this was what had broken his will. She didn’t want to
take the chance again that someone else would break her own will and give her a
reason to forget him…
Olivia Hardin
realized early on how strange she was to have complete movie-like character
dreams as a child. Eventually she began putting those vivid dreams to paper and
was rarely without her spiral notebooks full of those mental ramblings. Her
forgotten vision of becoming an author was realized when she connected with a
group of amazingly talented and fabulous writers who gave her lots of direction
and encouragement.
With a little extra
push from family and friends, she hunkered down to get lost in the words. She's
also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a
jogger who hates to run, and is sometimes accused of being artistic, though
she's generally too much of a perfectionist to appreciate her own work. A
native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her
husband and their puppy Bonnie.
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