Rage/Killian: Bayou Heat Novellas (1001 Dark Nights Book 5) Read online

  Rage/Killian

  Bayou Heat Novellas

  By Alexandra Ivy & Laura Wright

  1001 Dark Nights

  Rage/Killian

  Bayou Heat Novellas

  By Alexandra Ivy & Laura Wright

  1001 Dark Nights

  Copyright 2015 Debbie Raleigh & Laura Wright

  ISBN: 978-1-940887-64-7

  Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  RAGE

  Rage might be an aggressive Hunter by nature, but the gorgeous male has never had a problem charming the females. All except Lucie Gaudet. Of course, the lovely Geek is a born troublemaker, and it was no surprise to Rage when she was kicked out of the Wildlands.

  But now the Pantera need a first-class hacker to stop the potential destruction of their people. And it’s up to Rage to convince Lucie to help. Can the two forget the past—and their sizzling attraction—to save the Pantera?

  KILLIAN

  Gorgeous, brutal, aggressive, and human, Killian O’Roarke wants only two things: to get rid of the Pantera DNA he’s been infected with, and get back to the field. But the decorated Army Ranger never bargained on meeting the woman—the female—of his dreams on his mission to the Wildlands.

  Rosalie lost her mate to a human, and now the Hunter despises them all. In fact, she thinks they’re good for only one thing: barbeque. But this one she’s guarding is testing her beliefs. He is proud and kind, and also knows the pain of loss. But in a time of war between their species, isn’t any chance of love destined for destruction?

  About the Authors

  Alexandra Ivy is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Guardians of Eternity, as well as the Sentinels, Dragons of Eternity and ARES series. After majoring in theatre she decided she prefers to bring her characters to life on paper rather than stage. She lives in Missouri with her family. Visit her website at alexandraivy.com.

  New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Laura Wright is passionate about romantic fiction. Though she has spent most of her life immersed in acting, singing and competitive ballroom dancing, when she found the world of writing and books and endless cups of coffee she knew she was home. Laura is the author of the bestselling Mark of the Vampire series and the USA Today bestselling series, Bayou Heat, which she co-authors with Alexandra Ivy.

  Laura lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two young children and three loveable dogs.

  Also From Alexandra Ivy

  Click to purchase

  GUARDIANS OF ETERNITY

  When Darkness Ends

  Darkness Eternal

  Hunt the Darkness

  Embrace the Darkness

  When Darkness Comes

  MASTERS OF SEDUCTION

  Volume One

  Masters Of Seduction Two

  Reckless: House Of Furia

  ARES SERIES

  Kill Without Mercy

  BAYOU HEAT SERIES

  Bayou Heat Collection One

  Bayou Heat Collection Two

  Angel/Hiss

  Michel/Striker

  BRANDED PACK

  Stolen and Forgiven

  Abandoned and Unseen

  DRAGONS OF ETERNITY

  Burned by Darkness

  SENTINELS

  On The Hunt

  Also From Laura Wright

  Click to purchase

  MARK OF THE VAMPIRE

  Eternal Hunger

  Eternal Kiss

  Eternal Blood (Especial)

  Eternal Captive

  Eternal Beast

  Eternal Beauty (Especial)

  Eternal Demon

  Eternal Sin

  BAYOU HEAT SERIES

  Raphael & Parish

  Bayon & Jean-Baptiste

  Talon & Xavier

  Sebastian & Aristide

  Lian & Roch

  Hakan & Severin

  Angel & Hiss

  Michel & Striker

  Rage & Killian

  WICKED INK CHRONICLES (New Adult Series- 17+)

  First Ink

  Shattered Ink

  Rebel Ink

  CAVANAUGH BROTHERS

  Branded

  Broken

  Brash

  Bonded

  MASTERS OF SEDUCTION

  Volume One

  Masters Of Seduction Two

  INCUBUS TALES

  SPURS, STRIPES and SNOW Series

  Sinful in Spurs

  Acknowledgments From the Authors

  To Our Readers, Current and New: We love you! Enjoy your Pantera. Grrrrowl.

  Sign up for the 1001 Dark Nights Newsletter

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  As a bonus, all subscribers will receive a free

  1001 Dark Nights story

  The First Night

  by Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright

  Also by Alexandra Ivy

  Also by Laura Wright

  Acknowledgments from Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright

  Foreword

  Legend of the Pantera

  Rage

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Epilogue

  Killian

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Also From 1001 Dark Nights

  An excerpt from Kill Without Mercy by Alexandra Ivy

  An excerpt from Bonded by Laura Wright

  Special Thanks

  One Thousand and One Dark Nights

  Once upon a time, in the future…

  I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.

  I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and

  the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast

  library at my father’s home and collected thousands

  of volumes of fantastic tales.

  I learned all about ancient races and bygone

  times. About myths and legends and dreams of all

  people through the millennium. And the more I read

  the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered

  that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually

  become part of them.

  I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher

  and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I

  would not be telling you this tale now.

  But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off

  with bravery.

  One afternoon, curious about the myth of the


  Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to

  see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar

  (Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then

  sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written

  and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,

  the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand

  women.

  Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived

  in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged

  places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had

  never occurred before and that still to this day, I

  cannot explain.

  Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have

  taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

  protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

  protect herself and stay alive.

  Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

  And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

  point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

  And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

  he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

  As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

  one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

  you now.

  Legend of the Pantera

  To most people the Pantera, a mystical race of puma-shifters who live in the depths of the Louisiana swamps, have become little more than a legend.

  It was rumored that in the ancient past, twin sisters, born of magic, had created a sacred land and claimed it as their own. From that land was born creatures who were neither human or animal, but a mixture of the two.

  They became faster and stronger than normal humans. Their senses were hyper acute. And when surrounded by the magic of the Wildlands in the bayous of Southern Louisiana, they were capable of shifting into pumas.

  As the years passed, however, the sightings of the Pantera became so rare that the rumors faded to myths.

  Most believed the entire species had become extinct.

  Then months ago, they’d been forced to come out of the shadows when it was uncovered that a secret sect of humans have been experimenting with Pantera blood and DNA.

  It’s a battle for the future of the puma-shifters.

  One they dare not lose.

  No matter what the cost.

  Rage

  Chapter 1

  The Wildlands were exactly what most people would expect for a pack of puma-shifters. Thick foliage, towering cypress trees, narrow water channels clogged with water lilies and banks of sweet-smelling azaleas.

  A glorious, untamed bayou that stretched for miles.

  But it was much more than a vast swamp. Behind the magical barriers were hundreds of comfortable homes, a state-of-the-art medical clinic, a village green where the Pantera shared meals, and a large, Colonial-style structure with black shutters that looked like it’d been plucked out of Gone With the Wind.

  The building was currently being shared by the heads of the various factions. Suits, who were the diplomats of the Pantera. The Geeks, who took care of everything high-tech. The Healers, who could usually be found at the clinic. And the Hunters, who were the protectors.

  Inside, the HQ was buzzing with activity. No big surprise. Over the past few months they’d endured a crazy-ass goddess, a traitor, and now a human corporation, Benson Enterprises, who’d been secretly kidnapping Pantera and using them as lab rats.

  Which was why Rage should have suspected that something was up when Parish led him to a back room that offered them a temporary privacy.

  The two male Hunters looked similar at a glance. Both had deeply bronzed skin and dark hair, although Rage kept his cut short. And both had broad shoulders and sculpted muscles that were covered by worn jeans and T-shirts, despite the chill in the air.

  But while the older Parish looked like a lethal killer with scars that bisected the side of his angular face, Rage was blessed with the features of an angel. Even more fascinating, his eyes were a stunning violet that was flecked with gold.

  Women had been sighing in pleasure since Rage hit puberty.

  It took a closer look to see the predatory cat that lurked just below the surface.

  At the moment, he looked every inch the deadly Hunter. His eyes glowed with power and if he’d been in his cat form, his tail would have been twitching as he paced from one end of the room to the other.

  “No,” he growled. “No, no, no.”

  “I’m sorry.” Parish folded his arms over his chest, the air prickling with the force of his authority. The older male wasn’t the leader of the Hunters because of his sparkling personality. “Did you think that was a request? Because it wasn’t.”

  Rage grimaced, deliberately leashing his instinctive aggression. He’d discovered at an early age he could use his natural charm to…encourage people to see things his way. It was only when his cat was provoked to violence that it was obvious why his faction was Hunter instead of Diplomat.

  “Please, Parish,” he soothed. “Send someone else.”

  “There is no one else.” Parish narrowed his golden eyes. “In case you missed the memo we’ve been having a few disasters lately.”

  “Exactly. I should be out searching for the mysterious Christopher,” Rage said, referring to the head of Benson Enterprises, the shadowy corporation that was responsible for stealing Pantera, as well as vulnerable humans. “Or at least hunting down the Frankenstein labs. We still can’t be sure we’ve burned them all.” He pointed toward the window that overlooked the manicured grass of the communal area. Below them a few Pantera mothers were sharing a late lunch while their cubs tumbled across the spongy ground. It was winter in the Wildlands, but the Pantera embraced the brisk air. “Hell, I’ll even spy on the military. Someone needs to discover who can and can’t be trusted in the human government.”

  Parish looked far from impressed by his logic. “Are you trying to tell me how to do my job?”

  “Christ, no. It’s just…”

  Parish frowned. “What?”

  Rage hesitated. This was the first time he’d ever questioned a direct order, but there was no way in hell he wanted to deal with Lucie Gaudet.

  The female Geek had been a few years younger than Rage, and growing up he’d initially felt sorry for the half-feral creature who’d lived in the outer parts of the swamp. She’d slunk around the edges of town with her hair matted and tangled, and her face covered in dirt. Almost like a fabled wood sprite who flitted among the trees, spreading mist and magic

  But as they’d matured, his pity had changed to annoyance.

  Instead of growing out of her odd preference for the shadows, she’d continued to lurk at a distance, and worse, she’d used her cunning intelligence to torment others. Including himself.

  A born troublemaker.

  “I’m a Hunter, not a Geek,” he finally muttered. “Why doesn’t Xavier send one of his own people to track down the female?”

  Parish’s lips twisted. “Because, like you, they’re terrified of Lucie.”

  Rage scowled. “I’m not scared of her.”

  “No?”

  The two predators glared at one another before Rage, at last, heaved a resigned sigh.

  “Okay, I’m scared of her,” he admitted. “She’s a psycho bitch.”

  “She’s not psycho. She’s just…” Parish struggled for the word. “Misunderstood.”

  “Being misunderstood is shaving your head and drinking so much elderberry wine you puke purple for three days,” he muttered, ignoring Parish’s snort of amusement. Okay, it was possible that Rage had done both of those things. “Lucie burned down her grandfather’s cottage.”

  Parish shrugged. “No one was inside it.”

  “She stole my diary so she could decrypt my private thoughts and posted them in the community center.” Something tha
t still aggravated the hell out of Rage. He’d written highly sensitive information about the various females he’d been dating at the time. All of them had refused to talk to him for weeks.

  “You shouldn’t have been such a hound dog,” Parish said with blatant lack of sympathy.

  “I wasn’t a hound dog,” Rage protested. “I just adore women.”

  Parish rolled his eyes. “A lot of women.”

  “Not as many as most people think,” Rage retorted. It was true he spent a large majority of his time with females, but it wasn’t about sex. Or at least, not everything was about sex. More than a few of his dates had been nothing more than two friends enjoying an evening together. “But I’m not ashamed of my appreciation for the opposite sex,” he continued. “I love their scent. Their feel. Just having them near.”

  “Then why were you so upset?”

  Because she made him look like an idiot.

  He didn’t share the sense of mortification he’d never forgotten. Instead, he folded his arms over his chest.

  “What about the fact that she hacked into the Pentagon?”

  Parish met him glare for glare. Predictably, he refused to back down.

  “Xavier took care of her lack of judgment.”

  “By denying her access to computers?” Rage shook his head. It was a wonder she hadn’t gotten every Pantera tossed in the brig. “All that did was give her a reason to leave the Wildlands so she didn’t have to follow the rules.”

  Parish leaned against the edge of the heavy walnut desk, the wood creaking beneath his considerable weight. Pantera had denser bones and muscle than humans.

  “None of us liked following the rules. I remember you breaking them more than once.”