SHELTERED
The
Cities Below Book 4
by
Jen Colly
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pub
Date: 1/9/2018
Only
love can save her from certain death. Too bad, she doesn’t believe
in love . . .
When
Bette Dautry comes to him, seeking his protection, Guardian Rollin
Casteel suspects the mysterious beauty has an ulterior motive. Unable
to resist her seductive charms, he soon hungers to mark her as his.
Only Bette disappears before he can sink his teeth into her tender
flesh, leaving Rollin with one mission: to find her—and to claim
her. . . .
Bette
seduces Rollin intent on conceiving his child, believing the
mother-child bond to be the only kind of love she can sustain—the
only kind of love that can keep her alive. But she never expects to
feel so much for her strong and silent lover. Then she discovers
Rollin is none other than the heir to the Balinese throne—a man too
noble—too dear—to play a role in her dark scheme. A man she would
willingly die for, if only he would set her free. . . .
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Bette woke from a sound sleep,
consciousness returning with a burst of adrenaline. Eyes open and searching,
she could barely make out a single object within her dark bedroom. She sat up
in bed, perfectly still and listening intently for the noise she thought she’d
heard. Had she imagined the footsteps? She heard nothing now. But if she’d
truly heard someone walking, had they only passed by her door? Or were they
inside her home?
No, she couldn’t pinpoint what
had woken her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was inside her
home. Bette dove for the lamp at her bedside, and when she switched it on, the
soft click echoed through the room. Her hand trembled in the glow of the light,
and she drew in a shaky breath, afraid of who she might see standing in here
with her.
Bette glanced around her bedroom.
Everything was in its place. Nothing moved. No sound carried to her from
outside her bedroom door, or even beyond, but she couldn’t dismiss this fear.
Something thrummed inside Bette,
an intuition, a warning. Reaching to her nightstand, she curled her fingers
around the handle of her jewel-encrusted letter opener she kept within arms’
reach. She poked her bare feet from the covers, then gingerly touched her toes
to the soft carpet and stood, the hem of her satin and lace nightgown sliding
down her legs to brush the tops of her feet.
Tiptoeing across her bedroom, she
reached out a hand to her highbacked green and gold chair, steadying herself as
she stepped around it and headed for her bedroom door. She slowly opened the
door, but hugged the frame as she peeked into the great room. A part of her
wanted to call out, to ask if anyone was in her home, but fear blocked out the
words, choked off her voice.
Several nerve-wracking moments
passed without a whisper of a sound, but Bette couldn’t put her mind at ease
until she checked the locks. She would have to cross the great room. The soft
glow of her lamp behind her did little to give her courage, but she dare not
look back, not now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness ahead.
Crossing should be easy, just put
one foot in front of the other. She could do this. Bette stepped into the great
room, and suddenly something moved beside her, a shadow shifting in the
darkness, visible from the corner of her eye. She jumped, unable to suppress
her gasp of surprise, and scrambled back into her bedroom. There was no thought
behind her reaction. It wasn’t as if the dim light at her bedside could save
her, but somehow seeing what was coming seemed less terrifying than being
attacked by the unknown.
Bette covered her mouth to keep
silent, and to stop her lips from quivering. Her other hand held the letter
opener, her grip tightening in preparation. The edges of the makeshift weapon
weren’t necessarily sharp, but the tip was pointed enough to damage flesh.
Would inflicting an injury be enough of a distraction for her to escape the
intruder? She wasn’t sure. By the size of the shadow, she assumed a man had
entered her home, and men were indomitably resilient.
With long, deep breaths, she
forced her breathing to calm. She needed to hear beyond her own panic and
listen for movement in the next room. If she could hear the approaching steps,
she might be better prepared to strike. Excruciatingly long moments passed with
no sound, no hint of movement. Had anyone been there? Had she imagined the
shadow, and perhaps even the sound that had woken her?
Bette no longer trusted her
senses, but this instinctual, driving need for self-preservation was difficult
to ignore. With no further proof of a trespasser, she decided she needed some
clarity.
The light switch to the great
room was close. She needed to dash down the short hall and reach around the
corner. Bette stepped from her room, and that shadow moved with her, followed
her… It was her shadow.
She pressed her hand to her
forehead. Lack of sleep had finally taken its toll. Sounds woke her, kept her
on edge. Catnaps no longer sustained her energy, and now she was jumping at her
own shadow. When she could no longer slumber soundly through the day, she’d
tried to sleep at night, but sleep was not only illusive, it left her
vulnerable, to both real and imagined dangers.
It was all in her head. Again.
Bette loathed her fears, her confusion, and the lack of control over her life.
Could she even classify this existence as life? Babette, the wealthiest woman
in Valenna and the last of the illustrious Dautry lineage, had been reduced to
cowering inside her home, fearful of the people living within her own city.
Beneath the Night
The Cities Below Book 3
Sometimes
survival means surrendering everything . . .
Lord
Navarre Casteel wakes from a long sleep to find the vampire city he
rules forever changed and his future in the hands of a mysterious
beauty who offers her life for his. Fiery-haired Cat survives his
feeding, fueling Navarre’s body and mind—as well as his suspicion
that she is one of the Forbidden—a lethal mix of vampire and human
blood. Yet that doesn’t stop the throb of Navarre’s desire, the
feeling that she is destined to be his mate, to hell with
consequences. . . .
A
solitary fighter sworn to protect the children in her charge, Cat
never expects to feel so much for Navarre in the face of his savage
feeding. Which is why his offer of protection is nearly her undoing.
For how can she let down her guard when she has always walked alone?
But Cat has never faced an enemy like the one she faces now, never
felt such a powerful need to surrender to the force of love . .
Bound
The
Cities Below Book 2
The
streets are a battleground for humans, vampires, and demons
alike—where survival is a skill, love is a weapon, and the most
dangerous act is to care for another . . .
Keir
is an assassin devoted to Lady Arianne, the last of her royal
bloodline. He is sworn to protect her, and that means eliminating any
threat to her life. But while on a mission, he is set upon by a pack
of demons, barely escaping with his life.
Cleopatra
lives by a set of rules so rigid she no longer knows her true self.
But her kind and loving nature resurfaces when she finds a man,
bloodied and dying. Moved to help him, she risks her future and her
life to save a stranger far below her aristocratic station.
Their
attraction to each other is as powerful as it is forbidden. But even
as their love grows, Keir keeps his true identity a secret—and this
lie is not the only threat to their love . . . or their lives.
In
the Dark
The
Cities Below Book 1
Demons
have returned, a vengeful enemy waiting to strike. Soren and Faith
must find a way to survive the evil and darkness.
Faith's
spur of the moment vacation, meant to free her and boost her spirits,
has left her lost on the streets of Paris. And apparently, Paris is
populated with something more than just humans. Vampires, suave,
seductive and oh so sexy, and one such warrior vampire has set his
sights on her.
When Soren hears Faith's terrified
screams, he rushes in and saves her life without considering the
consequences. Two problems: one, she's a human and clearly aware of
his vampire qualities, and two, the men who attacked her were not men
at all, but demons. Their target, his beloved underground city of
Balinese. He can never let Faith go home again, but can she learn to
love his people. . .love him?
Jen Colly is
the rare case of an author who rebelled against reading assignments
throughout her school years. Now she prefers reading books in a
series, which has led her to writing her first paranormal romance
series: The Cities Below. She will write about anything that catches
her fancy, though truth be told, her weaknesses are pirates and
vampires. She lives in Ohio with her supportive husband, two kids,
one big fluffy dog, and four rescued cats.
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1 comment:
Thank you for sharing SHELTERED with everyone!
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