Novels by Tay

The other lycans began to pay attention, calling out to her. She coated fur in ice, and slid frozen weapons in the direction of any lycan in human form who could wield one. The high body temperature of the lycans meant they quickly burned through their frosty axes and swords. Vanessa was working overtime. She began to feel drained and depleted. Her arms were heavy and her body began to feel cold within. Nick ’s wolf watched her intently. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He darted away and into the entrance of the complex, and just as Vanessa was beginning to think she had used up her powers completely, a wave of warmth and energy surged through her. She turned to see Laurie, her blonde brow furrowed in deep concentration. She gave Vanessa a small smile and nod. Lance’s wolf circled Laurie protectively. He did not look one bit happy about this arrangement. Nick returned to Vanessa’s side, ready for another round of ice. She called upon her powers and this time they returned. T

“Aria!” Vanessa yelled. Where had they gone? Where had he taken her? Magic flooded her veins. Without another thought, she hurled a wave of ice toward the disgusting bald man. It hit him with such force that his body flew up and straight through one of the glass walls that made up the complex’s entryway. He hit the stone steps outside with an audible crash and did not move again. As Vanessa turned her gaze she caught sight of Nick . His eyes met with hers and she opened her mouth to speak. Before she could warn him, the air around them crackled. An army of Collectors appeared. A large group surrounded the outer lobby while a small group appeared within the lobby itself. Fear struck Vanessa so strongly she could barely think. The lycans reacted in an instant. Some chose to shift into their wolves, while others remained in human form and used the weapons they had in hand. Leah dove at the Collector nearest to Vanessa, shifting into her lean black wolf in midair. The man screeched as s

Vanessa felt so helpless up here. She understood their reasoning, but still wanted to do more. For now she would have to wait, pray, and hope everyone was safe down below. T he lycans worked efficiently. They had been able to assemble their teams and lock down the complex within half an hour. It was a reminder to Nick of why they trained so hard and how important it was to do so. After securing the inside perimeter, they went outdoors. The scene that met the lycan teams looked like something out of a horror film. The second Nick exited the complex his senses were assaulted by the smell of blood and decaying flesh. The victims were scattered all around the property. The first girl he saw was a small, young brunette. She had long dark hair and large blue eyes that stared up at him accusingly. Her body was so badly mangled that he couldn’t have guessed the original color of clothes she was currently wearing. Deep crimson covered her broken form. The lifeless woman lay at an unnatural an

“Don’t worry about Aria.” He spoke in a gentle tone. “We have plenty of time before we need to think about kids. Let’s just enjoy tonight and worry about all of that later.” His breath was coming out in frosty puffs now. “I can’t do it,” Vanessa said. “Can’t do what?” She finally turned from the window to look at him. “I can’t have kids with you. I can’t do it. I won’t do it.” Nick looked stunned. “Why are you saying this?” Tears streamed down Vanessa’s cheeks. “Do you think I want to have little monsters? To bring them into this world?” “Monsters?” echoed Nick , his jaw tensing. “Yes, monsters! What do you think would happen if we have kids?” Nick was quiet. His eyes burned into hers. “I didn’t realize having lycan children would be so unappealing to you.” Vanessa stared at him, his words catching her off guard. “I guess lycans are good enough to save you, train you, and fuck you. God forbid you have a lycan ‘monster’ child of your own.” There was so much venom in his tone

He gave her a mischievous smirk. “You’ll see.” Vanessa let out a small sound of protest. “First, you need to take a shower and get ready for dinner.” “Dinner?” she asked. He nodded. “Dinner, at Alpha Marcus ’s place.” Vanessa couldn’t hide her surprise. “In the penthouse? But why?” Instead of answering, Nick bent down to capture Vanessa’s lips in a deep kiss. She felt dizzy as he pulled away. “No more questions. I’ll pick you up at seven thirty,” he said as he dropped her off at her door. He bent to give Vanessa one last kiss. “You’re not coming in?” She frowned. “I’ve got to meet with Aria. She’s been bombarding me with party planning all day.” Vanessa laughed. “She can be very persistent.” “Yes she can be.” Nick rubbed his temples. “I’ll be back at seven thirty.” “See you then.” She watched him head down the hallway, his tall frame moving with long purposeful strides. Damn he looked good from behind, from the front, in a suit, in his sweats, in nothing at all. Nick stopped

Vanessa shook her head. “The Collectors are looking for me. We can’t leave the complex. We can’t go outside Matlena’s wards.” “We’re not leaving the complex. Lucky for us there is a gorgeous unused banquet hall right here in the building!” “What? Why is there a banquet hall at Ulric?” Nick was the one who answered this time. “There are often times when Alpha Marcus is forced to entertain other large partners, businesses, and even other Alphas visiting the territory.” He grimaced. “Not to mention a surprise visit from the Infernal Council.” Aria clapped her hands together excitedly. “Exactly. All we need to do is give it a few decorations and voila!” Vanessa could tell by the way Aria said ‘a few’ decorations that it would be anything but a small amount of decor. Aria had a flair for the dramatic, and Vanessa could only imagine what kind of over-the-top antics were in store. Nick put up a hand to stop Aria from saying more. “We can’t just let a bunch of florists and caterers into

“No.” Alex shook his head, his face contorting with agonized concentration as he recalled every detail of the last time he had seen his daughter. “At least, I don’t think so.”“You don’t think so?” the policeman pushed, and Emma could have slapped him for his insensitivity. But Alex was calmer, explaining Alex’s problem in ameasured voice, but his voice was loaded with pain.“My daughter has problems—behavioural problems.” Katrina opened her mouth to argue, but Alex stood firm, shaking his head at Katrina, clearly indicating that now wasn’t the time for futile denial. “She doesn’t react in theusual way—you never really know what she’s thinking. Look, you have to tell your colleagues that they could be just a metre away from her, could be callingher name, and she won’t answer them, she won’t call out...” His voice broke for about asecond and Emma watched as he attempted to recover, his eyes closing for an agonising second as he forced himself to continue. “You have to tell them that

She gave tiny gasps in her throat as her fingers knotted together in his hair, as still he teased her more, histeeth grazing the silk, his tongue moistening her more, and even if it was everything she wanted, it still wasn’t enough. Realisation hit her that, despitewhat had taken place in the garden, she’d never seen him naked. Need propelling her, she pulled back a touch, saw the question in his eyes as slowly he stood up. Her fingers, nervous at first, but bolder as desire took over, wrestled with thebuttons of his shirt, pushing the sleeves down over his muscular arms. Closing her eyes in giddy want, her pale breasts pressed against his chest. She felt thenaked silk of his dark skin against her, skin on skin, as she opened his belt and unzipped his shorts. She held her breath in wonder as Alex now shed thegarments that stood between them, and if he’d been beautiful before, he was stunning now.Never had she seen a more delicious man, his body toned and muscular, his dark, oliv

“It would have,” Emma said softly, watching his wince of regret at her refusal to accept it, actually grateful when Katrina and Hugh ducked inside theemerald canopy and broke the painful moment, because whatever Alex was trying to say it was too little, too late—even a garden full of flowers wasn’tgoing to fix this.“Join us for a drink,” Hugh offered. “Alex’s just about to put Alex to bed...”“I’ve got too much to do here.” Emma smiled as she shook her head. “But thank you for the offer.”“I think we might have to stay over.” Katrina pretended to grimace. “Hugh’s had a couple too many champagnes to drive.”“I’ve had one,” Hugh said, but Katrina had clearly already made up her mind.Emma was tempted to tell her that she needn’t bother, that Alex didn’t need to be guarded on her final night here, but instead she offered her goodnights andheaded to the mountain of tools that needed to be sorted.“You really ought to think about finishing up,” Alex called. “There’s a storm brewing and

“No.” His single word hurt her even more, if that were possible, his refusal to soften it cheapening her more than she’d thought possible.“So what was that all about?” Emma asked, gesturing to where they had lain, where he’d found her, held her, made love to her, forcing the confrontation,steeling herself to hear the confirmation of her worst fears. “What just happened there, Alex?”“Sex.” Black eyes stung her, a warning note in his voice telling her she’d crossed the line. His lips set in a rigid line as she shook her head, refused histake on the history they’d so recently created.“It was more than that and you know it,” Emma rasped, shocked by his callousness, reeling from the ferociousness of his sparse summing-up, yet refusing to buy it, because she knew there was more to him, had witnessed the real Alex only moments before, and all she knew was that she wanted himback. “Alex, please, don’t do this...” Emma attempted, her hand reaching out for his arm, but he recoiled as if s

Only now did his lips release hers. Any sooner and she would have begged him to stop, would have halted things.But now she was putty in his skilled hands, pliable, warm, willing to move, to let him do with her what he wanted, and, oh, how he did—kissing the pulseleaping in her throat as she wriggled out of her top. The second her breasts were free, his tongue paid them the attention they deserved, tender attention, kissingthe swollen, needy tips in turn, his finger retracing his steps, working downwards now. Her stomach tightened in renewed tension as he slid down the zip of her shorts, but for the first time since contact he spoke, the liquid deep tones of his voice not breaking the spell but somehow deepening it.“Don’t hold onto those thoughts, bella, just let them come and go.” Repeating the words she had said to him, but with entirely different meaning this time. Andshe tried, really tried to just relax as his hand cupped her bottom and lifted her enough to slip off the shorts

What?” One eye peeped open.“Abdominal breathing,” she explained, but from the two vertical lines appearing over the bridge of his nose Emma knew she was talking to the hopelessly unconverted.“You don’t move your chest,” Emma explained. “Remember when Alex wasa baby and you watched her sleep?”The frown faded a touch, a small smile lifting one edge of his mouth.“Babies know how to relax,” Emma said. “They instinctively know how tobreathe properly.” “Like this?” Alex asked, dragging in air, and Emma watched as he struggled with the concept. His stomach was moving but so too was his chest.“Almost. Look, I’ll help you. Just push against my hand.” Sitting up slightly, she instinctively moved to correct him. She’d shown this to numerous friends,knew how to show him simply, but her movements were hesitant, her hand tentative as it reached out towards him, hovered over the flat plane of his stomach, knowing, knowing where this could lead, wanting to pull back, to endthis dangerous game,