Kiss of Temptation: The Kavanaugh Foundation, Book 3 by Crista McHugh

flashing through his mind.
    A small girl with curly brown hair. The cruel taunts of the other children. The decaying church up the street that promised sanctuary. The bruising sting of a rock colliding with her head. The heat of rage that flowed through her body. The explosion of flames from her fingers and the looks of horror on her assailants’ faces.
    The fire faded and another image replaced it. The little girl sat huddled in a cage, tears streaming from her dark green eyes. The smell of the charred church filled the air. A chorus of angry voices rumbled around her. Witch. Child of Satan. Demon-possessed. The cold splash of holy water from a black-clad priest made her cry out, further inciting the crowd around her.
    The number thinned as night fell, and a lone figure approached her. A woman whose red hair shone in the moonlight like a crown of glittering rubies. Morwen. She smiled at the girl and held out her hand.
    Luc pulled away in horror. He had intruded upon Daniela’s memories while feeding on her, invading the secrets of her past and resurrecting things she probably wanted to forget.
    She trembled under him, her eyes clamped so tightly that tears glistened in the corners. Her nails dug into his shoulders and she refused to release him when he moved.
    He glanced down at the two tiny wounds on the side of her neck and disgust consumed his heart. He had given in to temptation. “I’m so sorry, Daniela,” he murmured and wrapped his arms around her. “I never meant to hurt you.”
    Her eyes opened and her lips parted. “Hurt me?”
    “Yes, you’re in pain. I can see it.”
    She laughed and pulled him back to her. Her lips covered his, coaxing him deeper into her kiss. The tension dissolved from his muscles, making them smooth and pliant under her fingers. When she ended the kiss, she looked up at him with a smile. “There was no pain, Luc. Only pleasure. Such intense pleasure. It was like…” She hesitated and gave him a sheepish grin as if her thoughts suddenly embarrassed her.
    He glanced down at her neck again, relieved to see the blood had already dried. Did she realize what he’d done? “Pleasure?”
    Daniela rolled him off of her and cuddled next to him. “Yes, pleasure,” she purred. She tilted her face up to him. “Didn’t you enjoy it?”
    The steady hum of delight that vibrated through his body with each beat of his heart testified to how much he enjoyed making love to her. But something had changed from the moment her blood filled his mouth. Morwen had warned him not to taste it. Now he knew why. He’d formed an unbreakable bond with her, one that had him considering the unthinkable. He didn’t even want to let death part them. He wanted an eternity with her and nothing less.
    “Yes, ma chérie , I enjoyed you more than you can possibly imagine.” He tightened his arms around her, determined never to let her go.

Chapter Seven
    Daniela walked into a frescoed room and halted. Luc knelt in the middle of the room, held still by two men while a third one leveled a sword on his neck. “What’s going on here?”
    “Nothing for you to worry about, daughter,” a man in a red toga replied. “Leave before you have to witness how we deal with traitors.”
    “Traitors?” She ran toward Luc, draping her arm over the back of his neck and blocking the blade. She tilted his chin up so he met her gaze. “What have you done?”
    He hung his head to the side and looked away. Pain stretched his features, distorting them from the carefree lines of the man she knew. The man she’d fallen in love with. How could he be a traitor?
    The man who called her daughter wrestled her away. “He is a slave who posed as his master to gain access to you. I have already sent word to the Emperor about Petrus’s deception. His slave is mine to deal with, and according to the law, he will be executed.”
    Tears choked her throat. This couldn’t be happening. She’d given herself to this man completely—body, mind