arms and carry her inside, away from whatever hardship had brought her to his doorstep.
Double hell. He’d hoped his reaction would lessen when he got close to her, but it had intensified. He’d never felt like this before. Never had this response to a woman.
What the hell was going on? Sheva.The word was like a demon, whispering through his mind. He shut it out. He would never allow himself to bond with his mate. If that was what was going on, she was out of there immediately, before they were both destroyed forever.
Intent on sending her away, he looked again at her face, and then realized he was done. Her beautiful silver eyes were aching with a soul-deep pain that shattered what little defenses he had against her. He simply couldn’t abandon her.
It didn’t matter what she wanted. It didn’t matter why she was there. She was coming inside. He would make sure it didn’t interfere with his mission. He would make dead sure it turned out right. No matter what.
Without a word, he grabbed her backpack off the floor, surprised at how heavy it was. Either she had tossed her free weights in it, or she had packed her life into it.
He had a bad feeling it wasn’t a set of dumb bells.
Quinn walked past her and unlocked his front door. He shoved it open, then stood back. Letting her decide. Hoping she would walk away and spare them both.
She took a deep breath, glanced at his face one more time, then walked into the cabin.
Hell.
He paused to take one more survey of his woods, found nothing amiss, and then he followed her into his home and shut the door behind them.
Stephanie Rowe Bio
Four-time RITA® Award nominee and Golden Heart® Award winner Stephanie Rowe is a nationally bestselling author with more than twenty published books with major New York publishers such as Grand Central, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dorchester and Sourcebooks.
She has received coveted starred reviews from Booklist and high praise from Publisher’s Weekly, calling out her “...snappy patter, goofy good humor and enormous imagination... [a] genre-twister that will make readers...rabid for more.” Stephanie’s work has been nominated as YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.
Stephanie writes romance (paranormal, contemporary and romantic suspense), teen fiction, middle grade fiction and motivational nonfiction.
A former attorney, Stephanie lives in Boston where she plays tennis, works out and is happily writing her next book. Want to learn more? Visit Stephanie online at one of the following hot spots:
http://twitter.com/stephanierowe2
https://www.facebook.com/StephanieRoweAuthor
Select List of Other Books by Stephanie Rowe
(For a complete book list, please visit www.stephanierowe.com)
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The Order of the Blade Series
Darkness Awakened (Book One)
Darkness Seduced (Book Two)
Darkness Surrendered (Book Three)
Forever in Darkness (Book Four, Novella)
Darkness Reborn (Book Five)
Darkness Arisen (Book Six)
Darkness Unleashed (Book Seven)
Available 2013
The Ruined Lords Series
Guardian of the Hidden (Book One)
Available 2013
Seeker of the Lost (Book Two)
Release Date TBD
The Soulfire Series
Kiss at Your Own Risk (Book One)
Touch if You Dare (Book Two)
Hold Me if You Can (Book Three)
The Immortally Sexy Series
Date Me Baby, One More Time (Book One)
Must Love Dragons (Book Two)
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot (Book Three)
Sex & the Immortal Bad Boy (Book Four)
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
The Alaska Heat Series
Ice (Book One)
Chill (Book Two)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Ever After Series
No Knight Needed (Book One)
Fairytale Not Required (Book Two)
Prince Charming Can Wait (Book Three)
Available 2013
Stand Alone Novels
Jingle This!
NONFICTION
The Feel Good Life
FOR TEENS
A Girlfriend's Guide to Boys Series
Putting Boys on the Ledge (Book One)
Studying Boys (Book Two)
Who Needs Boys? (Book Three)
Smart Boys & Fast Girls (Book Four)
Stand Alone Novels
The Fake Boyfriend Experiment
FOR PRE-TEENS
The Forgotten Series
Penelope Moonswoggle, The Girl Who Could Not Ride a Dragon (Book One)
Penelope Moonswoggle & the Accidental Doppelganger (Book Two) Available 2013
Darkness Arisen
ISBN-10: 0988656620
ISBN-13: 978-0-9886566-2-8
Copyright © 2013 by Stephanie Rowe.
Cover design © 2013 by Peter Davis. Cover design, book layout, and epub creation by Peter Davis. Cover photos courtesy of iStockphoto.com.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, disseminated, or transmitted in any form or by any means or for any use, including recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the author and/or the artist. The only exception is short excerpts or the cover image in reviews.
Please be a leading force in respecting the right of authors and artists to protect their work. This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel or on the cover are either products of the author’s or artist’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or the artist.
For further information, please contact Stephanie@stephanierowe.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Praise for Stephanie Rowe
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Coming 2013: Darkness Unleashed
Coming 2013: Guardian of the Hidden
Sneak Peek: Ice
Sneak Peek: No Knight Needed
Sneak Peek: Darkness Awakened
Stephanie Rowe Bio
Select List of Other Books
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Title Page
Praise for Stephanie Rowe
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Coming 2013: Darkness Unleashed
Coming 2013: Guardian of the Hidden
Sneak Peek: Ice
Sneak Peek: No Knight Needed
Sneak Peek: Darkness Awakened
Stephanie Rowe Bio
Select List of Other Books
Copyright Page