An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication
www.ellorascave.com
Handsome Bastard
ISBN # 1-4199-0773-5
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Handsome Bastard Copyright© 2006 Kate Hill.
Edited by Briana St. James.
Cover art by Syneca.
Electronic book Publication: November 2006
This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Content Advisory:
S – ENSUOUS
E – ROTIC
X - TREME
Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).
The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic.
S- ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.
E- rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words, almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.
X- treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
Ancient Blood:
Handsome Bastard
Kate Hill
Prologue
Leotine glanced at the corpse positioned on the stone slab, its eyelids weighted down by coins, and felt nothing but disgust for the creature responsible for the woman’s death. As a member of the sacred society We Who Serve Humanity, she had overcome any tendencies toward squeamishness years ago.
“This is the fiftieth of our soldiers who has died by his hand. For centuries we have hunted Cyprian Augustus and he has slipped through our fingers like smoke from Vulcan’s fire. We thought Aurelia would have taken him but he somehow used his enchantments to muddle her thoughts and sway her loyalties.” Julius, leader of her faction, stared at Leotine as he spoke. The uncharacteristically desperate look in his eyes should have made her nervous but didn’t. She found that men in general were given to overreacting, especially when blood-drinkers were involved.
The corpse, nearly as white as the slab on which it rested, bore no marks on the face or neck. Strange for one supposedly killed by a blood-drinker. Leotine lifted the sheet covering the dead woman’s torso and noted the gaping wound above her heart.
“He changed her then staked her?”
Julius shook his head and sighed. “No. That act of mercy was performed by us, but he did kill her. Turned her into something vile. Took her mortal life so we were forced to destroy the creature inhabiting her body. Leotine.” He stepped closer and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, his frenzied gaze fixed on her. “You are our last hope. We have sent powerful, experienced men as well as women seductive enough to lure a temple priest away from his god, but Cyprian Augustus has slaughtered them all or turned them into his kind, so we were forced to hunt and kill our own. No one has ever swayed you. Your parents gave you to us early to be certain your heart would belong solely to the cause they knew
www.ellorascave.com
Handsome Bastard
ISBN # 1-4199-0773-5
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Handsome Bastard Copyright© 2006 Kate Hill.
Edited by Briana St. James.
Cover art by Syneca.
Electronic book Publication: November 2006
This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Content Advisory:
S – ENSUOUS
E – ROTIC
X - TREME
Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).
The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic.
S- ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.
E- rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words, almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.
X- treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
Ancient Blood:
Handsome Bastard
Kate Hill
Prologue
Leotine glanced at the corpse positioned on the stone slab, its eyelids weighted down by coins, and felt nothing but disgust for the creature responsible for the woman’s death. As a member of the sacred society We Who Serve Humanity, she had overcome any tendencies toward squeamishness years ago.
“This is the fiftieth of our soldiers who has died by his hand. For centuries we have hunted Cyprian Augustus and he has slipped through our fingers like smoke from Vulcan’s fire. We thought Aurelia would have taken him but he somehow used his enchantments to muddle her thoughts and sway her loyalties.” Julius, leader of her faction, stared at Leotine as he spoke. The uncharacteristically desperate look in his eyes should have made her nervous but didn’t. She found that men in general were given to overreacting, especially when blood-drinkers were involved.
The corpse, nearly as white as the slab on which it rested, bore no marks on the face or neck. Strange for one supposedly killed by a blood-drinker. Leotine lifted the sheet covering the dead woman’s torso and noted the gaping wound above her heart.
“He changed her then staked her?”
Julius shook his head and sighed. “No. That act of mercy was performed by us, but he did kill her. Turned her into something vile. Took her mortal life so we were forced to destroy the creature inhabiting her body. Leotine.” He stepped closer and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, his frenzied gaze fixed on her. “You are our last hope. We have sent powerful, experienced men as well as women seductive enough to lure a temple priest away from his god, but Cyprian Augustus has slaughtered them all or turned them into his kind, so we were forced to hunt and kill our own. No one has ever swayed you. Your parents gave you to us early to be certain your heart would belong solely to the cause they knew
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