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An Excerpt From: Shift
of Fate
© Copyright Elise Adams, 2004.
All Rights Reserved,
Ellora's Cave, Inc.
Merida
lounged in her favorite chair, her eyes closed, the sounds of the gulls
flying overhead and the waves breaking against the shore a hundred feet
from the patio surrounding her. The scents of warm salt water and hot sand
filled her senses, the heat of the May sun warming her tanned skin.
She let her eyes drift open and
scanned the length of the beach. Not a soul in sight. Just how she liked
things. For the first time in her life, she felt completely—and
peacefully—alone. No older brother to tell her to behave herself, no
domineering boss to tell her what to do…and best of all, no vampires to
mess with her head and play havoc with her emotions.
“Can I get you anything before I leave
for the day?”
She glanced up at Brett, the housekeeper
too sexy for his own good. Okay, so she wasn’t that alone. He stood
over her chair with his feet apart. The way he had his hands clasped behind
his back pulled his emerald green shirt tight against his well-built chest.
Brett was muscular, but not overly so, like a certain vampire she knew,
with chocolate-brown hair and eyes, and features too smooth to be called
rugged. Her brother’s mate had called him “pretty” the last time she’d
visited, and Merida
had to agree. The description fit. She’d never asked, but he couldn’t be
more than twenty-one or twenty-two. A baby. But old enough to take to
bed—which seemed to be why everyone thought she kept him around.
She didn’t.
She’d considered it—she’d have been a
fool not to—and he’d proved time and again to be ready and willing, but she
couldn’t bring herself to go through with it. Her mind refused to look past
a certain man she’d rather forget.
“No, thanks. I’m all set. I’ll see you
tomorrow?”
“Are you sure?” He raised an eyebrow
as he spoke, his tone laced with innuendo. If he knew how old she really
was—or what she was—he’d run as fast as he could in the other
direction.
She opened her mouth to accept what he
offered, but her mind wouldn’t let her answer. She sighed. “Sorry. Not
tonight.”
“Okay.” He gave her a killer smile,
one that would have had her doing anything he wanted if she’d been a few
centuries younger. “Maybe another time?”
“Definitely.”
His smile widened. “Cool. Remember I
have an early class tomorrow morning so I won’t be able to get here until a
little after noon. I can stay late, though, if you’d like.”
She resisted the urge to groan in
frustration. She had an amazing man right next to her, offering her
something she should want, and she couldn’t take him up on the offer.
“Maybe. We’ll see what happens.”
“Okay. See ya
later.” He hesitated for a few seconds before walking toward the gate that
led to the front of the house. She stared at his fine ass as he walked away, half wanting to call him back. But she let him go,
as she did every afternoon, and regretted the moment she’d introduced
herself to Royce Cardoso.
“Damned vampires,” she muttered.
“Always going and messing everything up.”
If she could go back in time to when
she’d first met him, that night almost a year ago in a small New England town, she’d change everything. She never
would have announced her presence to him. She would have let him walk by,
never knowing he wasn’t alone in his hunt for the killer they’d been
searching. But, on impulse, she’d stepped out of the shadows and offered to
help him look. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea. They were both
working toward the same goal, so why not work together. She hadn’t expected
the chemistry that had caused an explosion between them. The one night
they’d spent together had been one of the things to cause her to flee to Florida and the
solitude of a private estate.
But there were other, deeper reasons,
ones that kept her awake at night. If she could stay here for the rest of
her life, maybe she’d be able to forget all that had happened.
Not likely.
She’d been in Key West for three months, and images of
her old life still haunted her at night with the world quiet and sleeping
around her. She drew a deep breath and pushed her sunglasses up her nose.
Nothing would ever be the same, and she needed to get used to it. Florida seemed the
perfect place to start over. She had all the heat and sun she wanted, all
the time, a private beach attached to the mansion she’d purchased, and
plenty of space and privacy. Life was sweet. Except…
She shook her head, not willing to go
there, not yet. She’d left behind everything she’d known when she’d left
New England—her home, her family—she wouldn’t put herself through the hurt
of thinking about it again. Not when it still felt so fresh in her mind. If
Sam had just fired her after that last little mishap, she might have been
able to handle it. But he’d gone and dumped a whole bunch of unwanted
responsibility on her shoulders.
She wouldn’t bow down to what he
wanted, what he’d asked of her. She didn’t want it, never had, and she
wouldn’t let him get away with pushing her into a job she had no interest
in assuming. So she’d packed her things and moved away. In time, she’d
forget her anger and contact Sam, but not now. It was too soon after the
confession that had changed her life, and she had more important things to
do than worry about his feelings.
Like deny her destiny.
Sam’s voice floated through her mind,
lingering as it had for so many nights. “Fate is too important to ignore, Merida.
You have to accept what you are, and what you’re destined to be. You can’t
fight it.”
“Bullshit,” she muttered. “The ability
of denial is my biggest asset.”
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