Title The Vampire's Retribution (The Champion Chronicles Book 1)
Author M. Flagg
Genre Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Romantic Suspense, Vampire Suspense
Publisher The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
Dreams are often hidden desires… even if they are terrifying. Michael Malone, a mystically enhanced vampire, destroys three immortal sorcerers and takes on their vengeful army of hell-beasts in an unprecedented battle. Poisoned and captured, his body is exsanguinated and left to rot in a cell beneath the city. Guided by the heavenly entity known as Helena, he spins a fantasy full of deep love and devotion to the one woman he treasures and his mystically-human, very troubled son. Helena focuses Michael’s fading mind through emotional twists and unexpected turns, through passionate highs and very realistic lows. Is there deliverance or the end to his immortal existence at its conclusion? Each revelation offers hope. Yet Michael’s last words doggedly remain “Let me die.” His original reasons for the singular battle are noble. One is retribution. The other is love.
Excerpt
Alana held up a set of expensive, black silk pajamas. “You like?”
Michael’s reply was an annoyed scowl.
She longed to sit close to him, but instead, settled into the upholstered Queen Anne chair. Angled next to the bedside table, only a few feet separated them, because touching him would be a temptation. Touching him would be her undoing. She folded the black silk pajamas on her lap as their gaze locked once again.
Was it the history, both bad and good between them? The temptation to only be a breath away? To reboot a romance, which ended years ago on such a terrifying note? Love for one another was a given. They both knew it to be true. But history is history. It doesn’t change. Michael was vulnerable now. So was she. Maybe more than one type of healing had a second chance. She cleared her throat. “So, is it a yes or a no?” He shook his head stiffly, from side to side, but his finger tapped the mattress. “You want me to sit next to you?”
“Yes,” came out of his pale lips, a whispered rasp. Was his rich baritone voice gone forever?
“You know why I can’t do that.”
His brows knit, turning the glare into a glower. “Say it, my Guardian.”
She sighed, long and slow, as her body sank deeper into the chair. “Where do I begin? And why relive what can never be changed?”
“Say it.”
“If this is a test of wills, I win this round.”
“You held me… in your arms last night.”
“You were unconscious, Michael.”
“And now?”
“It’s not right.”
“Why?”
“Because you are awake,” she stated, unwilling to give anymore.
“I love you.”
She closed her eyes, letting those three words sink deep into her soul. The memory of that terrible September night, almost seven years ago…
“Do not ignore me,” he added, with an attempt to muster the old, peppered arrogance he often wore.
“Close your eyes,” she said in a tender tone to deescalate the situation, “You need rest.”
His hand brushed the bed covers. “No, Alana. I… want you…here.”
“It’s a dangerous demand, Michael. Those last years in the city, I controlled every deep, gnawing desire to talk to you, to come to you. To make things right between us.”
Could she keep control now? His bloodshot eyes closed as if he had taken an arrow to the heart, and she sighed. Things were different now. He had nothing left. No strength, no ability to fend for himself.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, pulling herself out of the chair to settle on the edge of the bed. She studied his beaten face, recalling every handsome feature, every plane of his face that had often taken her very breath away. He was here. The immortal being she would always love.
A thin smile came at her. His features appeared to relax as if her nearness eased his pain. “So much… to tell you,” he whispered with a rasp.
“Shhh…later.”
Michael nodded once, and as if by divine intervention, she stretched out on the bed. They lay face to face. Even so wounded he was still the commanding being she fell in love with over a decade ago. A mystically enhanced vampire who saved her so many times in the field fighting demons. He had her heart.
She moved her face close enough to kiss him, and his dark, espresso eyes found hers. As if two magnets of opposing poles drew together, her body responded. She kissed his lips so gray and cool like a fine brush, slight of pressure. She eased back and traced his eye brows, ran a careful hand down his bruised cheek. God, she wanted him.
“Alana,” he whispered, “Missed you…love you…need you.”
His words called to her soul, awakened a hidden passion within. It always simmered just below her skin when she let herself remember… Her lips met his again., and she wanted more. Instead, she whispered, “Sleep. I won’t leave you.” No, she thought, never again.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vampires-Retribution-Champion-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B0C62FGRF1
Barnes & Noble: The Vampire's Retribution by M. Flagg, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Author Biography
“I never thought myself a writer. A creative person? Totally yes. A writer? Um… No. As a fan of the Paranormal genre, I decided (on a whim) to redeem a vampire. Don’t ask me why. Too many reasons.”
Always an avid reader, the realm of paranormal fiction is the perfect landing point for Mickey Flagg. After a successful career as a music teacher and an urban school administrator, she continues to spin stories of passion, love and redemption. Mickey has been a contributor in a book on urban music education and has also authored an article for Still Standing, a web-magazine about loss and healing. Named a Distinguished Music Educator at the 2010 Yale Music Symposium, Mickey is a life-long New Jersey resident, a member of Liberty States Fiction Writers and a Professor in Residence with a local university.
Social Media Links
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