Date Published: April 5, 2018
“A human and a vampire. An Assassin and his target. They made an impossibility possible, despite his past, despite their present. They had the future—they had Eternity.”
Ryu Takamura is the Dark Ones’ Assassin. He has never missed his target…until now. Until her.
Ava Monroe is a talented geneticist who holds the key to the vampire race’s future…and perhaps her own as well.
Their attraction is explosive from the first. She would do anything to have him. He would sacrifice all to protect her.
But will their love triumph over seemingly impossible odds as they battle enemies new and old? Especially the demons from Ryu’s past? And deep within his heart?
Excerpt 1
Chapter One
Present day,
en route from New York City to Tokyo.
The guy next
to her had cheekbones that could cut glass.
That was the
first thing Ava noticed when she finally got her above-average-sized assets
settled in the luxurious first class seat on Japan Airlines.
Well, okay,
the second thing.
The first
thing was his smell.
Although the
word “smell” connoted foul odors, which was not the case at all. Perhaps scent would work better the way Ava was
thinking about it.
Or heck,
maybe aroma would be the most
appropriate description for the way the volatized chemical compounds he
produced from scent glands all over his body, more commonly known as
pheromones, made saliva pool in her mouth as if she had just been presented a
decadent, dark chocolate fudge wrapped in a crisp white chocolate casing with a
graceful swirl of raspberry sauce and an elegant sprinkle of hazelnut on top.
Presented in
the haute-couture artistic fashion of three star Michelin restaurant plates of
course.
It was Ava’s
favorite dessert, guaranteed to make her mouth water.
The raspberry
and hazelnut details were her mental attempt to match the impeccable, almost
inhuman grace and style of the man sitting in the seat next to her, to the
dessert in question.
She’d only
had this specific dessert once in an exclusive posh French restaurant when she
was attending a conference at the Sorbonne.
And wow. Just
wow.
The first
bite had been better than sex. The second bite more euphoric than the multiple
orgasms she achieved with her best friend the Rabbit Habit. And the third and
last bite—she could only make the tiny piece of fudge last so long—had her
begging for more.
That was what
the man’s smell reminded her of.
Her internal
temperature had already risen a couple of degrees by the time she’d noticed his
cheekbones.
Ava tried to
regroup by keeping her eyeballs strictly focused on the screen in front of her
as a flight attendant in person and in video went through the safety
instructions.
She was not
the most natural when it came to interactions with powerfully attractive men. Irresistibly attractive, rather, if just
his smell could make her break out in a heat rash.
With an IQ of
over 200 (genius was above 140 and Einstein’s IQ was between 160 and 190, but
who was counting), a PhD and MD in molecular genetics, another PhD in
regenerative stem cell science and being one of the world’s foremost experts on
these topics at the age of thirty, she should be able to handle a simple human
interaction with aplomb.
But no, sadly
not.
Not when her
EQ was well below average and her social quotient was probably not even on the
chart—as in, negative.
Thus, Ava
tried to avoid embarrassing herself abominably by focusing her attention away
from the glorious male sitting beside her before she caught wind of something
even more threatening to her libido than his fragrance and his cheekbones.
And it was just his personal scent, she could
tell, no artificial cologne on top to distort the perfect combination of
molecules that wafted from his skin to her olfactory bulbs. Perhaps just a hint
of soap, very light and wintry fresh.
Odor prints
were influenced by diet, environment, health and genetics, she knew, and it was
as if his smell was made specifically to elicit a force-of-nature response from
her.
It would all
be extremely fascinating had she not been preoccupied with hiding her now
flaming hot cheeks from view.
“What would you
like for first meal?”
“What?” Ava
blurted, reeling from discovery number three:
His voice
might be the most dangerous attraction of all.
The man
gestured with a slim, long-fingered hand to the attendant who was bending over
Ava with a menu of items.
Ava swiveled
around to regard her.
How long had
the model-esque stewardess been there? Probably a good while, since her smile
seemed frozen in a grimace on her face.
Ava quickly
chose the least healthy of all her options for lunch, snack and supper, because
her motto was that healthy equaled tasteless, and why go through life eating
tasteless food? Thus decided, she refocused on the TV screen.
It was blank.
Blank was
good. Perhaps she could channel blankness into her mind.
Fourteen
hours! She had to tame her libido for eight hundred and forty minutes! That was
a lot of time to be simmering fruitlessly in unrequited lust.
Not for the
first time Ava wished she wasn’t so hot-blooded. Maybe it was the Latin
heritage. Though genetically speaking, she was one-fourth German, one-fourth
Japanese, owing to her Brazilian mother, and one-fourth Scottish, one-fourth
Welsh on her father’s side. One hundred percent American, born and raised in
the Bronx of New York.
Maybe it was
more nurture than nature.
Ever since she
was a child she always felt like she didn’t quite fit in. She had the looks on
the outside, but on the inside, her brain worked in unusual ways. She viewed
the world in mathematical equations, chemical cocktails, symbols rather than
words.
But that’s not
to say she didn’t feel things. She
felt rather too much. She avoided feeling whenever she could because emotions
weren’t logical, and she very much preferred logic.
She could be
downright volcanic when her emotions and feelings
ran high. It wasn’t as if her hormones operated in overdrive 24/7 or even a
small fraction of the time. In fact, she rarely had time to notice, let alone
indulge, in physical attraction. But when she did feel those powerful bodily
urges… well, she indulged.
But she’d
never felt this magnitude of
attraction.
Keeping her
gaze unfocused and her eyeballs pointed forward, Ava dug into the giant hobo
bag beneath the seat in front of her, pulled out her iPhone, stuck the buds
into her ears and turned up the volume on her favorite playlist.
But no matter
how hard she listened, all she heard was that voice.
It was what
the ocean would sound like if it were male and awakening from a satisfying
slumber after a night of mind-blowing sex.
Ava is smart with genius IQ status. She is good with knowledge but lacking in the social skills department. On her travels from New York to Japan, she meets Ryu. He's a vampire and an assassin. He is part of the Dark Ones. There are two vampire races who are on the verge of war. The Pure ones can only get intimate with the true mates. The dark ones are created and the Pure ones are born. Ava is instantly attracted to Ryu and cannot control her inner thoughts. She is like a cat on heat.
Ryu has a mission and he isn't used to having distractions. Ava is in trouble because of her research. She has got involved with the wrong people. Ryu wants to stop the research so it doesn't get into the wrong hands. He try's to keep Ava at arm's length but it's difficult because he cares about her safety.
The second half of this book was better than the first so I'm glad I stuck with it. The author tried to show Ava's intellectual side but it was mixed with the common tongue. I found the sophisticated writing a little out of place in the overall story. There are also Japanese names/ objects. I found the story to be a little full on for bedtime read. The storyline is easy enough to follow but I wasn't too keen on the choice of some words. I don't mind stories that also teach you about culture but in this book the language was a turn-off.
Dark Desires was an okay read.
*There is a glossary in the back of the book to help with the vampire terminology.
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review: ♥ ♥ ♥
Dark Desires is the third book in the Pure/Dark one's series. It can be read as a standalone.Ava is smart with genius IQ status. She is good with knowledge but lacking in the social skills department. On her travels from New York to Japan, she meets Ryu. He's a vampire and an assassin. He is part of the Dark Ones. There are two vampire races who are on the verge of war. The Pure ones can only get intimate with the true mates. The dark ones are created and the Pure ones are born. Ava is instantly attracted to Ryu and cannot control her inner thoughts. She is like a cat on heat.
Ryu has a mission and he isn't used to having distractions. Ava is in trouble because of her research. She has got involved with the wrong people. Ryu wants to stop the research so it doesn't get into the wrong hands. He try's to keep Ava at arm's length but it's difficult because he cares about her safety.
The second half of this book was better than the first so I'm glad I stuck with it. The author tried to show Ava's intellectual side but it was mixed with the common tongue. I found the sophisticated writing a little out of place in the overall story. There are also Japanese names/ objects. I found the story to be a little full on for bedtime read. The storyline is easy enough to follow but I wasn't too keen on the choice of some words. I don't mind stories that also teach you about culture but in this book the language was a turn-off.
Dark Desires was an okay read.
*There is a glossary in the back of the book to help with the vampire terminology.
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Aja has been writing stories since the age of six, and novels since the age of thirteen. While she'd be the first to admit that those early efforts weren't particularly good, she sure loved putting them down on paper!
The best part of writing, according to Aja, is that it’s completely organic, the way the stories develop. When the inspiration hits, she writes just so she herself can learn where the characters are headed because oftentimes, they take her by surprise! It is her ultimate dream to share her stories with as many readers as she possibly can.
Her other loves include art, cooking, old movies (anything with Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Redford, Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Clark Gable, and all the song and dance numbers because she can’t watch them and not be happy!)
She adores taking long walks with her husband and running after her two rambunctious kids. She has traveled extensively (all seven continents except Antarctica) and has had a multi-cultural upbringing. She speaks two and a half languages and binge watch TV shows when the mood strikes.
Aja has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Comparative Literature and Economics and two Master’s degrees, one of which is in East Asian Studies.
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