Edge of Craving by Rhyannon Byrd

Author:Rhyannon Byrd
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Good and Evil
ISBN: 9781426835223
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
Published: 2009-03-31T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

“There’s a kind of physiological transformation that happens when we have sex with someone we…care about,” Rhy explained, “which can be deadly if the woman isn’t of Charteris blood. If she’s someone who inspires strong emotion within us, but whose body is vulnerable. There are many who believe that it was meant to ensure we only bred within the clan, keeping the species pure, since our seed is only fertile during this…period of change. But no one really knows for sure.”

Alia worked his confession over in her mind, and began to understand so much that hadn’t made sense before. “That’s why you said it was surprising that your father hadn’t killed your mother in their marriage bed, isn’t it? Because she wasn’t Charteris.” She frowned in confusion as another thought occurred to her. “But you also said that they disliked each other intensely. So then why would it have been dangerous?”

“I’ve often heard that love and hate are both sides of the same coin,” he told her. “I guess I’ve always thought that with the level of…animosity between them, it might have caused the transformation to take place.” And the fact that I was conceived means that my father must have experienced at least some degree of change.

Clearing her throat, she quietly asked, “What happens, exactly?”

He was silent for a moment, standing with his rigid body turned slightly away from her, his head angled down as he stared intently at some distant point on the ground. “We remain unchanged, so long as we’re sharing intercourse with a woman who means nothing to us. But when our emotions are involved, the change takes place and we literally burn with heat. Our bodies. Our…seed. Not just warmth, but enough heat to physically burn. To melt your flesh. To have sex with a woman we care about who isn’t a Charteris is to kill her.” A low, bitter laugh fell from his lips, and he shook his head. “I guess that’s why those of us who live away from the clan are all such coldhearted bastards. We know better than to tempt fate.”

“So then all this time we’ve spent dancing around each other,” she murmured, “you’ve kept your distance because you were afraid of hurting me?”

He made a rough sound in his throat, his tall, muscular body vibrating with a powerful tension, hands fisted at his sides. “I already have hurt you,” he growled, cutting a glittering look toward the juncture between her neck and shoulder, where the impression of his teeth could still be seen. “The heat isn’t the only thing that makes us dangerous. We’re primal creatures at heart, prone to dominance and aggression. To put it bluntly, Alia, we’re rough as hell.”

“I might have cried out when you bit me, but I’m not harmed, Rhys. I don’t break that easily, or have you forgotten that I’m no more human than you are?”

A strange look crept over his face, darkening his gaze. “You look human enough,” he grunted.

“As do many of the ancient clans,” she said carefully, “yourself included.

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