Frightening First Kiss Friday – Lost Souls: Deception by Laurel O’Donnell

Yikes!  I hope you enjoyed this month of undead kisses.  To wrap up this Frightening First Kiss Friday in October, here’s the first kiss from my urban fantasy series, Lost Souls.

This First Kiss is from the third episode in the series, Deception.  The series centers around the Lost Souls, souls who refuse to pass into the afterlife.  They have banded together to fight against an evil endangering both their existence and the safety of the human world they once inhabited.  This evil has taken shape in unholy creatures called the Changed, being who were once Lost Souls but who are now dark, dangerous and disturbed monsters.

Samantha and her brother Ben have teamed up with a new Lost Soul, Christian, to save humanity.  The love of her life, her long ago husband, Damien, is now a Changed.  Enjoy this First Kiss!

Sam fazed to her car.  She was glad to see Damien wasn’t near it.  He lounged against the brick wall in the alley with that infamous masculinity.  His head was bowed and his long dark hair hung over his face, shielding it.  How many times had she seen him like this?  The past came searing back, so long ago.  He wore different clothing back then, but it was the same pose.

Sam mentally shook herself and clenched her jaw.  Damien wasn’t the same man.  Her husband would never have killed that human so coldly.  She thought of the horrible tragedy surrounding coach Frederick’s death, then quickly put aside the memory of their failure to save the human.  “I’m starting to think you’re following me.”

“I am.”

The timbre of his voice sent chills down her body.  She had always reacted to his deep voice with anticipation.  “Why?”

“You’re the only one who knows how to blast Changed who have made the Jump.  You’re the only one using that technique to stop them.”

Sam nodded.  “That’s right.  You don’t like us blasting your friends.”

“They are no friends of mine.”

“But you want us to stop.”

Damien lifted his head and pinned her with his black eyes.  “I don’t want you to blast them.  Go ahead and kill them like you used to, I don’t care.  Just don’t blast them.”

Sam narrowed her eyes.  Perhaps the other Changed were not his friends, but he still belonged with that race of hideous monsters.  Damien was of the same grotesque stock now.  “You’re out of luck.  We’re going to keep blasting them.  We’re going to save the humans and kill the Changed.”

Damien jerked away from the wall.

A rush of power rushed through Sam and her muscles tensed in preparation.

Damien’s gaze swept her and he released a breath as he relaxed.

The moment of power disappeared.  Sam cocked her head in confusion.

A small smile crept over his lips.  “You always knew how to get me angry.”

“You didn’t have to kill that human.  He was a coach.  He was a father.”

“You were blasting him.  I warned you not to.”

Sam’s jaw clenched.  “Tell me you did it because he was doomed anyway.  Tell me you did it to save his family from scandal and humiliation.”  That was the argument she, Ben and Christian had.  Kill the man to save the family.  She wanted to know Damien had that moral dilemma too, that he hadn’t killed the human just because he didn’t want her to blast the Changed.

Damien grinned softly.  “I’ll tell you that, if you want me to.”

Part of Sam cried out for her lost love because he was a monster now.  He no longer cared for life.  “Thanks for straightening me out in that matter.”  She began to faze.

Damien was suddenly before her, grabbing her wrist.  He was so fast!  And even more shocking…somehow he was able to grab her wrist during her faze.

“I’m not done talking to you.”

“How did you do that?”  No one had ever interrupted her faze like that before.  She never even knew such a thing was possible.

“I can do a lot of things now,” he said.

She yanked at her hand, but he held it firmly.  Then, he tugged her against him, his arm circling behind her, holding her close.  His chest was firm just like she remembered.  He was too much like she remembered, like she wanted him to be.  Her gaze moved over his face.  “Going to drain me again?”

Those lips, a sensual slash on his face, curled in amusement.  “You’d like it too much.”

She felt herself melting against him, her body instantly warming to his hold.  She fought the feelings.  Not my husband, she told herself.  Her jaw clenched.

He lifted a hand and wiped a strand of her hair back from her cheek.  Small blue electrical shocks danced between his fingers and her cheek.  “Life is different for me now, Sammie,” he whispered.

Yes!  You’re a monster, she wanted to scream at him.  She knew his morals, the morals that had been so filled with honor and pride, were now corrupted with evil.

“I’m so glad I’ve found you.”

Shocked, the fight dissolved from Sam.  What did he mean by that?  Was he truly glad?  Her gaze traveled over his face.  Everything about his features was so comfortingly familiar…except for his eyes.  Except for those damned black eyes.

“You have to stop him, Sam,” he whispered, drawing close to her.

Stop him?  Their noses were so close they almost touched.  Was he talking about himself?  She didn’t want to stop him.  Her mind scattered at his closeness.  Her husband.  A Changed.  How could she not resist him?  How could her mind be so muddled, so confused?  How could her fingers be touching his shoulder, pulling him close?  It was so obvious.  He was a fiend.  A horrible, evil, Changed.

She lifted up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his.