I’d like
to thank Elodie for hosting me once again on her blog with the release of my
newest release, Odyssey. This book is a
Companion to the series…and is told from my hero, Stefan Lifsten’s POV as to
how he viewed the occurrences of Fated and Illusion. It’s not a simple rewrite…it features Stefan’s
human death, his early life as a vampire and missing scenes from the first two
books of The Vampire Destiny Series.
And in
honor of this book release, I’m giving away a 6” Kindle with all 6 of my
eBooks! If you go to www.alexandra-anthony.com, you can
enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway!
Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny
Series Companion Book 1)
In this
first Companion Piece to The Vampire Destiny Series, we follow our hero, Stefan
Lifsten, from the time of his human death, through his early years as a vampire
until he meets Josephine Anderson, his fated mate.
We'll travel along with him during his initial struggles to accept his immortality, his betrayals by friends and foes, and experience his joy of meeting the woman from his vision...experiencing Fated and Illusion through his eyes.
This book is a Companion to The Vampire Destiny Series and will feature missing scenes and character information. While this book can be read as a stand-alone, it is highly recommended that you read Fated and Illusion to fully experience this book.
*This book contains sexy vampires, graphic language and highly erotic scenes that are not for those 18 and under or are of the faint of heart. Consider yourself warned.*
We'll travel along with him during his initial struggles to accept his immortality, his betrayals by friends and foes, and experience his joy of meeting the woman from his vision...experiencing Fated and Illusion through his eyes.
This book is a Companion to The Vampire Destiny Series and will feature missing scenes and character information. While this book can be read as a stand-alone, it is highly recommended that you read Fated and Illusion to fully experience this book.
*This book contains sexy vampires, graphic language and highly erotic scenes that are not for those 18 and under or are of the faint of heart. Consider yourself warned.*
Excerpt from Odyssey
***
“Stefan, I’m sorry. I…”
Shaking my head, I held up my hand to stop her
words. “Vackra, I only wanted to turn
one other person in my life. You.” I let out a resigned sigh. “Plans change. Anna will have to adjust to this life and she
may not be happy if and when she awakes.
You must prepare yourself for that.”
Rubbing her forehead with her palm, she rested her
head against her hand. “So she’ll hate
me for begging you to change her. And
then she’ll hate you for doing it.”
I crouched down beside of her and my expression
softened. “Do not be sorry and you
cannot worry about the what-if’s now.
You love your friend and wanted to save her. I understand.
We will deal with the consequences of this together.”
I stood, offering her my outstretched hand. “Come with me, vackra. I started the shower for us.”
“Should I stay with her?” Josephine asked. She wanted to go with me, but she was
hesitant to leave her friend unattended.
“Josephine,
she is fine. We still have a plane to
catch. We just have an extra passenger
now,” I uttered softly. “Shower with
me.”
Letting go of Anna’s hand, she reached for
mine. She followed me into the bathroom
and watched as I tore my bloody, ruined clothing from my body. When I was finished, I faced her and my eyes
peered into hers.
“I want to see you,” I murmured. I stepped closer and took her arms in my
hand, inspecting the angry, red marks that still encircled her wrists. My eyes closed for a moment and I inhaled a
shaky, unnecessary breath as my fingers gingerly traced the welts on her
skin. I wanted to torture Derek all over
again for hurting her. I should have
never let her come here alone.
My eyes reopened and I swallowed unevenly. Gathering
my resolve, I licked my lips and nodded, my hand releasing her arms. I raised my hand to brush my thumb over the
bruise that was forming on her cheekbone, letting the backs of my fingers trail
down the side of her face.
“Stefan, sweetheart.
It’s over.” She cupped her hand
against my rough cheek. “You can’t kill
him again.”
I swallowed again and pressed my face against her
hand. I said nothing, my eyes
unblinking.
“Stefan? You
have to talk to me,” she said softly.
I shook my head and my jaw clenched. I stood taller and simply stared down into
her eyes. How could she love me after
everything she had seen? I had killed a
creature in front of her eyes without any remorse or second thought.
“If you won’t let me see what you’re thinking you
have to tell me.”
The corner of my lip flinched. When I finally spoke, my voice was deep and
filled with bitterness. “You saw what
and who I am today. I want him to meet a
thousand deaths for what he did to you.
I longed to torture him for days, punishing him for touching you. Is that what you wished to hear me say?”
“What you did today isn’t you. It’s only part of who you are,” she retorted
softly. “Will holding on to this change
what he did, Stefan?”
“No.” I
grunted and my eyes traced along her discolored cheekbone. “However, it would satisfy the selfish part
of me that wants vengeance.”
Her hand lowered from my face to rest against my
silent chest, placing her hand over where my heart would be beating if I were
still alive. “You have to let this go,
Stefan. Let this go for you, for
me. For us. He’s dead and you saved me.”
“You watched as I savagely killed a creature in
front of you. I tell you how I wanted
him to suffer more and it is you that soothes me. You have to see the absurdity in this,” I
marveled. I gathered up her shirt and
ripped it up the middle, dropping the scraps of material to the bathroom floor. I made short work of removing her jeans,
tossing them to join the growing pile of destroyed clothing.
I lifted her into the shower with me and the spray
of hot water ran over us, the water dripping red trails down my chest as it ran
over my tangled, bloody hair.
“Sit down.
Let me wash your hair.” She
pointed to the seat in the corner.
I wordlessly obeyed and sat on the small bench, my
large frame filling the entire corner of the shower. I closed my eyes as she lathered my hair with
shampoo, and a purring sound grumbled in my chest as her nails scratched over
my scalp. Grabbing the handheld
attachment, she rinsed my hair and watched as the pink suds disappeared,
revealing my clean hair. Reaching for
the bar of soap, she washed me, her slick, bubbly hands running over every
curve and muscle of my body. When she
finished, she lowered her lips to my mouth.
Her hand gripped the back of my neck, pulling my lips to hers. Her tongue slipped between my lips, seeking
out mine. When they met, I moaned into
her mouth, my fingers running through her hair.
I dragged her onto my lap, our embrace never
breaking. She only raised her lips from
mine for a moment to catch her breath and I buried my head between her breasts,
leaving her to wrap her arms around me and hold me as I breathed in deeply
against her wet skin.
“You saw me at my darkest moment, yet somehow you
still manage to love me.”
She pressed her cheek against my damp hair. “I’ll always love all of you. Everything was wrong until you made it
right.”
My shoulders shook in response to her words. All she could do was hold me to her and let
me have this moment while the shower rained down on us.
***
Buy the book
About Alexandra Anthony
Alexandra
Anthony is the independent author of two romantic, erotic book series:
The
Vampire Destiny Series and The Dark Hart Chronicles. Both feature sexy vampires to die for, steamy
love scenes and follow the twists and turns of her character’s many
adventures. Her books are not for the
faint of heart.
She was
most recently featured in USA Today in an article by Joyce Lamb titled, “It’s
time to put some Paranormal Activity into your Reading” and was featured under
Self-Published/Indie Authors for the release of Ascend (The Vampire Destiny
Series Book 4). Her paranormal, erotic
romance Tempted (The Dark Hart Chronicles Book 1) was nominated for Best
Erotica in the 2013 Orangeberry Hall of Fame Contest.
Ms.
Anthony is from the Midwest (Ohio to be precise) and was bitten by the lure of
the vampire at an early age. She chose
to take up writing and put her own twist on these mysterious immortal
creatures…making them day-walkers that could easily blend in with their human
counterparts. She also enjoys weaving
Old Norse and Greek Mythology into her stories, adding a bit of realism into
escapism.
Coming
up on the horizon for Alexandra will be the second book in The Dark Hart
Chronicles, Rapture. It is slated for a
late fall/early winter release.
You can
find out more information about me on my website, http://www.alexandra-anthony.com
