Win a Copy of Duncan's Descent

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Here's a snippet to whet your appetite:

“Until you touched me, I didn’t see Nathan in any other light but the mortal flesh encasing his spirit.”

“Are you sure?” He frowned.

“Yes. No.” She recalled that brief flash. “There was something. A small picture of some sin Nathan had committed. And it was ugly.”

Duncan’s frown eased. “Sin always is. That’s its nature.”

Sapphira studied him, wondering. “Is that why it appeals to you? Because it’s a demon’s nature to be ugly too?”

Duncan stared at her over his glass, his gaze assessing. “Angels don’t lie, do they?”

“No.”

“But you did, and quite well.”

She flushed. “I, ah, maybe—”

“So your nature isn’t to be what you’ve always been told, but to be who you really are.”

“What?” She took a large gulp of wine for fortification, and promptly set down her glass. Fermented grapes weren’t the answer.

“Demons are what we are. We serve a purpose, like those in the upper realm.” Duncan’s mien changed, grew more serious. “Because I congregate with the impure, with sinners and monsters, does that make me more evil than Nathan Shepherd?”

“No.” The answer was automatic, and she stopped to think.

“Was what we shared outside your bar ugly?”

“No.” The sheer sensuality behind Duncan’s touch had been anything but. “Yet it was a sin.”

“Why? Because your choirs of angels tell you it is?” He snorted. “Let me tell you something, sweetheart. Uriel’s minions were spreading their legs faster than you can spell seduction while I was tied up and helpless.” He stood and put his wine to the side. “Angels taking advantage of a demon. Trying to turn me into Uriel’s runner.”

She frowned, not liking the idea of Sarah and Abigail touching Duncan. Then the second part of what he said hit, and she flushed a bright, guilty red. “So you don’t think you’ll ever Ascend?”

Duncan barked a laugh. “Hell, no. Just because my mother was human and went to heaven doesn’t mean I will.”

“Your mother went to heaven?” A mortal had given birth to Duncan?

“Yeah,” he said sadly. “She had a bad habit of seeing the best in everyone. Dad did his damnedest, but couldn’t get her down below.”

“Right, your dad. Asael, a fallen archangel.” Why, Duncan had a thick thread of light winding through him. No wonder Uriel thought he had a shot at turning the demon toward heaven.

Duncan stood over her, his stance aggressive though his gaze was surprisingly soft. “But you see, he and my mother had to be true to themselves. As much as Mother loved my father, she had too much goodness to be happy in the lower realm. And my father, well, he spent enough time in the third sphere to know what he gave up. But he wasn’t so easy with forgiveness. Nor did he agree with the upper realm’s take on humanity.”

Her mind whirring at the coincidences between Asael’s opinions and her own, she failed to realize Duncan’s intention before he touched her.

“Hey.”

“Now if you really want to sin, Sapphira, follow my lead.” Duncan kissed her like there was no tomorrow. He touched her with only his mouth, his tongue thrusting between her parted lips, his mouth molding to hers as if created solely to pleasure Sapphira. Cupping his hands around her cheeks, he brought her face closer.