Out of the Dark

On the night of her cousin’s bachelorette party, Celia Henry meets the man of her dreams. Geologist Luke Gaines is smart, handsome—and pleasures her in ways she’s only dreamed about. He’s the perfect antidote to her sexual dry spell, even if they only have a one-night stand.

Six months later, however, Luke returns—changed. He’s survived a cave exploration gone horribly wrong…and learned the truth about the creatures hiding in the darkness. Now he hunts the monsters that torment him, finding solace only in Celia’s bed and the explosive passion they still share. But will their love be enough to make Luke stay with Celia, or will his mission draw him away for good?

Dear Reader,

Thank you for buying this Mills & Boon Nocturne Cravings ebook! Cravings is new departure from our Mills & Boon Nocturne Bites ebook exclusive program. In Cravings, you will find bolder, sexier paranormal romance short stories with a slightly longer word count than Nocturne Bites. These dark, highly sensual reads will take you away from everyday life into an atmospheric, complex world filled with compelling characters—be they vampire, shape-shifter, werewolf, or something…other.

We are launching Cravings with two new releases. In Out of the Dark, fan-favorite Nocturne author Michele Hauf has written an erotic tale of demons and magic. Megan Hart, who has also written for Spice and Spice Briefs, brings us a dark but sexy story about love and survival in Out of the Dark.

If you are interested in submitting your own novella for Mills & Boon Nocturne Cravings, please read our writing guidelines at www.Harlequin.com for tips and information on how to submit.

We hope you enjoy this story, and look for a new Nocturne Cravings title each month wherever ebooks are sold.

Happy reading,

Ann Leslie Tuttle

Senior Editor Mills & Boon Nocturne

www.millsandboon.co.uk.

Begin Reading

Her feet weren’t made for nonstop dancing in four-inch heels, but Celia Henry was giving it her best shot. This hole-in-the-wall dive bar might have the worst decor she’d ever seen, but it also had the best DJ she’d ever heard. Every time she thought she’d have time to catch her breath or grab a drink, Lisa was pulling her back out onto the dance floor for another song. And, since this was Lisa’s last night out as a single woman, Celia wasn’t about to be the party pooper who ruined it for her.

All of them—Celia, Lisa and four of Lisa’s college friends—in their short summer dresses and fancy shoes stood out from the other women wearing jeans and T-shirts and shit-kicker boots, and wasn’t that the point of a bachelorette party? Men had been buying them drinks and dancing with them all night long, and so what if maybe the men were a little more…hirsute and a little less…fashion-conscious than Celia was used to, it was still a lot of fun. Those shit-kicking farmers really knew how to get down on the dance floor, not like the guys in clubs she was used to, who stood in the dark corners with their drinks in hand, bobbing their heads to the beat while they checked out every girl’s ass. Nope, these dudes knew how to get their freak on to every single line dance ever recorded and quite a few Celia’d never heard.

“See?” Lisa crowed as she pushed back the “bridal” veil attached to her hair with plastic, penis-shaped barrettes. “I told you this was gonna be great!”

“How’d you even find this place?” Celia shouted over the heavy, driving beat of a metal/pop mash-up she didn’t recognize. Celia’s cousin lived for designer shoes, purses and coffee. Frog’s Hollow had a beat-up interior and an anything but high-scale menu—frogs’ legs? Gross! So not Lisa’s style.

“Denny and I found it one day when we were out driving around.” Lisa leaned unsteadily to talk into Celia’s ear. “I mean, who knew, right?”

Celia laughed as she put out a hand to keep Lisa from toppling over on her peep-toed pumps. “Right. Listen, I need to grab some water. Are you going to be okay here?”

Lisa tipped her head back, eyes closed, arms flung wide. “Of course! I got my girls with me, right?”

Celia had met her cousin’s friends only a few times before and had never seen any of them, or Lisa, for that matter, so drunk. Amy was grinding with a guy wearing a trucker cap and a plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves torn off. Melody and Brit were grinding with each other, to the delight of a circle of dudes all in T-shirts with variations of the John Deere tractor logo on them. And Dana…where the hell was Dana, anyway? Celia began to feel more like a kindergarten chaperone on a field trip to the zoo rather than the designated driver.

“Where’s Dana?”

Lisa opened her eyes with a grin that turned to a surprised O when she tipped forward into Celia’s ready arms. “What? Who? Where?”

Celia waited for her cousin to throw in a “why,” but when she didn’t, said “Dana. Your friend? She was over by the bar a minute ago, but now she’s gone.”