Dear Reader,
Thank you for buying this Mills & Boon Cravings ebook! Cravings is new departure from our Mills & Boon Bites ebook exclusive program. In Cravings, you will find bolder, sexier paranormal romance short stories with a slightly longer word count than Mills & Boon Bites. These dark, highly sensual reads will take you away from everyday life into an atmospheric, complex world filled with compelling charactersâbe they vampire, shape-shifter, werewolf, or somethingâ¦other.
We are launching Cravings with two new releases. In This Glamorous Evil, fan-favorite Mills & Boon 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 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 Mills & Boon Cravings title each month wherever ebooks are sold.
Happy reading,
Ann Leslie Tuttle
Senior Editor
Mills & Boon
Like clockwork, the sleek black cat appeared in the alleyway below me, her tail flicking as she proudly strutted the ancient cobblestones that reminded me of days gone by in Paris. Not far from here, cars buzzed by on the Champs Elysées. I preferred a time when carriages had rattled along the cobbles, and we men wore rapiers at our hips, but this modern world did have advantages, such as plumbing and iPhones.
Every night just after midnight, the cat appeared, looking for something to nibble. She didnât like mice. Sheâd bat them around a bit, then move on to more challenging prey. A plump rat? No, this feline was more discerning.
I shifted carefully on the iron balcony from where I watched. Moonlight glinted on the metal rivets rubbed clean of black paint. After weeks of observing my preyâs habits and tastes, Iâd baited the trap properly.
Ducking her head, she approached the tangle of crumpled newspapers that shaped a crunchy canopy over the Camembert morsels Iâd laid out. Tail twitching frantically, she cautiously stepped on one paw, then the otherâ¦.
I refrained from blowing a gust of air magic to push the cat faster. That would only spook her.
An angry meow punctuated the snapping cage door.
I dropped eight feet to the ground from my observation perch, and brushed aside the newspapers. âGotcha,â I said to the growling black beast inside the cage.
Her eyes were so green that for a moment I got lost in her fierce gaze. Verdant as springâs freshest bloom, the saturated hue defied depth. Anger spilled into sudden pleading. My heart stilled. They almost lookedâ¦human.
Shaking my head, I snapped out of mysterious wonder. She was a cat.
Hefting the cage, I whistled a cheery tune as I headed home.
I lived in the sixteenth arrondissement in an old high-rise that housed soccer moms and widows on the lower floors, while up on the high-security sixth floorâthe entire floor belonged to meâI had a great view of the Eiffel Tower, and the swimsuit modelâs bedroom across the street. She liked to undress with the lights on. I didnât mind, except when her lover joined her.
Closing the door behind me, and throwing a lock ward over my shoulder with a snap of my fingers, I set the cage on the hardwood floor. Kitty growled at me. Her fur fluffed in anger and those green eyes cut through me like blades.
I bent to unlatch the door releaseâthen paused.
âRight.â This was not going to be pretty. It could get downright bloody. Iâd best take precautions.
A pair of leather gloves from a drawer in the kitchen would protect my hands. I already wore leather pants and boots. My shirt was long-sleeved andâ¦
I touched my cheek. Earlier last century, I used to fence in the modern style, using the screened face-mask, but I couldnât recall where Iâd stored it when Iâd moved from London to Paris a decade ago.
âI can manage,â I muttered. Buoyed by my success thus far, I proceeded to release the cage door.
A fury of black fur, hisses and wood-gouging claws exploded from the cage. The cat darted left, jumping onto the unmade bed and scrambling across it like a Tasmanian devil. It jumped, landing on the floor with a snarling meow. It didnât slow, tracking the expanse of the open-floor-plan loft as it ran along the windows that opened the south wall to brilliant moonlight.