Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark, Book 5)
The demons in this series are quite something. Some of the hottest scenes are contained in the Woede brothers books. Hot I tell you! We were teased with promises of potential “horn licking” (don’t look at me like that, you know you’re curious)! But teasing aside, this demon’s horns only got a little *rub* here and there…LOL!
Okay so we know Cadeon Woede to be the “black sheep” of the rage demon duo (Cade and Rydstrom). Cade managed to lose Rydstrom’s crown (Rydstrom was king) in a past battle, and is forever trying to make up for it.
“If you train me, I won’t stop until I have his head,” he vowed. “And once I do, I’ll pluck your crown from it and return it to you.”
Offered an opportunity to retrieve a sword that will kill the current king, Cade accepts the job, and sets out to find the female “Vessel” that he must trade for the sword. What is a Vessel you might ask? It is a rare female that comes around, ohh….every few hundred (or more?) years. Basically she will bring an immortal warrior into the world, and depending on who impregnates her, the warrior will be good or evil.
Cade quickly realizes that the human female that he has always believed to be his mate (Holly Ashwin), is the “Vessel” that he is required to hand over. While in the past, he has never acted upon his need to “attempt” Holly (human’s cannot survive a demon’s “way” of binding a relationship – uhhh yah you get the picture 😉 ), he realizes that Holly is part Valkyrie and quickly changing into her immortal status.
Just hours ago, she’d been living as a normal human – or near normal with some eccentricities. Now she had become something he never could have predicted. A Valkyrie. Or half one. he hadn’t know she’d possessed this latent potential. The shock of the ritual must have triggered the transformation.
Holly is freaked out! Here she is, a content, incredibly intelligent math genius, in a stable (unsexual – she’s still a virgin) relationship with only a “few” small quirks (her main one is that she suffers from an obsessive compulsive disorder – you know the typical germ issues, counting issues, re-arranging the furniture issues…).
One evening, she is kidnapped, stripped naked and tied down to an alter (all sacrifice-like), and about to be “taken”. While she has no idea that she has ties to the “immortal” world, or even what a “Valkyrie” is, because of her incredible fear, her Valkyrie powers and physical changes manifest themselves. Cade steps in just in time, and rescues her.
Cadeon hurdled the line of bullets to get to her. Scooping her up in his arms, he tucked her against his chest. Just as shots reached them, he pressed her against the wall until his body covered every inch of hers.
He gritted his teeth when the first bullet hit him, unable to turn to run without risking her, She burst into tears. Two bullets, three, four…
He stared down at her, those jet eyes seeming to consume her, and grated, “No more…running from me. Yeah?”
“Y-yeah,” she whispered brokenly, crying harder every time his big body jerked from the impact.
Over his shoulder, he roared at them, a furious warning growl, and she whimpered. His voice a harsh rasp, he said to her, “No, no female. Shh.” He petted at her tears with huge fingers tipped with short black claws.
Cade is really suffering now. Here he is, next to the mate that he has been waiting for all his life, protecting her as he is naturally meant to do. He can even officially “attempt” her now, since she is strong enough for him (due to her unexpected immortal status). However, he has a terrible choice to make.
She equaled the crown he’d worked for nine hundred years to reclaim – the unyielding pursuit that had given him a reason to go on living.
Never had it been so close…
All he had to do was use and betray the woman he’d waited just as long to possess.
He either hands her over to potential evil in trade for the sword (to redeem himself in his brother’s eyes), or he once again renigs his responsibilities, and runs away with her for good to live in love for the remainder of forever.
This book is hilarious, exciting, anguished and extremely satisfying. I didn’t want to put it down. There’s a funny bar scene, Nix is her usual crazy and charming self, and the Valkyrie are on their game!
Holly is as sweet as can be, and her OCD just adds to the funny in the book.
He pulled a bottle of water from the space behind her seat, handing it to her. My favorite brand.
“Thanks.” She carefully twisted the cap, determined not to touch –
Crap! She’d touched the bottle rim. With a sigh, she put the cap back on and placed the bottle at her feet.
“Something wrong with the water?”
She debated not answering, but figured he’d encounter all her quirks over the next couple of weeks anyway – the eating difficulties, the germophobia, the endless arranging.
“I touched the rim.” She put her chin up. “There was transference. I can’t drink it now.”
On a long road trip together, both have many lessons to learn, and ideals to overcome (or at least re-evaluate). Cade proves himself to be loyal and gentle, protective and fierce and deliciously cunning. Sarcastically witty, he will have you both grinning and blushing at the same time:
“”You’re not going to distract me from this. We had a deal.”
“Maybe under duress. Did you ever think that I might be morally opposed to watching pornography?”
He snorted. “You’re not the good girl you used to be. You get drunk and carouse with demons, sitting on their laps and giving them horn jobs in front of an audience. You went rock star on this poor mom-and-pop motel room, you got me to show you my goods, though I was vulnerable and weak from a bullet wound.” He shook his head sadly. “Face it, Holly, you’re a bad girl.”
And yes…you read that right…horn jobs…tee hee! I don’t know why I love those horns so much, but the author is quite clever with that 😉 That bar scene was sweetly adorable and just plain naughty (but of course…all in a “Holly” innocence).
I heart Cade as much as Sebastian and Bowen. I can’t choose. I just can’t.
5 stars!
I love the little faces you always add – and of course you have to add the devil one. I love that quote at the end – that is interesting. Plus the story you told me about blurting out punch lines that raise eyebrows. I got to read this series.
Yah…those are some goodies 😉 The raised eyebrow looks I get (from husband) are hilarious!
Havent read this book however my nephew has been named Cadeon as this was the book his mum was reading while pregnant. How is Cadeon pronounced?