Read The Seven: Four tales of passion, danger and love for Free Online

exterior with enormous exposed wooden beams supporting the vaulted ceiling. The furniture was of soft-brushed leather in warm dark umber and accented with pillows of complementing earth tones.
    A stone fireplace dominated the entrance wall with what appeared to be a hand-hewn mantel. The wall adjacent to the fireplace was floor to ceiling glass with a glass door that led out onto the screened and covered porch with a large deck. Beyond the deck, the land rolled to a lake that sparkled in the sun.
    "It's incredible." She saw no need to be anything less than honest. It was a beautiful room with a magnificent view.
    "Home."
    She turned to look at him and this time made the mistake of allowing eye contact. Damn. She could feel his power, that magnetic appeal that overrode reason and common sense, eroding her resolve to escape at any means.
    Was she just crazy? What woman would be lusting after a man who'd just kidnapped her? She couldn't claim it was due to some syndrome – Stockholm or whatever. She hadn't been here that long. She hadn't been mistreated and she didn't get the sense that her life was in danger.
    Still, he'd made it clear that he didn't intend for her to leave so that made her a prisoner and no prisoner should have the kind of thoughts she was having for Augustus.
    Layla didn't know how to fight it. Was it some kind of Vampire mind control? Was he making her feel this way as a means of keeping her?
    "No."
    His voice startled her out of her own thoughts. "Pardon?"
    "No, I am not exerting any type of mind control."
    Layla could feel heat suffuse her face. Oh my god, he can read my thoughts. She was so embarrassed she wanted to cry. She quickly turned her back on him, fighting tears. He knew what she was thinking and feeling. This was horrible. Now she was truly desperate to get away from him and for a completely new reason. Humiliation.
    Would it ease you to know that your feelings are reciprocated?
    She couldn't stop the squeak that bleeped out of her mouth or the way her body jerked. He was in her head! She whirled back around to face him.
     
    It took no effort to sense what was going on inside her. She was broadcasting loud and clear. He could feel her desire like a caress on his skin and knew it would take only one embrace, one kiss, and she would be his.
    However, he also knew her fear and mistrust. She didn't understand why he had taken her or why she was here. She didn't know if what he'd told her was true and if it was then where she fit into the picture. Of what service was she to a race of beings she considered superhuman?
    For the first time, self-doubt assailed him. Had it been a mistake to bring Layla here? He'd revealed enough to her to pose a threat to his kind. So long as she remained here, under his control, she was safe and so were they. Should she leave and reveal what she'd learned it could hamper their negotiations with the human Directorate.
    Augustus could imagine the fear that would result when humans discovered the existence of his kind. Creatures of nightmares is how many humans would see them, things to be feared and quite possibly exterminated.
    The leaders of his kind had been in negotiation with leaders of world governments on how best to reveal their existence. It had been a long and arduous task, accomplished over time and the progress made had been made at great cost.
    His kind had performed numerous "favors" to display their powers and their readiness to cooperate for "the benefit of all," to demonstrate that they did not seek to rule humanity, only to integrate with it and live in harmony.
    Even today, on the cusp of the great revelation, he did not have complete trust that their goals would be successfully achieved. He'd been alive a very long time and one thing he had learned was that while technology advanced, humanity did not. At least not the majority. They were still as barbaric, power-hungry, and self-serving as ever and in many ways, could not be trusted.
    Was he willing