Born In Blood (Born Hunter Book 1) by Nia Davenport Page A

again, her father and his death was a more than strenuous subject. When it came up, she lost all ability for rational thought. Feelings of guilt, rage, and helplessness all seemed to break free from the recesses of her mind at once. Cara zeroed in on the rage and used it as ammunition against the guilt and helplessness. She dropped a dagger down from her sleeve and forcefully embedded it in the wooden tabletop.
                  “Stay the hell out of my thoughts,” she warned Aiden.
                  “Learn to control them better,” he challenged her.
                  “Fuck you. My shields are unbreakable,” Cara spat back at him.
                  Aiden’s demeanor flickered to something dark and dangerous. But it happened too quickly for Cara to precisely define what it was. It was only there for an instant and gone in the next. He spoke his next words with the same smug arrogance he had displayed throughout the night. “Except at the slightest provocation with your father’s murder. Then they go to shit. Your rage should be a source of strength not weakness.”
                  Cara shot out of her chair and grabbed the dagger from the table, leveling it at the vampire across from her. “Again, fuck you .”
                  Just as soon as the words left her lips Aiden was on her. One hand curled tightly around hers that held the dagger and the other possessively cupped the nape of her neck. His pressed his body into hers, ensuring she felt the hard, rigid length of him.
                  He growled into her ear.
                  “N o one speaks to me that way without consequence. While your preferred method of dealing with those that provoke you is swift and immediate, mine is more languid. It is slow and excruciating . That is twice now that you caused me provocation. Be warned, dear Hunter, upon the thrice I will exact my revenge in a pound of flesh. And in the end you will either beg me for release or beg me for death.”
                  Cara’s palms moistened making her grip on the dagger unsteady. Aiden’s tone was low and threatening, but at the same time it held an undercurrent of deadly desire and lust that made her unsure as to with what he was threatening her. There was no doubt his words promised endless, agonizing torture. However, Cara had the unsettling feeling that he was speaking in a sexual rather than physical sense. That frightened her even more than the prospect of physical torture, which Cara might prefer. At least then she would not be faced with the dark reality that what he was possibly threatening her with sent shivers down her spine and made neurons all over her body fire in over drive. There is a certain pleasure found in pain,” Cara found herself thinking to her horror.
                  Aiden let her go and deftly returned to his side of the table. When he was seated again, he resumed the casual, relaxed air he liked to carry around. Cara was starting to see it for what it really was. A mask to hide what lurked beneath. Cara was sure he did it intentionally to deceive others. What better offensive strategy to have than one that ensured your opponent consistently underestimated you. On the surface Aiden appeared to be nonchalant, even lackadaisical. Ever the easy-going, good-natured playboy with all the money, power, and wealth one could dream of at his disposal. But beneath the surface lay a monster Cara would not wish to come up against even in her dreams. The monster beneath the mask was lethal, cunning, conniving, and ruthless. The monster was just as dark as he was deadly. It was also just as tempting as the man that the mask portrayed, maybe even more so.
                  Cara shook her head. She returned to her seat and forced irrational thoughts of Aiden, both the man and the monster, that would probably have her stamped as certifiably crazy out of her