Breaking the Playboy's Curse

By Charlie Richards

Vail Tamang is a playboy. He’s never claimed to be anything else. What he does claim is that he doesn’t want a mate. The truth is a little more sinister. When he scents Draven Mansetti, Tim’s half-vampire, half-warlock mentor, he realizes his worst fear has come true. Draven is his mate. Vail tries to avoid the man, but Draven manages to track him down anyway. He’s left with no choice and shares a family secret. His family line is cursed. Can Draven convince Vail that some curses can be broken? Or will Vail walk away before giving them a chance?

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Apr 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781771114899

Book preview

On the Road: Breaking a curse has never been so much fun…

Vail Tamang is a playboy. He’s never claimed to be anything else. What he does claim is that he doesn’t want a mate. The truth is a little more sinister. When he scents Draven Mansetti, Tim’s half-vampire, half-warlock mentor, he realizes his worst fear has come true. Draven is his mate. Vail tries to avoid the man, but Draven manages to track him down anyway. He’s left with no choice and shares a family secret. His family line is cursed. Can Draven convince Vail that some curses can be broken? Or will Vail walk away before giving them a chance?

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Breaking the Playboy’s Curse

Copyright © 2013 Charlie Richards

ISBN: 978-1-77111-489-9

Cover art by Carmen Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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Smashwords Edition

Breaking the Playboy’s Curse

Kontra’s Menagerie: Book Ten

By

Charlie Richards

Dedication

To friends—Even when you’ve never seen them face to face, they still encourage you.

Chapter One

Hey, you ready for lunch?

Draven Mansetti looked up from his paperwork and at his partner, Ricky Malone. Sure, he replied. Just give me five minutes to send this report off, and I’ll meet you out front.

He watched the fellow police detective give him a smirk and a salute. Ricky turned away, and Draven heard him mutter, Work-a-holic, under his breath as he walked away.

Not responding to the jibe, after all, the human certainly didn’t think he could hear him, Draven returned his focus to the drug bust report he was putting the finishing touches on. As he double-checked everything, he felt his stomach rumble. True, he was hungry, and a burger would hold him over for a while, but what Draven was truly hungry for was something else.

The memory of the scent he’d noted in Kontra Belikov’s rented mansion came to mind. He’d visited the place over a week ago, but still, the delicious aroma lingered in his nostrils, as if he’d smelled it just an hour before.

My beloved.

His vision had come true, finally, just as he’d known it would. They always did, well, the clear ones anyway. The ones that comprised of shadows in the dark and half-formed faces…those were the tough ones. The ones that was harder to figure out. Sometimes, he didn’t understand them until they happened.

Draven pushed the thoughts away and clicked send. Rising, he grabbed his leather trench coat and swung it over his shoulders. He received all kinds of shit from Ricky for wearing it, but it was comfortable, and he needed all the hidden pockets he’d sewn into the lining to hold all his wards and charms. One could never be too careful.

Leaving the building, Draven slid into the passenger seat of Ricky’s vehicle. The man always insisted on driving. Draven had decided long ago that the human was compensating for something, but he’d never asked what, and if he were honest with himself, he didn’t really give a shit. The man was a bigoted asshole and if Draven hadn’t had a vision that showed him meeting his beloved in San Francisco, he sure as hell wouldn’t have put up with the man.

Now, his vision had come true, and he needed to figure out how to approach the shifter. Draven idly wondered what kind of shifter his beloved was.

He thought about just showing up at the mansion the biker band of shifters were renting and announcing that he was the one who’d be training Tim, but he really wanted the other warlock to come to him. He knew Tim was a warlock hybrid like himself, although part shifter instead of vampire. His ever-changing visions of the man who’d bring much upheaval into Draven’s life kept him apprised of Tim’s progress.

You all right, man?

Draven lifted a brow and turned to look at Ricky. Fine.

I’ve been talking about our missing person’s case for the last five minutes and you haven’t heard a word I said, Ricky said, a scowl on his face as he glanced over at Draven. You’ve been distracted for days. What gives?

Draven knew they’d find the fifteen-year-old girl within the next twenty-four hours. He’d had a vision about it that morning. He was just waiting for the anonymous call that would send them searching the abandoned home where her ex-boyfriend was hiding her. This was the time he hated visions. He couldn’t always act on the information he’d been given until something happened as a trigger, a catalyst.

If Draven went in without a warrant, evidence could get tossed out of court, allowing the perp to walk. At times, he really just wanted to say, screw the system. He’d even given in to that desire once and as a result, been sent to internal affairs. Draven had been forced to leave town early and create a whole new identity for himself. Advancing technology made that more and more difficult, but at least he had the added bonus of being able to cast a glamour if need be to confuse people.

Jerking his attention back to Ricky before the human thought he was even stranger, Draven said, "Just thinking about that Land fellow. Did his sister ever tell you how he’s