Falling for Lukas

By Tatum Throne

When the leader of the Fallen must marry, he chooses a human male. Will Lukas marry Kane or will he run?

Detective Lukas Steele works with the Kenton Police Department. One evening he’s kidnapped and taken to an arena to fight for his life while vampires watch. When he’s saved by another vampire, he quickly discovers that his rescue comes at a price.

Kane is the leader of the Fallen, a race of vampires who are fallen angels. Backed into a corner, he needs to marry if he is to stay among the human world. When he saves Lukas from the arena, he’s determined to win him over and marry him.

As Lukas’s world collides with Kane’s, he discovers that he must do everything in his power to protect Kane and the vampires of his world. Falling hard for Kane wasn’t what he planned on doing, but can he really leave his life behind and marry a vampire?

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of vampires having hot sex with humans. This book contains M/M sex!

PUBLISHER NOTE: M/M Paranormal Romance. 29,152 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luminosity Publishing LLP
• Release date: Nov 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370593071

Tatum Throne

Tatum Throne lives in Cincinnati with her real life hero, Mr. Throne.She has a master’s degree in social work that she received from the University of Cincinnati. She left the field of medical social work in 2007 to be a stay-at-home mom of three rowdy boys, and to pursue her dreams of writing romance.When not indulging her fantasies or writing, Tatum enjoys heading to the beach to build sandcastles with her boys, hiking in Red River Gorge, and spreading awareness of eosinophilic disorders.

Book preview

FALLING FOR LUKAS

Hard Impact 1

TATUM THRONE

When the leader of the Fallen must marry, he chooses a human male. Will Lukas marry Kane or will he run?

Detective Lukas Steele works with the Kenton Police Department. One evening he’s kidnapped and taken to an arena to fight for his life while vampires watch. When he’s saved by another vampire, he quickly discovers that his rescue comes at a price.

Kane is the leader of the Fallen, a race of vampires who are fallen angels. Backed into a corner, he needs to marry if he is to stay among the human world. When he saves Lukas from the arena, he’s determined to win him over and marry him.

As Lukas’s world collides with Kane’s, he discovers that he must do everything in his power to protect Kane and the vampires of his world. Falling hard for Kane wasn’t what he planned on doing, but can he really leave his life behind and marry a vampire?

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of vampires having hot sex with humans. This book contains M/M sex!

PUBLISHER NOTE: M/M Paranormal Romance. 29,152 words.

FALLING FOR LUKAS

Hard Impact 1

TATUM THRONE

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WWW.LUMINOSITYPUBLISHING.COM

LUMINOSITY PUBLISHING LLP

FALLING FOR LUKAS

Hard Impact 1

Copyright © November 2017 TATUM THRONE

Cover Art by Poppy Designs

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this literary work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

DEDICATION

Five years ago, I wrote this book when I was taking a writing class at the University of Cincinnati. This is the book I had always wanted to write. One where I let my imagination run wild — really wild. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

So, I couldn’t have gotten this book to publication without my writing teacher, Wendy B. encouraging me to go further and to write on that dangerous edge that makes all writers want to write every day. It also couldn’t have happened without my three boys distracting me, my hubby cheering me on, my publisher who keeps me motivated, and my friend Kelly dragging me from my cave to book signings to sign my name to the books I’ve written.

PROLOGUE

Two hundred years ago

Judgement Day

The angel Kane knew he was about to die. He flexed his wings, testing them to see if they were broken. Relief moved through his body when he realized they were okay.

Sleet pelted Kane in the face.

It took him from the deep that held him hostage. He was alive but for how much longer? Kane took a cleansing breath and turned his face into cold, springy grass. He inhaled the sweet, forbidden scent. He dug his fingers into the grass. He was on Earth. Darkness threatened to drown him again. Kane sucked frosty air, and the chill slowly melted in his brain.

The first thing he noticed was that he was not alone.

Flashes of the last few brutal hours flipped through his mind like pages torn from a book.

Kane drifted in and out of consciousness, reliving the beating over and over.

Five of his brethren came when he was sleeping. They had taken him out of the angels’ quarters.

Wooden staffs had struck him repeatedly. They knew what he was and were taking care of the abomination that marked his soul. Chains struck him in the temple. He was thrown off his feet. How had they found out?

Blood dripped down his broken nose. Thick, red splats dotted the white marble as he was dragged away. Pain shot through his head spearing down to his ear. He’d been careful. Another blow rattled his jaw making his head ring. A rib snapped in his chest. He wasn’t careful enough apparently. His gut exploded from a kick to his back.

Over the years, he worked to erase the outward signs of his transgression. What had he missed? More importantly, what had they seen? The staff was brought up under his chin with one last deafening blow.

Lights. Out.

Kane coughed and spat blood. He brought himself back to the here and now. Iron shackles locked each wrist but not together. Something else held the other ends. His fingers flexed painfully into the grass taking dirt under his nails. He tested the muscles on his back. His wings were still there. One of his hands was broken — badly. That wasn’t the only thing broken, but he couldn’t focus on all the breaks now.

He’s waking.

Gabriel. That cold, nasty sonofabitch watched and ordered his brethren around. They all obeyed. That burned. Not one would speak for him — protect him. They had no reason to risk their wings.

Stand him up.

Kane was brought to his feet. His head bopped before he gained control of the thing. He was as naked as the day he was born. Grass caressed his feet for the first time. Kane knew what was happening, but his mind refused to accept his destiny. This fate.

Both eyes were swollen. The right one was nearly shut. His vision swam when he tried to focus on his brethren standing in the black. One of his ears felt as though it were stuffed with bricks.

Angels were brought down to earth in chains for one reason only, to die or be transitioned out. Shunned.

Had he been the son of a serial killer, they would have forgiven him. The son of a human was unforgivable.

Tainted blood.

The angel Kane was about to lose his wings, and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. A vortex of fear twisted up into his muscles. The heavy emotion felt dense inside his body. Toxic. It was only on earth that angels could feel emotion and pain so freely. He wasn’t free, and he never would be. Kane cranked his head to the side cracking it back into place.

Emotion made him feel stronger, deadly. Bitter. He wanted to purge the sensations as fast as they came on. They were a distraction. They were not who he was. Not the pain though. That sharpened his mind, clearing the raging fog.

He should be thinking of a way out of this. Chains clinked, tightening. His captors held him immobile. They were waiting for something. Or someone more like it. Wind snaked through the valley. Tremors of shock vibrated his muscles and the chains.

Could he survive the transition? He’d heard stories of the Shunning. Most didn’t want to live the life given to them after it was over.

Beg.

Kane stared at his brethren. He wouldn’t beg for his life. He’d be cursed if he survived the transition. He may not survive at all. Mortality felt suddenly like a siren flicking him off. Kane spat the blood gathering in his mouth.

I will not beg.

He flexed out his wings defiantly, their white-gold color catching the ambient light. How many times had he done that same thing? Thousands? Close to millions? Would he miss them? Would he feel less?

Kneel.

His brethren forced him down. Would he miss being one of them? The heavy iron chains took his arms wide. He fought their hold, pulled his captors around. They slipped and fell in the mud. He tangled them up.

Enough!

Kane felt as though a hundred-pound boulder was sitting on his chest. Seconds turned into a brutal minute. He couldn’t breathe. Then it lifted. Kane gasped for air. He had to know who outed him. He locked his gaze with Gabriel. Who did this?

Does it matter?

Kane reached out and snapped his hand onto Gabriel’s forearm. The chain was yanked back. Who made the call?

I did.

That voice brought Kane’s head around.

Fate.

Fate stepped from the darkness of an old growth oak. Moonlight kept his face shadowed, his form silhouetted in the void as though he were void itself. A chill raced beneath Kane’s skin. Fate was an interfering nuisance of absolute power, two-hundred proof of eternal chaos. Kane flexed his muscles against the binds that held him.

What game do you play with my life? Kane asked.

This is your destiny.

Destiny was not something Kane believed in. Freedom of will was the only thing that governed. If you want to kill me, kill me.

Not tonight. Fate came forward, lowered to his haunches. His voice was the