The Naphil's Kiss - Simone Beaudelaire

Paranormal Romance Novel With Demons And Angels

The Naphil’s Kiss by Simone Beaudelaire

Book excerpt

Lucien had been gone for five weeks. The work had been excruciating, long and dangerous. Several of his fellow Nephilim had not returned, but Lucien had been determined to survive. He had others relying on him now.

In truth, this was the reason his kind vowed celibacy. The responsibility of caring for a woman and a child meant he was not able to throw his life away in pursuit of his mission. But the moment he'd tasted the sweetness of Sarahi's kiss that long-ago day in Rome, this conclusion had become inevitable. I have no regrets.

He found his lady inside the trailer, sitting on the bed, propped up on pillows, their son cuddled to her breast. As she fed the baby, tears spilled down her cheeks. Her slender shoulders shook with quiet sobs.

She's been so emotional all through the pregnancy and even more now that our son is here. Who would have guessed that what I thought was a demoness to be fought was really just a woman desperate to be cared for? “What's wrong, my love?” He slid into the bed beside her, stroking the tawny skin of his son's cheek where it touched her pale flesh.

“Oh, Lucien!” She leaned against his shoulder and wept as though her heart were breaking.

He stroked the scarlet silk of her hair, waiting for the storm to pass, wondering what on earth had upset his lady so much. “Talk to me, Sarahi. What is it?”

“It's the baby,” she wailed.

“What? Is he ill?” Lucien examined the healthy glow of his son's skin, the plump rolls of flesh around his thighs, belly and chin. He's a little dumpling of a child. Lucien couldn't help but smile at the boy, who looked so appealingly like a mixture of the two of them.

“No. Worse. You can't imagine how bad.” Sarahi's obvious distress at last drew his attention back to her.

“Why?”

“Lucien, look at him.”

Josiah had finished nursing, and she lifted him to his father, showing Lucien the brilliant green eyes shining from the dark face. Milk dribbled down the baby's dimpled chin.

Lucien stroked his son's fuzzy hair. “How nice, love. He has your eyes.”

“Demon eyes,” Sarahi insisted, sounding hysterical.

Lucien tried to soothe her. “So, he takes after you in some ways. He's a boy. Therefore, he's a Naphil.”

“No, love. He's not.” She wiped her cheeks with the back of one hand.

“There's no such thing as a male Succubus,” Lucien pointed out.

She sobbed. “If only that were true. Haven't you heard the legend of the Incubus?”

“Bah.” Lucien waved away Sarahi's claim. “Old wives' tales. There's never been such a creature.”

“Lucien,” Sarahi protested, “he takes my energy with the milk, I can feel it. He is an Incubus. This is terrible.”

He shook his head, trying to understand both what Sarahi meant and what its implications could be. “Is that really such a bad thing? Legend says the Incubus will have incredible powers. With us to teach him right from wrong, he'll be an agent for good.”

Sarahi shook her head. “Do you remember the day we met?” She struggled visibly to control herself as she spoke.

“Of course.” I wonder where she's headed with this.

“I told you our kind fed because we had no choice?”

He looked at her but said nothing.

She closed her eyes. “It's true, but not the whole truth. We feed, and in the feeding, our men are weakened. Eventually, this weakening damages their souls and destroys their will. They become enslaved.”

Her words struck like hammer blows on Lucien's heart. “Is this the fate you had in store for me?” he roared. “To be your captive angel?”

“No!” she cried, reaching out to him. He ducked back. Her dainty hand closed into a fist and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. “Never that! I love you, Lucien. I believed you would be strong enough, and I would not be able to harm you in that way.” She reached out again, and this time he allowed the touch. I never knew love until I knew this woman. She wouldn't set out to harm me. He forced himself to listen. “At any rate, those men are not enslaved to the Succubus. If I turned you, I would not be able to keep you. You would belong to our mother. To Lilith. Men are brought to her and become her property.”

“To what end? Are they her army?”

Sarahi laughed, a little hysterically. “How like a warrior. No, love… well yes, they fight if necessary, but no. They are drones.”

His dark eyebrows came together in consternation.

“Like bees, Lucien. She's the queen. Their job is…”

“To breed.” He scowled.

Sarahi winced. “Yes. She is the only one of us with pure demon blood. Our half-demon heritage is not strong enough to take a man's seed. Only she can breed with them. That is how the Succubi are created.”

“So, she really is your mother?” I thought that was just a saying.

“Yes.” Sarahi inhaled deeply. Then she spoke again. “The Succubi are not truly her goal.”

There's more? Good Lord! “Then what, Sarahi? What does she want? What are we fighting against?”

She broke eye contact, her gaze skating away. “She has been trying for centuries to have a son.”

He looked at her profile in silence while the implications sank in. “She's trying to create an Incubus?” he asked at last.

“Yes. If it is her son, she will have control. She can finally have her revenge.” The despair she felt twisted her face.

I still don't understand. “Love, your mother is a powerful demoness, nearly a goddess. Against whom does she seek revenge?”

Sarahi sighed, refusing to meet Lucien's eyes. “Against all the children of Adam, and the One who loves them. She has nurtured her hatred and humiliation for millennia. She believes with the power of the Incubus under her control, she can enslave all the children of Adam, thereby inflicting the ultimate suffering on…”

“The Creator.” I wish to Heaven I still felt confused.

“Yes.” She finally met his gaze, her expression stricken.

“But, Sarahi, this is not her son. He's ours,” Lucien pointed out.

“Do you honestly think that will stop her?” Sarahi cried, growing wild again. “When she finds out he exists, she will claim him. It's only a matter of time. Just last week, one of my sisters came by to visit and asked why I was cradling a baby.”

Lucien stared at his lady, horrified.

“I told her I was trying to seduce his father. She thought it was a great joke, but that story won't hold forever. She will eventually find out and take him from me. She'll turn him. Oh, Lucien, you should have killed me when you had the chance.”

She sniffled. He gathered her into his arms, the baby cradled between their bodies. She hid her face against his shoulder.

“No, my love. I could never kill you. I love you.” He stroked the burgundy silk of her hair.

She covered his hand with hers. “And I love you, Lucien. That is why I need your help.”

“Anything, my love.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, her whole body trembling. “You have to take the baby. Hide him. Hide him where even I cannot find him. Take him to a place where he will be safe.” He could feel her burning tears rolling down his shoulder.

He tucked one finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Take Josiah? Love, how will you stand it?”

“You have to. I don't want him going to her. It's best this way.” Her voice broke. She drew an unsteady breath and continued. “You have to go away from me too. I can't have you near me. If we created one Incubus together, we could create another.”

The thought of losing his beloved tore deep into his heart. “I won't leave you, Sarahi.”

“You must.” She clutched his shirt in one fist. “You have to raise our son. Teach him what is right. Teach him to be good, to be light, so he won't be swayed by her temptation.”

He looked down into her glimmering green eyes. Lord, I hate it, but she's right. This must be done. He lowered his lips to hers in the most heart-wrenching of kisses. “I will for now, my love, but we will be together again someday, I swear it. I love you, Sarahi.”

“And I love you, Lucien.”

She clutched the baby close to her breast, then lowered him a bit, looking down at his little face as love and despair warred in her expression. She touched her lips to his forehead. “I love you, my little one.” Her voice broke. Tears splashed on the baby's nose and she kissed him again and again.

At last, she hesitantly extended Josiah. “Take him while I can still let him go!” she wailed.

Lucien gathered their son into his arms and stood, turning as though to leave. Then he glanced back. “Swear me a vow, my love.”

“Anything.”

“Don't starve. Live. Wait for me.”

She nodded. He transported. The sound of Sarahi's heartbroken sobs rang out across the nighttime silence of the desert.

Book Details

AUTHOR NAME: Simone Beaudelaire

BOOK TITLE: The Naphil’s Kiss

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

SUBGENRE: Demon Romance / Angel Romance

PAGE COUNT: 175

IN THE BLOG: Best Standalone Romance Novels

“Sex, passion, temptation, mystery, forgiveness... I really enjoyed this story of love between forbidden races”

— Amazon Review

“Kudos to Simone Beaudelaire for her fantastic imagination and her effort to give us such a profound love story”

— Amazon Review

“Compelling and difficult to put down, with interesting characters and a well-written story. I’m glad I picked it up”

— Amazon Review