His hand tore at the pins in her hair even as he dragged her through the trees toward the swamp. “And it’s damned beautiful, but I personally like you with no clothes on. And so do our leopards. Come on, Blue, let’s be bad.”

“There’re like a million buttons.”

He stopped running. “Is that a no?”

“Are you kiddin’ me? Undo them right now, Remy. And hurry up about it.”

“I’m madly, crazy in love with you,” he admitted, his hands eagerly slipping small pearly buttons out of their loops.

“I know,” she said, and waited for her wedding gown to fall to the ground.

Special Excerpt from DARK LYCAN

Keep reading for a special preview of the next exciting Carpathian novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan

DARK LYCAN

Available September 2013 from Berkley Books.

MIST drifted through the trees. The moon, not quite full, was a yellow halo, dull and yet glaring. Around the moon a red halo gave off an ominous glow. A dangerous time, this cycle of the moon, especially when the mist came in thick and heavy, covering the ground a foot or so high, winding in and out of the trees as if alive. The mist muffled sound, dulled the senses, giving advantages to the shadowy figures that preyed upon the unwary.

Tatijana of the Dragonseekers woke beneath the earth with layers of dark, rich healing loam surrounding her. Vital nutrients, rich in minerals, cushioned her body. She lay for a long time, panicked, listening to her own heart beating, feeling too light, too trapped, too exposed. And hot. So hot. Above her, she sensed the guardians. Watching over her, they said, and it was probably true. But she’d been a prisoner for so long—she’d been born into captivity—and she trusted no one other than her sister, Branislava. Bronnie lay sleeping peacefully, very close to her, her only comfort.

Her heartbeat grew louder until it was thunder in her ears. She couldn’t stand being trapped beneath the earth. She had to get out, to find freedom. To feel free. What was that like? She knew nothing of the world. She’d lived underground her entire life, deep in the ice caves, never seeing or speaking to anyone other than those who tortured and tried to terrorize her. She knew no other life, but that had changed—or had it?

Had she and Bronnie exchanged one cold, frightening prison for a silken cage? If so, their wardens had made a huge mistake putting them in the ground to recover. She hardly knew what it was like to be in her real form. She’d spent centuries in dragon form, and dragons could move through her earth fairly easily.

Bronnie, she whispered into her sister’s mind. I know you need your sleep. I will continue to explore our new world and come back at dawn with new information.