Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82742 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Visit Lisa at www.lisareneejones.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Asexy eighties song filtered through the air of the elite Padre Island Men's Club, a lush brunette atop an oval stage, swaying to the beat.

Dim lights added flavor to a room designed for sin and seduction, dancers scattered at various other locations throughout the room, working the music and the men. In the far corners the walls were lined with couches for those who wanted to remain discreet, while private shows were available for those willing to pay the price.

Preferring both his entertainment and his women full of excitement, Des had chosen to sit front and center, at the edge of the stage. Here he had a perfect view of the dancer who called herself "Veronica" as she seduced the audience with her curvy hips and inviting, full breasts.

Beside him, two of his fellow Knights of White, Rinehart and Rock, each nursed a beer. Des preferred the bigger bite of tequila. He was immortal, after all. It wasn't as if the stuff was going to kill him. Even getting a buzz, for their kind, was nearly impossible.

"Veronica" eased closer, kneeling in front of Des as she sang the words of the song. Then she turned the song into a question. "Do you think I'm a nasty girl?" she whispered.

"I don't think, mi hermosa," Des murmured in a low voice, his hungry eyes taking in her naked body, her pebbled nipples. "I know."

She'd been quite the feast two weekends before. A hot Mexican mama who matched his heritage and did a good job of trying to match his lust. But as good as that night had been, he wouldn't be repeating it. He never allowed himself to repeat. Repeat performances invited questions about his past, about his life, that he didn't welcome.

Talk, no. Sex, yes.

Besides, tonight was about Rock, not him. The kid had it bad for their Healer, Marisol, which meant he was out of luck. Healers were considered off-limits, forbidden physical pleasure, a rule Marisol took seriously despite her own obvious desire for Rock. In other words, the consequences of following her desire would be some deep trouble. Of course, helping the kid was no easy task. Rock really was as stubborn as a rock, though Des doubted that's what the name meant to the kid. How ironic he'd chosen his immortal name to be something so fitting. They all chose one name to define their existence within the Knights, something special to them and them alone, leaving behind their past—or at least trying to forget what once was.

With Rinehart as an accomplice, Des had convinced the kid to join them for a night out, with one agenda in mind…hooking Rock up with a woman. This particular dancer's flavor of "nasty" was exactly the kind of distraction Rock needed.

Des drew a C-note from his pocket and leaned toward the stage. The Knights had money and he didn't mind using his. They'd all been given healthy trust funds after completing their training; money to live on. He'd been smart and invested his money well, though he didn't share that little bit of information with the others. If they were smart, they had as well. An eternity of living demanded funds. Besides, Des would be damned if the lack of money would ever make him feel beneath anyone again. He'd been there, done that, was never doing it again.

Motioning the woman forward, Des whispered in her ear. She leaned back and smiled, waiting patiently for her reward. Sliding his fingers up her thigh, he placed the money under her garter. She stood and walked toward the stairs in a sexy strut.

"Tell me you didn't," Rock said, running a hand over his short, sandy brown hair, a muscle in his jaw jumping.

Des eyed Rinehart, an ex-military man who sat arms crossed, cowboy hat pulled low over his buzzcut, shadowing his eyes. "Tell me you did," he said. Eyes that were normally cold and calculating now twinkled with mischief.

"Come on, Rock," Des said. "You know you have to."

Each Knight possessed a soul, but each had also been touched by a Beast. Each had turned into a demon later saved by Salvador, a recruiter for the Knights. Now, they lived with that Beast inside, some more than others, forced to fight their primal urges. To control the urges, they needed to put them to use. To burn them out. A task best achieved in war or sex.

But Rock was so hung up on Marisol he took risks he couldn't afford to take. He let himself live on the edge. "She knows, man." Des lowered his voice for Rock's ears only. "Marisol knows you have no choice. And you both know Healers are off-limits. As in, you're not going there, so stop thinking you are. You're wound tight. You need this. It's a woman or the battlefield, and since the Beasts are remarkably quiet right now, I'd say it's the woman."

Veronica appeared floor level, her body working in a sultry rhythm meant for Rock's exclusive pleasure. Yet, the younger Knight started to complain. "Des, man, I told you, no. I—" Veronica straddled him and Rock lost his words.

Rinehart laughed and held up his beer in a mock salute of Des. "May Rock's pleasure be our sanity."

"Hell, yeah," Des said, laughing at the truth of the statement. "I'd say that calls for another drink."

Raising his hand to flag a waitress, Des spotted their new security specialist, Max, in the doorway. Des grimaced at the unexpected visitor. He didn't like Max, and he didn't know why. Something was off with the guy.

Taking advantage of his position of observation, Des sized Max up, trying to put his finger on what it was. The newcomer appeared normal enough. As normal as an immortal who fought demons could come off. Des sized Max up as he often did, trying to figure out the newcomer. His brown hair, a bit longer than Des's own, touched his shoulders. The biker getup Max favored of leather jacket and matching pants had to be hot as hell, though, in the current hundred-degree Texas heat. That was exactly why Des stuck to jeans and a T-shirt. Simple. Easygoing. But nothing about Max was simple.

Des's eyes locked with Max's and they stared at one another, a standoff of sorts. Rinehart turned, following Des's gaze, but he didn't comment on Max's appearance. Rock didn't notice Des's distraction at all. Veronica had him standing at attention.

Des wasn't about to be the first to break eye contact. A topless waitress did the job for him, stopping in front of Max, and giving both Knights an excuse to change focus.

"What's Max doing here?" Des asked, shooting Rinehart a suspicious look.

"Guess he was thirsty," Rinehart replied with a nonchalant shrug, adjusting his gaze as if he were checking out Rock's private dancer, which was bullshit.

Des knew damn well Rinehart wasn't checking out the dancer. He was in avoidance mode. "You invited him." It wasn't a question; more a statement of disbelief.

"You might make your dislike a little less obvious," Rinehart commented, sidestepping a direct answer.

"I don't trust him," Des said. "The guy shows up out of the blue one day and he's a Knight, no training needed. He's already trained. By who? And where?" He shook his head. "Makes no sense."

"Jag trusts him," Rinehart offered.

Des ground his teeth and wished for another tequila. "Right. I forgot."

Rinehart snorted. "You're just pissy because Jag won't tell you Max's story. For once, you're like the rest of us. You're being told things on a need-to-know basis, and apparently, you don't need to know."

Des shot Rinehart a "go to hell" look. "Drink your damn light beer and shut up. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."

Rinehart tilted his beer back, but not before he fixed Des in a far too perceptive stare and let out a bark of laughter. They both knew Rinehart had hit the nail on the head with his assessment, but probably not for the reasons Rinehart thought. Jag's recent closeness to the Knights' creator, Salvador, was part of being their leader, a part of the new powers he'd been gifted when he'd found his mate. Des understood that.

Yet Des's exclusion from Jag's inner circle bothered him and not because he wanted to have his damn hand held. He worried about what Salvador had told Jag about him. Des knew full well he walked a little too closely to his Beast. Jag had always worried that Des embraced his Beast too readily. Des argued it allowed him control over his darker side. But maybe Salvador knew just how close to that dark side Des felt some days.

Max appeared beside the table, snapping Des out of his reverie. "Looks like they'll let anyone in this place these days," Des said, grinning as he acted as if joking, though they both knew he wasn't.

Grabbing a chair from an empty table, Max turned it so that his arms rested on the back, legs straddling the seat. "You're afraid I'll steal some of the attention," Max said, with a half smile.

Max enjoyed egging Des on. In some ways, Des enjoyed it, too. Kept things interesting. He sort of liked disliking Max. Gave him somewhere to put all the tension when he wasn't on the battlefield or in bed. "Hey," Des said, giving a nod. "If you can earn it, take it." A hint of challenge laced his tone, subtle but evident, by intention. "How'd you even know we were here?"

"I told him," Rinehart admitted, grinning, the look in his eyes daring Des to give him crap about it.

And Des wanted to. His hand itched to reach up and smack Rinehart's big-ass cowboy hat right off his head. Instead he said, "I'd say you owe me a tequila, cowboy."

Des shifted his gaze to Max, about to tell him he was buying the next round after Rinehart paid up, but before he could get the words out, his cell phone rang. He frowned when he noted the number.

He glanced up at Rinehart. "It's Jag."

All three of the Knights were instantly on alert. Jag wouldn't call to simply say hello. Des stood and started walking, punching the button to answer the call while he worked his way to the back of the room where it was quieter. An unnecessary attempt to find quiet considering the call lasted all of sixty seconds. Jag's instructions were short and to the point.

"Duty calls," Des reported to Max and Rinehart when he returned to the table. "We need to hightail it back to Brownsville."

Rinehart's brows dipped, his expression registering concern. "Any idea why?"

"Nope," he said, not ...

Customer Reviews

It just gets better!
Yay! A great steamy romance that builds and two well matched smart and sexy leads make Beast of Desire sooo much better than Jones' first Knights of White book.

Des was one of the amazing supporting characters in the last book who gave me hope for this series and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Des still walks the edge here being one of the Knights whose beast is close to having full control, since he keeps his human part protected and hidden away due to scars in his past. Even though Des and Jennifer aren't soulmates from a previous life like Karen and Jag from The Beast Within (Silhouette Nocturne Series), there still is a familiarity and a sixth sense of 'knowing' each other innately that makes the quick attachment that flames between Des and Jennifer seem natural and believable.

Overall Jones does better with her bad guys here too. This time we aren't bludgeoned by their evil, though the human minion Greg, who is Jennifer's nemesis and aspires to beastdom, gets a bit repetious and tiresome after a while. Other than that my only minor nit was with the scene where Jag give Jennifer a complete flashback on Des' history and Beast battles, it pulled me out of the action a bit and I think that Jones should have trusted her heroine a bit more and not gone for the quick save. Jennifer's instincts were all telling her the truth about Des anyway.

Aside from Jennifer and Des' relationship, I really like the way that Jones starts to develop Wes her next at bat hero, she did such a good job showing him bent under the weight of the past as hopelessness slowly overwhelms him that I can't wait for the next book Beast Of Darkness (Silhouette Nocturne)to watch this weary warrior get his own redemption.

terrific romantic fantasy
A Knight of the White, Des is a bit surprised with his current assignment. He searches for an ancient tome The Journal of Solomon that contains a map that will lead to a treasure chest filled with the names of those whose ancient lineage were angels; normally Des is a warrior in direct fight against the evil of the Darkland Beasts in their millennia old civil war for species control. Knowing he will need help to locate the sacred journal Des turns to the Dallas World Museum curator Jessica Montgomery for help in finding the treasure before the enemy obtains it.

Her mother ignored her and her family in a futile lifetime quest to find the ancient journal. She wants to tell him to forget it as it is not worth the time, but Jessica is attracted to the enigmatic Des so decides to assist him on his quest to learn why he is interested in this tome and how he knew she was the right staff person to enlist. As they fall in love, he knows he is just a beast with a soul that could turn dark at any moment and thus unworthy of the angelic daughter of a senator.

The latest Knights of White tale (see THE BEAST WITHIN) is a terrific romantic fantasy starring two courageous heroes falling in love while on a dangerous quest with their enemies in hot pursuit as both studies understand what The Journal of Solomon means. The story line is fast-paced and filled with non-stop action as the danger mounts so does the attraction. Readers will appreciate Lisa Renee Jones' latest thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Beast of Desire is terrific!
Having read Lisa Renee Jones' "The Beast Within" (the first in the Knights of White series), I was looking forward to reading the next book. I was NOT disappointed! "Beast of Desire" was fast, intriguing and of course, tells more of the story from the Knights of White point of view. Des has been walking the fine line between going bad for so long and doesn't think he's worthy of the woman who will bring him the beast within him and his humanity together. Boy was he wrong as Jessica IS his perfect mate. I would definitely recommend this book. Can't wait for the next book in the series to come out!