I'm going to kill them for this. How many hours had Carlie already screamed? Was it days since she'd last enjoyed a pain free existence? Couldn't she just hurry up and die already? Anything to stop the agony, an agony caused by a poisoning she still didn't understand even as she'd used the act to distract herself from the worst moments of her life. Why keep her alive, feed her, bathe her, and arouse her to the point she would have begged them for their touch only to kill her slowly with some jungle potion? When none of her screamed curses to that query earned her answers or oblivion, she dreamt up ways of killing the two bastards who betrayed her. For some reason, though, those violent fantasies tended to always end up devolving into some erotic orgy where she bit and rode them like a cowgirl out of control. Some punishment. Sweating, her body on fire, she hissed at the cool cloth on her brow, one of her captors once again contradicting everything she thought she knew
Waking up, always a good sign. Waking up naked with no idea how she got that way, lying in a room she'd never seen made of stone blocks with a naked guy on either side? Kind of kinky ? and freaky! Especially since Carlie retained no recollection of how she got there. Carlie bolted straight up and off the bed ? make that pallet ? onto a debris free, rock slab floor. "Where am I? What did you guys do to me?" Last she recalled, she drank something vile, not by choice, then ? "You drugged me." For some reason, that shocked her more than the initial kidnapping. Anger at the betrayal made her fists clench. I thought I could trust them. The men, as per usual, didn't answer her accusation. They just lay back on the wide sleeping area, arms under their heads, expressions bland and bodies relaxed ? except for one part. Sans loincloth, their erections pointed up, menacing. Hmm, maybe not threatening so much as thick, long, and strangely arousing if the curl of heat in her tummy
Not too far behind his bride, Acat heard her shrill cry and cursed himself not only for not keeping a closer eye on her, but also because maybe had he finally revealed the truth to Carlie, they could have talked instead of her running. He'd hoped that after her erotic response in the bath, she would finally trust them, or at least not attempt to flee. How wrong of him. She not only fled while he and Chaob argued over what they should do next, she fled deep into the heart of the ruins where old magic held sway, and where things best kept hidden lived. While many theories abounded about the demise of Mayans, none came close to the truth. His ancestors, or at least those who claimed to serve the old and wild gods, dabbled with things best left alone like dark magic. Playing with old magic that should have remained hidden, they released things they could not comprehend or control. Not that they lived to regret it. It was only by the sacrifice and bravery of a few that their mis
When her terror abated, due in large part to her timely rescue and the soothing bath removing all traces of the spider that shouldn't exist outside Mordor, Carlie found herself in a peculiar situation. On the one hand, she wanted to stay mad at the guys, but despite her attempt to escape, Mr. Kitty, along with his pet jaguar, came to save her dumb, blonde ass. While the cat seemed to have disappeared again, Golden Grin ended up being part of her escort back. Between them, they bathed her and calmed her high blood pressure, then, despite their lingering hands, left her alone. But they didn't leave her alone, alone. As if uncertain, they lay upon the pallet, eyeing her with expressionless masks, watching her as if worried she'd go off the deep end. A part of her was tempted. I mean, who brings a girl to a place with alien-sized, human-eating spiders! However, another part of her, her newly acquired, vocal inner conscience, rumbled at her to stop fighting. To just let nature t
"Did you just speak perfect freakn' English to me?" Carlie practically screeched in her fury. She fell straight from languorous after-sex-stupor into pissed off and looking for a fight. Up she sprang to her knees to glare at Mr. Kitty. "Idiot. I told you she wouldn't take it well," her golden-eyed lover muttered from his spot on her left side in heavily accented ? ridiculously sexy ? perfectly understandable English. "You too!" Lucky him, she had enough wrath to go around. She narrowed her gaze. "How long were you planning to pretend you didn't understand a word I said?" "We never pretended. We just never replied." Mr. Kitty actually managed to say that with a perfectly straight face. She arched a brow. "Oh really? Gee, I guess that distinction was lost on me, because I don't freakn' care! How could you? I was begging for some answers. Some kind of reassurance, and all this time you guys could have said something to ease my mind, but remained spitefully silent."
Acat wanted to pound his chest. She's ours. In every sense of the word. So why did Chaob frown? "What's wrong?" "She hasn't accepted us." "I'd say the mark on our thighs says otherwise." "Marks I don't think she would have placed of her own volition had she known what it meant." "But she did. Whether she meant to or not, she is bound to us and we to her. This is a time to celebrate." "Or tread with caution. Perhaps we should do as she asks and ensure her sister returns from whence she arrived." "I'd say that's up to the gods, not us." "Oh, that's priceless coming from you. Weren't you the one, less than two weeks ago, who didn't truly believe in the will of the gods or fate?" True. Acat shrugged. "That was before. Now, even I have to admit there might be some truth to the legends." "And who's to say we wouldn't have done the same thing had we met her during the course of business in town?" "But we didn't. And we fo
The next time she woke, stretched naked between two male bodies, Carlie didn't freak out. She did, however, almost purr out loud. She bit her tongue to halt it, yet could do nothing about the presence in her head that insisted on rumbling in contentment anyway. It was much too smug for her state of mind. And much too alive for her to ignore. Damn but she needed to get a handle on this whole inner kitty deal. It was partly why she agreed to stay. If she truly could shape-shift into a jaguar, then she needed to find out more, what it meant and how to do it. She needed to learn how to avoid hacking up hairballs at inopportune moments. How to make sure I don't go crazy the next time I visit the aquarium at the zoo. Fingers trailed up her thigh, over her tummy, and finished by cupping a breast. Her feline seemed to think she should bat the presumptuous hand away, but she rather enjoyed the way it fondled her. She turned her head to smile at Acat. "Morning, Mr. Kitty." "Mr.
Chaob caught Carlie before she hit the floor. "You know this won't hold her still for long. Already she is growing stronger and stronger. Soon, like us, she will resist the effects." "I know, but it will last long enough for me to be on my way and at least ensure her sister is safe." "Will you prevent any from claiming her as bride?" A heavy sigh left his friend. "I wish I could, but if the gods have chosen her, you and I both know the mating fever will have its way." Unfortunately, Chaob didn't think his new bride would care for that argument. How he envied Acat when he left to meet up with the hunting party tasked with meeting the outsiders. Chaob didn't relish his role when his mate woke. With his luck, he'd get to deal with a spitting hellcat, because he didn't doubt for a moment she'd wake angry. Her spirit was one of the things he most admired about her, that and her courage. At the same time, though, her spirit made her most vexing to deal with. She didn'
Nothing ever felt more right than the first time Derrick sank balls deep into Janine. Unless he counted the second time and then the third. Over and over, he claimed her that night, the next day, all that week as she took some time off work for them to explore their new relationship. And yes, they were in a relationship. She's my mate now. And soon, she'd be his wife. He'd already asked for and received permission from Orson and Janine's mother. A conversation that went along the lines of? "I'm going to marry your daughter." "I get to plan the wedding." "I'll have you cremated if you hurt her." Derrick could already tell they'd fit in well with his family. Snap.*Epilogue An exaggerated groan left Derrick as he heaved Janine out of the car. The sound totally deserved a laser-hot glare. "Are you implying something?" No denying she was a little more rotund these days. He pulled her close, not caring that her big belly got in the way. A smile tugged
With Derrick buried in the bosom of his family, Janine slipped away before the tears blurring her gaze were noticed. Derrick had survived the surgery and seemed about to beat the odds. He would recover, which meant it was time for her to go. Even if I love him. And she did love him. Loved him so much that she couldn't be with him. She knew Derrick thought himself in love with her, that she was his mate. Much as she wanted to believe that, she couldn't. He'd fallen for her only because, at the time, he depended on her. Acting as his therapist meant their close involvement brought them together and imbued him with a false sense of intimacy. I think the intimacy came from you letting him touch you. Acts that shouldn't have happened, and yet, she didn't regret. It made leaving so much harder, but she did it now while she could. Now while he had his family and the promise of a bright future ahead of him. Let him get on with his life. Find a woman to settle dow
The hot satisfaction at having brought down the enemy paled before the panicked realization that Derrick couldn't move. Not a single damned muscle. The cold reality sent his wolf into hiding, pulling back from the dead weight of his body and leaving only human flesh. Flesh that felt nothing but the tips of her fingers on his cheeks as she cradled his head. "Derrick. Oh God, why did you do that?" She hugged his head, and if the moment weren't so dire, he might have enjoyed being buried against her plush tits. But all he could think was, This is the last time. The last time he'd smell her or feel her touch because he'd fucked up majorly in skipping the surgery and now paid the price. Since he didn't expect he'd get another chance, he whispered, "I love you," which only caused her to rock and hug tighter. In a voice thick with tears, she retorted, "This better not be one of those goodbye speeches. You're going to be fine. We'll get you in for that surgery, and ever
Doctor's Pet. She read the title in gleaming silver letters on the back of Derrick's chair as he whipped by with a whoop, well ahead of his brothers in their own colorful chariots. When she'd come across some orderlies watching something out the window, she'd not expected to see the Grayson clan gathered out front, clapping and hollering at the participants in the wheelchair races. It wasn't even just Derrick and his brothers playing. They'd gotten several other patients to join in too. Given the speed at which they raced, a fear for their safety made her want to march out that door and tell them to stop, but an old adage came to mind-boys will be boys. And men would do stupid things that resulted in stitches for, as Stu said upon meeting her, "Shits and giggles." The main surgeon for the rehab center came to stand beside her. "Looks like fun," he noted. "Yes. Dangerous, though," she added. "These men have been to hell and back. Do you really want to
The feel of her on his fingers proved exhilarating, but it couldn't compare to her intoxicating taste. A man parched, Derrick lapped at her, savoring her womanly cream and humming with pure male satisfaction at how she clenched and pushed against him, her body craving more of his touch. He couldn't have stopped if he wanted to. Too long he'd craved her. Too long he'd denied the unmistakable truth. Janine is mine. And for this moment at least, he couldn't find the strength to push her away. I'm tired of fighting what I want. Time for a little selfishness. He lapped at her sweet button, feeling it swell at his flicks. He pumped his fingers in and out of the moistness of her sex, loving how she gripped him tight. Her excitement built, reaching a crescendo, and he felt just as coiled as her, poised on the edge. He pistoned his fingers in her as his lips pinched her swollen button. A low cry began to keen from her lips. She smashed a pillow over her face as her body arched
Something woke Janine from a light slumber. She lay in bed, one half of her face squashed against her pillow, listening. Not even the creak of joists shifting broke the heavy silence. Holding her breath a moment longer, she tested the ambiance of the room. Is anyone here? Am I alone? Her senses craned, seeking that sense of vitality that only another person could emit. She sought another presence, a reason for waking, and felt nothing. She exhaled with relief. No bogeyman tonight. For those who might mock her, she had no problem admitting a fear of the dark, especially the particular shade it achieved in the middle of the night. Dark deeds often happened under night's shadow. And sometimes a little girl wakes and opens her eyes to see bloodshot ones staring right at her. The shriek she uttered proved piercing. The scarier thing? Daddy screamed at an even higher pitch. But that had happened a long time ago. Only the one time, but it left an impression. She'
The tingling awareness of her presence faded as Janine moved from the doorway of the game room. He'd known she watched him. Felt her eyes on him the moment she appeared and missed her gaze when she left. It took him gripping the wheels of his chair not to chase after her. Having her out of his line of sight didn't sit well, and not just because of all the people roaming around. Earlier, when they'd first arrived, he'd also hated sending her off into the kitchen with her mother. Then again, it was probably a good thing Red didn't stay because the first thing Derrick tried to do was get her out of his life. "I want a new shrink." On his way to a bar, fetching a drink of something with a fiery kick, Orson paused. "Is there a problem with my daughter?" "No." "Then why the request?" The council member uncorked a decanter and poured some amber liquid into glasses. He handed one to Derrick before taking a seat on the couch. "Do you want her removed because she's
Despite the mishap in locating Derrick-I really thought I'd have to hunt him down and force him-the road trip passed rather peacefully. Despite the sexual tension between them, there was also a genuine like for one another, and when he wasn't barbing her or trying to push Janine away, they could have the most interesting conversations. It passed the long trip. While Derrick started out driving, the highway part of the route being the longest, she took over once they hit an exit. She made sure to give him a pit stop so he could use a washroom, and she said not a word about the fact that he took a few minutes longer than other people to do his business and glared at those who dared to complain outside the locked door. As she took the familiar twists and turns to her parents' house, she couldn't help a touch of anxiousness. How would her stepdad react? With her, Orson was the most lovable teddy bear a girl could ask for, but with anyone he thought threatened her? Poor Jeremy w
Red stalked into his room, swinging the door open in a familiarity that apparently didn't see a need to knock. "Derrick, we need to-Uh. Oh." Her outburst ended on a gasp. Probably because she got more of a glimpse than she expected Splayed on top of covers still drawn tight, one hundred percent naked, and bound-the height of emasculation-he glared. "Were you raised in a barn?" Something his mother used to accuse him of when he lacked manners. His Aunt Joni took great offense at that expression and claimed it was those raised as ci-diots that were the problem with morality nowadays. A shame they feuded for years on end. Aunt Joni's pie was worth the occasional brawl between sisters. Janine's head ducked. He could only imagine the pinkness of her expressive cheeks. "Sorry. I didn't think. I'll come back later when you're not so, um, er, tied up," she stammered. The things she could do to me right now? For a moment, he almost imagined a spark, enough that he said t