Naomi's head throbbed, and the yelling going on around her didn't help, rather it added to her general malaise and irritation. What she did find comforting was the lap she found herself cuddled in. Strong arms held her close against a hard chest where a rapidly beating heart lulled her for a moment longer before sanity set in. Whose freakn' lap am I on? Somehow, she doubted they were related to her given the evident erection poking at her bottom and the fact her whole body tingled. Oh no, one of them has got me. Panic made her scramble to escape before she opened her eyes. She dove off the warm lap and didn't peer around with wild eyes until she found herself clear of bodies, nausea and pain weaving a dance in her body that made her want return to her unconscious state for a while longer. Since when do I wish for the cowardly route? She straightened her spine and took in the scene before her. Out from the cocoon of the behemoth's arms, the noise seemed even louder and
"You drugged her?" Ethan bellowed the words as he surged from his seat, fists clenched. Alarm crossed Javier's face and he held up his hands in a placating manner. "Calm down. It wasn't my idea, but her mother's. She handed me the pills along with the instructions to feed them to her with some juice to mask the taste." "When the hell did she get the chance to give you drugs?" "While Naomi's family was saying good bye, she slipped them to me." "Why not just give them to her? Why con her into taking them?" Ethan wanted to smack his friend for pissing Naomi off even more. "According to her mother, the only way to medicate her properly is by subterfuge. She'd already refused the medication from the doctor claiming she didn't want to be out of control." "She is going to be so angry when she wakes up," he replied shaking his head, his expression surely woebegone. At least he could point the finger at Javier with a clear conscience and let his friend take t
Javier ended up following Ethan upstairs, unable to stay away from the lush female who'd somehow attracted him and his beast. It had occurred to him several times on the way over to simply drive away-and keep going until he snapped the tenebrous connection forming between him Naomi, and in a strange twist, Ethan. Jaguars, the males at any rate, tended to spread their love, only rarely settling down, or so he'd been taught. His own father sired cubs on almost a half dozen females and never chose to mark any of them. Truthfully, Javier expected to follow the same path, already his conquests were numerous, although, unlike his father, he'd chosen to use protection to prevent conceptions. However, in the space of one night, instead of deciding which flavor he'd try next, he found himself irresistibly drawn to one curvy female with long, brown hair whose face he couldn't even guess at given the bruising and swelling, yet glimpses at pictures on her walls showed a striking woman. One f
Naomi stretched as she woke with an exaggerated yawn in her own bed. How the hell did I get here? Recollection of the dirty trick the two men played on her the previous night made her sit up abruptly. The sheet fell away and she noticed her clothing of the previous eve gone, replaced with a t-shirt and shorts. "Those dirty, rotten pigs," she cursed as she swung her legs out of bed and sat on the edge. "You called?" A head topped with tousled hair poked out from around the door frame of the bathroom. Number sixty-nine's dark eyes twinkled and his lips curled in a sensual smile. Despite her irritation, her body flooded with warmth. "You!" She pointed at him and shot him a dark glare. He grinned wider. "What about me, darling?" "I'm going to kick your balls so hard you're going to choke on them. How dare you drug me and then do despicable things to my body while I was unconscious?" Stepping forward from the bathroom, he raised his arms in surrender an
Ethan hated leaving Naomi without even saying goodbye, but Javier made sense when he said she needed space to come to grips with the recent events-and time to miss them. Ethan wrote his note and then almost shoved it up Javier's butt when he read his friend's. But then, he'd realized part of her getting to know him included realizing he didn't have the same flowery way with words Javier did. And, as his conscience reminded him, she hadn't yet fallen prey to Javier's charm, so perhaps his straight to the point methods would appeal. Or so he hoped. Once at the sports complex, he couldn't concentrate on lacrosse practice. However, even at his worst, he still shone, catching and flinging the ball with speed and precision. He skipped the locker room after their two hour drills to hit the gym. He found comfort in the mind numbing sameness of exercise. Thankfully, the weight room was virtually empty and his dark look had hurried out the few patrons. As he lifted weights and did hi
Naomi didn't want to attribute her bad temper to the fact she hadn't seen hide or hair all day of the two idiots whom her wolf wanted to take a bite out of. However, telling herself she didn't care as she cleaned her house in a frenzy, while pretending she was happier with them gone, just agitated her even more. When her phone rang while she stripped and made her bed-trying to erase the delicious scent of them lingering on the sheets-she needed to race downstairs, her upstairs phone having met the door in a fatal accident earlier that morning during her fit. Diving onto the shrilly, ringing phone, she answered breathlessly. "Hello." "Oh my god, did I, like, interrupt you having sex?" Francine's voice started out loud and tapered to an exaggerated whisper. "What? No, I'm not having sex. Why the hell would you think that?" Naomi replied in disgust-mostly because her body kept begging to have sex-as she flopped on the couch. "Well, I heard from my mother, wh
At work the next day, Naomi found it exceedingly difficult to concentrate. She'd spent a sleepless night, squirming and horny. She'd tried masturbating, but to no avail. Five fingers couldn't satisfy her, not when she craved a man between her thighs-make that two men. Diving into her work, she let the numbers on the receipts and ledgers before her suck her into a world she understood where the solutions to questions made sense. Followed a set of rules that never wavered. Where a relationship equaled one man and one woman, two people, not three, like the spot between her legs claimed. Slowly, the columns of figures settled her for the first time in days. An affinity for mathematics growing up had led her into a career in accounting, most especially for other 'special' people like her. Given the longevity of shifters and convoluted family trees-because not all species believed in a monogamous paring for life-she'd acquired an extensive clientele. A few hours into her pe
Javier could sense her inner conflict, in fact he prayed for it. Things had gone so well until the disastrous dinner of the night before. While he expected it of Ethan, Javier should have known better than to arouse Naomi in front of her brothers-until he'd marked her. However, the lure of her presence and worse, her interest, blinded him to their location with disastrous consequences. Overprotective brothers had the right to defend their sister's honor, but Javier and Ethan grossly miscalculated on how a regular rumble, common in shifter households, would send Naomi running. It had only taken Meredith's quietly announced, "She left," for the fight to deflate. And that's when Javier discovered that despite her feisty nature, Naomi thought she wanted a life completely absent of violence. Probably not one hundred percent feasible given the hotheaded nature of shapeshifters-herself included-but he and Ethan came to an understanding with her family, her brothers especially. If they
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