Jaguar's Kiss (Lone Pine Pride)
Page 10
“Dashing? Magnetic? Unscrupulous?”
If she could have lit him on fire with her eyes, he would have been a smoldering pile of ash. “There are no words vile enough to describe you.”
“You realize all of this could have been avoided if you’d let me hire you in the first place.”
“My people don’t work for ethical black holes.”
“Ethics.” He flicked his fingers dismissively. “Rules we make for ourselves are easily changed, bent or broken. Survival of the fittest is the truest law. Unbreakable.”
“I’m not going to debate morality with you.”
“What are you going to do? Punish me?” He smiled wolfishly. “That could be fun. I have been a bad, bad boy.”
She glared at him, sparks all but shooting from her eyes, hands on hips, her anger radiating a fierce heat. She’d missed her calling as a dominatrix. Give that woman a whip.
“You’ve gone too far this time,” she hissed. “You wanted war? Well, you’d better brace your ass because war is exactly what you’re going to get.”
Bring it on. Prometheus barely stopped himself from issuing the challenge. It was hard to remember when looking into her fiery brown eyes that going toe-to-toe with Karma wasn’t his end game. Step One had been to make it so the ice queen couldn’t ignore him—mission accomplished there.
Step Two might be trickier. Cooperation had never been his strong suit, but he needed hers. “As it happens, I don’t want war. I want your help.”
“You’ve done an excellent job of making sure I couldn’t care less what you want.”
“Not even if it comes with a truce? No more pranks, no more curses. I’ll be on my best behavior.” For all that’s worth. “Helping me is a small price to pay for peace of mind.”
“No.” She pivoted toward the open door, revealing the plunge of the backless dress. He lost his smile. She was bare to the small of her back, the soft curve of her spine vulnerable, exposed, lickable, but Prometheus had more pressing concerns than the itch to tease every inch of her silky skin.
He reached out a mental hand and slammed the door shut. “We aren’t done here.” Power thrummed in his voice. Life or death had always sounded foolishly dramatic, but when it was his death, that changed things substantially. He didn’t bother playing nice—not that he ever did.
Karma spun back to him, eyes widening as the lights in the shop flickered in reaction to the energy surge coming off his body. “Excuse me?”
“I was willing to play by your rules, do things your way, but you turned me down. Now you’re on my turf and you will hear me out.”
“Do you really think threatening me will help your case?”
“This isn’t threatening. When I’m threatening you, you’ll know.” Though she had a point. He took a slow breath, trying to dial down the current of power coursing through him. It was always easier to let it out than it was to get it back in the box.
Her mouth fell open. “When? When you’re threatening me? My God, Prometheus. Is that supposed to make me want to help you?”
“You don’t need to call me a god. That’s a different Prometheus.”
“You really don’t get it, do you? You can’t bully me into helping you. Especially not after you’ve spent the last year doing everything you can to piss me off.”
“It wasn’t the last year. I’ve really only been focused on aggravating you for the last six months. Everything before that was just a coincidence.”
“Ah!” She shouted in frustration, spinning toward the exit. Her heels slammed the hardwood in counterpoint to her anger. She jerked hard on the handle, but Prometheus easily held the door glued shut.
The more she struggled, the more his fascination grew. Along with his smile as he watched her.
Karma Cox was a titan among magic-users. She’d been born with the kind of natural power many would—and did—sell their souls for. If she’d tapped into it, she could have kicked his ass into next week and opened the door with one hand tied behind her back. But instead of embracing the chaotic rush of her power, she repressed it. Her rigid control and unrelenting restraint bottled up her gifts until she was all but powerless, trapped by a net of her own making, yanking futilely at a door that should have been no obstacle at all.
He had to give her credit for stubbornness though. She kept hauling on the door long after a less obstinate woman would have admitted defeat, until finally her hands stilled and her head dropped forward, just an inch—all the surrender she would allow.
“Ready to listen?”
Her head came back up sharply, recovering the inch of surrender. She spoke, still facing the door. “What are my odds of ever getting out of here if I say no?”
“Slim. I’m a gambling man, but even I wouldn’t take that bet.”
She turned slowly, the ice queen back in control. Her dark brown eyes were cool and her ruby lips pursed. She leaned back against the door she’d battled. Her bare back must have touched the cool glass, but she didn’t flinch, folding her arms and pinning him with her imperial gaze. “Well?” One sleek, carefully plucked eyebrow rose. “If I’m not getting out of here until you’ve given your little speech, start talking.”
Prometheus reminded himself to breathe. It came down to this. He wasn’t going to get another chance to enlist her help. Tread carefully.
“I’ve lost something,” he said, keeping his words intentionally vague. Best to ease her into it.
Somehow he didn’t think Karma would react well to the knowledge that he’d sold his heart to the devil twenty years ago and now he needed her help to steal it back.
Only one will win the right to call her “mate”.
Rescue in the Smokies
© 2013 Becca Jameson
Durham Wolves, Book 1
Sergius Durham and his brothers are legendary trackers in these parts, and only the local sheriff knows why. They’re wolf shifters, attempting to live quietly on their horse farm. A difficult task when they’re summoned every time a hiker goes missing.
Serg knows there’s something different about his latest case the moment he touches her left-behind clothing. She is his mate, and nothing will stop him from finding and claiming her—except maybe the repeat-offending nuisance of a vampire who lured her off the trail.
Juliana Polanski isn’t sure how she got so lost, but there’s no mistaking her instant attraction to her rescuer. No denying the passion that explodes between them when rain drives them into a cave for shelter—or at his home, in his bed, even after the crazy, improbable truth of his heritage comes out.
Yet Serg knows the danger isn’t over. At any moment Julianna could be kidnapped right out of his arms—by the only creature the Durham brothers have never been able to track.
Warning: This book contains hunky shape-shifters living in the mountains, hot steamy sex in caves, mind-blowing oral, mild bondage and wild abandonment in front of mirrors.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Rescue in the Smokies:
A strong whiff of his mate made Sergius lift his head.
She was close. She was also alive. If he could have sighed audibly in wolf form, he would have.
Serg ran. Fear of what he would find made his blood boil.
He pushed through a grove of trees and suddenly she was there, right in front of him, sleeping on a bed of leaves, curled up in a tight ball under a shiny Mylar cover.
He stood for several seconds, staring at her. His chest heaved from the mad dash to find her. He took a deep breath in and held it.
She was slight compared to him. Long, gorgeous, red curls feathered out in every direction, some covering her face.
The urge to lurch forward and nuzzle her made his front paws twitch.
He needed to shift and get her to safety, but he also wanted to burn this moment into his memory, the second he first saw his mate. His jaw clamped down on the pack he carried, his dry mouth reminding him of its presence.
Finally, he backed away from her several yards, hiding hims
elf amongst the bushes he’d come through to let the change take him back to human form.
In two minutes, it was over and he was dressed. And this was why he always carried the cumbersome pouch.
She was so still.
He crouched beside her. Her breaths were shallow, her face totally relaxed in deep sleep. He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Juliana?”
His fingers shook where they’d made contact with her warmth, shockwaves traveling up his arm even through the jacket and whatever she wore underneath. The urge to haul her into his embrace made him tense. He needed to know she was all right. Every bit of her.
She startled awake and bolted upright. “Ohmygod,” she gasped. A strangled sound left her throat.
Her gaze met his from only a few inches away, green eyes like deep pools of water reflecting her shock, her fear and her relief all at once.
“Are you okay?”
She smiled up at him, cute dimples forming on both cheeks. “I am now.” She inhaled, releasing it slowly.
Her heart rate slowed under his palm after the initial surprise. He could feel her pulse in her neck, the swish of blood as it coursed through her.
“Are you injured?”
“Only my pride.” Her pale face tipped back again, her cheeks now flushed. “How did you find me? Where am I?”
“You’re a long way from where you left the path, that’s for sure. Scores of people are combing the woods searching for you.” In a completely different direction. But she didn’t need to know that right now. “How did you get so far from where you started?”
“A man recommended I take a shortcut. When it got late I backtracked. I must have taken a wrong turn, because before I knew it, it was dark. I walked for a little longer and finally saw a light in the distance.” She dipped her head down, her face no longer visible to his perusal. “How embarrassing. I hike hundreds of miles every year. I’ve never gotten lost before. I-I’m not sure how this happened.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re okay now. Everything is going to be fine. Did you walk all night? You must be exhausted. Hungry.” He was rambling. He never rambled. She had him tongue-tied. No, he’d never acted like this even as a youngster. Wolves didn’t fall all over themselves quite like humans did. Not until they met their mates, apparently.
She giggled. The sweetest sound he’d ever heard. “I think I’m okay. Relieved you found me. Wasn’t sure what I was going to do if I had to keep walking all night again.”
Why had she chosen to travel by night and sleep by day? Sure, it was a better idea as far as warmth was concerned, but not many people would think of such a thing under stress.
Sergius stood and extended his hand to her. She rose alongside him, steadying her slight frame. But her grip sent his mind whirling. Every hair on his body felt electrified. His heart raced. And damn if his c**k didn’t jump to attention.
Lord, she was half a foot shorter than his six feet. And might weigh one fifteen, one twenty, soaking wet.
He could feel the firm muscles on her arms where his hand had landed as they stood. She was strong, apparently both physically as well as emotionally. She hadn’t started crying as he would have expected and didn’t appear to have spent the night crying either. Her eyes weren’t puffy, but weary. Stress lines marked her face.
“Why did you walk all night?”
“Well, the light for one. I thought it was a campfire, but it always remained elusive. I was sure if I followed that damn light, there had to be people around wherever it led when I got there. The strange thing was it was like a mirage. It seemed to keep moving farther away the closer I got to it. Exasperating, really.” She chuckled. “Now it seems absurd. Maybe I imagined the damn thing.”
Her brow furrowed and she bent to examine herself and brush off the twigs and leaves sticking to her body.
Serg reached to pull a leaf from her hair and tucked the unruly strand back behind her ear. When his thumb brushed her cheek, a shock jolted him. She jerked her gaze up to his and sucked in a breath.
She was so beautiful, even with tangled hair and a streak of dirt across her chin. Her round face was pale against his darker hand, a light sprinkling of freckles above her button nose. Sergius let his thumb travel across her cheek again, cupping the side of her head with his palm. His gaze traveled around her face, landing finally on her heart-shaped pink lips, which quivered as she licked the dryness away and tucked the bottom one inside, biting it between her teeth.
Her breath rate increased, in and out through her nose, while she dented that bottom lip with the tight grip of her front teeth.
Did he turn her on? He hadn’t been around mated couples for so long he’d forgotten what it was like when wolves met their mates.
His own heart was racing, threatening to pound out of his chest. He tried not to breathe too often or too deeply, because every inhale dragged more of her sweet essence into him, driving him crazy with the need to take her.
Jaguar’s Kiss
Vivi Andrews
To get what he wants, he’ll have to rattle her cage…
Lone Pine Pride, Book 1
Lila Fallon, the Lone Pine Pride Alpha’s only daughter, has been betrothed since childhood to marry her father’s chosen successor. The match is designed to maintain peace by shoring up any cracks in pride solidarity.
She’s always known she would do her duty—she just never expected to meet a man who would tempt her to throw it all away.
As a black panther, Santiago Flores couldn’t be a less suitable mate for the Alpha’s purebred lioness daughter. But that doesn’t change the fact that for every one of the five years he’s been with the Lone Pine Pride, he’s been head-over-heels in love with her. And when the Alpha announces that Lila’s indefinite engagement is about to end in a very definite marriage, Santiago is through holding his peace.
From their very first kiss, Santiago rattles Lila’s neatly ordered world. But can a lioness who’s always lived to please everyone else risk everything to please herself?
Warning: This book contains tempting lone-wolf jaguars, lionesses who long for fairy tale endings, arranged marriages, tangled emotions and a pride full of trouble.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Jaguar’s Kiss
Copyright © 2014 by Vivi Andrews
ISBN: 978-1-61922-024-9
Edited by Christa Soule
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: June 2014
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
About the Author
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