“Sebastian,” she sighed, pressing her lips to his throat before she pulled back to study his face with a frown. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.” He dismissed her concern.
She reached up to touch the swelling beneath his eyes. “Nothing?”
“Trust me, I’ll heal.” He studied her pale face. “How did you get here?”
“Not now.” She pulled out of his arms, pointing toward the body in the center of the room. “We have bigger things to worry about.”
Sebastian made a choked sound of shock as he realized that it was Chayton who was lying on the carpet.
“What the hell is going on?” he rasped, sending a suspicious glance toward Lady Cerise. “Did you do this?”
The voodoo priestess shook her head. “I don’t have the power to hurt a goddess.”
Sebastian ignored Reny’s muttered curse as he stepped forward, leaning over the male body that continued to twitch.
“Then what did?”
Chayton’s eyes snapped open, his hand reaching toward Sebastian. “Baby.”
“Did he say baby?” Reny muttered.
Sebastian barely heard her as a red-hot fury blasted through him. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the bastard was talking about Ashe’s baby.
He fell to his knees, wrapping his hands around the man’s neck. “God damn you, Shakpi.”
The dark eyes were oddly pleading as they met Sebastian’s lethal glare. “Chayton,” he rasped. “I’m Chayton.”
“This is a trick,” Lady Cerise warned, but Sebastian suddenly realized that the savage power that had pounded against him earlier was now nothing more than a dull throb.
And even the sour stench had faded.
His hands eased their grip on the man’s throat. “What’s happening?”
Chayton grimaced, as if he were fighting some inner battle. “Shakpi is being weakened by Ashe’s baby.”
Sebastian sucked in a shocked breath. “She gave birth?”
“Not yet, but it’s near.” The man’s voice was thick with pain. “The baby’s magic is spreading.”
A fragile hope began to bloom in the center of Sebastian’s heart. From the second they’d discovered that Ashe was pregnant, they’d prayed that it would mean the return of fertility among the Pantera.
Now it appeared their entire future might depend on the child.
“Can it destroy Shakpi?”
Chayton gave a slow nod. “Yes.”
“Thank the goddess,” Sebastian breathed.
The Shaman reached up to grab Sebastian’s arm, his expression rigid with fear. “No, listen.”
“What?”
“Assassins,” he hissed.
Sebastian frowned, wondering if he’d heard right. “Assassins?”
“They’re coming.”
“For who?”
“The baby.”
Sebastian leaned forward, his hope being replaced by a crushing fear. “Where are they? How do I recognize them?”
Chayton’s hand dropped as his eyes slid shut. With a growl, Sebastian grabbed the man’s shoulders and gave his limp body a shake and then another.
At the same time there was a series of loud pops as the guards came rushing into the room, firing their weapons.
Lady Cerise swiftly turned to flee, while Reny calmly pulled her weapon and began picking off the henchmen one by one.
“Shit.” Rising to his feet, Sebastian moved to shelter Reny with his larger body, steering her toward the French doors as she continued to thin out the herd of charging bad guys. “We have to get out of here.”
“What about Shakpi?” she demanded.
Pushing her out of the house, Sebastian pulled his phone from his pocket and hit speed dial. “I’ll have Lian gather the local hunters to secure the house,” he growled. “They’ll have the place surrounded and the guards disabled before the bastards know what hit them.”
Reny hissed as a bullet flew past her ear. “What about us?”
“We’re going to the Wildlands.”
CHAPTER 8
Reaching the edge of Shakpi’s lair, Reny and Sebastian waited long enough to ensure the property was encircled by Pantera and that neither Shakpi or Lady Cerese had escaped before they were running through the streets of New Orleans.
Sebastian set a punishing pace, forcing Reny to release her natural speed that she’d kept hidden for years. Then, confident she could keep up, he accelerated his stride as they hit the edge of the city and headed toward the bayous.
Not that she was going to complain.
She didn’t fully understand what was going on, but she knew if there was a baby in danger she would run until she dropped in exhaustion to try and save the child.
Concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, Reny barely noticed the thickening vegetation until she felt a strange tingling rush through her and she came to an abrupt halt.
Oh…god.
She shivered, joy rushing through her as she felt the soggy ground beneath her feet and the early morning sunlight that began to peep through the Spanish moss draped over the surrounding trees.
Breathing deeply, she allowed the scent of rich, black earth and brackish water to fill her with…contentment.
There was no other word.
A delicious warmth pressed against her back as Sebastian wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. Leaning down, he spoke directly in her ear.
“What do you think of the Wildlands?”
“Home,” she said, the word unfamiliar. She’d spent the past eight years in places where she never fit in, never felt as if she could ever reveal who she truly was.
“Home,” he growled in approval, his arms tightening around her. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“It…smells right.”
He chuckled, burying his nose into the curve of her neck. “Yes, it does.”
She shivered, leaning against the welcomed strength of his body as she slowly, painfully lowered the shields that she’d kept in place for so long.
At first, she was overwhelmed. Christ. Her senses felt as if they were under assault as she truly experienced the world without a human filter.
Suddenly she could hear the thump of Sebastian’s steady heart and the flap of a heron’s wing overhead. She could catch a thousand scents that could be traced by single strands to the world around her.
The tang of a frog hidden beneath a rotting log. The sweetness from a floating lily. The intoxicating musk from the man behind her.
And then there was the acute sense of the animal that lived deep inside her.
An animal that was suddenly desperate to be free.
“Now that I’m here, I think I can shift,” she abruptly said.
He skimmed his lips up the side of her neck. “When you’re ready.”
“I want to try.”
Sebastian went rigid. “Now?”
She turned in his arms, meeting his worried gaze. “I know you’re in a hurry—”
He cut off her words with a kiss. “We’ve already warned Raphael about the assassins,” he murmured against her lips. “He’ll already have the search going for the hidden enemy, as well as organizing a constant guard to keep Ashe and her baby safe. We have time.”
“Okay.” She stepped back, taking a deep breath as she concentrated on the sense of…well, the only way she could explain it was awareness that prowled just below the surface.
“Just relax and let it happen,” he urged softly.
She did as he commanded, loosening her tense muscles and allowing her thoughts to float.
At first she felt nothing more than a gentle warmth that flowed through her, making her wonder if she was supposed to mutter magic words or do some sort of weird-ass dance. Then, without warning, an explosion of sensations blasted through her body, making her feel as if she was being ripped from the inside out.
Oh, god. It was…glorious.
Astonishing.
Shif
ting into cat form, Reny surged into motion, bounding over the boggy ground with a sense of freedom that made her soul soar.
There was a roar from behind her and suddenly there was a tawny puma with yellow eyes running at her side.
She didn’t know how far they ran, she only knew that when she entered a meadow that was dappled with morning sunlight, it seemed perfectly natural to turn and leap onto Sebastian, tumbling him to the side.
His eyes shimmered with pleasure as they rolled across the soft ground, nipping and growling and even swiping his claws over her shoulder as they played with a glorious joy.
Reny might have stayed in her cat form for the rest of the day if she hadn’t known that despite his seemingly carefree enjoyment, Sebastian was desperately worried about the lurking assassins.
They would have plenty of time in the future to indulge her long overdue exploration of what it was to be Pantera.
Closing her eyes, she once again relaxed her muscles, allowing the magic to race through her blood as she shifted back into human form.
A painful rapture that could easily become addictive.
Stretched out on the mossy ground, she was only partially aware that her clothing and even cellphone survived the transformation. Her focus was centered on the blazing awareness of Sebastian that was buried deep inside her.
It wasn’t just sexual, although there was plenty of lust burning with an incandescent heat in the pit of her stomach.
It was more the sensation of being connected to him on a primitive level.
Lying directly in front of her, Sebastian gently framed her face in his hands, his eyes dark with concern.
“What is it?” he demanded. “What’s wrong?”
She gazed at his exquisitely beautiful face in wonder. “I feel as if we’re connected.”
A slow, unexpected color crept beneath Sebastian’s bronzed skin. “Because we are,” he said, reaching down to pull her jacket and blouse to the side, revealing four silvery slashes that marred the skin just above her collarbone.
She blinked in surprise. “What’s that?”
“I marked you.”
“Marked me?”
He grimaced. “My cat was a little…overenthusiastic.”
Reny felt a small flare of amusement. Was he embarrassed? It seemed impossible that the suave, perfectly composed diplomat could actually be flustered.
“What does that mean?”
His fingers gently traced the silver slashes. “I’ve chosen you as my mate.” His voice was low, reverent. “And I’m very much hoping you’ll choose me as yours.”
“Mates?”
“For eternity.”
She should feel overwhelmed by the soft words. Just a day ago she was a career woman who cherished her independence.
Now…
Now she felt nothing but a wild exhilaration that fizzed through her body like champagne bubbles.
Her fingers stroked through the tawny satin of his hair, recalling the beauty of his pelt when he’d been a puma.
“There’s no doubt?” she demanded, her vulnerable heart not ready for any unpleasant surprises.
She needed to be absolutely certain that this gorgeous, insanely sexy cat wasn’t going to disappear from her life.
A wry smile twisted his lips. “My cat knew from the moment I entered the office to see you standing there…” His fingers moved toward the buttons of her shirt, slowly tugging them open. “Your passionate nature buried beneath the starch.”
Heat curled through the pit of her stomach, a hungry ache pulsing through her body.
“Is that why I wanted to rip off your clothes and lick my way from your very sexy lips to the tips of your toes when I first saw you?” she asked, her voice husky with need.
There suddenly seemed to be something incredibly erotic in the thought of making slow, delicious love surrounded by the bayou.
“The mating heat is only a signal that our cats are sexually compatible and that you’re fertile,” he explained, his finger tracking the lacy line of her bra. “The actual mating is a melding of our souls.”
“Melding.” She sighed in pleasure as his lips nuzzled a path of kisses just beneath her jaw. “Yes. That’s exactly what it feels like.”
“Reny.” With a groan he found her lips, claiming them in a kiss that spoke of blatant ownership.
Which was just fine with Reny.
She belonged to Sebastian. Just as he belonged to her.
The thought had barely formed when instinct took over, and scarcely aware of what she was doing, Reny’s claws emerged and she was swiping them across his chest.
“Jesus,” he rasped in shock, yanking back to glance down at the four perfect rips in his shirt.
“Did I do it right?” she demanded in concern, catching sight of blood on his beautiful bronzed skin before the shallow wounds were healing before her very eyes.
Raw, primal satisfaction smoldered in his eyes as a slow smile curved his lips. “Oh, sugar, it couldn’t be more right.”
Reny watched in sizzling anticipation as he started to lower his head. The mating heat was flaring back to life with a vengeance. Then with a low curse he was pulling back, and with swift efficiency had her shirt buttoned and her jacket smoothed back into place.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded as he rose to his feet and pulled her upright.
“Someone’s coming.” He kept hold of her hand as a male appeared between two cypress trees. “Hiss,” he murmured.
The Pantera male, with dark hair pulled into a tail at his nape and gray eyes, moved forward, his expression impatient.
“Finally,” Hiss muttered.
Reny felt Sebastian tense. “What is it? Have the assassins been found?”
Hiss gave a shake of his head, something about the action oddly familiar to Reny.
“No,” he said, “But Ashe has gone into labor.”
Sebastian gave a short, strained laugh. “I suppose Raphael is a fucking basket case.”
The other Pantera snorted. “Worse. He needs you…” With a shocking speed, Hiss was abruptly focusing his attention on Reny, his hand lifting toward her face. “What the hell?”
“Hey.” Sebastian slapped the man’s hand away, his voice filled with aggression. “That’s my mate.”
“Mate? I’m…”
“What?” Sebastian snapped.
Hiss gave a shake of his head. “Never mind. Are you coming or not?”
Sebastian wrapped his arm around Reny’s waist, gazing at her with blatant devotion. “Ready for this, sugar?” he asked softly.
She leaned her head against his shoulder, giving a firm nod. “With you at my side, I’m ready for anything.”
About The Author
Alexandra Ivy is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Guardians of Eternity series, as well as the Sentinels. After majoring in theatre she decided she prefers to bring her characters to life on paper rather than stage. She lives in Missouri with her family. Visit her website at alexandraivy.com.
Book list:
Guardians of Eternity
Hunt the Darkness
June 3, 2014
978-1420125153
Wicked Firsts
August 19, 2013
Darkness Avenged
June 4, 2013, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420111385
Levet
March 26, 2013
Fear the Darkness
September 1,2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420111378
Bound by Darkness
December 6,2011, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420111361
The Real Werewives of Vampire County
November 2011, Kensington
ISBN 978-0758261588
Supernatural
September 2011, Kensington
ISBN 978-1420109887
Yours for Eternity
September 2011, Kensington
ISBN 978-1420112283
Devoured by Darkness
November 2010
, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1420111354
Beyond the Darkness
April 2010, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1420102987
Darkness Unleashed
November 2009, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1420102970
Darkness Revealed
March 2009, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1-4201-0296-34
Darkness Everlasting
May 2008, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-0-8217-7939-2
Embrace the Darkness
November 2007, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN-10: 0821779370
ISBN-13: 978-0821779378
When Darkness Comes
January 2007, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 0-8217-7935-4
Immortal Rogues Series
* Please note this series is a reprint from the 2003 Historical Vampire Series written as Deborah Raleigh *
My Lord Vampire
#1 in the Immortal Rogues Series
February 28, 2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420122718
My Lord Eternity
#2 in the Immortal Rogues Series
December 4, 2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1-4201-2861-1
My Lord Immortality
#3 in the Immortal Rogues Series
December 31, 2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1-4201-2272-5
Sentinel Series
Predatory
Sentinel Anthology
May 7, 2013
ISBN 978-1-4201-2512-2
Born in Blood
Book #1 Sentinel series
December 31, 2013
ISBN 978-1420125146
Bayou Heat Series
Bayou Heat Raphael & Parish
Book #1 and #2 in the Bayou Heat Series
January 7, 2013
ISBN 978-0-9886245-0-4
Bayou Heat Bayon & Jean-Baptiste
Book #3 and #4 in the Bayou Heat Series
April 11, 2013
Sebastian/Aristide (Bayou Heat) Page 8
