Summer Shifter Nights

by Harmony Raines

  Striding fearlessly across the glen toward Abby where she stood still in her wolf form, the look of surprise comical on her face, he reached out his hand to her. “Fair and square, Abby? You caught me, then I caught you. Right?”

  Quietly, he waited for her reply.

  Abby stared at Quentin as he shifted into his human form and waited for her. Damn, he was fast. And smart. And hers. At that thought, she let herself shift back into human form, stepping across the pretty little glen in the cool moonlight to him. Her shifter genes didn’t let her feel the cold nearly so much as a human would, though she still reveled in the delightful snap of the air against her bare human skin. Quentin was the same way, but he ran even hotter than she did. As she stepped close to him, she could practically feel the furnace of his body both heating her and beckoning her even closer.

  “Yes,” she said, feeling utterly at ease as both her human and her wolf side accepted the truth of what was happening right now. “Yes, Quentin. Right now.”

  With a groan, her big, burly man took the final step over to her and gathered her into his arms, pressing her close to him. His lips found hers, seeking and ravaging with all the pent-up energy of the run they had just experienced together. She was just as amped up as he was, and answered him stroke for stroke. Her tongue tangled with his, her teeth clashed against his as her lips tried to devour every inch of his mouth. He tasted strong, feral, and utterly divine.

  “Abby,” he groaned, the rumble of his bear still muttering beneath his voice. “Mine,” he growled, swallowing her answering cry.

  His broad, strong hands smoothed their way over her skin from her shoulders down her back, to the swell of her hips. His fingers tightened over her rear, pushing her hips against his, where she felt the heavy thickness of his dick pressing against her. The sensation made her lightheaded. Her entire body was already completely aroused from the run in the deep, wild magic of the moonlight around them. The fingers of his hand eased around the front of her hip, pressing between their stomachs and down between her legs. She let herself ease back a bit so he could find what he sought. As his exploring fingers encountered the dampness already heating her from between her legs, he groaned again with an almost desperate sound.

  “Abby,” he said, pulling his head back slightly so he could look at her eyes in the moonlight. His own eyes were dark, almost completely swallowed up by his pupils so soon after shifting. “I need to be inside you right now, gorgeous. Right now.”

  The dark, sexy need of his voice shuddered its way through Abby even as his thick fingers pushed deeper inside her, another one sliding in, then a third squeezing around the other two. She felt deliciously stretched, moaning as he began circling one of his fingers inside her.

  “Okay,” she said in what she knew sounded like little more than a breath. “Sounds like a great idea.” She sounded inane, but she didn’t care. She wanted the same thing. She wanted him inside her.

  If this was what a hunter’s moon run was supposed to be like, then she was in. All the way. Never in her life had she had a run like this.

  Then again, never before in her life had she run with Quentin like this. On a mating run. A full hunter’s moon mating run.

  Gently and urgently, Quentin suddenly scooped her up, causing her to squeal a little bit. He very gently laid her down on the floor of the meadow, following with his own body. He snugged her into his side, warming her even more. She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “Let me touch you for just a minute, Abby,” he whispered. The sheer need that made his voice shake trapped her own voice in her throat as she stared at him. “Let me touch you first.”

  Trembling, she nodded. It took everything she had to not just grab his head and pull it down for another kiss, but she resisted. He knew what he was doing. Whatever it was, she wanted to be there for every second of it.

  Quentin smoothed his hand down over Abby’s body, gently running his fingers from her collarbone over her breast, her stomach, her hip, the top of her thigh. Then he ran his hand up the other side, as if he were feeling her for the first time ever. His hand trembled with effort. Effort, she knew, that was him keeping himself from just taking her.

  That was what she wanted more than just about anything right now. Fine, he wanted to touch her first and she would let him, but—

  “Oh!” Abby gasped as Quentin suddenly leaned his head down to lick and stroke one breast while his other hand moved back between her legs, his fingers diving back in to her wet, needy depths. “Oh, okay. That’s good. Oh, wow. Quentin.” She knew she sounded totally nonsensical, but she was beyond caring. His touch sent fire blazing through her, as if her nerves were made of molten liquid that shivered and trembled and grew ever hotter beneath his touch. Between her legs, she felt the ache deep in her core that told her she needed his touch desperately. Now.

  “Abby. So damn beautiful.” Sheer worship colored Quentin’s voice. She half giggled, half gasped as his voice and his beard tickled over her breast, then moved to the other one.

  Her hips began moving almost of their own volition, gently swirling and circling and lifting off the ground. The moonlight poured over both of them, seeming almost as bright as day, although it cast inky black shadows, giving a mysterious, momentous cast to the little meadow. Abby dug her hands into Quentin’s hair, clutching his head, pressing him closer to her breast. He lightly bit the nipple, making her gasp, then did the same to the other one. Back and forth he went, even as his hands whirled and stroked inside her. She was getting so wet there she could hardly stand it. She was ready for him. More than ready for him.

  She’d never been more ready for this man in her life.

  “Quentin,” she said, her voice nothing more than a trembling gasp.

  “Yes,” he finally said, lifting his head from his breast and shifting his body so that he was completely on top of her. “You’re so wet for me, Abby. I’m not going to be able to hold back,” he warned. “It’s half killing me to hold back this much.”

  “Don’t hold back anymore,” she commanded as best she could in her still shaky voice. “Don’t you dare hold back on me, Quentin.”

  Groaning, Quentin said, “Never. I’ll never hold back on you again.”

  With that, he reached down to guide himself to her entrance. Abby spread her knees, lifting her hips toward him as she looked into the wild darkness of his eyes.

  “Now, babe,” he said. His voice roughened into a growl of anticipation. “Now!” With a roar, Quentin plunged himself into Abby, his steel-hard dick sliding into her. It filled her so full that she screamed from the stunning delight of it as her hands moved down to grip his shoulders with a strength she vaguely thought might bruise him. But she didn’t care. Her Quentin, her lover, her mate, was plunging in and out of her, diving into her with deep strokes.

  Claiming her fully as his.

  Quentin thrust himself into Abby’s welcoming heat again and again, his head about ready to explode from the sound of her eager cries as she moved with him. Like a dance partner he’d known forever, who knew his every move and joyfully met them with her own. He didn’t think it was possible, but his dick seemed to get bigger and harder, encased in her slick wet heat as he thrust in, then out, then back in. Her hair, a wild golden mane flung about the beautiful face he could see in the moonlight was flushed, begged for him to gently grab on and hold. So he did, even as she held onto his shoulders and back so hard he felt as if she were burning her very fingerprints into his skin.

  As she clenched slightly around him, her voice took on the sexy, guttural quality it always did as she approached orgasm.

  “Yeah, babe,” he said, barely holding himself back from spilling his seed inside her. He wanted her to come first. He wanted to feel her spasming around him in her wild release so he could enjoy every second of it as he plunged over the edge himself with her.

  “Come for me, Abby. Come for me, beautiful.” He thrust into her faster, cupping one hand around her head as he bucked against he
r in the crystal clear moonlight. Far off in the distance, he heard a few wild echoes of wolf howls spiraling up over the mountainside. Abby arched her back, her sweet inner walls abruptly clutching him tightly as she suddenly shrieked out, the sound of her climax spilling out of her mouth in a sweet, joyous call that he couldn’t help but echo himself seconds later as he fell right over that same damned beautiful edge with his mate.

  White fire seemed to lick through Quentin’s body, jumping over to Abby and binding the two of them together tightly under the moonlight as their bodies moved and exploded and melted together as one. Her hoarse cries shouted along with his into the night air, her wolf howling beneath her voice even as his bear roared beneath his as the two of them claimed one another. As the two of them mated beneath the beauty of the magical full moon.

  As the lingering, delicious shudders ebbed and flowed and finally rolled away from both of them, Quentin gently lowered his body slightly to the side of Abby’s, keeping his arm and leg flung over her while the bulk of his body rested on the ground so as not to crush her. He listened to her breathing as it steadied along with his. A deep sense of peace and satisfaction spread through his limbs like never before.

  After more long moments, during which Abby’s hands gently rubbed his back and arms and basically every inch of skin she could touch, her face nuzzled into his neck, the heat of her body mingled with his combating the slight chill that both their shifter genes already protected them against, she softly laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked, his own mouth slipping into a smile at the sound of her sweet laughter.

  “Me,” she said, shrugging beneath him. “You. Both of us. This,” he could tell she was waving a free arm around, indicating the glen in the moonlight and the distant echoes of wolf howls in the mountains. “Us. I’m laughing,” and she nuzzled her face into his neck even more, lightly kissing him, “because this is perfect. Because it’s what I needed. What we both needed.”

  Quentin leaned back a little bit, tipping his fingers under her chin gently so that she looked up at him. He could see the luminous blue-green of her eyes even in the moonlight, enhanced by the glow of her wolf. “Because you’re finally ready to admit that I was right?” He let his grin tumble into his words. “You’re finally ready to admit that I’m your mate, even if I am just a big, gruff, bumbling bear?”

  So quickly that it took his breath away and wiped away his grin into a serious, heartfelt expression, Abby said, “You’re not bumbling. What you are is the fastest, strongest, most incredible man I’ve ever met. Bear, wolf, it doesn’t matter. Wait,” she interrupted herself, looking at him with a tiny frown on her forehead. “It does matter. It does matter that you’re a bear. It’s part of what makes you you, Quentin,” she added so firmly that the sound shivered its way into his soul.

  “My wolf shifter mate,” he said, wonder touching his voice even though he’d already known the truth of it for a long time. “I don’t know what it is about tonight, if it’s full moon magic and pack run magic and who knows what else, but I know more strongly than I’ve ever known before that you’re exactly that for me, too. My mate. That I’m yours,” he added just as firmly as she had.

  Abby smiled up at him, her sweet, full lips curving up with the luscious intention that slayed him every time he looked at her. “Some kind of magic for sure,” she agreed.

  “Of course,” he said lightly, though every part of him felt buoyant and free, “it was because I was fast enough to catch you. Faster than you thought I could be, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah?” The sweet, teasing challenge in her voice whispered over him as she threaded her hand back into his hair. “You only caught me because I let you.”

  “Is that so,” he murmured, leaning down to her lips again. “Well, since you did, my sexy wolf shifter mate,” he added, smiling again at the immense joy that word sent through him, a joy he saw reflected on her own face, “then I suppose we have the whole night ahead of us to keep seeing who’s caught who.”

  “I think you’re right. My sexy bear shifter mate,” she said, smiling up at him.

  He proved the truth of that to her over and over again, all the amazing night long.

  Thank you for reading Hunter’s Moon! I had fun writing Quentin and Abby’s story.

  For more Silvertip Shifters, read Cortez and Haley’s story next in Rescue Bear! Bear shifter Cortez faces the biggest risk of his life: opening his heart and claiming human Haley as his mate.

  Sign up for my newsletter to find out when I have new books.

  About the Author

  J.K. Harper writes about paranormal romance because despite a lifetime of wishing, all the cool supernatural book characters of her childhood just don’t seem to be real. Besides, it’s really fun to make stuff up. She lives in the rugged, gorgeous canyon country of the Southwest, which is a great place to let her imagination run wild.

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  Cry Wolf - Michele Bardsley

  Copyright 2017 by Michele Bardsley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holder.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement from the author of this work.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatever to anyone bearing the same name or names. Characters are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  Prologue

  In the beginning, the Earth housed One Tribe. The Tribe cared for the Earth, for its water and its terrain, for its harvest and its creatures. They honored the gods—the half-human, half-animal beings that walked the land and swam in the sea alongside the people.

  Twin brothers, Netre and Otra, ruled the Tribe. The brothers were strong, wise and fair. Their governing brought peace and prosperity to all.

  Each brother decided to take a wife, but they wanted the same woman—Eane. Her beauty and grace outshone all females. Her merest smile stirred passion in the brothers. Soon, they vied for the smallest crumb of her attention.

  Eane reveled in her sensual power. She brought forth the devils of avarice and jealousy from the brothers, and played one against the other until they felt nothing in their hearts but hate. The brothers each vowed to possess Eane only for himself, and so, they divided the Tribe and declared war.

  The terrible war raged on. Then the gods sent one representative to each brother in hopes to reinstate peace and reunite the Tribe. Only Anubis, the half-jackal, half-man god succeeded. Otra, seeing his own folly and tired of bloodshed, agreed to grant forgiveness to his brother and drop his pursuit of Eane.

  Netre married the lovely, conniving woman, but even this victory did not assuage his rage and greed. He was not softened by his brother’s gestures of love and peace, either. He invited Otra to his home, and when his brother arrived, Netre drew his sword and pierced his twin’s heart. Then he and his followers hunted and killed those loyal to Otra. He offered no mercy to even the smallest babe.

  To save the survivors of Netre’s vicious attacks, Anubis gifted them with the ability to turn into ferocious beasts at will. But Netre was not cowed by this new threat and renewed his efforts, creating magical silver weapons to kill the beasts.

  The jackal god wept for those destroyed by Netre’s evil. His blood tears crystallized into a ruby as large as a man’s fist. He bespelled the jewel so that it could only pass into the hands of the Alpha’s true mate. Only she could wield its powers, and only if her heart became one with the Alpha’s.

  In honor of the god who gifted them with dual natures and saved them from the vicious Netre, they named themselves Anubinake. Although they were driven from their
homelands, they did not disappear from the Earth.

  It is said that even today, the Anubinake live among us…

  1

  “I am coming for you, my mate.”

  Elle Reddington rose from her bed, the cotton sheet falling away from her nude body. The tile floor chilled her feet as she drifted toward the open window. Weird. When had she opened the window? A warm breeze blew in, scented with the salty tang of the ocean. She paused at the sill, leaning out to soak in the calm, sweet air.

  Her bedroom opened onto a small patio, which was shaded by large palm trees. The six-by-six concrete square held one table and two chairs—cheap, turquoise plastic that she adored. On either side of the sliding glass door were potted Indian Pinks. When she woke in the mornings and opened the patio door, she inhaled their fragrance along with the smells of ocean.

  From the patio, it was a short walk to the beach.

  Elle dug her toes into the gritty sand, her gaze on the waves sloshing on the shore. Moonlight glittered on the ocean, white beads sewn onto an indigo blanket of sound and motion that stretched until it met the night sky.

  It was peaceful here.

  And she needed peace.

  “Mate.”

  The deep male voice came from her right. She turned, anticipation skittering through her. He stood five feet away, assessing her with silver eyes. Tall, dark and brooding, this one. She wasn’t surprised to find him naked, his muscled frame rangy and lean. His hair was the color of a raven’s wing, long enough to brush his shoulders. The wind tossed the black strays across the sharp contours of his cheeks. He had one of those impossibly good-looking faces, the kind male models had in magazine ads touting clothing and cologne.

  And, of course, there was his other impressive attribute—the large cock that sprang, erect and proud, from a thatch of dark hair. Erectus momentus, baby. A smile curved her lips. Truth was, it had been a while since she felt the need or inclination to have one of those thrust between her legs.