by Morgan Fox
Passion coiled low in his stomach, urging him to take a chance, something he should’ve done long ago.
He placed his finger under her chin and raised her gaze to meet his. On a breath, he took possession of her mouth, capturing her lips in a greedy kiss. He hungered for her. He couldn’t believe how much. His breathing was erratic, and he couldn’t seem to think clearly.
She moaned as their lips molded together, their tongues diving deep into each other’s mouths. Her hands dug into the muscles of his shoulders and back. He couldn’t get enough of her. He felt as if his body was floating on air. Everything around him was a blurry haze. All he could see, taste, and touch was Tiffany. Nothing else mattered.
Easing back from the kiss, her mystical green eyes snared him. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t look away. Nothing could sever the power she held over him. When it came to her, he was absolutely vulnerable, powerless, and completely compliant.
She smiled then, a knowing, seductive smile that curled one side of her mouth and made his heart skip a beat.
What is she doing to me?
Reaching up, her fingers curled around the back of his neck, tugging him down for another kiss. The soft press of her lips spiked a need so primal and passionate he would’ve thought she was his mate. He knew better. Tiffany was human, and his chosen partner would be a wolf. That was how it was supposed to be. But knowing that didn’t change the overwhelming energy soaring through his body, taking hold of him. The colliding sensations caused a euphoric fever he’d only explored in fantasies. Tiffany’s touch, a gentle but possessive caress, was almost maddening. The longing that filled his body and mind was raw and all consuming.
He couldn’t contain his need anymore. He tore at the sheet that separated them, pulling her body to the side, spreading her thighs wide, and wedging himself between her spread legs. She gasped as he pressed his erection against her, driving his hips forward. Her head fell back, displaying the most sensual neck he’d ever laid eyes on. Licking from her collarbone up to the delicate curve of her throat, he gently nibbled on the lobe of her ear, growling as his beast roared with need, hunger.
“Oh, that’s it,” she muttered breathlessly, pulling at his lab coat. “Don’t stop, Zane. I want you so bad.” Her thighs grazed over his hips. Her legs crossed at her ankles and dug into the muscles of his ass, pulling him closer.
She wanted him. He never realized how badly he’d wanted to hear those words until they were finally spoken. Now that he had her in his arms, he never planned to let her go, bonded mate or not.
Her fingers trailed down his chest, massaging the muscles of his body, circling around his stomach, and then anchoring at his hips, encouraging him to drive forward once again.
So much was happening that he couldn’t believe it was real. Finally, after so long he had her in his arms, the taste of her on his lips.
Just then a biting tremor shot through him, plunging straight into his gut. The sensation was a gnawing reminder of what set these actions in motion.
Tiffany.
Vampires.
Danger.
What was it about her that was trapping his thoughts, making him want to ignore his own instincts? He’d set out to discover a secret she and Sebastian refused to share, only to wind up practically fucking her on a hospital bed.
He captured her face in his hands and severed the kiss. The separation was almost like cutting off his own air supply. He wanted so much to take her mouth once more and finish what they started, but he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. She was a vixen. Sexually poisonous and totally using her body and his desires as a distraction.
Damn, this woman is driving me mad.
He smiled, but it wasn’t a smile filled with joy. It was a look he hoped conveyed that her plan had been foiled. “Wow. You’re good,” he said with a snicker.
Looking genuinely surprised, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
He arched a brow. “Were you playing me, Tiffany? Hoping that your kisses would distract me from asking more about you?” He stepped back, and she readjusted on the bed, pulling the sheet over her legs. “You think your sweet little mouth will keep me from learning the truth about you? Well, you’re wrong about that. I will discover the truth, and you will tell me!”
* * * *
Ryder blasted through the door, rage fueling his movements. His eyes locked onto Zane’s. “We’ve got company.” His voice growled with a hint of the feral feline that hid beneath the flesh of man.
Tiffany’s belly churned with regret as she twisted her hands in her lap, hating that Zane had seen right through her. She had no business using his feelings to her advantage, even if deep down she was desperate to feel his touch again, taste his kiss.
As Tiffany stared at the six-foot-six hybrid hovering in the doorway, her eyes widened. She was used to the physical power the wolves emanated, but the energy imprint she felt from Ryder was just as distinctive and so much more distracting. His animal combination of panther and wolf was alluring and lethal to her senses. The energy she drew from Zane and Ryder clawed at her skin, warming her with tantalizing thoughts and desires.
That’s the last thing I need.
Within seconds, Zane sprung to his feet. The sheet that once covered her slid to the side with him. “Who? Where?” he demanded.
Instantly his fingers tightened around her wrists, pulling her into a straight up position. The electrical current between them spiked on contact, but this time it didn’t affect him. This time all he did was focus on Ryder.
“My guess is the asshole vampire I beheaded has friends.” Ryder glanced over her body, starting at her toes and working his way up to her eyes. Suddenly, everywhere he looked warmed and tingled. She needed that blanket back.
She swallowed hard. The power she’d taken from him linked them together. Ryder was desperate to protect her. Why, she wasn’t exactly sure, but she absorbed his need straight into the fiber of her being. All at once, the sensations alarmed her.
She flipped her legs over the side of the bed. Her breathing was quick and shallow. She covered her face with her hands, shaking her head. “What am I gonna do?”
He stepped deeper into the room. “You are not doing anything,” Ryder barked, then glanced over to Zane. “Is there a back way out of here?”
Zane stalked to the window. Mother Nature seemed pissed as the sky opened up, dumping buckets of water from the heavens. He jiggled the window latch, but it wouldn’t budge.
“The damn thing’s stuck,” he groaned, turning to place his back up to the window, and then slammed his elbow through the glass. The window shattered into a million pieces. “Here’s our exit.” In the blink of an eye he had Tiffany in his arms. “We’re going to have to jump.”
Her brows pinched tight at the bridge of her nose. “We’re on the ground floor.”
“Not down, but up,” Zane replied.
Ryder pushed past them, grazing her leg as he did. A shiver charged up her spine. “Let’s go,” he barked. “They’re going to sniff us out in seconds.”
The elements called to her. “Luckily, we’ve got the rain to cover our tracks,” Tiffany muttered, knowing that the rain and winds could help her. At least they would if she could harness her magic.
Ryder leapt through the window and turned to take Tiffany in his arms. The transfer from one man to the other left her body humming like an electrical current.
Once Zane was through the window he reached to take her back, but Ryder had other plans.
“Point the way, Doc,” he said, shifting his stance to show that he had no intentions of releasing her.
Zane glared at him, anger charging from deep within his gut. “Around back and then up. My truck’s at the top of that hill.” He nudged his chin forward in the direction in front of them.
Circling toward the rear of the building, she noted that the emergency parking lot was full. The clinic was built in the shadow of a massive hill covered by rows of Texas pear trees. A vast blanket of grass str
etched out as far as her eyes could see. Even the darkness that enveloped them couldn’t stop her from spotting the movement trickling down the hill toward them. Both Zane and Ryder growled, recognizing the danger.
Vampires!
They were trapped.
Vampires were already in the clinic, and now more charged at them from all directions. Tiffany’s heart beat heavy in her chest as fear drenched her mind. Judging from the reaction Zane and Ryder were having, they were all too aware of their dire situation.
In seconds, Zane and Ryder’s beasts clawed to the surface. Before her eyes they began to shift. Ryder dropped her to her feet just as his claws and teeth lengthened. Then Zane and Ryder’s bodies enlarged, taking on the full characteristic of the wolf and panther.
The only difference was that she could still make out the uniqueness of each primal male. They were not all beasts. The men they were somehow pressed through the feral, supernatural creature that nested inside them.
Tiffany should be afraid of what she witnessed, but she wasn’t. She knew these men, believed they could control their inner beasts. Thanks to the connection she now shared with them, she could feel their emotions intimately. Everything inside them, primal and raw was like an extension of herself. Time and distance was the only thing that could separate them. As long as they remained together, she would always be a part of them, always share a special bond.
Tiffany positioned herself behind them, crouching low to the ground. The likelihood of getting out of the predicament unscathed was slim. She had to find her center, had to help the only way she knew how.
She closed her eyes and called on the elements, earth, air, fire, and water. She drew upon the magic of her people. Quietly chanting, she begged the spirits to guide her and help her save their lives.
Suddenly, the winds picked up, blowing around them like a vortex that only they were caught in the center of, unaffected by its strength. More rain broke from the night sky, pelting them where they stood. The ground shook, vibrating her with the intensity of an earthquake.
As the vampires closed in on them, lightning connected with dozens of cars in the parking lot, exploding, and launching them into the air like massive firebombs.
Her fingers dug into the earth, anchoring her as more energy spiraled through her. Pulses of power surged up her arms, tunneling through her veins. She’d never been so connected to nature before, never felt so much untapped power.
Was she drawing energy from Zane and Ryder and not realizing it?
Opening her eyes, she caught sight of the vampires. They were still coming, but the elements were hard at work, slowing them down. Then she locked eyes with Zane. He’d watched her. Now he knew more than she wanted him to know. Soon she’d have no choice but to deal with him, but not now.
Her magic hadn’t stopped the vampires, but it did thin them out enough to make fighting them fair. One by one, the vampires sprung toward Zane and Ryder. Ferocious snarls ripped through the air.
Distracted by the brutal war raging on, she could no longer harness the power of the elements. She was losing the connection. Her confidence was slowly waning.
Screaming frantically, she was startled by Zane’s body slamming hard to the ground in front of her. A vampire pinned him down, but Zane quickly thrust his hips upward and flipped the vampire onto its back. With the flash of lightning, Zane was all over him, punching and tearing at his flesh. His wolf emerged with a wicked vengeance. She’d never seen him so wild, so animalistic.
Something inside her snapped with a craving to watch Zane protect her. The more wild and animalistic his behavior was, the bigger the turn-on.
Like a movie, Zane’s mind connected with hers. She heard his thoughts clearly, saw them unfolding as if he’d spoken aloud.
Run!
The word echoed in her mind. He was telling her to flee, but how could she? They were fighting to save her. If she hadn’t been such a weak and vulnerable witch, she’d be able to save them.
Instead she cowered, unable to run, unable to do anything.
Ryder’s fierce growl tore her from her thoughts. Glancing up she watched as Dominic, Megan, and Reyes leapt over them, shifting into wolf form to join the fight. With the force of a hammer, they each slammed into the row of vampires, scattering them like bowling pins. Their fierce roars filled the night, raising the hair at the back of her neck.
Blood, sweat, and fear lingered on the air. The world around her was erupting with primal energy, violent and evil. Then she felt it. The wicked tremors of a power so strong, so corrupt she wanted to hide.
Tiffany scurried back on all fours, hoping to separate herself from the dark energy closing in on her. Shaking, her eyes blurred, and her breath grew shallow. Fear was trapping her once again, crippling her, making it impossible to think clearly. Before she knew what happened, she was swept up into powerful, masculine arms.
Ryder.
He held her close, cradling her up against his chest, using himself as a shield. She heard the others, Dominic, Megan, and Reyes continuing to tear through the horde of vampires still coming after her.
“Ryder,” Dominic shouted. “Get her out of here now!”
Her stomach quickly shot to her feet as he effortlessly hurled them onto the roof of an SUV and then up and over the hill. Zane was beside them. In seconds, he placed her in the backseat of Zane’s black Ridgeliner and they were off.
“What about the others?” Tiffany questioned, twisting to glance out the rear window as they sped away. “We can’t just leave them.”
“They’ll be fine,” Ryder barked dismissively, facing forward in the seat in front of her.
Zane reached behind his seat and pulled out a couple of towels, tossing one over to Ryder. “Here,” Zane muttered. “Cover yourself.”
Ignoring their nudity, Tiffany straightened back around. Her belly swirling, she asked, “Where are we going?”
Eyeing her in the rear mirror, Zane pressed his lips together tightly. A deep crease formed on his brow as he studied her. Then as if her image reminded him of something, he reached over and dug out a phone from the glove box.
Tiffany didn’t have to guess who he was calling. Sebastian would want an update as soon as possible, and he most likely wanted to speak with her as well. She was his secret weapon, after all, and securing her safety would be his priority. Especially since she knew more about what was happening to Brie than anyone else.
“Tell me Tiffany’s safe.” Sebastian’s deep, alpha male voice boomed loud enough that she could hear every word as if he’d spoken them directly to her.
“She’s safe,” Zane replied quickly. “Thanks to Dominic, Megan, and Reyes, we made it out in one piece.”
“I could’ve handled those bastards on my own,” Ryder said gruffly.
I wish I could say the same. Why can’t I harness my power?
Zane turned and glared at Ryder. “Do you mind? This was a private conversation.”
Ryder snickered.
Zane rolled his eyes and returned his attention back to Sebastian. “What’s our next move?”
“Take Tiffany to Reyes’s and stay put. The other three will join you shortly.”
Zane glanced up to the review mirror, meeting her reflective gaze. His brown eyes were hot, lethal as he asked, “Why are the vampires after Tiffany? What’s going on, Sebastian?”
“It’s not just the vampires. Lilly wants Tiffany. She’s most likely trying to draw me out by using the people I care about.”
“But why?” Zane’s tone was impatient, demanding. “Why her? She’s not a lycan.” She knew he was never going to stop digging until someone told him the truth, told him about who and what she truly was.
“Tiffany is closely tied to—” Sebastian released a frustrated growl into the receiver. “Zane, if anything happens to Tiffany, I will hold you personally responsible.”
Zane swallowed hard, and his gaze burned into hers, locking onto her like a heat-seeking missile. Her throat went dry knowing al
l Sebastian managed to do was force more questions into Zane’s mind. One thing she’d come to learn about the delectable doctor was his insatiable appetite to dig to the bottom of a case.
Staring at his inquisitive eyes, she knew he wasn’t likely to stop until he knew every little detail about her and her secret. How would he handle knowing that she and Brie were closely linked and that if she died, so would Brie?
Chapter Three
Lilly grinned, gazing down at her newly created vampires. Like good little children, they were so eager to please, obeying her every command. Their deaths were imminent. Dominic, Megan, and Reyes would surely destroy them as quickly as they blinked. Pride consumed her as none hesitated to do as she instructed.
Attack, distract, and die.
Lilly’s smile broadened. Her powers had grown over the last several months, and now that she had the capability of spreading the hybrid virus, nothing would stop her from succeeding. Nothing would stop her from annihilating Sebastian and his furry friends.
“Should I follow them?” a woman’s stern voice rasped from behind her. The question was directed in regards to the fleeing Zane, Tiffany, and Ryder. The concern in the familiar, hard-edged voice had Lilly sweeping a glance in Bianca’s direction.
Facing her second-in-command, Lilly’s gaze drifted over Bianca. Her long, raven hair was pulled back into a tight braid that draped over her shoulder, hanging past her waistline. Bianca’s vibrant, gold eyes were fixed on her, waiting for her to respond.
Circling Bianca, Lilly stopped in front of her to gently stroke Bianca’s cheek with the backs of her black claws. A warm energy filled her belly. Pride once again consumed her. Bianca was her new pet, and since Mason Levi had been killed, Bianca had become his replacement.
Bianca will never be what my lover once was, but she will serve her purpose just the same.
Lilly cupped Bianca’s face in her hands. “No, precious, I know exactly where they are going, and there is no need to pursue them.” Bianca nodded, her mouth forming a tight line. “We’ll catch them soon enough.” Lilly turned, standing at her side.
