Eat You Up (A Shifter's Claim Book 2)

by Lucy Leroux

  He held the pouch a little higher as the details clicked. Apparently, Lawrence had something to lose here. He almost felt sorry for him. But the deal was over and done with. He’d shipped the ruby to Alec yesterday by special courier.

  Dmitri opened the bag, then threw a spelled stone at Lawrence with all his strength.

  Human smoke bombs were large canisters. The ones in the movies had pins that had to be pulled before they were tossed. This one, courtesy of Salvador, like all his best toys, was primed by rapid movement and detonated on impact. When the rock hit, Lawrence was enveloped by a noxious smoke. It would only last a dozen seconds at most, but it was more than Dmitri needed.

  Lawrence choked and stumbled, clutching the gun. He fired wildly, but his eyes were tearing too badly to even see where he was aiming. Dmitri disarmed him in nothing flat before punching him in the head.

  He pulled it, of course. He didn’t want to kill the man in front of Nina.

  Lawrence crumpled to the floor. Safe at last, Dmitri turned back to his love, prepared to take her into his arms. One look at her face told her something was wrong. She was nervous.

  “What is it?” He turned his head, checking for another threat, but the only people left standing were Nina and Jesse, who sat in the corner.

  Her eyes flicked to Jesse, who was sitting on the crate frozen. “He’s a…he’s a…he’s naked. He did all that naked.”

  “Never mind, Jess.” Nina edged in front of her gangly friend—instead of rushing to him.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Uh…” Her tension was palpable. Nina’s mouth opened once before closing.

  Dmitri took in the way she was standing in front of the other man, as if she was protecting her friend from him.

  Awareness dawned. “Don’t tell me he’s in on it.”

  He had assumed Jesse had been kidnapped alongside her, but the little fucker wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  His growl filled the room, rage heating him until he could almost melt the floor underneath them all at a glance.

  He started toward them, but Nina spread her arms out. “No!”

  The cords in his neck stood out. “Nina, move.”

  She sighed and shook her head, the expression in her eyes heartbreaking. “Lawrence promised to use the collar on his mother. She’s dying.”

  “That’s no excuse.” Lawrence would have clamped the collar around Nina’s neck in a heartbeat to save his wife.

  “I know, but I love her, too. She’s like a second mom.” Nina waved to Lawrence. “Even Edward genuinely loves his wife. She’s a little bitchy and a complete snob—they’re perfect for each other. They were desperate. I almost can’t blame them.”

  Of course Nina would be sympathetic. She was a healer by trade and too soft. “I can.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want you to hurt him.”

  Nina wiped away tears before turning back to Jesse. “I’m going to call my friend Sam. He’s the best oncologist I know.”

  Jesse didn’t look up. “It won’t help. We’ve been to four different doctors. They all say the same thing.”

  Dmitri rubbed his face with an abrupt hard motion. He surveyed the human wreckage lying around him, sighing dramatically. “Do you have a piece of paper?”

  “What?” Nina asked, the little crease between her eyes deepening.

  “I can’t believe I’m fucking doing this,” he muttered, rubbing his forehead. “I need a piece of paper or a phone. No, his phone—”

  He broke off, snatching Jesse up by the collar. The device was in his pocket. Dmitri opened the contacts, then typed a phone number. He thrust the phone back at Jesse, none too gently.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  “It’s the number of a witch doctor I know—who happens to be a real witch. It’s a little ironic. He’s from the same family that started this mess, but he keeps his nose clean. Most people don’t trust him because of who his people are, but he’s the fucking best. If your mom has a shot, it’s with him”

  He threw Lawrence another disgusted glare. “You can take his wife with you if you want. Just her. Don’t you dare tell Edward when he wakes up. His involvement ends here.”

  I’m getting soft in my old age. Cass would read him the riot act when she found out about this. But it was worth it for that little spark igniting in Nina’s eyes. She was incandescent, staring at him as if he’d hung the moon. “Thank you,” she said.

  He nodded shortly, accepting her gratitude as his due. “Let’s go.”

  Nina’s eyes ran over him. “Uh, you know I like the view, but do you have pants?”

  He wrapped an arm around her. “No one is going to arrest me for indecent exposure in this neighborhood.”

  They started for the door when Jesse sprang up. “Nina, are you going to go with him? He’s a—a…”

  Nina hesitated. “What do we do about him knowing what you are?” she whispered.

  He sighed. “I normally have something for these kinds of occasions. A little drug that helps people forget several hours, sometimes entire days at a time based on the dosage. But we can’t use it now or he’ll forget the number he has to call.”

  He raised his head, slinging an arm around his mate. “Talk to your friend Jodi,” he told the male nurse. “She can explain a few things. And for God’s sake, keep your mouth shut about everything else.”

  “Jodi? What does Jodi know?” she asked, bewildered. But Dmitri was already ushering her away. “What about Lawrence? He also saw you change.”

  “That smoke was infused with some of that drug—an added precaution.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here.” She almost raced him to the door. He managed to catch her before she ran outside. He stopped her, pushing her behind him in case the men outside had regained consciousness.

  They hadn’t.

  The SUV was still where he’d parked it. He tossed the keys at Nina. “I’d drive but shifting so many times in a row saps my energy.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re letting me drive?”

  “Seems only fair we take turns after each life-threatening emergency.”

  She snorted before climbing behind the wheel. He sat in the passenger’s side, closing the door behind him. Nina wasted no time, starting the engine. Once they were a few miles away, he relaxed.

  Without meaning to, he drifted off, letting his mate drive them off into the sunset.

  Epilogue

  Nina walked into the kitchen, expecting to find Dmitri at the stove the way she usually did after she got home from work. It smelled delicious, but there was no sign of Dmitri or their dinner. She found his note pinned to the refrigerator.

  Come find me in the backyard.

  She and Dmitri had moved into their home last month the minute construction was finished. The sprawling two-story house resembled a big ski lodge with its treated pine exterior and big picture windows. It had six bedrooms, two offices, and the biggest kitchen she’d ever seen in a private home—not that she ever used it. Dmitri was an excellent chef, something she told him at every opportunity so he’d keep cooking, a chore she hated.

  The best part about the house was the fresh-cut wood smell. She didn’t know how long it would retain that pine scent, but for now, she was enjoying having the smell like Christmas every day.

  On impulse, she grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses, hoping she wasn’t in for a hike. Their backyard was several acres of heavily wooded forest.

  Fortunately, Nina found her new husband a few hundred yards away in a tiny glade just out of sight of the house.

  The little clearing had been transformed.

  “I had no idea you were a carpenter,” she said, admiring the wide platform that had magically appeared overnight after handing up the wine and glasses to him. It was like a small deck with enough room to walk around the California king mattress he’d laid in the center. The structure was surrounded by fairy lights and huge candles.

  “When did you have time
to do all this?” she asked, turning around in wonder.

  “It didn’t take long,” he said, lighting a final candle.

  “Are these citronella?” she asked, sniffing.

  “I wouldn’t want my new bride to get bit.”

  “What about you?” She grinned. “Let me guess…they wouldn’t dare bite you cause you’re too much of badass werewolf?”

  “Only if they want to burst into flames. I have very potent blood, but you knew that.”

  “I do.” She laughed, her eyes devouring every precious detail. “This is amazing.”

  The long hours spent in surgery instantly melted away. She inhaled deeply, loving his scent combined with the clean crisp air of the woods. “What’s the occasion?”

  Dmitri grinned, standing at the edge of the platform and pulling her up. He poured her a glass of wine, then handed it to her, lifting his own in a toast.

  “It is six months to the day when we first met. Here’s to getting bumped from first class—the best damn thing that ever happened to me.”

  Far too short to put her arms around his neck, she settled for putting a hand over his heart. “I can’t decide why that’s unbelievable—because it feels like yesterday or because I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

  Dmitri blinked, turning away to wipe his eyes. He was still distinctly misty when he reached out to take her glass.

  Clothes melted away with the breeze.

  Nina’s heart swelled until she could barely breathe. She took Dmitri into her body and her heart, their bodies melding under a carpet of stars.

  She undulated, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts the way that made him growl and swear. Her breath caught, her body rocking in time with her husband’s, the cool night air a delicious contrast to her over-heated skin.

  Nina reached up, clutching at his broad shoulders, loving the way the steel of his muscles felt under her fingers. Gripping his cock with her inner muscles, she reveled at the feel of him inside her, the taste of cinnamon on her tongue. The spice was a part of her blood now.

  Dmitri kept the pace slow, sliding out of her and twisting a little to maximize the friction. Nina moaned, the light of the stars above winking as she closed her eyes briefly. They were so bright here; the muting effects of the city was so far from this space in the woods behind their home.

  It wasn’t the frenetic, almost-desperate lovemaking from when they first met—although they frequently indulged in fast and furious sex. But this wasn’t one of those nights. Tonight, Dmitri’s pace was deliberate, leisurely, like sampling at a feast that lasted for hours.

  His big hands moved across her body, teasing and touching possessively before turning them over so she was on top. She threw her head back, gripping him tighter, marveling at the decadence of the wind caressing her bare breasts. Then Dmitri’s mouth closed over her nipple, and she was transported.

  It was as if she’d melted. The scent of the forest spiked with notes of cinnamon and musk became tangible, a sensuous invader that seemed to dissolve into her.

  On some level, she was still aware of her body. She could feel the hardness of Dmitri’s hips between her legs, the steel of him moving inside her as she rode him. One orgasm blended with another and another until the wave broke and she sank into oblivion.

  When awareness returned, she was cuddled in Dmitri’s arms, their swiftly cooling bodies covered by a down comforter.

  “So how was your day?” he asked.

  Nina laughed, running her foot up his leg. “I don’t remember.”

  His smile could have melted the remaining candles. “Did you like your surprise?” he asked, gesturing to the platform.

  “Very much. I especially like how sturdy it is. Something tells me we’re going to be spending a lot of time out here.”

  He shrugged, running his fingers down her thigh. “Every couple needs their own traditions.”

  She leaned over and took the wineglasses from the side of the platform, refilling each. Then she handed both to him. “Drink up.”

  “Both of them?”

  “Yes.”

  He raised a brow. “Why?” he asked, his stance widening.

  Nina took a deep breath. “Because I remembered how my day went. I…uh…I heard from Jess.”

  “I see.”

  She pulled the cover tighter around her, feeling the chill coming off him.

  “His mom had a checkup today. Her oncologist is amazed. He’d given her a few months, but now she’s in complete remission. I don’t know how your friend did it, but she’s doing amazing. They’re even planning a trip now, a little vacation to celebrate.”

  “That’s good,” he said unenthusiastically. “They’re not coming here, right?”

  This was an old argument with them. Nina had forgiven Jesse. Over the course of her career, she’d seen so many families struggling when their loved ones were sick and dying. She understood their grief and desperation only too well.

  “No, not this year,” she said with affected carelessness. “Maybe next year.”

  His mouth turned down. “How about the year after?”

  “Deal,” she tossed back with a grin.

  With a sigh, he shook his head. “I knew you were going to be trouble the second I saw you.”

  She preened, taking it for the compliment it was.

  “Any word on Mrs. Lawrence?” he asked. “How’s she coping with Edward in jail?”

  “Jesse hasn’t heard from her since they saw your witch doctor friend together, but Kate thinks she’s having a grand time sunning herself in the south of France.”

  She tsked. “It’s like she didn’t learn her lesson the first time!”

  They had belatedly learned from Kate that Constance had been in the preliminary stages of skin cancer. But the people who’d been given so much in life didn’t always appreciate the second chances they were given.

  “Babe, you can lead a wolf to water, but you can’t make him wear sunscreen.”

  Nina sniffed. “Well, after all we went through, she damn well better be wearing SPF a thousand this time around.”

  “And your sister?” he asked.

  “She’s fine, too,” she said. She crawled toward him, straddling him. “Have I ever told you what a wonderfully understanding man you are?”

  He stirred, hardening beneath her in a way that should have been biologically impossible. “I shouldn’t have to keep reminding you that I am not a man.”

  She tilted her hips, sliding her heat across him until he sucked in a breath. “Believe me, I haven’t forgotten.”

  There were distinct advantages to being mated to a werewolf—and she was going to spend the rest of her life enjoying all of them.

  The End

  Read more about Dmitri’s world and see his first appearance in the award-winning novel Fire: The Elementals Book One!”

  “A hot-tempered heroine and the charmingly undead prove a winning combination." - Kirkus Reviews

  "Reminiscent of a hard-boiled detective novel, Fire is gritty, sharp, with an edgy quality and a snarky humor." - Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite ★★★★★

  Start the Adventure Free on Kindle Unlimited Today!”

  About the Author

  Lucy Leroux is another name for USA Today Bestselling Author L.B. Gilbert.

  Seven years ago Lucy moved to France for a one-year research contract. Six months later she was living with a handsome Frenchman and is now married with an adorable half-french toddler. Her family lives in California.

  When her last contract ended Lucy turned to writing. Frustrated by the lack of quality romance erotica she created her own.

  Lucy loves all genres of romance and intends to write as many of them as possible. To date she has published award-winning paranormal, urban fantasy, and gothic regency novels. Additionally, she writes a bestselling contemporary series. The 'Singular Obsession' books are a combination of steamy romance and suspense that feature intertwining characters in their own stand-alone stories. Foll
ow her on twitter or facebook, or check out her website for more news!

  www.authorlucyleroux.com

  Other Books by Lucy Leroux

  Making Her His

  A Singular Obsession Novel, Book One

  #1 Amazon Erotic Suspense Bestseller Feb 2016

  & A Readers' Favorite Finalist SIZZLE CATEGORY

  For almost five years, Alex has had one obsession. Her name is Elynn.

  Alex Hanas couldn't believe that after so many years as a widower, his father was getting remarried. To make matters worse, the American gold digger had a kid—a daughter named Elynn. After months of avoiding it, Alex goes to brunch with every intention of giving his father's new family the deep freeze. But he can't pull it off with Elynn's anxious green-grey eyes locked on him.

  That was the day his life changed.

  Four years later, Alex is as close to Elynn as a stepbrother can be. But that's not enough for him. He wants more...and he's done waiting.

  Kindle Unlimited

  Confiscating Charlie

  A Free Singular Obsession Novelette,

  Book 1.5,

  Noah Masters is looking for his future. He never expected it to find it in her.

  After After crashing and burning his racing career Noah Masters has to figure out what to do with his life. His cousin Alex suggests he find a way to channel his creative energy in a way that doesn’t involve him putting his life in danger.

  Then Noah meets his step-mother’s teenage sister Charlie, and he finds he doesn’t have to risk his life to find his future—he just has to risk his heart.

  Free on Most Online Retailers

  Calen’s Captive

  A Singular Obsession, Book Two,

  A Readers’ Favorite Silver Medalist