The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance

by Sonia Florens

  She nodded against his chest, pressing closer, wishing she could sink into his warmth.

  “We’ll get out of this.”

  She wanted to believe it. “Who are they?”

  “My guess? Opponents of the government who want to make a statement by wiping out a bunch of Americans. Which means we’ve got to get out of here.”

  “There’s nowhere to go.”

  “Into the jungle. Until help arrives.”

  “Does anyone know what’s happening here?”

  “Somebody must have gotten out a call. The emergency number is posted in every room,” he said, but he didn’t sound perfectly confident, and she wondered how long it would be before anyone realized the situation on the island.

  He looked around the side of the towel stand and gestured. “The gazebo’s about thirty yards away. We’ll make that our next stop.”

  It was on the lawn, closer to the hotel. But there wasn’t any other cover.

  “OK.” She’d let him take charge because she had no idea what else to do.

  “I’ll go first. If I make it, you follow me. Keep low.”

  She winced at the way he put it, but she told herself that if anyone was going to make it, he would.

  He cupped his hand around her shoulder, and she reached up to cover his fingers with hers. For long moments, neither one of them moved.

  “Zack,” she murmured.

  He stiffened. “You know my name?”

  “I saw it on the sign-in book at the gym.”

  He laughede they?”And I saw yours. Jenna. Too bad we’re meeting this way.”

  She wanted to ask if they would have met at all under other circumstances, but he muttered, “Gotta go.”

  Her heart leaped into her throat as she watched him dash across the open space between her hiding place and the white gazebo surrounded by hibiscus bushes. When he made it without any gunfire, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

  Then he motioned to her, and she gathered up her courage to make the dash. Following his example, she ducked low, running flat out for the back of the gazebo, tumbling into Zack Marshall’s arms. He gathered her close, sliding his hands up and down her back and shoulder. She had wanted to be this close to him and never expected it. Now it felt like the most natural thing in the world to raise her face to his.

  Their lips were so close. She could have kissed him. Wanted to kiss him. Out of gratitude or because the danger was heightening her emotions? She saw from the look in his eyes that his thoughts were travelling the same path.

  But instead of kissing her, he raised his head and looked towards the jungle. “We’re not safe here. Got to get into the trees.”

  This time, they had only twenty yards to safety. She hoped it was safety.

  “You go first,” Zack whispered. “I’ll keep guard.”

  Her heart pounding, she took off towards the jungle, saying a prayer of thanks as she plunged into the darkness under a grove of low palms.

  She’d made it!

  She expected Zack to follow, but when she peeked out from behind a tree, he wasn’t there.

  Oh Lord, what had happened to him? Had he changed his mind? Was he leaving her here to fend for herself?

  When she heard an explosion of gunfire, she went rigid. As her eyes searched the expanse of the lawn, she saw one of the gunmen moving towards the jungle, gun in hand, and she knew he must have seen her plunge into the underbrush. She froze, unable to move. Then she saw something so out of place that at first she couldn’t believe her eyes. A grey shape was moving slowly across the lawn, following the man with the gun. It was a large dog or a maybe a wolf, although she’d never heard of wolves in San Marcos.

  As she watched, she knew the moment when the gunman realized there was something behind him. He whirled, the weapon aimed at the animal. When he fired, Jenna screamed. But the wolf was already in motion, taking a giant leap at the invader. The man tried to fight him off, but the animal continued the fierce attack, biting and mauling him until he went still.

  The wolf stepped away, looking down at the attacker. Then, to her astonishment, it came back and pulled the gun from the man’s hands, dragging the weapon towards the jungle.

  For long seconds she stood frozen, wondering if she had really witnessed the violent scene. But the gunman was still lying on the lawn where the wolf had left him.

  She was still trying to come to grips with that, when she heard the crackle of foliage behind her. Her heart pounding, she turned and saw Zack coming towards her.

  Wide-eyed, she stared at him. “Where were you?”

  “I saw the gunman and ducked back.”

  “Did you see the … wolf?” she asked in a strangled voice.

  “Yeah. I stayed where I was until the fight was over.”

  She nodded, wondering if that really dovetailed with the facts. “They have wolves in San Marcos?”

  He shrugged. “I guess you saw him.”

  “But why did he attack?”

  “Maybe he’s trained to go after a man with a gun.”

  “Maybe,” she answered slowly, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her. Yet it wasn’t just her. Zack had seen the animal, too.

  “We’d better get out of here,” he muttered. “Before they come looking for the guy – or us.” Knitting his fingers with hers, he led her further into the vegetation.

  They kept going, every step putting distance between themselves and the danger. Finally, she paused, her breath coming in small gasps as she looked helplessly around.

  Zack stopped beside her. “It’s all right. We’re going to be all right.”

  “Maybe not,” she answered. She could have been killed in the first few minutes of the attack. Then again just now – if the wolf hadn’t taken the gunman down.

  Zack turned her towards him, and she felt a jolt of sensations she’d never experienced before, as he pulled her into his arms.

  It was the desperate circumstances making her feel this way, she told herself, when she knew deep within that it had as much to do with the man.

  With a low rumble in his chest, he pulled her more tightly into his arms, crushing her breasts against his chest, and she was suddenly overwhelmed by lust. Or maybe need was a more polite word. What she called it didn’t matter. Not when she craved this man in ways that she’d never even imagined.

  Raising her head, she stared at him, wondering what he would see in her face. Probably a mixture of intense heat and fear.

  Her throat was so tight she could barely speak, but she managed to say, “I don’t …”

  “Make love with a guy you just met?”

  “Yes.” But she stayed where she was and, when he lowered his mouth to hers, she felt another jolt of sensation that crackled between them like heat lightning.

  She still didn’t understand what was happening between them. All she knew was that the physical contact, the arousal was more than she could have imagined. And more dangerous, because she knew on some deep, subconscious level that she was vulnerable to this man in a profoundly elemental way. If this went any further, there was no going back. Ever.

  “At the hotel, you stayed away from me because you were afraid this would happen,” she choked out, not even sure what she meant.

  “Yes,” he answered, his voice strong and deep. “But now I know I have to make love to you – or go insane.”

  That was a dramatic way to put it, yet she understood the truth of his words. He was as vulnerable to her as she was to him.

  He lowered his head, his mouth coming down on her for a kiss that sent a jolt of heat through her. He turned his head one way and then the other, drinking her in, nibbling at her, breaching the barrier of her lips with his tongue for an invasion that might have been savage if she hadn’t been a full participant.

  When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

  He looked back the way they’d come. “We can’t stay here.”

  She’d forgotten where they were and why they wer
e standing in the jungle. The knowledge zinged back to her as he took her hand and led her further from the resort, into the wilderness.

  The sun was high overhead, but the trees blocked out much of the light as they came to a little hut almost hidden from view. The walls were made of bamboo slats, and the roof was thatched with palm fronds.

  Beside her, Zack dragged in a deep breath through his nose and let it out.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure nobody’s here.”

  “How?”

  “I’d smell them.”

  It was a strange conversation, but she didn’t stop to ponder it as he led her forwards. “Some of the locals must use this place from time to time, but nobody’s home now.”

  “You’ve been here before?”

  7I found it while I was exploring.”

  He draped an arm over her shoulder and led her inside. Looking around, she saw shelves along one wall with various supplies and a bed of blankets on the floor. No doubt where they were headed. And no doubt that her behaviour was totally out of kilter. From the sudden danger of the gunmen’s attack. And from her reaction to this man.

  She stopped trying to fathom her motives when arousal made her legs unsteady. He solved the problem by scooping her up and bringing her down to the bed, turning so that she was sprawled on top of him.

  As he stroked his hands up and down her back and over her butt, she closed her eyes, absorbing sensations, loving the feeling of him under her and the way the length of her body fitted against his – starting with her breasts flattened against his chest and moving downwards to her hips cradling his cock. It was full and hard, ready for lovemaking, and she couldn’t stop herself from moving against him, thinking she was in danger of coming just from this contact.

  As he stroked one hand down her body, pressing her hips more tightly to his, he tangled his other hand in her hair, bringing her mouth back to his for another scorching kiss.

  She had been obsessed with him since the moment she’d seen him at the resort. It felt like that had been months ago – and she had been waiting to make love with him all this time.

  “I want you naked,” he muttered, echoing her thoughts.

  Both of them sat up, and began tearing at clothing. She shrugged out of her gauzy shirt. As he reached around her to unfasten her bikini top, she leaned into him so that he could untie the knot at the back and toss the garment away.

  When he was done, she found the snap at the top of his jeans, then lowered the zipper. She’d never thought of herself as a bold lover, but now she reached inside his undershorts and wrapped her hand around his erection, feeling the strength and the power of him.

  He dragged in a sharp breath. “Lord, that’s good. Too good. I don’t want this to go too fast for you.”

  She was thinking that nothing would be too fast for her. Not with him. But he eased her to her back and kicked away his jeans then lay down beside her and studied her.

  “You are so beautiful,” he breathed as he trailed a hand between her breasts, down to her navel, then lower, to play with the blonde hair at the juncture of her legs. She wanted him to slide his hand even lower, but she wasn’t going to beg.

  “So are you,” she said instead.

  She lifted her hand and ran her fingers through the thick hair that covered his chest, then found his flat nipples and circled them with her fingers before plucking on them.

  Again he drew in a breath, then grinned as he cupped her breasts in his hands, running his thumbs over the tips, driving her mad with wanting more. He knew it, too, because he captured her nipples between his thumbs and fingers, twisting and squeezing them, sending hot currents downwards through her body, where they coalesced in her clit.

  He lowered his head and swirled his tongue around one of her nipples, then sucked it into his mouth as he kept teasing its mate with his hand.

  She arched into the caress, feeling urgency wrapping itself around them, making it hard to breathe. Hard to think. All she could do was surrender to the power of the moment.

  She reached down and clasped his cock again, deliberately pushing him past the point of no return.

  In response, his hand slid down her body again. This time his fingers parted her slick, swollen folds, lingering there before dipping inside her.

  She gasped, moving her hips to create friction, but it wasn’t enough. Not for either of them.

  He crcled her clit with one finger, then slid lower again to circle the finger just inside the sensitive opening of her vagina, sending jolts of heat through her.

  “Please. Now.”

  He covered her body with his as she grabbed his cock and guided him to her, crying out as he slipped inside. She felt more than physical pleasure. She was open to him, body and soul, and, in that moment, a kind of terror overtook her.

  He must have sensed her panic because he whispered, “Trust me.”

  Could she? Did she have a choice?

  She felt herself settle into the rhythm of lovemaking, her hips moving with his, her need for orgasm spiralling out of control. Conscious thought fled, driven out by the hot, greedy desire created by the friction of his cock moving in and out of her.

  He reached between them, pressing his fingers over her clit, giving her the extra jolt of stimulation that triggered her first spasm of release. As she reached the peak of sensation, he followed her, his hot semen pumping into her.

  She heard his shout of satisfaction. Heard herself cry out in wonder as the pleasure of it went on and on.

  When it was over, he cradled her against himself, holding her tenderly as she struggled to absorb the wonder of their lovemaking. Reaching to stroke damp hair back from his forehead, she was caught by an incredible feeling of closeness that she had never experienced before. Yet she knew so little about him.

  They lay together for long moments, until she finally broke the silence.

  “That was … more …” Words failed her, but he seemed to know what she meant.

  “Yes, it was.”

  “I don’t even know where you live,” she murmured.

  He laughed. “I guess we should have exchanged some information first. I’m from Maryland. Not too far from you. And I had to come all this way to find you.”

  She blinked. “How do you know where I live?”

  “I looked you up, after I found out your name. It turned into an obsession. Maybe you didn’t see me around because I was in the business centre on the computers, finding out everything I could about you. I know you went to high school in Bethesda. I know your political affiliation. You’re a physician who works for a drug company. You own your own home. Your parents are in Florida. You’re in the middle of a big project, but you needed to get away.”

  She laughed softly. “I guess I should have been doing the same thing.”

  “You wouldn’t have found much. I try to keep a low profile. I live in rural Howard County. I’m an environmental advocate. And I lead some wilderness expeditions when I want to get away.”

  “You researched me. Did you find out something you didn’t like? Is that why you kept avoiding me?” she forced herself to ask, because that was the most logical conclusion.

  He stroked his hand down her arm. “Not at all. I was trying to avoid my destiny.”

  “Which is?”

  “You.”

  She stared at him, trying to figure that out. “What do you mean?”

  “I know you felt the power of our making love.”

  She nodded. “I felt it. What does it mean?”

  “That you belong to me.”

  The matter of fact way he said it sent a cold chill skittering over her skin, and she shivered.

  “You’re sounding like a caveman or something,” she said, wondering what she had gotten into. They’d run away from a massacre and ended up in each other’s arms. She wasn’t the kind of woman who fell into bed with a man she hardly knew, yet they’d done it, and now she was thinking she’d made a reckless mistake.

/>   “Or something.” He rolled to his back, staring at the thatched ceiling of the hut.

  “I think you’d better explain.”

  “I’m working my way up to it.”

  The flat tone of his voice didn’t help the situation. And since they’d started the conversation, she didn’t feel quite so cosy with him in bed. After shrugging into her bikini top, she grabbed her shorts and wiggled into them. He stayed where he was, watching her dress.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he said.

  He was right, of course. They’d run from danger, and the situation back at the resort hadn’t changed, as far as she knew.

  “Tell me what’s going on with you.”

  “It’s something that happens to the men in my family.”

  She was about to speak, when he suddenly sat up.

  “Christ,” he whispered.

  “What?”

  “Someone’s tracked us here.”

  To confirm the statement, she heard harsh voices approaching. Men speaking in Spanish.

  He glanced towards the shelves along the wall. “There’s an axe handle. Use it to defend yourself if you have to.” He might have added, “If you can.” As he spoke, he leaped from the bed and faced the door. Naked. He didn’t even reach for his pants, only stood with his muscles tense.

  Then something happened that made goosebumps rise on her arms. He began to chant words that sounded ancient and, as she watched, his body went through a rapid change. Fur began to spring up on his skin. A tail grew from the crack above his ass. His entire shape transmuted so that in seconds he was no longer a man but … a wolf.

  As she sat there in shock, she realized she had seen the animal before – when the gunman had come after her. A large dog or a wolf had sprung towards him, taking him down before he could catch up with her.

  Now it was happening again. Only she was watching in horrible fascination as Zack Marshall changed from man to beast. She had just made love with him. And now … She couldn’t allow herself to finish the thought.

  Too shocked to turn away, she watched as he came down on all fours and sprang through the door, streaking away, leaving her alone in the hut.

  Seconds later, two armed men came towards her, their guns in shooting position.