by Jaycee Clark
She was now officially on leave.
Water poured over her and dripped off her nose. She was tired. Tired of everything.
And scared.
She didn’t want a commitment from or to anyone.
But damn if she wasn’t tired of being alone.
Alone.
Saker. He’d killed Kladovik, simply came through the window, ripped the man’s eyes out and then crushed him with his talons. Wicked talons.
She couldn’t push it all aside anymore. Everything seemed to shut down with the blackness of death and violence.
Blood…
The room had been filled with the scent of blood, with the scent of fire.
Kladovik had been right. She hadn’t had the energy to shift back. The power to shift had drained her. She remembered seeing the body drop, seeing the flames getting closer to the body. Saker had shifted from a falcon to himself and grabbed the small golden feather from Kladovik’s bloody hand. “That’s mine.”
That’s mine…
She remembered that. Vaguely remembered her body being lifted, the cold air rushing against her face and body as if she’d been flown through the air.
Like she had as a child.
But this time, he’d come. This time, it had been him.
What did it mean? She had no idea and she was too tired to think about it all. She just wanted some sleep.
One thing that wouldn’t leave her alone. For just a moment, just a second after they’d mated, and again when he’d carried her through the air, before she’d lost consciousness—she’d felt peace like she hadn’t since that fateful day long ago.
Peace…
Hope.
He slipped through her door, surprised and pissed it was so easy to get to her. He’d stationed one of his men below on the stairs, another on the roof. No one was getting to her tonight.
No one, but him.
He could hear the shower running.
For a moment, he stopped.
Her apartment was a reflection of the woman. The furniture was simple and functional. Nothing flashy or expensive. The electronic surveillance equipment on the table was top of the line. The walls were bare. No television. He rounded the corner.
The wooden floors echoed faintly with his steps.
Her room was as neat and tidy as a long standing member of the military. Her bed covers tight and tucked.
He grinned and wondered if she was ever relaxed, ever messy?
Her closet door was shut, all the drawers of her chest closed.
There didn’t seem to be a single line of dust anywhere.
He wanted to learn more about her. Learn who she was. Learn what she liked and didn’t.
Saker cursed himself for his own stupidity, but the past couldn’t be changed. He had no idea what the hell the future would hold for them, but he wanted to find out.
Saker stripped and silently let himself into the bathroom.
Steam rose around the door of the shower, filled the top of the room and fogged the mirror.
He stood just outside the door for a moment.
“Reen?”
A huddled form on the floor shifted, stood and whirled, kicking out the door.
He barely sidestepped it before it crashed into him. Instead he caught it and stood staring at her as she glared at him.
Her black, chin length hair was plastered to her face. Her body was wet and glistening, the scars and bruises standing out on her pale skin. He slowly raised his gaze to lock with hers, taking in every wet and dripping inch of her.
She didn’t relax her stance. “I didn’t invite you here.” Her voice was low, throaty…tired.
He simply stepped in, crowded her back and shut the door behind him. Looking down at her, he brushed wet strands of hair behind her ears. “No, you didn’t,” he whispered.
She licked her lips and he caught the darkness shift in her eyes.
“What?” he asked, tilting her chin up. “Tell me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care what you think of me,” she muttered.
He raised a brow and leaned into her. “I’ve watched you for months, Cyzarine. Since that first assignment we were on together. You didn’t even notice me. But I sure as hell noticed you.”
She drew a deep breath even as she leaned back against the wall.
He ran a thumb back and forth over her lip, then down her chin. He followed her neck to trail a finger over her collar bone. “I’m sorry about the stage,” he said, risking a glance back up into her eyes.
She watched him. “Are you?”
He trailed a path lower to circle her wet breasts. “The way it happened, the timing, yes.” He looked back into her eyes. “But we would have made love sooner or later.”
“That was sooner?” she asked, shifting closer to him, wrapping her arm around his neck.
Her tongue was hot against his neck. She pulled his earlobe between her teeth and he shivered.
He gripped her hips. “This is later. And I want to go slow…”
He hissed when her other hand reached between them and wrapped around his arousal.
“I don’t want to go slow now. Slow is for later.”
He turned and met her mouth. “I thought this was later.”
Her lips tilted up. “That’s for later later. This is for now later. I want hard, hot and fast. Like before.”
She wrapped a leg around his waist. “I still hear him in my head, still see him.” She kissed him, open mouthed and demanding. “Make me forget. On the stage, all I felt, all I saw, all I heard was you.”
“You’re mine,” he said, lifting her. She shifted, slid down on him and locked her ankles in the small of his back.
Saker hissed.
She didn’t answer him. He wondered if she ever would.
Her eyes locked with his and in them he saw…
Hope.
He rocked against her, slow and long. She might want it now, but they’d damn well do it his way.
“I’m going to make love to you over and over again, Cyzarine,” he told her, holding her on him so she couldn’t shift. “All you’ll see,” he said, thrusting into her, “will be me.” Thrust. “All you’ll hear will be my voice.” Thrust. “All you’ll feel is me.”
She arched against him and moaned. “Saker.”
He smiled as he lowered his mouth to hers. “You’re mine whether you claim it or not.”
He stared into her eyes.
“We’ll see.”
Damn stubborn woman.
The future with her wouldn’t be dull, that was for sure.
He thrust home, playing her until they both flew, their orgasm ripping cries from both of them.
At least there was hope.
About the Author
To learn more about Jaycee Clark, please visit www.jayceeclark.com. Send an email to Jaycee at [email protected] or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Jaycee! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jayceesden/
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Angel Eyes by Jaycee Clark
TALONS
A collection of five stories taking you to the height of passion
Talons: Kiss Me Deadly
© 2006 Shannon Stacey
Death is a collective—an unkindness of supernatural ravens with the power to take the form of men and to decide which humans live and which humans die with a mere touch.
When Khail lays his fatal touch on his next victim and she doesn’t die, he’s faced with a human immune to his deadly power who has seen him shift form—and he’s able to have physical contact with a woman for the first time in centuries.
Falling for a shapeshifting messenger of Death wasn’t on Bridget Sawyer’s agenda, but things are about to get even more complicated. The Unkind is determined to claim her.
Talons: King of Prey
© 2006 Mandy M. Roth
In a place where realms combine and portals open passages to the unknown, a
prophecy speaks of fertility being restored to his people through the taking of King Kabril’s mate.
The prophecy neglects to mention she lacks something vital to his kind—wings. Kabril, King of the Buteos Regalis has no interest in taking a human mate. His kind believes humans are dirty, vile creatures who rely on machines to lift them into the air. The last place he wants to go in search of his mate is Earth, but he’s left no choice.
Never did he expect to find love on a planet with one moon, people who lack wings and a stubborn vixen who makes his heart soar. When he does, he fears the truth about who and what he truly is will steal it away. Little does he know his enemies fully intend on doing the taking.
Talons: Caged Desire
© 2006 Sydney Somers
He’s trapped…she’s suspicious—to earn his freedom all he has to do is win her trust.
Locked in a cage for almost fifty years ago, Logan has had nothing but time to plot his revenge on those who wrongfully condemned him to spend eternity in the deepest regions of a South American rainforest. But with one look at the alluring vampire who holds his freedom in her hands, revenge becomes the farthest thing from his mind.
Eve Blake is puzzled by the wooden crate delivered to her door. Even stranger is the large golden eagle inside. It doesn’t take her long to realize the majestic creature is far more than he appears. Finding a man in the cage previously containing the feathered animal gives Eve every reason to suspect the shifter was locked away for a reason.
Can she trust him when he promises not to harm her if she releases him? Or will her decision cost both of them more than they bargained for?
Talons: Seize the Hunter
© 2006 Michelle M Pillow
Fate is giving her the one man she'd never want for her very own.
Princess Ari of the planet Falconia knows it’s her time to marry and has picked out several suitable men in her mind—none of which are Falcoan Army Commander, Rurik of the Fifth. The man tormented her as a child, causing her untold humiliations. But there is really no need to worry about such a match. Shifters cannot rule and Rurik is a natural born falcon shifter.
Trusting destiny, Ari sips from the Marriage Chalice, sealing her future. But things don’t go as planned. It would seem fate is giving her to the man she despises. How can she find happiness with the one man she could never want for her very own?
Talons: Firebird
Jaycee Clark
Legend has it firebirds bring both good fortune and destruction, Reen has become an expert at both…
Reen is an expert at destruction and annihilation. She’s a Hunter, an elite, one of their best assassins, she’s also a legendary firebird—a creature of lore. Staker, a member of the Falcon order, is her soul mate from a bloody past she desperately tries to forget, but one that haunts her every moment. The two are thrown together in a desperate search for missing women.
The Collector is a man who loves the hunt, preying on the unusual, on the special—all to keep these women for his own
use. The Collector favors shifters, the rarer the better. He traps them, keeps them, and turns them into his own private collectables.
Staker doesn’t want Reen to be a part of this dangerous mission, but she has other plans. Unfortunately, so does the Collector…
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
2932 Ross Clark Circle, #384
Dothan, AL 36301
Talons: Firebird
Copyright © 2006 by Jaycee Clark
Cover by Anne Cain
ISBN: 1-59998-146-7
www.samhainpublishing.com
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: October 2006
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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