Authors: Doris O'Connor
Humans, especially alluring, sexy, females were
nothing but trouble and only good for one thing. And he was so not going there,
either; not when his wolf wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs into her
soft neck and mark her as his. Another howl brought an answer from his pack. He
would go hunting and sink his fangs into the nearest prey instead. His pack
could take care of her. The further away he was from temptation, the better.
With a renewed burst of speed, he broke through
the clearing as he picked up the scent of deer, ignoring the stronger scent of
frightened female calling him. Let Lucas have her. Knowing the vamp, he would
come and find her, perhaps even the minute darkness fell in earnest, whether he
wanted him to or not. And Ion needed to be far away from her when that
happened, lest his wolf take over.
The loud knock on her window made Marnie jump
in horror. What the hell was the biggest, meanest bouncer of Ion’s club doing,
grinning at her half-naked? As she watched, six more musclebound, heavily
tattooed, wet-dream-inducing males melted out of the tree line, their bodies
slick with perspiration. Despite her inner turmoil every female cell in her
body feasted on the view, even as the rational side of her brain rolled its
eyes at the display of testosterone in front of her.
“Hey, Miss Marnie, you’re a long way from home.
Let us get you out of this hole, shall we?”
Jenkins’s grin was infectious and put her at
ease, even as her eyes rounded in astonishment as the six muscles surrounded
the truck and with one swift heave righted it back on its four wheels.
Seriously?
How was that even possible?
In the blink of an eye it took Jenkins to walk
around the truck and jump behind the wheel, the little group of eat-your-heart-out
Chippendales
had melted back into the shadows as quickly as they had
arrived, leaving Marnie to once again wonder at her sanity.
“Let’s get you back to the house. The boss left
strict instructions.”
“Oh, did he now? And when did he do that
exactly?” Marnie’s shrill voice made the big man next to her flinch and throw
her a worried look. “The only place I want to go is home, so turn this thing
around and do that, will you, Jenkins?”
“No can do, Miss Marnie. You’ll have to take it
up with the boss. Only, I’d let him cool off first, he’s pretty wired right
now. Now just relax and I’ll have you at the big house in no time.” And with
that, he shifted the truck into gear and they were once again hurtling down the
dirt lane. Marnie had to hold on to stop her poor ribs from bruising further.
Jenkins’ driving skills were definitely not on the same par as Ion’s and she
cursed the infuriating male once more. First, he all but kidnapped her, scared
her witless, took her to the middle of nowhere and then abandoned her. He was
wired, was he? Well, so was she, and he would learn a thing or two, when he
finally showed his face again. Male chauvinist pigs, the lot of them.
Her exasperated growl caused a deep rumble of
amusement to bubble from the mountain next to her.
“Now don’t go giving me any trouble, Miss
Marnie. Look, we’re here.”
The smart retort bubbling on her tongue died an
instant death at the huge house suddenly in front of them. Just like the men
earlier it melted out of the woods, old and majestic and completely and utterly
secluded. The tendril of fear, her anger had chased away, returned like an icy
fist.
God, she had watched too many horror movies.
Surely that was the
only reason the one thought she had at the sight of the house, whose many
mullioned windows reflected the setting sun, was not how romantic the setting
was, but how no one would hear her screams.
“Out you come, Miss Marnie. Louisa’s got some
food for you and I’ve got myself some hunting to do, before they have all the
fun without me.”
Marnie was grabbed by the waist and carried to
the front door at lightning speed. It opened just as they got there and she
looked up at none other than Louisa from the club. She almost didn’t recognise
her, had it not been for those unmistakable feline eyes. Dressed in jeans and a
simple t-shirt, the fabric straining to hold in her ample cleavage, she had not
a scrap of make-up on her face and looked much younger as a result.
“Dear me, sugar, what happened to you? These men
don’t have an ounce of common sense. Trust him to drag you all the way out
here. What was he thinking? Well, clearly he wasn’t thinking, at least not with
his brain.”
Heat rose in Marnie’s cheeks, but before she
could protest the delicious smell of food assaulted her senses and her stomach
rumbled in response.
“Hungry, are we? Let me guess, he hasn’t fed
you either. Sometimes I do wonder, boss or no boss. Right upstairs with you,
soothe those aches away and I’ll bring you up a platter to nibble on and then
it’s bed for you, to sleep I hasten to add.”
“But,” Marnie’s half- hearted attempt at
interrupting Louisa’s chatter was cut off with a firm shake of her head and an
even firmer hand on the small of her back, steering her up the curved staircase
and through a heavy oak door into an opulent bathroom, where a huge bath
beckoned, filled to the brim with the fragrant bubbles.
“But how?” Again Louisa just waved her question
away.
“Save your questions till the morning, sugar.
Have a soak and relax. Your bedroom is through that door. I’ll put the food in
there, and you just chill out. If you need anything, just holler, I’ll hear
you.”
The soft thud of the door closing on Louisa’s
retreating back was too loud in the quiet, steam filled room.
Ok then, get a
grip, girl, you can do this.
She was too tired and sore to wonder anymore
at what the hell had happened to her ordered life. Her muscles ached and she
swore at her complete inability to pull her top over her head. Damn it all to
hell! The cool hands on her neck, coupled with a familiar heavily accented
voice breathing in her ear, sent her poor heart into overdrive again.
“Sshhh, mon chere…easy, let me help you with
that.”
Chapter Five
Marnie’s shriek of terror was muffled by a
large hand, clamping over her mouth at lightning speed. She bit down as hard as
she could, her legs desperately trying to kick the stone wall behind her, but
an arm like granite around her waist lifted her clean off the floor. She gagged
on the trickle of thick blood in her mouth the bite into her assailant’s hand
had caused.
The low groan in her ear and the unmistakable
erection pressing into her backside brought with it a fresh wave of terror, as
did the whispered words in her ear.
“Drink it, Chere, you will feel better. Trust
me.”
No, no, no, no. What desperate nightmare was
this?
Tears of frustration welled up as she had no
choice but to swallow the thick goo, gagging anew, and the iron hold on her
waist gentled. With the hand lifted off her face she filled her lungs with big
desperate gasps of much-needed air, and tried to back away. She hadn’t taken
more than two steps before he was on top of her, crowding her against the wall,
his cool hands framing her face. Marnie was forced to look into compelling
moss-green eyes, which stirred a faint memory.
“Don’t fight it, let the blood work, mon chere.
You‘ll feel better soon.”
One hand trailed down to her bruised throat,
the fingers gently massaging the abused flesh, and Marnie closed her eyes at
the sensations assaulting her. A curious warmth spread through her veins, her
blood tingling with awareness and something else she couldn’t decipher and
really didn’t want to at that moment. What the hell was happening to her? She
couldn’t stop the moan escaping when his hands slid lower, finding their way
under her top. The coolness of his skin, seeping into her bruised ribs, left
them on fire from the inside out. The rational, barely functioning side of her
brain did wonder how that was possible, before the sudden ache took her breath
away. The fire inside her spread down her belly, over her hips and down her
legs, which would have buckled had his body not held her up against the wall.
Heat engulfed her and turned her inside out, her core melting in sudden
awareness, tingles spreading all over her as her orgasm hit her out of nowhere.
She sagged against him, limp from the most intense and bizarre experience of
her life. He had barely touched her, for pity’s sake, and she had just…
Oh
my god!
****
Lucas held the trembling woman in his arms,
waiting for her breathing to slow down, protectiveness warring with his own
fierce arousal at her responsiveness. He had known she would, had sensed it
from the minute he had watched her sinful curves wrapped around that pole at
the wolf’s club. He had been drawn to watch her night after night like a moth
to the flame, hiding in the shadows, waiting, testing, fighting his growing
attraction and need to brand her and make her his. He hadn’t felt such a pull
to a human in years, not since Zoe. He didn’t do tender feelings, damn it. He
took, he conquered, he quenched his thirst and left in the morning, leaving
nothing but a shadowy memory behind and that was just fine with him. Feelings
just reminded you of what it felt like to be human, to care for someone, to
give them the power to hurt you, to leave you strung out with nowhere to go. He
barely suppressed the groan, mindful to not scare Marnie further, as memories
swamped him, the feelings of betrayal, terror and ultimate helplessness and
grief, which had sent him on a ruthless cleansing spree. He had emerged
stronger than ever, his name alone invoking terror and respect in equal measure
in the shadowy world he lived in. So why the fuck was he risking it all,
encroaching on pack territory, breaking the uneasy truth that existed between
vamps and shifters for this little bundle of curves in his arms?
The smell of the wolf on her set his teeth on
edge and his jaw hurt with the sheer effort it took to not let his fangs
descend and taste the blood calling him. What the hell had Ion been thinking,
bringing her here; scaring her witless and then just leaving her? He should
damn well know better, after last time. Clearly the wolf’s motives were not as
altruistic as he made them out to be, and whilst they’d had no problems sharing
women in the past, Zoe had cured them of that particular sexual preference.
Besides, the mere thought of that wolf’s paws on Marnie had him wanting to
shred his friend to bite-size morsels and feed them to the dogs. She was his,
damn it; had been from the first moment her eyes had sought his in the shadows,
the connection between them as strong and instantaneous as though he had sunk
his fangs into the soft neck, calling him now more strongly than ever. He
noticed the bruises fading in front of his eyes with a certain amount of
smugness. This was the one thing Ion would never be able to do for her. He
should have done this in the first place and consequences-be-damned.
Marnie shifted in his arms and he stepped back
to give her some space. Her heartbeat had finally returned to normal, her
breathing shallow and he had to smile at the embarrassment coming off her in
waves. Eyes the colour of dark molten chocolate gave her unwilling arousal away
as clearly as her increased scent and the renewed rapid flutter of her heart,
when she raised her eyes to his, a fierce blush staining her delicate skin.
“I…I…don’t…who are you?”
****
Marnie wished for the ground to swallow her up.
Anything had to be better than to have to look up into those incredible eyes
and see that superior smile after what he had just witnessed. The unmistakable
heat in his gaze did little to reassure her, causing renewed awareness of the
man in front of her and with it the sudden knowledge of who he was. This was
the mystery man in the club, the one who had haunted her dreams for weeks.
Heaven help her, what on earth was he doing here? And what was he? What had he
done to her, and why was she not screaming her head off right now?
Cause
you’re in the middle of nowhere, girl, remember––and there is only Louisa in
the house.
The mere thought of being responsible for
anyone else to get hurt turned her stomach in disgust and renewed terror at
what had brought her to this place was like an ice cold shower to her libido.
“You can’t be here, he’ll kill you too. How did
you even get in? You have to leave, oh god, just leave, this is all just a
nightmare… it has to be…”
She screwed her eyes shut anew, wishing with
every fibre of her being that she would just wake up, back in her tiny bedsit,
the only worry on her mind whether she had studied enough for her next
assignment. This strange world she now found herself in was too much; it
couldn’t be real, it just couldn’t.
The butterfly kisses to her closed eyelids,
delivered by cool, full lips brought her back to the here and now. With them
came bone deep awareness of the man holding her, whilst murmuring French
endearments in that to-die-for deep, gravelly voice, which skittered across her
skin like fireflies dancing in the moonlight.
At least she thought he was a man. Her eyes
fluttered open, as his lips travelled along her jaw line and she held her
breath when she felt the scrape of teeth along her neck and his grip on her
tightened, before he released her with a muttered curse. Her startled eyes flew
to his face and the barely controlled need she saw, his jaws grinding together
caused a rush of excitement deep in her core. Her body responded in age old
fashion, moisture pooling between her thighs and the world narrowed to just the
two of them locked head to toe, their breaths mingling, their bodies meshing
together as she stepped forward, letting her hands roam over the hard muscles
in his chest, clearly outlined by the sheer fabric of his shirt.