Projected Pleasure

PROJECTED PLEASURE

Sequel to Passion Projected

Jennifer Salaiz

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

PROJECTED PLEASURE

Copyright © 2010 by Jennifer Salaiz

E-book ISBN: 1-60601-752-7

First E-book Publication: May 2010

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2010 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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Letter from Jennifer Salaiz

Regarding Ebook Piracy

Dear Readers,

I am honored you have purchased one of my books. Nothing makes me happier than to know I’ve written a story interesting enough to capture your attention. With every sentence I write, I try to put as much care and emotion into it as possible. These stories are my passion but also my job. This is how I help to support my family. I ask that you please not share this book or send it to your friends.

Please understand that pirating books is equivalent to stealing. It’s morally wrong and it’s also illegal.

With deep gratitude,

Jennifer Salaiz

My dedication is to the fans. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

PROJECTED PLEASURE

Sequel to Passion Projected

JENNIFER SALAIZ

Copyright © 2010

While Cole looked at the beautiful vision before him, he knew it couldn’t be real. As much as he wanted to believe Marley was here, she wasn’t. Disappointment settled deep within, but he was too selfish to let go of even the smallest piece of his alpha’s mate. Even if her lovely body wasn’t anything but a dream.

The fact that Cole loved Zachary’s wife was no news to his best friend. All three of them had become very close in the months he lived at the estate. But a point had come when his alpha picked up on his resistance to leave and ordered him to look for his companion.

Now, back in the familiar atmosphere of the mansion, he conjured dreams of the one woman he wanted but couldn’t have, Marley.

Over the months he had been gone, projection was something he kept on the back burner. Rarely did Cole do what his alpha taught him, but now in his dream Marley hovered above him, reaching for him to come to her.

Lifting his hand upward, he felt the pull on his stomach. Just the simplest action and he would be able to leave his sleeping form to be with her. The tingling erupted over his body, and a knock at the door made everything vanish. Cole sat up rubbing his eyes and couldn’t help but smile. Finally, it was time.

8

Jennifer Salaiz

* * * *

Light rain covered the passenger window as Marley tried to stare out into the thick cluster of trees. The vast forest surrounding them on both sides of the two lane road sent chills down her spine. Ever since the incident almost a year ago, she was left haunted. It had taken countless weeks for her to even walk the gardens. That didn’t include the repeated trips down the driveway just for her to chicken out at the last minute and make Zachary bring her back to the house.

After months of the repeated episodes, she finally grew brave enough to let her husband venture with her into the small Virginia town. But no matter how many times they left the estate, her body stayed on constant alert.

She knew Jordan was dead. In horror, she watched Zachary’s pack tear him apart. So why couldn’t she get over the feeling like everything between her husband and the rival pack was long from being over?

A whimper instinctively made her turn around in the passenger seat of their new Escalade. The increase of her heart rate had Zachary’s hand sliding into hers. The light squeeze of reassurance settled the thrumming, but not entirely.

“Everything’s all right, Marley. I think Demetri’s just getting hungry, that’s all,” Kylie said from next to the infant carrier in the second row.

Zachary’s sister might have been her son’s aunt, nanny, and personal body guard, but Marley saw her as so much more than that.

Kylie happened to be her best friend and most trusted confidant.

Although a blood tie linked her and her husband together, something recently blocked a part of the tie. And it all happened in the last stages of her pregnancy causing their telepathic connection to grow more distant every week that went by.

No longer could Zachary read her mind as clearly as he used to be able to. For that, she was forever grateful. The last thing she wanted
Projected Pleasure

9

him to know was how unstable her emotions were. A feeling so complex she couldn’t comprehend continued to tear at her insides. As much as Marley wanted to believe what Dr. Jacoby said about it being postpartum depression, she knew that wasn’t the case. The increased mood swings and raw cravings led her to think it was something more than a hormonal imbalance.

“We’re almost home. Everything will be fine.” Zachary tightened his grip on her hand.

Nodding, she looked back at the top of her three-month-old son’s head. Dark wisps of the beginning of curls bobbed while he fussily gnawed on his tiny fist. A smile couldn’t help but stretch across her face.

The blue-green of Kylie’s eyes beamed proudly. Zachary, Kylie, Aria, and now her son, Demetri all shared the amazing color. It was the first distinguishable thing Marley noticed about her husband. The fact that the color illuminated in the dark hypnotized her from the beginning.

She opened her mouth to ask a question when she paused.

Movement from the corner of her eye flashed so fast she wasn’t sure she was seeing things correctly. Both Kylie and Marley’s gaze ripped from each other to the monstrous forest outside of her sister-in-law’s window. A scream became trapped inside her throat at the ghostly shape that disappeared behind a large trunk of a pine tree.

Visions of Jordan assaulted her mind. Something akin to anger and panic began to boil inside her blood, pushing its way throughout her body in a bundle of incompatible sensations. Almost as if tiny bugs pushed against her skin, things twisted and clawed to get out of her. Marley wasn’t sure whether to scream at the uncomfortable feeling or to scratch her nails down her body.

“What the hell was that?” Kylie half screamed. “A ghost? It couldn’t have been. I mean, it looked like a ghost, but a ghost?”

10

Jennifer Salaiz

The car began to slow down, and Marley felt a surge of panic.

“Zachary, don’t you dare stop this car. Our son is here. You can’t stop!”

Conflicted, Zachary’s eyes bore into Marley’s deep green depths.

“Did you see it? What was it? It couldn’t have been,” her husband paused, taking a deep breath. “He’s dead, love. No rival pack exists anymore, and no one knows how to project other than…”

“Cole,” Marley finished. “Do you think he came home? Oh, Zachary, could that have been him? Maybe he was seeing how far away we were. Maybe he wanted to check to see if we were all right.”

The Escalade pulled in the long, paved road leading to the estate.

Marley’s heart thudded at the possibility that Cole might be back. She hadn’t seen him since her son was born and even before that he’d only been present for half of her pregnancy. The mission he was on was much like the one Zachary had undergone when he found her. Cole was looking for his mate, using techniques her husband taught him, projection. Supposedly, it came naturally to werewolves if they knew exactly what to do. After a little practice, Cole learned the basics and left.

Emptiness filled her that day. To Marley, the three of them were the perfect threesome. Where Zachary left off, Cole picked up and vice-versa. But she understood his need for a mate. She and her husband couldn’t truly satisfy what Cole would ultimately long for, or at least what she assumed every man longed for—a family, a home nestled somewhere for privacy.

Marley hadn’t finished closing her door when Cole appeared not five feet away. A joyful scream escaped her throat while she threw herself at him. His warm laughter filled the hollowness in her chest while he lifted her, spinning her around.

“You look absolutely stunning. I missed you.”

Cole brushed his lips across her cheek. Tingly sensations covered her body at his touch. God, how she had missed him. Just at his nearness she could feel her body react.

Projected Pleasure

11

Zachary walked around the car, smiling. “How are you? Did you bring home a surprise?” He approached them, slapping Cole on the back. The joy radiating off of Zachary’s face was evident to her. He missed his best friend as much as she did.

Marley’s feet brushed the ground while Cole’s arms held her up against him tightly. “No, I got as far south as Louisiana and for some reason felt the need to come back north. When I got to Virginia, I decided to stop by. You know I had to see my new leader.” She watched as he smiled proudly.

As if on cue, Kylie walked around the car holding the infant carrier. Demetri’s blue-green eyes stared at Cole intently. So much intelligence flashed behind his gaze. It never ceased to amaze Marley how much her son seemed to know things someone his age shouldn’t.

He was the calmest baby she’d ever seen, minus meal time.

“There he is,” Cole said, putting her feet back on the ground. He leaned toward her son, sliding his arm from around her shoulders to her waist. Zachary smiled and looked back to Cole and Demetri.