STORY EXCERPT

Bailey kicked at a lump of soil in the dense undergrowth, sighing deeply as he thought of how ineffectual he’d been. He’d tagged a dozen or so trucks with the minute tracking beacons he’d been given, but there were hundreds of trucks he hadn’t been close enough to tag. Hundreds of trucks full of drugs, weapons, and helpless innocents. How many lives had been ruined by Camilo’s business? How many lives had been ended? His boss would have intercepted so little of Camilo’s overall turnover.

He was beside the main gate when his comms crackled to life. “The shipment is here early. Gates opening.”

The sentries on the wall above were on alert, their weapons raised, as the huge gate slid open. Bailey acted the part of a paid mercenary and stopped by the gate, aiming his rifle at the large, black SUV as it moved slowly into Camilo’s enclave. Moving past Bailey, it continued up the long road that led through the cleared jungle and up to Camilo’s three-story mansion.

Bailey stood riveted to the spot, powerless and exposed. He forced himself to simply watch the truck while his wolf became a howling beast inside him. It tried to tear itself free of all human constraints, and Bailey had never been closer to giving his beast the freedom it demanded.

His world had just exploded into chaos, instinct warring with intellect. The SUV carried with it the scent of blood, the aroma rich, wild, and distinctly feminine. While it was not an uncommon occurrence for women to turn up at the enclave bloody, what was uncommon was for that woman to be his mate.

A mate. I have a fucking mate, and she’s just been delivered into the hands of a monster.

The gates closed, and Bailey nodded at the men atop the enclave’s thick, high wall, his body working on auto-pilot as he struggled to think of what the hell he was going to do.

His wolf had the answer. Kill. Kill them all. Then, hunt down the ones who had made their mate bleed and kill them, too. Grabbing her now and running would only get them both shot and killed. Waiting until she was in the mansion and then grabbing her would see them shot and killed before they reached the wall. The enclave was a fortress with over one hundred armed guards inside.

Bailey’s gait felt stiff and uncoordinated as he walked toward the large building that adjoined the mansion and housed the security center and basement barracks. He could think of no scenario that ended with him freeing his mate and getting them both out of Camilo’s enclave alive, let alone out of the surrounding jungle.

When he reached the entrance to the barracks, he’d planned to walk straight inside. Looking back at the SUV would betray an interest. When he heard the scream of pain, however, he was lost.

“No. Let me go, you bastards.”

He turned, digging his emerging claws into the doorframe as he fought the nearly impossible drive to go to her. His mate looked tiny as two of the household guards grappled with her thrashing arms and legs. His mate was a fighter. Long, dark hair flew as she swung her head from side to side.

A guard slapped her across the face, hard. Her head flew back and struck the side of the van. Pain lanced his heart as he watched helplessly while his mate was further brutalized. She crumpled, and he got a glimpse of her bloody face, her eyes flashing amber just as the lids slid closed.

Holy fuck. My mate is a cat.

One of the guards swung her limp body over his shoulder. Bailey felt numb as he made himself turn away from her. Trying to maintain a calm appearance while the battle between instinct and logic tore him apart, he went down to the barracks, collected his bag of toiletries from beside his bunk, and headed for the showers.

Stripping quickly, he stepped under the shower’s cold spray. Clenching his left hand into a fist, he extended one claw and slid the knife-sharp edge over the palm of his hand. A thin, shiny porcelain disc popped free. His skin knitted closed even as he snapped the disc in half with one press. Dropping the disc onto the shower floor, he ground it into a fine powder with his heel. The powder and the tiny electrical circuits it held were washed down the drain with the soap suds as he began to scrub his body clean.

Patrick Lynton, his boss at the FBI, had just been alerted that he needed an urgent exfiltration. Help would come and he hoped it would come soon, or Bailey was going to do something very, very stupid. He knew this and he would still do it, because he wouldn’t allow Camilo to get his hands on his mate, and he wouldn’t watch a truck drive away with her inside it.

Not when she was his. Not while he still lived.

ADULT EXCERPT

Bailey sat beside the bed and watched his mate sleep, keeping guard as evening became night. She looked tiny in Boothe’s massive bed. She looked delicious. Tempting. He gripped the arms of the hard wooden chair he sat in and willed his cock to behave as he pictured Aeryn’s lithe body slipping under the frothy water of the bath he’d drawn for her.

Think of the bruises. Think of killing whoever had hurt her.

Her skin was pale and creamy, and when exposed fully, the soft fragrant notes of roses and plums that was his mate were a torturous temptation. After remaining noble as he’d washed her back and hair for her, he’d regressed to a base creature who wanted its mate. His claws had dug deep grooves into the porcelain bath as he’d gripped the sides tightly and held his driving need at bay.

 He’d needed to press his body against hers and bury his nose in her hair. He’d needed to stroke and kiss each bruise as he reassured her she’d be forever safe with him and his brothers. He’d needed to let his fangs descend as he kissed the spot where her neck met her shoulders and mark her his. Forever his. His wolf’s need swamped the man’s control, and his growl split the quiet of the room.

Aeryn’s eyes flew open, the irises alight with the pale gold of her inner cat. “He’s here?”

He cursed his lack of control. “No. No one but me.”

“What is it? Is he coming for me?”

He didn’t want to scare her, didn’t want her to know how desperately he wanted her, but she was also his mate. “I was thinking about marking you, and my wolf got a little vocal in his impatience.”

Aeryn blinked several times before settling her gaze on him. “Marking me?”

She winced as she struggled to sit up. Moving was awkward because of her splinted arm and painful to a body too human to heal rapidly from the abuse she’d suffered.

He moved at full speed, lifting Aeryn gently and sliding her onto his lap as he sat on the side of the bed. She was facing him, her legs straddling his, and in this position, it was impossible not to wrap his arms around her and press his lips to hers.

He swallowed her gasp of surprise and swept his tongue between her parted lips to taste her fully. Her moan of pleasure had his cock throbbing painfully. The heat of her core was a wet brand against his thighs, and his mouth watered to taste the sweet juices she was making for him. His mate wanted him, and he was not going to deny her.

Despite his raging desire for her, he was gentle as he placed her on the bed. “Mark you, claim you.” His voice was rough, and speaking the words only drove his need higher. “Make you mine.”

“Bailey.” His name was spoken on a sigh, and he nearly lost his mind.

Kneeling on the floor, he parted her thighs and pressed closer, skimming his hands up under the loose-fitting tee she’d donned after her bath. She shuddered as his palms caressed the sides of her small breasts.

“Tell me to stop and I will.” His fingers gently pinched her engorged nipples, and she hissed as she shook her head.

“I’ve never…I’m not…” Her left hand closed over his, and he feared she would push him away, but she pushed his hand down as she arched into his touch.

She was spread before him like a feast, the sight of her juices coating the lips of her pussy was an impossible temptation. He would not, could not, claim her without his brothers being here, but he could make her come. He would give her that taste of life as his mate. He ignored the painful throb of his cock and swiped his tongue gently over the delicate pink folds of Aeryn’s core.

She cried out, her hips bucking off the bed. “God.”

She tasted sweet and delicious. She owned him completely with her moans. She was the only woman ever to make his wolf howl. She was too sensitive for him to devour her as he wanted, and he’d examine that fact after he’d made her scream his name, not God’s. He licked again, gentling his touch and being rewarded by a deeper moan of pleasure as she pressed her pussy closer.

He sucked briefly at her opening, swallowing her arousal and craving more, even as he moved his lips to the engorged bud of her clitoris. She jerked her hips and emitted a strangled cry. Not his name, not yet.

He sucked lightly on the throbbing nub and circled it once, twice, with his tongue. She called his name as she came, and he continued to slowly circle her clit until her moans stopped and she pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Stop. It’s too much.”

He rose on shaking legs, scooping Aeryn up and holding her trembling body close. He kissed the spot he’d imagined would wear his mark and grinned when she moaned again. “I want very much to mark you the next time I have you quivering under me.”

“I’m not sure I’ll survive a next time,” she said as she shuddered again.

“Many times, sweetheart,” Boothe said. Bailey spun to see Boothe was standing rigidly in the doorway. His body vibrated with menace, but his eyes were full of hunger as he gazed at Aeryn’s naked ass. “Many times, every day, we’ll have you screaming our names.”