STORY EXCERPT

Closing his eyes, Dr. Nathan sighed. “I was wasting my time. Did we find any indication of his condition in his possessions? Some kind of notice or a warning tag?”

“Nothing. If the patient had any medical records, they weren’t on his person.” It wouldn’t have been obvious to Nathan or anyone else handling the patient in the situation they’d faced. “His car was totaled.” She picked up her tablet and read the details. “He was in the driver’s seat, strapped in. Maybe the other passengers can tell us more, but they’re being treated.”

Dr. Graham, a young, cocky doctor and Trinity’s resident, arrived and glanced through the pad without her having to ask him.

Dr. Nathan didn’t appear mollified by the news that nobody could have known. His eyes sparked fire. “It’s obvious we couldn’t have saved him. We’ve got to have protocol for this.”

Trinity kept her voice steady, though she longed to rant right back at him. “What do you suggest? That we interrogate unconscious patients before we treat them? We did what we could. Someone went through his clothes for ID, medications and other indications of prior conditions. So what else? We’re not all mind-reading shape-shifters.”

“Some of them are.” He glared at Dr. Graham. The resident planted his hands on his hips and glared back, and just like that, two tiger shifters faced off in her department. While both retained human form, their eyes turned feral, a precursor to a full shape-shift.

“Why do I have to explain myself to you?” Dr. Graham demanded. “I didn’t ask the other patients because they weren’t in any state to answer anything coherently. The poor woman is unconscious. The kid is traumatized. The guy from the other car is still out. I won’t force telepathy on anyone, so what was I supposed to do? Wake up his wife and ask her if her husband had any rare conditions that might kill him?”

Dr. Nathan lifted his chin and propped his hands on his hips.

Trinity knew he was mad at himself more than anyone else. But in an emergency situation when the man was pumping out blood faster than they could put it in him, a fragile aorta had not been the first thing on their minds. Only stabilizing him.

Without hesitation, Trinity stepped between them. They didn’t scare her, even if they could change into huge tigers at a moment’s notice. “If you want to tear each other to pieces, go outside. I don’t have the staff to clear up the mess you’d make. Stop it now.”

Dr. Nathan stared at Trinity in silence, his eyes glowing with fury and frustration. “Save it. We’ll talk about it another time.” Thrusting the paper at her, he strode away.

Angie, who had remained a silent witness to the exchange, put her hand on Trinity’s arm in a soothing gesture. “I changed my mind. Hotties don’t behave like that.”

Trinity found herself making excuses for the surgeon. “He worked hard on the guy. He hates to lose anybody.”

Angie snorted. “He might be brilliant, but he’s not a miracle worker. He had no right talking to you that way.”

“You get used to it. Surgeons can be touchy.”

“Yeah, but you’re a surgeon. You don’t tear strips off people in public. It’s a shame the guy died, but sometimes people can’t be saved.”

Wasn’t that the truth.

Trinity checked the clock. “I’ll take my break now. See you in twenty minutes.” Clipping her phone to her waistband, she set off for the canteen. She didn’t feel particularly hungry, but at least she could get out of the unit for a while. She might go outside for some much-needed fresh air.

On her way to the elevators, she passed the supplies room. As she did so, the door opened and somebody grabbed her around the waist, dragging her inside. Her abductor slammed her against the door and brought his mouth down on hers.

The whole incident had happened so quickly Trinity hadn’t had time to cry out. She lifted her hands and pushed against his shoulders, but he didn’t stop. Instead, he thrust his tongue into her mouth, grinding his lips against hers.

By this time she knew who had grabbed her and why. Her libido rose, responding to the man she’d been secretly dating for months.

Her hands relaxed, and she slid her hands down his arms, curling her fingers to grip his biceps. He thrust his leg between hers. Already wet, she ground her crotch against his thigh, which was clad in rough polyester scrubs. His hard leg brought her some relief but not nearly enough.

He could always do this to her. From their first kiss to now, her hunger for him hadn’t abated one bit. She went home starving every night––for him.

ADULT EXCERPT

A tiny smile curved his mouth, and he nodded. She needed no other confirmation. “In a way,” he said, his voice incredibly soft. “We’ll both come in your cunt.” He caught his lower lip between his teeth as if he hurt, closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “I’m losing control here.”

Vaughn cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes. “We’ll take our time preparing you, honey. Hurting you is the last thing we want to do.”

That didn’t stop her being scared. But it was a good fear, the kind that sharpened her senses and made her pussy wet. She didn’t get off on fear, but this, the ramping up of anything she’d known before, made her tense and apprehensive.

Vaughn slid his arm behind her back and scooped her up so she sat upright. Nathan unashamedly stripped, leaving his clothes where they fell, another sign that neat, precise Nathan had been left behind somewhere. This was all male, all hunter. And he was hunting her. He sat in the space Trinity had just vacated by sitting up.

“We’re all entering the unknown here.”

“But you know what to do,” she said, her voice faltering in the hush made when Vaughn turned off the TV.

“We feel it, baby,” Nathan said, his voice rough. “It’s instinct.”

He palmed her cheek and kissed her. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, taking her with a fierce claiming, licking into all the places Vaughn had explored a moment ago.

She felt a smooth glide up her back, and then cool air hit her bare flesh. Shock sent her rigid for a second. Vaughn had extended a claw and cut her T-shirt away. Her bra fell with it. Efficiently, he sliced the shoulders then the sleeves, leaving the pieces to fall away. His hands spread over her back, encompassing her, his fingers easily stretching from one side to the other. He smoothed her flesh, stroked her as if she was the cat and he the human. The claw was gone, retracted into the skin under his human fingernail. Vaughn’s hands were rough, compared to her own and Nathan, but Nathan had to keep his hands supple and sensitive. His job depended on it.

She wasn’t thinking about work now. The men were driving all thoughts out of her head, putting sensual memories in their place. Nathan’s kiss had an edge of wildness. She hadn’t realized before now that he’d been holding back. Now she opened to him and accepted the way he ravaged her mouth, desperation edging his desire and urging her to do more. He palmed a breast, his fingers tweaking her nipple. Sharp sensations went through her, and she groaned, only for him to swallow the sound.

Vaughn was touching her, stroking her, caressing every part of her, including her toes. He took one briefly into his mouth, and she felt the tingle right up to the top of her head. If anyone had asked her she’d have said that toe sucking wasn’t her thing, but when Vaughn did it, it was.

He kissed her hip, her stomach, and touched the breast Nathan wasn’t caressing. Two different men touching her breasts felt fucking amazing. The differences between them, and the similarities, as they stroked, pinched, and nipped sent her up so high she was squirming on the couch.

Nathan lifted away, his mouth reddened from their extended series of kisses. His eyes were slumberous, dark with desire. “I meant it,” he said. “I am so turned on right now I’m finding it hard holding back.”

Vaughn took advantage of the space, working his way up her body to take a nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard before he released it, the peak crinkling when the chill hit it.

She squirmed again, but after dispensing with her pants, Vaughn put his hands on her hips and licked her. His tongue, long and probing, returned before she could take in what he was doing and pushed inside her. “Fuck!” Nobody had reached so deep inside her with their tongue before.

Her long, low groan evoked a growl from Nathan. “He’s partially shifted. That’s a panther’s tongue you’ve got inside of you.”

She didn’t know whether to push him away or not. How to cope with this totally unexpected turn of events. Should she be appalled? But she could only thrill to the sensations Vaughn was giving her. In this form, his tongue was harsher, rougher, and the tip more pronounced. He could control it better, and he did, curling it delicately around her inner channel. Her cunt responded, clenching in a series of mini-quakes, precursor to her orgasm.

He glanced up and met her gaze. His face was human, but his eyes had gone cat. They were glossier, and they had a yellow iris with a black center, no white, shocking her and thrilling her at the same time.

Her body wound itself up to a peak and halted, preparing to fall off the cliff…

Then he pulled out.

When he looked at her again, his eyes had returned to human, and when he spoke, no trace of a rough, pointed tongue remained. “It’s time. You’re ready.”