STORY EXCERPT

She kept glancing up at him through her lashes. His dusty trail-worn clothes were well made, though very dirty. He looked like any other mountain man who flooded the towns she had been in recently. She had many propositions from these mountain men to go with them to their home for about every job imaginable. She was down to her last dollar, and something about this man instilled trust. She didn’t understand the reasoning. He even smelled good, for goodness sakes, which was odd.

“Hello, Mr. Dupries. My name is Alice Purcell. What would my job be?” she asked in a small voice. The relief she felt almost made her giddy. She listened to his list of duties and nodded her head every now and then. She really didn’t care what the duties were, as long as they got her away from the wagon train.

“I have a few things to pick up at the mercantile, and then I was heading out. Do you have much baggage to take?” he asked as he gently took her arm and headed in that direction.

“I have one bag that the wagon train leader is holding for me,” she said as she struggled to keep up with his stride. He must have noticed, as he slowed down and sent a look of apology down to her.

She found herself right back where she started. This time, she entered the store with a lighter heart. She followed Brand around, helping him choose the additional supplies he needed. She picked out items that he wanted and set them on the counter. With the last item placed on the counter, Brand paid the clerk and they carried the purchases out to the packhorse, hooked up beside the store.

She helped him secure everything, all the while taking little peeks at him from under her lashes. He was so large, by far the biggest man she had ever met. He moved with such smoothness, grace even, for such a huge man. She could spend hours just watching him walk. God, what is wrong with me? She asked herself, trying to control the fluttering in her stomach.

She had so many questions for him but wanted to put as many miles between her and the wagon train as possible, so she stopped herself before asking.

This was so unlike her, she thought. Why am I, all of a sudden, so trusting? This is not me.

Even though he had been nice and courteous and he’d given her a way out of there, away from an inconceivable fate, she questioned her sanity.

His very touch seemed to lighten her heart. With every breath she took, his smell made her more relaxed than she had been in months.

She felt safe.

The clerk walked out to them and handed Brand a small package that he placed in his coat pocket. When the clerk turned to her to wish her luck, she smiled and thanked him.

Brand walked over to his horse and, before she could ask, lifted her up onto its rump. She gave a small gasp as he quickly mounted in front of her. The horse was a huge, beautiful buckskin that didn’t even fidget with the added weight. She had never seen such a large horse. Though given the giant who owned him, she could see the need for such a big animal. He fastened the lead rope to his pommel and headed over to the wagon train.

All activity stopped as they rode up. Several of the men sent glares their way. The train leader hurried up to them, clearly agitated.

“Get off that horse, you stupid girl,” the leader barked. “You know you don’t have to do this. There have been a couple of good offers for you. You can even choose between them.”

* * * *

Brand felt her tighten her hands around his waist and tremble. His protective instincts came to full force as he took in several of the lecherous expressions on the surrounding men. He guessed the offers were not to her liking.

He smoothly dismounted and placed a restraining hand on Alice’s thigh to keep her mounted. His towering height and ominous expression caused several of the men to rethink their position and beat a hasty retreat. The leader was either overconfident or just plain stupid as he tried to maneuver around him to reach for his mate. His progress suddenly halted as Brand smoothly stepped into his path.

Brand let the monster, which was always near the surface, bleed into his eyes when the man finally looked up at him. He smiled slowly when the man backed up and noticeably swallowed.

 The leader said, after finding his voice, “The girl is under my protection ever since her father was killed in a wagon accident. I have made it so she has a protector.”

Brand looked at each man and finally settled his heavy gaze again on the man in front of him. “I will make myself very clear. The girl is now under my protection. If any man wants to object, they can, of course, do so, but I would highly recommend against it.”

“Alice,” someone said in a small voice from between the wagons. The voice belonged to an old woman who had gone unnoticed in the tension-filled atmosphere. She made her way over to the horse, totally ignoring the towering giant in front of her.

“Is this what you want, Alice?” she asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Willis, this is totally my decision, and thank-you again for all your kindness when my father died. I don’t know what I would have done without you.

“I need my bag, Mr. Taylor,” Alice said to the leader.

He huffed off to retrieve it and all but threw the bag at Brand. Brand caught it without flinching and secured it to the packhorse.

Mrs. Willis grabbed his arm and halted his remounting. He looked down into brown eyes filled with determination. “Take care of the girl, sir, or you will be sorry.”

That this came from a woman barely reaching his belt would have been hilarious if not for the tingle that traveled from her hands to his arm. He saw her eyes widen when his beast answered back in a surge of power. She smiled up at him and squeezed his arm.

“You and your brothers will be wonderful mates to my girl,” she whispered, to his astonishment.

ADULT EXCERPT

Seth sat with his chair tilted and his legs propped up on the table. He looked at the three queens in his hands and reached over to raise the pot when he caught a faint whiff of something delicate. His legs dropped down and the momentum of the chair brought him to his feet. His brothers looked up from their own cards in question.

“Do you smell that?” Seth clipped out.

The others took a moment to sniff the air, coming to their feet as the elusive smell reached them.

Mate.

That was the smell. They looked at each other as they, as one, rushed to the door. They stumbled onto the porch, taking in the sight of their brother riding fast toward them. The naked woman in his arms was tied, squirming and moaning, as tremors raked her body.

Seth filled his nostrils with the heady scent of his mate’s arousal. His cock lengthened and hardened as he took in her struggling form. She was out of control as she tried to grind her body into the man holding her.

“Shit, how long has she been in heat?” demanded Seth to Brand.

“About three hours now,” came the strained reply as he handed down his moaning captive. “I couldn’t control my reaction to her when her heat came on to her on the back of my horse. I released into her about an hour ago when she wouldn’t stop screaming. Since then she has been frantic.”

Seth grabbed the woman and carried her into the interior of the cabin. Her lush beauty was a sight to behold. The blonde hair flowed down her back and clung to her legs. Her teeth, grabbing her lips, bruised her moist mouth. She undulated her hips, trying to get relief.

There was only one relief and that was a cock, or in this case, several cocks. This was their mate, the one they had been waiting for all their lives. The searching was over, and she was within their grasp. She would complete them. The agony of being unfulfilled fell away, and relief and lust were paramount.

Seth wasted no time in divesting his clothes as he watched her writhe on the bed. He joined her, turned her to her knees, and undid her binds. He covered her body with his and buried his cock deep inside. She screamed as her orgasms repeatedly clutched his cock, making his balls tighten. He thrust in and out as his brothers watched, waiting their turn. He held her hips as he pumped his cock deep into her pulsating core. He stroked her buttocks and reached under her to fondle one of her hanging breasts.

Her reaction was instantaneous as she reared up in his arms, screaming another release. She aggressively pushed back on to his cock, demanding him to pound harder. He obliged her want with a savage snarl, grasping her hair and pulling her up to kneel before him, giving him a better angle to fuck her. She answered his snarl with one of her own as she raked her fingernails down his arm, leaving a bloody trail. She became a wild thing in his arms as she tried to find release.

He knew that kind of release wouldn’t come until she was bitten, and they couldn’t bite her until they all mated with her, sealing her fate to them by giving her all their essences.

His release triggered another orgasm for her. She collapsed onto the bed still moaning and gasping. She pulled the covers to her and gathered them, placed them between her legs, and rode them. The sight was breathtaking.