STORY EXCERPT

Brock smiled. “After getting her belly full, she was so worn out from being sick that she fell asleep in the bathtub. Thomas is staying with her. I wanted to come down and talk to you. Needed a run?”

“Yes.” Dane continued up the steps and into his house, knowing that Brock would follow, and made his way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

After guzzling the bottle, he tossed it into the recycling bin and reached for another, offering it to Brock. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Brock accepted the bottle and cracked it open while Dane reached into the refrigerator for another, still without turning on any lights. “Callie’s afraid that she upset you by telling you about Alana going on another job.”

Dane snorted and opened his own bottle. “Her entire career upsets me. I can’t have her putting herself in danger that way. Why doesn’t she tell Callie where she’s going?”

Brock shrugged. “Sometimes Alana doesn’t know where she’s going to end up when she’s tracking someone down, but mostly because Callie worried when she knew Alana was going somewhere dangerous, which she usually is.”

After sipping from his bottle, Dane turned. “And she’s dealing with dangerous people.”

Brock took a sip of his water and leaned on the island. “And that worries Callie, as well as Thomas and me. Have you tried to call her?”

“Yes. When I told her that I don’t want her doing any more bounty hunting, she suggested that I bite her, which I plan to do at the first opportunity, and then the brat hung up on me.”

Brock threw his head back and laughed, cutting his laughter off with a cough. “I’m sorry, but I can imagine her doing just that. She’s a little spitfire. You’re going to have your hands full with that one.”

Dane clenched his jaw. “No woman has ever hung up on me, and none have ever told me to bite them. They’re usually docile and very accommodating.”

Brock grinned. “That’s because the animal inside us makes us good in bed. Our senses are sharper, and until we meet our mate, our stamina in bed is better. Mates tend to rip at our control.”

Dane frowned. “What? I’ve never heard anything like that before. I enter the information into the files, and I’ve never seen anything about that.”

Brock shrugged. “It came about during a couple of beers and a conversation between those of us who have mates. We realized that we had a hell of a lot more stamina with the women we’d been with in the past. Once we found our mates, the hunger is so intense that holding back is impossible. It’s raw and a little out of control.”

“I’m never out of control.”

“You will be. A mate affects us a hell of a lot differently than other women. You’ve already experienced that for yourself.”

Remembering the way he’d felt when he met Alana, Dane inclined his head. “Yes, but I’m prepared for it now. I can’t protect her if I allow myself to get distracted.”

Dane thought about how attuned he’d been to Alana during those few brief minutes. “She’s mine. My mate. She can’t continue bounty hunting.”

Brock finished his water and crumpled the bottle before tossing it into the bin for recycling. “I don’t blame you. It’s s fucking dangerous job. Callie’s hoping that you can keep Alana safe.”

Dane allowed a small smile, his worry for Alana distracting. “Tell her I will. Your mate’s pregnant and doesn’t need to be worrying about anything.”

“I will.” Brock sighed. “I’m going to get back to Callie. Let me know if you need anything.”

“I need a key to Callie’s house.”

“You’ve got it.”

Dane sipped his water and watched Brock go before turning his attention to his phone.

He’d never settle until he was with her again, but at least he had to make sure that she was all right.

He speed-dialed her number, cursing when the call went straight to voice mail.

Fighting the urge to throw his phone against the wall, he calmly disconnected and dialed again, only to get the same result.

He disconnected again and wrapped his hand around the phone, fighting the urge to crush it.

Fighting not to shift.

Drenched in sweat from his run, he carried the phone with him toward the bathroom, glancing at his bed on the way. He imagined Alana lying naked in it, her blonde hair mussed from his hands and splayed over his pillow.

His palms itched to feel her soft skin, to explore every inch of her body until he knew it as intimately as he knew his own.

Turning away from the bed with another curse, he went into the bathroom and set his phone on the counter, not wanting to miss the call if she called him back.

After showering, he swiped the towel over himself and set it on the counter before picking up his phone and calling her again.

His gut twisted more with each ring, the mental image of her lying somewhere in a pool of blood making him physically ill.

“What?”

Stunned, not only that she’d answered but her angry tone, Dane frowned. “Alana?”

“What? Who is this?”

“Bitch! You broke my fucking nose!”

Dane blinked at the angry male voice. “Who the hell is that?”

“Shut the hell up and don’t get blood all over my car!”

Dane clenched his jaw but fought to keep his tone calm. “Alana, it’s Dane. Are you all right?”

“Of course I’m all right! I’m a little busy right now, Dane, and not in the mood for your bossiness. Don’t call me again.”

Dane stared at the phone in disbelief.

She’d hung up on him again!

ADULT EXCERPT

He picked her up from the floor with an ease that thrilled the rarely felt feminine side of her and rose, settling her on the edge of the bed.

Spreading her legs wide with his own, he slid a finger into her pussy. “Are you sore?”

“No!” Alana squirmed, pumping her hips, fucking herself on his finger. “I’m so hungry for it. What the hell?”

Dane bent to take a nipple into his mouth, sucking hard and sending white-hot heat to her slit.

Crying out, she continued to pump her hips, her pussy clenching on his finger and coating it with her juices. “Take me, damn it!”

Dane lifted his head and went to his knees between her thighs, his hands closing on the underside of her knees and pushing her thighs back, exposing her slit completely. “We went too fast last night. I want a taste of my mate’s cream.”

Alana bucked against his hold, her arousal intense and overwhelming. “Listen, you son of a bitch, you’d better take me right now.”

Another growl erupted as he ran his flattened tongue through her slit. “Orders, my mate?”

Crying out when he stabbed his tongue into her, Alana gripped the covers, the pleasure almost unbearable.

But she needed more.

“Please! I can’t take it!”

Dane closed his lips over her clit, sucking gently, the pressure enough to send her over in a rush of heat and sensation.

Riding the wave of pleasure, she screamed his name, kicking her feet as the pleasure went on and on.

He slid his finger into her pussy, another growl escaping, the vibrations of it on her clit intensifying the pleasure.

Gripping his hair, she tugged, earning another growl. “Stop growling at me and fuck me! You did this to me, didn’t you?”

Lifting his head, Dane reached for the fastening of his jeans. “I’d better be the only one that makes you feel like this.”

With her hunger out of control, Alana scrambled to her knees, closing her hand over his cock as soon as he lowered his jeans, surprising herself with her daring. “Take me, or get away from me!”

Dane growled again, the sound exciting her even more. “Stop. Let me get a condom.”

“No need.” Alana leaned forward and closed her mouth on his cock, starving for the taste of him.

She sucked hard, thrilled when the growls coming from him got deeper and lasted longer, crying out around his cock when he closed his fingers on her nipples.

Rolling them between his thumbs and forefingers, Dane bent slightly over her. “You want a fuck you’d better let go.”

Alana released him and rose higher to her knees, running her hands over his chest. “Then fuck me or I’m leaving.”

His eyes narrowed, darkened even more, and glittered with something erotic and dangerous a second before he snaked a hand around her waist and spun her until she was on her hands and knees, her ass facing him. “Do you really think I’m going to tolerate your threats to leave, my mate?”

He gripped her hair in one hand and bent over her, thrusting his cock deep. “You’re mine, Alana. Make no mistake about that.”

Closing his teeth on her shoulder, he pressed his hand against her belly, sliding a finger over her clit.

Releasing her shoulder, he growled in her ear. “You’re going to come again, and again, and again. Maybe then you’ll learn to stop challenging me.”

Closing his teeth over her shoulder again, he began to thrust, only withdrawing slightly before thrusting into her hard and fast again.

Her ass slapped against him with every thrust, his thick cock stretching her inner walls as it slid over them, every ridge of his cock providing the most incredible friction.

The pleasure seemed never ending, and she found that even her ass burned with awareness as another orgasm washed over her.

“Yes. More. Gimme more.”

Releasing her shoulder and her hair, he pressed a hand to her upper back, pressing her shoulder to the mattress. “You want more, my mate?”

He continued to thrust into her, the angle allowing his cock to go even deeper.

Crying out over and over, she pushed back against him, throwing her head back when he began to stroke her clit. “Yes. Please, Dane. I can’t get what I need.”

“You’re a mate to a shapeshifter, Alana. You’re not going to be satisfied until your tight pussy is filled with my seed.”

Knowing that she should have been repulsed, Alana instead found herself both fascinated and excited at the raw sexuality of their lovemaking and being with such a masculine man. “Yes. Give it to me.”

“Come again, my mate. Yes. Fuck, baby.”

She clamped down on his cock and came again, crying out breathlessly at the height of the next crest. “Dane!”

Dane pumped into her hard and fast several more times and surged deep, his cock pulsing inside her.