STORY EXCERPT

Rachel had already started running toward the small barn close to the vampire’s house by the time Chance and Dylan confirmed that what she was hearing wasn’t a mistake. Dylan rushed past her and pushed the barn doors open. With Chance at her side, she hurried into the interior.

The dimly lit interior didn’t give her a lot of light. Quickly shifting to bring out her weretiger’s sensitive eyesight, she scanned the barn. The horses snorted and pranced in their stalls, but were they jumpy because of their sudden appearance or from something else?

The noise came again, solidifying what her heart had already known, but what her mind had thought impossible. “It’s a baby.”

Chance moved off to the left, heading for the tack room. “It’s coming from in here.”

Rushing after him, she burst into the smaller room filled with saddles, bridles, and other equestrian equipment. It didn’t take long for her to find the bundle wrapped in a dirty white blanket lying on a small pile of hay.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. She knelt next to the baby, her mind spinning. “Where did he come from? Why would anyone leave a baby in a barn?”

Chance scooped up the infant and handed it to her. “Beats the hell out of me.”

At first the baby squirmed, but then settled down when his eyes met hers. Gone was the cry. In its place came happy gurgles. Rachel cuddled the infant close to her chest. “What in the world are you doing here, precious?”

Her question was barely out of her mouth when it hit her. The connection. Unlike the sexual bond she’d felt the moment she’d seen Chance and Dylan, this one was different. Yet it was just as strong, just as heartbreakingly beautiful.

The baby belonged to her. She knew it without a doubt.

“Check him out.” Dylan shrugged. “Just to be sure he’s okay.”

She undid the swaddling of the blanket and took in the smooth skin of the baby. Tracing a finger playfully over the child’s nose then down its belly, she revealed the truth. “She’s just fine.” She lifted her gaze to Dylan’s. “It’s a girl.”

“Holy shit.” Chance tilted his head, his eyebrows dipping toward his nose. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking she’s not just a girl. She’s a werewolf girl.”

Rachel looked into the baby’s eyes again, searching for any recognition of an inner wolf. Slowly, she brought the baby to her nose and drew in a long breath. Although sniffing wasn’t a surefire way of determining what kind of shifter an infant was—the baby girl’s shifter scent would grow stronger as she aged—it would give them a solid guess. “I think you’re right. But I think she’s also part human.”

Dylan started to speak then stopped as another cry split the air. A cry that hadn’t come from the baby girl.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Chance was up and running out of the tack room with Dylan right on his heels.

Holding the baby carefully, Rachel followed them toward the rear of the barn. Chance looked behind a stack of hay bales and gave a low whistle.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” muttered Dylan.

“That’s what I said,” added Chance. He bent down then straightened up. When he turned around, he was holding another baby. “Did a stork get lost or something?”

She looked at the second baby. “I’m no judge of infants, but I’d say she looks a lot like the first baby.”

Chance checked the baby. “Yeah, but this one’s a boy.” He did as she’d done, taking a long sniff of the infant. “Although I think he’s a weretiger. Half weretiger.”

The three of them stayed where they are, each of them taking their time to study the two babies. The blankets were similar in fabric and weight, as well as both being white. Aside from diapers, each baby was naked. Their crystal blue eyes and sweet round cheeks told the story.

“They’re twins.” She held the girl closer and let the baby boy clutch her finger. Again, the invisible link between them warped into high gear. The boy was connected to her, just as the men and the baby girl were.

“Hey. Are you all right?” Dylan’s eyes darkened.

Didn’t they feel it? If she was connected to the babies and to the men, wouldn’t they feel it, too? If they weren’t connected, then what? She couldn’t bring herself to ask. “I’m fine. But why would anyone leave two babies in a barn? Especially a vampire’s barn?”

“Beats the hell out of me,” answered Dylan. He eyed her as though expecting her to do or say something more.

“The real question is this. What are we going to do with them?” Chance held out the baby to Dylan. At first, Dylan hesitated then let his cousin place the baby in his arms.

“We have to contact the authorities.” Yet, even as she said the words, her heart hurt a little to think of the two babies in the care of anyone but their mother.

No. Not their mother. Me.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Chance.”

Maybe she’d said his name to tell him to back off. Maybe she’d said it hoping to push him over the edge, the last of his resistance crumbling into the nothingness below like dirt falling off a cliff. He’d never know and no longer cared.

His fingers tunneled into her hair as his body crushed against hers. The quickening of her pulse raced against his lips as he kissed her neck. Her breaths came in fast repetition. For a moment, he was certain she’d fight back. But it was a fight she was bound to lose. He’d captured her, and he wasn’t about to turn her free.

She felt amazing, soft yet hard against him. Her scent filled his nostrils, sending his inner wolf wild. Need swallowed him, pushing the human side of him away as the wolf took over, leaping upward, threatening to break out fangs and claws.

His palm found her warm breast under her sweater. His thumb massaged her taut nipple through the thin material of her bra. He growled, covering her mouth and smothering her sigh. A hard yank brought her jeans to her ankles. Hurrying, he helped rid her of her shoes and the jeans. Another growl escaped him, frustration setting in as he fumbled with his belt buckle. His hat fell to the floor.

Picking her up, he took her to the hard-packed dirt floor. Before he could shove his hand between her legs, she spread them, urging him to thrust aside her panties and shove his fingers into the hot, moist darkness. He tugged the sweater over her head, tousling her golden curls, then snagged her bra with his teeth and tore it from her.

Even going as fast as he could, he still couldn’t go fast enough. Now wasn’t soon enough to have her. After all the teasing, after all the make-out sessions where he’d been left wanting and hurting, he couldn’t, wouldn’t, stand for any more rejection.

His beast roared, demanding to be in control. The world filled with amber as his eye color changed, and he felt the tip of fangs against the back of his lips. Struggling to stay in human form would be a monumental task, but he’d do it. Just barely.

“Move.”

If Chance didn’t know Dylan’s voice, and the sound of it when his cousin’s wolf charged to the surface, he might not have understood the word. As it was, he didn’t want to obey him. Let his cousin find another woman. Any woman besides Rachel.

Yet, they’d always known they’d share. When they’d both experienced the connection with her, they’d been overjoyed. But his lust, his need to take her first, overwhelmed him. Growling, he craned his neck to look up at his cousin.

Dylan was barely hanging on. Amber sparkled in his eyes, and the beginning of fur skimmed his jawline. He clenched and unclenched hands tipped with viciously long claws. His cousin was naked, his cock standing straight out, pre-cum oozing from the tip.

Chance saw himself in his cousin.

We can’t. Not as wolves. She’d never forgive us.

He growled and shook his head, as much to tell his cousin to back off as to shove down the wolf clawing its way outward. Pain seared into him as he pushed away and forced his animal back into submission.

Yet the human side of his nature wouldn’t be subdued.

He slid down Rachel’s body, her chest heaving as her big eyes met his. He smiled, trying to show her he was still in control, then lowered his head to press feathered kisses along the roundness of her stomach.

Spreading her legs farther apart, he glanced up at her then put his head between her legs to drink up her sweetness.

Now, cousin. Join me.

It didn’t matter that Dylan couldn’t hear his thoughts. He knew what his cousin would do.

He heard Dylan drop to his knees beside her. Peeking over her mons, he smiled against her pussy folds as his cousin presented his cock to their mate. Without hesitation, she opened her plumped lips and drew him in.

Chance rubbed his cock against her leg as he whipped his tongue around her clit. Over and around the peaked bundle of nerves he went, gathering every bit of taste he could from her. Using two fingers, he gave her a small hint of what it would be like to take his cock inside her. Her body jerked, and then she reached for him.

Is she a virgin? Is that the real reason she always says no?

Achingly, he pulled his fingers away. Disappointment flared, but was gone as soon as he used his thumbs to spread her wider. He’d prepare her, but he wouldn’t be denied. Not again. Not ever again.

Her soft cries came and went with her fast breaths. She cupped Dylan’s balls as she hollowed her cheeks, bringing his cock in then releasing it only to start all over again. Dylan’s amber gaze fixed to hers, but the fur and the claws were gone. He’d managed to pull his wolf back from taking over just as Chance had done.

She was a shifter siren calling them to her. Even if they hadn’t shared the connection, he would’ve wanted her. How could he not? She was everything he’d ever dreamed of, every woman rolled into one magnificent creature.