STORY EXCERPT

Whoever was in the room with her could be dangerous. Perhaps they meant to kill her. Maybe there was someone among this clan that didn’t like the idea of a different shifter in their midst.

Slowly the sounds of the footsteps came closer until finally she could see the owner of the steps. He was unusually tall. His jet-black hair, with odd reddish streaks through it, was pulled back into a ponytail. Dark slashes of eyebrows were furrowed into a mixture of curiosity and irritation. Bright hazel eyes peered down at her like she was an insect. He was beautiful, and he looked very dangerous. Why his scent was so familiar to her she couldn’t fathom.

“We are Tigerian.” His voice was rough.

“How did I get here?”

He slowly began to walk around the table. He peered at her exposed wound and sniffed. She didn’t like the way he studied her. “I carried you.”

“Oh.” Well, it explained why the scent was familiar to her. So he’d obviously saved her from the trap and brought her here for Elkin to heal. Why was he looking at her as if she were beneath him? Despite her vulnerable position, she began to get annoyed.

“Where are your people?” he asked.

Back to that again. Paege rolled her eyes. Why did they care so much? Tigerian were nomadic, except during mating season. They had their own mating grounds, but generally, they kept moving. So why the keen interest in the Pantheraum? “I don’t know.”

He walked around to the side of the table and bent low so that his eyes were but a few inches away from her. “I don’t have time to play games with you, little cub. You will tell me what I want to know.”

Paege felt a tremor of fear, but she ignored it. She wouldn’t be bullied by him or anyone else. Paege stared back at him without blinking. “I said. I. Don’t. Know.”

The growl started low in his throat. He bared his teeth at her. Paege waited for him to rip her throat out.

“Kaddox, why are you threatening my patient?”

Paege sighed in relief at the sound of Elkin’s voice. So the brute’s name was Kaddox. “Because she’s asking for it,” he responded before bringing himself up to his full height.

Elkin approached the table. “You brought her to me to heal. She is not fully healed.”

“I brought her to you to save her life until she serves her purpose,” Kaddox corrected him. Paege clearly understood the difference between the two. He couldn’t care less if she eventually died. He had a purpose for her. That would explain why she was chained to the table.

“What do you mean to do with me?” Paege asked, hating the tremble in her voice.

Kaddox began to walk away. He paused by the entrance of the tent before he turned. “You are bait for the Scientists.”

“Get back here, you bastard!” Her words rang so loudly, some of the people in the camp stopped what they were doing. They cast questioning eyes at him, and Kaddox felt his temper flare nearly out of control.

He turned smartly on his heel and marched right back into the tent. Elkin stood over the woman with an amused expression on his face. He would deal with Elkin later. Kaddox stood on the other side of the table and nodded curtly at Elkin, indicating he wanted the healer to leave. Elkin didn’t budge.

“I won’t let you harm her.” Elkin stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.

Elkin had never stood on an opposite side from him. It was quite odd he was doing it over a woman. A Pantheraum, at that. He would most certainly deal with Elkin later.

“I’ve no intention of harming this little cub. I do, however, intend to teach her a little bit of manners and respect.”

“Just remember you are a huge Tigerian, and she is little more than a young injured woman strapped to a table.” Elkin looked down at the woman. “It would be wise of you to watch your tongue, Paege. This one has quite a temper, and even less patience.”

Kaddox looked down at the woman who now stared up at him with huge green eyes. There was definite fear in them and something else. Determination. Well, whatever it was she was determined to do, he would put a stop to it immediately. There was only room for one person’s will, and he’d already voted it would be his…

ADULT EXCERPT

As soon as the words spilled from her lips, Kaddox lost all semblance of control. It didn’t matter that her words were cynical. He grabbed her and kissed her. He wanted to erase the recent memory of Elkin’s lips upon hers. Elkin had no right. This female needed to be tamed by him. Branded by him. Thoroughly pounded by him.

She opened her mouth to him and welcomed him in. Her tongue tangled hotly with his own, her scent began to fill every cell in his being, setting him on fire. He pulled her hips flush to his, wanting her to feel the effect she had on him. He needed her to know he would make her his and he was fully equipped to do so.

She made small sounds of pleasure, an almost kittenish purr deep in her throat. Kaddox responded in turn. She was begging for him to have her. Kaddox broke the kiss and spun her around so that her sexy, lush bottom nestled right against his erection. He pulled her hair to the side and bit into her Control. He didn’t bite her hard enough to render her helpless, just enough to cause her body to go slightly lax as he brought them both to their knees.

 He ripped her scant clothing away, needing to touch her almost scalding skin. She was in full heat. He pushed her slightly forward until her hands shot out to steady herself on all fours.

Kaddox leaned back on his haunches for just a moment, admiring the beautiful ass displayed up in the air for him. He made little work of his clothing then began to stroke himself while looking at her. She looked back at him. Her expression was one of curiosity, impatience…lust. And yet even through that he saw her innocence. He saw the trust she put in him. He was her first. The thought was like a punch in the stomach. He would be the first man inside of her.

The thought made him harden even more. He took a deep breath, trying to catch his control, trying to calm his libido just a bit. She was innocent. He could hurt her if he wasn’t careful.

He leaned over her again, blanketing her body with his own. He licked the side of her neck slowly and felt the shiver that went through her body. His hand snaked around to her front as he began to stimulate the small bud nestled between her folds. She was so wet, so slick. He licked his lips. He wanted to taste her so badly. But right now his body demanded to be inside of hers.

Kaddox bathed his cock in the wetness between her legs, coating himself in her desire. Her back arched as he continued to rub her clit. Her breathing came in gasps. He knew she was close to an orgasm. He nibbled at her ear then whispered to her. “Come for me, little kitten.” As if on cue, her body shook in waves as the orgasm rocked her.

Kaddox used the moment to slide inside of her. She screamed in what he hoped was more pleasure than pain. His world stopped as he seated himself deep inside of her. Her wet walls gripped him tight.

The world melted around him, and all he could feel was himself inside of her. Aftershocks from her orgasm had her walls gripping and releasing him in such succession he thought he would come from just being inside of her.

He began to move inside of her, pumping in and out of her slowly. He gritted his teeth, trying to maintain control when all he wanted to do was slam inside of her over and over again.

She began to make those kittenish noises again, the ones he was finding to be sexy as hell. Her body was weeping for him and him alone. She was his. His. No other. No other man would ride her the way he was. He absolutely forbid it. No man would know this pleasure but him.

“Mine,” he grunted as he picked up his pace. He grabbed her slim hips and pulled her closer to him, going as deep inside of her that her body would allow. “Mine,” he said again, and his control began to systematically slip. He began pounding into her, she fell to her elbows, causing her ass to go higher in the air for him. “Say it, dammit!” he ordered her as he ground himself inside of her.

She moaned, her voice an almost keening sound as he reached around and began to stimulate her clit again. He could feel her body stiffening and knew she was close to another orgasm.

“Say it!” he demanded in frustration as his own orgasm began to build.

“I don’t…I don’t…know,” she gasped as her hands clawed at the ground.

“Say you are mine,” he ordered her, slowing the pace of both his cock and his fingers. She cried out in frustration as she backed up against him, trying to get him to continue fucking her. “Say it, Paege.”

She said nothing as she bucked backward, trying to get him deep inside of her. Kaddox wanted to fuck her more than anything…but he needed to hear her say she would give herself to no other. “Fuck!” she screamed in desperation.

“That’s exactly what I want to do. Just say it,” Kaddox urged her as he slid inside of her slowly then out again. The head of his cock lay just at herentrance, Paege tried to back up and let it slide in her, but Kaddox wouldn’t allow it.

“Yes, dammit!”

“Yes what?” Kaddox swallowed, his heart pounding, waiting to hear the words that would put them both out of their misery.

“Yes, I’m yours. Just yours. Now fuck me!” she ordered him on a scream.