STORY EXCERPT

Gavin woke from a chill that spread through his body. His mind was cloudy with haze as he searched the room for clarity. Then his heart leapt from his chest once he realized Shadow was no longer beside him. He recalled seeing a murky figure appear behind her, and just as unconsciousness claimed him, she was gone.

He shot from the bed, searching for his clothes. After jabbing his legs into his pants, he dug into his pocket for his phone. He needed backup. He had a good idea who’d taken her, but he wasn’t ready to theorize just yet. He required proof and jumping to conclusions wasn’t going to help anyone.

I’ll kill that son of a bitch when I get my hands on him.

He pressed the buttons on his phone with familiarity. As partners and friends, he’d dialed Silence’s number a million times, and even if she hadn’t been Shadow’s sister, she should know what was going on.

“You better be calling me from the bathroom to tell me that you did good, big boy.”

“Someone’s taken your sister,” he blurted. His words scraped against his throat with a raw fierceness.

“What? Where are you?” Silence questioned with haste.

“I’m at her place in Shadow Meadows,” he breathed hard. “We were together and someone came in and took her.”

“And you couldn’t stop him?”

A surge of disappointment filled him and he closed his eyes remembering what he could. “I was sort of…unconscious.” Frustrated, he raked his fingers through his hair. “Damn it, Silence, I didn’t even have a chance to do anything. I just fucking passed out.” His wolf roared at the back of his mind. He wanted his mate. He wanted the bastard’s head who took her.

Silence didn’t say a word for a long moment. “Could you make out anything about the person?”

He sat on the edge of the bed. “You know how I hate to guess.”

“Now is not the time for your necessary fact finding. Tell me what your gut says.” She knew him better than anyone. It came with the territory of being partners.

“It was Julian,” he said through gritted teeth. His chest tightened as if his soul was being ripped from his body. “Julian took her.”

Everything inside him told him it was that golden-haired bastard. The way Julian looked at Shadow when they were together made his gut roll with jealousy. Chances were, Julian took her somewhere to convince her to ignore the mating bond.

Could Julian cast a spell over her and make her forget that she’d told me she loved me?

He felt sick. His entire body rocked with splintering nerves. He wanted to hit something, knock the living hell out of something, anything.

Silence’s voice drew him from his unsettling thoughts. “That was my guess, too,” she muttered, sounding distracted and distant. “Listen, Gavin, sit tight. I need to grab a few things and then I’ll be on my way.”

His heart grew heavy. “Should I be worried?”

“No. Absolutely not,” her voice was stern and sincere. “I’ve known Julian my entire life. He would never hurt Shadow. He worships her.”

The twisting knot in his gut tightened. Again his thoughts returned to the reason that Julian had taken her. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” His jaw flexed under the compression of muscles. He could chew nails he was so pissed.

“I’ll be there soon,” she said before hanging up the phone.

For a long time he sat staring at his cell phone waiting for the screen to fade and resume sleep mode. He never blinked his eyes and they began to water. His heart couldn’t stand the idea of not having Shadow close. His wolf was furious. Gavin was going crazy thinking about another man hurting her and he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.

Shit, he didn’t even know where to begin searching for her. There was no trail to follow. No scent left behind. They just disappeared.

The fucking fey.

As hard as it was to do nothing, Gavin got dressed and retreated into the living room. An unsettling cold had consumed the home. He moved to start a fire in the fireplace, but a loud thump drew his attention toward the back porch.

He stiffened his spine, waiting to hear the sound again. Cabin homes in the woods could stir the mind into a frenzy of thoughts, if he wasn’t careful. Racing headlong into the forest would be reckless. Even with his lycan senses, he knew there were things in their world that could tear him limb from limb. But he couldn’t stop himself from stepping closer to the back of the home. The urge to investigate was unavoidable.

The thump grew louder as if something were knocking against the outer wall of the cabin. He held his position, tilting his head so his lycan ears could take over. He honed in on the noise.

The roof.

Most likely the sound was only a tree branch scraping against the shingles. Sighing heavily, he turned around. Cold, menacing gold eyes greeted him. Without a chance for his brain to process what was happening, a powerful force shoved against his chest, sending him flying back into the reading chair and lamp at the far corner of the room.

The air shot from his lungs like a bullet from a gun, leaving his body scrambling for oxygen. Gavin’s lungs burned and panic set in. Before he could stand, the figure in black was effortlessly hoisting him up.

Gavin was not a small man. At six foot six and over two hundred pounds, he was considered a Viking among his kin and friends. Being thrown around like a rag doll had him wondering what the hell this creature was.

ADULT EXCERPT

She erupted as the power of his touch flooded her system. Blood raging to a boil in her veins, she wrapped her arms around him as he leaned her back onto the floor. Positioning himself between her legs, his massive body covered hers, shielding her from the world around them.

With Gavin, she had an overwhelming sense of peace, like for the first time she was doing something she was meant to do. Suddenly, both her body and mind were no longer arguing over her confused emotions.

He took possession of her, placing her arms above her head with one hand and caressing her body with the other. She melted against his kiss. Cupping her breast, he gently massaged the mound in slow, tantalizing circles. Her nipples hardened as his touch lingered over the sensitive tip.

Gavin kissed her hard, tongues and teeth scraping against one another. Her heart raced as his fingers went to work on the buttons of her blouse. Opening only the top few, he parted the material to expose her breasts. The warm press of his lips on her skin had her entire body erupting in flames. She gasped as his moist tongue glided over her tingling flesh.

His wicked mouth clamped down on her covered nipple. Gently he tugged at the material until her breasts popped free and then he feasted like a starved animal, sucking and licking at her exposed mounds. She ran her fingers through his soft hair, holding him against her. Her pussy throbbed as he rubbed his erection between her legs.

The very real sensation of Gavin’s body pinning her down, his obvious arousal resting between her legs, and the awakening desires firing inside her had her squeezing her eyes shut. Panic rippled in her belly and quickly spread throughout her body. She quivered and her breathing labored.

He pulled back, gazing down at her with concern. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, swallowing the jitters that consumed her, and put on a brave face. She didn’t want to let her fears of the unknown keep her from experiencing sex with Gavin. Facing another celibate year, pretending she was happy about it, well that wasn’t working for her anymore.

Besides, this might be my only time with Gavin. Tomorrow I’m likely to remember that I’m leaving soon.

She reached up and stroked his cheek. The coarse whiskers on his face scraped gently against the skin of her fingers, sending a wicked shiver racing down each vertebra of her spine.

“Love me, Gavin.”

He cocked his head. “Are you sure? I only want to if—”

Pulling him close, her belly swarmed with nerves. “Stop talking. Just kiss me.”

Gavin didn’t kiss her. At least not right away. He collected all of the blankets and pillows from the sofa and quickly made a soft pallet for her to lie on. Helping her scoot onto the blankets, he stopped to kick off his boots and unbutton his shirt.

She sucked in a breath as he shrugged himself free of the clothing, revealing a sexy and well sculpted body. Muscles and sinew stretched across broad shoulders, down a perfectly smooth chest to a narrow waist. Licking her lips, she wanted to glide her fingers and tongue over every inch of his gorgeous frame. Riddled with anxiety, her pussy clenched and a wild shiver prickled along her skin.

Kneeling beside her, he finished unbuttoning her blouse, and pulled the material free of her body. Her bra followed. The moment the cooler air touched her skin, gooseflesh erupted everywhere. But Gavin’s body quickly covered hers in a protective shield of heat and spice.

For her, it wasn’t the wolf that took away the cold that seeped into her bones. Gavin had done that. The closeness of his body, the fevered press of his lips against hers, and the warmth of his breath on her skin all revved her body up so much she was her own furnace.

Wedged wonderfully between her legs, he pushed back to rest his rear on his heels. His fingers worked the button and zipper on her jeans, tugging the denim down her legs. She arched her hips as he traced his hands over the waistband of her white silk panties. She studied him as he adored her. The wicked sight of him as he watched and devoured her with his eyes made her wetter than she’d ever been.

He tossed her panties on top of her jeans. Then he unbuttoned his own pants, and worked them past his hips, releasing a monstrous cock that only a man like Gavin could possess.

Her breath escaped her lungs and fear assaulted her. She calmed once he placed his hands on her bent knees and gently pressed them open. Kneeling forward, he placed his mouth at her parted legs and licked between the slick folds. An electric pulse, unlike anything she’d ever experienced before, shot through her. Sinking deeper, pressing her legs wider, he parted the folds of her pussy and clamped his lips around her throbbing clit.