STORY EXCERPT

“What was that?” Maxim turned at the sound of a high-pitched wail. He frowned.

“It sounds like a child,” Matteus replied. “You don’t think those damned miners are trying to screw one again do you? What is it about those sick bastards trying to rape little boys?”

“I have no idea, but I do know that I would love to put at least two of them out of everyone’s misery.” Max ran toward the screams. He hoped to get there before the disgusting miners scarred the poor child for life.

Matt rounded the corner first, his eyes going wide. “Holy God. They’ve killed someone.”

Maxim smiled at Matt’s words. Death was never a good thing, but if it got a few of those sick bastards out of town on a prison wagon, at least the loss of life wasn’t a total waste.

They each skidded to a stop as they looked down at the dark, red-gold hair spread out around the face of an angel.

Taking a deep breath, the woman’s scent filled his nostrils and everything in him went still for a moment before his wolf snarled with rage. This woman could be his mate. He looked at Matteus. She could very well be mate to both of them, and someone had hurt her, possibly killed her.

A growl formed deep in his throat as he stood looking at the first woman on this Earth, hell, in the universe that had stirred his senses in over two hundred years.

He looked at the man who stood over her with a leer on his face and growled again. “Don’t touch her!” It was all he could do to keep himself from turning into his wolf and ripping the miner’s throat out. Who in the hell did he think he was, laying a hand upon any decent woman?

“I’ll touch her if I damned well please. She’s my whore. I saw her first.” The miner bent down and thrust his dirty fingers into her beautiful hair.

“Touch her again and pull back a nub.” The look on Matt’s face said he meant business. No one defied Max’s second-in-command when he used that look. Hell, Max had a hard time ignoring that look, and he was Chancellor of Taos and ruler of their kind. He wasn’t intimidated by anyone, but that look Matt got on occasion had always been enough to give him pause.

When the miner continued reaching toward their mate, both he and Matt growled. The two miners froze in place. The sound was…inhuman, as it should have been, considering they were wolven. They were what these men would call werewolves here on this planet. However, the miners didn’t know that.

“What’s the matter with you?” Elmer spat on the ground in front of him. “She’s nothin’ but a whore.” He grinned and then grabbed his crotch. “You can have a turn after we’re done with them.”

Max knelt down, brushed the hair from the beauty’s face, and glared at the man who dared to strike a female. “Leave us, or die, Fred.” He growled again and just for the hell of it, he let some of the predator glow show in his eyes.

Fred swallowed visibly. The acrid scent of fear poured off the man in waves and he stood, backing away. “Let’s get outta here, Elmer.” He backed up a few paces and helped his friend to his feet. “She’s probably no fun anyway. I don’t know of any good whore that would kick a man’s jewels up into his throat.”

The two left. Fred limped away, his friend supporting him, while he still held a hand pressed against his crotch. Elmer hovered close to his friend, complaining about harlots who didn’t know their place.

Max turned his attention back to their mate. A bruise bloomed on the side of her face in the short time he knelt over her. The only reason the two miners still lived was because they had no idea she was their mate. Otherwise, he would have killed them where they stood. Part of him still thought he should. If any human was nothing more than a waste of skin, it was those two.

Matt leaned down intending to talk to the boy, trying to gain his trust while Max reached for the woman, picked her up in his arms, then stood and looked down. As much as he wanted to give Matt the time he needed to get the boy to come along without a fight, he knew they needed to get the woman out of this town before she woke up. There was no doubt that she would never leave town with them willingly if she regained consciousness first.

“I am Max,” he said to the boy. Pointing to Matt, he added, “And this is Matteus, though you may call him Matt. We wish to help your mother. Will you allow it?”

The boy, who couldn’t have been more than ten or so, looked up at him through wide blue eyes and said something in a language he didn’t understand.

“Wonderful. He doesn’t speak English,” Max said with a sigh, resting his hands on his hips as he turned toward the livery. “I hope she does, or this is going to be an interesting courtship. Bring the boy, Matt. We need to get her home and into bed. There’s no telling what kind of damage those two did to her.”

Max looked down at his unconscious mate and wanted nothing more than to tear the two worthless men limb from limb, but he knew that would only end in a jail sentence for both him and Matt. It went without saying that they would reveal what they were as well, and that was something he couldn’t do, no matter how badly his wolf howled for retribution. It would put all of the wolven here on Earth at risk.

Turning, he headed toward the large barn where they’d stowed their horses. “I want to have her all to ourselves and away from this town when she wakes up.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Reaching out, Max cupped her cheek, feathering his thumb gently over her bottom lip. “May I kiss you again, Ann?”

Ann stared up into his beautiful green eyes and swallowed thickly. How could she tell him “no” when everything within her screamed “yes”? Yes, she wanted him. Yes, she would kiss him again and again, because no matter what happened, she wanted this day. If she could have no other time that would be for herself, she would have this day and this man. Licking her lips, Ann nodded, unable to voice her acquiescence.

“Say it, Ann.” He growled, his lips so close, his breath brushed her lips. “Say you want me to kiss you. I need to hear the words.”

“Kiss me, Max. I want you to kiss me, more than anything.” Her voice sounded breathy, husky. Reaching up, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Feathering her fingers through his thick hair, Ann drew his head down to hers.

Ann pressed tighter against him, loving the sensation of his solid body touching hers. She wanted to feel him hard against her like a man should be. She wanted him to thrust his tongue into her mouth, take what she offered, and give so much more in return.

How could she ever return to Florida, knowing that she would miss this? Though she was far from a virgin, she’d been ignorant of life’s pleasures. Now, though, she would forever miss the sensation of Max’s lips pressed against hers while his tongue delved deep into the recesses of her mouth.

His hands moved over her back, then down her arms to clasp her hands. Bringing them up beside her head, he trapped them against the wall of the stall behind her. He pressed the lower half of his body against her, the ridge of his cock digging into her mound.

Ann moaned as his mouth left hers to trace a line to her ear. He suckled the lobe between his lips, gently biting then laving away the slight sting. Her legs almost gave out. She panted, her body going up in flames. Cream slid sinuously from her channel and soaked her panties.

“No, you don’t.” He growled in her ear as he shoved his leg between hers, holding her up as she rode his thigh. “You’re not going anywhere.”

She didn’t want to go anywhere. She wanted to stay right where she was, in his arms and mewling out her ecstasy as he continued to drive her wild with his lips and tongue.

Yanking her hands free, Ann thrust her fingers through Max’s hair, dragging her fingernails over his scalp to pull him closer. Reaching down, he cupped her ass, pulling her tighter against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist and rode his cock.

Never before had she wanted a man as much as she wanted Max and Matt. What was wrong with her that she could even entertain the idea of making it with both men?

Grasping her legs, Max pushed them down until she was standing again. Ann started to pull away, mortified that she’d thrown herself at him the way she had. It wasn’t any wonder the man wanted to push her away.

“No, you don’t, you little minx,” Max said, his breath coming in short pants as he grasped her wrists. “You aren’t going anywhere after that maneuver.”

Reaching between them, he fumbled with her button and zipper until he had her jeans undone and her pants pushed down. They pooled around her ankles until she kicked off her shoes and stepped out of them.

Ann gasped when he thrust his hand between her legs, his fingers unerringly finding her clit.

“Gods, you’re wet,” he said as he dipped his head to suck her nipple through her shirt.

Grasping the hem, she pulled it over her head and threw it to the floor as Max switched to her other breast, practically devouring it through the white lace of her bra. Grasping his head, she held him close as he alternately sucked and nipped the tight bud.

“You have no idea how much I want to sink my cock into your cunt and fuck you until you scream.”

Ann whimpered at the visual. “Then what are you waiting for?” she finally gathered the courage to ask.

“Your permission,” he said with a chuckle. “But, seeing as you’ve just given it, I don’t mind if I do.”

Max wasted no time after that. Carrying her over to an empty stall, he laid her down and quickly shed his clothes.

Ann watched, her eyes half closed, as he stripped before her. She felt her body’s cream seep from her channel and run between her legs as Max exposed inch after inch of tanned and muscled flesh. She loved the way his pectorals rippled as he removed his shirt. She couldn’t help but stare at the way his biceps bunched and released as he removed his boots. Her eyes widened when he shed his pants, revealing the large erection she could barely wait to feel pounding inside her.

She watched as a pearl of liquid leaked from the tip and licked her lips. Never before had she ever wanted to taste a man the way she wanted to taste Max at that moment. Never had she wanted to grasp a man by the cock and suck it until he came in her mouth. Why now, and why with this man?