“Hush,” she groaned, rolling off the bed as her body tingled with sensation. She’d been marked by him. Claimed. “I hope this old house has a good water heater.”
“Why?”
She reached for the towel on the floor and wiggled her hips in his direction. “Because I’m a dirty girl and I want my giant, sexy stalker to join me in the shower with all his giant, sexy wolf bits?”
She heard the deep rumbling in his chest and grinned. That was one way to get him to stop thinking.
The best way.
She couldn’t sleep. Even after hours of reveling in Brandon’s touch, of showing him in every way she could how she felt about him, when he finally fell asleep with her wrapped up tightly in his arms, Aziza couldn’t join him in slumber.
Maybe they should have taken the time to talk, to go over all that had happened and how they both felt about it, but she had to admit that the sex was transcendent. Better than it had been before, and it
had
been the best experience of her life.
She supposed it was natural to want to cling to what made you feel alive, especially after being so close to death. Aziza grinned. There was nothing more life-affirming than having the man you were currently crazy about rock your world repeatedly—and so hard that once or twice you were afraid the bed would break.
That should have been enough to stop her from thinking. About everything. Razia. Death.
The two were synonymous in her mind. Razia had been Death incarnate—her family’s very own Reaper. Her smile disappeared. The things he’d said. Horrible and logical. Crazy and terrifying.
He thought he’d helped her. Elevated her to the status of Fireborne by killing the competition. He’d killed people who were practically strangers and offered them up to her as love notes. Gifts for his charge.
And he’d gotten away.
A part of her was shocked with herself. That she would be able to kill someone with intent. Without true remorse. There was a darkness inside her that told her some people simply deserved to die.
How did that make her any better than a killer like Razia?
She gingerly removed Brandon’s arms from her body and got out of bed, reaching for the fresh tank top she’d set on the chair in the corner and slipping on her red underwear.
She needed air.
Before she reached the stairs she paused at a closed door. The room they’d put Ram in. She turned the knob carefully and opened it to check on him.
He was asleep in the bed, his back facing the door. The bleeding had stopped once they’d gotten him settled, but he was still injured. Still suffering. And he was trapped here. For Penn. For her.
There had to be a way to help him. She owed him that. More than that.
She bit her lip, hating herself for the conflicted emotions inside her. It was Brandon she wanted. Had been unable to resist from the moment she saw him. But she couldn’t deny her feelings for Ram. Complicated. Resentful. Grateful.
Don’t forget the desire. You want him too.
There was no denying it. They shared a special connection. Different from the one she had with Brandon. In some ways, it was a little frightening…the things Ram made her feel.
“Close the door, Aziza,” Ram murmured darkly from the shadows of the room. He wasn’t asleep. “I may not be myself but I can still smell dog all over you.”
She winced at his words. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see if you were okay. To tell you about Shev and…to thank you. For saving Penn.”
“I’ll live.” His chuckle was bitter. “If you could call it that. And I can clearly see that Shev isn’t here. I can feel it. She made her choice. A smart choice. But then, she always was the clever one.”
He lifted his head and pounded his pillow with his fist, still refusing to look her way. “If you truly want to thank me you’ll do it by closing the door, Fireborne. You are the last person I need offering me comfort tonight.”
She closed the door. At least he was alive. Angry, mean and hurting. But alive.
Aziza cringed when the wood on the stairs creaked beneath her feet. She didn’t want to wake anyone else. She headed to the kitchen, her eyes widening when she smelled something cooking and saw that the light was on. She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.
“What are you two doing up?” She watched as Penn handed Greg a plate of her famous bangers and mash before turning at the sound of her voice.
“Aziza.” She smiled, adjusting her fluffy robe as she walked over to wrap her arms around her. “I was starving and I found our big American wandering around in the dark, craving some company. What about you?” She winked. “We would have imagined you’d be knocked out until next Friday the way you were carrying on.”
She saw Greg smirk and took the few steps necessary to whack him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t judge.”
He held up his hands, waiting until he swallowed the mouthful of food he’d been chewing before he answered. “I’m not judging, hon.” He paused. “But if I were, I’d give it a ten out of ten for enthusiasm.”
She rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. He’s just so…I mean…”
“Wow.” Greg grabbed her hand and squeezed warmly. “I’ve never seen a man make you speechless before. It looks good on you.”
She studied him carefully. He meant it. There’d been something different about him for the last few days. As if he’d loosened the reins a bit. On himself. On her. And tonight, it seemed he’d decided to let go of his concerns about the man she was with and what it would mean. Tonight he was just being Greg. Her best friend.
She relaxed and squeezed his hand in return. “I know. As if I needed one more terrifying new experience. But what about you? Do you remember what happened? Where Te took you?”
He looked away from her and shrugged. “I’m not sure. At least this time I’m speaking in coherent sentences and not writing on the wall with mashed potatoes. That’s a good sign. I’m pissed though.” He turned his attention to Penn, letting her know he didn’t want to go into detail tonight. “I wouldn’t have left either of you to face that alone if I’d had a choice.”
“We know, Gregory,” Penn cooed at him. “Now eat your food like a good boy so I can get back to snogging my lover.”
Aziza grinned tentatively. “Does this mean you’re back together?”
Penn’s smile dimmed for a moment. “It means we’re going to see where we go from here.”
Greg interrupted the somber silence that followed her words with a dramatic groan. “Not that I’m not glad you and Hillary are
snogging
again, or that you both got some tonight, but could we please stop talking about it? I obviously missed my opportunity with Shev, so it’s either that, or you find me a supernatural lover to sex up so I don’t feel so deprived.”
Aziza laughed. “Only if you never say ‘supernatural’ and ‘sex up’ in the same sentence again.”
“No promises.” Greg moved the food around his plate for a moment, looking at her sideways. “Penn told me what happened. What you did. Are
you
okay, Aziza?”
“Oddly enough, I think I am. There’s a lot to tell both of you. So much happened tonight I don’t know where to start.”
She wanted to tell them everything. Her dream with Tarik. The second vial of sand. How he’d told her she needed to find the others. She wasn’t sure where to begin searching, but she knew she had to try.
The burning sky. The bodies.
When she’d faced down her family’s killer, a killer who wanted her for something she still didn’t completely understand, she’d known he was connected to what she’d seen. That what he wanted would create the nightmare she’d been shown. But was it the end of the treaty or something more?
Free her.
It was growing inside her, this need to fight. To protect them—all of them—from what was coming. To find Razia and his cohorts and make sure they didn’t succeed.
For her brothers, for the mother she’d never really been allowed to know, for all the lives ripped unfairly away from the world so that the Jiniyr could fulfill their plans—she would care. She
did
care. Her blood burned for them.
She cared about Brandon too. Enough that it scared the shit out of her. She shook her head, pushing that out of her mind. She could think about it later. And she knew she would. Obsessively. Compulsively. About what it meant for her future. If they could even have one—temporarily or not. If he would want them to.
Stop thinking.
Right now, all she wanted to do was tell Penn and Greg the most important realization of the night. Something that had given her new purpose. New determination. They would understand. The two of them—the two people she loved most in the world—would be the only ones who could possibly comprehend how important it was. Aziza took a breath and let them see her smile spread to her eyes.
“Joseph is alive.”
About the Author
Best-selling, award-winning romance author R.G. Alexander has been called “a true storyteller” who creates “complex, humorous and heartbreaking characters” and vast and expansive worlds. She has written over 20 books in the paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary erotic romance genres. She is also a founding member of The Smutketeers, an author-formed group blog dedicated to promoting fantastic writers and a positive view of female sexuality.
She has lived all over the United States, studied archaeology and mythology, been a nurse and a vocalist, and now? A writer who dreams of vampires, witches and airship battles, and feels lucky every day that she gets to share her stories with her readers. She is happily married to a man known affectionately as The Cookie—her best friend, research assistant, and the love of her life. Together they hope to someday tame the wild Rouxgaroux that has taken over their home.
To find out more, visit her website
www.rgalexander.com
or follow her on twitter @
RG_Alexander
Look for these titles by R.G. Alexander
Now Available:
Three for Me?
Truly Scrumptious
Not in Kansas
Surrender Dorothy
Wasteland: The Priestess
Children of the Goddess
Regina in the Sun
Lux in Shadow
Twilight Guardian
Midnight Falls
Wicked3
Wicked Sexy
Wicked Bad
Shifting Reality
My Shifter Showmance
My Demon Saint
Coming Soon:
Make Me Burn
Burn Me Down
Only one will win the right to call her “mate”.
Rescue in the Smokies
© 2013 Becca Jameson
Durham Wolves, Book 1
Sergius Durham and his brothers are legendary trackers in these parts, and only the local sheriff knows why. They’re wolf shifters, attempting to live quietly on their horse farm. A difficult task when they’re summoned every time a hiker goes missing.
Serg knows there’s something different about his latest case the moment he touches her left-behind clothing. She is his mate, and nothing will stop him from finding and claiming her—except maybe the repeat-offending nuisance of a vampire who lured her off the trail.
Juliana Polanski isn’t sure how she got so lost, but there’s no mistaking her instant attraction to her rescuer. No denying the passion that explodes between them when rain drives them into a cave for shelter—or at his home, in his bed, even after the crazy, improbable truth of his heritage comes out.
Yet Serg knows the danger isn’t over. At any moment Julianna could be kidnapped right out of his arms—by the only creature the Durham brothers have never been able to track.
Warning: This book contains hunky shape-shifters living in the mountains, hot steamy sex in caves, mind-blowing oral, mild bondage and wild abandonment in front of mirrors.
Enjoy the following excerpt for
Rescue in the Smokies:
A strong whiff of his mate made Sergius lift his head.
She was close. She was also alive. If he could have sighed audibly in wolf form, he would have.
Serg ran. Fear of what he would find made his blood boil.
He pushed through a grove of trees and suddenly she was there, right in front of him, sleeping on a bed of leaves, curled up in a tight ball under a shiny Mylar cover.
He stood for several seconds, staring at her. His chest heaved from the mad dash to find her. He took a deep breath in and held it.
She was slight compared to him. Long, gorgeous, red curls feathered out in every direction, some covering her face.
The urge to lurch forward and nuzzle her made his front paws twitch.
He needed to shift and get her to safety, but he also wanted to burn this moment into his memory, the second he first saw his mate. His jaw clamped down on the pack he carried, his dry mouth reminding him of its presence.
Finally, he backed away from her several yards, hiding himself amongst the bushes he’d come through to let the change take him back to human form.
In two minutes, it was over and he was dressed. And this was why he always carried the cumbersome pouch.
She was so still.
He crouched beside her. Her breaths were shallow, her face totally relaxed in deep sleep. He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Juliana?”
His fingers shook where they’d made contact with her warmth, shockwaves traveling up his arm even through the jacket and whatever she wore underneath. The urge to haul her into his embrace made him tense. He needed to know she was all right. Every bit of her.
She startled awake and bolted upright. “Ohmygod,” she gasped. A strangled sound left her throat.
Her gaze met his from only a few inches away, green eyes like deep pools of water reflecting her shock, her fear and her relief all at once.
“Are you okay?”
She smiled up at him, cute dimples forming on both cheeks. “I am now.” She inhaled, releasing it slowly.