1NS 023 - Ann Mayburn - Prides of the Moon 1 - Amber Moon - Decadent 2011-07

by 1 Night Stand

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Amber Moon

  Copyright © 2011 by Ann Mayburn

  ISBN: 978-1-61333-023-4

  Cover art by Fiona Jayde

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

  Look for us online at:

  www.decadentpublishing.com

  Amber Moon

  Ann Mayburn

  A 1 Night Stand Story

  ~DEDICATION~

  I'd like to dedicate this book to my editor, Valerie Mann, who gracefully dealt with my fetish for the word 'soft' and tactfully hinted about this wonderful invention called a thesaurus. Thank you for putting up with me and my obsessive use of smiley faces. :D

  Chapter One

  Sabrina Wayne checked the GPS coordinates on her satellite phone even though she knew they were correct. She leaned against a sun warmed boulder in a small clearing far off the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. The old maple with the words ‘Paul + Nancy’ carved into the trunk marked it as the location Madame Eve specified in her email. The thick summer grass muffled the sound of Sabrina’s boots as she paced beneath the late afternoon sun. She had arrived an hour earlier than the time set up by Madame Evangeline, eager to meet her mates. That is, her potential mates.

  Nervous energy had her running her fingers through her hair. Not that it really mattered how good she looked, as soon as she shifted her hair would go back to its usual, messy black waves. Part of her wished she’d dressed up for the date, but she knew she wouldn’t be wearing clothes for long. Not if Madeline and Nick were who she had been searching for.

  The last vestiges of sunlight burned through the forest, turning the warm spring air a golden butterscotch color among the emerald green of the leaves. It had rained the previous night and the air still held the hint of moisture. She drew in a deep lungful and reminded herself that Madame Evangeline, matchmaker extraordinaire of the 1Night Stand dating service, knew her craft. True, having a matchmaker set up a first date in the middle of a vast forest didn’t exactly seem conventional, but it was perfect for a werepuma.

  For three moon cycles Sabrina had gone without a mate, and her body paid the price. She walked around in almost constant arousal and her dreams always left her on the cusp of a screaming orgasm, only to awaken aching and frustrated. Masturbation took the edge off, but her inner cat was getting seriously pissed about the lack of a mate.

  While she didn’t lack for attention or offers, no one had set fire to her soul. Being two-natured was part of the problem. She hungered for the embrace of a man and a woman. In her case, that meant a pair of Alphas. It wasn’t uncommon for a werepuma to have more than one mate, but as a Beta, her animal instincts demanded that her mates be just as strong as her or stronger. This had led to a very long, dry spell that hopefully would be broken by Nick and Madeline, even if only for one night.

  Sex between werepumas wasn’t just physical, but a magical exchange of energy that satisfied her soul as much as her body. Too bad she’d only experienced that pleasure a handful of times. It disappointed her even more that while the sex had been fantastic, the next morning she quickly realized outside of bed, she wasn’t compatible with the other couple at all.

  She needed someone who would understand the fierce nature of her people and embrace her wild side with strength to match her own. The thought of waking up, pressed between the rock hard muscles of a man and the supple curves of a woman made her body and heart ache.

  So, she waited for the first half of the couple to meet her. Madeline Turea, mate to Nick Turea, was supposed to arrive in the clearing at sunset. They would evaluate each other before Madeline gave her either the thumbs up or thumbs down to meet Nick. Madame Evangeline made sure both parties agreed to that rule before they met and Sabrina couldn’t argue with it. To be honest, she wanted to meet Madeline first. In her relationships with other couples, she found it took a very special kind of woman to share her mate, and Sabrina wanted to make sure Madeline really, truly wanted her. The only thing she knew about them were their names and the name of their pride, Amber Moon. Nothing about who they were or what made them tick.

  The harsh crack of a breaking branch cut through her musing and she spun in a crouch. A blonde woman moved out of the shadows with the intrinsic grace of their kind and Sabrina’s heart sank as she first set eyes on Madeline Turea. Why in the world did Madame Evangeline send her a soft and cuddly kitten?

  Small and round, at first glance Madeline looked more like a buxom Playboy Bunny lost in the woods than a deadly predator. Sabrina couldn’t imagine her hurting anything bigger than a housefly. Disappointment sliced her deep and she bitterly wished she had never let Madame Evangeline get her hopes up.

  It was only when Sabrina met Madeline’s golden amber eyes that she realized the woman’s fierce spirit did not match the sexy bunny packaging.

  ***

  Madeline placed her foot on another branch, trying to alert the woman in the clearing to her presence. The last thing she wanted to do was startle her and cause a fight that would leave them both prey to their instincts. Especially when the other woman made her mouth go dry.

  Tall and thin with a heart shaped face, Sabrina radiated power and menace. Her dark hair framed her face in a short pixie cut and brought out the delicate angle of her jaw. She wore faded jeans that cupped her tight bottom and had the most beautiful lips Madeline had ever seen. Even without makeup, they were a natural pale pink that set off her grey blue eyes. Taking a deep breath of the other woman’s scent, Madeline’s inner cat purred in appreciation at the smell of the healthy female.

  For the first time since her brother, Henry, had badgered her and Nick into using the dating service that had set Henry up with his wife, she felt a faint stirring of hope. Maybe this wasn’t a total waste of time. She ran a hand over her head to make sure her hair didn’t flare around her head in a frizzy halo of curls. Thankfully it didn’t seem to be any bigger than usual. Nick always liked to tease that on humid days she looked more like a lion than a cougar.

  “Sabrina?” she asked and stopped at the edge of the clearing. Though either woman could easily close the distance in one leap, she wanted to give enough room to maintain the illusion of space. Her heart raced and she prayed the meeting would work out. After her last disastrous relationship with a woman, her husband and mate, Nick, had been overprotective to the point of not letting another woman near her. It had led to many fights and their relationship suffered because of it. He had finally relented enough to agree to a one-night stand with another female werepuma after a member of their pride introduced them to Madame Evangeline’s service. Even Nick had been impressed by the e
xtent of their background checks, and only when his own research of Sabrina confirmed her as a member in good standing with her pride, had he given the reluctant thumbs up.

  Thank the Goddess, because Sabrina was gorgeous and Madeline’s cat couldn’t wait to claim her.

  “That’s me.” Sabrina gave her a crooked grin that sent her heart racing. “And you must be Madeline of the Amber Moon Pride.”

  Great, she acted like a cub with no clue how to approach another female. Hoping that Sabrina didn’t see the fierce blush heating her cheeks, Madeline cleared her throat. “My sire, David Melson of the Broken Tooth Pride sends his greetings to your sire, Hank Oliwin of the Hunting Shadow Pride.” There, at least she’d managed to remember that much of the formal greeting.

  A bird trilled in the distance as the air turned cool with dusk. In the sky over the clearing the high and thin clouds burned pink against the deep blue of twilight. She tried to gather her scattered wits, but was totally unprepared for the intense feelings assaulting her. Irrational flashes of joy, followed by a bone-deep desire had blood rushing south and pooling in her groin. The seam of her jeans rubbed against her clit and she shifted a step closer, drawn by the light hint of feminine musk in Sabrina’s smell as the ache deepened into need.

  Sabrina studied her and Madeline desperately wished she knew what thoughts ran through the other woman’s mind. She also wished Nick was there with her, that he could see the magnificent werepuma standing before her. His pheromones still lay heavy on her skin from where he had marked her before she left and she wondered if Sabrina could smell it, and if she liked it.

  Right now, he stayed a couple miles away, waiting for her call on his satellite phone to let him know either she was on her way back alone or that she’d approved of a possible new mate. Not that he needed the phone call to know how she felt. Their soul bond gave him clear echoes of her emotions, no matter what the distance unless they shielded themselves. If he felt the slightest hint of fear or danger from her, he’d be at her side before she could blink. The phone call was purely for Sabrina’s benefit so she wouldn’t feel out of the loop with Madeline and Nick communicating without words. Madeline had always found it annoying when her parents did that around her as a cub.

  Sabrina took a step forward and Madeline loved the fact she didn’t wear a bra beneath her thin, blue chambray shirt. Her small breasts pressed against the cloth as she took a deep breath, then her nipples hardened. She probably smelled the perfume of Nick and Madeline’s recent lovemaking on her skin.

  “I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions first.” Madeline gestured to a moss-covered boulder, inviting her to sit.

  Shrugging, Sabrina nodded and leapt onto the rock. She sat with her back to a thick tree trunk and Madeline approved of the way she constantly scanned the forest. It astonished her that no one had claimed this beautiful and strong woman as their Beta.

  Sitting across from Sabrina, she tried to organize her whirling thoughts. There were some things she had to know before they went any further. Already on an instinctual level she liked Sabrina, but she wasn’t just a beast. This meeting would have been a lot easier if she only had to worry about satisfying her primal needs.

  Her inner cat tended to trust first and ask questions later, which had led to a bitter breakup with the last woman, Chloe, she had courted as a Beta. She hadn’t realized at the time that Chloe, despite being quiet and subdued when around Madeline, became a loose cannon when Madeline and Nick couldn’t see her. She tended to fight first and ask questions later, something that destabilized their pride instead of making it more secure. Worse than that, Nick hadn’t liked Chloe and refused to form a psychic connection with her.

  Chloe had been a master manipulator, and easily preyed on Madeline’s kind nature. When she caught Chloe tampering with the brakes on her and Nick’s Corvette, she broke their bond and kicked the woman out. After Chloe left, they learned from the werehyenas that she’d tried to take a hit out on Madeline. The betrayal still hurt and she didn’t think she’d ever get over how easily she’d been duped.

  She swore not to make that mistake again, so she’d be sure of why Sabrina had come. “Tell me about yourself.” The information they had received from Madame Eve had given her a very brief bio on Sabrina, but she wanted to know more about this woman that made her cat purr.

  Sabrina blinked the amazing grey eyes at her in confusion. Clearly it wasn’t the question she expected. The premise of their meeting was a one-night stand, a meeting of needs, but Madeline wanted to know Sabrina’s heart.

  “Well, I grew up in the mountains of West Virginia, close to the Monongahela State park.” Her white teeth flashed in a quick smile. “While it was great for running in my cat form, the lack of social life really sucked when I as a teenager.”

  Madeline grinned back. “Not to mention the over-protective attention of your pride brothers.”

  Sabrina grimaced and fingered a small scar on the side of her neck. Madeline wanted to run her tongue over it, take that skin between her teeth and make Sabrina moan.

  “That too. After high school, I went to the University of West Virginia and earned my degree as a veterinarian. I run a small clinic in Elkins that caters to the local shifter community.”

  “That’s awesome.” Madeline shifted forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Her nipples pressed against her bra and without a doubt, Sabrina could smell her arousal. Thankfully, the other woman gave off a delicious fragrance of her own. At least her burning desire wasn’t one sided.

  Sabrina ran a hand through her tousled, black hair. “What about you? What do you do in the ‘real world’?”

  They both laughed and some of Madeline’s tension eased out of her. Sabrina was so easy to be around, Madeline had to keep reminding herself that she wasn’t there just for her needs, but for Nick’s as well. “I always wanted to go to college, but we didn’t have the money, so I enlisted in the military.”

  “The Fur Ops?” Sabrina asked with raised eyebrows.

  Madeline made a face at the were nickname for the Special Forces unit of the Marines that catered to shifters. “Yeah. That’s where I met Nick. We’re both retired from the military and work on the local police force.”

  Sabrina cocked her head to the side with sinuous grace, a hint at the animal soul inhabiting her beautiful body. “How long have you two been together?”

  With a life expectancy of over two hundred years, it became hard to judge a were’s age by their looks. If she had seen Sabrina on the street, she would have put her somewhere between twenty-five and thirty, but she knew from the info she received from Madame Evangeline that Sabrina was closer to seventy. “About fifteen years, eleven of that as mates. He had a hell of a time convincing me that I belonged to him, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

  Sabrina sat back against the tree truck, but tension radiated from her despite her relaxed pose. “Do you love him?”

  “With all my heart.”

  “Then why do you want me—I mean another mate?” She looked away and Madeline watched the pulse pound in her slender throat.

  “Because we are not yet complete.” She took a deep breath, aware of how very important the words were to both of them. It went against her better judgment to be honest with a woman who was essentially a stranger, but she could already see herself spending the rest of her life withSabrina. Her heart had always been quick to love and trust and she hoped she was doing the right thing. “Nick is everything I could ever want in an Alpha and a mate. He is strong, fierce, and a man of his word. Not to mention he’s so hot he can make butter melt just by looking at it.”

  The women shared a husky laugh and Madeline scooted closer until their denim clad knees touched. Energy moved over her skin as their cats brushed against each other. Before her cat could get out of her control, she pushed it back into her soul.

  Sabrina’s breath came out in a husky whisper of air and the uncertainty in her voice tugged at Madeline’s heart. “Why me? You
could have your pick of Betas.”

  “Well, partially because Madame Evangeline assured me that we were a great match. That much got me into the woods today.” She traced her fingertip in small circles over Sabrina’s knee, watching the muscles of her legs tense beneath her pants. So strong, yet she had such an elegant body. “The reason I stayed here is because my cat likes you. You smell delicious...like brown sugar and sunshine. Does your cat like me?”

  A tremor ran through Sabrina’s body and her hands clenched at her sides. She looked at once terrified and yearning. “What if your mate doesn’t like me?”

  Madeline had to bite back a smile as Sabrina dodged admitting how she felt about her. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  She rose up onto her knees and placed her hands on either side of Sabrina’s head. In the dominant position, she flexed her energy against Sabrina, reminding her she was the Alpha female. The sun had completely set while they’d talked and an almost full moon bathed the clearing in its silvery light. When she shifted to her cat form, the world would take on amber tones and the light from the moon would be as bright as daylight.

  Sabrina tensed, but the perfume of her arousal deepened. Madeline gave a rumbling purr of approval as Sabrina lowered her eyes and her breath came out in a sigh. She could not wait to taste her, to have the other woman’s essence on her tongue, smooth in her throat. Beyond that, she couldn’t wait to fall asleep together, wrapped in each other’s arms while Nick held them both on their giant bed at home. That intimate scene settled into her mind like the missing piece of a puzzle and she desperately hoped Nick and Sabrina would like each other. She said a mental prayer to Luna, the moon Goddess, and asked for her blessings on the union.