by Mandy Harbin
Surrounded By Temptation
By
Mandy Harbin
Copyright © October 2012, Mandy Harbin
Cover art by For the Muse Designs © October 2012
Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting
Amira Press
Charlotte, NC 28227
www.amirapress.com
ISBN: 978-1-937394-64-6
No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from Amira Press.
Dedication
To all my friends mentioned in previous dedications and to some very important new ones—Rebecca French, Ardyth Neill, Jerry Neill, and fellow author Parker Kincade. Words do not express the appreciation I feel for all you have given me.
Prologue
Ariel tossed her keys onto the entry table made out of reclaimed barn wood before kicking off her shoes and blindly locking the front door behind her. God, she was exhausted. She’d finally formulated that compound and completed the white paper necessary to justify the hundreds of thousands of dollars the local university had been awarded through a federally funded grant. And she’d spent the afternoon explaining the chemical compound and mathematic algorithms necessary to create a biofuel more efficiently with compost.
One man’s trash was…well, no need to complete that thought because to her colleagues said trash might become a treasure, but to Ariel it was another project she’d painstakingly nurtured from conception to completion. Just another project that wouldn’t get her name in the papers like finding a cure for cancer or discovering the real fountain of youth would. To add insult to cognitive injury, she’d had to deal with vermiculture and microarthropods on this latest assignment. Bugs, ick. The compost was a breeding ground for bugs. And she hated bugs.
But Ariel had done what she’d always done—she’d put aside her own feelings for the sake of her job, hoping the next assignment would be the big one. The one that would truly make a name for her, even if just within the scientific community. The one that would allow her to focus on biochemistry and pharmacology, her areas of expertise, rather than general biological and chemical areas.
Ariel strode into the kitchen and grabbed a bottled water from her refrigerator. When she sat down at the tiny bar in the kitchen, she glanced at her notepad. Krista. She’d scratched her name down when listening to her messages a couple of weeks ago and hadn’t yet called her sister back. Ariel had told herself it was because she was trying to finish up her project at work, but she knew she was lying to herself. Ever since she and Will had gotten divorced a couple of months ago, she’d distanced herself from her family. Not that it had seemed like it to them. Everyone was busy with their own lives, so touching base was usually just a text or a quick email unless it was around the holidays. But she hadn’t told anyone about her divorce. Will had filed, so he was the one that had to supply the witness. She’d just signed all the paperwork. Ariel didn’t even have to show up at the courthouse. Which was just how she’d wanted it. If she’d been the one to file, she would’ve had to tell Krista and Krista would’ve insisted on representing her.
She sighed as she picked up her phone and called her sister.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.” As if saying that were necessary.
“How have you been?” Krista asked, but she sounded a little off. Maybe her caseload was still bogging her down.
Ariel told her about her project at work because that was easier to talk about than what had happened with Will. Krista made little noncommittal noises throughout all the details, evidence of her listening but proof that her mind wanted to be somewhere else. “So are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
“Um, well, I’ve just been going through a lot lately. But there was a reason I’d called you before.”
“So spill.” If Ariel got the focus off herself then maybe she wouldn’t feel pressured to talk about Will. But that pressure was mounting, so she knew she’d have to face the music sooner rather than later.
“I met a man.”
“Okay, so why did you sound all pitiful when you just said that? Is it because you haven’t dated much?”
“Er, no. God, Ariel, I don’t know how to even tell you this. It is going to sound crazy. I know it is. But you have to believe me because I need your help.”
Krista never asked for help. Ever. Ariel’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“Oh boy,” she breathed. “I got assigned to help another attorney with her caseload because she needed to be on location to work on another deal. Her husband’s family owns a tree farm in Texas and they were buying some land. Anyway, their property is out in the middle of nowhere. And I mean that. No. Where. So I had to stay with her on the estate.”
“Okay,” Ariel said when Krista didn’t continue right away.
“Do you believe in the paranormal?”
Huh? “Do you mean ghosts or something like that?”
“Something like that.”
“Um, I believe that if it can’t be scientifically proven then it doesn’t exist. You know that.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt they exist,” Krista mumbled.
“Who? Just spit it out already.”
“I need your word you will not breathe a word of this to anybody.”
“Even to your new shrink I need to put on speed dial after this conversation?” She took a drink of her water and sat it down as she smiled.
“I’m being serious, Ariel.”
“Yes, okay. You have my word.”
“I became involved with one of the family members on that estate and accidentally learned a major family secret.”
Ariel sat up a little straighter, but kept quiet this time when Krista paused.
“They turn into mountain lions. All of them. They shift into animals,” Krista whispered that last part.
“Like werewolves?” So the psychiatrist comment wasn’t really a joke. Had Krista been working so hard that her cheese had finally slipped off her cracker? “They don’t exist, honey.”
“Don’t patronize me, Ariel! I wouldn’t be telling you if I didn’t need your help and because I need said help, you’ll get to witness it firsthand.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but you’re right. This is crazy.”
“Just hear me out. The thing is, this family has a feral need to mate with any available female. When I got the assignment to work on the property, I had to pretend I was involved with a man. That’s how dangerous this is. It’s deadly. They can only be around attached females, even their sexual encounters. Seriously, Toby had a brother that died because a woman he was screwing announced she was now divorced, so he forced a mating. They fought to the death because a female lion taken against her will attacks the male, and there is no bond of love to keep the male from fighting back.”
“And Toby is…?”
“The family member I became involved with.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Ariel had to find out where this was coming from. Maybe Krista had had a bad breakup and was now delusional.
“Yes.”
“Did he mate with you?”
“No,” her voice cracked. Seemed like Ariel was on the right track with the bad breakup idea.
“Are you in love with him?”
“Yes, which is why I need your help. I need you to work your chemical magic and figure out some drug that could suppress their feral need to mate with just any available woman.”
“So you think if you fix them that this Toby man would want you back? Is that it?”
“No! I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for them. All of them. They are stuc
k there. Isolated on that acreage. I want to give them the freedom that we all take for granted.”
“So you really believe they turn into animals?”
“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes. They need help. You have the knowledge that might give them what they need. You’re my sister and know how important this family is to me, so I know you’d not only be professional about it but keep this matter private. And you’re married, so I know that won’t be an issue with the guys.”
At the mention of Ariel’s failed marriage, guilt washed over her. She should tell Krista. Right now. It’d get her out of this crazy plan and maybe then she could focus on helping Krista heal from her breakup.
“Please. Just come see for yourself,” Krista pleaded softly.
And what if this were all true like her sister believed? Ariel could finally work on something that’d actually be in the concentration areas she’d studied in college. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out. Her project was finalized at work and she had some time off anyway.
And a discovery like this could make her career. Because if it were true, no way was she keeping a lid on this.
“I’m in.”
Chapter One
“Fuck!” Rob yelled and jumped to his left as a limb came crashing toward him. He needed to get his head out of his ass and back on his job. It wasn’t like he was some paper-pushing pansy. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.
But the truth was he’d been nothing but distracted since Krista twitched her rear back into his brother’s life a couple of days ago. Since then, Toby had been M.I.A., leaving all the work to Rob and his brothers. Not that Rob could fault him. Hell, he’d stay in bed for weeks if he had a mate too. But that really wasn’t what had been distracting him. It was the fact that Krista had brought the knowledge, had brought hope back with her. She’d said her sister might have some answers that’d get them out of the prison of this land, and it was that hope that had his brain twisted tighter than rope. He really did love it here, but he often wondered if that was just because this was all he really knew. Well, he loved the serenity, not the isolation. Not the limitations. If he were free of the struggles of his beast, Rob felt as if he’d be able to fully embrace his life—all of his life—for the first time. Because he’d once and for all be able to find a mate to live out his years with. Hope. He was almost too scared to embrace it. Although his brothers had achieved the dream without any medical or chemical intervention, Rob wasn’t stupid enough to look a gift horse in the mouth. If Mini-Krista could come up with some voodoo magic that’d turn his deepest desires into a reality, then he was all for it.
“You okay, bro?” Jack yelled from atop the ridge. Rob just waved his arm, signaling his response, then dropped both hands to his knees as he sucked in a lungful of air.
Exhaling, he straightened and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Lunch time yet?” he called out to Jack.
“’Bout that time. Toby just texted me that Krista’s sister is on her way. Should be here within thirty.”
That’d give them just enough time to get up to the main house and eat before meeting the chick with the answers. God, he hoped she could do something for them. Rob grabbed his gear so he wouldn’t have to make the trip back to this section after lunch. He’d be working on the other side of the ridge with Josh this afternoon, assuming he’d even be able to do a better job of concentrating then.
With a new female on the property, he highly doubted that, because if she looked anything like her sister, Rob knew getting help with his beast wasn’t going to be the only thing dominating his mind.
* * * *
“They’re here,” Jack muttered as he looked out the window. Could he sound any more brutish? Lord, Rob had no idea what any woman could see in his brother. Sure he had the same physical traits as the rest of them, tall, dark hair, light eyes—though Jack’s were blue—but his brother could be…well, a dick, actually. Where Rob was the jokester around here, Jack was the polar opposite. He was hard as nails when it came to work or anything else. He tried taking charge as if he were the oldest and ordering Rob and his brothers around whenever he got the chance. Jack wasn’t the boss. He was a jerk. “She’s not as lush as Krista, but she’ll do.”
“She’ll do?” Rob hissed. “What the fuck, Jack?”
“Jackson! That’s no way to act toward our guest. She’s here to help. And she’s a married woman. You will respect the bond she has with her husband.” Their father, Thomas, was never one to tolerate bad behavior and Rob breathed a sigh of relief.
“What’s going on?” Josh asked as he and Mikaela entered hand-in-hand. “Krista and Toby are on their way up with her sister. I could hear you in the hall. Now’s not the time to be bickering.”
“Jack is being a dick,” Rob said, throwing an evil glance in his jackass of a brother’s direction.
“Fuck off, Rob. Don’t even pretend you don’t want a piece of her ass. You’re just being quiet and noble in hopes it’ll pay off. At least I’m man enough to admit what I want.”
“Enough!” At Thomas’ tone, the room quieted and it was a good thing because Rob could hear footsteps outside and rumblings of muted voices.
The door swung open and Rob had to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. Mini-Krista was a vision. Beautiful. As she walked in, he took stock of her, drinking in every detail. Her lovely hair, big eyes, tiny nose. But as he cataloged everything from her hair to her baggy clothes, he realized the little nickname he’d given her in passing actually fit. Krista wasn’t fat. Not at all, but her sister was thin. Almost too thin. Did she not ever eat? She didn’t look sickly, but Rob had to tamp down this almost sudden, overwhelming concern for her that consumed him out of nowhere. What the fuck? She was a married woman. He looked away, needing to take his eyes off her to set his thoughts straight. It was probably Jack’s behavior earlier that made him have that reaction. As he glanced around the room, his eyes lit on his father before landing on Jack. Rob had to stifle a growl. Jack had the look of a predator tracking its next meal and readying himself to strike at the first moment of weakness.
“This is Thomas Woods, Toby’s father,” Krista said as his dad stepped up to her. He took her hand and shook it once before dropping it.
“It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Yates.”
“Oh no, you don’t. It’s Ariel, and don’t you forget it, Thomas.”
God, her voice. So angelic. But if she were an angel, she had to be a fallen angel sent here to tempt him. Because he couldn’t have her and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that her being here was going to be the greatest test of his will.
His dad smiled at her. “I think I’m going to like having you here.”
That made one of them.
Krista turned to her side. “This is Toby’s brother, Josh, and his mate, Mikaela.”
“Nice to meet you two.” What was it about her voice? Did she drink from ambrosia?
“And these two over here are Jack and Rob, Toby’s other brothers.”
Jack stepped forward at the first mention of his name and shook her hand. Bastard.
He lingered.
“Jack,” their father reproached silently. Rob was thankful Thomas had utilized their ability to speak telepathically to call his brother out. Jack let go of her hand and stepped back.
Rob moved forward, gently taking her hand. Not as soft as he’d imagined, but not as calloused as his. She looked up at him with those big, round eyes and he just melted. He got the sense that she thought she was a tough woman, but that it was also a ruse. Her tongue slipped out, wetting her lips, just before her mouth quirked into the tiniest of smiles. Not knowing how to respond to that, Rob nodded at her briefly before dropping her hand and taking a step back.
“So, Mrs., er…Ariel, what are your plans and when do you want to get started?”
“Well, I want to start right now.” She shrugged as if she did this sort of thing all the time and doing her voodoo magic was no big deal. She looked at Jack before looking at Rob again. He held
her gaze, trying not to think beyond anything but what she could do for him. Oh, the things she could do for me. I could take her to bed and not let her leave for…stop it! “I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not married anymore. How does that make you feel?”
The air left his lungs and the ringing in his ears might’ve been mental shouting from his family, but Rob couldn’t focus. Couldn’t function. She wasn’t taken. She was an available woman.
“What the hell are you talking about, Ariel Michelle? What about Will?”
Will? Her husband? She was married. Why did she just say she wasn’t anymore? Rob’s body was shaking. The need to shift and claim was scratching at the surface. Was this part of the work she needed to do? Krista would know if her own sister had gotten a divorce. This possibility bought him time, but only the barest amount.
“We grew out of love a long time ago and got tired of the pretense. Our divorce was final three months ago.”
Fuck, now she was looking directly at Rob and Jack, and Rob didn’t know if he was more pissed at what she was saying or the fact that she was even looking at Jack. His brother would be keeping his mangy paws off her!
“I’m not involved with anyone either. I’m a totally and completely available woman. How does that make you feel?”
Her eyebrow quirked up and Rob had to restrain himself as his feet started to move toward her. The mantra, “Mine,” kept chanting in his head, but at the moment he wasn’t entirely sure if it was his internal monologue or Jack staking his claim.
“Shit, Ariel, are you lying?” Krista squeaked as she grabbed her sister’s arm.
“My divorce papers are in my briefcase. You can call Will if you want. He’s vacationing in Italy with his new girlfriend, though.”
Jack growled, and Rob turned his head, hissing at his brother. “Mine!” This time, Rob made sure all his family knew he was claiming her. Fuck his brother. “You’ll have to go through me, Jack.”