Heated Mating

by Savannah Stuart, Katie Reus

  Epilogue

  Two moon cycles later

  Linc sighed as he stepped off the travel platform, exhausted from training the newest class today. Hell, all week. All he’d been able to focus on was getting home to Saroya. He’d even turned down an off-planet mission. Didn’t matter that it would have been only a quarter moon cycle, he didn’t want to leave her right now. He knew she could handle it, but things were still too new between them.

  The house was quiet, letting him know she was probably still in her studio. Stripping off his belt and tunic, he left them on the island in the kitchen and headed out the back door.

  When he entered her studio, his heart rate kicked up about a hundred notches. Saroya was in front of a huge canvas, her back to him, wearing a paint splattered apron—and nothing else. The bow securing it behind her back landed right above her tight ass.

  She glanced at him over her shoulder, her expression wicked. “I was hoping you’d be home soon.”

  “Is that right?” he asked, striding toward her, drinking in every inch of her as she turned to fully face him.

  His body simply reacted in her presence. If she was naked, he was hard. Simple as that.

  Her lips pulled up, her eyes going heavy-lidded as she watched him move. When she stared at him like that, so unabashed, her need for him so clear, it did crazy things to his heart.

  In response, she reached behind her back and pulled the tie on her apron free. Lifting it over her head, she tossed it onto the sheet covered floor. That was when he noticed she’d also stretched out a big canvas on the floor.

  “I was thinking we could have naked fun with paints.” She ran her hands up his chest and linked her fingers around the back of his neck, pressing her body to his.

  When her breasts rubbed against him, he shuddered. “I’m game,” he murmured before capturing her mouth with his.

  For this woman he would do anything. He’d never imagined finding a woman like her, never thought he’d want to mate with someone more than he wanted his next breath. Now that he’d found her, he was never letting her go.

  Thank you for reading Heated Mating! I really hope you enjoyed it. Please consider leaving a review at one of the major retailers. It’s a great way to help other readers discover new books and I appreciate all reviews. Keep reading for a sneak peek of more of my work. If you don’t want to miss any future releases, please feel free to join my newsletter. Note that this newsletter is for both my author names, Savannah Stuart and Katie Reus. Direct link: http://eepurl.com/jEABv

  Excerpt from

  Claiming Her Warriors

  by Savannah Stuart

  Copyright © 2013 Savannah Stuart

  Brianna hurried into the medical building, thankful that it was only four blocks from where she worked. Her flat sandals made a soft scuffing sound as she crossed the tile floor into the main lobby. Unlike the long-destroyed hospitals from her home planet, Lumineta had what they called medical buildings.

  They were five-story dome-shaped buildings with skylights that flooded the structure with natural light. There was only one in each city on the planet because they weren’t in use much except for when the warriors were injured. Diseases were almost unheard of except for a few odd cases, as were injuries. And the Luminet people weren’t at war with anyone right now. They kept their world well protected.

  Before she’d made it to the information desk, a female healer wearing a sage green tunic and matching pants approached her. “Are you here for Aeron?”

  Brianna nodded, surprised the healer knew that. “Yes, how—”

  “Saroya told me she’d called you and I knew you’d be human like her.” The healer smiled gently.

  Saroya was Brianna’s best friend and one of the few human women rescued over twelve moon cycles ago. Like the other human females now living here, she would have been recognizable by her shorter height alone. But Brianna had red hair, a rarity in this place, so she stood out even more.

  She’d met Saroya on the long ride here from their now dead blue planet, and the two of them had been close ever since. Saroya was mated to Linc, another warrior and friends with Aeron a man who…well, a man who meant a great deal to Brianna even if he was frustrating.

  The healer pointed to one of the transport platforms. “He’s in room 515.”

  Before she could ask if Aeron was okay, the woman had turned and was walking toward another healer. Well, Saroya would have told Brianna if Aeron had been seriously injured, wouldn’t she? Her friend’s message had been brief but she hadn’t sounded too worried. Brianna’s heart rate jumped up a notch as she hurried to the transport platform. She placed her hand on the scanner then typed in the room code. Seconds later she was flashed to Aeron’s room.

  Blinking as the bright light faded, it took a moment for her to adjust to her surroundings. She’d been living on Lumineta for a while and she still hadn’t gotten used to their way of fast travel. It was only possible for short distances, but it was a little disorienting. As her surroundings came together she saw Aeron standing next to a bed large enough to accommodate his six foot seven inch frame. His back was to her and he was pulling his tunic over his head as if he planned to leave.

  She stepped from the round, raised platform, hurrying toward him. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out of bed.” Okay, she didn’t know that for sure, but he had a big bandage wrapped around his shoulder and under his left arm.

  He appeared surprised to see her. His blond hair was rumpled, but those green eyes were piercing and assessing as he raked a hungry gaze over her. It took him a moment to speak. “It’s just a training accident, I’m fine,” he said gruffly.

  Aeron’s expression softened as he watched her. Then, it was as if he changed his mind. “But maybe you’re right, I am feeling tired.” In a few fluid movements, he stripped his tunic back off and laid on the bed. Stretched out on his back like that he looked like a golden god. Like one of the Vikings from her history books. Muscular, toned, taut… Her eyes trailed the length of his long, lean body from chest to toe then she immediately felt guilty.

  When she met his gaze he was watching her with barely concealed lust. Like always—ever since they’d met. Burying what that evoked inside her, Brianna hurried to the side of the bed and perched on the mattress.

  “Saroya left a message that you were injured, but didn’t give me any details. What happened?” Unable to stop herself, her eyes roved over his chest and arms again. Other than the white bandage covering whatever had happened to him, he looked good enough to eat.

  “It was just a training exercise. No big deal.” His deeply spoken words drew her eyes back up to his face. He watched her intently and all she could think about was their last time together. It had been one moon cycle ago but the way he was looking at her now made her feel like it had happened yesterday.

  He’d made her come first with his hands, then his mouth, then… She couldn’t even think about that day. As she felt warmth spreading up her neck and cheeks she cursed her fair coloring. Thanks to being a redhead she was cursed with showing all her emotions.

  “I’m glad you came to see me though,” he murmured, that deep voice rolling over her like liquid sin. “I’ve missed you.” The words seemed to be torn from him, as if admitting that was difficult.

  She swallowed hard. “I’ve missed you too.” One moon cycle wasn’t that long, but it had sure felt like it. And after receiving that call from Saroya she realized that whatever issues she had with Lumineta’s custom of male-female-male joining, she had to get over it if she wanted to be with Aeron. If she had to mate with his brother too, well, they would make it work.

  When Brianna heard he’d been injured, her entire world had tilted on its axis. She didn’t want to live without Aeron.

  He appeared surprised by her words, but he moved lightning fast as he grabbed her hips and pulled her over his lap so that she was straddling his waist. “How much did you miss me?” The wicked tone she recognized was there along with his i
mpressive erection pressing against the juncture of her thighs. Her nipples tightened and her inner walls clenched in anticipation of what she knew he could do to her body. Too bad they had so much clothing in the way.

  With the intention of moving off him, she placed her hands on his chest. He’d been injured and she didn’t want to make it worse. All that power thrumming under her fingers made her shiver and instead of pushing, she curled her fingers against him. “You’re hurt and—”

  “And you can make me feel better.” She wasn’t sure why it happened every time he spoke in that low tone, but it was like his words just wrapped around her, making her entire body tingle in awareness.

  “I don’t think you’re hurt at all,” she muttered, but didn’t make an attempt to move off him.

  Excerpt from

  Claiming His Mate

  by Savannah Stuart

  Copyright © 2013 Savannah Stuart

  Lauren Hayes shoved a wayward strand of hair under the knit cap she wore as she slid up to the outside back wall of the quiet, two-story house. The black cover over her hair had nothing to do with the chilly October weather. Right now she was all about blending into the shadows this cold fall night. Which meant dressing in all black, like a sneaky burglar.

  Because she was about to do something stupid. Incredibly stupid. She inwardly berated herself.

  There was no turning back now. Shifters were notorious gossips and word had spread through the grapevine that Grant Kincaid, alpha of the Kincaid wolf pack in Gulf Shores, Alabama was on a honeymoon.

  With his new human mate.

  That by itself had shocked the shifter world. Kincaid’s father had been a brutal bastard—before he’d died. A shitty alpha who’d hated anyone who wasn’t supernatural. Or at least that’s what Lauren had heard.

  The current alpha was two hundred years old and she was twenty-five so it wasn’t as if they’d ever run in the same circles. She’d also heard Grant wasn’t like his father and from the brief meeting she and her pride had with him six months ago, she had to agree that he seemed pretty decent.

  Even if he was a stubborn ass who refused to give her family back what was rightfully theirs. Now that the alpha was out of town, she and some of her pridemates had decided to break into his house.

  To steal from him.

  Maybe steal was a bit of a stretch, she thought as she moved against the side of the house. Wind whipped around her, sending another shiver racing through her. She was simply taking back something that belonged to her family’s pride. She had to remind herself of that. Her sister was getting married in two weeks and the broach the elder Kincaid had taken from her family almost a hundred years ago was supposed to have been a wedding gift when the oldest Hayes daughter got married. The piece of jewelry had been in their family for centuries. Well, the jewels had been. Three, four-carat—colorless—diamonds and a handful of emeralds had been passed down from oldest daughter to oldest daughter in some form of jewelry ever since. When Lauren’s mother had received a necklace from her mother, she’d had the jewels put into a broach instead.

  And Lauren desperately wanted to give it to her sister Stacia as a wedding gift. She deserved it.

  Since Lauren was one of the few shifters on the planet who could mask their scent from other shifters, vampires and pretty much all supernatural beings, she’d been more or less volunteered for the job by her cousins. She also had a knack for breaking into places. Not that she was normally a thief. Her cousin Tommy, however, was. When she’d been twelve he’d taught her a lot of tricks, including picking locks and hotwiring cars. Her parents had been so pissed when they’d found out. After she stole back what was rightfully theirs, she bet they’d be glad she had those extra skills. Of course they’d be angry at her for doing this, but she’d known if she told them they would have ordered her not to. She figured it was better to do this then beg forgiveness later.

  She had a few pridemates waiting a mile away in case she ran into trouble, but they had to stay out of sight unless she called them.

  Right now they were all on Kincaid territory. Didn’t matter that it was a touristy beach town right on the Gulf Coast and that humans had no idea a shifter pack had carved out an area to live here. As a jaguar shifter, she knew she shouldn’t be here without permission so if she got caught she was so screwed. Wolves weren’t known for being forgiving. And stealing from an alpha? She shoved those thoughts out of her head. If she was scared, she couldn’t work.

  Here goes nothing.

  The two story house was raised like most houses on the beach but he also had an upstairs patio that she planned to use to her full advantage. She shimmied up one of the columns with a preternatural speed and hoisted herself up and over the lattice style barrier. Being a cat, she was nimble and quick on her feet, but it still took strength to do this in human form.

  Crouching low to the ground, she carefully looked around the large patio at the closed French doors and then back at the beach. The waves sounded softly about a hundred yards away, the calm methodic rhythm doing little to soothe the nerves punching through her. She was about to break into an alpha’s home. So, so, so stupid. But it would make her mother and sister happy.

  Thankfully the quarter moon was hidden by clouds, further helping her cover. She’d been watching the Kincaid pack’s comings and goings for the last week in preparation for tonight. It was midnight so almost every one of them was at one of the many bars or the hotel Kincaid owned. They all worked together as a big family. Their hours were more like vampires’ than shifters’, but clearly it worked for the pack because they were ridiculously wealthy.

  Owning beach front property anywhere could be pricey, but they also owned an entire condominium building next door to Kincaid’s personal residence. At least almost everyone was at work. And even though she knew for a fact they had a security system, she’d thrown a giant boulder through the back French doors a couple days ago in preparation.

  Lauren had felt like a total jerk doing it, but she’d needed them to replace the doors. Which they’d done this morning. The chances of them having already replaced the security contact that would be standard with the system on the new doors was about five percent. More like zero percent considering she’d been watching the house practically ever since she’d ruined the doors. And when she hadn’t been spying, one of her pridemates had.

  As she examined the French doors now she realized the lock was also new. And it wasn’t the cheap kind either. But, she was very good at getting into places she shouldn’t.

  Less than sixty seconds later she was inside the master bedroom. After a quick perusal of the top part of the door frame she breathed a sigh of relief to see no new contacts in place. Carefully closing the door behind her, she paused and glanced around the giant room. With her supernatural eyesight she didn’t need to turn on a light to see everything—not that she would anyway. Might as well just put up a bright neon sign that she’d broken in.

  The furniture was masculine, but there were definitely feminine touches. Not that Lauren cared about any of the décor. Now she was focused on looking for a safe. If he were going to hide diamonds and emeralds, it would definitely be in a safe. There was a slim chance he’d put it in a bank vault, but shifters and vamps, especially one as old as him, were weird about that stuff. No, they liked to keep their valuables close on hand.

  For all she knew a silent alarm had gone off. There weren’t any visible sensors in the bedroom, but that didn’t mean shit. She knew that by breaking in blind without knowing the complete layout of the security system she was taking a chance but almost no one had sensors in their bedrooms. It didn’t make sense. Living room areas and downstairs areas of course, but bedrooms and any upstairs saw too much foot traffic on a daily basis.

  Moving quickly and quietly she went to the most obvious place to hide a safe. The closet. Nothing there. She searched behind picture frames next, then everywhere else she could think of before moving to the next room. The door was open to reveal an
office.

  Pausing, she could hear only the wind and waves outside. There were residual scents in the house but that made sense. She stepped inside the room, her boots silent against the rich hardwood floor. Two steps in, she realized she wasn’t alone. It was like an abrupt assault on her senses and her inner animal simply knew.

  Before she could turn fully around, she was tackled to the ground by a huge male. Definitely supernatural.

  Strong, muscular arms encircled her from behind, throwing her to the ground, the male on top of her. Somehow he managed to angle their fall so he took the brunt of the impact on his arms. All the air left her lungs in a whoosh as panic slammed through her. She hadn’t heard him, hadn’t even scented him. That alone told her how dangerous he was.

  Though all her animal instinct told her to fight, she knew she was at a disadvantage. Going limp, she didn’t struggle. The second she was set free or her captor loosened his grip, she was running. Wolves might be strong, but jaguars were wicked fast. In human and shifter form.

  “What the hell are you doing sneaking around in wolf territory in my alpha’s fucking house?” a familiar male voice said near her ear, a trickle of his fresh scent that reminded her of the beach in winter enveloping her.

  She hadn’t scented him before, probably because of her own fear and panic at doing such a stupid thing—but now his scent covered her. She shivered at the sound of Max McCray’s voice. Kincaid’s second-in-command. He was supposed to be at the Crescent Moon Bar tonight working.

  Lauren swallowed hard. “I want my family’s fucking jewels back,” she gritted out. There was no sense in lying. He’d be able to scent the bitter, acidic stench if she tried. She could normally cover her scent well, but right now she was nervous and couldn’t keep her gift under control. Blind panic hummed through her, her inner jaguar telling her to run, run, run.