Serengeti Sunrise: Serengeti Shifters, Book 4

by Vivi Andrews

  The predatory glint in his eyes stole her breath and kicked her heart rate into high gear. “Head start for what?”

  “Before I chase you. For real.”

  She had to be crazy to consider it, even if the thought made her body buzz. “And then what? More dirty talk because you can’t sleep with me, but you can sure the hell torture me with your eyes and muscles and ridiculously hot voice?”

  He actually laughed. “Can’t do much to fix any of that. I could back off, I guess, but you’re not going to like that much better.”

  “No, I suppose I wouldn’t.” She didn’t feel like a crazed animal, but she’d never been quite so moved by feral instinct, either. “Go easy on me, would you?”

  Pacing herself wasn’t a problem, not if it was only a quarter of a mile, so Carmen ran hard, pushing herself almost at a sprint. Soon, the near-echo of trampled brush drifted from behind her, and she smiled through her panting.

  He let her get three long strides into the clearing before he tackled her, somehow twisting their bodies as they fell so she sprawled across his chest. His low, delighted laughter curled around her, warm as the arms that circled her waist. “Easy as I get.”

  Too easy. Too intimate. She wiggled out of his arms and landed on the ground beside him. “You smile like you’re not used to it, did you know that?”

  Laughter died, and he twisted his head to stare at her. “It’s been a while. Only other person willing to poke at me until I laugh is Kat. I always figured she did it because she knows I’m not going to kill her, even if I’m glaring like I want to. An empathy thing.”

  “Maybe.” She wanted to reassure him with her touch, but she thrummed with a sexual awareness he could surely sense. “Is everyone else so careful with you because they’re scared?”

  “Some of them are.” He slid his fingers over hers, his hand a heavy weight. “What do you feel? Beneath the sex, what does my power feel like?”

  Dominant. Implacable. “You’re strong, and you’re intense.” All things so wound up in her attraction to him that there could be no separation.

  “And I’m a little crazy. Or I act that way enough that everyone thinks it’s true. Better if most of the scary people in town are wary of pissing me off.”

  “Makes sense.” His hand was huge, warm and a bit rough. She wanted to feel it on her body, sliding down her back and curling around her hip to hold her still for a hard, demanding thrust.

  The mental image formed so quickly that all she could do was bite her lip as she blinked and willed it away.

  His fingers tightened around hers. “I hate not knowing what to do. If I’ll hurt you more leaving you alone, or by giving you what you crave. I don’t want to hurt you at all. Do you have any fucking idea how long it’s been since I didn’t know what to do?”

  “You’re too hard on yourself,” she admonished. “It isn’t your job to keep me from hurting, and no one knows everything all the time.”

  “It’s my job to keep from hurting you.” He lifted his hand and hers with it, sliding it up until they pressed into the grass over her head. Then he released her and rolled to his side, propped up on his elbow so the bulk of his body loomed above her. “It’s all a damn excuse. It’s my job, and I’d be doing it anyway…but that’s not why I’m doing it now.”

  It was the most nonsensical thing she’d heard in a while. “Are you saying you want to protect me?”

  “I’m saying I want to protect you.” His free hand landed on her stomach, skimming up to skip over her breasts and land on her collarbone. “You’re not scared of me. Even when I’m acting crazy.”

  “Because you’re not crazy.” She caught his hand and held it still. “Don’t do this just because you think I need it. It’s not worth it.”

  His eyes looked so dark they might as well have been black. “Honey, I thought you were an empath.”

  “You know what I mean. If you still think I’m not in my right mind, the guilt would kill you, and I only want you to feel good about this.”

  He considered that for a moment, then guided her other hand up above her head. “I’m going to kiss you. Deep. Hard. You okay with that?”

  He’d urged her into a position of submission—both hands over her head, her body stretched out beneath his—and it made her shake with anticipation. “More than okay.”

  “You want me to stop, you say stop.” One hand curled around both of her wrists, gentle but unyielding. “You want more, ask for it. Okay?”

  Carmen pulled against his grasp, not to free herself but to test his strength. He held tight, her eyes fluttered shut under a wave of need. “Yes.”

  His free hand settled at her hip in a possessive grip. Power built in the space between them, a slow, steady rise that mirrored the dark heat in his eyes as he lowered his mouth, lips barely touching hers. “Let me in.”

  The command released something inside her, a tension she hadn’t noticed before he eased it, and she closed her eyes again. Honesty was one thing, even a kiss…

  Don’t think, Carmen. Feel.

  She obeyed, loosening her tight hold on control, gasping when the first waves of empathic feedback echoed off him to heat her own body.

  His beard scraped her chin as he closed the distance between them with a shuddering groan. He kissed the way she’d seen him live, reckless arrogance and power and an intensity that bordered on intimidating. Lips and teeth and his tongue stroking her mouth until she parted her lips, then surging forward to taste and take, his hunger and satisfaction twisting between them on the threads of her empathy.

  She wasn’t prepared for the depth of her reaction to his satisfaction. Beyond the undeniable physical pleasure of the kiss was a whole world of intimacy, a power she’d flirted with but never really embraced.

  She could give him everything.

  More, he’d take it. There could be no doubt of that, not with his desires laid bare before her, the hot need for her pleasure dwarfed by the steely craving to be the only one who provided it. Nothing tentative there. Nothing tentative about the way he teased his tongue against hers, his pleasure spiking every time she moaned and arched closer.

  It had to stop, even if depriving herself of his touch drove her mad. Carmen turned her head to break the kiss. “Oh God.”

  There’s more than one way to outsmart a fox…

  Foxy Lady

  © 2010 Marie Harte

  A Cougar Falls Story

  Trust Julia Easton to screw up Sheriff Ty Roderick’s March Madness plans. The pixie-faced vixen might be the picture of feminine perfection, but she tests his innate sense of order to its limits. Weeks ago, he let his conscience turn down a proposition his body still burns to accept—then she vanished. Now he’s in the middle of Nowhere, Washington, racing to rescue her from danger.

  There’s risk in leaving Cougar Falls, but it’s the only way Julia can hope to save her sister from making the same mistake she almost made with Ty. Settling down and having kits is one thing, but it can’t be done with a human, especially one from a hunting family. Unfortunately, her sister isn’t budging, and the fiancé’s brother won’t take Julia’s no for an answer, either.

  When Ty comes riding to their rescue, Julia plans to use him and lose him. No way is she throwing herself at that alpha jerk’s feet in gratitude. Then Ty gives her the answer her heart still longs for: he wants to spend the rest of his life making things right. Now if only she can find the courage to say yes.

  Warning: Beware a foxy sheriff, a backwoods bad guy, a cunning vixen, sexy escapades in and out of the bedroom, and the return of stubborn male shifters who think they know everything.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Foxy Lady:

  Ty didn’t know whether to spank Julia or kiss her senseless. Just seeing her again aroused him in a way he was hard-pressed to explain. Her scent, the feel of her smooth skin under his hands, her soft kiss, all of it made him want to throw her down on the nearest bed and fuck her until he couldn’t move. He wanted to tie her to him
and make her admit she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Because he sure as hell couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  Hearing that Neanderthal claim Julia had nearly ended Ned’s life. It had taken a lot of discipline to remain still. Ty didn’t like that loss of control. As town sheriff, he came into contact with conflict on a daily basis. He had a reputation as calm and collected. So why did Julia Easton tie him in knots?

  At least the woman looked nervous. As she should.

  “Well? I’m waiting,” he said in a quiet voice, pleased when Julia and Gabby jumped.

  The three sisters were exceptionally popular in the clan. Meghan was the youngest, and at the age where she needed to explore. No one had balked when she’d left town for college on the outside. Still, this Jason business would need some explaining.

  Everyone liked Gabby, the most outgoing and genial of the three. She had a tawny complexion that suited her dark red hair, and a curvy frame where Meghan and Julia were leaner.

  Slender, sexy and beautiful, Julia made him ache. She made him want to beg. He huffed. A Roderick didn’t beg. Hell, at home he rejected sexual offers from women left and right. But Julia had never asked a thing from him, not until the sly vixen had propositioned him, drunk as a skunk. Now how the hell could he say yes to that and not have her hate him in the morning?

  Meghan was the first to answer him. “Ty, uh, I’m, well…”

  “Get on with it, Meghan.” She really was cute. A younger version of Julia.

  “The brat thinks she’s in love,” Julia said, her words laced with disgust. Her gaze met his before it skittered back to her sister.

  “I am in love,” Meghan retorted. “Just because you’re turning into the neighborhood cat lady is no reason to be jealous I’ve found someone special.”

  Ty coughed to smother a laugh. “Cat lady?”

  “You know, the old lady with no life who lives with like thirty cats for company.”

  “We like cats,” Gabby defended, shooting Meghan a look that surprised Ty. She seemed genuinely annoyed.

  Meghan flushed. “I’m just saying Julia blames me for having a sex life.”

  “I so did not need to hear that,” Ty muttered.

  Julia’s eyes sparkled and her scent grew richer. When angry, the little spitfire turned him hard in a heartbeat. He casually crossed the room to stand behind an oversized chair to hide his erection. Talk about embarrassing, not to mention irritating. The vixen made him crazy like no one could.

  “Okay, you want to talk about your sex life? Fine,” Julia sneered. “Are you using birth control? Does Jason know what can happen when you go into heat? Is he prepared to help rear your litter?”

  Fascinated, Ty watched the family interplay. He’d never seen Julia so impassioned. Normally she did her job with calm precision and couldn’t be described as anything other than cool. But with Meghan, she acted like a virtual firecracker. A sultry redhead with a temper to boot. God, he wanted her.

  Meghan stared from Julia to Ty and back again, her cheeks scarlet. “I am not going to talk about this in front of Ty.”

  Thank God.

  She continued. “I’m going to call Jason to come get me.” Tears filled her eyes. “He’s the only one who understands me. The only one who cares.” She sobbed and fled the room.

  Everyone stared at the slammed door in silence.

  After a moment, he asked, “You sure she didn’t major in drama?”

  Julia’s lips curved.

  Gabby choked on a laugh. “I’ll go talk to her. You deal with him,” she said to Julia, a knowing look in her eyes that made Julia blush. Gabby joined Meghan in the bedroom, leaving Julia and Ty alone together.

  “Now it’s just you and me, honey. Where should we start?”

  Julia gnawed on her lower lip, and he wanted to kiss the sting away. She turned her direct amber-eyed gaze on him. “Why are you here?”

  “You’re welcome for saving you, by the way. Or would you rather I stepped aside so you and Ned can head down the aisle?” he asked dryly.

  “Please. I can handle Ned.”

  “Oh?”

  “Granted, he’s an ass. But I know how to handle the type.” The look she gave him heated his blood to boiling.

  “I raced nearly two hundred miles on no sleep and shitty gas station food. I left the raptors in a frenzy, ready to rip out Sarah Duncan’s feathers one by one. The cats are at the throats of the gray wolves again, the bears are losing their minds, and half our clan is in favor of instituting a new mating policy, whereby the silver foxes will soon have arranged marriages. I left all that behind to save you from Hunters.”

  “Hunters?” Julia blinked in confusion. “Rip out Sarah’s feathers? Is she okay?”

  He spoke through gritted teeth. “The Whitefeathers and Gerald have it all under control. Sarah’s the one who told me you were having trouble with Hunters.”

  “What do the Whitefeathers have to do with this?”

  “Julia, focus, would you? Why would Sarah think you were dealing with Hunters?” The thought of Julia being hunted down and killed had nearly stopped his heart before he’d managed to bear down and concentrate on finding her.

  “Hunters? Where would she get that idea?” Her expression cleared. “Oh. Right. The last time we spoke I mentioned Jason’s family’s disgusting hobby of mounting dead things in their homes. She might have gotten the wrong impression.”

  “I’m not sure she did. Ned Williams seems pretty threatening.” And he likes you way too much for my liking.

  “He is, but he’s nothing I can’t handle.” Now she sounded like the competent legal assistant he knew her to be. Sexy, unruffled, self-contained. “I’m sorry if you rushed out here on our behalf, but we’re fine.”

  “Oh, right. I can see that. Some asshole just shot all of our tires. Your sister is involved with an outsider the clan knows nothing about, and you’re getting married to Ned No-Neck Williams.”

  Julia pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t say we weren’t having some problems, but it’s a family matter. Not your concern, Ty.”

  He liked her saying his name. He’d like it a whole lot better if she’d cry it out as her body clenched around his in orgasm. “Oh, but it is my concern. Meghan’s in some serious trouble. And it doesn’t seem like she’s going to drop this Jason anytime soon.”

  “I know.” Julia sighed. “But we’ll handle it.”

  “Yes, we will.” Ty made a sudden decision. Maybe he could fix a few issues at once. He had no transportation at the moment. Considering the “long line of Williamses” in Nowhere, he’d venture a guess he’d have a hard time finding spare tires for his truck in town.

  Time to match wits with a sexy, conniving adversary. Satisfaction flooded him at the thought of tangling with Julia again. He really had missed her.

  “What does ‘we will’ mean?” Suspicion made her voice husky.

  “It means I’m here to fix a few things. But first things first.” He took a step closer, pleased when she licked her lips, nervous.

  “Ty—”

  He answered how he should have the first time she’d asked, four weeks ago. “Yes, Julia. Yes, I’ll take you home and make love to you until neither of us can walk.”

  He kissed her before she could close her pretty mouth.