Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 2

by Black, Jaid

  He grinned. “You are alive but you’re a vampire.”

  She hesitated, trying to see if she felt any different. She didn’t. Disappointment hit. “I don’t think it worked. I’m still just me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mmmm.” He grinned. “This is going to feel really good. Just go with instincts.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He released her hip and reached over to the side of the bed. She saw the small dagger in his hand and tensed. He grinned wider and pressed the tip against his neck.

  “The things I’m willing to do for love but you need to learn how to get your fangs out. The scent of blood will do it. Just don’t fight or think about what you’re doing.”

  She watched in horrified fascination as he cut his skin. Blood welled and he tossed away the dagger, grabbing her hip again. The smell of it filled her nose, her eyes widened, and her gums tingled, nearly seemed to throb, and she opened her mouth to ask him what was happening to her.

  “Whath—” She paused, her voice sounding funny and touched her mouth. Something sharp made her cry out and stare at her fingertip. Blood welled.

  “Easy.” He laughed. “They are sharp. Careful or one of us will need to lick whatever you cut with them.” He tilted his head. “Look at my neck, Matty love. I fed before I woke you. It’s your turn.”

  Her gaze tore from her finger to his neck. Hunger rose and she inched closer.

  “Go with it, love.”

  She couldn’t stop. She licked at the blood, the taste made her moan, and she bit into him. The feel of her fangs piercing his skin created a jolt to rush throughout her body and pure pleasure struck. She clutched at Blaron, moaning, pressing her breasts tightly against his skin, frantically rubbing against him, needing to come so badly it hurt.

  “Yes,” he groaned, his hands gliding down her sides to cup her ass. “Ride me.”

  Desire burned through Matty. She wanted him to fuck her. She pulled her mouth away, remembered to lick at his skin, and stared into his eyes. Her hips lifted and she wiggled until his cock aligned perfectly with her pussy. She sank down on him, her body sleek with need already, and cried out as she came just from the feel of him stretching her. Her body quaked and Blaron groaned.

  Their gazes met. “Bite me again and it will make us both come.”

  She hesitated. “I love you.”

  He smiled. “I love you too.”

  “This is kind of crazy. We barely know each other.”

  His hands caressed her skin. “We have forever together to learn and what is between us is strong.”

  She moved on his shaft, moaning. “You’re irresistible, in my defense.”

  “I can be persuasive when I’m after the thing I want most in the world and that’s you.” He turned his head, offering her his neck. “Take me, my brave, beautiful Matty. I’m yours.”

  The sincerity of his words made happy tears fill her eyes. He meant it. He didn’t see her scars. He loved her and had given her an entirely new life to share with him. She was sexy, desirable and beautiful to him. Something inside her knew as she brushed her lips over his neck that they’d be happy together. They had forever to get it right and any arguments with him in the future promised to be very pleasurable.

  Tinderbox

  Regina Carlysle

  Chapter One

  Carlos Montoya Lopez saw the world through the eyes of a bird of prey. From behind the glass wall of his office at the San Antonio Police Department, he took in the comings and goings in the precinct, most typical of a hot, crime-infested night. Garishly dressed hookers rubbed shoulders with thieves and gangbangers while police officers tried to maintain order.

  As a hawk shifter, and the last of his species, Carlos often found himself relegated to observing life, rather than actually living it. He’d become used to it, often shrugging off self-pity as a useless emotion.

  Central Texas thrived with other shifter activity, however. Though Lone Star shifters tended to be reclusive, antisocial groups, being familiar with each other was key to their survival, as was keeping the truth of their existence secret from humans.

  Carlos watched as two of those others, Nathan Ames and Daniel White Horse, made their way purposefully to his office. One of the crimes on Carlos’ desk demanded the help of shifters, and the two jaguars might be just who Carlos needed to solve the case quickly.

  Daniel and Nate were private investigators, highly capable of finding missing persons. And in the case of a missing shifter, they were invaluable.

  Daniel stopped in the open doorway of Carlos’ office and rapped once on the doorframe. “What’s up, Carlos? We came as soon as we got your message.”

  Nate didn’t wait for an invitation to enter but sauntered in and made himself right at home by sprawling into an empty chair. “We figured it was important if you were calling so late. Tell us what you need.”

  Carlos waited for Daniel to take a seat then grabbed a remote from his desk before turning to face a monitor hanging on the wall. “A couple of hours ago, mall security cameras caught a carjacking gone wrong. Looks like a dumbass kid freaked out in the process of stealing a car and took the owner too.”

  The trio went quiet as video from mall security filled the screen, showing a sea of cars and trucks and a lone woman carrying a couple of department store bags and a purse the size of a small suitcase. Darkness was just settling in but the lot was well lit, allowing them to easily watch as the blonde stopped, juggled the bags and dug into her purse, extracting a set of car keys. Not an unusual sight—until a lean, lanky figure wearing a hoodie and what looked like a ski mask moved in behind her.

  “Really? A ski mask? You’ve gotta be shittin’ me.” Nate shook his head and Daniel grunted in response. They went quiet again as the crime unfolded. The audio was crap but the woman seemed to shriek when Ski Mask grabbed her. Her feet kicked out and then back to land a solid blow on the kid’s legs. The instant he released her, she did what any red-blooded female would do. She swung her enormous purse right at his head.

  “Good move,” Daniel said. “Typical, but a good move.”

  The whole bag-swinging thing proved to be ineffectual, however, as she lost her grip and it flew from her fingers to land harmlessly on the pavement. She didn’t let that stop her though. Instantly she was on her attacker like a spider monkey, clawing and scratching until the carjacker’s hood fell back and the woman was holding his ski mask in one clenched fist.

  “Yep. Just a kid. A damn stupid kid,” Daniel said, shifting to lean forward intently. “And she has a good look at him now.”

  “I figured that’s why he took her,” Carlos replied.

  The men quieted again, taking in the panicked movements of the punk, watching as he swiftly pulled a gun from the waist of his jeans and landed a solid blow to the victim’s head. Standing over her body, he looked around frantically for a second or two before locating her keys and tossing her into the trunk of her own car. The whole scene took less than two minutes.

  When the monitor went black, Carlos turned off the machine and opened a lower drawer of his desk. “So this is where you come in. She’s a shifter.” He pulled out the black leather purse the victim had lost in her struggle and tossed it to Daniel, who caught it deftly. “We have cops all over the city looking for her car, but you know shifters are better trackers than any human. She’s definitely not a hawk. I would have recognized the scent instantly. I suspect she’s one of yours. Or maybe panther.”

  Daniel sniffed at the bag—and instantly gave Nate a sharp look.

  The other jaguar shifter did the same, sniffing deeply then closing his eyes briefly and running his hands over the leather in an almost reverent fashion.

  As he gingerly set the purse on the desk, Nate looked at Carlos. “She’s one of ours. Gods! Unmated. There haven’t been new female jags in our area for longer than I can remember.”

  “If she’d been mated, she would have torn the l
ittle shithead to pieces,” Daniel added. His dark brows pulled together in a scowl. “Her being unmated makes her vulnerable. Until she shifts for the first time, she’s only about as strong as an average human woman. We need to find her, pronto.”

  Carlos studied the two tough jag males, sensed their urgency, and knew they’d find her soon. He just hoped the scared kid didn’t kill her before they managed it.

  * * * * *

  Would she die tonight? Tomorrow? The scent of earth and all things musty and old curled through her nostrils and the blindfold tied over her eyes made the world so very dark. Even without that bit of cotton, she knew she was hidden away so carefully that it would be a miracle if she were found alive.

  The shaking and trembling had subsided a long time ago and she’d already stopped guessing how many hours had passed since she’d been taken. Olivia thought back on the moment when she’d left the mall. It had been getting dark, and she knew that for a woman alone there was always the possibility of danger, but in her pompous conceit, she’d thought herself impervious to the sinister deeds of humans.

  Breathe.

  Breathe.

  Damn it. Here came the tears again when she’d thought she was done with all that. Maybe they’d reappeared to remind her that, no, she wasn’t invincible after all. Since childhood she’d known she was more than human. She was shifter. Livvy also know that until she was properly mated, she wouldn’t possess the strength to protect herself properly.

  Well, that had been proved in spades tonight when she’d allowed herself to be taken by a pimply-faced kid.

  Jaguar blood ran heavy in her veins, but tonight it hadn’t done her a darn bit of good.

  Before her death, her mother had talked about the day Livy would meet her mates and shift into the beast she was meant to be. Uh-uh. Not happening now. She didn’t know a soul in this town; no one knew she was missing. Despair and rage, frustration and the inevitable, bittersweet regret filled her. She wanted to scream over her loss but there was no one around to hear and, in the end, she was a practical, modern woman who could only concentrate on escape.

  Livvy yanked at the bonds that held her hands behind her back. Ropes. Rough and ragged, they dug into her wrists but she barely felt the pain. If she were mated, she’d have them snapped and lying in shreds and she’d be out of this hellhole, wherever it was. But nope. No mates.

  Wasn’t she just lucky as hell?

  Ah, that was nice. Anger was always better than despair. Her mother hadn’t raised her to be a weakling and Livvy called on those lessons now as she tried to figure a way out of this mess. She’d better work fast. She had no idea when her assailant might return or what his plans were, but she didn’t intend to hang around and find out.

  Livvy thrashed and pulled at her bonds for what seemed ages, but to no avail. She desperately needed some kind of weapon but she was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey and seemingly helpless on the hard dirt floor.

  Summoning what little bit of energy she had left, she wiggled around, managing to scoot a few inches at a time in her attempt to find something sharp that she could use to cut her bindings. Surely she could do this. Livvy had always been slightly stronger and faster than human females. But her arms were screaming a ragged protest each time she moved. What she wouldn’t give to be fully jaguar at this moment.

  A scent rolled through the air. Wild, savage and strangely familiar.

  Livvy’s spectacular hearing picked up the padding of footsteps and the occasional cough-like sound distinctive to her species.

  She was no longer alone.

  She knew some of her kind lived in this part of central Texas, but to date, she’d met none. Yet she could smell the scent of jaguars in the stagnant air, feel the heat of them even through the walls of her prison. The sounds of stealth continued. A raspy cough was answered by another.

  Livvy went still. Tension radiated through her body and she caught her breath as her heartbeat accelerated. A sudden burst of energy zipped and zinged around her and the familiar sexual heat she’d experienced randomly over the past few weeks kicked into high gear.

  Talk about bad timing.

  The sizzle and pop in the atmosphere told her all she needed to know and before she could blink, she heard the sound of the door crashing inward. Hands touched her. Male hands that were hotter than those of humans.

  Shifter.

  “You’re okay now,” a deep voice murmured. “We’ve got you, honey. You’re safe.”

  The blindfold was lifted from her head and Livvy squinted into the semi-darkness of what appeared to be some kind of old shed. Two pairs of mesmerizing dark eyes looked down at her, concern and anger stamped on their owners’ faces. Both men were naked and, even in the dim glow of the moon filtering through a single grimy window, the rugged beauty of each was impossible to miss. She might have been virtually blind moments ago but she sure as hell wasn’t now.

  “I’m Daniel White Horse,” the largest of the two said. Native American features marked his stoic, wildly savage face. His brows, thick and black, were drawn with concern over his eyes and he scanned her body quickly, as if checking for injury. Then his gaze connected with hers again and the force of his presence wrapped around her like a balm. “This is my friend Nathan Ames. We’re private investigators and we’ve been assisting the police since you were taken.”

  The other man, Nathan, leaned over her, bringing with him one of the distinctive scents she caught earlier. His saddle-brown mane was thick and wavy, hanging to his broad, broad shoulders. “Let’s get this tape off, hmm? Might hurt a little.” Carefully he peeled the duct tape from her mouth and, after tossing it aside, cupped her cheek with his palm. His eyes narrowed on her lips and his nostrils flared. “We know from your scent that you’re one of us, Olivia Russell. You have nothing to fear. We’ll protect you with our lives. How are you feeling? Are you hurt?”

  She glanced from one savior to the other and drew her tongue over parchment-dry lips. Without warning, tremors set in and her teeth started to chatter. “Thank you. I’m good. Fine. He didn’t hurt me.”

  “Good. That’s good,” Nathan said as Daniel scooped her up in his arms.

  The huge Native American shifter glanced at her, his strong jaw working. “Let’s get you some air.”

  “Air would be good,” she whispered. His arms tightened protectively, muscles bunching, and the heat of his flesh called to every primitive instinct she possessed. It was a hell of a time to notice such a thing but she was much too close to her time of change. Unavoidable. Nature had taken over and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. Olivia trembled.

  “Hang on. We’ll get you to the truck. Gotta cut these ropes.”

  And just like that, Daniel began to run, the preternatural speed of their species kicking into high gear. She closed her eyes as the night air whipped her hair into a frenzy of motion.

  Before she could blink, Daniel was placing her on a soft patch of ground near a big, black beast of a truck. Nathan quickly cut the restraints with two slashes from a wicked-looking blade. Olivia screamed when she brought her arms forward and pain raced through her abused limbs.

  Neither man said a word, each just took an arm to rub as blood rushed back through veins that had lost circulation hours and hours ago. Silently they massaged her hands, wrists and arms, until the pain subsided and she lay in limp relief on the ground. Someone, she was unsure who, pressed a bottle of water to her parched lips.

  This time it was Nathan who lifted her, placing her in the front seat of the truck. She let her head loll back and watched in quiet awe as they pulled on jeans, boots and tee shirts. She might be stressed to the max and exhausted but she wasn’t dead. Sexual hunger rolled through her body as she took in the sculpted lines of each massive shifter. The scent of them hit her senses in a blast of epic proportions and her nipples instantly tightened beneath the satin cups of her bra.

  On the cusp of changing, her time rushing toward her like a runaway train, Livvy fe
lt her clit swelling to press against the seam of her jeans. She was going into heat and the early signs she’d experienced were nothing compared with these new sensations, the overload of lust sweeping through her. She knew there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it so she gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut. Nature had chosen a poor time to push her over the sharp edge of sexual hunger.

  Daniel and Nathan climbed into the truck and it was as if every bit of air was sucked from the expansive cab. Even in her vast inexperience with all this changing stuff, she knew the scent of her animalistic desire filled the space.

  Both male shifters turned to stare at her. Tension radiated from them and the very air became a tinderbox destined to ignite at any moment.

  Embarrassed heat climbed over Livvy’s face to mingle with the hot flash of lust that consumed her. Ill-timed. All of it. If she could have crawled into a hole somewhere, she would have. Deep inside her body, her beast shifted, moved, cried out for the men sitting beside her—recognizing these males as mates who would claim her and bring her bursting to life.

  Recognized them. Mates!

  “Fuck.” Daniel’s curse was low and throaty as he started the ignition and stomped on the gas. “I smell your heat. How close are you?”

  Nathan pulled her against him and Olivia whimpered. “C-close. Coming on for weeks but nothing like this. I’m sorry!”

  “Don’t apologize. Not to us.” Nathan settled his face against her hair. “What you’re feeling is the most natural thing in the world for jag shifters. Daniel and I have waited for over two hundred years to find our mate and without warning, you’ve fallen into our laps. You know how rare female jags are. It’s a miracle. You are a miracle. Believe it.”

  While Nathan pulled her tighter against his big, hard body, she watched Daniel punch a number into his cell phone. “Carlos? Daniel White Horse. We’ve found Olivia Russell alive and well. Yeah. Yes, it’s great news,” he said. “Nate and I found her trussed up in a shed north of San Antonio. Heavily wooded area.” He paused. “That’s right. Yeah, she’s okay.” Daniel glanced at her. “No, no sexual assault. No sign of the shithead who took her but we haven’t gone through the shed. That’s up to you guys. We just got her out of there. Once she’s settled down a little bit, I’ll call with more details. Yes, I know you’ll need to talk with her ASAP.”