by Leigh, Lora
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
◆ CHAPTER 1 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 2 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 3 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 4 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 5 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 6 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 7 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 8 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 9 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 10 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 11 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 12 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 13 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 14 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 15 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 16 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 17 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 18 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 19 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 20 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 21 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 22 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 23 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 24 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 25 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 26 ◆
◆ CHAPTER 27 ◆
◆ EPILOGUE ◆
Teaser chapter
“Lora Leigh delivers on all counts.”
—Romance Reviews Today
Praise for Lora Leigh’s Novels of the Breeds
MERCURY’S WAR
“Erotic and suspenseful . . . Readers will laugh, readers will blush and readers will cry.”—Romance Junkies
“With two great twists, fans of the Breeds saga will relish [Mercury’s War].”—Midwest Book Review
“Intriguingly powerful with plenty of action to keep the pages turning. I am completely addicted! A great read!”
—Fresh Fiction
DAWN’S AWAKENING
“Leigh consistently does an excellent job building characters and weaving intricate plot threads through her stories. Her latest offering in the Breeds series is no exception.”
—Romantic Times (4½ stars, top pick)
“Held me captivated.”—Romance Junkies
“Heart-wrenching.”—Fallen Angel Reviews
“Erotic, fast-paced, funny and hard-hitting, this series delivers maximum entertainment to the reader.”—Fresh Fiction
TANNER’S SCHEME
“The incredible Leigh pushes the traditional envelope with her scorching sex scenes by including voyeurism. Intrigue and passion ignite . . . Scorcher!”—Romantic Times (4½ stars)
“Sinfully sensual . . . [This series] is well worth checking out.”
—Fresh Fiction
HARMONY’S WAY
“Leigh’s engrossing alternate reality combines spicy sensuality, romantic passion and deadly danger. Hot stuff indeed.”
—Romantic Times
“I stand in awe of Ms. Leigh’s ability to bring to life these wonderful characters as they slowly weave their way into my mind and heart. When it comes to this genre, Lora Leigh is the queen.”—Romance Junkies
MEGAN’S MARK
“A riveting tale full of love, intrigue and every woman’s fantasy, Megan’s Mark is a wonderful contribution to Lora Leigh’s Breeds series . . . As always, Lora Leigh delivers on all counts; Megan’s Mark will certainly not disappoint her many fans!”—Romance Reviews Today
“Hot, hot, hot—the sex and the setting . . . You can practically see the steam rising off the pages.”—Fresh Fiction
“This entertaining romantic science fiction suspense will remind the audience of Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn and MaryJanice Davidson’s Derik’s Bane as this futuristic world filled with ‘Breeds’ seems ‘normal’ . . . [A] delightful thriller.”—The Best Reviews
“The dialogue is quick, the action is fast and the sex is oh so hot . . . Don’t miss out on this one.”—A Romance Review
“Leigh’s action-packed Breeds series makes a refreshing change . . . Rapid-fire plot development and sex steamy enough to peel wallpaper.”—Monsters and Critics
“An exceedingly sexy and sizzling new series to enjoy. Hot sex, snappy dialogue and kick-butt action add up to outstanding entertainment.”—Romantic Times
Berkley Titles by Lora Leigh
BENGAL’S HEART
COYOTE’S MATE
MERCURY’S WAR
DAWN’S AWAKENING
TANNER’S SCHEME
HARMONY’S WAY
MEGAN’S MARK
NAUTI INTENTIONS
NAUTI DREAMS
NAUTI NIGHTS
NAUTI BOY
Anthologies
THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS CAT
(with Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh, and Linda Winstead Jones)
SHIFTER
(with Angela Knight, Alyssa Day, and Virginia Kantra)
BEYOND THE DARK
(with Angela Knight, Emma Holly, and Diane Whiteside)
HOT SPELL
(with Emma Holly, Shiloh Walker, and Meljean Brook)
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
BENGAL’S HEART
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / August 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Christina Simmons.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
eISBN : 978-1-101-10623-5
BERKLEY® SENSATION
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
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BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my wonderful editor, Cindy, for her patience and understanding. This was a hard one, and your understanding made all the difference.
To Sharon, just because you’re you and you know what that means to me.
And to
Lee Stepp. Your Munchkin never forgot.
◆ PROLOGUE ◆
BREED PROGRESSIVE TRAINING FACILITY, GERMANY
It was a scene out of a nightmare. Something so horrific, so bloody, as to defy the imagination and leave Cassa gasping in shock.
“We have to find the release,” she screamed in horror as her husband stood beside her, the camera on his shoulder trained on the viewing area of the rumored death pit.
It was more than a pit of death. It was a place of such torturous agony and evil that Cassa struggled with the ramifications.
A dozen Breeds, nude, tiger stripes gleaming against their flesh, moved frantically to escape the long, lethally sharp blades that played a horrendous game of hide-and-seek with them.
Blood sprayed against the steel walls, pooled on the floor beneath the bodies of those who’d had the misfortune of not moving quickly enough. And still the others fought to survive and to protect.
A savage roar of rage tore from the tallest, the most powerful of the Bengal Breeds doomed to die, and echoed through the intercom. He fought to shove the others aside, to save them, to find some way to stop the mechanical thrust and parry that sliced into vulnerable flesh.
“Douglas, help me,” Cassa sobbed as her husband stood silent and still, the camera recording the brutality of the Genetics Council and their so-called progressive training.
How had this happened? She flipped a switch and slammed her hands onto the release plungers, but the blades continued to slice and dice their way through even more Breeds in their path.
The roars of fury crescendoed, the raw animal rage sending shards of terror racing down her spine as she grabbed her husband’s arm and jerked him toward her.
She saw it then. Frozen, immobile with shock, she saw the morbid pleasure in his gaze and the satisfaction on his face.
Like a key finally releasing the lock on months of suspicion, Cassa blinked at the truths that finally slammed inside her head. The group of men and women who had come to this small country to find this particular lab and rescue the Breeds here had suffered through too many unfortunate accidents and false trails. For days now, the commander, Jonas Wyatt, had treated the group as a whole with icy suspicion. Because of one man.
“You.” She felt herself shaking apart. Felt something breaking inside her at the realization that she too had played a part in the deception that was now killing the very men and women they had been sent to save. “What have you done?” She screamed the accusation at him, watching the smirk that curved at his lips as his pale blue eyes glittered with fanatical anticipation.
“What have I done? No, Cassa, what did you do? I couldn’t have gotten on this team without your help.” He laughed in her face. She felt the amusement, the hated, mocking arrogance in his tone, as more cries echoed through the control room.
He was her husband. He had used her connections, her friends, to ensure that he was chosen as her cameraman to document the rescue of the rarest of the Breeds ever created. The Bengal Breed.
“Help me release them,” she shrieked, her palms slamming into his shoulders, knocking the camera loose and jerking it free of its mooring on his shoulder.
The crash of the equipment to the ground was only a distant sound of destruction as Douglas used his fist to send explosions of brutal pain tearing through her head, and she fell to the cement floor.
Agony lanced through her, and Cassa couldn’t stop the whimper of pain that fell from her lips. Okay, she could forget getting any help from him.
She pulled herself up to the control panel, tears spilling from her eyes now as she began to press, punch and slap any lever or button she could find.
Sirens began to blare, strobe lights flashed in red and blue. A mechanical voice began spitting warnings and directions in a coded gibberish that made the pain in her head intensify.
“You damned, stupid bitch!”
Cruel hands latched onto her hair and jerked her to her feet.
Cassa didn’t bother to scream. There was no one to hear her cries, there would be no one to care. Her hands jerked to the hand gripping her hair as she began to claw at his fingers with her nails.
Struggling, she was only dimly aware of the enraged, horrific roar that sounded too close, too furious.
“You ignorant little whore!” Douglas yelled again, his expression twisted into lines of rage as he shook her by the hand in her hair. “Do you know what you’re doing? They’re abominations. Fucking animals pretending to be human.” His free hand slapped her across the face, causing her head to ring with explosions of light as another warning blared through the control room, followed by a roar of animalistic rage unlike anything she had ever heard.
Cassa cringed at the sound as Douglas suddenly stilled.
“You knew,” he snapped as he flung her away from him.
Her legs wouldn’t hold her up. Her head was filled with clashing cymbals reverberating with agony. She collapsed to the floor, shaking her head. “I didn’t know,” she cried out, forcing herself to stare up at him. “You’re a monster, Douglas.”
The smile that curved his lips was one of triumph. “You told me the plans to get in here, Cassa. You told me the animals they were going to free, and you told me, dear wife, of the repercussions to the Council if they were freed.” He kicked out at her, laughing as the toe of his boot connected with her side and sent her scrambling in an attempt to crawl from his reach.
“Ten million dollars, Cassa, in an overseas account. Who the fuck needs you or your connections now? You gave me the means to betray these crackpot idiots that want to suck up to animals. Now you can live with it.”
A piercing animal scream exploded through the room. Through the veil of her hair and the tears filling her eyes, Cassa watched as Douglas paled, glanced to the sealed doors to the pit, then turned to run.
It happened so fast and yet Cassa swore she watched each detail of movement as though in slow motion. She saw the only Bengal still standing, his enraged, demonic eyes spitting amber fire. Blood dripped along his body. His face, his shoulders, the stripes that extended from his buttocks around his thighs—blood flowed over the heavy muscle and lean lines of his golden body. He lifted a broken steel stake and hurled it past the slowly opening cage door, swashing through the control room windows with deadly force.
The wickedly sharp blade buried itself at the base of Douglas’s spine. He screamed as he went down and his head arched back on his shoulders as he screamed again.
The stake protruded from the base of his spine as blood spurted around the wound. He convulsed, agonizing sounds of horror and twisted pain escaping his lips, as Cassa watched the only Bengal to escape the pit.
He was the one the others had fought to save. She had seen that much. She had watched as they had sacrificed themselves to save this one.
A mechanical warning sounded through the room. “Alert! Alert! Enemy forces are now entering level zero corridor. You have fifteen seconds to evacuate. Fourteen. Thirteen.”
Cassa stared at the creature that turned on her now. Long, once golden hair was streaked black with blood. It hung limply to his shoulders as the golden flecks of rage gleamed in a backdrop of forest green eyes.
His lips drew back on a snarl, exposing the wicked canines at the sides of his teeth.
She shook her head. He would kill her now. He’d heard everything Douglas had said, every charge he had made. She had betrayed the very creatures she had fought so hard to save. It didn’t matter that she had done so unwittingly. It didn’t matter that she would have died to protect them.
“I’m sorry,” she cried hoarsely as he paced closer. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry is a weak man’s excuse,” the creature growled, his voice filled with dark purpose.
Her shoulders shook with the sobs she fought to hold back, the terror that cascaded through her. Blood dripped to the floor in front of her, each small droplet a brilliant, enraged red, as he paced closer.
It dripped to the toe of h
er boot, the hem of her jeans. The next splattered on the jersey material of the T-shirt that covered her breasts.
She swore that small droplet seared her flesh as she stared up at him, grief and pain racing through every nerve in her body.
“Twenty-four Breeds dead,” he growled, the sound of his voice so rough, dark and rasping it scraped over her senses. “Bengals. Each one fought every second of their miserable existence for freedom.” His lips lifted into a snarl as he glanced to the pit, then back to her. “All dead.”
A sob tore from her throat a second before his fingers were latched around her neck, pulling her to her feet as she struggled against the knowledge of death.
He didn’t hurt her, when he should have. She had been responsible. She had trusted. She had betrayed.
“I should toss your body in there with them,” he roared in her face as she screamed in fear.
His lips curled back from his teeth, and she could almost feel the sensation of those wicked incisors tearing at her neck.
She wanted to excuse the betrayal. She wanted to explain, but there was nothing she could say, nothing she could do to excuse it. She had told her husband. She had discussed it with him. She had overlooked the fact that he wasn’t the man she once believed he was; she had tried to believe in that last vestige of humanity she thought he possessed.