by Desiree Holt
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Wolf Moon
Copyright 2015 by Desiree Holt
ISBN: 978-1-61333-922-0
Cover art by Mina Carter
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC
Look for us online at:
www.decadentpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Venus Moon by Desiree Holt
Dear Readers:
When I finished writing Wolf Moon, Jesse and Alexa stayed with me long after. New characters started talking to me, and before I realized it, Moonlight, Florida, came to life—filled with a devastated wolf pack trying to rebuild, a local sheriff's department trying to keep the peace, a new wolf-lead agency determined to make a difference, and so much more. The Hot Moon Rising series was born. But it needed more. It needed to grow and take on a life of its own...so I invited lots of wonderful authors to take part in this shared world.
Survivors of the devastation wrought by developers and a more savage pack, the Moonlight Wolf Pack struggles to find a new home for itself in the heat of Central Florida. Here you will meet Jesse and Charlie, the sheriff’s deputies who are their liaison to the human world; Alexa and Liana, the women they married; Derek Sawyer and Rand Molina, leader and lieutenant of the Moonlight Pack; and all those who make up their wolf family as well as those who will join them in the future.
We hope you enjoy the stories from the many authors and return often to keep up with the original characters as well as meet the new ones. But not to worry. Whether this is your first or twentieth book, each one stands on its own. We look forward to having you join us.
Desiree Holt
Decadent Publishing Recent Releases
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Also by Desiree Holt
Joy Ride
Aftershock
Night Mission
He Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Flyover
Lust Becomes You
Overnight Sensation
Soul Dreams
Dark Secrets
Knockin’ Boots
Hard Lovin’
Playing with Fire
Sexy Designs
Wolf Moon
Coming Soon
Venus Moon
Blood Moon
Northern Star Book 1
Fallout
Wolf Moon
Shape-shifter Alexa Morgan fled her home in the north when her relationship with a human ended in disaster and the clan alpha shunned her. Now living in Florida, against all her better judgment she finds herself in a hot relationship with Jesse Farrell, the cop next door. Despite her knowledge that the relationship is doomed, she cannot stay away from him. When Jesse, a gang task force member, is hurt one night on the job, Alexa begins to spend her nights tracking him, keeping him in her line of sight, determined to protect him. But she’s terrified of his reaction when he discovers her true nature. Will he accept her or bolt as her other lover did, leaving her destroyed?
Wolf Moon
Hot Moon Rising Book 1
By
Desiree Holt
Chapter One
The rain always depressed Alexa Martin, underscoring the isolation she lived with. Scant moments ago, she’d returned from running through the trees behind her house. Concealed by the darkness, she’d given in to the urge she’d been suppressing for two days. Now, in a fleece robe, with a towel wrapped around her head, she sat curled up on the window seat in her living room. Thick drops of liquid ran down the glass like tiny waterfalls. If only there was a way she could wash away the problems in her life and make it clean and free again.
Why did I think everything would be fine when I moved to Florida? Running from our clan’s alpha really didn’t change anything except to put distance between me and everything I’ve ever known.
“You know I cannot allow your relationship with a human,” the alpha had told her in his forbidding voice. “He will turn on you when he knows the truth. Worse yet, he could expose you and the rest of us. Is that what you want?”
He was right, damn him.
She had deliberately shape-shifted in front of Ray, hoping for acceptance, but she’d seen nothing but horror in his eyes.
“What are you?” Disgust had filled his voice. “Some kind of freak? No, get away from me,” he’d shouted when she moved toward him. “Do not touch me.”
“You should have listened to your elders,” the alpha told her afterward. “I have no objection to marriage, but only with our own kind. We must perpetuate our clan. Lance is ready and waiting to make you his wife.”
“I will never marry Lance, old man,” she told him with vehemence. “He may be handsome and powerful, but he is well-known for his cruelty.”
So, she ran as far as she could, tucking away in a hidden corner of the universe where she was sure the clan would never find her.
The slam of a car door drew her attention to the driveway separating her house from the one next to it.
Jesse’s home.
From where she sat, she could see Jesse Farrell’s lean, muscular body running through the rain to his porch.
One a.m.
She could set her clock by him.
His shift with the Palmetto County Sheriff’s Department ended at midnight. Unless paperwork kept him longer than usual, he’d stop for coffee and a hamburger on the way home. At one o’clock, he’d be pulling into the driveway. Alexa never failed to notice the fatigue that slowed his steps or the tension in his posture.
What bothered her the most were the feelings she was developing for him, feelings that went far beyond worries for his safety. She’d thought hid
ing away in this small Southern town was the answer to her problem. A top researcher, her website brought her many clients and allowed her to work from home.
Then I saw Jesse, and I was right in the fire again.
She found herself wandering out into her backyard when he was working in his, carrying a pitcher of iced tea or lemonade. From there, it was nothing more than a short step to inviting him to dinner. Or over to watch television on his nights off.
Fool! Stupid! Idiot!
Little by little, she found herself pulled more and more to him. At night, she dreamed about him in her bed. Naked. Hot. His big hands touching every part of her body. His hard shaft plunging into her. His sensual mouth devouring her. She would awaken in a state of high arousal, her nipples painful points, the pulse in her cunt throbbing, and liquid seeping onto her thighs.
The last thing I need is to fall in love with another human.
Love! The forbidden word.
Yet, she felt it barreling down on her like a steamroller, and she didn’t know how to get out of the way. She was lost, either way.
Alexa shivered.
Can it, girlfriend. You were in trouble the moment you first talked to him. Go make yourself a cup of tea. Chamomile. Nice and soothing. Something to stifle these feelings that are definitely going to get you in trouble.
Sighing, she unfolded herself from the seat and headed for the kitchen.
The sound of the doorbell startled Alexa. On tiptoe, she peered through the peephole. She was stunned to see Jesse on her porch, dripping wet and shifting from one foot to the other.
She yanked the door open. “What’s wrong? It’s pouring rain. Why aren’t you inside?”
“Can I come in, please?”
“Oh, sure. Come on.” Yes, bring your fantastic body into my house.
“Sorry to bother you. I left my key on the counter this morning.” He raked his wet hair back from his forehead. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
Jesse always carried his car keys separately.
“In case I’m ever attacked,” he’d explained, “I don’t want anyone having a key to my house. I can keep an extra one of yours, too, if you want.”
Another link to him she should avoid.
“I’ll get it,” she told him, “but come into the kitchen. You look like a drowned rat, and you must be freezing. At least get that wet shirt off and let me make you some coffee.”
“I’ll drip all over your place,” he protested.
“Tile floors are easy to mop.” She took his hand. “Come on. I’d feel terrible if you got pneumonia and I could have prevented it.”
In the kitchen, she flipped the switch on the coffeemaker while he took off his shirt. Then she handed him a large towel from the stack in the laundry room.
“You look exhausted. Bad night?” Her heart pinched at the weary sight of him.
Jesse scrubbed a hand over his face. “Every night’s bad with the gangs. We’ve got a couple of new ones out there ramping up their so-called initiation requirements. That makes it pretty tense on the streets.”
He was a member of the sheriff’s gang task force, a thankless and dangerous job. On the night streets, he was a shadowy figure in jeans and T-shirt, looking to stop trouble before it started. Even in a county as small as Palmetto, gangs were a big problem, many of them migrating south from Tampa.
She’d taken to waiting up for him, knowing she’d be unable to rest until he was home safely. If only she could find a way to protect him. Well, there was one, if she transformed. But she had no idea how he’d feel about a giant wolf following him around the county.
She ran a critical eye over him, noting his soaked jeans, and pulled out another towel. “You’d better take off the rest of those clothes and let me put everything in the dryer. Coffee should be ready in a minute.”
“I’m all right, Alexa. Honest. The only thing I need is to get some sleep.”
How about in my bed?
“I told you. Go to sleep like that and you really will get sick.”
“Alexa, I….”
She grinned at him. “I finally have a chance to get you naked in my house. Don’t give me a hard time.”
Something primitive flashed in his eyes at her words, and the muscles of his face tautened. He took his wallet out of his jeans and flipped it onto the counter. Still holding her gaze, he undid the snap, lowered the zipper, and slid the wet denim down his legs, along with his boxers.
In seconds, he was unselfconsciously naked. Alexa’s face flushed. She quickly handed him the second towel and turned toward the laundry room. “I’ll go dump all this stuff in the dryer.”
Her hands shook slightly as she dropped the clothes into the dryer and set it on the spin cycle.
Am I out of my mind? Jesse Farrell naked in my kitchen, wrapped only in two of my towels?
Correction. One towel—slung low on his hips and knotted at the side. When she came back into the kitchen, he was still using the other one to dry his hair.
He winked at Alexa. “I’ve sure waited a long time for you to get me naked, darlin’.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” she tried to joke. “I’m just doing my Good Samaritan thing. Want a shot of something in your coffee to take the chill off?”
“No thanks. Sounds good, but straight from the pot.”
When she turned to hand him the mug, he was so close behind her the hot liquid nearly sloshed over the rim. “S-Sorry.”
His scent drifted past her nose, musk and citrus and the clean smell of the rain. Her wolf sense of smell went on high alert. She tried to inch away from him, but he had her trapped between his body and the counter.
Oh my God! His body!
Exactly as she had imagined it. Lean, hard, muscled, with thick curls of dark hair covering his chest and narrowing to a point beneath the top edge of the towel. And his face. Lines of exhaustion carved into the rugged planes accented the sensuous mouth and the slightly crooked nose. But his eyes dominated everything. God, she could get lost in those dark whiskey-colored eyes fringed by thick lashes.
Alexa had to stop herself from licking her lips.
He’s not for you.
But oh, how she wanted him. In her heart as well as her bed. Most definitely in her life.
He’s not for you.
The words echoed again in her head.
“You must be exhausted,” she murmured, searching for conversation. “Your clothes should be dry in a minute. Why don’t you take your coffee to the table and sit down.”
“I like the view better from here.” His voice was like warm syrup sliding over her.
“Jesse, I—”
“You what?” He set his coffee mug on the counter and leaned forward, his hands on either side of her. “Do you know how many times I’ve watched you out there in what passes for a backyard here? Seen you in those shorts and T-shirts that hug this round little body? How many times I’ve stood and talked to you hoping you wouldn’t notice what a hard-on you gave me? How many nights I’ve dreamed of taking your body into my bed and doing the most exciting things to it? With it?”
“Y-You have?”
“Sitting in your house eating dinner with you and watching television has been an exercise in self-control worthy of an award. You have no idea how I’ve been fantasizing about you.”
She placed her palms on his chest and realized instantly what a mistake that was. Electricity sizzled through her fingertips and shot its way through her body. Her nipples, already hard, were now like tiny granite pebbles. Liquid dripped from her cunt and trickled down the inside of her thighs. Embarrassed, she squeezed her legs together.
“Don’t fantasize about me, Jesse. There are things you don’t know.”
Don’t give me the chance to love you.
His eyes were like twin flames, all signs of teasing gone. “Afraid of me, Alexa?”
His words sent shivers skittering along her spine. She swallowed twice before she could answer him.
“W-What should I be af
raid of?”
“Maybe this.”
He bent his head and captured her mouth with his, a soft kiss that gradually turned hard and demanding. His tongue swept the warm, wet cavern of her mouth like a flame, scorching her everywhere it touched. His hands held her firmly to him, crushing her breasts against his bare chest. The length of his erection pressed into the softness of her belly.
The kiss was endless, stealing her breath and ramping up her heart rate. When finally he lifted his mouth from hers, she felt as if a tornado had struck her and left her still swirling in its wake.
“Is that what you’re afraid of, Alexa?” His voice didn’t sound any steadier than she felt. “Time to stop being scared. I want you, and I know you want me. What are you running away from?”
Oh, God, Jesse, if you only knew, you’d be the one running.
But her feet wouldn’t move and her mouth wouldn’t work. She could do nothing more than stand there, immobile, silently begging for more. And he was about to give it to her.
“Which way?” he asked, lifting her in his arms.
She was confused. “For what?”
“Your bedroom, darlin’. For what I want to do, we really need a bed.”
A tiny puff of breath escaped her lips. How had this gotten this far out of control so quickly? “Last door down the hall.”
Reaching to pick up his wallet, he carried her to her room with long strides. She barely had time to draw a breath before he had her robe untied and on the floor. His eyes darkened almost to chocolate as he raked them over her nude body.
“Magnificent,” he breathed. “But then I knew you would be.”
He cupped her breasts with his large, warm hands, weighing their fullness, squeezing them gently. When the pads of his thumbs rasped over her already sensitive nipples, she couldn’t help but gasp.
“Like that, do you? How about this?”