by Scarlet Day
Panther Key
Black Storm
Kate Darby just wants to get out of the path of a hurricane, but finds herself lost in a storm she never saw coming. Left with a frozen heart after her mother’s death, Kate never imagined it would take three hot men to thaw her out. And when they bust out with fur and fangs, things get really interesting.
Panther-shifter brothers Blake, Drake, and Jake Taylor are living in South Florida and aren’t looking for their mate. But when she’s blown into their path, they’re not about to fight fate.
Finding out she’s meant to be mated to three men is surprising enough, but then Kate learns she has a legendary cat stalking her brain. Unfortunately, now that Kate has something worth living for, someone wants her dead. Kate’s not just a cute little kitty, though, and when the fur flies, the claws come out.
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 35,685 words
BLACK STORM
Panther Key
Scarlet Day
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
BLACK STORM
Copyright © 2012 by Scarlet Day
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-508-3
First E-book Publication: October 2012
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
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This is Scarlet Day’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Day’s right to earn a living from her work.
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DEDICATION
To my family, for their support, their love, and for not standing behind me and reading over my shoulder while I write.
BLACK STORM
Panther Key
SCARLET DAY
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Kate stared incredulously at the “Dead End” sign illuminated in the bright gleam of her headlights. She held her phone up, internally fuming at the map directions displayed on the screen indicating she should continue on this road for another few miles.
“Damn smartphone.”
She threw the phone into the passenger seat and put the car in reverse, but the engine sputtered once and died. She searched the dashboard. The gas needle was on empty.
“But, but…the low gas light isn’t on! The warning bell didn’t ding!” She pounded her fists against the steering wheel in frustration.
“What the hell’s the point of paying for all of these gadgets if they don’t work?”
She grabbed her phone and pulled up the number for the hotel, hoping they could send a tow truck to get her out of here. Wherever here was. She hit the call button and got nothing. She looked at the phone again and saw the “No Service” message displayed on the screen.
“Oh, this is perfect. Now what?”
She looked around. There wasn’t much to see. She was on a back road in the middle of nowhere, Florida. At night. No phone. No gas. And she couldn’t even get a decent radio station to keep her company. Getting out and walking crossed her mind, but she hadn’t seen a gas station for miles. Heck, she hadn’t seen anything for miles. There was nothing except trees and swamps. And alligators. She was positive there were alligators out there. Probably snakes, too. Lots and lots of snakes. Nope. No walking. She wondered if this night could possibly get any worse.
* * * *
It got worse. The sky opened up, and rain fell in sheets. She shook her head and dropped her forehead onto the steering wheel. This whole evening was starting to feel like something out of a bad slasher movie.
She cursed herself for trying to take a shortcut. Her sense of direction was notoriously bad, and she knew she should have stayed on the interstate. She had just been so worried about getting to the hotel before the hurricane hit, so she took what looked like the most direct route.
Kate sighed. Well, at least she didn’t have to pee.
* * * *
She had to pee. The rain hitting her car’s convertible top wasn’t helping, either. She just hoped it would let up soon so she could make a mad dash to a bush or something before she made a serious mess in the seat.
Bouncing up and down in the seat, Kate waited anxiously until the rain began to let up. Deciding she couldn’t wait any longer, Kate threw open the car door and jumped out, looking for something to hide behind. She laughed when she realized she was in the middle of nowhere, and there was no one around to see her. Deciding it was better to have her bare ass exposed to the light than to some hungry alligator or rattlesnake that might be lurking in the bushes, she stayed in the light that the headlights still emitted.
Feeling much better, she headed back around the car to the open driver’s side door. That was when the growling started. Kate froze. Standing between her and the safety of the interior of the car was a bear. A huge freaking bear. Kate couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe. Fear paralyzed her to the spot. The bear wasn’t moving toward her, but it wasn’t leaving, either. Mentally shaking herself out of her paralysis, Kate took one agonizingly slow step backward. The bear still didn’t move, but it did cock its head sid
eways at her and sniff the air. Without warning, the bear raised itself up on its hind legs and let out a loud, bellowing roar.
That was all it took. Kate spun around and ran, screaming at the top of her lungs for help. Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered that running was probably the dumbest thing she could do, but her body wasn’t giving her mind any time to rationalize her actions. She was on complete autopilot, and her body had decided that between the two natural reactions—fight or flight—it was choosing flight.
The woods were dense and overgrown with brush, and she had to push her way through them. She was so frightened she barely noticed the thick vegetation cut her exposed legs and arms as she ran. She could hear the bear behind her and expected to feel its claws rake across her back at any second. Fear kept her running, her only instinct to keep going.
The rain soaked her long hair, which was hanging in her eyes in thick soggy strands, making it hard for her to see. Her foot caught on something in her path, and she let out a sharp yelp as she fell. She hit the ground hard and rolled over onto her back just in time to see the bear stand up on its hind legs over her. Throwing up her hands in defense and screaming with what would probably be her last breath, Kate waited in terror for the bear to rip into her with its razor-sharp teeth and claws.
But the pain didn’t come. Instead, she heard a new sound and opened her eyes just as something huge and golden-furred burst out of the underbrush and launched itself at the bear. Both the unidentified blur and the bear went tumbling into the bushes out of sight. Angry growls tore through the air as the two beasts fought. Kate was too terrified to move from her defensive position and stayed curled up on the ground. With one final horrific snarl, the fighting stopped, and Kate heard what sounded like something large running through the bushes away from her. She hoped it was the bear, although she had no idea what kind of beast the golden blur had been, either.
Shaking uncontrollably and feeling like she was freezing to death, Kate assumed it was just a matter of time before she went into shock. When a naked man walked out of the bushes and stood over her, she knew without a doubt she was not only going into shock, but she was probably on the verge of a mental breakdown. Apparently deciding it had endured enough excitement for one evening, Kate’s mind slipped into unconsciousness as the forest, the unknown man, and her fear receded into darkness.
Chapter Two
Kate woke up slowly, not quite ready for it to be morning yet. She’d had the weirdest dream last night, but as the fog of sleep retreated, she couldn’t recall the details. Something about getting stuck in the rain and a bear chasing her and—what was that other thing? Something with golden fur, but she couldn’t remember what. And a naked man? No, that couldn’t be right. The dream was too fuzzy to remember. She snuggled deeper into the covers. She had always liked sleeping in nice hotel beds with the fluffy down pillows and big comforters. And was that coffee she smelled? It smelled good.
Kate stiffened. Why would she smell coffee in her hotel room? Come to think of it, she couldn’t actually remember getting to the hotel last night. She slowly opened her eyes and peeked out from under the covers but screamed and immediately ducked back under them. There was a man sitting on the edge of the bed.
Holy crap! Why was there a man sitting on her bed? Did she pick someone up in the hotel bar last night? She knew that was completely out of character for her, and besides, she didn’t even remember the hotel, much less the hotel bar.
She screwed up her courage and peeked out again. He was just sitting there watching her with his eyebrows raised as though he was waiting to see what she would do next. Well, at least he was dressed, unlike the man from her blurry dream, so hopefully that meant he wasn’t about to pounce on her. She realized he was holding two cups, with one extended out toward her. She sat up, being careful to keep the comforter around her and tentatively reached out to take the cup from him. She brought it to her nose and sniffed. Yep, definitely coffee. She took a small sip and sighed as the warm liquid went down. Okay, it was very good coffee, not the cheap stuff sold in bulk at one of the warehouse stores.
The man was still looking at her. His sandy blond hair was long enough to pull into a short ponytail, but right now, it hung loose around his shoulders. He had golden-brown eyes like molten milk chocolate with flecks of honey. And even though he was fully clothed, Kate could tell there were some mighty fine muscles under his shirt. The exposed part of his tanned arms gave testimony to how good the rest of him must look. Kate tore her eyes away from the ungodly gorgeous body and glanced around. Uh-oh. This was definitely not her hotel room. This looked way too much like someone’s house.
“Where am I?”
“Good morning to you, too.” He flashed a way-too-sexy grin at her. “I was beginning to worry that you’d lost your voice, what with all the screaming you did last night.”
Screaming? What screaming? He wasn’t implying that she and he had…had…and that she had been screaming while they…they…was he?
“When was I screaming?” She braced herself, not really knowing if she wanted an answer. She wasn’t exactly a virgin, but she hoped she would at least remember having sex with someone.
“Don’t you remember anything from last night?” He was still grinning.
“Um…look, I don’t want to hurt your feelings or anything. I mean…you know… I’m sure it was great and mind-blowing and all that, but maybe I just had too much to drink.” She didn’t remember having anything to drink, but how else could she explain having sex with this incredibly hot guy and not remember anything?
She looked at him with as much apology as she could put into her features, but he burst out laughing. She gaped at him. Here she was trying to apologize for not remembering having sex with him, and he was laughing at her!
“Sorry,” he gasped as he tried to stop laughing. “You think that we…you and I…” He was having a hard time getting the words out.
“So we didn’t?” Kate knew she should have been relieved when he shook his head in answer, but she was actually feeling a little pissed. “Well, excuse me! Didn’t you think I was good-looking enough?”
The laughter stopped abruptly, and he leaned over her with such an intense, smoldering look in his eyes that Kate was surprised she didn’t burst into flames.
“Oh, you looked very good, especially after I took your wet clothes off so you wouldn’t get sick.” Kate gulped, and her pulse quickened as he continued staring at her. “But I don’t take advantage of unconscious females, regardless of how beautiful they are.”
“You think I’m beautiful?” Kate knew she should be yelling at him for taking her clothes off while she was unconscious, but his heated stare was making her think something else entirely. She was feeling tingly all over, and her pussy clenched with need. The man was only inches from her face, and his eyes were focused on her mouth. She licked her lips, unable to stop her gaze from dropping to his full lips.
He inhaled deeply, and his whole body shuddered. Just when she thought he was going to lean in and kiss her, someone knocked on the door. He jumped up and shook himself, as if he were coming out of a daze.
“Yeah, come on in.” His voice was deep and raspy as he backed away from the bed, but his gaze never left hers.
“Hey, breakfast is almost ready.” Kate’s eyes went wide as she took in the sight of the man poking his head in the door. He was an exact replica of the one who had been sitting next to her. She looked back and forth between the two of them.
“Who are you two?”
The newcomer looked at her and then to his look-alike. “What, didn’t he introduce himself?” He rolled his eyes as he walked into the room. “Way to go, bro.” He punched his look-alike in the arm as he passed him and then extended his hand to Kate. “I’m Jake Taylor. This idiot is my brother, Blake. And Drake is out back tying things down before the worst of the storm hits, but he’ll be back any minute.”
Kate offered her hand for a handshake as he made the introducti
ons, but he took her hand in his and bent his head to place a soft kiss of the back of her fingers. It felt as though his lips had branded her skin, and she gasped. She pulled her hand back and tried to compose herself.
“Um…you two look exactly alike.” Except that Jake’s hair was cut very short, the brothers looked identical. Good grief, the two of them standing there together, both of them looking so incredibly delicious, was enough to send very naughty thoughts running through Kate’s head.
Jake grinned. “We’re triplets. Hey, we washed and dried your clothes for you.” He motioned to the foot of the bed, and Kate saw her clean clothes neatly folded.
Blake cleared his throat. “We’ll let you get cleaned up. You should find everything you need in the bathroom.”
Both men turned to leave the room. “Um…thank you. I’m Kate, by the way. Kate Darby.”
Blake smiled. Kate was pretty sure it was the kind of smile that would make toothpaste manufacturers clamor to sign him to a modeling contract.
“Nice to meet you, Kate. After you get dressed, we’ll fill you in on what really did happen last night.” One corner of Blake’s mouth turned up into that sexy little grin again, and Kate’s heart practically stopped beating.
Both men left her alone in the room. She looked around, really taking in the room for the first time. The bed she was in was huge, with large wooden posts at each corner. They were made of dark wood and were intricately carved with figures of big cats—panthers, Kate thought—and were polished to a high gloss. The comforter was a rich gold color and was one of the really thick kinds that Kate knew probably cost a small fortune. There were two big leather chairs in one corner of the room in front of a fireplace, which Kate thought was unusual since they were in Florida. She would bet they only lit a fire in it a few days out of the year. Her imagination conjured up an image of Blake sprawled across the rug. Kate scolded herself for letting her mind wander to such an impossible place. Blake was way out of her league. She continued looking around the room. The walls were painted a deep chocolate brown, but almost one entire wall consisted of floor-to-ceiling windows, which she knew would let in a lot of light when the drapes were open. A large painting of a panther hung over the fireplace. Something about it drew Kate’s gaze, and she got out of bed and walked over to it. It was the eyes. They looked exactly like Blake’s eyes. Kate shook her head and figured she must be imagining things. Either that or she needed more coffee.