Finding Forgiveness: Poconos Pack, Book 1
Page 10
There’s a fine line between man and beast…one only the heart can cross.
Forbidden: The Temptation
© 2010 Samantha Sommersby
A year ago, Jacob Madison got more than he bargained for during a rock-climbing trip to Yosemite. A freak accident left him badly injured, at the mercy of the elements—and the wolves who rescued him. If it hadn’t been for them, he’d be dead. He’d also still be human. Now he’s back, hoping to find out who he is and what he’s become. Instead, he finds smart, sexy Allison Connelly.
A forensic psychologist, Allison is newly divorced and proudly standing on her own two feet…until an unexpected storm shears off the snow bank she’s standing on. She plunges down an icy ravine, thinking she’s heading for oblivion. Then she lands in the arms of a tall, dark Texan. Jake.
Brought together by circumstance and bound by passion, secrets from their past threaten their future before it can begin. And somewhere in the mountains lurks a rogue Were turned serial killer. Whatever the danger Jake’s inner beast poses to Allison, there’s only one way to protect her—unleash it. Even if it costs him her love.
This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.
Warning: This book contains raging winter storms, truly inspiring sex, a kick-butt heroine, and one very hot, dirty-talking cowboy…who’s sometimes furry.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Forbidden: The Temptation:
I rolled onto my side and studied Allison’s back, resisting the urge to touch her. I listened intently to her breathing, trying to determine if she’d drifted off.
“What?” She’d been on the edge of sleep. Her voice sounded far away.
“You’re amazing.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls you save.”
“Only the ones who swallow.”
She pushed back against me. It was probably meant as a sign of reproach but my dick thought it encouraging. It was semi-hard and slipped right between the cleft of her ass.
“I should let you sleep,” I murmured, gently kissing her shoulder.
“You should sleep too.”
“Can’t. Too many thoughts going through my head.”
She rolled over, more awake now.
“What are you thinking about?” She ran the tips of her fingers across my forehead as if she were trying to smooth out the rough spots in my psyche. If that were her goal, she was going to need a hammer and a chisel.
“Doesn’t matter, go to sleep.”
She frowned.
“It’s none of my business,” I added.
“It’s keeping you awake.” She kissed me, softly on the mouth. “Ask.”
“Tell me about your marriage, about your divorce. You said you had baggage. I want to understand.”
“Why?”
“Because I like you. I want to see more of you.”
She smiled. “I’m pretty sure you’ve already seen all there is of me, Dallas.”
I threaded my fingers through her hair at the base of her skull and looked her in the eye, my gaze steady and unwavering. “I want to see you,” I repeated.
She nodded and licked her lips. “You might not like everything you see.”
“You haven’t disappointed me yet.”
She rolled over, gazed up at the ceiling, and sighed. “Suddenly I feel like I could use a drink.”
“Water?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of scotch.”
Every minute I was with this woman, I liked her more and more.
I climbed out of bed, walked over to the kitchen area, pulled a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label out of one of the cupboards, and grabbed two glasses.
Allison sat up in bed. “You had scotch and you didn’t use it to try to get me drunk and in the sack earlier?”
I made my way back over to her. “That wouldn’t have been very honorable.” After pouring each of us a generous glass, I set the bottle down on the floor.
“Do men still think of things like honor?”
I handed Allison her scotch, then crawled back into bed with the other. “Some do.”
“Have you ever been in love, Dallas?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“You’ve never had your heart broken?”
“Superbowl Forty-Two When Eli Manning threw that thirteen-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with thirty-five seconds to go in the fourth quarter. I cried.”
She frowned. Apparently she wasn’t a football fan. Guess it’s true, nobody’s perfect.
“No.” I continued, hoping I could make the frown disappear by giving her a real answer. “Not the way you mean. My mother died a couple years ago. That was hard. We were close. I miss her…still.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached for my hand and held it.
I shrugged. There wasn’t really any more to say. I’d opened up and shared. Now there was nothing to do but bask in the small victory.
We lay next to one another for a bit, sipping scotch in companionable silence and looking out the window. The snow was still coming down, hard and heavy, and in the moonlight we could see it.
“When Gavin proposed, it was summer here,” she began. “It was beautiful. Have you ever been here during the summer?”
“A few times.”
“We’d met the year before.”
Apparently, she was ready to talk about Gavin.
“How did you meet?”
“His practice offered one internship slot. It was quite coveted. I applied. I was thrilled when I was awarded the position. I hadn’t thought the woman who’d interviewed me cared for me at all. It was only after we were married Gavin confirmed she hadn’t. But it didn’t matter. He’d watched the interview from behind a mirror and at the time he’d liked what he’d seen.”
“Gavin’s a…”
“Forensic psychologist. He makes a living assisting with jury selection, being an expert witness, that sort of thing. His practice was—is enormous.”
“That’s what you do too?”
“Not anymore.” She took a sip of her scotch and swallowed. “Now I teach. I couldn’t continue to work with him. Not after the break-up. I enjoy teaching. I enjoy standing on my own. Gavin casts a pretty big shadow.”
“You’re so full of light,” I said, thinking out loud. “It’s hard to imagine you living in anyone’s shadow.”
“When we met I was young and naïve. He was, as you said, polished. And confident. Oh was he confident.” She turned and studied me for a moment. “You’re confident.”
“About some things. Wouldn’t say I’m polished though,” I added, kicking back the remainder of my scotch, then smacking my lips together.
Allison laughed. “Anyway, things were good in the beginning.”
“Until?”
She shrugged. “I grew up. The stars in my eyes faded. Gavin didn’t love me. I don’t think he’s capable. What Gavin loved was that I was so in love with him.”
“You deserve better.”
She shook her head. “Dallas, how can you say that? You don’t even know me.”
“Anyone would have deserved better.” I reached for the bottle, poured myself a bit more, and offered some to Allison.
“No thanks. I’m good.”
“To love and be loved. It’s what marriage is all about, right?”
“For most. At least in the beginning.” Allison shifted onto her side. “If only it could stay that way.”
“You want to know what my father said to me the day my mother died?”
“Yes.”
“He said, ‘Son, for over thirty years I’ve woken up every morning certain of one thing, I was about to fall in love with your mother all over again. What the hell am I gonna do tomorrow?’”
Her eyes misted over with tears. “What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Let’s go duck hunting’.”
She gasped. “You shot at ducks? With guns?”
“No. We threw rocks at them
. Of course we used guns.”
“I was just about to accuse you of being romantic.”
“You don’t think a man can be a hunter and be romantic?” I climbed out of bed to throw another log on the fire.
That was the question, wasn’t it? The one I had been struggling with on some level. How to reconcile the man and the beast, the civilized soul and the predatory animal.
“Maybe,” she mused. “But could they be good at both? I don’t know. Romance is about connecting. Hunting is about dominating, conquering—”
“Going in for the kill,” I finished as I reached for the edge of the covers and pulled them off the bed, leaving Allison naked before me.
“Jake!” she yelped, folding one arm across her breasts, lowering her other protectively between her legs. Suddenly she was exposed, defenseless. Her pulse quickened. Her heart started to race. Her pupils dilated. It was intoxicatingly arousing.
“Allison,” I said softly, grabbing hold of her ankles, separating her legs, and tugging. She slid another six inches down the bed.
She started to move, to protest, but then my eyes connected with hers and she froze in place. For several long moments I found myself wondering why, wondering what she’d seen in my gaze. Was it the beast or the man? Were they even separate any longer?
“Your move, Dallas.”
I climbed slowly, steadily and with assurance up the length of her body, peppering kisses along the way, nuzzling into the hollow of her hipbone, nibbling, licking, breathing in deeply the musky smell of her sex, scenting traces of myself along the way. The canvas of her skin was already becoming familiar to me, familiar in a way that was comforting, soothing.
A sigh escaped her lips and she arched into me, her hips lifting slightly off the mattress.
“How about some more stew?” Resting my chin on the soft pillow of her stomach, I gazed up into her warm brown eyes.
“You’ve already had two helpings, you can’t still be hungry.”
“Are you kidding? I worked up quite an appetite. You’re very demanding of your sex slaves.”
“We should keep our strength up.”
“Right. So, go fetch me some more stew, woman.” I ordered, rolling off Allison so my back was to the wall. “Go on.” I gave her a little nudge.
“Fetch you some more stew? You’ve got to be kidding. What about me?”
“Tell you what, you feed me now, I’ll fuck you again later.”
Allison’s cheeks burned red.
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Believe it.”
Finding Forgiveness
Dana Marie Bell
To forgive is divine…if he can pin his lover down long enough to beg for it.
Poconos Pack, Book 1
Ben Malone’s role as Marshall attunes him to every nuance of the pack’s wellbeing—which means he’s forced to feel every one of his mate’s hangovers. It’s the one reason Ben will never claim Dave Maldonado. Being alone is better than being with someone who lives in a bottle.
Dave was destined to be a pack Alpha until his first migraine hit at age fifteen, the day he caught his future mate holding hands with another boy. In the nine agonizing years since, he’s contented himself as Beta, but never learned to live with the pain and confusion of Ben’s rejection.
Dave’s worst attack yet sends him to the hospital—and brings them both face to face with the misunderstanding that’s kept them apart all these years. It’s too late, though. Dave is headed for Gay Pride Week at Disney World with one goal in mind. Forget Ben Malone.
Ben’s got a problem with that. Only one man is destined to hold his David. And he’ll give anything, even his last shred of pride, to win forgiveness—and the right to finally claim his mate.
Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, and male/male love scenes between two top dogs. Who knew Rock Paper Scissors could be such fun?
eBooks are not transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
Macon GA 31201
Finding Forgiveness
Copyright © 2011 by Dana Marie Bell
ISBN: 978-1-60928-496-1
Edited by Tera Kleinfelter
Cover by Valerie Tibbs
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: July 2011
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
About the Author
Look for these titles by Dana Marie Bell
Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Copyright Notice