Bengal's Heart

Table of Contents

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

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)

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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.
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-10893-2

 

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SENSATION
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a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
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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
◆

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.