Phantom Warriors: Riot (15 page)

The King stared at him for what felt like an
eternity.

Riot fidgeted under his unwavering regard.
Already he longed to return to Nina’s side. He’d left her lying in
bed, sated and sleeping. Riot had promised to take his new mate to
the mountains today. No way would he disappoint her. Not even for
his King.

The silence stretched between them,
thickening the air.

Riot thought about deep fried, shrimp Po Boy
sandwiches with remoulade sauce and fries. His stomach growled
loudly, shattering the tense silence.

King Eros laughed. “I see that you did not
take my advice.”

“What advice was that Sire?” Riot asked,
genuinely confused.

“You didn’t eat before you came to see me.”
The King chuckled.

Riot’s face flushed. “Won’t happen again,
Sire.” But they both knew that it would.

“Go enjoy your new mate, Phantom Riot. Take
good care of her,” the King said, dismissing him.

He rose from his kneeling position. “I will,
Your Majesty. That’s a promise.” One promise Riot could keep.

***

The forest rose like a Leviathan around Nina,
blotting out the light green sky and dual orange moons. If not for
the trees’ anise-colored bark and dark purple leaves, she’d swear
Redwoods surrounded her. Except this wasn’t Earth. It wasn’t even
the same solar system. This was planet Zaron.

“What do you think?” Riot asked, indicating
to the mountains ahead. His expression remained open, hopeful. It
was one of the many reasons that she loved him. He rarely tried to
hide his emotions.

Nina stared at the jagged range. It reminded
her of the Grand Tetons…if they’d been injected with steroids.
“Impressive.” And they were. The whole place was amazing. Very
different from Earth, but not in a bad way. It was just going to
take a while to retrain her brain to accept all the new sights,
sounds, colors, and aromas.

“Do you like it?” he asked. The same
insecurity she’d seen in his eyes the first time they’d made love
appeared in a flash. Her answer meant a lot to him.

Nina nudged Riot with her fur-covered
shoulder. The tension left him, replaced by relief. Nina was still
getting used to shape-shifting into a bear. It had taken what felt
like forever to learn how to walk on all fours without falling
over. Her speech still wasn’t clear, but somehow Riot understood
her. “I love it,” she said. Her voice was garbled like she had a
mouthful of gumballs. “And I love you.”

His muzzle dropped open in a distorted smile,
then Riot rumbled. “Let’s get going.”

Nina nipped at his flank and took off
running. Her big paws slapped the ground as she raced through the
trees. The sweet scented air filled her lungs, making her euphoric.
She couldn’t outrun Riot and really didn’t want to, but it was
always fun to try, since he had an
enjoyable
way of
punishing her, when he finally caught up. These woods weren’t like
the ones in the Smoky Mountains, but with Riot by her side, it was
home.

Phantom Warriors: Bacchus

Phantom Warriors: Saber-tooth

Phantom Warriors: Talon

Phantom Warriors: Arctos

Phantom Warriors: Linx

Jordan Summers has twenty-five published
books to her credit. She is a member of Novelist Inc.,
International Thriller Writers, Horror Writer’s Association,
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and Romance Writers
of America.

www.JordanSummers.com