Seeing Eye Mate (29 page)

His belly laugh was drowned out by the snarls. One of the wolves yelped and backed off feebly. Hayward. His hind legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to his haunches. Caelan stood over him, his lips curled back, his eyes squinting.

Tieran saw why the detective had yelped. Blood poured from a wound in his neck, draining his life with it. Her heart pounded. A fight to the death and she had stood by silently and watched it happen, unafraid even for her mate. Deep in her heart, she knew he would survive. Somehow she understood that when the day came, she would know when he wouldn’t be with her any longer.

“It is the way of our people,” Liam whispered in her ear, somehow picking up on the direction of her thoughts.

“It’s insane.”

Caelan shifted and stood on two feet, gloriously naked, sweating and breathing heavily. He swiped at a patch of blood across his chest. Three angry stripes marked him there.

Hayward whimpered and gurgled one last breath. He hadn’t even had the strength to shift back to human form before succumbing to Caelan’s attack.

Caelan lifted his head and stared at her. The intensity stunned her. He stalked to her, his chin dropped to his chest, his cock… She swallowed. She watched it grow the closer he got. Liam laughed behind her and she thought she heard him say good night.

Without a word, Caelan tenderly caressed her split lip with his tongue before taking hold of her hands and laving the tender spots on her wrists. When he was satisfied, he led her out the double doors. Tieran sucked in a breath. A huge group of people, his pack, most of them in their birthday suits, stood waiting there, all of them silent and looking at her. How they’d gotten there so quickly, she didn’t know. Didn’t care.

Heedless of his nudity, Caelan stepped forward.

“It is done. Michael Hayward is our traitor.”

A collective gasp flowed through the crowd. Caelan was pulled aside leaving Tieran to be engulfed by the pack. She was hugged, her cheeks squeezed, making her wince, and her limbs checked to make sure she was still in one piece. Satisfied, they all started talking at once.

Caelan came to the rescue before she could even open her mouth to speak. He grabbed her hand and tugged her along in his wake. She didn’t protest. The group parted and let them pass. Several people shook hands with Caelan or patted him on the back. Many more simply said, “Thank you.”

“Oh my God, Caelan.” Tieran stopped. “What about Eli? Hayward said he’d disposed of him somehow. He’s out there somewhere. How will we find him if Hayward’s dead?”

Caelan turned and put a finger over her lips. “That’s what I was doing a second ago. They’ve already picked up his scent and are going after him.”

“Don’t you need to go with them?”

“No. I’ve got more important things to take care of right now.” Caelan started dragging her again and although he paused more than once within his pack, he never actually stopped moving until they were in the kitchen. Alone. He closed the door quietly behind them and yanked the blinds closed, shutting out the spectators.

“I promise retribution for the way you tempted Michael Hayward tonight, my own.”

She shivered at his softly spoken words. One could only imagine what his form of retribution would be.

He pressed her against the counter. The small of her back dug into the marble and he slanted his mouth over hers, careful not to hurt her lip. Screw careful. She deepened their kiss, tasting his tongue. A little cracked lip wasn’t going to keep her from doing this. Every ounce of her anxiety and fear vanished with the simple touch. Tieran wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. She needed this. She needed him. Now.

“Bedroom,” he said.

Her clothes somehow disappeared along the way and she found herself laid out across the bed. The wounds on his chest already looked better. She wished she had that kind of healing power.

Caelan knelt between her legs and pushed them wide, making more room for himself. When he knelt, his breath tickled across her pussy, enveloping her in warm heat.

“Please, Caelan, make love to me.”

“Oh, I will, my own. I will.”

His lips caressed her clit and she arched into his mouth, trying to get closer. He backed off until she relaxed, and started again. His tongue snaked out along her slit, licking the moisture from her and adding his own. It wasn’t enough.

Caelan seemed to understand. Either that or he couldn’t wait himself. He reared up, lifting her knees into the crook of his elbows and sank into her sheath in one long agonizing stroke. Tieran groaned as he filled her and grasped the blanket in her fists.

Clinching her vaginal walls, she fought to keep his cock inside when he began to pull out.

“Fuck,” he said, his head dropping back on his shoulders. He pressed in a little quicker this time. Both of them moaned.

“Can’t go slow.”

“No, don’t want you to,” she begged.

He leaned over her and set his teeth on the crook of her shoulder, prepared to mark her once more. The headboard shook along the wall with his heated thrusts. Mere seconds went by and she felt the sharp prick in her skin. His fingers played magically with her clit, circling and teasing it until she exploded. A shower of white lights sparkled behind her eyelids. The orgasm took her breath away.

With a final thrust, Caelan held himself still inside her. His come pulsed from his cock, bathing her in warm spurts.

When he collapsed in a panting slump, Tieran hugged him close, accepting and loving his warm weight on top of her. After a few minutes of catching their breath, he rolled them to the side, his cock sliding out of her.

“I think that’s what you call a quickie.”

Caelan’s chest vibrated on a growl. “If you ever do something so stupid again—”

“You’ll what? Spank me?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“God, I thought I was going to lose you tonight.” He nearly did right then when he squeezed the life out of her.

“I knew you wouldn’t,” she whispered.

“You saw this?” He pulled back to look in her eyes.

She rubbed the fading scratches on his chest and walked her fingers to cradle his cheek. “No, but I saw something else just after you left.”

He searched her face. “What?” he rasped.

Tieran took his hand in hers and laid it on her belly.

“Our son.”

About the Author

Annmarie McKenna lives just outside of St. Louis with her husband and four children. She loves to hear from her readers. To learn more about Annmarie, please visit
www.annmariemckenna.com
or send an email to
[email protected]
.

Look for these titles by Annmarie McKenna

Now Available:

Blackmailed

Coming Soon:

Checkmate

Two Sighted

What’s an alpha shape-shifting wolf to do when the woman predestined to be his mate no longer trusts men?

Checkmate

© 2006 Annmarie McKenna

Coming February 13, 2007 to Samhain Publishing

After returning home from an eight-month security job, Eli Graham is ready to claim his best friend’s little sister as his mate. Instead of the stubborn, independent, carefree girl he left, Eli finds a shell of the woman he once knew.

Having lived through a near fatal attack, Nikki Taylor has hidden herself away from the world. Now the time has come to face head-on the one man who could devastate her completely, Eli Graham. She’s loved him forever, craves him, body, heart and soul, but he’s never treated her as anything but a little sister.

When Nikki witnesses a murder, she has no choice but to rely on Eli’s expertise. Eli is more than up for the challenge—both to win her heart and to protect her from the man bent on wiping out a witness.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Checkmate:

Nikki tried to sleep, she really did, it just wasn’t happening. The bed was too hard, the pillow too starchy, her shoulder hurt like hell, and she had to lie on her bad side. The one she’d never been able to sleep on, but had to now because she’d been shot on her good side.

Shot! A murderer had shot her because she’d seen him. Seen what he’d done to her friends. And he was still out there. Looking for her, if the police were correct in their assumption. She sniffled and gripped the blanket tighter around her chin, knowing it wouldn’t protect her from the man who’d tried to put a bullet through her head.

All night long she’d cried about the senseless waste of the lives of her friends. There weren’t any tears left to cry.

Derek had stayed through the night, staking himself out in front of the door, cracking his knuckles and frowning at anyone who opened it. As if the man would try to get at her here. As if Derek would be able to stop another bullet meant for her.

But then this morning her dad had shown up again and relieved her brother. The police followed shortly thereafter, asking another round of a bazillion questions, most of which she couldn’t answer. Still. Things hadn’t changed any since she’d gone through them last night.

Her mother had asked her pastor to stop by, so Nikki’d cried again, all the while being patted and told that it was all in God’s master plan. Right now, what she really wanted was to tell God just where he could shove his master plan, because it sucked. When the patronizing pastor had finally left, exhaustion set in.

“Hey, Nikki-Raine.”

Oh God. Why? Because I thought bad things about you? Please tell me I’m hallucinating the deep voice behind me. Please!
She squeezed her eyes shut. He could not see her right now, ever, and damn it, where had he come from anyway? He was supposed to be off guarding some head of state or something. Not here. Not now.

“You awake, baby?”

Baby? He’d never called her baby before. His big hand, callused, she knew, rubbed a path down her blanket-covered leg from knee to ankle. Nikki froze and held her breath. He’d never touched her this way before, either. Her pussy flooded, creaming her panties, her tummy jumped, and she blessedly forgot about the physical and emotional pain she was in.

Do it again,
she begged silently.
Just once more.
If this was all she could get from the man she loved, she’d take it.

He did. A tender stroke that had her swallowing back a wave of fresh emotions that threatened to choke her.

“What are you doing here?” She forced the words around the pain.

He chuckled once, the sound slamming through her system making her whole body jerk with the deep baritone. “Your mom hired me.”

Hired you for what?
Personal security, his business, you idiot, what else.
That’s why he was here. To baby-sit her. The bed dipped behind her butt, unbalancing her just enough that she had to tighten her already bruising hold on the blanket to keep from rolling to her side. Not only would her shoulder burn like hell, but he’d also see her face.

And probably leave.

“And we need to talk.” His hand stopped tracing her calf muscle and gave it a squeeze instead. “But first, you need to get up so we can get you out of here. It isn’t safe.” He started to stand, still holding her leg.

No way was she leaving here with the one man who could destroy her, shattering her heart into little bits with one look.

“Uh-uh.”

His hand tightened around her calf and she winced. “Excuse me?” His tone reeked with disbelief, reminding her of all the times he’d talked to her as a child, back when she’d been a pest to him and her brother. “Goddamn it, look at me, Nikki-Raine.”

She sighed. She hated it when he used that nickname. He was the only one who did, and he never made it sound like she dreamed it should. Like a man who wanted to jump into bed with her. Or the floor, or the wall, or the table. She wanted to try all those things. With him. Eight months ago she might have still had a chance. Now she no longer had that option.

Recipe for a Mimosa Night: Take a few libations to loosen inhibitions, mix them with meddling college friends, add in an innocent game of dice, and the result is a steamy cocktail of erotic desires.

Mimosa Night

© 2006 Nicole Austin and TK Winters

Available now at Samhain Publishing

Since her husband’s military deployment, Reba has been plagued by dark, secret fantasies. Never before has she had such scandalously carnal needs—needs she can barely share with her husband, let alone anyone else. But her tenacious friends enlist the help of mysterious otherworld partners until she spills every spicy detail.

During an intimate reunion of college friends, three women share details of their own scorching real-life sexual experiences and the subsequent changes in their lives to help one friend find fulfillment. Things really start to sizzle, though, with an unexpected invitation, a mysterious delivery, and a once-in-a-lifetime offer Reba can’t refuse.

From cowboys and porn stars to floggers and psi vamps, these ladies sure know how to unleash their fantasies.