Vampires' Consort: Magical Menages, Book 2 (27 page)

Sherrie’s hands—and bed—are suddenly full, figuring out how to manage two snarling alpha males without giving in to the urge to knock their heads together. And channel her new-found power before a villain uses it to destroy them all…
 

Warning: Contains abduction, m/f/m ménage, oral & anal sex, rough sex, wilderness sex, astral projection sex and plain old sex in the bedroom—times three.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Shifters’ Captive:

“We’re trapped.” Sherrie stated the obvious as she craned her neck to look up the wall of rock. Somewhere at the top was the cave where their nemesis lived. Was this avalanche a coincidence or had he meant to kill or capture them?

John moved around the perimeter, pacing the limits of their enclosure. Perron got to his feet, tossing the bloodied T-shirt aside and scaled a pile of stony rubble. He attempted to climb over the boulder that had nearly crushed him.

“Damn it!” he roared in frustration as he fell back and landed on his feet.

“I told you rushing into this was a bad idea,” John said. “Now we’re trapped. I’m sure it’s no accident.”

Grant scowled and started to take off his shirt. “You can stand here and complain about being stuck. I’m shifting and finding a way out.”

Without another word, Walker followed his example, quickly stripping. Once again their bodies rippled. Charged static electricity lifted Sherrie’s hair and made her arms prickle. Suddenly, she longed fiercely to be able to shift too. Into what form she had no clue, but the idea of releasing the primitive animal inside her to howl and run was deeply seductive.

She pressed back against the stone as the two wild beasts ranged around the pen in a similar way to their human counterparts. The wolf nosed the ground and whined as he searched for a break in the rock pile big enough to squeeze through. The big cat gathered its weight and sprang with a powerful thrust of his hind legs, but the leap carried him only halfway up the boulders. His nails scrabbled on stone before he fell back into the debris with a howl of rage, tail lashing.

There’s no way out, but feed me their energies and I’ll release you.
The voice sounded in Sherrie’s head as clearly as if she wore headphones. She clapped her hands to her ears. It was one thing to receive silent communications in a dream, but shocking in her waking life.

Join me, and together we can have limitless power
.

Get out of my mind!
She shook her head, clearing it of the seductive haze that had settled over her like morning mist. She was beginning to understand how this guy worked—a chance meeting, mesmerizing eye contact and next thing he was inside your mind, manipulating it. Well, she was too strong to give in to that.

Besides, her animal companions were starting to squabble. Perron brushed past Walker in his furious pacing to and fro, and the wolf bared his teeth and growled. In response, the giant cat roared. The pair faced off, hackles raised, their bodies tensed to attack.

“Hey!” Sherrie shouted. “Stop it!”

They ignored her and continued to stalk in a circle around each other, gazes locked together. John’s menacing growl rumbled louder. Grant’s ears were laid flat. He hissed and sprang at John, his huge body bowling him over. They wrapped around each other, teeth flashing, claws ripping, tumbling over and over. The wolf managed to grip the cat’s throat and pin him for a moment, but a heartbeat later, the much bigger panther was on top.

“Shit!” Sherrie could see John was going to get the worst of it since Grant outweighed him and had razor sharp cat-claws. She scooped up a rock and threw it at the fighting animals. It didn’t slow them down. They continued to bite and claw at each other with a ferocious noise that made gooseflesh rise on her skin.

Sherrie picked up a larger rock and heaved it at the panther’s head. It crashed into his shoulder and knocked him sideways. The panther released his opponent and turned toward her, showing sharp fangs. Her heart pounded. At that moment, she was terrified for her life. These were two dangerous animals who might not remember their human side in the heat of battle.

“Stop fighting,” she yelled. “This isn’t helping.”

The wolf crawled from beneath Perron’s body and staggered to his feet, whining and shaking his head. One ear was bent and bleeding. The panther backed off, still hissing, before turning to lick his wounded flank.

“We have to work together to get out of here. Stop acting like idiots.” She felt like the idiot, talking to a pair of animals as if they’d understand her. She wondered how much of their intellect was functioning. Moving closer, she held out a hand toward each beast, palms open. She touched John’s muzzle, the top of Grant’s head, and stroked both soothingly. Soft fur caressed her palms and, once again, an electric charge entered her from contact with the two shifters. Lust, power, strength and awareness flowed through her.

Almost simultaneously, the two beasts began to change to human form. She felt the vibration, the twisting beneath her hands, and pulled away to watch while skin replaced fur and animal features became human once more.

Given their situation, she shouldn’t have had a lustful thought to spare at the sight of their nude bodies, yet her body seemed to have a will of its own. One glimpse of John’s dark-haired chest and groin and his semi-rigid cock made her stomach flutter. He bent his head to examine the clawed flesh on his side, and she longed to kiss his wound better. Grant looked just as sexy with his rumpled blond hair, one hand rubbing a band of tooth marks around his throat. An image of the pair of them locked together, not in combat, but in a sweaty sexual clinch, flashed in her mind. Liquid heat bloomed between her legs.

“Are you two quite finished?” she demanded, using anger to distract her from the mounting urgency of her desire. She threw a pair of jeans at Grant, and he caught them, but didn’t put them on. They dangled from his hand as he stood like a glorious statue and examined their rocky prison.

“Maybe we could boost you up,” John said. “You could find your way back to the Blazer and drive to town for help.”

Sherrie stared at the imposing height. “I think we’re pretty well trapped.”

She had a growing sense this was playing out exactly as it must and they’d find it impossible to escape their cage even if she was able to reach the top of the rock. They were trapped here together for a reason. Deep inside, she felt something was about to happen between her and these two men—a union that couldn’t be stopped. It both frightened and excited her, but it was undeniable. Only together could they free themselves and overcome their enemy.

Grant was near panic, although he’d never let the others know it. He hated being caged with a fiery passion. His palms were slick with sweat, and his breathing was shallow, but damned if he’d have a panic attack in front of Walker. He’d turned his fear into rage and directed it at the wolf. Rolling around on the ground biting and scratching had been better than falling apart. Now he scanned the top of the cliff wall and the morning sky overhead. Somewhere up there was the asshole who was playing with them like marionettes.

“Hey.” Sherrie was suddenly beside him, offering a bottle of water from the knapsack. “You look really pale. Sit down and rest.” She pressed her hand on his shoulder, and the warm contact distracted him from his apprehension. In two seconds flat, he went from near panic at the idea of being trapped to wanting her with a bone-shaking desire. His libido always ran hot, but his instant reaction to this woman was abnormal. More magic like the dream travel.

Grant stared down into her light green eyes then at her plump lower lip that beckoned him to kiss it. Obeying his instinct, he dipped his head to cover her soft mouth with his. Potent energy passed between them. He closed his eyes and drank it in—until a hard hand thumped his shoulder, pushing him away.

“Hey!” Walker stood between them, fists clenched.

Sherrie grabbed his arm. “It’s all right.” She put her hand on his cheek, drawing his attention to her face, and repeated softly, “It’s all right.”

Rising on her toes, she kissed the wolf, a light peck at first that soon became a deep, searching kiss. Grant’s already hard cock stiffened even more. He palmed his erection, squeezing lightly as he watched the hungry mashing of lips and tongue. Then he put a hand on Sherrie’s hip, completing the joining, and once again a powerful jolt crackled through all three of them, their energies entwining as well as their bodies.

Grant accepted the sensation with a satisfied grunt, but the wolf broke away, his eyes wide and worried. “Damn!”

“This is supposed to happen, the three of us together.” Sherrie sounded confident, almost serene. “Can’t you feel it, John? Don’t fear it or fight it.”

One man claims her by day, another by night. Together they lay claim to her heart.

Ravenous

© 2010 Abigail Barnette

Annabelle Whittington sails toward Jamaica, and marriage to a wealthy plantation owner, on winds of hope. Hope that she hasn’t saved her virginity only to be doomed to proper English wifehood, never to fully satisfy her sexual curiosity. Then the sails of the pirate ship
Howling Hades
appear on the horizon.

Captain Galerius’ demands are simple: in exchange for her blood to slake his eternal thirst, and her body to quell his voracious lust, he will guarantee safe passage. Except his motives are less than pure. In his hold is another prisoner, Ian Drummond, who must soon be replaced…with Annabelle.

But Ian has plans of his own, and they don’t include giving up his lover so easily. And, once he gets a taste of Annabelle’s sweet blend of innocence and boldness, he can’t imagine living without either one of them.

Annabelle, sensing the tortured soul beneath the monster, refuses to let Galerius intimidate her—and finds an unexpected ally in the infuriating, maddening Ian. As danger threatens the
Hades
, she is faced with a choice. Return to her life of duty, or embrace her spirit of adventure…and sail the high seas with the men who have captured her heart.

Warning: Avast! Here be hot vampire pirate lovin’ that won’t be coming to a theater near you any time soon; a comely wench who be givin’ “boring” the old heave-ho. Cool rum drink recommended.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Ravenous:

Annabelle gasped as Galerius’s mouth covered hers. She pressed her fists against his chest, determined to push him away, willing herself to with every second that passed, but the will of her morals lost out to the will of her body.

His lips were shockingly cold, and his tongue tasted of wine. Her hands moved from fists to claws as she gripped his shoulders. For a moment, she thought of the fiancé she had not met, the only man who had a right to do this to her, and she felt a stab of guilt. But she did not know him, and she did not know if she was safe at the hands of this pirate, and—

Yes, that was it! Surely it was not her sinful curiosity that drove her to press harder against Galerius, not the feverish fantasies she indulged in night after night. She did this to protect herself, and to save her life!

She couldn’t really believe that, could she?

No.

She pushed back, caught him unawares so that he released her. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t—”

“I saw into your mind, Annabelle.” He stalked forward, pulling the robe from his shoulders. “I know what you dream of doing with a man.”

He could not possibly… She shook her head. “I think of no such thing.”

“Oh, but you do.” He took her hand and lifted her wrist to his mouth, flicking his tongue over the pulse that leaped there. “And I promise you, there is so much more than what you’ve imagined.”

When she opened her mouth to protest, all that came out was a whimper.

Galerius released her arm and stepped back, finger to his lips as though having an epiphany. “Perhaps I am driving too hard a bargain. How about this, then? The next time we are to sail across the sea, I will make it my personal mission to find your betrothed and deliver you safely to him. Do you find that fair?”

It was too easy, and very suspicious. “Do you often travel across the sea?”

“Of course. We are pirates, after all.”

“Fine, then.” Her answer was too easy, and very suspicious as well, but she refused to dwell on it. Still, he had not made a move toward her. “I agree. Proceed.”

He chuckled, and a hot blush crept up her face. “It would be easier if you took off your gown.”

“Oh.” She felt foolish and suddenly not as eager to continue with what they had begun. She had supposed she would be naked, but she had imagined it would happen in the heat of passion, as if by magic, so she would not have time to think about it. To remove her clothing now, while he watched her, would be embarrassing and…

Impossible, she realized. On the boat, Mrs. Grimble had helped her with her stays when she dressed and undressed, and the woman tied such ridiculous little knots. “I can’t,” she said quietly, relief and disappointment mixing in her voice. “I suppose that’s—”

Before she could finish, he dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her gown open, flinging pins across the room and ripping her stomacher. Annabelle gasped. She would not deny she had imagined having her clothes torn off in a moment of passion, but in practice it was a bit unnerving. More so when he reached for a knife on the table and pointed it to her midsection. She yelped and jumped back, and he growled, “Be quiet, I won’t hurt you.” A horrible tearing sound alerted her to the demise of the ribbons cinching her corset, and at once she stood in the short shift and drawers beneath. The gasp she uttered then was one of relief, not anticipation.

A smile curved his mouth, and he tossed the blade aside. “In my day, women did not wear such ridiculous undergarments.”

“And I shan’t, now,” Annabelle said, but she could not inject appropriate dismay knowing the vile garment was destroyed. “I suppose I will have to make do until we reach Jamaica.”

“If we reach Jamaica,” he corrected her. “And I don’t want to hear any more talk of it. While you are in my company, you are to think of me, not some far-off man whom you have never met.” He advanced on her, backed her up to the edge of the bunk. “And when you return to him, I guarantee you will still be thinking of me.”