Destiny of Blood (Love of a Shifter Book 4) Page 15

  She hated Mitch now.

  Mitch deserved Connie Sanders. The bleach blonde tramp had been trying to sink her claws into Mitchell Edwards for more than six months, and she had finally gotten her way. Well screw them both. If plastic boobs, and a spray-on tan was what Mitch got off on, then he deserved Connie.

  Rachel was going to go out and find a man to fuck her heartbreak away. She wanted raw, dirty, raunchy sex. Not the soft, gentle missionary sex Mitch seemed to favor. She wanted to be shoved against a wall, or held down by her wrists as a large muscular man devoured her completely. That’s why she created this plan.

  It was a Friday night, and that meant a packed house at Robin’s, the local bar that Rachel had waited tables at through college. She had met Mitch there, and he would no doubt be there tonight playing darts with his cronies, while Connie giggled and preened over a watered down margarita. So in order to prove to the world that Rachel Lia Morgan was completely and utterly over her ex-boyfriend, she was going on the prowl on his turf.

  There were usually dozens of hot men at Robin’s on the weekends. All of the local ranchers and ranch hands from the outskirts of Stone River usually hit the bar on Friday night looking for some action. Never before had Rachel considered indulging in a one-night stand, but tonight was her night.

  She spritzed a little bit of her favorite perfume on her throat, and then grabbed her small purse. On her way out the door she noticed her cell phone was blinking with a missed message. She climbed into her silver Ford F150 as she hit the play message button.

  “Rach, I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I want to apologize. I didn’t mean for you to find out about Connie like that…Rach? Please call me so we can talk this out. You can’t just throw two years out the window. I made a mistake, damn it—”

  The voice clicked off as she hit the delete button, and dropped her phone back into her purse. Mitch could beg and plead all he wanted, but she had already made her peace with their breakup. She wasn’t interested in his excuses anymore. She turned the volume up on her truck radio, so Miranda Lambert’s tune “Mama’s Broken Heart” blared out the windows into the night, and headed toward her freedom.

  The bar’s parking lot was packed with work trucks. With exception of only a handful of cars that probably belonged to the female patrons of the bar. Rachel backed her truck into a small parking stall at the back edge of the lot, right next to a black Dodge Ram Quad Cab that looked like it had rolled off the lot and onto the ranch just a few hours ago. Realizing she had parked rather close to the truck, she carefully opened her door, and slipped out into the small space.

  A large masculine hand covered hers, where it rested on the top edge of her truck door, and she gasped.

  “Sunshine, if you nick my new truck with your door, I’m going to have to spank that cute little ass raw.” The voice in her ear sent a shiver over her skin, and she flushed at his words.

  She turned her head to see who was behind her that would have any right to speak to her like that, and she nearly groaned out loud when her brown eyes met those of Parker Brooks. Parker Brooks was one of the four Brooks brothers who owned Brooks Pastures-a local cattle ranch. The four brothers shared two things in common, their love of ranching, and their smoking hot good looks. Dark hair, dark eyes, long lean muscular cowboy bodies, all tucked up under a cowboy hat. It made Rachel’s blood sing just thinking about the four of them.

  Holding her breath she dropped her gaze from his dark eyes down to his sexy mouth, and she felt her own tongue dart out to wet her lips unconsciously. His raised eyebrow told her that he noticed, and she shook her head slightly to clear her lust fogged brain.

  “I’m sorry, Parker. I did park a little close there, but no worries, I was careful,” she said with a smile she hoped would distract him from the increase in her breathing, and the rise and fall of her breasts.

  It clearly didn’t work, because his eyes shifted from her lips directly down the front of her shirt, and then they dragged lower. His gaze drifted from her golden colored abs, down to her booted feet, and then he reached out and tugged her hand free of the truck door. Surprised, she followed his lead when he turned her around so her back was to him again. A long, low whistle had goose bumps forming on her arms, but the finger stroking over her tattoo in the small of her back was what had her creaming her panties.

  “Holy shit, sunshine. Who let you out of the house dressed like that?” he asked in a gravelly rough voice that nearly knocked Rachel’s knees out from underneath her.

  The meaning of his question sunk in, and her irritation overcame her libido. “Last I looked in the mirror I was a grown woman, cowboy. I don’t need anyone’s permission or approval of my wardrobe.”

  Parker let her go when she tugged her hand out of his. She slammed her truck door and started to move out from between the two vehicles. “You might be grown up, but wearing a skirt like that is asking for trouble.”

  She paused and looked back over her shoulder. “Maybe that’s exactly what I wanted,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

  His slow, sexy smile made her mouth go dry, and she swallowed hard. “If you want trouble, little girl, all you need to do is ask.”

  Trying to cover up her nerves at his deliberately seductive invitation, she snorted out a laugh, “If I decide I want your kind of trouble, I won’t need to ask.” Tossing her hair back over her shoulder, she headed for the door of the bar.

  Before she could pull it open, a large hand reached around her for the door handle, and another equally large hand settled on her hip. Whipping her head violently, ready to give Parker Brooks a piece of her mind, she froze in place when it was his brother, Hudson’s face only inches from hers.

  “Hey, honey,” he said with a quick smile, and a wink, “Let me get the door for you.”

  “Thanks, Hudson,” she responded, sighing with relief that that was all he said. She wanted a wild fling, but the Brooks brothers were out of her league for multiple reasons.

  They were all at least ten years older than her twenty-four years, and they were all wickedly sexy men. The rumors around town were the four brothers shared their women, and right at this moment, looking into Hudson’s heated cocoa-colored gaze, she would have believed it. She had an inkling he had heard her interaction with Parker, but she wasn’t going to tempt fate by asking.

  Instead she tipped her chin up and turned back to the door, only to realize that it wasn’t Hudson’s hand on her. Sawyer Brooks stood on her other side with his hand resting lightly on the curve of her hip, and the rest of his body leaning nonchalantly against the door jam.

  “Rachel,” he said softly, and her pulse took off racing. Okay, the idea of having a sexy one-night stand had merit, but now that she was surrounded by large muscular men, she wasn’t so sure she could go through with the reality. “No need to rush off. How are you tonight?”

  Blinking in surprise, she answered automatically in a snotty tone, “I’m fan-fuckin-tastic, Sawyer, thank you for asking.”

  His eyes darkened with irritation, and his lip curled up in a grimace. “Don’t use language like that, you’re a lady, and ladies shouldn’t curse.”

  Rachel couldn’t help it. She burst into a roar of laughter. Not giggles, or chuckles, but large loud belly laughs. “Are you kidding me? Sawyer Brooks, I have seen you compete in the local rodeo, and heard the nastiness that spews from those luscious lips. Do you really think you can tell me not to curse?”

  Sawyer focused in on the one phrase from her whole little speech that he liked, “Luscious lips, huh?” Those sexy lips curved up into an equally sinful smile that had her pussy tightening, and her thighs clenching.

  She forced herself to roll her eyes, even as a blush covered her cheeks. “Whatever. I’m going inside to get a drink, dance a little, and maybe play some pool. Excuse me, gentlemen.” She reached again for the door handle, only to have a new set of hands settle on her shoulders and tug her backwards until she stumbled. Instead of falling on her ass thou
gh, her plump butt cheeks settled against the rough denim of a man’s Levi’s, and a heavy arm banded under her ribs holding her upright.

  “Apologize, Rachel, you were rude to Sawyer, and he was just trying to teach you a few manners,” Parker’s voice rumbled against her ear, and she bit her tongue hard to swallow her moan of lust.

  “No. Let me go, Parker, this isn’t funny,” she ground out, and she began to struggle to get out of Parker’s strong grip.

  “Stop it. You’ll end up hurting yourself. Now, Sawyer and Hudson deserve a sincere apology, and then I want an explanation as to what you’re doing at Robin’s dressed like a two bit hooker on fight night?” Ice coated his words, and she stilled in his arms. A wave of hurt and embarrassment went through her. Did she really look so bad? She had put on the clothes that made her feel the sexiest.

  “I apologize if I’ve offended anyone, but I have plans inside the bar that include a bottle of tequila, and a few spins around the dance floor. You are currently delaying my plans. I have no intention of prostituting myself, because I’ve never in my life felt the need to ask a man for sex. I’m dressed in clothing I picked out, and like. I don’t personally give a damn if you approve or not, Mr. Brooks.” She focused all of her anger on her words, and when he finally released her she sighed heavily, “Thank you. Have a lovely evening, gentlemen.”

  Hudson tugged the door open, and Sawyer stepped back from the doorway allowing her to saunter past him. Once she was safely in the bar, she let out a heavy, shaky breath and made her way across the room directly into the bathroom to settle her nerves. It might take more than a drink or two to wipe the Brooks brothers from her fantasies tonight.

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  Awaken a Wolf (Wiccan-Were-Bear #9)

  By: R.E. Butler

  Natural Wiccan Cinder Knight has a pretty good life. She’s part of the largest coven in North America and has a great job at the Whalen Family Clinic. She has zero complaints, until she finds herself the recipient of unwanted attention from a certain alpha wolf.

  Adam Beaumont hasn’t been the alpha of the Cleveland pack for long before he feels the pressure to take a mate. When he sees a beautiful Wiccan talking to one of his wolves, he knows exactly what to do to make her his. The only problem is that Cinder isn’t receptive to him at all. Everything he tries to do to make her his seems only to push her away, and neither he nor his wolf can accept the denial much longer.

  Cinder discovers that she’s not truly a Wiccan, but something much more, and Adam is the only one who can help her. The infuriating alpha male manages to put the brakes on his desire to rush her into mating him because she needs him as she navigates the waters of her new destiny. When someone from her past threatens all they’ve built, will Cinder survive the full moon or will Adam find himself alone once more?

  This book contains an alpha male used to getting what he wants, a Wiccan who doesn’t like her choices being taken from her, and enough magic to set the world on fire. Contains m/f interaction, new powers, old magic, shifting, a little wolfy voyeurism, and gratuitous uses of the word mine.

  Chapter 1

  Cinder Knight leaned over the small mortar and pestle and gave the mixture another few turns, making sure the tiny seeds were finely ground. After tapping the pestle lightly on the edge of the stone bowl, she set it on the counter next to her and carefully tipped the contents onto a square of wax paper and then folded the paper into a small packet, sealing it with tape.

  She straightened and arched her back, stretching with a grimace. She’d been bent over the bowl for forty-five minutes grinding four different seeds into a fine powder for use in a curative spell. She carried the packet out of the room and down the hall, entering an office where Lorene, the owner of the Cleveland Mother Earth Store and powerful North Corner of the coven, sat.

  “Are you done already?” Lorene asked from behind her desk, looking up as Cinder strode in.

  “Those seeds didn’t stand a chance,” Cinder said, smiling.

  She handed the packet to Lorene, who brought it under her nose and inhaled with a smile. “You are so talented. I dare say I could make a fortune for the coven just on your potions alone.”

  Cinder beamed with pride. She’d been with the Northern Ohio Wiccan coven for four months, joining after her mom’s coven suggested that she find herself another coven to hook up with after the truth of her half-nature had surfaced. Cinder wasn’t a full Wiccan — her mom was a natural, full Wiccan, but her father was a werewolf, and that meant that although she was as powerful as any natural Wiccan, Cinder was an outsider. Not enough Wiccan to be a corner and not enough werewolf to shift. She had feet in two vastly different worlds.

  Lorene glanced at the old-fashioned grandfather clock in the corner of her office. “I suppose you have plans with your handsome roommate?” she asked with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

  “Cyrus has to work. The construction company is doing inventory this weekend, so he’s staying in Whisper Creek. I’m going out with Leo, though. He’s taking me to Lykos.”

  “Ah, I remember when that club opened. It was the first of its kind in the area — a place for supernatural creatures to hang out together in neutral territory.”

  Lykos was owed by Leo’s wolf pack, but every shifter group in the area was welcome there as long as they didn’t cause trouble. Cleveland, Ohio was a virtual melting pot of supernatural creatures. Aside from the Wiccan coven and wolf pack, there were dragons, vampires, bears, falcons, white lions, and tigers in the area. Somehow they all managed to get along.

  During the solstice and full moon ceremonies, when the Wiccans would gather on the bluffs near Lake Erie and cast spells, each supernatural group sent guards to watch over them. During her first full moon with the coven, she met Cyrus, a tiger shifter, and they hit it off right away. Later on, she met Leo when he guarded her. She lived with Cyrus and dated Leo, but they were both casual relationships. She wasn’t the mate to either male, but she cared for them both a great deal.

  “Well, I won’t keep you from your date.”

  “It’s not a date.”

  Lorene rolled her eyes. “You sound like my granddaughter.”

  “Elizabeth?”

  She nodded with a smile. “She used to play the field with a number of suitors, keeping them all at arm’s length, happy to be casual with them. Eventually, fate took her life in a different direction.”

  “Two bears, right? Twins?”

  “Yes. She’s never been happier, but for a while, I thought she’d never settle down.”

  “I guess you can’t play the field forever, but I’m having fun.”

  “You’re young.”

  Cinder was nineteen plus one, which according to her supernaturally gifted long-life meant that once she reached eighteen, her body began to age one year for every twelve that passed. She was technically thirty-one.

  Lorene put the packet down on her desk and said, “Have a nice weekend, honey.”

  “Thanks, you too.”

  Cinder gathered her belongings from her locker in the lunchroom and ducked out the back entrance to where her car was parked. She sat behind the wheel of her Eclipse and started the engine, poking around on the GPS screen until she found a satellite radio station she liked, and then she headed home.

  She shared a two-bedroom apartment with Cyrus. With him gone for the weekend, she had the place to herself and decided that after she and Leo had partied the night away, she’d invite him to spend the weekend.

  Once home, she kicked off her shoes and checked her phone, answering a text from Leo that said he’d arrive at seven. She had just enough time to grab a quick bite and clean up, since she could still smell the crushed seeds on her skin.

  Cyrus had a flair for cooking, although he liked to pretend he was too alpha male to spend time in the kitchen. She wasn’t surprised to see a note on the counter directing her to a covered plate in the microwave, half of whatev
er he’d made for himself for dinner before heading to Whisper Creek. Opening the microwave, she hummed in surprise to see a breaded pork chop and sweet potato fries. After pressing the reheat button, she walked to her bedroom, stripping off her clothes along the way. There was only one bathroom in the apartment, but their schedules were different and they rarely had to fight for the room.

  An hour later, there were two sharp knocks on the front door before it swung open and Leo’s voice rang out. “Hey, Cin.”

  “I’m back here,” she called, pulling the black corset up over her hips and adjusting it over her breasts.

  “Nice,” Leo said with a sexy drawl. “How about you push that back down and we stay in?”

  She grinned as she turned. “Tie me up?”

  “Oh, baby, I love your double entendres,” he said, chuckling as he strode to her and tightened the strings that pulled the corset tight to her body.

  “We can stay in after we go out.” She turned to face him after he finished tightening her top.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m off until Monday night.”

  His brow arched. “What about cranky cat?”

  She swatted his shoulder. “He’s in WC for the weekend.”

  He growled playfully, his brown eyes dancing. “Ready to go to Lykos?”

  Leo was a total sweetheart, handsome, and leanly muscled. “You bet,” she said, grabbing her clutch.

  She locked the front door and took Leo’s hand as they walked down the flight of stairs to the parking lot. He opened the passenger door for her and shut her in safely before jogging around the front and opening his own door. As he sat down and turned on the engine, they played the cursory Twenty Questions about their respective jobs. Leo worked for his alpha, Adam, at the pack-owned garage in Delta Park, outside of Cleveland, where the pack lived. Aside from working for the coven on Thursdays and Fridays, she was also a receptionist at the Whalen Family Clinic, which catered to supernatural creatures, Monday through Wednesday.