The Tigers of Texas 2

Her Tiger Protectors

Samantha is running from her abusive ex-husband. She arrives in
Goldclaw with a few dollars and fear in her heart. One man has

helped her, but she isn’t sure the man she makes love to in her
dreams is even real. With a new job, and sexy Thorsten Goldclaw
interested in her, Samantha’s other man disappears from her

dreams—only to become part of her reality. Now Sam has two
men in her bed. The two sexy shape-shifters make her erotic

dreams come true, and add fantasies of their own.

If Adam and Thor want to keep Samantha and claim her as their

breedmate, they have to defeat her wealthy and influential ex-
husband, and stop him reclaiming her. When he turns out to be

one of Goldclaw’s hated enemies, that increases the danger, but
makes them more determined to free her.

They already have her heart, but they want all of her. For keeps.

Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal,
Shape-shifter, Western/Cowboys
Length: 52,788 words

HER TIGER PROTECTORS

The Tigers of Texas 2

Em Ashcroft

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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HER TIGER PROTECTORS
Copyright © 2015 by Em Ashcroft
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-861-6

First E-book Publication: January 2015

Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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HER TIGER PROTECTORS

The Tigers of Texas 2

EM ASHCROFT

Copyright © 2015

Chapter One

Samantha Gardener had never appreciated how hypnotic staring

out the window of a bus could be. But on the trip from Dallas to
Galveston, she’d had the best sleep she’d gotten since leaving New
York. That seemed like a lifetime ago. A year, that was all, but she’d
had experiences she’d never have believed. They’d turned her into a
different person.

The world sped by, mile after mile of featureless freeway, the

cement bridges punctuating the road. She fell asleep and woke up
again to what appeared to be the same section of road. The journey
gave her time to think.

What good did thinking do? It hadn’t gone very well for her so

far. For the last twelve months she’d drifted from place to place,
taking dishwashing jobs, waitressing jobs, and bar jobs, slowly
becoming anonymous and gathering a small amount of cash. In New
York, she’d gotten out of the habit of using cash. Even cabbies took
credit cards.

Now she was nearly all cash. She couldn’t do anything else.
She’d stopped making plans months ago. In a year she’d start to

think about the future. Now, she didn’t have one.

8

Em Ashcroft

In Houston she might risk staying longer. That would be nice. To

have a place to call her own, instead of a succession of motels and
hostels, and maybe get a better job. An assistant in a bookstore,
maybe. She’d enjoy that. Anything except working with food or
drink.

Closing her eyes, she took advantage of the rocking bus and

floated away again. The driver woke her with a yell. “Goldclaw,
Texas!”

People stumbled to their feet and grabbed their bags. Half the bus

was getting off. What was this place?

A long main street met her gaze, with a boardwalk edged with

boutiques, cafes and diners, all bleached by the relentless Texas
summer sun. A restaurant with a fancy French name stood at one end,
its windows dark because this was late afternoon. They’d be getting
ready for the evening session. It looked cheerful and pretty. A hat
shop with a display of expensive looking women’s hats and cowboy
hats stood next to a shoe store, which held a rack of beautiful cowboy
boots.

Across the street, a man strolled down the boardwalk, that loping

stroll typical of people who didn’t have to worry about the amount of
space they occupied. He wore jeans, a check shirt, and a Stetson, and
on his feet were well-worn boots. A real, honest-to-goodness cowboy.

Their gazes met. He had light eyes, blue or gray, and when he

smiled, the corners creased lightly. She smiled back. That instant
connection stunned her.

Then he moved on. She’d likely never see him again, but if that

was the kind of welcome she could expect here, she wanted more of
it.

On impulse, she got to her feet, hauled down her small case, and

joined the line waiting to get off.

The driver lifted his chin when he saw her. “I thought you were

going to Houston?”

“I like this place. I’ll go to Houston tomorrow.”

Her Tiger Protectors

9

“You’ll have to get another ticket.”
It’d be worth it. Maybe she’d find work, stay a while. “Is there a

motel or something here?”

“End of the street. Get off the bus, turn left.”
“Thanks.”
She was the last one off, so the driver could talk to her without

holding anybody up. “Is this your first time in Goldclaw?”

“Yes.”
“You know it’s where they live?”
Mystified, she who they were. Bus drivers could be strange

people. They saw a lot but didn’t always appreciate it. They were
probably too tired or pushed to keep time to worry about new
experiences. Some drivers worked the same route all their working
lives, and were bored stupid by it.

This one had to be in late middle age. He shoved his sunglasses up

over his forehead so she could see his eyes, grey, the corners marked
by deep crows’ feet. “Shape-shifters,” he murmured, as if afraid
someone would overhear him.

Enlightenment came. Ah. Yes, shape-shifters. Since they’d come

into the open, she’d met a few. Not that they hid themselves away
precisely, but until recently, they’d been more discreet.

They still had their own communities. That knowledge made her

more curious to visit Goldclaw, not less.

“What kind?” Shape-shifters tended to keep to their own species.

In a shape-shifter community different rules applied, like their casual
approach to nudity. Maybe she’d get lucky and spot a few nude
cowboys. Shape-shifters could be cowboys, right?

“Tigers.”
A thrill went through her, a shiver of something she couldn’t

identify. Something waited for her here. She thanked the driver, but
didn’t go back to her seat.

Eagerly she clambered off the bus and gazed around. Without the

benefit of the bus’s air conditioning, it was hot. Really hot.

10

Em Ashcroft

Sam stood in the open air between two stretches of covered

boardwalk and just breathed. The other dozen or so people who’d
disembarked headed for one of the eateries, or browsed the boutiques.
A tourist town, then. Strange for a shape-shifter community, but
maybe they were different in Texas. That was what she’d heard,
anyhow.

She turned left as the bus roared away and climbed the shallow

steps to the wooden walk. Outdoor air conditioning eased the heat. In
the brief time she’d spent in the open, her T-shirt had stuck to her
back. It was June, and getting on for temperatures Texans probably
took for granted. At least it wasn’t as airless as New York in August.
Not that she’d had much experience of that in recent years. She’d
been in the Hamptons or holidaying somewhere else.

She shuddered at the memory and paid attention to the nearest

store instead.

The boutique looked high-end from the label on the single dress in

the window. The prominent logo on the handbag and shoes was
placed carefully beside it. She could almost smell the exclusivity.
These places had an atmosphere rather than a perfume, engendered by
careful attention and a fragrance so delicate it was almost fresh air but
not quite. The persuasion in stores like this was less, “You must buy
this,” more “You want this, you know you do.” Sam liked it. It
breathed exclusivity without pretension.

These days she shopped at Target, if she was lucky, and only

bought enough to get by. In her case, she had underwear, nightwear,
and one decent dress. Nothing to compare with the pretty silk number
in the window, which had one big tiger lily painted across the skirt.
The draping was exquisitely casual.

Sighing, she moved on, but a small notice caught her eye on the

door. “Help wanted. Experience necessary.”

Sure, she could apply for it, but she’d have to give her

employment history. Apart from the casual work, where she’d used
fake names, she couldn’t do that. Still, she lingered. Where was the

Her Tiger Protectors

11

harm? She could totally apply, even if they said no, which they
would. If she could talk her way in, maybe she could show them how
good she was. Maybe they’d keep her when her references didn’t pan
out. If not, there was always Houston, or the bars and restaurants here.

She walked on, brisker now she had a purpose.
The motel was a fancy one, as motels went. Expensive by her

standards, but she could manage a night or two. Enough time to look
around and get work.

Ten minutes later she dumped her case in a comfortable but basic

room, the en suite tinier than her walk-in closet in the old days. But
this place was hers, as long as she paid for it.

Her room looked out over a few low-rise buildings at the end of

town. The blind worked, if she remembered to lower it slowly and not
jerk the cord. The colors were blue and green. Sam sang quietly to
herself as she took a towel, grabbed her robe, and made her way to the
shower.

The water was less than powerful, but she only needed to get

clean. The only way she could dry her long hair was to stand in the
heat, so she didn’t wash it. She’d do it later tonight. Besides, she’d
washed it this morning in a restroom. It had dried tousled, but she
could hardly afford the spa treatment that used to keep it a glossy
sheet. She tied it back. Ribbons were cheap and she had a bunch of
them, enough to match everything she owned. Touches like that kept
her sane. That and her nail buffer.

Her dress was black, a wool mix, too heavy for this heat, but she

had little choice. The long sleeves made her sweat just looking at
them, and it was a bit loose on her now. Luckily, she’d gotten good at
rolling it so it didn’t crease.

Plain black pumps finished her pathetic outfit. She added a red

ribbon for her hair, and tied one around her wrist, to match things a
bit. Above her sink was a small mirror. Twisting to study what she
could see, she decided it would do, stuffed a twenty and her room

12

Em Ashcroft

card in her bra and set off. Maybe she could treat herself to a chic
purse, something to make this outfit, such as it was, look better.

After tucking her case under her bed, she set off, a bounce in her

step.

The boutique was still open. Without giving herself a chance to

back out, she pushed through the door. A gentle musical chime
announced her presence.

The woman who turned made her feel shabby. This woman was

shorter than Sam, around five feet three, maybe four, but she was
stacked. Her dark hair was styled in a glossy bob. She wore a
burgundy silk sleeveless dress that showcased her spectacular curves.
Her gold necklace gleamed in the sunshine filtered through the blinds
at the front of the store, but there was enough muted light to flatter.

Sam recognized the light. The clothes were color-coded, and so

were the lights over them. The reds had a gentle, warm tone and the
blues and whites had crisper lighting. A clever effect most customers
wouldn’t notice, except to see the way they flattered the garments.
The owner of this place knew what she was doing.

After swallowing to clear the lump in her throat, Sam started on

her prepared speech. “I saw the notice in the window, that you need
help. I wondered if you’d consider me for the job.”

Short but to the point, and she didn’t stammer or stumble.

Remembering who she used to be, she put her shoulders back and
stood tall. As tall as she could in pumps.

The woman looked her up and down, her study critical. “I’m

Renata Goldclaw. I own this place. Where have you worked? Do you
have any experience?”

“Yes I do, but not recently.” Frantically she came up with

something that made at least some sense. “I worked in—Chicago, and
then I decided one day to see what I could of this country before I
settle down.”

Renata propped her hands on her hips. “Nice for some, I have to

say. The job wouldn’t be here. The biggest ranch around here has set

Her Tiger Protectors

13

up a wedding and honeymoon venue, and I need somebody to help
with a big affair. What do you know about weddings?”

She’d had one. “I’ve worked in fashion,” Sam said, “which

includes weddings, of course. I was a personal shopper at Clancy’s.”

She got a wry twist of the mouth and a stare through narrowed

eyes. “A shame Clancy’s closed down a year ago. Is that why you
decided to go on your travels?”

“Yes. I–I had some money saved, and I did some casual work on

the road.”

“I see. Well, Ms—”
“Gardener.”
“Ms. Gardener, this is all very interesting, but I’m afraid—”
Sam’s heart sank.
Gentle wind chimes heralded the entrance of a customer. Three, in

fact. The women smiled at them, and Sam stepped back, trying to
merge into the shadows, but there weren’t any. She stumbled on the
wooden floor. One of the women flashed a glare at her, but her gaze
softened as she looked past Sam and she spoke in an accent that
reminded Sam of home. “Oh look, isn’t that a Chanel?”

She headed to the rack behind Sam, totally ignoring her. She

fingered the rail, and pulled out a pink dress that was completely
wrong for her. “Isn’t this darling? I’d never expected to find a dress
like this—” She gave a mock laugh. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t the kind
of place you’d expect to find high fashion.”

“Houston is only ten miles away,” Renata said, coming forward

smoothly. “People come here especially to find haute couture.”

“How do you find it?” The customer ran her fingers down the

seams of the dress in a way that made Sam wince. That kind of
treatment added body oils just where they weren’t needed.

“I have agents all over the world. They send me reports, and

photos.”

Smart. Renata ordered online.

14

Em Ashcroft

Sam couldn’t stop herself. She saw the disaster that lay ahead. The

customer would buy the dress and wear it, people would ask her
where she’d bought it, and she’d tell them. That would lose the
boutique a lot of customers.

Even if she was fated to move on to Houston in the morning, she

could do this, and make her feel better about herself. “Excuse me.
Have you seen this one?” She drew out a pale blue silk dress that,
while it wasn’t by a big name, would suit the customer so much
better. “This is an up and coming designer. Very avant-garde.” She
spread the fabric on her arm.

The customer paused, and touched the dress. It was half the price

of the Chanel. “It’s interesting. I’ll try it on.”

She took both into the changing rooms. Meantime her younger

friends were browsing, shrieking at some of the clothes and cooing
over others. At a nod from the boutique owner, Sam went to talk to
them, but they wanted to browse for themselves. A good assistant
knew when she wasn’t wanted. Sam backed off, but adjusted the
positioning of a purse with an appliqued cat on it, which one of the
girls immediately fell on.

Easy customers.
The woman appeared in the pink dress.
Sam winced. “I’m not sure that one is the right style for you,” said

Renata, smoothly taking over. “You’d need to have it adjusted.
You’re too slim for the waist.”

The customer smirked. “I’ll tell my personal trainer.”
She disappeared, only to reappear in the blue dress. She smoothed

her hand over the fabric. “This one is good.”

“You’re ahead of the crowd with that one. The designer got a lot

of buzz at the London collections this year.”

The boutique owner took a turn. “In a year her name will be

everywhere.”

“Could I wear it for the wedding?”

Her Tiger Protectors

15

“With the right accessories, absolutely. How about we look into

accessories for you?”

The customer frowned. “I don’t really have time today. I’m going

for dinner with a handsome tiger.” She hooked her fingers in a mock
“come hither” gesture. “That ranch is full of them. Who’d have
known they were so damned handsome?”

“Mother!” One of the girls flushed beet red.
The woman pouted. “Do you think I became a nun when I turned

forty?” Or even fifty. She glanced at Sam. “Send her with the things
to the ranch.”

“Oh, but—” Renata glanced at Sam, her eyes speculative. “Yes.

She’ll be there. Will around ten work for you?”

“Sure. I plan on an early ride so I’ll be up at eight.”
The woman waved an airy farewell as she paid the exorbitant

price for the blue dress and the cat purse without blinking before she
left the store.

The boutique owner turned to Sam. “I tell you what, if you do

well with Mrs. Winter tomorrow, I’ll give you a trial. Don’t think it’s
an easy ride. I need somebody out at the Goldclaw ranch to help the
guests with their clothes. The bride and bridesmaid are taken care of,
but we’re looking after the family and any other of the guests who
want our services. Clear?”

“Yes,” said Sam. It wasn’t the least clear, but she’d figure it out as

she went along.

“Do you have a car?”
“No. I came in on the bus.”
Renata clicked her tongue. “I’ll get you transport.” She gave Sam

a visual sweep. “Can you do something with your hair? You need
something better than that black dress.” She sighed. “I know.”
Leaving Sam standing in the middle of the floor, she went to the back
of the store and came out with a pair of black pants and a white
blouse. Both exquisite, but damaged. “The customer swore to heaven
and back these were in this state. If that’s not a lipstick stain, I’ve

16

Em Ashcroft

wasted my time all these years.” She showed Sam a red smudge on
the sleeve of the blouse.

The pants were torn along a seam. An easy repair. Sam took them

gratefully, rejoicing in the glorious feel of the fabric.

“Repair them, and you can use them for now.”
Renata put her hands on her hips and surveyed Sam. “It’s clear

you know what you’re talking about, but you need to look the part.
Clear?”

Sam nodded and opened her mouth to say thanks, but didn’t get

that far.

Renata outlined the wages. “That’s less than Judith gets, but that’s

only fair. You’re a junior. Do you have a bank account?”

Sam swallowed. “I prefer cash.”
“Where are you living?”
“At the place at the end of the street.”
Renata gazed at her shrewdly. “The motel is clean and it doesn’t

rent by the hour.” She gave a decisive nod. “I want you here at seven
thirty. Hours are when I say, but I’ll want you at the ranch for the next
couple of weeks. The wedding’s on the twentieth and guests are
arriving every day. It’s a huge spread, syndicated, and most of the
owners live on-site. Be polite to everybody you meet and if you get
any sass, or anything you can’t handle, tell me and I’ll go up there
shape-shifted.” She gave a feral grin, most unlike her previous
appearance. “I’ll make them behave for you.”

Shape-shifters named themselves after the place they lived in, not

their family name. Sam’s new boss was a shape-shifter.

* * * *

Sam had no problem fixing her new clothes. The pants hung a

little loosely, but that was because she was a two, not a four. The
mark on the sleeve cleaned up with some soap and scrubbing. If it
hadn’t worked, she’d have rolled up the sleeves to hide it. Although

Her Tiger Protectors

17

the blouse was silk, it washed well and kept its shape after she’d
carefully pressed it.

These were the first clothes she’d had in a year that she actually

liked. If she hadn’t left home so fast, she might have brought some of
her own, but she’d had to leave when the opportunity came up,
because they happened all too infrequently.

Consequently she’d found herself on the run with a small amount

of cash and what her bank account would give her from the hole-in-
the-wall machine. And one good dress.

Half an hour before she was due at Renata’s, Sam set out from the

hostel, and walked the short distance. The store was closed, so she
went around the back. She had to walk to the end of the block and
turn around, so she only had fifteen minutes to spare by the time she’d
done that. Just as well she’d set out early, she thought with a smug
smile.

In contrast to the serene front of the building, the back was all

activity. A burly man was piling boxes into a delivery van, where a
rack of clothes already resided. Renata glanced at Sam, gave her a
quick up-and-down and nodded. Renata was dressed immaculately in
a burnt orange silk dress that didn’t have a crease on it. She must get
up in the middle of the night to look this good at seven-fifteen.

“Come inside and grab a coffee. Then you need to get to the

ranch.” She led Sam into a small room. Over a cup of coffee, she
explained the situation to Sam. “I didn’t go into too many details
yesterday because you looked dead beat. You look better this
morning.”

Sam had only applied a light layer of makeup, partly in deference

to the weather, partly because that was all she had. It appeared to pass
muster.

Renata sipped her coffee. “I called the ranch this morning and

they’re happy to put a room at our disposal. You can set it up when
you get there. I’m sending you with a selection of clothes from the
boutique, and some accessories, enough to tempt people. George will

18

Em Ashcroft

come with you, in case you need anything.” To make sure Sam didn’t
just start driving and never come back, she guessed. The stock would
be worth a lot of money.

“George will bring the van back here. Then, in case any of your

customers want something else, you can call me and he can bring it
out. At the end of the day, he’ll bring you back. After today you’ll be
driving yourself.” As long as Sam worked out, and didn’t run off with
the stock.

She leaned back in her chair, a better one than Sam had in her

motel room. “That way you can bring whatever you need to the ranch
the next day. Goldclaw Ranch is experimenting with weddings. You
know, a cowboy experience kind of thing. Horses, carriages, all that. I
want you to tell them I’m interested. They talked to me about setting
up a temporary boutique there when a wedding’s happening. They
already do a dude experience, but that’s in a different part of the
place.”

Sam stared at her, bewildered. “Why would you give me all this

responsibility? I’m probably talking myself out of a job here, but I’ve
got to say I wouldn’t give a new employee this kind of trust.”

Renata smiled, more feral than human. “Shape-shifters have

instincts. It’s like empathy. Cats can sense things. Most of us don’t
stay all human or all cat, but retain a little of each. I sensed nothing in
you that told me you’d rip me off.” The grin widened. “Besides, I’m
desperate. And I’m a tiger. You cheat me and I’ll rip your throat out.”
While Sam was still gaping, she handed over a small black case. “In
there is the credit card machine, a tablet computer, a bar code
machine, a few money bags and a phone. Most of the customers will
pay by card. Bag up what cash there is and bring it back with you so
we can bank it the next day. The tablet is linked to the phone’s
internet connection.”

Renata had put a few shrewd moves into play that would

minimize her losses, should Sam turn out a bad bet. Then she handed
over the keys to the van.

Her Tiger Protectors

19

Sam weighed them in her hand. It seemed so long since she’d

driven anything, but she couldn’t confess that. And her license—if
she had to produce it, they’d look up her records and then she’d be
lost. Done for. She kept it sewn in the lining of her purse, but she’d
have to get it out. Shit. She’d just have to drive safely.

Sam nodded and got to her feet. “Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
“You’d better.”
Despite Renata’s attempts at sternness, Sam liked her. She had

given her a chance, which Sam would always be thankful for. Already
her confidence seeped back, absent for so long she’d thought it gone
forever.

Outside, the heat of the day struck her even though this was early.

By noon, it would get unbearable, at least for her. That was, strangely
part of the allure of this place. It was so different to anything she’d
been used to that she could really start again. Become Samantha
Gardener and create a life for her. As long as she didn’t have to
explain why, on her driver’s license, it said Samantha Lanier.

She climbed into the passenger side of the van, George got in on

the other, grunted a hello, and they set off.

George told her it was going to be a real hot day, told her to keep

out of the sun and then pointed out the satnav built in to the
dashboard, since she’d have to find her own way back. It wasn’t
difficult. Following the signs to Goldclaw would probably do it.

She wasn’t prepared for the long drive from the gate to the main

ranch. Perhaps she should have been, since Renata had told her the
ranch was huge.

They passed a small group of cabins George told her were for the

dude ranch, then some fancier chalets, which were for less
adventurous holidaymakers. “It’s still a working ranch, though,” he
added with pride.

Clearly, Sam would have to brush up on her knowledge of Texas

ranches. She’d look forward to it.

20

Em Ashcroft

The long drive led past fields and corrals with gorgeous-looking

horses cropping the grass and sheltering under the trees, under an arch
of graceful oaks. To a main building that oozed class and style.

It was a three-story building, gleaming white against the lush

green of its surroundings, with an arched veranda at the front, and
balconies above. People sat in rockers on the veranda, so it was
obviously more than a house.

“They’ve converted the main building to a hotel,” George said.

“This new wedding shit is takin’ over the place.”

“You don’t approve?”
He lifted one massive shoulder in a half-shrug. “It seems a bit of a

pussy thing to do, but hey, if it brings in the money, okay. I jest can’t
get used to all these foreigners movin’ in—” He broke off, glanced at
her and then grinned. “Sorry, ma’am. Present company excepted.”

Yeah, she’d bet. He meant to say that, and he meant her to

understand she was included. Shape-shifters hadn’t always welcomed
people from off-site to their towns and holdings. Humans tended to
insult them, and it was only recently that their style of marriage was
legalized. Everything had changed when a terrorist organization
called The Grid had put a formula into the water supply. Now human
women could provide breedmates for the shifters, a mixed blessing,
because shape-shifter women had become scarce, so without the new
input, shape-shifters could have died out. Renata was rare in the
world, as a female shape-shifter.

Sam wasn’t interested in prejudice. She never had been, turning

away when people started talking about “dirty” shape-shifters. They
called them “animals” and “perverts” and other twisted things. They
were still fighting for equal rights in Washington, DC.

Sam had reason to know even the highest in society weren’t

without prejudice.

Here, in Goldclaw, she was unusual, the one people disparaged. It

should prove interesting.

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21

They pulled up outside the main building. George just sat there

and leaned his hands on the wheel. “You go inside and find out where
we need to go.”

Putting up her chin, Sam strode into the building. The blast of heat

between the air-conditioned vehicle and the air-conditioned veranda
and lobby gave her enough pause to make her gasp. Fierce was the
exact right word.

Inside, she gave herself a moment to accustom herself to the light.

She whipped off her drugstore sunglasses, acutely aware people here
probably would label her for wearing them. She was representing
Renata’s, so she wanted everything to be classy.

A reception desk stood to one side, its polished wood making it

seem as if it had been here forever. According to George, it had been
completely redone in the last six months. A man stood behind it,
consulting something. A screen, she saw when she moved closer. He
took no notice of her. A cowboy hat was carelessly slung on the chair
behind him, and he wore a plain blue shirt and no tie. The cowboy
ambience, she presumed. She cleared her throat.

The man’s head jerked up and she found herself gazing into the

bluest eyes she’d ever seen. As blue as the sky outside, light, with a
touch of turquoise. The tan skin made them stand out even more. He
straightened up.

Whoa. Sam was five-eight, and he must be eight inches taller than

she was. His broad shoulders filled out the shirt beautifully, with the
suggestion of muscles underneath.

Heat filled her, tingles spread to her pussy. She wanted this man.

22

Em Ashcroft

Chapter Two

Stop gaping, Sam. She closed her mouth with a snap, then opened

it again to speak. “Renata?” she said, waiting for more words to come
to her.

“Do I look like Renata?” He smiled, revealing sharp, white teeth.

“Don’t I know you?”

“I don’t think so. I just got into town yesterday.”
The man’s brow cleared. “Oh yes, the bus. Yeah, I remember

you.”

Shock arced through her. He was the cowboy who’d given her the

motivation to get off the bus. He’d only glanced at her, but he’d
shaken her world with his casual survey, and passed on. She never
thought she’d meet him again, or if she did, that he’d recognize her.
She wasn’t a person people recognized. She’d worked hard to keep it
that way. “I—I’m working for Renata, in town.” She paused, her
thoughts slowly seeping back into her head. “The exclusive boutique.
We’re supposed to be here to cater for the wedding guests.”

“Ah.” He frowned at the screen. “Sorry, I’m not sure how to work

this thing. Hold on.” He pressed a few keys and then hit a button on
the screen. “Ah, yes, here we are.” Some receptionist, not to know his
own system. She’d have thought they’d have trained him better. He
was certainly easy on the eye, even better close up than across the
street. She’d forgive him, although exacting guests might not.
“You’re providing clothes and accessories for the guests?” He
frowned. “We have no boutiques on-site?”

“I don’t think so, although the management might want to

consider it. I got the impression from Renata that it’s early days.”

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23

“It is.” Smiling, he walked out from behind the desk. “Let me

show you a few rooms. Then you pick the one you think will work
best.”

“Okay.”
He grabbed a card. “This is a master card, so once you’ve decided

on the one you want I’ll get room keys sorted out for you. You’ll get
two. That enough?”

“Plenty.” The fewer the better in her opinion. Less chance of

someone stealing them.

The keycards had pictures of a Stetson on them. Typical. They

looked tiny in his big hand but they must be credit card sized. He
wore jeans that had that gorgeous bulge at the front, and the cowboy
boots she’d noticed before. Casual for a hotel, and the boots and the
bottoms of his jeans weren’t exactly clean.

He led the way, so she had the chance to sneak a look at his firm,

round ass. His jeans were so soft she could see the muscles in his
buttocks as he moved. Delicious. Her mouth watered and suddenly it
seemed like an awful long time since she’d fucked a man.

Far too long.
He paused outside a door and slid the card through it. “This is an

empty room, but it has good light.”

Opening the door, he motioned her to go past him. She walked

past with pleasure, since it brought her close enough to smell his
fresh, clean scent and feel the heat of his body.

Hastily she turned her attention to the room. The size of a hotel

bedroom, but without a bed, it had what her mother might have called
“good bones.” The walls were white, but a dado rail ran around at
chair height. It contained exactly nothing, but he was right, two
windows took up most of the far wall.

“It’s good,” she said. Close enough to reception, too. She didn’t

want to be tucked away in a corner of the place somewhere. “If it’s
okay for us to use it.” Surely a room this good, so close to the
entrance must be a prime one.

24

Em Ashcroft

“You’ll need some furniture,” he said, frowning. “Chairs, of

course. How about a desk?”

“That would be great, but not too big. Thanks.”
“I’ll see what I can find.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
He found a door wedge and put it to use. “You can use this while

you’re unloading. Do you have somebody to help you?”

“Yes, George. I don’t know his last name.”
He grinned. “Most people know him if he’s the guy I’m thinking

of. Tall, built like a brick outhouse, Native American?”

She grinned back. “That’s the guy.” She paused, but then she

asked, “Is his last name Goldclaw?”

He raised a brow. His eyebrows were a shade darker than his hair,

which was Scandinavian blond. He tipped his hat back on his head.
“Yes, it is. How do you feel about that?”

“A touch nervous, but okay.”
“Why nervous?” His voice softened and he moved closer. “Would

it bother you to find out my name is Goldclaw, too?”

A golden tiger. She could almost see him slipping through the

shadows of a summer night. The thought of this man transforming
into a huge, beautiful animal sent a thrill through her.

“Because I’m not used to tigers so close. Or shape-shifters, come

to that, but I could get used to it. Just Goldclaw?”

“No.” He leaned closer, perilously close to kissing distance.

“Thor.”

She reared back and her eyes widened in surprise. “Are you

kidding me?” Then she clapped her hand over her mouth and her
cheeks heated under her fingers. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said
that. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Tipping back his head, he howled with laughter. His hat tumbled

to the floor, revealing his shaggy-cut hair in its glorious entirety. It
gleamed with health and she longed to touch it. She stood and
watched, growing more indignant by the minute until he finally wiped

Her Tiger Protectors

25

his eyes and smiled at her. “Hey, that’s not rude. I just didn’t have
anybody come out with it like that before. My name’s Thorsten. My
family came from Sweden back in the day and Thorsten’s a family
name.”

“You sound all Texan now.”
He tipped his hat, or tried to, but shook his head when he realized

it was on the floor. “Thanks, ma’am. I’ll go help George with your
stock, then you can open for business. Are you here for special
customers only?”

“I don’t know. I’ll check.” Reaching inside the bag, she found the

tablet and switched it on. It opened on the calendar, where she found a
list of appointments. Three for the whole day. “I can see other guests,
if they want to. How many wedding guests are there?”

“Around three hundred, I think. We have a hundred rooms and

lodges booked for overnight stays, and a waiting list for more. The
happy couple is from New York, and a bunch of their fancy friends.
They’re paying for all the rooms, so there should be a heap of
spending money flying around.” He bent to pick up his hat, giving her
a great view of his ass. Unfortunately, when he straightened, he
caught her looking.

He came closer, his hat in his hand, and touched her, tilting up her

chin with one finger. Before she could move, or do anything, he bent
and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “Maybe we can have dinner
later.”

“Oh.” Her heart soared. He was asking for a date! “I–I thought I’d

stay here until I wasn’t wanted anymore.”

“You’re entitled to breaks.”
She hadn’t considered that. She’d bet the restaurants in this place

was expensive and she hadn’t brought any food with her. Tomorrow
she’d bring sandwiches and close the room for ten minutes so she
could eat.

26

Em Ashcroft

“I guess so.” She’d last the day on a coffee. She’d done it before.

All she had to do was turn her mind away from food. Maybe take in
these pants tonight. As it was, they hung on her. “I’ll be fine.”

“That wasn’t what I said. I’ll come back at lunchtime, okay?”
She bit her lip, let her tongue play in the spot he’d just kissed. “I

don’t have anybody to take over. I’m fine for lunch, truly.” She
couldn’t afford it, and she didn’t want a man she’d just met to pay for
her. She hated obligations like that, and had good reason to.

“Dinner, then. I want to take you out. You’re the prettiest thing

I’ve seen in years.”

Uncertain how to take that, she glanced away, then back at him.

“I’m too thin.”

“I’ll agree with that. We’ll have to see about fattening you up,

then, won’t we?”

“I can’t—”
“You can. C’mon, you’ve got to eat. What’s your number?”
She shook her head. “I only have my business phone with me.”

The one Renata gave her. She’d pick up a burner when she got her
first check. A half smile crossed her lips at the thought of actually
affording more than the basics. She could maybe find a small
apartment, a place to call home.

No, that was stupid. She had no idea how long this job would last,

and she had to make the most of it. Save, not spend, although a few
things were necessary.

“Then I’ll have to call around. Where are you staying?”
“In town.” No, she refused to be ashamed of a place she could

afford and she’d paid for honestly. She wouldn’t turn into that kind of
snob. For all she knew he lived somewhere similar. “At the motel.”

“Manilow’s?” He grimaced. “That place is fine for backpackers

and kids, but—”

She put up her chin. “It’s clean and private.”
He didn’t look pleased. “I guess. How long are you here?”
“As long as Renata needs me.”

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27

He strolled to the door. “I’ll go help George.”
In a half hour, they had everything set up. The rack of clothes

stood against one wall. It wasn’t an ordinary, gray metal one, but
white painted and fancy, with rods that slid out to hold clothes flat-on
for display. It also had a mirror on one end that she could detach and
stand against the wall.

Boxes contained more mirrors and a few lamps with soft bulbs in

them. She could angle them for the most flattering appearance. She
got busy.

“I’ll be back to collect you at seven,” George said. “Ms. Renata’s

orders. I’ll take the van.”

“Sure,” she said absently. “Thanks, George. See you later.”
The silence told her George had left. For a big man, he sure

moved quietly.

She left the door propped open and a tap made her look up. Thor

stood there, a lunchbox cooler in his hand. He crossed the room to
her, and such was his sheer presence, she had to stop herself stepping
back. Either that or coming to meet him and stepping straight into his
arms, which was something she’d never wanted to do before.

“I thought I’d bring you some lunch, since you won’t take the

time off to take some with me.” He handed the package over. “I didn’t
know if you were vegetarian, so I picked out cheese sandwiches, a
bottle of water, and an apple. It’s not a banquet, but it’ll tide you
over.”

“Oh, thank you!” She took the cooler. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” he said firmly. “I live on-site. This was my lunch, so

it’s nothing for me to go home and pack myself another. It’s better
than me worrying about you all day, don’t you agree?”

How could she not? “Would you really worry?”
“I really would.” He stepped back, and turned at the door to shoot

her one of his trademark grins. “See you later. Just leave the cooler
here, I’ll pick it up later.”

“I don’t know how to—”

28

Em Ashcroft

“You can fix me a sandwich sometime.”
Before she could say any more, he was gone.

* * * *

She’d knocked him off his feet. From the moment he’d seen her

he’d wanted her, and now fortune had tossed her his way, he wasn’t
about to let her go easily. The only thing Thor worried about was her
size. She’d lost weight—those clothes were too big for her, but only a
size or so. Still, she should be bigger, she was far too delicate for his
liking. Even though her delicacy had drawn him, and made him, want
to hold her close and cherish her.

Weird thoughts for him. Thor usually preferred bigger women, the

kind who could take his version of robust fucking. Not that they were
anywhere near that point. He’d had to leave her after the one, chaste
kiss because she’d have seen the effect she had on him. When she
looked up at him with those big, blue eyes, he’d do anything for her.

Yesterday he’d glanced up and seen her through the tough glass of

the bus. He’d known then her face would haunt him, but guessed he’d
never see her again. Sometimes fate didn’t mean people to meet, and
maybe she was better as a brief memory. Yet here she was, and he
didn’t intend to let her go. Not until they’d at least had a chance to get
to know each other.

Maybe more, if he got lucky. He strode from the main building,

vaguely acknowledging the thanks of the receptionist, who’d had to
step out for a minute. Thor hadn’t expected anyone to come to the
reception desk, but she’d arrived. The manager of the hotel had that
room in his sights, but he’d have to find somewhere else because it
was hers now.

That office had belonged to his father back in the day, when this

mausoleum was a house. As soon as the old man had died, Thor had it
redecorated in lighter colors. He’d loved his dad, but not his taste in
heavy, mahogany furniture. That was why the room was empty. The

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29

big desk was in storage now, together with the claw marks where
Thor had tried to write his name when he’d been in his tiger form and
learned that tigers couldn’t write.

If his father had found it, he’d never let on.
Now the room would become something else, and although he’d

left the development of the hotel and the wedding business to other
partners, it started him thinking. What if they had a boutique in the
place? Top resorts offered a range of luxury items for sale, and Renata
offered nothing but the best. He’d suggest it at the next board
meeting. They had monthly meetings, and any active member of the
syndicate on the premises attended. That meant most of them. It made
for lively discussions.

Then she’d be here, on the ranch after the wedding, and he

couldn’t deny that was a tempting prospect.

Maybe he could do something else to help. When he’d gone to the

restaurant and ordered sandwiches the manager had stared down his
nose at him until he spread his legs and glared back.

The small lie to her that he made his own lunch didn’t amount to

much. He’d experienced her hunger as if it was a part of him, his
tiger-sense detecting her need.

Thor should have worn his suit for the monthly meeting, but he

was due in the corral immediately afterward. In any case, he wasn’t
one for dressing up, unless he had to. He lived in jeans and he
preferred his life that way.

After keying in his code, he went through to the private part of the

house and the meeting room. From the cacophony going on he knew
he wasn’t the first there.

A dozen tigers was a lot to fit into one room, even in human form.

Once a month they all put up with the inconvenience and the
uncomfortable agitation it engendered. Today he counted nine. He
made the tenth.

Thor nodded to them and helped himself to coffee from the

sideboard. Then he took a seat next to Sikander at the big, rectangular

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Em Ashcroft

table that had been here as long as the ranch itself. His breed partner,
Adam, was already present. Thor tilted his hat to him, and received a
cool acknowledgement in return. Just because they were breed
partners didn’t mean they had to live out of each other’s pockets,
although they had once.

Sikander grinned at him. “Hot day. You’re working outside

later?”

“Mostly.” He paused, but now wasn’t the time to bring up the

subject of the store. They had to get through the boring stuff first.
They had a quorum, so they began.

Fabricio was chairing today. He tried yelling, but when nobody

took any notice, he took off his shoe and beat the table with it. “Come
on, some of us have other things to do.” When that didn’t work, he
raised his voice to a roar. “Shut the fuck up!”

That did the trick. When the noise had lulled, he started

proceedings. “Let’s get through this. Harlen, how about the
renovations?”

Harlen Goldclaw leaned back in his chair and stretched his feet

under the table. “Nearly done, thank fuck. A few frills, a few
setbacks, nothing I can’t figure out and nothing that sends us over
budget. Does anybody want any details?”

“Yeah, that big office near the hall,” Sikander said.
Thor cleared his throat. “I’ve borrowed it for today.”
A few heads turned to stare at him, including Adam’s. Thor

shrugged. “I was at the desk when a woman from Renata’s came. You
know the boutique in town? She’s working for a few of the guests, but
nobody had given her anywhere to work from.”

“I thought she’d use one of the bedrooms,” Adam said. His mouth

flattened. He’d obviously had plans for that office. So had everybody
else.

“She needs the space, not a bed. It gives the wrong impression.

That room has a small bathroom to one side, and plenty of space. She
brought a ton of stuff. Anyhow, it was free, and I’ve not made any

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31

promises.” Although he would if he could. “It occurred to me that we
should have some fancy shit on sale, especially with the wedding
business going forward. Why not offer it to a local place?”

“I had Jenny’s in mind,” Sikander said, mentioning a place further

up the street to Renata’s.

“Renata offers high-end stuff. We might look at both. Or offer

them some kind of kiosk.”

Harlan nodded. “I was planning to bring up the subject of

concessions. Branching out into retail doesn’t seem practical, but big
hotels all have fancy boutiques in the lobby. I took a field trip to a few
in Houston to look into it. They’re very lucrative, and for us it’s just a
matter of hiring the space. We can lease the space or ask for a
percentage. Or both, if we’re greedy. Why not go further afield for
takers?”

Ty growled low in his throat, more tiger than human. “I move that

we go local wherever possible. We’re tigers, and despite this opening
of borders shit, that’s what we should stay. Renata’s one of us, and
she has a good reputation for quality and service. Let’s keep it to
Goldclaw, and only look outside when we can’t find an alternative.”

“Seconded,” Thor said quickly. That made eminent sense to him,

even though it earned him a glare from Harlan. He mostly worked off-
site, and he had offices in Houston. He’d probably been scouting
Houston suppliers.

They took a swift vote and passed the motion. That was one step

further. Thor pursued his advantage. “Renata is providing things for
this big wedding. The guests’ll start to arrive next week, because
some of them are coming for a vacation first. This is a big society
affair and if we do it right, we’ll get a lot of publicity from it. There
are photographers coming, the big bloggers, and so on. Yeah, I gave
the woman from Renata’s the big office because we want the right
impression. If it pans out and we start doing weddings, Renata could
be a useful contact.”

32

Em Ashcroft

“How much are we asking for the deal?” Thierry asked. He leaned

forward, propping his elbows on the desk. Dressed in immaculate
white shirt and maroon tie, he looked every inch the powerful
businessman, but looks were deceptive. Thierry could also drive like a
maniac, something he’d proved in races in the past. The authorities
had asked him to leave when they’d discovered he was a shape-
shifter, because, they said, he had an unfair advantage. Fucking
ridiculous. When had a tiger ever won a car rally in his animal form?

“For now, we can ask for a percentage,” Harlan said. “If it works

out, I agree, we should see if they want a regular spot. I have
weddings booked solid for the next year. The cowboy wedding.” A
corner of his mouth turned up in a barely-there sneer.

“It’s fun and it’s different to the average society wedding in the

north,” Ty pointed out. “Together with the vacationers, we’re doing
real well.”

“You’d think we weren’t a working ranch,” Adam said sharply.

The way his dark hair was plastered close to his head, and the ridge
above his ears showed his recent activity. Wearing his hat sitting on
his horse, where Thor would be later on. He, too, wore ranch gear. A
cotton shirt with sleeves rolled up and jeans. He’d taken off his hat
and propped on one spoke of his chair.

“Or an oil field,” said Dean. He worked at the edge of the ranch

on the oil field that at one time had pushed the ranch’s earnings into
the stratosphere. It still did well.

“Who’d have thought dresses and shit like that would feature in

these meetings?”

“I vote we work out a deal that suits us with Renata,” Thor said. It

made sense. The fact that the woman who’d arrived with the stuff this
morning had attracted him more than any other for a long time had
nothing to do with it. “We need to think about how we situate the
displays, and where they can work from. Do we want boutiques?”

“I don’t know. We should ask,” Harlan said.

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33

So far, so good. Until Ty took a hand. “Was that the gorgeous

brunette who arrived earlier?” He stretched a lazy arm across the table
to collect his mug of coffee, which must be cold by now.

“Was she gorgeous?” Thor tried.
Okay, that didn’t go the way he wanted. The room erupted in

laughter. Thierry nudged Adam. “I’d say you’d better watch out for a
breedmate arrival!”

Adam glared at Thor. “You better not do that.” Adam had never

wanted a breedmate. He’d said the thought of sharing a bed with
another man turned him cold.

Thor shrugged. “If you don’t fuck her, she’s not a breedmate. I

only met her today, so I’d say you’re a bit in front of yourself there.”

“Should I expect a guest?”
Already Thor suspected Adam was backing off. He’d tended to

take the line of least resistance, but this woman was vulnerable. She
put up a hard exterior, but he saw through to the softer, scared being
inside and it had roused all his protective instincts. Not that he’d
admit that to Adam. A weak woman didn’t do it, but this one was
fighting back. Against what, he had no idea, not yet, but he planned to
find out.

Adam was still glaring at him. Well tough, he’d have to suck it up.

* * * *

Sam was very grateful for the sandwiches that Thor had bought.

As it was, she barely managed the ten minutes she needed to wolf
them down and clear up afterward. From her first appointment
onward, they kept her busy. First, she helped a guest from Houston,
then her daughter. The first customers must have put the word around
the ranch, because not all her visitors were from the wedding party.
Perhaps they enjoyed novelty. At the end of the day she had a tablet
full of measurements and notes, some of which she’d forwarded to
Renata.

34

Em Ashcroft

Following instructions, she uploaded all of her day’s activities to

the webspace Renata had given her the address for. Then she covered
the few clothes she had left, put the jewelry and accessories in their
containers, and waited for George to arrive.

Which he did, with a rack of dresses. “Renata says they’re fine

left here, and this will save you loading and unloading tomorrow.”

That was nice of her. Or practical, since Sam would have wasted

time doing all that tomorrow morning. This room was pretty secure.
The door even had a proper lock, although they were only using the
new card slot. It must have been an office or something like that when
the ranch was a private residence.

The so-called ranch house was positively palatial.
Outside, once she’d taken a couple of breaths and acclimated

herself to the heat, she turned and studied the exterior.

It had a lot of arches. They decorated the veranda on the first

floor, and arched balconies echoed the design on the second. Above
that lay another floor with arched windows. Each corner of the
building boasted a tower, at atop the whole structure was what looked
like a bell tower, only bigger. There must be a room up there. If she
was allowed, she’d ask to go see it. The view must be magnificent. If
she had time, that was.

She was almost dead on her feet. Although she hadn’t had much

choice of shoes, having only two pairs to her name, she was glad both
were flat.

She wondered if she could still dance in heels, the way she used

to. It seemed an awful long time since she’d last danced.

Turning around, she followed George to the car. She’d left the

mini-cooler in the office, but she’d wanted Thor to collect it in
person. He’d asked her to dinner, but she hadn’t seen him since.
Maybe he was just flirting, or he’d changed his mind.

In any case, she was exhausted. A take-out meal, or maybe a

burger at the diner and an early night would suit her fine. Her e-reader
should have charged by now. A luxury, not to have to hunt around for

Her Tiger Protectors

35

a spare socket at a bus depot or finding one that actually worked in
the motel du jour. She had two in her room and they both worked.

She leaned back and dozed on the way back. George’s silence

seemed companionable, and not having to make conversation a
considerable bonus.

Sam had had to remember all her fashion knowledge, all the shit

she’d let slip in the past year. Her old boss, back in the days when
she’d had a decent job, had praised her ability to suit clothes to the
right person, and her memory for the stock. She was pleased to know
that, at least, hadn’t left her.

Satisfied with her day’s work, after checking in with Renata, who

seemed pleased with the day’s work, Sam walked the short distance to
the hostel. She stopped at a drugstore to pick up something to eat. Not
fancy, but a salad, some fruit, and a sandwich. That was more than
she’d had for a long time. She figured she needed the energy, and
added a small tub of ice cream.

Back at the motel, safely in her room, she ate the ice cream, like

being a little girl and wanting dessert first. She ate the rest after she’d
got as clean as she could under the dribbling water.

Not bothering to dress, she changed into her nightclothes
After eating, she tried to get the Wi-Fi signal. It flickered on and

off with annoying inconsistency, so although it was barely nine, she
settled for going to bed with her e-reader.

The book she chose didn’t keep her attention. By one of her

favorite authors, it seemed to miss the mark somehow. Maybe she just
wasn’t in the mood. Careful to put her reader aside, more grateful
than she could say for the device that had happened to be in her bag
when she made her precipitate departure from New York, she drifted
into a sound sleep.

And found herself in another world.

36

Em Ashcroft

Chapter Three

She lay in a field, the grass green, the sky blue. The sun didn’t

pound down on her as it had in her other life. The colors were fresh.
The remains of a picnic lay in a basket not too far away from the
blanket she lay on. It had to be a dream, because picnic baskets were
better in gentler climates. Texas should invest in the cooler business.
She’d bet it was more lucrative than oil.

Smiling, she closed her eyes. She knew she was in a dream, but

she was enjoying it and in no rush to wake up. She’d been here
before, many times in the last year.

A shadow obscured the sun, and she opened her eyes. Above her

was a silhouette, male, short hair, but the features were in shadow.
The sun blazed behind him, giving his shape a nimbus of light.

When he moved to one side, she saw him properly, and knew him.

His smile held warmth and heat combined as he came down to lie to
one side of her. He was naked. He was always naked. She didn’t
know his name, but she knew him as well as she knew herself.

This time she wasn’t naked. She wore a sundress. When she

glanced at it, she realized it was one from Renata’s store, a pale blue
piped with white, crisp and cool. It fit her perfectly. Of course it did.
This was a dream, not a nightmare.

He kissed her, gently and sweetly. She curled her arm around his

neck and returned the kiss in the same way, as if they had all the time
in the world. For the first time in weeks, she relaxed and felt
completely at home.

Her dream man was her companion on the road. He’d kept her

sane, encouraged her and loved her with a selflessness she’d never

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37

found in anyone in real life. He was the embodiment of her dreams
and he was hers.

Although she knew she’d made him, that he was probably a

figment of her imagination, or a part of her personal dream-life, he’d
nevertheless kept her firm in her resolve. He loved her without
question. She didn’t even know his name. It didn’t seem important
here.

She stroked his skin, caressing the hard, tiny nubs of his nipples,

and the firm muscle surrounding them, then on to the powerful
shoulders. He made her feel small and delicate, but not in a fragile
way. Not in the critical way other people did when they looked at her.

“You’re perfect as you are.” When he looked at her with warmth

in his amber eyes, she felt beautiful. He transmitted perfection to her
without a word.

“Why do you never wear clothes?” she asked.
“Why waste time?” His smile filled her with warmth and love.

These dreams had kept her going for so long.

“Why do I wear clothes?”
“Because I love to take them off you.” He suited deeds to words,

drawing her zipper down so smoothly she barely felt it. Leaning up,
she helped him slide the dress off her shoulders. “I like this,” he said.
“It’s soft and silky. Will you wear it again?”

“If you want me to.”
“Mmm.” Bending to her, he kissed the skin he’d exposed. Nipping

the bra straps between his teeth, he drew them down one by one. Then
he bit the flesh at the top of her shoulders gently, soothing it with
slow laps of his tongue.

“How much time do we have?” She worried she would wake up

before they’d made love. She couldn’t direct what happened in these
dreams, or when he’d appear. Only the knowledge she was dreaming,
that was all.

“As long as we need. I’ve told you before, relax. We’re nearly

there. I sense you close to me.”

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Em Ashcroft

“You’re real?” She smiled, because she knew he wasn’t. She’d

made him up.

“As real as you, baby.” He kissed her throat, lingering over the

base where her pulse fluttered. “You’ve been clever and brave and
soon you’ll be able to tell me everything. Face to face. If I could have
found you, I would have done it long ago.”

“I can never remember.” That was true. In this dream, she

couldn’t recall where she was or what she was doing. She didn’t even
know if she was in the States or somewhere else. Or her full name.
All she had was Samantha. Everything else faded. If she remembered
to write something down next time she woke, maybe jot a note on her
wrist. No, of course it wouldn’t help. She’d probably break the spell.

She lost her train of thought when he moved lower to the upper

slopes of her breasts. His kisses grazed her, fed her desire to be
touched.

This man, her man, was touching her, kissing her, murmuring

against her skin, words that meant nothing, but demonstrated his
affection.

He pushed the cups of her bra down with his chin and sucked a

nipple gently, anointing it with his tongue in a sensual caress. She
gave up trying to do anything but enjoy this encounter. When he put
his hand flat on her stomach, she lay back, half-closing her eyes. She
kept them open enough to watch his dark head as he worked his way
down her body. He took the rest of her clothes with him with
unhurried, gentle movements.

“You taste like nobody else. Just you.” Resting his chin on her

belly, he smiled up at her. “Lovely.”

“How did you find me?”
His mouth tilted at one corner. “You were there, waiting for me. I

tried to find you outside our dreams, but by the time I got a lead on
you, you’d gone. Tell me your last name, Samantha.”

She loved his accent. Deep, unhurried, like his accent, and sexy.

Above all, sexy. Southern, perhaps Texan. The word gave her pause,

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39

but as fast as she chased the notion, it escaped her. She shook her
head in gentle refusal to give him her name. “I would if I could, but I
can never remember it here.” She tunneled her fingers into his hair as
he eased her dress the rest of the way off and took her panties with it.
Naked felt good, natural. Right. “Now we’re both nude.”

“We are. I’m stiff and leaking for you.”
She couldn’t see his cock, but his words brought the sight vividly

to mind. He had a thick erection, one she couldn’t circle with her
fingers, and long, too. Meaty, rich with blood, hard for her.

He nuzzled the hair around her pussy.
“I used to keep it shaved.” Once, when she’d had regular spa

appointments. Where? She couldn’t remember.

He groaned low and pressed deeper, touching her clit with his

tongue. “You taste magnificent. So good. I need to fuck you, baby.
Are you ready for me?”

Her back arched and she shoved her pussy into his face, wanting

more. “Oh yes, please! I want you, I need you.”

He touched kisses to her stomach and her breasts as he came back

to her. Then he sealed their mouths together so she could lick the taste
of her cunt off his lips.

On him, it tasted divine.
“When I wake up, I know you for what you are. A dream. A

beautiful dream.”

“Keep thinking that, baby,” he murmured against her lips. “You

have enough to contend with. I know you’re in trouble, that you need
help and I’m looking for you, but you’re brave. When we’re close
enough, when I can find you, I’ll come to you. Never doubt it.”

He sank deep into her, opening her with his cock, then forging a

path into her. Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around his waist,
clinging on to him, determined not to let him go. Not this time. If she
held on, surely she could wake up with him.

His bottomless groan echoed her cry and he powered in and out of

her cunt as she clung on. She shoved her heels into his buttocks while

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Em Ashcroft

he rocked into her. She clutched his shoulders, marking his skin with
the sharp crescents of her fingernails. Eagerly she met his thrusts until
the ripples of her impending orgasm turned into a flood and he jetted
into her with a cry of helpless surrender.

He was so big and yet he turned to jelly in her hands. Just for that

moment, the few seconds when he hung on the brink, he was hers.
When he came, he gave himself to her, more fully than she’d
considered possible before she met him. Or made him up.

Wetness flooded her and it forced her orgasm. Just the one today,

although sometimes he kept going and going. This was enough, this
one, all-consuming climax. Her cunt clenched his cock as if trying to
keep him there forever.

With a sense of inevitability, she knew this would end soon and

she’d be back in the dreary, gray world of reality. Whatever that was.
Wherever that was.

She nearly missed his murmur, breathed against her ear in a voice

as deep as the echo in a well. “I love you, whoever you are. Wait for
me.”

Before she could give him her promise, she woke.

* * * *

Someone yelled outside her room, but it wasn’t for her. A name. It

woke Sam and she bolted upright, nearly hitting her head on the shelf
set above the bed. A sense of well-being lingered inside, warming her,
despite her sudden awakening.

She lay back, remembering the dream, savoring every part of it.

She should have told him where she was, but it was as if they met on
another plane, where they were different people. He didn’t know who
he was, either. She’d asked him before and he’d confessed it. Of
course he was her dream man, not real, but she enjoyed the believing
that somewhere he waited for her.

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41

Tall, dark-haired, ruggedly handsome, and powerfully built, he

was too close to her ideal man to be anything but a fantasy. A shame
he wasn’t real.

Sighing, she reached for her e-reader and glanced at the time. It

wasn’t worth going back to sleep. She’d have to be at Renata’s in just
over an hour.

Not that it took her long to get ready. Sam thought about her

sound dreams as she showered, as she toweled herself down, then
dressed in the black pants and white blouse.

On impulse, she went out early, walked further up the street than

Renata’s and found a minimart.

Still filled with a sense of tranquility, she went inside and found a

range of clothes. Carefully she went through the racks, starting at the
for sale rack, and made a couple of discoveries. A cotton dress, simple
but loose, in a pretty blue she could accessorize. Perfectly acceptable
in this weather. A skirt, a plain black one, but it wasn’t wool and it
wasn’t a cheap, shiny polyester. It looked like linen, although of
course it wasn’t. She bought both. Flush with the promise of wages at
the end of the week, secure in knowing she had a roof over her head,
since she’d paid for a week in advance.

Happy, she stopped back at the hostel to drop off her purchases

before she headed off for work.

At the end of the day she drove back to Renata’s with a real sense

of achievement. Thor had dropped by at lunchtime with more
sandwiches. She didn’t even have time to scold him, because she was
busy with a client. He’d just grinned, tipped his hat, and left.

That sense of well-being lingered, too, the mood she’d woken up

in. She reported her achievements to her boss with pride. “I sold three
dresses. The Chanel and two of the Calvin Kleins.”

“They like Calvins around here. You see a lot of his jeans and T-

shirts, too. I’ll have to get more.” Renata nodded. “You did great. Any
accessories?”

She’d sold a lot of those. “They like their bling, too,” she added.

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Em Ashcroft

Renata snorted with laughter. “We do, you mean. It looks good in

the sunshine. Well-made bling. People sometimes say Texans have no
taste. It’s not true. We know what looks good under our sun and we
have the confidence to wear it.”

Sam wasn’t so sure. She’d seen more than a few fashion disasters

on Main Street in the short time she’d been here.

Renata pushed over a couple of twenties. “Here’s a bonus. Get

yourself a good meal tonight. The diner on the corner does real good
burgers and salads if that’s what you’re looking for.”

Sam thanked her, took the money and left the boutique, after

promising to be there right on seven-thirty next morning. Her next
official appointment with a client was at nine, but she could open the
outlet before then.

Dare she take a nap before she went out for food? The trouble

was, she’d probably sleep all night and wake starving. Shower and
food first, then.

Climbing the stairs was almost impossible, but she managed it.

She kept her chin down as she approached her room. Her head was
filled with visions of juicy burgers and crisp salad.

Until she tripped. Tumbling, she flailed and then found herself in

a pair of strong arms, slammed against a chest that had no give. The
arms closed around her and panic struck her hard.

Fighting, she tried to pull free, pushing against the immovable

object, until she looked up.

Thor stood there. Sam stopped fighting, instead resisting the urge

to snuggle deeper.

He studied her face, his eyes sharp and assessing. “I’m sorry, I

didn’t mean to startle you.”

He looked pretty startled himself. She must have fought hard, but

that was her instinctive reaction. He’d have to suck it up.”

You look tired. How about I take you for something to eat and

then you can get a good night’s sleep?” Having ensured she was

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43

steady on her feet, he released her and stepped back. “I’m sorry, I
should’ve checked first, I guess. Should I go?”

He’d driven all the way here from the ranch. How could she send

him away? She forced a smile. “No, that would be great, though I
can’t promise to be good company. Just let me shower and change.”

She had no choice but to let him in. Sliding her card down the

slot, she opened the door and he followed her in. He’d changed into
fresh jeans and a shirt, and his cowboy boots were clean and polished.
She could at least make enough effort. She decided to follow his lead
and picked out clean jeans and a T-shirt, before grabbing the towel
and heading for the bathroom.

He sat on the chair, careful as he lowered himself. The chair

rewarded him with a creak of protest, but it didn’t collapse under him.

With shaking hands, she left the room. Sam wasn’t used to dating,

if that was what this turned out to be. She hadn’t done it for years. As
she turned on the shower and stood under the resulting trickle of tepid
water, she grimaced. The showers must be popular at this time,
because most of the hot water had gone.

By the time she’d got enough lather from the sliver of soap she

had left and washed herself, her hands had stopped shaking. Although
the thought of sharing a simple meal with a man who’d gotten way
under her skin still made her nervous.

Instant nervousness, instead of the constant state she’d been in for

the last year. Terror had muted to tired acceptance, but she’d never
stopped watching for anomalies, for people who seemed to take more
notice of her than the average person. Like the guy waiting for her in
her room.

She didn’t have anything in the open, and she’d brought her purse

with her to the shower. Inside were her bank cards and her driver’s
license, and her passport. She didn’t think he’d steal them, but he
might pry and she couldn’t afford to let her guard down this late in the
game.

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Em Ashcroft

One event, just one, and she could move on properly. When that

happened, she could relax. Because the man who sent her here would
have moved on.

When the water turned cold, which didn’t take long, she stepped

out.

She scrambled into her jeans and T-shirt and stood foursquare,

hands on hips, trying to quell the trembling of her limbs. Running a
comb through her hair, she used the hairdryer but gave up, because
the thin stream of warmish air wouldn’t do more than the evening
heat outside would. She went into the main room.

She must look a mess. Recognition of her tousled state didn’t

show in his eyes. They warmed as he smiled at her. He looked so
good under the harsh lights here, while she looked horrible.

This situation should scare her far more than it did. Here she was

in a bedroom with a man she’d met yesterday, a man she’d let into her
room, for fuck’s sake. She was thinking about him being hot and her
looks? What was wrong with her? He could be a mad rapist. Or
worse.

His eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like men who check on me all the time. I can look after

myself.”

“Can you?” He moved faster than she could track him and had her

in his arms before she could begin to react. He pressed her face
against his chest. She could hardly breathe, much less scream for
help. Tears stung her eyes that she’d let herself get trapped so easily,
but her brain still worked. She had scissors in her purse.

“Just listen, Samantha.” That was the first time he’d said her name

and it sounded different. She’d gone by Sam for so long she’d almost
forgotten the full version. “I’m a tiger shape-shifter. This town is full
of us, tigers and one or two others. Tigers, eagles, panthers, all the
varieties of shifter—what chance do you have against those? We’re
not all good guys, which I guess is something I shouldn’t be telling
you now. You here, on your own, I don’t like it. There’s something

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45

wrong in your life. Don’t deny it, I can feel it in the air every time I’m
around you. You’re not a natural drifter. You’re not comfortable in
yourself. I’d love you to tell me what it is.”

He smelled divine, of some light, fruity cologne and pure,

unadulterated male. “If somebody wants you, they’ll take you and
there won’t be a damn thing you can do about it. Do you know how
much sleep I’ll get, worrying about you? None, that’s all. I need to get
to work in the morning. I can’t afford to be like that. Have a little
compassion, you know? If I let you go, promise not to scream. Please.
Not until you’ve heard me out.”

What choice did she have? He’d just proved how fast he could

react. She nodded, her chin digging into his chest through the thin
fabric of his T-shirt.

Slowly, he released her and she stepped back. Still he stood

between her and the door. “What do you know about shape-shifters?”

She folded her arms across her breasts. “A guessing game, is it?”
“Did you know about this?”
She heard him in her head although his lips did move. “What the

fuck was that?”

“Telepathy. We can communicate mentally. We can’t talk in our

shifted form, so we have this instead. You can do it back, but we’ll
leave that for another time. I want you to practice talking to me like
this.”

“Why?” She clapped a hand over her mouth. That had been so

easy, but she didn’t have the faintest idea how she’d done it.

His smile broadened. “Because we can communicate for up to

around ten miles. Breedmates can do it for longer distances, but we
aren’t breedmates.” He paused. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“How do you find that out?”
“We fuck.”
A chill went right through her. Here it came.
He held up a hand. “No, I swear. If it happens between us, it’s

when both of us want it. I promise.”

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Em Ashcroft

Warmth replaced the chill, but it didn’t feel like her warmth. Hell,

she was out of her depth here. Had she let him in somehow, with that
one word? “What have you done?”

“Nothing. In our shifted forms, we’re more empathetic. Most of us

are never entirely one thing or the other. I always have my tiger with
me.” He spoke soothingly, as if pacifying a child, a tone that should
have put her teeth on edge, but didn’t. “I can sense your mood. Fuck,
I’d have to be completely insensitive not to know. Think about it. I
just tried to reassure you and I was clumsy. I’m sorry.”

At last, he moved aside. She stayed where she was. She wanted to

know more. He hadn’t pounced, as he could so easily have done, and
he’d shown understanding, even respect. He leaned against the wall
by the door, thumbs tucked in his jeans pockets, one leg raised, knee
bent, foot against the wall. He wasn’t wearing his hat, so she could
see his face without encumbrance. “If you don’t want to listen to my
proposal, there’s nothing I can do, but I won’t leave you here
unprotected. Anybody could walk into your room in the middle of the
night.”

“You’re saying I’m in more danger here? Should I take the next

bus out of town?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You’re beginning to

settle, aren’t you?” He kicked away from the wall. “Come on. If we
get you settled, we can go and eat.”

“Let me brush my hair. Over the sink was a mirror. She used it to

brush out her hair and apply some mascara and a smudge of lip-gloss.
On second thoughts, she found her blusher and smeared a little on her
cheeks. Working at diners for long hours meant she hadn’t sat in the
sun for a long time and her skin was pasty pale.

After grabbing her keycard, she left the room.
He was still there. Without touching her, he held the door open

and they went to dinner.

The diner did serve good burgers and once she was in a place with

other people, she felt better. She could talk, and she did.

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47

“Did Renata say she was pleased?” he asked once they were

seated and they’d ordered. Dusk was falling outside, and the lighting
here wasn’t as garish as some places she’d worked in, giving their
table an intimate feel.

“Yes.” She smiled. “She gave me a bonus. We had a good day.”
“Would setting up a small boutique in the ranch be an interesting

thing to do?”

Her spirits rose. A permanent job? More than anything she’d had

in the past year and better paying, too. “You’d have to ask Renata, but
I think it’s a great idea.”

They chatted about the ranch and her day until their food arrived.

The appetizing sight drove her taste buds, already aroused by the
smell of fresh food when they walked in, higher. She tucked in.

“Mmm.” She said little else until she’d eaten half the burger. With

such a generous helping she’d have usually taken half to go and made
it last for another meal, but for once she could afford a little luxury. “I
didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“You could do with some more of those,” he said. He eyed her

over his meal. “I did ask you to dinner, so are you going to let me
pay?” When she shook her head, he grinned. “I guessed not. A rain
check, then.”

Why he should look so pleased about that she didn’t know. Then

she cottoned. “Then you get to share another meal with me?”

“If you want. I certainly do.”
She couldn’t help it—she grinned back.
He didn’t push his advantage, probably too experienced for that.

With his looks and easy manner, he probably had woman crawling all
over him. His behavior in the motel explained, she reflected that he
hadn’t laid a hand on her that she hadn’t wanted to. The problem was
more hers than his, and her instinctive distrust of men. Well earned,
but maybe this man didn’t deserve it. Not that she’d trust him, or
anybody else, for a while.

She knew little about him. “What do you do at Goldclaw Ranch?”

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Em Ashcroft

“I work with the horses, mostly. Get the mounts trained for the

dude ranch side of the operation and help with the racehorses.”

She’d heard about sexy ranch hands but had thought them a myth.

“I heard you have racehorses, too?”

He grinned. “Yes, we do, ma’am. Champions, some of them. We

have specialized trainers for those, but I do have the privilege of
helping out once in a while. They’re beautiful and temperamental.
You have to take care with them.”

The way he was looking at her she got the feeling he was talking

about more than horses. Nobody had called her beautiful in some
time. She’d worked hard to look nondescript, stopped dyeing her hair
the distinctive copper shade she used to use. She let it grow out of its
style, only worn a little makeup, and kept to the plainest clothes.

Except that with this job she had to take a little more care. Still not

beautiful, though. “It sounds interesting.” She turned her attention
back to her meal and forked up a fry, crunching into it with delight.
“I’ll have the salad tomorrow.”

“You can’t be watching your weight.”
“No, but I do try to keep healthy.” She ate some more, and then

took another bite of the melt-in-the-mouth burger.

“In Texas, coleslaw is healthy.” She spluttered with laughter and

he raised his brows, his expression pained. “What, you think that’s
funny? Wait until you taste mine. I’ll bring you some tomorrow.
You’ll see.”

“It’s hardly five a day.”
“The way I make it, sure it is.”
She hadn’t laughed so much in forever. After dabbing her mouth

with her napkin, she took a drink of iced water. He’d ordered tea, but
she was thirsty, and she was working her way down the water jug. “I
like salad.”

“Oh.” He glanced up from his meal, his blue eyes bright. “That’s

different. Then I’ll do you the best salad you’ve ever tasted.”

“Modest, aren’t you?”

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49

It was his turn to laugh. “Nobody got prizes for being shy. I do all

right.” He took a bite of his burger and after clearing his mouth said,
“Truthfully I can do a few things pretty well. I learned them so I don’t
have to depend on anybody to live. After that, I lost interest in
cooking. Living on the ranch means I can order in from the
restaurant.”

She frowned. “Isn’t that expensive?”
He glanced at her, and then took another bite. “Staff discount,” he

said eventually.

Even with staff discount, the food would be pricey. She’d checked

the restaurant prices from the price list next to the phone in the room
today, more for curiosity than anything else. Room service cost a
bundle.

“Setting up a hotel must have taken a lot of work,” she

commented.

“It sure did.” He spoke with feeling. “Millions of dollars and a lot

of changing the way people thought. Turning things around.” He
paused. “Somebody got married at the ranch a year ago and it went so
well we decided to make it a going concern. That house was empty,
only offices. Nobody lived there anymore.” He gazed at her as if
waiting for her to say something, his face gone solemn.

“It’s a beautiful house.” What had she missed? She frowned. “Did

something happen there?”

The smile returned. “Lots of things. It was a family house. The

family built on it over the years, and the brothers moved out.”

“Brothers?”
The guarded expression came back, although he kept the smile.

“Five brothers, the sons of the last owners. They founded the present
syndicate. Their breed partners are part of the syndicate, and two
unrelated partners. Twelve men. It hardly seems fair. None have
found their breedmates yet, although when they do, they’ll be given a
share. It’s all in the parents’ will. The ranch is equally divided

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Em Ashcroft

between the brothers and the son of the father’s best friend, breed
partners and breedmates to be included when they arrive.”

“Do you have a breedmate?” He’d kissed her. The relationship

between breed partners and breedmates could be complicated, but
surely not that complicated. The three would share a bed.

An unexpected shaft of wet heat speared between her thighs. His

eyes widened, then his smile changed and became more predatory.

Shit, a tiger. They had a great sense of smell, so he might have

detected the change in her scent. She wouldn’t ask him. Maybe it was
polite to pretend it hadn’t happened. She turned her mind away from
being the central part of a man sandwich and back to her meal. She’d
eat every scrap, even though she wasn’t hungry any more.

The motel had a small store and she could stop at the drugstore for

sandwiches and a bottle of water in the morning. Life was looking up.

Thinking about food, the motel, work, helped her arousal to

subside, and she relaxed again. It was hardly Thor’s fault that he
turned her on.

He answered her question. “No. I don’t have a breedmate. My

breed partner and I share a house, but we haven’t found anybody we
want to share our bed with.” He picked up a fry from her plate and bit
into it. “My breedmate’s not sure about any of it, to tell you the truth.
We date, but we don’t date the same women.”

“I thought—I don’t know. Maybe I should have paid more

attention. All women can be breedmates now.”

“True enough. We’re learning how to live with that. When it

happened, it seemed like a disaster. A lot of shape-shifters wanted to
create closed-off communities.”

“Because of the danger?”
“Yeah. Then we realized a few things. It takes two breed partners

to make a breedmate. Although both can be drawn to the potential
breedmate. That’s how they know, sometimes. The proof only comes
when both men have fucked the woman.”

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When she showed no reaction from the word, he nodded and

carried on. “That’s when they get to the point of no return. There’s no
way of saying this without being frank.” She nodded in
understanding.

He continued. “When they have both come inside her,

unprotected, that’s when she becomes their breedmate. Right up until
then they can turn back. It’s hard, but it can be done. That was what
we discovered. It takes willpower. Like coming off a drug, I guess,
but breed partners have proved it. You get me?”

Reaching out, he took her hand and twined their fingers together.

“We can date if you like. I’d like to.”

“We’ve not known each other two days!”
“Sometimes a tiger just knows.”

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Em Ashcroft

Chapter Four

Oh, he was a charmer. Although Sam hadn’t actually agreed to

date Thor, a week later she was still seeing him. He dropped in at
lunchtimes and he often joined her for a meal at night.

He kissed her, too, but always left her wanting, his kisses short,

and closed-mouth. When she’d pressed close, silently asking for
more, he’d drawn away, putting a finger to her lips. “Not yet,” he
murmured. “What we have is too good to rush.”

She had a real boyfriend. Not a dream lover. He hadn’t come to

her since she’d arrived in Goldclaw. She missed him, but her
unconscious seemed to have decided that she’d had enough.

Any minute, any day she might have to move on and then she’d

never see him again. She’d been celibate far too long. After the fourth
day she trusted him, at least enough to get naked with him if he
wanted to, if not to tell him all her secrets. Was that what he was
waiting for? For her to trust him? She didn’t intend to trust anyone.
Once or twice she came closer than she’d ever done to telling
someone her real name and what she was running from. She’d have to
tell somebody. The thought of hearing the news she longed for drove
her on and persuaded her to keep her mouth shut.

Every day she drove out to the ranch. Although no subsequent day

was as busy as the first one, the customers hadn’t given her much
time to herself. Just as she liked it. She gained confidence as the week
went on, and regained her prior skill, one she’d thought forgotten, and
her pleasure in her job. Helping people to make the best of themselves
didn’t depend on money. Sometimes the richest customers had no
idea what colors suited them or how they should do their hair or

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accessorize. They spent their days surrounded by people who said
“Yes” to everything they said.

Sam used tact to move them toward something they’d feel and

look good in. Every day she chose more stock and Renata said
laughingly that she’d have to order more. Renata bought cleverly and
well, investing in known names and new designers, mixing them with
high-end labels.

At the end of the week Renata came into work with her, and

watched her. Then she left for an hour. When she returned she kissed
Sam on both cheeks, delighted, noisy smacks. “We got it.”

Sam frowned. “What?”
“We got the franchise.”
“I didn’t know—”
Renata laughed. “A place like this needs some high-end

boutiques. You, clever girl, have parlayed us in here. You did it all on
your own!”

Now Sam was excited. A bubble of joy formed in her stomach and

floated all the way up to her head, spreading happiness in its wake.
“You mean that was why I was here?”

Renata shook her head. “I knew they’d realize they needed more

than a farm store. The kind of people coming here for weddings want
more than butter, eggs, and smoked meat. I just hoped they’d
remember us, is all. After your first day, I got a call from the manager
at the desk. He said you were working well and the guests liked you.”

Lucky nobody else was in the room, although she was expecting

another client in ten minutes. She prayed the manager at the desk
wasn’t Thor. After all, that was where she met him that first morning.
“What does that mean?”

“We’re having a small display in the main hall, and we can have

this room for the merchandise. They’re asking for a very reasonable
percentage. A lot of hotels are greedy, and they’ll take more than fifty
percent, but the syndicate wants to make this a uniquely Texan
experience.”

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Em Ashcroft

“I’m not Texan.”
“I am.” Renata couldn’t stop smiling. “You’ve worked this well.”
She’d done it all on her own. This was an achievement she

couldn’t lay on anybody else’s shoulders.

Renata moved away to alter the way one of the dresses hung on

the rack. She stepped back to examine her handiwork, frowning. “To
snag one of the syndicate was a clever move, too.”

Bewildered, Sam demanded, “What are you talking about?”
“Thor Goldclaw. One of the founder members of the syndicate. I

heard you were seeing him. Clever move, that. You go, girl!”

A groan came from the direction of the door. A shocked Samantha

turned her head and met the resigned expression on Thor’s face. “I’ve
been meanin’ to tell you,” he said apologetically. “I didn’t want to
scare you away.”

Disappointment and fury mingled to choke her and anything she

wanted to say. The next minute Sam realized that she couldn’t. Right
here, right now she could blow all the good things that had happened
to her recently.

Unable to say anything, she stormed out of the room, pushed past

Thor to get away. Noises came from the direction of the entrance hall.
People talking. She wanted no witnesses to her crackup so she spun
on her heel and headed in the other direction. Tears threatened to fall,
choking her throat, making it difficult for her to see her way.

Blindly, she took a corner, and saw a room open, a crack of light.

She pushed it open cautiously. It was a bedroom, a hotel-style room,
empty of occupants. With relief, she pushed the door fully open and
went through. Here she could let herself go and then return, serenely
thank her boss, apologies for her weakness, and ease herself away
from Thor.

He was one of the twelve men who owned this fucking place. She

couldn’t tell him to shove his franchise, because she’d damage the
woman who’d given her a job and her trust. She could lose her own

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piece of good fortune. The man she’d thought was a ranch hand, a
skilled man who looked after horses, was nothing of the kind.

She kicked the door shut, but it didn’t close. It bounced off

something. She turned only to face the man who’d caused this
breakdown.

Unable to stop herself, she flung herself against him and cried,

screaming at the same time. “Why did you do it? Why can’t I do
anything on my own? Why do I always have to have a man to do
things for me? Aren’t I good enough?”

One arm closed around her, holding her securely, then he bent and

swept his other arm under her knees, picking her up in one smooth
movement. He carried her across the room and sat on the bed,
cradling her close. She clutched his shirt and wept.

She let everything go. The strain of the last year surged over her

in a great tide and it overcame her, conquered her. She could do
nothing but cry, and hiccup, trying to control herself and failing
miserably. Sobbing like a baby, she only dimly heard his words of
comfort and took none in.

How stupid was she? Only she couldn’t stop it, or the tears from

falling. She lost breath, gasped for air and clutched him, afraid her
one steady anchor would leave her floundering.

“Hush, sweetheart. Don’t, please.” He rocked her. “You’re

breaking my heart.”

He pushed her hair back from her forehead, unstuck it from her

cheeks. Turning her head, she tried to hide her face, burying it against
his chest. Crooning her name, he eased her away. “No, don’t hide
from me. Never hide from me. I’ve been waiting for the time when
you trusted me enough to tell me about yourself. I can’t wait much
longer.”

“Good,” she mumbled into his chest. “Because I don’t want you.

You didn’t tell me the first thing about you!”

“I told you the important things.”
“Like you’re the owner of this place?”

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Em Ashcroft

“Part owner.” She heard the smile in his voice and hit him with

her fist, but she might as well have saved her strength. He didn’t even
flinch. “It’s too big for one person to run. Besides, there were five of
them. Five brothers. My breed partner is one of them.”

“You told them to give Renata the franchise, didn’t you? It wasn’t

me at all. I can’t do anything on my own!” She wailed, fresh tears
flowing down her cheeks.

Pulling his shirt free, he used the end to mop the worst of her tears

away. As fast as he dabbed, she provided fresh ones for him. “I can’t
stop!”

“You’ll stop when you’ve done. You’re safe here, I’ll look after

you. It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it?”

She nodded and swallowed, trying desperately to gain some

control over herself. “A year.”

“That’s a long time to hold something in. Do you trust me now?”

His voice gentled. “Will you tell me?”

She needed to tell somebody or she’d burst. The tears only

skimmed the iceberg of terror gathering deep inside her. Trusting
came hard to her, but if she didn’t trust somebody soon she’d be no
better than the man she was escaping. He’d have won. Thor had
shown her nothing but kindness and consideration. So she’d start with
him. “Uh-huh.”

“Let’s get you comfortable first.” Lifting her off him, he dumped

her on the bed. Past caring how she looked, she slumped on to the
silky soft coverlet. When he returned he had a couple of washcloths in
his hand. He raised her to rest against him and wiped her face. The
white cloths came away with black smudges.

“I must look awful.”
“You’re beautiful. This is what I’ve been waiting for. Oh, not

your tears, they’re breaking me up, but for you to open. You’re tense,
sweetheart. I felt it from the first moment I saw you. I told you, shape-
shifters have a higher sensitivity for moods. I saw you through that
bus window and I knew we had a connection.” All the time he spoke,

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he was folding the cloths to fresh areas and wiping them gently over
her face. “I didn’t do anything about it. Maybe you had people you
were going to. When you got off the bus, I watched you until you
went into the motel. I wanted to make sure you got into a safe place. I
couldn’t do anything else. I didn’t tell you about the syndicate. How
could I? I didn’t know if you’d leave town, and you’re in danger,
aren’t you?”

When she would have answered, he kissed her, a gentle press of

his lips to hers. “No, not now. I want something else now. To hold
you. I’ve wanted that since the day I saw you.”

“Don’t you want me to tell you?”
After kicking off his boots and helping her dispose of her shoes,

he lay on the bed and gathered her into his arms. As she nestled close,
she settled her head on his shoulder. Her tears had gone now—she’d
cried herself out. Peace drifted over her, holding her sweetly in its
embrace. He rocked her gently, as he might have a child, and
murmured soothing words into her hair.

She slept.

* * * *

Who would have thought that holding a woman would be so

great? His cock throbbed, as it always did when he was with her, but
Thor didn’t care. Ignoring the impulse to fuck her rigid, he stared into
the darkness. He made out the dim shapes of the vanity, the chair by
the window and the door to the en suite bathroom. Although this
wasn’t one of the best rooms in the hotel, it was comfortable and
quiet, with the atmosphere of a haven. Which was strange, because it
had once been part of a working ranch. One of the oldest parts of the
house, built before the Goldclaw family had gone mad with power
and built a palace, it had a simplicity of form he preferred. No fancy
woodcarvings and trims.

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Em Ashcroft

This would be where the old sitting room had been, as far as he

could tell. People had spent time relaxing here, which might explain
the atmosphere. The Goldclaw family that had lived here weren’t
peaceful, but they’d always worked together, which explained their
success. Other Texan ranch owners had been bitterly opposed to each
other and broken up the land. The Goldclaws had survived, even
when people weren’t aware they were shape-shifters.

Samantha stirred in his arms and he snuggled her closer. She’d

slept for hours, even snoring lightly from time to time. He’d watched
over her. It had taken him ten minutes to ease his phone out of his
pocket, his movements careful so he didn’t wake her. He’d texted
Renata, then he’d texted his breed partner, explaining he wouldn’t be
home for a while, perhaps all night. Adam had sent a terse “okay.”
Thor wanted to get closer to him. He couldn’t understand his breed
partner’s shying away from intimate encounters with a woman,
especially recently. His breed partner had taken to disappearing every
weekend. Any spare moment, really. Thor and Adam weren’t as close
as other breed partners, so Thor hadn’t asked, except to ask him if he
had a new woman or was chasing pussy in general. Adam hadn’t
replied.

Samantha was his. He had a powerful sense of possession where

she was concerned. Would he share her? He had no idea. Although he
had strong feelings for her, he didn’t know if she was a potential
breedmate. Not all mortal women were, although thanks to the Grid,
most of them could be breedmates. Shape-shifter men were going
mad for them. Thor had resisted all efforts of the female visitors to the
ranch to seduce him. They’d tried. He preferred to do his own
chasing, but then, tigers did.

This woman, she belonged to him, but he had a way to go before

she’d accept that. She didn’t trust anybody, and his first step was to
find out why. In her own time. He wouldn’t rush her. Not now. He’d
try another path.

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Why he should feel so fucking happy just holding a woman in his

arms defeated his understanding. He preferred to fuck her and be on
his way, but he’d spent weeks on this one, never giving her more than
a chaste kiss. No tongues, even.

That ended here. He wouldn’t let her hold him off any longer.
As if he’d spoken aloud, her eyes flicked open and she met his

intent gaze. “Yes,” she said. “Now. I’ll tell you everything now.”

He went up on one elbow and framed her face with his other hand,

staring into her eyes. Beautiful eyes, okay, a little bloodshot, but he’d
never known anybody to cry so much. “I’ll tell you,” she said, but he
shook his head slightly.

“Not now. After.”
Understanding dawned in her eyes. “After,” she said in

agreement.

Before he got completely lost in her, Thor stretched out and

pressed the buttons that switched on the lights either side of the bed.
They gave out an intimate, golden glow, but enough to see her by.
“I’m a shape-shifter,” he reminded her softly. “I’m clean, and I can’t
make you pregnant. Not on my own.”

She nodded. “I want you. I trust you.”
That was big, coming from her, the woman with more trust issues

than he’d seen in anybody before. He didn’t underestimate it. If she’d
objected, he’d hold her all night, or hunt down some condoms,
whichever choice she’d made.

He didn’t have to. She accepted him.
The desire—no, the need—to possess her, to enter her with

nothing between him seized him with a completeness that swamped
him. When she touched his bare skin, he shuddered in anticipation.
He hadn’t bothered to tuck his shirt back in, and she’d simply pushed
it up and smoothed her hand over his bare back.

As he wrenched at his shirt, the succession of pops when the

fasteners gave way hardly registered in his mind. He couldn’t bear to

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wear it a minute longer. He ripped it off and tossed it over his
shoulder, his heart warming when he saw her smile.

“Now you, sweetheart.” He took her blouse off carefully. She took

a lot of care with her appearance, and he didn’t want to distress her in
any way. Only make her scream for completely different reasons.
Underneath she wore a plain bra. Never had white cotton looked
sexier. He touched her breast, cupped it, felt its sweet weight, its
warmth heating him through. He didn’t look, only watched her eyes
for any sign of distress. “You say no, and it all stops. I can wait,
Samantha.”

“I can’t.”
Hooking one hand behind his neck, she dragged him down for a

kiss.

Thor gave her all the tongue she wanted and then some. He

stroked her tongue with his, sucked hers, drawing it into his mouth
and letting her play. He lost himself in a kiss like he hadn’t done since
he was a teenager experimenting behind the bleachers at the end of
the last game of the summer. That meant nothing compared to this.
This was sublime, an experience and a half.

Managing to slip his hand under the band of her bra, he found her

nipple and stroked it. She flinched and gasped, but moved into his
touch. He spoke to her, mind-to-mind. “What do you want? Tell me.”

“I want you.”
Her words had an electrifying effect on him. She’d answered him

directly and without hesitation, giving him all the trust she’d taken
back after the last time he’d spoken to her that way.

While his cock had been hard when he’d simply held her, now it

threatened to burst out of his pants. He had to stop kissing her, so he
could get them both naked.

With hands that trembled, he slid her pants down her legs. Then

went back for her underwear, shedding it behind him, not bothering to
look where it landed. He skimmed off his jeans, dragging his boxers
off with them. When he caught his cockhead in the waistband, he

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winced from the contact, his dick far too sensitive to take any
accidental touches.

He gently moved her hand aside when she reached for him. “No,

sweetheart, I can’t. Not yet. This first time, it ain’t going to be pretty
and I don’t think it’s going to last long. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Don’t be.” She reached for him as he swung his body above her,

and opened her legs wide, raising her knees to cradle his hips between
them. “Just fuck me, Thor. Do me hard and deep.”

Before he did as she said, he reached down to touch her. The feel

of her hot, slick juices between his fingers nearly brought him off
there and then but he had to make sure she was ready. Boy, was she
ready. Then he took his cock in his hand and guided it to her cunt,
settling it just inside her. “Jesus, Samantha, this ain’t funny. You feel
better than any other woman I’ve been with before.”

He thrust, his cock sliding wetly inside her, bathed with her

essence and his pre-cum.

He gazed into her eyes as he joined their bodies for the first time.

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Chapter Five

They both groaned. He withdrew and plunged deep once more.

She gasped so deeply she grazed his chest with her nipples. It felt so
good she did it again, deliberately this time. A smile curved his lips
and he lowered his body, so the sparse, coarse hair on his chest
abraded her nipples.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “I love this,” she said.

“You make me feel so good.”

“Oh believe me, that goes both ways, baby,” he answered. She

clasped him tightly, but not so tight he was afraid he was hurting her.
He withdrew again, and sank into her as slowly as he could. He
enjoyed every internal inch as he drove into the hot, wet heat that he
was convinced was the nearest he’d ever get to heaven.

She clung to him as if trying to make herself part of him and he

held her, surrounded her. For the first time since he’d met her, he felt
she was safe and he had her. He constantly worried about her, except
for now, when he wanted to give her everything he had and turn her
into a pile of contented mush.

Of course he wanted that for himself, too. Now he concentrated on

turning that into reality.

“Kiss me,” he murmured, his breath hot against her lips. Then she

opened her mouth for him and let him plunder it as he wanted. She
was no passive receiver. She licked his lips, his mouth, dancing her
tongue delicately against his, teasing and encouraging him to drive
harder, push deeper.

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His thrusts into her pussy grew deeper as she softened and melted

for him. Her juices were hot against his cock, scorching his balls,
urging him on.

“Oh, baby, you feel so good.” He spoke to her telepathically

because he didn’t want to stop her kiss. One kiss merged into another,
became a long series of intertwined oral embraces as he worked her
up.

When he tilted his hips and rocked deeply into her, she moaned.

Arousal flooded his mind, not all of it his. Her heels dug into the
mattress. Next time he’d have them wrapped around him, opening her
even more, but he loved the way her legs clamped against his flanks.
They felt like an unspoken threat. Make her come or else…

Oh yeah, he could get into that. He’d found the angle she liked.

Now he worked it with everything he had. He slammed into her, the
sounds of their fucking music in the room, her sighs and moans
beautiful to his ears. Never had a couple made such good harmonies
together.

They’d get better, he’d make sure of it. He licked into her, tearing

himself away long enough to nip the base of her throat, at that place
he’d discovered she loved. She sighed his name, enough to make him
want to hear it said that way again.

“Thor.”
No hidden laughter, no knowing words, as most people used when

they looked at him, and no reference to Norse gods. Just him, his
name, and he loved it.

“Again. My name.”
“Thor, Thor, Thor!” Each time she called higher, until the fifth

time she ended on a scream.

That was the way he wanted her. Aware of nothing and nobody

else except him and what they were doing. But she hadn’t come. That
contraction of muscles hadn’t happened.

Their bodies slapped together, sweat joining their mingled juices,

perfuming the atmosphere. Better than anything on the best fragrance

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counter in the world. He should bottle it and sell it for a thousand
dollars a drop. It was worth every cent.

His arousal pierced every part of his body, every inch of his skin,

prickling at him, driving him deliciously crazy.

If she didn’t come soon he’d go insane with wanting, but she—

would—come.

With his breath coming faster, he worked her, swiveled, hit that

spot every fucking time, until she was whimpering and squirming
under him.

Then it came to him, what she needed to do. He lifted his head,

watched her frantic face and spoke to her as deeply in her mind as he
could. “Relax. Go into it, sweetheart. Give yourself to me.”

Her eyes opened wide, and she paused. That break and change

forced her into a new space. He saw it by the way she stopped
everything, even breathing for a fraction of a second. Then she went
limp. She rearranged the way she held him, the way she curved into
him, going pliant for the few seconds she needed. He powered into
her, forcing her to feel him, and then her pussy gripped him so hard
he had to force his next withdrawal.

With his next hard thrust, she was there. She cried his name,

screamed her shock as her orgasm hit and she bowed up, her nipples
hard berries against his chest as she slammed against him. Her cunt
gripped him in a series of spasms. Leaving one hand supporting his
body, he curved the other under her, holding her tight against him so
he could enjoy every minute.

Then he let go. Finally, fucking finally, he released the tension that

had turned his body into a pillar of screaming need.

The first spurt made him shudder. Forget ripples, forget tingles,

this was a fucking earthquake.

He buried his face in her neck and bit down, sucking in air

through his nose, then releasing her to gasp her name.

“Samantha, fuck, oh my God!”

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He flooded her, emptied himself into her, mind and body, and it

was his turn to surrender. They fell back on to the mattress, his arm
trapped under her as his body went boneless. His chest heaved in an
effort to suck in enough air to keep him alive.

Time passed. How much, he had no idea, but the light outside had

almost gone when he came back to himself, and she was panting.

With a soft groan, he forced himself to roll to one side of her. He

watched her breathing, her breasts heaving up and down as she drew
air into her lungs. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry,” he said. “Was too rough,
wasn’t I?”

When she turned to look at him, she was smiling. “I can’t wait to

do it again.”

He reached for her hand, and twined their fingers together over

her stomach. “You can’t imagine how much I’m glad to hear you say
that, because once was nowhere near enough.”

“Did I wear you out?”
He laughed breathlessly. “Temporarily. That won’t last long.

Unless you’re done?”

She shook her head. “This is the best thing that’s happened all

day. I want to make it twice before today ends.”

“I’m going to rub myself all over you. You’ll never get away from

me.”

She cocked a brow. “Leaving your scent on me?”
“You don’t think I’ve done that already? Damn, girl, but I am for

sure doing it again. The answer’s yes. I’m a tiger, and they like to
leave their scent on what is theirs. You’re mine and the only person
who can say you’re not is you. I am going to leave my scent all over
you.”

Her eyes half closed. “Mmm.”
“You like the idea?” He’d taken a chance with that, telling the

truth. In a way she’d understand. Too visceral, maybe, for a human.
Most of them preferred to smell of nothing, or something they’d paid
a fortune for.

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“I love the idea.”
He rolled over, and tugged her into his arms. She came to him

sweetly, pushing one leg between his, snuggling close and resting her
head on his biceps. “It doesn’t work quite that way with shape-
shifters, but other shifters will be able to tell you’re with me. If you
want. If I use protection, it’s less likely.”

“Why wouldn’t I want people to know?” She made a fist and gave

him a featherlight punch. “I did mean to make you pay for not telling
me who you were.”

He moved slightly, glanced away for a minute. “Yeah, about

that.”

“Yeah,” she repeated. “About that.”
His Samantha had been through a lot. Exactly what, he meant to

find out, but she was no pushover. “I meant to tell you, but every day
I saw you blossoming a bit more and I wanted to watch. Not many
people know I’m part of the syndicate. That is, I don’t keep it secret, I
just don’t make a big thing about it. I guess, with all the strangers
coming in, they’ll make more of a fuss about it.”

“They’re not strangers, they’re guests,” she chided gently, but she

ameliorated her scold with a kiss.

“I’ll be sure to remember that, ma’am.”
Conversation paused while he pulled her close and gave her a

proper kiss. He caressed her, smoothing his hand along her back as he
explored her mouth gently. Unbelievably, his cock stirred. “Do you
want to stay here tonight?”

“I should get back—”
“No, you shouldn’t. Where you go, I come with you, and I don’t

want to move yet. I’ve checked us in and we’ll get room service when
you’re hungry.”

She tried to move away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I don’t want

to—”

“Hush.” He kissed her, as much because he wanted to as to

quieten her. “You’re with me now. I won’t interfere in your work. I

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swear I haven’t so far, but I won’t move into the motel and live like I
don’t have—what I have. I inherited most of it from my parents, and I
work hard to keep it and build on it. I never take it for granted.”

He continued speaking, working out his thoughts aloud, as he

often did when he took his horse for a long, solitary ride. “I work for
other shape-shifters. This ranch is big enough and diverse enough to
have national significance. That’s why they leave us alone. They’ve
tried to take what we have. Humans, I mean. Not all of them.”

He smiled wryly, but she said nothing. He loved that she knew to

keep quiet and let him speak. Although he rambled a lot, he generally
got there in the end. “Politicians have tried, and other ranchers have
tried. They didn’t win. Now we’re strong enough to make them leave
us be. Now we choose to let anybody in who wants to come.” His
smile widened. “What I’m trying to say is you’re safe here. We won’t
let anybody hurt you.”

“That sounds so good.” She shook her head slightly, her curls

dusting his skin.

When her stomach growled, he used the inadvertent interruption

to reach for the phone. “We’ll stay here tonight and have room
service.”

“But—”
He touched a finger to her lips. “Hush. We need to talk and I want

privacy for that. We’ll get your clothes laundered. Either that, or I
take you back to my place.” He paused, watching her mouth tighten.
She was a stubborn woman, but he would have his way in this one.
He put his hand over the receiver. “Which is it to be?”

“Here.”
“Good. Adam is probably at home and I don’t want to introduce

you yet. One step at a time. What do you want to eat?” She shrugged,
indicating that she didn’t care. He reached for her hand while he
talked to the receptionist, and came back to her the minute he hung
up. “Fifteen minutes, they said.”

“You don’t expect them to jump?”

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“Nope. The guests come first. The ones that will spread our name

when they get home. Those guests.” He rolled over, and tucked her
against him once more. He liked that, her body pressed against his. “I
want you to tell me what kind of trouble you’re in. Please, just tell
me.”

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she started

to talk.

* * * *

She hadn’t wanted to tell him, but before she realized it, Samantha

was talking. She’d started with her childhood and early adulthood, all
ordinary, parents who worked hard and died young, both of them
from smoking related diseases. She might as well finish her story. It
wouldn’t take long. To most people it might sound mundane, a story
repeated every day but to someone living it, it was daily terror.

“I worked in a branch of a big department store, then I got my big

chance. I got a job in the flagship store as a personal shopper. It was
Bergman’s.”

He nodded. Everybody knew Bergman’s, one of the biggest stores

in the US. It had made its name shipping goods upriver to the early
settlers in mid America, and it had set up stores wherever people
gathered. In recent years it had suffered, as so many retail outfits had,
but by cutting down on the stores and increasing its online activity, it
had come back. Now people came to the flagship stores for special
occasions, and ordered most of their other stuff online.

“You liked your job.” Slowly, he stroked her, making her feel like

a pampered cat. She showed her appreciation by arching into him,
raising a low growl. She felt more like purring. He was soothing her,
making it possible for her to keep her narrative level, without crying.

“I loved it. I had a nice apartment, small but it was all mine. For

the first time in my life I had nice things and savings in the bank. You

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have no idea how good it feels to have a nest egg, something put aside
for a rainy day.”

He gave her a wry smile. “I can’t say I have. I’ve been spoiled,

haven’t I?”

He didn’t behave spoiled. He was considerate, and strong, and—

she broke off her thoughts. He was someone she’d hooked up with
who’d gone out of his way to get her to trust him. Briefly, she
wondered if she was making a mistake now.

“Then I met someone. He came in with his girlfriend, but later

that week he came in on his own and asked me out to dinner. He said
he’d dumped her, that he wanted me. I was flattered. I mean, look at
me.”

“I am looking at you.” His visual sweep made her blush. “You’re

gorgeous.”

“I’m average,” she insisted. “I know I’m too thin.”
Someone knocked on the door. Room service.
She watched him get up and step into his jeans. Should she make

a bolt for the bathroom? Too late, he’d opened the door. She did
shake her hair over her eyes and draw up the comforter to cover most
of her face, though. She wasn’t used to this, being in bed while
someone delivered room service.

Thor handed over her clothes with the tip. The man left, and her—

lover, went into the bathroom. After a pause, the toilet flushed, then
the sink tap. He came back to her. “This room must reek of sex,” he
said with great satisfaction, and she felt her cheeks burn. He carried a
robe like the one he was wearing. “Here. Climb into this and let’s eat.
You can tell me the rest of your story later.”

“I thought you wanted to hear it all.”
He nodded. “Now I know you’ll tell me, we can take our time. I

want to see you eat more than a sandwich.”

“Those sandwiches you brought me…”
He laughed. “Okay, so I bought them. You could have passed out,

going so long without eating.”

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He pulled back a chair at the table by the window and held out the

robe. “Come on.”

She had to get out of bed naked and walk across the room to him,

but she did it. The carpet was soft under her toes, but she didn’t need
slippers. The carpet was new and the room cool. He wrapped the thin
robe around her shoulders, and after she’d pushed her arms through
the sleeves, he fastened the sash. “There you go. Now sit and tell me
what you want to eat.”

He’d ordered the farm, at least it looked that way from the trolley

the waiter had brought in. “It might be a cliché, but I ordered
champagne. I figure we have a celebration on our hands.”

She couldn’t deny that. If their recent activity was anything to go

by, she was about to have the sex of her life. More of it, that was.

But when she told him what she must, he might not want anything

to do with her. She wouldn’t blame him.

He forked two sizzling steaks on to a plate, and added potatoes,

then generous helpings of vegetables. Her mouth watered at the smell
and the sight, and even more when he placed the plate in front of her.
She almost drooled.

It all tasted as good as it looked. The last time she’d had a good

steak dinner was –oh, hell, she couldn’t remember. It must be back in
her New York days.

Although when she recalled what she had to tell him, her appetite

faded, only to be resurrected when she glanced at his face. He was
watching her while he ate, a different kind of hunger in his eyes.

She let herself relax into the moment. That was what he’d

reminded her of just before she came, and she intended to make good
on the lesson. “This is so delicious.”

“It is, isn’t it? Eat, and if you don’t have room for dessert, we’ll

save it for later.” The way he said “later” sent shivers of anticipation
down her spine. They’d have an appetizer first. If he still wanted her.

He reached for the champagne in its silver bucket, but then picked

up the water carafe. “We’ll save the alcohol for dessert, because I

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have plans.” His eyes warmed. “I have an idea what I’m going to use
for the best champagne glass in the world. Water, or would you like
anything else?”

She pushed her water glass forward. “Water’s fine.” Especially

with citrus peel floating in it. Her favorite. She drank thirstily, then
fell on her food again. She hadn’t realized she was so hungry. Every
time she looked up, he was watching her, but with warmth and desire
that sent arousal through her body. Despite that, she finished nearly
everything on her plate. When he offered her more, she shook her
head. “Really, I can’t.”

“You need to put on weight. You’re not fashionably thin, are

you?”

Once more, she shook her head, but this time in denial. “I’m

reticent about my looks because I used to be so much better. I know I
can look good because of what I used to do, but I’ve spent the past
year trying to blend into the background and look normal. Worse than
normal, cheap and poor. Which is what I am, so don’t go thinking I’m
some kind of secret billionaire. I’m not that way because I had three
years of someone telling me I was useless and I didn’t know the first
thing about anything.”

He put down his flatware. The fork clinked on his plate. “Carry

on.”

Why had she eaten so much? The food roiled in her stomach,

threatening to return in the worst possible way. She swallowed and
determination filled her. She was glad she wore something, although
she didn’t relish driving back to town in just a bathrobe. “The guy
who took me to dinner? I married him. His name was Bruce and he
courted me fast. Too fast for me to think straight. He wined me, dined
me, and over the next six months, we fell in love.” The memory hurt.
“At least I thought we did. Looking back, I think I was lonely. I’d had
boyfriends and I had some friends I socialized with but nobody I was
particularly close to. He was fun, and sexy and rich. He must have
fallen for me, but it was a twisted love. We got married.”

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She closed her eyes and shuddered. When he said nothing, she

looked up again. “We were married for three years. Gradually he
grew more possessive, and instead of lavishing me with compliments,
he started criticizing me. After the second year, I asked for a
separation. At his request, I’d given up work. He told me I didn’t need
the money, and he didn’t like me pandering to other women. He said
they’d laugh at me. I think he was lying, because a lot of the women I
got to know had jobs, despite being rich or married to wealthy men.”
He squeezed her in unspoken sympathy.

She sighed. “He said give it time, so I did. Then he started hitting

me.”

This time his growl wasn’t one of lazy pleasure. His eyes, usually

so blue, gained a darker tinge and seemed to grow larger. When claws
shot from the ends of his fingers, Samantha jerked back.

The claws retracted silently and he said, through his teeth, “Carry

on.”

Would he hurt her? The thought, so unwelcome, intruded itself.

How long would the idea haunt her, how long before she lost the
assumption that every man who was kind to her would eventually hurt
her?

No, it wasn’t that. Every time she got a job and did it well, even if

it was only stacking shelves in a supermarket, a bit of her confidence
had returned.

“He had bodyguards escort me everywhere. I was his prisoner. I

lived in an upmarket apartment, wore designer clothes, and he hit me.
Nobody said anything, and he didn’t touch my face, because that
would show. When he broke my arm, he called a doctor into the
apartment to set it. He said I’d had a fall and I was refusing to go to
the hospital. He made it seem like I was unbalanced, strange.

“Then I knew. If I stayed with him, he’d get me labelled mentally

unstable. I’d have even less chance of getting away then. Not fit to act
for myself, you know? I had to get away.”

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“You did.” He reached across the table and laid his hand on hers.

“I’m proud of you. Why would anybody do something like that? I
don’t understand.”

She was so glad to hear him say that. She’d had difficulty

understanding her ex’s motivation, too. “Bruce wanted me for
himself. He wanted to own me. The only thing I managed to do was
not to have his kids. That would have tied me to him because I
couldn’t have left children with him.”

“How did you do that?”
“I went to a doctor under another name and got a supply of the

pill.” She paused. “Anyway, then I put my foot down and asked my
husband a divorce. He was dating somebody else, but he always came
back to me. I knew he was cheating on me, but that gave me a respite.
Sex was getting—unpleasant.”

“He raped you?”
“Sometimes.” Why lie? What was the point? “That is, I said no,

and he did it anyway. He didn’t hurt me during sex. Only before and
after, so I didn’t mind it so much. I went to his uncle.”

“I was going to ask you if he had family you could go to.” His

voice was tight and he didn’t move. She knew how he felt. Telling her
story impartially was killing her.

“His uncle didn’t want the scandal of me bringing up Bruce’s

behavior in court. It was more of a social thing. They weren’t old
money, but they desperately wanted to be. Their business catered to
the upper crust, so a scandal would have been bad for business.” Her
lip twisted into a sneer. “Other things proved worse. That wasn’t my
concern at the time. I just wanted to get away. Bruce’s uncle helped
me get a divorce. I thought, three years, over. I had some money, and
I could start over. I made plans. Then he came back.”

She couldn’t suppress her shudder. “Bruce said he couldn’t forget

me and begged me to forgive him and marry me again. He didn’t
want to let me go. I didn’t fall for his line a second time. It would
happen again. They don’t change, men like that, not without a lot of

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counselling, and he didn’t have any. He said the problem was me, not
him.”

She paused. “He closed me down. Stopped my bank account. He

told me I had to go back to him and told all his friends and the press
to expect a reconciliation. I had to get away. He sent people to watch
me and before I knew it, the bodyguards were back, watching
everything I did. All for my own safety, he said, because his uncle
was in trouble and there were people out to get him.”

A gust of air-conditioned air swept over her and she shuddered,

suddenly cold. She hugged herself and doggedly continued her story
but she couldn’t look at Thor anymore because bad though her story
was, it got worse.

“I ran. One day I decided to go to my old place of work for a new

gown. I was wearing an unseasonal black wool dress with long
sleeves because he’d pulled my arm around the night before. The one
he’d broken. He’d left bruises, so I had to wear something with
sleeves. I went to the cash machine and drew out all the money I
could, but that wasn’t much because they have a daily allowance. My
bodyguard got suspicious but I said I was meeting some friends for
bridge later that day and I needed the cash to cover my losses. I hated
constantly making excuses.

“I went to the store because I knew all the back ways, where only

staff are allowed, and I slipped out that way. I daren’t stop. I went to
the airport and paid cash for a flight that took nearly all I had, but I
needed to get far, far away. When I got off the plane I found a cheap
hotel for the night. My original plan was to get several flights, change
my appearance and get clean away.”

She shrugged. “I kind of did. I bought some chain store clothes

and hair dye, and got a pair of reading glasses to change the way I
looked. Then I moved on. The trouble was, his business had branches
in every town, so I never knew if I was being watched. I saw him on
the TV. The commenter said he’d met this woman and he was

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engaged to her. If he moved on, I could stop running. That was three
months ago. Ever since, I’ve been waiting for news of his marriage.”

Thor squeezed her hand. “Come here,” he said softly. “Let me

hold you.”

“No. Not yet. You haven’t heard the last bit yet. My real name is

Samantha, but Gardener was a name I picked at random. That’s why I
can only get jobs that pay cash. I didn’t have the money to buy false
papers. I feel guilty, because that woman he’s planning to marry, does
she know what he’s like? I can’t do anything about it. My maiden
name was Chorlton, but when I married, he asked me to use his name,
so I did. I was Samantha Lanier.”

He let go her hand, his face a picture of blank astonishment. Then

he got to his feet abruptly and took a few strides around the room.
When he spun on his heel to her once more, his expression was cold
and blank. A stranger.

“As in Ronny Lanier of Lanier’s Bank? The man who used a

Ponzi scheme to fund the Grid, the organization dedicated to
destroying shape-shifters? That Lanier?”

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Chapter Six

Shock jolted Thor back to reality. He should never have let

himself get this far without finding more about her. Why hadn’t he
insisted that she told him her story before? He paced some more. Had
they set her here as a spy? Was she planning to draw him in, even
capture him for one of the facilities where they experimented on
shape-shifters? Or even recruit him to the Grid, a shape-shifter turned
traitor?

Fuck, no. Even as the thoughts echoed around his mind, he knew

he was wrong. He’d read truth in her. She hadn’t lied about anything.
All through her narrative, he’d longed to hold her and comfort her,
but he felt the way she was holding herself strong.

Besides, that was typical of the Laniers. They loved to exploit the

weak, take people who couldn’t care for themselves. They were never
straightforward, their motives as twisted as their morals.

“When did you last see your husband?” The last word turned to

ashes in his mouth,

“Ex-husband,” she said. “In New York, just over a year ago.”
Thor folded his arms over his chest. “What did he have to do with

the bank?”

“Nepotism,” she said shortly. “He wasn’t any good and they kept

him away from the serious stuff. He knew nothing about the frauds, at
least he always said so, and the court let him go. They basically said
he was too stupid to have had anything to do with it, and I agree with
him.”

“Did he ever talk about shape-shifters?”
She stilled. “What is this, an interrogation?”

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He nodded. “Yep.” He grimaced. “And it’s killing me.” Already

he was feeling the urge to go to her and take her again, sate the
hunger filling him, and then spoil her, feed her dessert. That was what
he’d planned, but now he had to do this. To hurt her.

He wasn’t a trained interrogator, thank fuck, but he couldn’t give

his trust to someone who might betray him and everyone he held dear.
When he skimmed her mind he sensed nothing wrong, no lies or
subterfuge. As far as he could tell she was being totally honest with
him.

Dion and Jag Goldclaw, from one of the smaller ranches around

the town, had sheltered the wife of the ringleader. Robyn Lanier was
now Robyn Goldclaw. “Do you know Robyn, Ronny Lanier’s
widow?”

She nodded. “I met her a few times. Ronny and Robyn,” she said

with the ghost of a smile. “She was nice.”

“Do you know she’s here?” Had they sent her to get to Robyn?

Although Ronny was dead, Robyn still had enemies, people who
thought she’d betrayed their cause. Dion and Jag were on constant
watch, although they daren’t tell Robyn. Thor had considered them
pussy-whipped, but now he began to understand. Robyn had been as
much of a victim as the shape-shifters that the Grid kidnapped and
tortured.

What about Samantha? Whose side was she on?
That he could even think that spoke to how seriously shape-

shifters took this threat. How could they not, when so many of their
kind had died?

He swallowed. “I want to trust you.”
“You either do or you don’t. I can move on.”
He couldn’t bear for her to do that. He shook his head. “Not now

you can’t. I can’t let you. One way or the other, Samantha, you have
to stay here.”

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She nodded. “I want to. I want you to believe me. You’re the first

man I’ve trusted this close for—years. I swore I’d never do it again,
not after what Bruce did to me.”

Thor grabbed his pants and found his phone. Swiping his finger

across the screen, he opened a browser and searched for Bruce Lanier.

He glanced at her. She was sitting on the bed, the sheet clamped

under her arms, staring at him, wide, blue eyes peering out of her
pinched features. He hated her looking like that. She’d stared at him
that way the first time he’d seen her. No, the second. The first time,
through the window of the bus, she’d been half-asleep. He’d woken
her up.

Now he wondered if they might both be better off if she’d stayed

on the bus, only to reject the idea immediately.

What they’d just done had blown his mind, but what happened

before, their friendship, had charmed and delighted him. His life was
better for having her in it.

He found a page showing a picture of a woman with Bruce Lanier,

nephew of Ronny Lanier. He was impossibly handsome, buffed and
polished, wearing a hand-tailored tuxedo. She was wearing a pink slip
of a gown, one that skimmed her curves. A fuller figure than she had
now. She was buffed and polished, too, her hair in a clever, sleek cut
that hugged her skull, emphasizing her delicate features.

The dress had long sleeves.
She was posing like a perfect doll—one foot forward, smiling

slightly, her eyes completely blank.

He swiped through to another picture, and another, skipping the

ones that featured Bruce alone, or with a different woman. He paused
on one. The woman was clinging to Lanier as if he was holding her
up. He turned the phone so she could see it. “Is this the woman he’s
engaged to?”

“Yes” she said. “If he marries her, it means he’s moved on.

Perhaps she won’t be a victim. On the day of his wedding, I promised
myself I’d move on, too. I’d unstitch my purse. That’s where I keep

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my passport and driver’s license. Then I can set about changing my
name on both of them.”

“Why haven’t you done that before?”
She gave him pitying smile. “He’s rich. He has family money that

has nothing to do with the bank, and he has influential friends. Look
at him. Then look at me. Who would you choose to believe?”

“You.” Thor didn’t even have to think about that answer.
She gave a faint smile. “I wish I could believe that. He has friends

in DC, in movies, you name it, and he could spread any poison he
wanted about me.”

He swiped to another picture. This time she had a dress with short

sleeves, but she was holding herself awkwardly as if she was in pain.
To the uninitiated, it might look as if she was trying a new pose and
not quite making it. But he could see how tautly her smile stretched
over her teeth and the expression in her eyes was fear.

He saw it so clearly, why didn’t anyone else? Or maybe they had

and they’d chosen not to say anything?

Bruce Lanier wasn’t the only person with influential friends, he

thought grimly, and glanced up from his phone at her.

She had that same expression now—fear.
“You’re killing me here.” He tossed the phone down on to the pile

of clothes. “I don’t want you to look like that ever again.”

“What are you going to do?”
He took a step toward the bed, ignoring her flinch. “I won’t force

myself on you. I’m not going to report you to the Grid or the Laniers.
I won’t make you face your ex-husband, not until you’re safe.”

She swallowed. “How will you ensure that?”
“I don’t know. I’ll work something out.” He sat on the bed. “I’m

sorry. Your name came as a shock, that’s all. I didn’t realize.” He ran
his hand through his hair, not knowing what to say, or how he felt.
No, that was wrong. He knew how he felt. He wanted to fuck her
again, and then he wanted to feed her and hold her and keep her safe.
Like a pet. Like Bruce did.

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Was it because she was so frail in appearance? Although she was

slightly above average height for a human woman, she had barely any
soft curves. Her hip bones jutted under her skin, and her shoulders
were all angles. True, her breasts were sweetly soft, but they were
apples, half-apples even.

Samantha was so unlike the women who usually attracted him.

She was the opposite of the lush, big-haired, full-bodied women he
tended to gravitate toward. But he couldn’t deny his attraction to her.
Even now his cock head brushed against his robe, and he was fully
erect and wanting her.

“I believe you, I swear.”
“I don’t know why I came here,” she said bitterly. “I should have

carried on.”

He reached for her hand, as if afraid she’d get up and go right

now. “I’m glad you didn’t. What made you stay?”

“I didn’t know Goldclaw was a shape-shifter town until after I got

off the bus. I saw you and you smiled. I’ve had enough of frowning
and crying. I want happiness. I—it sounds stupid…” Her voice tailed
off.

“Wanting happiness isn’t stupid.”
“Not that.” She shook her head. Her hand tightened around the

sheet she was gripping to her bosom like a lifeline. “I saw you and I
thought we linked. Connected, you know?”

Unable to resist, he lifted her hand and kissed the knuckles. “You

were right. I felt it, too, even though I didn’t want to.”

“Neither did I.”
“And here we are.” He feathered his thumb across her knuckles.

“Listen. I don’t want to swamp you or make you think I’m anything
like your ex, but there are similarities. They scare me, frankly. I want
to care for you and hold you. I get that urge very strongly when I’m
with you.”

“Do you want to make me get my hair cut?”
He frowned. Where was she going with this? “No.”

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“Do you want to know what I’m doing every minute of every

day?” He shook his head. “Do you want me to give up work?”

“Hell, no. You enjoy it too much.”
She smiled and this time it was more definite. “Yes I do. I love

helping people look their best. It’s a gift, and it’s fun to use it.”

“I get that. I don’t have to work with the horses, but I have a gift,

too.”

A light entered her eyes. “You’re a horse whisperer?”
Putting back his head, he howled with laughter. “Nothing so

dramatic,” he said when he’d recovered. “I’m good with them, and I
like them. It’s unusual for a tiger to get on with horses, but it works
with me. Adam, too.”

“Your breedmate.”
“My breed partner,” he corrected her. “When we find a woman to

share, she’ll be our breedmate.”

Then it hit him. Was she his breedmate? Had he inadvertently

found the woman who would bring him the closeness he craved with
Adam? They’d been close once, best friends in fact. But in the last
year Adam had drawn apart and Thor didn’t know why. It had just
happened.

This woman, was she the one?
When he tugged her hand, she came to him, but she still held the

sheet close to her breasts. He kissed her, his lips lingering over hers,
caressing her. “Whatever your name is, I want you,” he said. “I want
this to continue.”

“Bruce could come after me. He has friends, he could cause

trouble.”

“So can I,” he said, making it a promise. If her ex dared come near

her again, he’d kill him. “Now kiss me back.”

This time she did, opening her mouth and moving closer. When

Thor felt both of her hands on him, one on his cheek and the other
cupping his shoulder, he rejoiced. She let the sheet fall, and he drew
her close, her nipples soft against his skin, but already hardening.

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With a moan, he pulled her against him, and spread his hand over her
silky skin. He peppered her face with kisses, until she laughed. Then
he slid further down, until he reached her sweet breasts, where he
stopped and lingered.

“Hold that thought,” he said, and made a lightning visit to the

trolley, where he grabbed a dish of chocolate mousse. It had a swirl of
cream on the top, which he smoothed on to her breast with the tip of
his finger.

“That’s cold!”
He drowned her protests by licking it off slowly, making sounds

of appreciation. “Mmm, cream has never tasted so good. Lie down,
baby. Let me see if it tastes different in other places.”

“You—” He raised his finger, now liberally festooned with

mousse to her lips and she sucked it. “Oh, this is good.”

“I want my dessert, and I want it off you.”
He scooped up more and painted the gooey substance on her other

nipple. Then down, trailing it over and around her navel. Thor had
always had a thing for chocolate, and this stuff was especially good.

He used his finger as a paintbrush, adorning her skin and dropping

it in dots over her stomach, then lower. When she whimpered, he
ignored her and continued. “Chocolate pussy, the best way to have all
the treats at once.”

That changed her complaints to laughter. The mousse started to

melt, leaving messy trails on her stomach. Although he was mildly
upset his creation was deteriorating, he made the best of it and lapped
it up. It really did taste different but still very good.

He followed the circle around her stomach with his tongue,

chasing every scrap. Then he moved down, touching and licking her
skin, her feminine fragrance wreathing a spell around him as he
closed on her cunt. Having had it once, he wanted it again. Again.

Lucky him, here it was. He licked slowly into her, closing his eyes

at the intensity of her taste. He would know her anywhere and he’d
respond like this, always.

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Closing his mouth around her, he sucked. Drawing her clit into his

mouth, he teased the tip with his tongue, flicking it around and then
along, then giving her one hard suck. The sheets rustled as she
grasped handfuls of cotton, compacting the fabric in her hands.

“Would it do any good for me to say relax?”
Her laugh washed over him, and that was the only reply he

received. He sucked harder and she choked. He was really doing this.
Nobody had done this to her before. “What are you doing?”

“Enjoying your taste.” He drawled the words in her mind in his

broadest accent, letting the sound drip like molasses over her mind in
an attempt to soothe and arouse her.

He wasn’t lying. He really loved her flavor, unexpectedly deep

and spicy with a touch of sharpness, like a tart apple.

Not forgetting the blanket of chocolate.
When he’d licked all the mousse off her, he added more, then

found the glass empty, so he shoved it off the bed. It landed with a
muffled thump on the floor, maybe on top of his clothes. He didn’t
care, except he’d have to do a chocolatey walk of shame in the
morning.

“This is the best,” he declared, before going back to her and

taking more flavor. She was wetter now, her flavor intensifying and
cutting through the unctuous swathe of chocolate. “My favorite flavor
from now on is Samantha enrobed in rich milk chocolate. The very
best.”

“Oh!” He loved that she had assimilated his telepathy, so she

could respond so easily and unthinkingly. Then her responses became
more vocal.

Fresh juice seeped out of her cunt. He sucked it down, then

allowed a little to escape, so he could collect it on his finger. Bringing
his finger around to the crack between her buttocks, he caressed the
top, letting her essence ease his way. She flinched, but she didn’t
move away. He slid his finger further down and grazed her anus.

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Following his urges, he thrust his tongue deep into her, as far as he
could reach.

Taking a risk, he shifted just enough to add the tiger’s tongue. His

tiger tongue had sharper, harder taste buds, and small bristles. He
curled his tongue so the bristles were on the outside, and took more of
her. He’d never done this before with a woman, so intimate it made
him feel vulnerable. Human women were usually wary of partial
shifts, even one this slight.

This one loved it. Moaning, she twisted, so he had to go with her.

He lifted her legs to wind them around him, around his back, under
his arms, dragging him closer. That was what she liked. His tiger
tongue was also a bit longer than his human one and he made the
most of that, pushing deep and lapping her. His bristles abraded her,
but not harshly. Inside she was all soft, wet heat, her body never so
alive. He swallowed, then went back for more.

She would come again, she would. Nothing had meant more to

him.

Imitating his cock, he thrust in and out, each time collecting more

of her juice. The taste of chocolate had long gone, but he wasn’t about
to stop. His licks grew deeper and stronger, and her pussy opened
wider as she neared her climax. Her essence bathed his face.

With a convulsive movement, he pulled out. Before she had time

to complain, he was up the bed and pushing his cock into her
scorching heat while he shifted his tongue back to normal. They both
groaned.

Her kiss was voracious, licking into his mouth to claim her own

taste, and then she pulled her mouth away from his.

“No chocolate,” she said before she came back to him, sealing her

mouth to his. She licked him, claimed him as he drove frantically into
her, his cock forging its way into her, claiming her. She was his, damn
it, and nothing would stop him claiming her.

Hot damn.

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He plunged deep, working them both hard and fast, unable to stop.

Her legs gripped him as if he’d never let her go. No finesse and no
kindness remained, only the urge to fuck her, fuck them both into
oblivion.

With a cry, she jerked up. Her head went back, breaking their kiss.

Her pussy clasped him, released him, and clasped him, sending him
completely mindless. He gave himself to her. She was the mistress
now, holding him as she came, and he came deep inside her
welcoming body.

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Chapter Seven

When she opened her eyes as daylight filtered through the gap in

the blackout curtains, he was there. She took in the mess. The bed had
chocolate smears and the sheets were crumpled and twisted around
them. The trolley that had contained their dinner still had a
champagne bottle propped in the ice bucket, but it was upside down,
the wine all gone. They’d showered, but they’d fucked again after
that, before they fell asleep, exhausted by confessions and
lovemaking. She remembered it all, so vividly that her pussy
dampened.

Sam had never had a lover like Thor, insatiable and fun. She

hadn’t even realized she could laugh during sex, but he’d tickled her
and she’d succumbed. It had made her arousal even more intense, but
in a way she’d never experienced before.

He’d made her understand how inadequate Bruce was as a lover.

Her husband had had a big enough dick, but he just used it to please
himself. He’d assumed she’d get off because she was with him and
he’d deigned to fuck her. Thor made no such assumptions. He’d told
her he wasn’t happy unless she was. She understood that. When he
came, and that big body went lax for an instant, he gave himself
completely into her keeping. She reveled in it, power surging through
her veins.

Now he slumbered peacefully next to her. He lay on his stomach,

one arm stretched above his head, the other lying on his stomach, like
some great god of old. Thor indeed. The notion made her smile. He
snored when he lay on his back, and it wasn’t a gentle sound, either,
but she’d loved hearing it.

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Bruce had never snored.
Thor was bigger in every way than Bruce. More alive, more

thoughtful, and far more uninhibited in his response to her. He really,
really wanted her. Before last night she’d thought most of the
yearning was on her side. He’d given her everything, holding nothing
back, including his raw need for her.

She could love a man like this.
On that disturbing thought, she rolled over and slid out of bed,

trying not to wake him. When she saw the time, her eyes bugged in
alarm. She had half an hour before she was due at work. Shit!

After she’d closed the bathroom door as quietly as she could, she

stepped into the shower and let the hot water pour over her. She
tipped her face up to the stream, and almost choked when the door
opened and her lover stepped in. He kissed her before he said
anything. “Morning. Do you need your back scrubbed?”

“I have to get to work.”
He motioned with his fingers and she turned around. After

dropping a soft kiss on her shoulder, he picked up a washcloth and
went to work, rubbing mint-scented gel over her skin. She could have
enjoyed this so much, but she didn’t have time. “I texted Renata
yesterday and told her you’d probably be in this morning. I hope that
was right.”

Touched by his concern, she nodded as she swallowed back

sudden tears. Men didn’t do that, in her experience. They tried to tell
her what to do. They always did. Until this one. When he’d washed
her back, he turned her around, but he washed her front with his
hands. “Pretty,” he murmured, as he massaged her breasts, and sent
tingles through her. He washed her cunt with gentle efficiency,
groaning when he felt her juices on his fingers. “If we had more time,
I’d pin you against that wall and fuck you until you screamed for
mercy.”

“You’d have to wait a long time for that.”

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Grinning, he patted her backside. “Now git. Your clothes will be

here in a minute, together with breakfast to go. You have twenty
minutes.”

Wow. She could get used to this. A waiter knocked right on cue as

she was exiting the bathroom. He delivered the perfectly cleaned and
pressed clothes that she’d tossed on the floor heedlessly the night
before. Or he had.

The waiter had also brought two full breakfasts, and a selection of

sandwiches. The coffee came with a choice of cups—china, or paper
ones with lids. She decided on both, since there was plenty of coffee.

The fragrance of the breakfast was too much for her to resist.

Hastily dragging a chair to the trolley, she wolfed it down. She had
just put her fork aside when a naked Thor emerged from the
bathroom, rubbing a towel over his hair. “You’re not the only person
who’s late,” he said, grinning at her. “I should have been at the corral
two hours ago.” He bent to kiss her. “Totally worth it, though. I’d
better call them and tell them I’ll be along.”

He took his own place and glanced around. “This is a nice room,

but next time we’d better get a suite. Then I can romance you
properly.”

“You did okay. I like your romancing just as it is.”
She made Renata’s room in the nick of time. She’d only just

opened up when Renata arrived, agog to hear her news. “I’ve closed
the store for an hour,” she said.

Sam paused in the act of twisting a scarf around a coat hanger to

finish off a display of a Chanel dress. “I didn’t think I did that.”

“I don’t, but I want to know who I’ve employed.”
Ah, yes. She would probably want that. By the time Sam finished

her narrative about her past history, briefer and less emotional than
last night’s recounting, the cat was well and truly out of the bag and
strolling around the room.

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“I could spit,” Renata said, hands on hips, regardless of the way

her stance spoiled the line of her red Ralph Lauren. “Do any of that
family deserve to walk the earth?”

“The Laniers? It must be the way they were brought up.” For the

first time Sam felt ready to cope, fresh, as if last night had washed
away some of her anxiety. Although she wouldn’t bring trouble to
Goldclaw. Already her mind was working, wondering what would
happen next. “The ones I met were arrogant, part of an old family.
They believed they were better than anybody, and just being a Lanier
was enough. They believed that everything they did was right.
Normal. I don’t know about the ones I didn’t meet.”

“Still, it’s no excuse to do what they did. It’s like they had no

sense of right and wrong.”

“They had their own sense of it. Their own morals. Their own

world. They’re not the only people who think that way. That they’re
the privileged ones and nobody else comes up to their level.”

Renata tutted and took the scarf away from the hanger. She tossed

it on to the table as if it cost a few dollars, instead of the thousand or
so that was on the list in Sam’s book. She picked out another, and
took over the arranging of it. “Which is why they’re fighting about it
in Washington, DC right now.”

“Are they?” Sam took intermittent notice of the news. After

Ronny Lanier had gone on the lam, and then Bruce had been acquitted
in the subsequent trial of the bank’s staff and board, she’d drifted in
and out. She’d paid more attention to Bruce’s appearances in the
society papers, praying that one day she’d hear about his marriage.

“They’re fighting for the rights of shape-shifters. Luckily we have

some important people on our side, too. A shape-shifter senator is
leading the charge. They want to call us animals, can you imagine?”

“What will that mean?” Her mind was only half on the problem.

She moved on to the simpler task of putting the flowers delivered for
the boutique into the crystal vases the hotel had provided for them.
Simpler because they almost arranged themselves, they were so

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lovely. Blue and white today, lilies, roses and hydrangeas, beautiful
and profuse.

“If shape-shifters are classed as animals, we lose our voting rights,

our territorial rights, and everything else from our human side.”

Horrified, jolted out of her mood of contented satiation, Sam spun

around. “How can they do that?”

Renata waved. “Look around you, honey. That’s what matters.

They want this. Places like this that have belonged to our people for
generations. Piss on whatever we want. Some want war, I’m
convinced they do. We’ll show them. We own a big chunk of this
beautiful state, and if we have to, we’ll take Texas for ourselves.”

Never had Renata sounded so out of control. She took a few

minutes to control herself, her bosom heaving, and her eyes sparking
fire.

“What will happen to the humans?” Sam asked, her heart sinking.
“Separation again. This time enforced. We lived for centuries

apart, so we can do it again. This joining together could be the worst
thing that could have happened. You never know, the Grid might have
meant it when they dropped the formula into the water supply. It
might not have been an accident.”

The way Sam had heard it, and she hadn’t heard much, the

formula had been released after a facility was raided. Everybody
assumed it was an accident. Since one drop of the stuff turned human
women into breedmates, that more or less meant every human woman
was a target.

Including her.
That aspect had never occurred to Sam before. Had she drunk the

water and become a shape-shifter-magnet? Could Thor not help
himself? He’d told her that it took two to tango into a breedmate
relationship. Breed partners were irresistibly drawn to human women,
if they were unbonded.

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The up side was that breedmates could give birth to shape-shifter

children. That meant the race was no longer dying out. The species
was revived.

Some humans thought of that as a threat. It was their world and

nobody was taking it away from them, they said. That sounded just
like the Laniers.

To her relief Renata didn’t take the fact that Sam was a Lanier, if

only by marriage, too badly. She insisted on her keeping the Gardener
surname. She was very pleased to do so. Once people realized who
she was, they’d hate her and turn against her.

They were forced to end the conversation when two new clients

arrived. The bride for the upcoming wedding, to be precise. She
introduced herself and her mother, and although Renata wasn’t
catering for their needs at the wedding, she welcomed them warmly.

Sam watched her work. Renata never used any kind of hard sell.

Much like Sam, she persuaded, pointed items out, and left the
decision up to them. “I want you happy,” she said at one point. “If
you’re happy, you’ll send more people my way and maybe come back
one day. I’d rather make no sale at all than have someone leave my
store unhappy about their purchase.”

She indicated some of the accessories. “Not all of these are mine,

but I work with other artists in Goldclaw.” She had a very nice
reciprocal arrangement with some of the local traders and they all did
well from the exchange.

The bride, Jenny Bird, soon to be Jenny Bird-Callaghan, went to

the door when someone else arrived, blocking Sam’s view of the
newcomer. With a smile firmly fixed to her face, she went forward to
greet the new customer.

Sam froze, her hand in midair, spun around, and crossed the room

in the direction of the small bathroom. With shaking hands, she
locked herself in.

Her luck couldn’t last. That woman was one she’d known well in

New York. Vivien Tremaine had vied with her for Bruce’s attentions.

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She’d fucked him a few times, too. Bruce had taunted Sam with it but
by then she had only been relieved.

After Sam had left, Bruce was seen with Vivien a couple of times

before he moved on to the new woman, someone Sam didn’t know.

But she knew Vivien, and Vivien knew her. No way would a new

hairstyle and simpler clothes fool the vivacious blonde.

Still shaking, Sam poured herself a glass of water and drank it

straight down. She daren’t go back in, but she was trapped in here.
There was no way out other than through the room outside. Should
she face Vivien, ask her to keep her secret?

More likely, Vivien would go straight to Bruce and tell him what

she’d discovered. She’d always sought attention, and this would get
her right back with Bruce. Unless—unless Bruce didn’t care anymore.
That was Sam’s only hope, that her husband had really and truly
moved on. Obsessives did, or so she’d read. Deprived of the object of
their desires, they would move on to another thing. Or they would
move on when they grew bored. Bruce had never been bored with her,
but maybe he was now. She’d vanished without trace and there’d
been no fuss about her disappearance.

One day she’d have to come out, start using her name again, for

the short time it would take her to change her legal name on her
official documents back to her maiden name. She’d been stupid to
take Bruce’s name, but he wouldn’t have appreciated her keeping her
own. Now she was glad of it, because her name wasn’t tainted by
association.

After ten minutes, Sam left the room and Vivien had gone. She

sagged in relief. Renata was still busy with Jenny and her mother, but
she cast a worried glance in Sam’s direction. Sam nodded and went to
the table, folding up the scarf she hadn’t been able to arrange
satisfactorily earlier on. Her hands still shook, but not as much as
when she’d gone into the bathroom.

As the day went on and the clients arrived, she kept thinking about

the problem. There was no way, no way the people of Goldclaw

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would accept her, or anybody with the name Lanier. They’d find out,
they were bound to, especially if Vivien outed her. Renata would
suffer by association.

Not acceptable.
The problem grew and grew through the day. Thor sent her a text

that he was tied up and he wouldn’t be over for lunch, and she assured
him she’d be fine. The residential guests were arriving faster, some
determined to see the shape-shifter town, as they called it. Humans
were coming to stay at the ranch, ogle the cowboys, and stroll in the
areas designated for the visitors.

They exclaimed at the house, some laughed at the extravagance of

its design, but that only increased its appeal to Sam. She loved its
excesses, mostly external since the interior had been remodeled. The
original features sometimes went over the top. The room she’d shared
with Thor last night was relatively featureless, part of the modern
extension put on to hold extra guest rooms. Here, in the main body of
the house, the ceilings were high and the rooms beautifully
proportioned. Some of the fireplaces in the reception rooms had
cowboys chasing steers carved around them.

She loved this place and that was the problem. Because by the end

of the day Sam knew she had to move on. She could think of no other
solution. Vivien would see her again. Then she’d take great delight in
outing Sam. If it had been almost anyone else Sam could have begged
her to keep her secret, but with Vivien she had no chance. Vivien
couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.

Sam was a fingertip’s length close to getting everything she

wanted, only to have it snatched away from her. She’d have to go.
She couldn’t risk losing everything at this point.

She drove back to the motel, her mood gloomier than since she

arrived in Goldclaw. Tomorrow she’d tell Renata and then she had the
harder task of telling Thor.

She put her night with Thor in perspective. They’d had a great

night, so what? He’d given her memories that would last her a long

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time. Neither of them had given promises. When she saw him again,
she wouldn’t burden him, or assume anything. If she saw him again,
of course. She couldn’t delay. She had to get out of town. Maybe one
day she’d come back, she thought with deep melancholy.

By the time she’d reached the motel, she’d talked herself off the

ledge and worked out a coherent plan. The people here had given her
confidence and that meant a lot. She was finding herself again, the
Samantha she’d been before all this had happened. Before, she’d
allowed one man to terrorize her and send her halfway across the
country. Although faced with the same problem, she’d still have done
it. She didn’t have much of an option. Powerless and poor, next to the
Laniers, she had no chance if she’d tried to face him. People didn’t
understand that. Why hadn’t she taken a stand? they’d ask her, the
few that had tried to keep in touch with her after she’d left Bruce that
first time. Sam had tried to explain, but her reasons were beyond their
understanding.

Because she had no money, nobody had believed her when she’d

tried to tell someone. Bruce would always have won. She had faced
reality when she’d run, and her experiences had made her a much
stronger person.

After getting out the van, she went inside the boutique, taking an

armful of dresses that needed altering for customers.

“It’s going to get busier,” Renata warned her.
“I might not be here forever,” she answered, helping herself to

coffee and pouring one for her boss. She took both mugs to the table
in the backroom, as familiar to her now as her motel room, which had
become almost home. The first time she’d allowed herself any roots,
shallow though they were.

“I was thinking of moving on. Renata, I need to leave.”
Renata’s mouth thinned. “I thought so. You had that hunted look

all day, and when I left the hotel you looked as if you wanted to run
after me. Is there nothing I can do to persuade you otherwise?”

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Lowering her gaze to hide her tears, Sam shook her head. “I have

to go. I’m sorry.”

“Was it that woman who came in today?”
She thought rapidly. If she lied, Renata would find out when and

if Vivien trumpeted her discovery. If Vivien had noticed her before
Sam had gained the safety of the bathroom. There was always that
chance.

“Honey, I’ll never find anybody like you.” Renata put her hand

over Sam’s where it lay on the table. “You have a gift for finding out
what the customers like and then persuading them to try something
completely different. You’re never wrong. You can accessorize an
outfit like it’s meant to be, and add a zing. You don’t have one
unsatisfied customer.”

“Not unless it was that large lady who wanted the ruffled pink

prom dress,” Sam reminded her, and they laughed together. It was the
only time she’d allowed a customer a totally inappropriate choice
because it made the woman so happy.

Renata took a sip of her coffee. “What about that man who’s been

hanging around you? When I found out it was Thor Goldclaw you
were seeing, you could have packed me up and sent me to Reno
before I found another word. I could not speak, Samantha. He’ll be
powerful disappointed if you decide to leave. You’ll tell him?”

“Uh-huh. I can’t stay, Renata.”
“People are coming in from all over. That ranch is pulling people

from all over the state. Further. That wedding party’s from New York,
isn’t it?”

Tension rising within her, Sam nodded. “They’re a nice bunch.

They’re a family from Brooklyn.” Which was why she’d thought she
was safe. She didn’t know them. It seemed they knew Vivien.

Sometimes when the thing a person wanted most was out of their

reach, that was all they could see.

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When Sam walked along Main Street, she forgot the ever-present

sun scorching down on her. It was early evening, but still hot. She’d
almost acclimated. Maybe she’d stay in Texas. Big place, Texas.

All she saw was couples, and trios, if that was the word. They

held hands, paused to kiss each other, stopped to browse in the shops
or went into the diner, the café, or the incongruously named Granny’s
Tea Rooms for a bite.

Although Sam didn’t worry where the next meal was coming from

any more, she wasn’t tempted to stop at any of the places where she’d
have to sit alone. She hadn’t heard from Thor all day. He might be a
one and done kind of guy. She didn’t blame him, but a couple of
weeks’ attention, culminating in one night didn’t seem worth it, as far
as she was concerned. They’d only just started to explore each other.

Now there’d be no more exploring. Vivien wouldn’t lose any time

getting her nugget of gossip out to interested parties. If she’d
recognized Sam.

Restlessness consumed Sam, as if she hadn’t found everything

yet. Something lay over the horizon, just out of sight, and it was
waiting for her. She knew it, she felt it. Sometimes she woke in the
middle of the night, sitting bolt upright, reaching for something—or
someone. But as fast as she reached, she never caught it—him.
Because whatever this was, it had a masculine feel. Her dream lover
had gone, and she wasn’t going to get him back, she could tell. Now
she was well and truly on her own.

Thor had probably driven her dream man away. She’d have to go

on her own like Sir Gawain in that story about the Green Knight she
used to love as a kid. His quest for the Holy Grail.

A quest. It appealed to the romantic in her, and took her mind off

the reality that was Thor.

The reality of the man who was standing outside her motel room,

his hat tipped over his forehead. He had his thumbs in his pockets, but
removed them as he strode toward her, and pulled her in for a kiss.
She could do nothing but respond.

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Stunned, Sam stared up at him.
“Sorry, sweetheart, I was held up. I’ve had one hell of a day. A

filly got out and headed straight for the corral where I’d put the new
stud. He’s unstable, and not ready for any contact. I’ve been working
with him since he arrived last week. The bastard nearly killed the
sweet thing.”

He smiled, but he looked weary, the lines around his eyes deeper.

“I’m selling him. With that kind of temperament, I don’t trust him,
and after a week I’m ready to give in. Hell, I hate having to surrender,
but this stallion’s got me beat.”

Immediately, Sam felt ashamed that she’d doubted him. At least

she could tell him what she planned to do.

He leaned back, studying her face. “What’s wrong?” He gave a

short laugh. “I stopped to shower and change, but by the time I got to
the main house, I’d missed you, so I came straight here. Hey, don’t
cry.”

She shook her head, angry with herself. “I’m not crying. I’m just

stupid, that’s all. I just—Thor, I thought that was it for us. Maybe
you’d done with me.”

“After a day? After a goddamn day?” His hold on her shoulders

firmed. “You thought I’d walk away? What kind of man do you take
me for?”

“The problem is me, not you.” It sounded lame even as she said it.
“Yeah, they always say that, don’t they?” He glared at her, his

eyes hard. Then he frowned. “Maybe you’re right this time. Maybe
the problem is you.”

They looked at each other, and she recalled all his kindnesses and

his fierceness when they made love. “I’m sorry. It was stupid of me. I
never told anybody else my name before, or what happened to me.”

He sighed. “Okay. You don’t have a whole lot of experience with

the decent kind of man. I guess you’ve got to learn to trust me more. I
want you to come to my house, have a meal, and meet my breed
partner.”

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The invitation rocked her back on her feet. “Why?”
“Because he’s important to me, and you can’t be a part of what I

have without him.” He nudged his hat back. “I don’t know if you’re
our breedmate, but you know it’s possible, right? But that’s not why I
asked. I want you to get to know him. I’m happy with just the two of
us, but I’ve been thinking. I want a lot more of you, and so you need
to meet him.”

“Thor, I have to leave. I saw somebody today from my old life.

She’ll tell everybody. I can’t have that happening. I can’t have Bruce
coming after me.” Much to her annoyance, she started to shake
uncontrollably.

Thor drew her close and held her, holding on to her as if he’d

never let go. He spoke into her hair while she clung to him, drinking
in his strength. “Don’t you think it’s time to turn and fight?
Sweetheart, you have to do it sometime.”

“I was so close,” she said. “He was moving on.”
“Perhaps he still is. C’mon, you can’t do this. You’re letting me

and Renata down. You don’t want to do that.”

No, she didn’t. It went against her principles to run, but she had

to. “Bruce is too popular, too powerful to resist. He’s rich enough to
send someone after me, or claim me back and it will be like before.
He picks weak women, clerks, nurses, store assistants. I wasn’t the
first, I was just the first he married. He said if I ever ran away he’d
chain me to the wall when he left the apartment, and he meant it. I
can’t do that again, I can’t!” Her voice rose with panic and her heart
fluttered in her chest like a bird wanting to escape.

“Yes, you can.” He spoke softly, but with utter conviction. “Come

to the ranch tonight. My home, not the big house. Come and stay with
me. I’ll introduce you to Adam, and we can talk. There has to be
another way, sweetheart. You can’t run for the rest of your life.”

“If he hears about me, he’ll come.” The news would renew

Bruce’s interest in her. He’d always told her that what was his stayed
his forever.

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Thor wouldn’t let her refuse. He talked to her and talked to her,

holding her tight until she gave in. Then he came inside the room to
help her pack a few things.

A few things was all she had, but she would only pack enough for

a night, and some work clothes for the morning. And her precious e-
reader.

She felt like a kid again, wondering what her boyfriend wanted,

and if she was presuming, and the thought made her laugh.

Her dream man hadn’t reappeared since her first night in

Goldclaw, although she’d tried to call for him. Maybe it was because
she didn’t need him anymore, so her imagination or whatever part of
her had created him had put him to rest. Now she had a real man, one
she could touch and kiss without the benefit of sleep. She’d have liked
to have conjured him up one last time, just to say goodbye and thank
him.

She’d never fooled herself about him, even when he assured her

he existed. He didn’t. He was part of her, so close there was no other
explanation. Plus, he only appeared in her dreams. He was hers
because she was the only person who knew about him. Maybe she
should write him down.

Would Thor mind? Probably. She was smiling as she left her

room. He was on the good side of possessive, but he wouldn’t take
kindly to her thinking of somebody else when she was with him.

Thor was waiting for her in a shiny black truck. When he saw her,

he got out and helped her to climb in. “Are you OK?”

His soft tones almost undid her. He wrapped her into the seat belt

as gently as if she was a child or young animal that needed soothing.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ll get there.” She knew he didn’t just mean
his home.

The upholstery in the interior was a soft cream leather and she sat

back, sighing with pleasure.

Thor drove in silence, but Sam didn’t find it oppressive. In fact,

when she closed her eyes, she must have dozed because she opened

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them to his words, “We’re here. Now come and meet Adam. He said
he’d be here to meet you.” He switched off the engine. They were in a
garage. She could see his face in the dim lighting, concerned, the
creases about his mouth and on his forehead more pronounced than
usual.

After he climbed out, he came around to her side. Before she

could get down, he lifted her, sliding her down his body until she
stood on the ground. He gave her lingering kiss. “I’m not giving up on
you,” he said. “I’m definitely not giving up on us.”

“Bruce will come for you.” Tiger or not, she was genuinely afraid

for him.

“Let him come.” His mouth firmed, and the determination in his

blue eyes would have scared anyone else. But it didn’t scare her,
because it was on her behalf.

Taking her hand, he led her across the space, which was as large

as the block in her motel, and past several vehicles. Another pickup,
this one dark bronze, and two motor bikes, as well as a couple of
other vehicles, one of them a luxury sports model. “Do you need all
these?” she asked, frowning.

“What’s need got to do with it?” Still smiling, he opened an inner

door and led her into the house.

Something in this place called to her. Even before they got

through the utility room, with its row of laundry machines and racks
of boots and outdoor clothing, she felt the atmosphere. Peaceful, she
thought at first, and then changed her mind. It felt more of a welcome
than she’d ever known before in her whole life.

He took her into a small hallway and under an arch into a large

room with comfortable furniture. A small kitchen area occupied one
corner. A huge TV and a number of squishy sofas, upholstered in soft
brown leather, dominated the rest. Afghans and blankets were folded
neatly at one end of the seat facing the TV. The perfect place to
snuggle on cold winter nights.

A trace of anxiety crossed his face. “Do you like football?”

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She paused, then nodded. “I don’t follow a team, but I like

watching the games.” She didn’t tell him why she didn’t have a
favorite team. Bruce had decided to become a sponsor of her team and
ruined the fun for her. He was always there, insisting she sat in the
VIP box, talking through tense parts of the game. He didn’t allow her
to discuss the finer points, because in reality he didn’t care and he
didn’t want her to care.

He’d bought into that part of her life and taken it away from her.
“If you stay here, you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan,” Thor told her,

but he was smiling. He wasn’t giving an order, he was issuing a
challenge.

“The Cowboys?” came a voice from behind her, one she knew so

well but had never expected to hear in real life. “Don’t make me
laugh, man. Gotta get me some Saints.”

Whirling around, Sam didn’t start to think, but ran and hurled

herself into the arms of the man she’d thought she’d made up. Her
dream man.

His arms closed around her and she felt safe.

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Chapter Eight

Adam stroked her hair and held her tightly. When he’d stepped

out of his room to meet Thor’s new squeeze, he’d seen her back. Dark
hair that skimmed her shoulder blades, a slim figure, too thin really,
but with a delicacy that made him yearn to cherish her.

He’d always known she was real, at least prayed for it. He felt it

deep in his bones, but that was partly because he knew the lore of his
people and he was guessing she didn’t. No, he was sure she didn’t.

He stroked her shining hair over and over, her head a reality

against his body. Her small breasts pressed against his chest in the
way that had haunted his days and invaded his dreams. Clamping his
arm around her slight body, he made a vow. He would never let her
go again.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he crooned. “You found me.”
“You’re not real,” she mumbled into the soft fabric of his T-shirt.
“Yet here I am.” His cock was so hard for her it would have

woken her from any dream. “I was coming to you. I knew you were
close.”

His T-shirt was damp. She was weeping silently. “I thought you

weren’t real.”

She seemed stuck on the one point. He couldn’t blame her.
Adam met the incensed glare of his breed partner. Blue eyes had

never been so hard. “What the fuck is this?” Thor demanded.

Adam bent and lifted her gently. She was on the point of collapse.

“I could ask the same of you.” He kept his voice soft and gentle, not
for Thor, but for Samantha. She was all that mattered now. If he had

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to break his breed partnership for her, then he would, and he wouldn’t
look back.

Over the last twelve months, he’d fallen irrevocably in love with

her. When he’d told her that in their dreams, he didn’t think she
believed him. Not entirely, at any rate. He’d just have to convince her.

He touched his lips to the crown of her head as he sat on the sofa

with her. Thor sat at the other end, by her feet, his feet planted on the
floor, his body tense.

“Darling, how are you now? Do you want to talk or to sleep?”
“Talk.” She turned, her tear-stained face beautiful, eyes as blue as

a rain-washed sky at noon. He’d seen her under one, in their place in
the hills, but now he could make that dream real.

When she struggled to sit, he lifted her, so she nestled her cute

backside in his groin. His cock responded predictably, but apart from
moving a little to try and find a bit more comfort, he didn’t dwell on
his condition. He daren’t. One part of him, the primitive animal,
wanted to throw her down, fuck her until she couldn’t think, and
claim her for once and for all. She was his and she’d stay his.

If he did that, he was no better than the man she was running

from. “What’s his name, baby, the man you’ve been running from for
so long?”

She didn’t answer him. Thor did. “Bruce Lanier.”
The name jolted him. “Lanier? As in…”
Thor’s mouth tightened. “Yeah. As in Ronny Lanier. She thinks

we won’t accept her because she married a Lanier.”

“Is she still married to him?” Thor would understand that he

meant, “Do I need to kill him?”

“No.” Thor folded his arms over his chest, his invariable reaction

when he was pissed. “What the fuck is this about?”

Adam stroked her hair. “We’ve found our breedmate.”

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Thor glowered, and Samantha watched Adam. She was still trying

to take it all in. He was her breedmate? How did he know? What the
fuck was he doing here instead of in her head? Her brief shower of
tears made it too many times she’d cried since she’d ridden into town.

She asked the first question. “Why didn’t you tell me you were

real?”

At the same time, Thor demanded, “How long have you known

my breed partner? Is this some kind of trap?”

Adam stroked her and she had to fight to resist the urge to move

into him. Instead, she answered Thor. “No. I thought I was dreaming
Adam. I never for one minute thought he was real. He told me he was,
but I thought it was my wishful thinking. Then I met you, and I didn’t
dream about him anymore.”

Infinitesimally, Thor relaxed, the muscles in his arms becoming

less bunched and tight. He nodded once, his acknowledgement Adam
had played fair, at least in that. “How long has this been going on?”

Adam didn’t have to think about his answer. “Eighteen months.

Remember when I had to go to New York?” Thor nodded. Adam had
represented the ranch in a convention. Although he’d had to be
dragged there kicking and screaming, when he’d returned he’d
admitted he gotten more out of it than he’d thought. None of what
he’d gained had anything to do with the convention, though he hadn’t
told anybody. “I must have contacted her then. I didn’t know her
name until later.” He touched Samantha’s cheek and she nuzzled
back. “Remember, baby? Our first dream. I took you to dinner.”

“At a country restaurant,” she murmured. “I’d just been to yet

another premiere. I can’t even remember what it was for, but Bruce
liked us to be seen at all the hot places. I was sick of being stared at
and talked about without being talked to. You made the perfect
choice. You wined and dined me, and you made me laugh. You
hardly touched me.” The memory warmed her.

“That didn’t last long,” he said, with a wolfish grin.
“No.” She swallowed, glanced at Thor. “I’m sorry—”

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Thor exchanged a glance with Adam and turned his attention back

to her. “If it was anybody else but Adam, I’d go hunting. As it is,
things are different. Maybe. I’m sitting here, biding my time, keeping
quiet. Listening. Talk.” He folded his arms, the sinews standing out
starkly.

Because Adam was his breedmate, or because of something else?

While she’d been in Goldclaw, Sam had looked up what she could
find about shape-shifters, especially since Thor had taken an interest
in her. The practice of the three was obscure. That might be
deliberate. People had taken up the notion, and a bunch of what might
or might not be urban legends, together with stories, fiction, and even
porn surrounded the ideas.

“It’s a deliberate policy,” Adam said. Was he reading her mind?
“We can’t bear to never be alone in our minds,” Thor said.

“That’s our idea of torture. Adam isn’t reading your mind as such. He
understand you, and he can sense your mood. Because if he’s right
about breedmates, that’s what happens.”

“Oh. I tried to research all that, but—”
“We don’t say yes, and we don’t say no,” Adam said. “We don’t

deny any of the rumors flying around. It’s the best way to keep this
part of our lives private. It’s nobody’s business but ours. We’ll tell
you the truth, baby, and then you can decide. I swear, only the truth
tonight.”

Thor cast his gaze to the ceiling and sighed. “I’d better fix us

something to eat then.” Getting to his feet, he crossed the space to the
small kitchen area. “We’ve got a bigger kitchen but I’ll nuke
something here.” He glanced at Adam. “Have you eaten?”

Adam nodded. “But don’t count me out on that account.”
Thor opened the door to the small freezer and found a few

packages. “We have a housekeeper and I order stuff from the hotel to
freeze. I’m not much of a cook.”

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Adam snorted with laughter. “That’s one way of putting it.” He

smiled fondly at her. “He has a gift for turning anything black. He’s
even burned boiled eggs.”

To her surprise, Sam found she could smile. Here, on Adam’s lap,

her head resting against his shoulder, she felt absurdly safe.

“Is salmon tortellini okay for you, Samantha?” Thor asked.
“That sounds delicious.” She wouldn’t have imagined herself

hungry. Earlier this evening, eating was the last thing on her mind.
She turned her attention back to Adam. “Why didn’t you tell me you
were real?”

“At first I thought about it. But what good would it have done?

Just when I found you, you disappeared from New York.”

She blinked. “You knew who I was?”
He nodded. “Your name was Samantha. I met you in New York. I

looked up the Samanthas in New York on the Internet. Had you been
a different Samantha it would have been impossible. But you were in
the society pages and I recognized you at once. My breedmate was
married to someone else. So I decided not to tell you my name.”

He sighed and stroked her cheek. “Had I known then what I know

now, nothing would have kept me away from you. I didn’t know you
were unhappy. In our dreams you were always happy.” He grinned
wryly as Thor made himself busy in the kitchen. The microwave
pinged. Thor growled.

She remembered. “Bruce managed the press, kept the news of the

divorce out of the media. He insisted I carry on appearing at events
with him, just as if we were still happy, still married. If I did that, he
paid the alimony without complaint and left me alone the rest of the
time. When I refused, he made a fuss. You can’t imagine what it’s
like. I became his possession.”

Adam gazed at her, hurt in his eyes. “Because he wanted you

back.”

She nodded. “I thought I was starting a new life, but all along he

wanted me back. He only gave me the divorce as a form of torture.”

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She’d never told anyone this before. Instead of meeting Adam’s gaze,
she watched Thor cooking their meal. He was dividing it between
three plates, salmon tortellini and ready prepared salad from the
refrigerator. “He was holding it out as freedom. He probably saw I
was at the end of my tether, so he gave me a bit more rope to hang
myself with. Then he’d step in and claim me back. He’s so arrogant,
he can’t imagine any woman would walk away from him. Few have
ever done that, but some have been happy to go.”

“He beat her,” Thor said quietly.
Adam sat up so suddenly that Samantha nearly fell off the sofa.

“What?” His voice thundered, better suited to the open air than in the
confines of this room. It was a spacious area, but not enough to
encompass that voice.

She clapped her hands to her ears, the sound making them ring.

“Hey!”

Adam was glaring at her. “Is that true? Why didn’t you tell me?”

At least he lowered his voice.

“I didn’t want to spoil it. Us.” She glared back at him. “I didn’t

think you were real. Why would I tell my dream lover my husband
was abusing me? In our dreams I wasn’t married, and there was only
us. I thought I’d made you up.”

“I stopped telling you I was real because I didn’t think it would do

any good. I couldn’t tell you where I was.”

“Why not?”
He cast a helpless glance at Thor.
Thor stacked the plates in his arms, and came over to the table. He

laid them down and went back for flatware and a jug of fresh water.

The delicate scent of salmon drifted to her. It was exactly the meal

she wanted, light and yet flavorful. Thor handed her a napkin, and
then gave one to his breedmate. “We can eat in the dining room if you
prefer,” he said. “But I thought we’d be better here. We have a lot to
talk about. Not least this dream shit.”

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With the meal on her lap and the two men she cared for most

either side of her, Sam had an epiphany. This was right, it was what
she wanted. Deep down, if she stopped thinking, reasoning, she felt it.

But she couldn’t bring her poisoned legacy to them. Instead of

running around in mental circles, she ate.

The food was delicious and she didn’t stop. Either side of her the

men followed suit, but Thor found time between bites to tell her what
she needed to know. “When you meet your breedmate in the dream
world, you leave this world behind. You don’t remember the details
about your real existence.”

“It’s rare to meet a breedmate like that,” Adam put in. “I thought

it was a legend, until it happened.”

“When I realized who you were and what was happening to you,

you’d gone. Even then I didn’t know he was slapping you around.”
Adam spoke with deep disgust.

Thor paused, and his fork clattered on his plate. “So that’s why

you’ve been taking off every weekend.”

“Yeah.” Adam took a drink of water and put down his empty

plate. “That’s why. I was looking. Driving as far as I could go on the
road to New York. Every time I entered the dream world, I tried to
find out where you were but you were as clueless as I was.”

“I kept moving. I didn’t want Bruce to find me.”
“That bastard is going to die,” Adam said, as if he was planning a

trip out of town. something casual, like a visit to the cinema.

“No.” She didn’t need the emphasis to know that he meant what

he said. “You can’t. Murder is murder, shape-shifter or human.” She
looked from one to the other. Thor, blond, powerful, a god in human
form, and Adam, dark and intense, and the man of her dreams.
Literally the man of her dreams.

She’d had enough of her food, delicious though it was, and put her

plate down.

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Thor finished his but to do him justice, he didn’t set about the

leftovers, although he gave them a considering look. “So,” he said,
leaning back, glass of water in his hand. “What do we do now?”

His words were a challenge rather than a real question. He tilted

his chin and stared at them. “Adam? Would you take the step for our
breedmate?”

“You can’t know I’m your breedmate,” she said. “It’s impossible.

You said you don’t know until you’ve both come inside me.” Heat
rushed to her cheeks. She wasn’t used to being so frank, especially
with men. Her husband hadn’t enjoyed that. He wanted her sweet and
compliant, obedient and innocent. Since she’d been brought up
innocent, she obliged. Consequently she was used to modesty and not
taking the lead in bed. With Thor that hadn’t been a problem, apart
from his frankness.

“I wasn’t coming here,” she said. “Not deliberately. As far as I

knew, I was moving around, trying to make it hard for Bruce to find
me. He said he’d lock me up this time. That he’d only let me go so he
could have the fun of pulling me back.”

“Guess you showed him, then, huh?” Adam said with a tight

smile. “You kept going. You made such a good job of it, that I
couldn’t find you, either. I knew who you were, but I still couldn’t
find you.”

“I took cash only jobs and lived out of motels. Even my car one

time. Then I had to sell the car when I had a dry spell. I sold it for
almost nothing, since I had to settle for a cash deal. I had papers, but
they had my real name on them. I didn’t want to leave any trace,
because I knew he’d find me.”

Adam groaned. “I didn’t tell Thor because I wanted to keep you to

myself. The idea of you fucking him drove me crazy.” He paused.
“Now I know for sure that you have, the idea doesn’t seem so bad.
That’s our problem now, baby.” He took her hand, and she responded
to his warm clasp by squeezing her hand. “Breedmates are supposed
to sleep together and share the same bed.”

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“We don’t have to,” Thor said. “Adam knows I’ve always wanted

to, but we can cope.”

“How?”
“We can take turns,” Thor told her.
He said it so calmly that she almost missed the implication. Anger

rose inside her. “Do I have no say in that?” The notion of what that
meant repulsed her. “You mean one of you gets off me and leaves,
and knocks on the other’s room and says, “Your turn, buddy.”

At least Thor had the decency to flush, his cheeks taking on a

deep pink tinge. “Maybe one night with one breedmate and one with
another.”

She didn’t like that idea, either. She needed to know more about

this. “What are you talking about? What, when you come home from
work I have to kiss each of you separately? Do you know what I’m
thinking?”

Thor shook his head. Adam swallowed. She had the floor, so she

continued. “I find out that a man I thought was in my dreams is real
and the man I’ve been dating for the past week is a breedmate to him.
What the fuck?” She couldn’t say it any clearer. “Today I’d planned
to move on, and I’m beginning to think it’s the right thing. I’ve had
enough fucking problems to last me a lifetime. I want a happy life
with someone who loves me. Not constant conflict. I won’t hide
anything any longer. Never, you hear me?” Resolve firmed in her
mind. “Do you want to know how many threesomes I’ve had? None,
that’s how many. How many times I’ve had to lie down and take it,
because there was nobody to help me, or care if I lived or died? If
he’d killed me Bruce would probably have taken me out and run over
me a few times in his car. He’d have gotten away with it, too.”

“No!” Thor leaned forward, snagged her hand and pulled her

toward him, dragging her into his arms. She went because she wanted
to. She needed to feel him, just as she’d needed to feel Adam a
moment earlier. She was picking up the way this worked. If she

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stopped trying to work it out, if she went with her emotions, she knew
what was right. She hadn’t done that in—ever. But the time had come.

She kissed Thor. After his first shocked, non-response, he

responded. Opening her mouth with a flick of his tongue, he licked
into her. This time she kept her eyes open and watched him. He kept
his attention on her, which was what she wanted. Another first, she
initiated mental contact, sending him warmth and desire.

She was the one who broke the kiss. “Do you think I should go?

Because I could keep clear until Bruce marries that woman. I’ve
proved I can disappear and look after myself. You can’t deny that.”

“I don’t want to. I’m proud of you.” Thor pressed a kiss to her

mouth. “Also terrified. You were completely alone.”

“It made me.” It did. She’d been through some bad times, but here

she was. “I learned to appreciate the little things. When I lucked on a
good motel and I could afford a treat, like a pint of ice cream. I
remember that night.”

“How about ice cream now?”
“Not now.” She wanted something else now.
She leaned back, but Thor kept an arm around her. “It’s both or

none.”

When she moved out of Thor’s arms, he didn’t restrain her, but

watched as she went to Adam and kissed him, too. His mouth had a
different texture, firmer and his tongue was different, too. He touched
her lips with delicacy and licked her teeth, the inside of her lips before
venturing inside her mouth.

They’d kissed so much in their dreams. Here, in reality, he tasted

so much better. The faint taste of their meal, with a touch of the
lemon wedge he’d squeezed over his fish before tucking in.

With a groan, he took control. Pulling her closer, he worked his

lips over hers to seal them together, and licked every part of her,
grazing the roof of her mouth. She responded, tasting his mouth as
eagerly as he was hers. His hands roamed over her back, as if frantic
to feel every part of her. She knew how he felt. He was wearing a soft

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T-shirt and she wanted it off him. She had to take her lips from his, so
she compromised and dragged his T-shirt up. When her hands
touched his bare flesh, he went wild. With the sound of ripping cloth,
the T-shirt was gone, but he wasn’t done. Something warm and hard
touched her, and her top went, too, ripped away by the long claw
emerging from the end of his forefinger.

Sliding his hand around her back, he slid up, clearly planning to

give her bra the same treatment.

He stilled, and finished the kiss. “We’ve done this so many times

in our dreams.” He glanced up, over to where Thor was sitting. “This
is different.”

“Don’t stop,” she moaned.
“You heard her,” Thor murmured. “Don’t stop.”
He finished the kiss.
Her top was in ribbons, sliced through, but not one mark marred

her skin. He touched her navel and traced the circle gently. “I would
never hurt you. Not one hair on your head. Ever.”

“Me either,” said Thor. She turned to him. He’d removed his shirt,

and he was sitting naked from the waist up. He’d laid his arm across
the back of the sofa, and his other was lying on his thigh. One leg was
bent at the knee, tucked along the back of the sofa. He’d kept his
other foot on the floor. Open, psychologists and body language
experts called that position. She’d bet he knew. That pose was a
challenge to his breed partner to carry on, and to his breedmate to
show him the courage he claimed for her. “I love to watch,” he
murmured. “Go on, Samantha. Show him. Fuck him.”

He liked to watch? Fuck, could she do it?
She swung her attention back to Adam. He sat against the arm of

the sofa, like Thor, naked from the waist up, his body pure
temptation. Oh yes, she could. She could so do this.

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Chapter Nine

Thor undid the button on his jeans, not taking his attention away

from his breedmate. She was gorgeous, and she was only beginning to
come into her own, to realize what she could do.

She could turn him to mush. “You’re in control,” he said. “Tell us

what you want. Do it to us.” He flicked his gaze to Adam,
mesmerized by her loveliness. He was seeing her in the flesh for the
first time. Dream worlds were okay, but this beat anything he could
ever imagine.

“I dare you,” he said to Adam, using their old oath. A dare had to

be seen through. No question.

Adam blinked, then kept his stare. “Accepted.”
It was time they broke down all the remaining barriers between

them. They would show Samantha how much she meant to them. He
always thought of her as Samantha now, not Sam, as Renata called
her. Samantha suited her better.

Or even “goddess.” With a slow smile, she reached behind and

unhooked her bra. She held it closed with her fingers and moved it.
Her breasts moved independent of the garment. Then she pulled the
straps away, slowly sliding them down her arms and then away.

Her breasts, rosy apples with deliciously large nipples, came into

view. They had the most sensual texture, especially against his
tongue. Letting his mouth fall open he ran his tongue over his lower
lip. “They taste so good,” he said.

“Then take a taste,” she said. “But only if Adam tastes the other

one.

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With a smile he made the gesture that meant, “After you.” Once

he was latched on to that, he wasn’t about to release her in a hurry,
and he didn’t give a fuck who was watching.

Slowly, Adam moved forward, his gaze fixed on her body. His

mouth opened and he moved closer, until he couldn’t help but touch
her. He licked. Groaned. “This is so good. You have the prettiest
breasts, baby.”

Thor moved forward, sat up and touched her nipple. This was a

test. He’d always wondered if it was male proximity that bothered
Adam as much as his solitary upbringing. Adam was too engrossed in
their breedmate to worry now. Thor cupped her breast and brought his
mouth closer. He heard Adam sucking, the sound so slight he had to
be this close to hear. Good to hear someone else sharing the bounty of
her body. He adored her even more for this. For having the courage to
let them do this. For trusting them.

After what she’d been through, that took guts.
He gave her nipple a soft kiss and moved away enough to say,

“What now, sweetheart?”

She breathed in sharply, her breasts heaving with the action. Her

nipple touched his lips, grazing him with temptation. He took another
taste. Adam was caressing her breast as well as sucking the nipple,
concentrating on the tip, working it to a point in a way Thor knew she
liked. Of course he’d know it, too. In some ways he knew her better
than Thor. Thor had known the real Samantha. The living, breathing
woman. Oh they’d both know that joy.

They couldn’t go back now. It would kill him.
Her skin slid under his hands, satin but warm, pulsing with life.

She watched him, a smile as enigmatic as Cleopatra’s on her pretty
lips. “Undress me,” she said.

“Only too pleased,” he said. “I want to see that gorgeous body.”
“I want to see yours. Are you hard for me?”
“What do you think? Hard and fucking hurting for you.”

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Adam glanced at him, but his eyes were hot. Thor wanted to urge

him, but he daren’t break the precarious truce that existed now. She’d
drawn them both. Now she would heal the rift that had grown
between them, so slowly Thor hadn’t been aware it was building until
it was there. Then he couldn’t break through and he’d been lonely
until she came.

His goddess. His love. He unsnapped her jeans, and as slowly as

he could, drew down the zipper. Adam hooked a thumb into the
waistband at his side. Thor followed suit and together they slid the
garment down, over her hips, her thighs and down to her knees. She
moved, sat on her rear so they could pull the garment down and off.
Adam tossed the jeans to the floor. She still sat there, one foot on the
floor for balance, waiting. Just her panties left. They were pink, lace
decorating the waistband and legs, and made of silk.

Thor glanced at Adam and extended a claw, letting it snap out of

his fingertip like a sword from a scabbard. With a smile that held
more than a hint of wickedness, Adam did the same. They sliced her
panties off, a small cut at each edge, until she left them behind when
she slid back. Watching them, she slid back along the cushions, until
she occupied the place where Thor had been sitting a moment ago.

Then she emulated his position, but did it slowly, every second an

hour, sending desire scorching along his veins, forcing his body to
life.

She placed one foot on the floor. Then opened the other leg wide.

She lifted her knee and put the other foot flat against the dark leather
of the sofa.

Although she’d gained a light golden tan in the few weeks she’d

been here, where her clothes had covered her, she glowed like a pearl.
Adam and Thor were both tanned all over, the summers doing their
work and imparting an almost permanent bronzing to their skin. They
skinny-dipped with the other guys, at least Thor did. He hadn’t seen
Adam’s naked body for a long time. When Adam shape-shifted, he
did it in private. Extending that claw the first time had been a big deal

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for him, but Thor didn’t want to make a big thing of it. He wanted it
to be normal behavior. Although he’d seemed at ease watching them,
his body had tensed, ready to pounce if Adam so much as scratched
her and made a red mark.

From now on, no man would ever hurt her. Unless she wanted it,

of course. He knew how to pleasure a woman with a touch of pain and
if that was where she wanted to go, he was more than ready.

Adam was eating her pussy with his eyes.
“I want that shaved,” he said.
Thor agreed. She’d be so pretty bare.
She didn’t blush, she just opened her thighs a bit more. “Is that

better? Can you see me? The only way I’m doing that is if you do it.
Either of you, or both, I don’t care. I used to have it done at the spa.”

Thor growled. Even letting someone see her that way drove him

crazy with jealousy. Everybody except his breed partner.

That pink, glistening glimpse of heaven drove him higher. Adam

was in the same state, eyes wide, mouth full and partly open, his cock
a hard column under his well-worn jeans. “Touch her,” he murmured.
“Taste it.”

Watching Adam press his finger against Samantha’s cunt was

almost as good as doing it himself. With her eyes half closed, her
arms resting on her spread knees, she was the personification of every
sex goddess since time began. The display of her naked body
empowered her and made slaves of the two men.

Adam lifted his finger to his lips and took his first taste of her. His

eyes closed and he made a sound of pure appreciation. He licked and
sucked until all the juice had gone. When it had, he lowered his head
and sampled directly from the source.

Samantha shuddered, her breasts trembling in the impact. “You’ve

done this before, but not like this.” Her eyes opened and she met
Thor’s gaze, her own challenging.

The sound of Adam’s lapping was loud in the room, completely

irresistible. Thor wanted a turn, but he didn’t want to dislodge his

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breed partner. “How is it, Adam? Is it everything you expected it
would be?”

“Heaven. Perfect.”
“There’s nothing better.” He smiled. “I take that back. Fucking

her is something else. That’s perfection. I want to do it with you.
Together, all three of us.”

“How will you do that?” Her face was anxious, the lines at the

corners of her mouth showing her strain. “I want you together.” A
mental image floated to him of Adam fucking her and Thor fucking
her mouth. He nearly came there and then, because that wasn’t his
vision—it was hers.

“Have you ever been fucked in the ass?”
That made her eyes open wide. The tendons in her wrists tensed.

Adam feasted blissfully, her little gasp demonstrating her arousal.

She didn’t reject his offer. “No. I want you to.”
Her acceptance was enough for Thor. Leaving her to enjoy her

breedmate, he swung off the sofa and went to get the supplies.

He and Adam had suites leading off opposite sides of the main

room. He found what he wanted in his bedroom and returned.

Adam was still eating her out. He moved in and she cried out,

clutching her knees as she threw her head back. Uninhibited cries
echoed around the room, and she gasped and shuddered. Gripping the
plug, Thor leaned over and kissed her, taking the sound of her orgasm
into his mouth, drinking it down.

With a groan of utter satisfaction, Adam drew away. He touched

her clit, and even the slight graze made her shiver deliciously.

Thor finished the kiss reluctantly. By the time he looked away, he

was the only person with clothes on in the room. “Look at him,
Samantha. See how ready he is for you.”

Her eyes widened, then grew slumberous again. “Lie down.” Her

command made Adam stretch his long body on the sofa cushions,
watching her greedily. “Tasting your come has to be the best
experience of my life,” he said. “I knew it was good, but the dreams

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were nothing compared to this. Come here, darling. Let me fuck you.”
He laughed awkwardly. “Because if you don’t, I’m afraid I’ll lose my
nerve.”

That threat was enough to make Samantha change her position.

She went up on her knees, and opened her pussy so Adam could see
it, darkened and soaking after his oral fucking. Oh, he’d made her
come really well.

Adam’s words were all Samantha needed to lean over him. There

was just enough room for her to go on all fours, straddling him. When
he saw the proximity of Adam’s cock to her pussy, Thor’s mouth
watered. He wanted to get between them, suck her clit while Adam
fucked her, but he got the feeling Adam needed to work up to that.
Thor’s mouth so close to Adam’s cock might make him nuts.

Let them get started, then he’d work on her anus. She said she’d

never been fucked in the ass. He’d be taking her virginity there, so
he’d better be damned careful with her. Just as well Adam would be
keeping her busy.

He couldn’t wait.
He cleared the plates, taking them over to the counter and stacking

them roughly on it. He wanted no distractions from what they were
doing. The only thing left on the glass coffee table was the lube.

Before he rejoined them, Thor stripped off the remainder of his

clothes. His cock thanked him for it, the confines of his usually
comfortable jeans too much for its current state. He had never had any
hang-ups about his nudity. Adam’s reticence was unusual for a shape-
shifter. Especially since Adam was most definitely ripped. He could
pose for a calendar. If Thor was gay, his breedmate was the first
person he’d choose.

She was teasing him, their little witch, hovering her pussy above

his cock, just enough to touch, and let him feel her heat. She must be
scorching. Her breasts dangled, fruit for the tasting, and as Thor
watched, Adam touched them, stroking them reverently and teasing
her lavish nipples into stiff peaks. Thor wanted them, but he didn’t

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resent his breed partner. Anyone else he’d kill, but this was right, and
he felt that in his heart.

Taking the lube, Thor broke the seal and squeezed a generous

amount on his fingers before climbing on to the sofa behind them. He
leaned forward, covering her back, loving the way her ass cradled his
groin. He let his cock find its way to her ass crack and moaned. “Fuck
him now, sweetheart. Do it.”

He urged her down, pushing gently. She chuckled and obeyed his

unspoken request, easing down. Adam groaned. “Fuck, yes!”

Thor kneeled up and leaned back so he could see Adam driving

his way into her cunt. His cock opened her as it went, and Thor closed
his eyes and groaned. Adam clutched her hips, guiding her rather than
forcing her down. “I’ve done this so many times in my dreams,” he
said. “I can’t tell you how fucking better this is. Oh, God, she’s hot
and wet and fucking amazing.”

Thor could only agree. He could see but he wanted to touch, push

his fingers inside and feel what his breed partner was doing. He’d
have all his fantasies and more.

When she was fully embedded, Samantha hollowed her back and

pushed her ass up, opening herself, totally vulnerable for Thor to do
whatever he wanted. Boy, did he want!

He slid his lubed fingers along her ass crack and set to work.

* * * *

Samantha sensed Adam’s anxiety. More than that, she felt Adam’s

desperate need of her, enough to overcome any inhibitions that might
still remain. Pushing her ass in Thor’s direction, challenging him to
do what he’d promised had been her way of starting along the path
that terrified and excited her. She would get over it, and didn’t fear
make adrenaline? That added an edge to her arousal, like the sharp
taste of lemon juice on raspberries.

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She’d shocked herself with her demands. Taking them both, and

not letting them visit her almost furtively in turn was the only way
they would all achieve what they wanted. Pushing a powerful man
like Adam into taking the plunge had been a huge risk, but she figured
she had nothing to lose. After all, she still had Plan B. Moving away.
She hadn’t completely dismissed that, either.

When Adam finally embedded all his erection inside her eager

body, she laughed. Of all the responses she could have imagined,
laughter wouldn’t have figured, but sheer joy surprised her and she
went with it. Vibrations shimmered through every part of her,
including her pussy, pushing a groan out of Adam. Meeting her gaze,
he withdrew and thrust. The wet sound was proof of how aroused she
was. She didn’t care.

Then she bent and kissed him, curving her back to push her ass up

and open as much as she could for Thor.

That had been the one part of herself she’d kept from her ex-

husband. He’d said he wanted to own her, but butt sex had never
appealed to him. Well it sure appealed to her, especially now. She
wanted both her men inside her at the same time and she wanted them
needing her.

She turned her mind away from anything outside this room.

Nothing mattered except what they were doing here, and now.

Fingers touched her butt crack, massaging gently, cold at first and

then warming, as the slippery gel adapted to her body temperature.
“That’s it, sweetheart, let me do all this. I’ll make this so good for
you, you won’t want me any other way.

Adam drove deep. She froze. Absolute pleasure spread through

every pore, spreading like waves of light. It illuminated the hidden
parts of her and brought them back to life. She gasped, all words
gone.

Adam hooked his hand around her neck and urged her down for a

kiss. He licked into her mouth as he steadily fucked her and Thor
worked her ass.

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A cold trickle of lube turned hot as Thor worked it in, massaging

it around her hole before he slipped a finger inside her.

It felt impossibly good. He probed every part he could reach,

easing it around, rotating it. Her instincts had worked so far so she
went with them now, and pushed back, trying to get him to do more.
He added another finger. Adam fucked and kissed her, and she fucked
and kissed him back.

The way Thor worked her, she couldn’t wait to feel his cock

inside her. “Hurry,” she sent to him. Adam shared the thought, and
groaned into her mouth, the reverberations rumbling through her,
adding to their closeness.

Thor removed his fingers, and she moaned. She felt empty. Not

for long, as he pushed his cock against her hole. “Bear back,” he said.
“Push against me.”

Without losing Adam, she managed to do so. Adam moved further

down to accommodate her slight adjustment and he carried on fucking
her. They broke the kiss but she remained bending, her face close to
his, enough to stare into his eyes. They were brown, but not uniform
in color. The darkest shade ringed his eyes. Nearest his pupils the
color faded to amber, the color of his tiger.

“Can you shift while we’re doing this?” she asked, and then

immediately regretted it.

Thor answered her. “We can, but we won’t. You’ll see our tigers

later.” He pushed deeper, his cock lodging just inside her. She felt
better with both men inside her. Why had she never tried this before?
It seemed natural. Perfect, or perhaps it was just with these two. Yes,
that was it.

Adam moved, and struck her most sensitive spot. Then Thor

drove his cock deep inside her ass, and she fell apart with ecstasy.

Now they were in charge, but this was what she’d asked for, what

she demanded. She’d been so right.

This was what she was born for. Why had she wasted so much

time on trivialities?

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The men set up a rhythm, mainly due to Thor, who thrust in

counterpoint to Adam. As Adam drove deep, Thor withdrew, and then
he went in. He kept his thrusts slow and steady, but he gave her all
that gorgeous, long cock. He’d occupied her cunt, mouth, and now ass
and all she wanted was more. “That’s it,” he murmured, his voice
shaking. “Fuck, you look so good, sweetheart. Can you feel me? Feel
my balls slamming against you every time I fuck you?”

“Yes,” she wailed. “Don’t stop!”
They filled her up, gave her all the satisfaction she’d been needing

for so long. Their cocks ramming into her, first one, then the other,
felt like some massive engine, programmed to keep going and going
and going.

Adam was playing with her breasts, while Thor had one hand flat

on her belly, holding her steady, and the other on her hip. Ripples of
desire spread through her, getting stronger with every stroke, until she
was close to explosion.

There she stayed, poised on the brink, not quite there, but

hovering, waiting. Ah, shit, what was this? Anxiety, exhaustion? Her
mind started working again, ideas, plans, reminders rattling through,
overwhelming her. How could this happen? At the most important
moment of her life, of her fucking life, she couldn’t get off?

Thor made a sound like, “Ach!” He pressed in and held his cock

there, deep inside her ass. “Stop it, sweetheart. We’re here, your men,
and we’re here for you. You will come if you stop thinking. Stop—
fucking—thinking.”

“Her clit,” Adam gasped. “Play with her clit. For God’s sake, I’m

close. Don’t fuck about, do it!” He panted as if he’d run fifty miles.

Thor slid his hand down her stomach, and touched her. Tweaked

and twisted, not too gentle, either. Jagged shards of sensation pierced
her.

Then he took his hand off her hip. “You should learn to do as

you’re told, Samantha. Stop—fucking—thinking!” With each word,
he spanked her. Hard, fast slaps, the cracks loud in the room.

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The shock he sent through her with this unexpected move stunned

her and did what he’d intended. Everything stopped. Everything
except the insane heights Thor and Adam were sending her to.

Thor gave the other side of her bottom three more slaps, and on

the third, Samantha exploded. Hard, her body convulsing around two
cocks, contractions sending her body pulsing into orgasm. Unable to
control her body she gave herself up to the two men. They held her as
she cried and screamed their names, her climax forcing her into bliss.

She surrendered everything—life, love, her self-control, and her

heart. They had it all. She was not herself anymore. After twelve
months of discovering who she was and where she stood in the world,
she’d found her home and where she had to be.

If they wanted her. If—if—if…
Oblivion claimed her.

* * * *

Samantha came around in a place she’d never been before. A huge

bed under a timbered roof. The walls were nearly all window, apart
from the one the bed stood against. She was covered with smooth,
satiny sheets. Two men slumbered next to her, one on each side. She
lay on her back, so if she turned her head one way she saw Adam.
Thor lay sprawled untidily on his stomach, his hair tumbled over his
forehead and cheeks, the rough cut impossibly sexy.

Light was filtering through the windows. It was early morning and

dawn was spreading rosy fingers over the land outside.

Texas held an appeal that few other places had done. If anyone

had told city girl Samantha that she’d be happiest in the country,
she’d have laughed them to scorn. Here she was, in the country and
happier than she’d been at any other time in her life.

The wall behind the bed was natural brick. The floor was polished

hardwood, rugs scattered over the gleaming surface. For all the
seeming naturalness, the room had a sophisticated touch worthy of a

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loft in Tribeca. The colors were ecrus and whites. Splashes of stronger
shades on the drapes, cushions on the day bed set against one of the
windows and the bedcovers reflected the blues and greens of the sky
and the countryside outside.

Samantha loved this place. It exuded tranquility. Even her

invariable habit of waking at dawn was worth it, to see this room and
the magnificence of the naked men lying next to her.

After that incredible scene, she’d flaked out. She didn’t even

know where she was, but she presumed this was the same house
where she’d fucked and been fucked. She could hardly believe her
own boldness, but wow, the results were so worth it.

Preparing to close her eyes and get a little more sleep before she

had to get up for work, she settled down again. As she was closing her
eyes, a flicker of something moving caught her attention. When she
opened her eyes properly, she met the smiling gaze of Adam. With a
rustle of bedclothes, he took her hand.

“Where is this?” she asked.
“Our room, upstairs from the great room.” He nodded at a door in

the wall behind them. “That’s the bathroom, and the other door leads
to a hallway. There’s a dressing room and the stairs going down. Just
so you don’t feel lost, or you need something.”

She didn’t need anything, which surprised her. “Why aren’t I

sticky?”

His smile warmed her heart. “Because we cleaned you up before

we came here. You were out cold, baby.”

“How can that happen? I’ve never fainted before.” She didn’t

understand how she could have stayed out while they washed her.
Surely she should have woken?

“The first time your breedmates make love to you? It’s a wonder

we didn’t all pass out.” He moved closer and drew her into his arms,
settling his mouth over hers for a sweet kiss. “Thank you.”

“Shouldn’t I thank you?”

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“Not for that. For making me do you with Thor. We nearly broke

up, you know.”

“Why?”
“I never shared anything with him.” He growled low in his throat.

“I’m not used to sharing like most shape-shifters do. Even when I
shift I prefer to stay naked for as little time as possible.”

“You’re shy?” She spread her hand on his chest, feeling the curly

hair tickle her palm. “A big man like you?”

A rumble deep in his throat indicated his amusement. “You might

call it that. I don’t know. Before last night I’d never have imagined
I’d be so comfortable naked with another man.”

“Plus,” said a sleep-drenched voice from behind her. “You didn’t

tell me about our beautiful breedmate.”

“Beautiful?” She rolled on to her back so she could give Thor a

morning kiss. As always, he took his time, lingering over her mouth,
smiling against her lips before he drew away.

“Beautiful,” he repeated firmly. Adam had kept his arms around

her shoulders, and he raised himself on one elbow. He turned his
attention to his breed partner. “Why didn’t you tell me? Was it your
background?”

Adam met his eyes and nodded. “Partly. I don’t know if I could

have done what Samantha did.”

“Bullshit.” Thor sounded scornful. “With your history?” He

touched her shoulder. “Adam was born in a zoo. His parents had
decided to go fully animal.”

“They rejected the world,” Adam explained. “Sometimes shape-

shifters take that decision and mine did. They were captured by rogue
traders, and when they were rescued, they were put in the Chicago
Zoo. I was born there. Because they’d gone full animal they lost
shape-shifter abilities.

“If we go animal and stay that way, we will eventually become

animal. That’s what they did. I didn’t even know I was a shape-
shifter. I didn’t spontaneously shift like kids of our kind do for the

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first year of their lives. I just stayed tiger cub.” He shrugged, a fluid
movement of his powerful shoulders. “I shape-shifted for the first
time at a year old. The keepers went crazy. They thought somehow a
kid had got into the enclosure, but when I shape-shifted back they
realized the truth. They took me out of there.”

She was beginning to understand. “You were brought up alone.”
“One of the keepers took me in. At the time shape-shifters were

separate. We rarely shape-shifted in public and never mixed freely
with humans openly. I was a celebrity.”

“Why don’t I remember?” she wondered. “It must have created

some kind of sensation.”

“I’m a touch older than you.” He ate her up with his eyes. “They

didn’t let it go that far. They reared me like an animal, though. Let me
roam free, didn’t educate me—I was their experiment. Whenever
anybody came, I was a tame tiger, a cub who would have died if they
hadn’t rescued him.”

“That’s disgusting,” she said faintly. Horror pulsed through her.

How could anyone even think about doing something like that?

“I know, but at least I could eat, at least I had people I thought

were on my side. When I was old enough I just walked free. As a
human. Nobody stopped me. I’d read about the communities and I
came to one. Goldclaw.”

“Where I found him,” Thor said. “We were drawn to each other. It

was natural. My parents saw it, too.”

Why were people so cruel? How could they even imagine such

behavior was acceptable?

Adam closed his eyes and sighed, before he opened them again.

“That’s why I’m not used to sharing. The legends say that when a
shifter dreams of a breedmate, the breed partner appears, too, so I
thought Samantha was mine alone.”

“Yeah, how about that?” Thor said sarcastically. “If you’d let me

in, buddy, I might have been there. I didn’t dream about Samantha,

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but when I met her, I knew she was for me. Like you, I thought she
was mine. Not ours.”

“How do you feel about that?”
“How do you think I feel, numbnuts?” He smiled at Samantha.

“Fucking amazing. Fantastic.”

Adam sighed. “Me, too. I never knew…any of this. I need time.

One thing I do know.”

“What?” Thor rapped out.
“I’m thirsty. Does anybody else want something to drink? Never

mind, I’ll get three waters. It’s too early for coffee.”

“It’s never too early for coffee,” Thor growled.
Gently Adam extricated himself only for Thor to take his place.

Slowly, he drew the covers down, exposing her breasts. “You are just
too precious,” he said, before bending to kiss first one nipple, then the
other. He sucked slowly, cupping her breast and pushing it toward his
mouth. He made sounds of satisfaction. “Mmm.”

Adam glanced at them, smiling, and then crossed the room to

where a small cabinet stood under the broad windowsill. It turned out
to be a mini-fridge. After snagging three bottles of water, he perched
two on the sill while he opened the other and chugged the contents.
He never took his gaze from the two on the bed.

His eyes grew hot and his cock moved, hardening as she watched

him. He had a beautiful erection, long and thick, the head darkening
as she watched it. Leaning against the sill, he crossed one ankle over
the other. “You two look beautiful there. Will you fuck her, Thor?”

Thor released her breast long enough to growl, “What do you

think?” before he took possession of her nipple again. His hand
spread over her waist, he slid it lower until he found her cunt. She
didn’t need him to tell her to open her thighs.

Thor kicked the covers off completely, giving Adam a view of

their bodies with no encumbrances. He kissed around her areola, then
looked up at her. “Is that good, sweetheart?” He slid his fingers down
her crease and into her pussy.

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She sighed and stretched. “So good,” she said. “How do you do

these things?”

He pushed a third finger into her. “I feel and sense. It’s what

makes me good at my job. Now I can use it to an even better purpose.
Finding out what you need and making sure you get it.”

“Is it important to you?”
“To me and to my tiger. We need you happy.”
“Then you and your tiger should be very happy.” She felt

luxuriant, stretching under the big body of the man she loved. Oh yes,
she loved him. Maybe it was time she said it.

Later. When he’d given her what she needed.
Besides, she loved Adam, too, and she wanted them both to know

at the same time. “I want you both.”

“With all the pleasure in the world.” Adam brought the two water

bottles over to the bed and put them on the nightstand before climbing
back on the mattress. “This is a bed made for breedmates.”

He leaned up on one elbow, watching Thor busy arousing her.

“You two look so good together.” He laughed, the sound without
shadow. “We’ve never slept here. I began to think we never would.”

Thor did something that made her squirm. He fluted his fingers

inside her and pushed, opening her up, grazing her G-spot. She
gasped. Adam went on talking, slow and carefully. “Now we have
and we will. Every night. Our suites can become guest suites, because
this is where we belong.”

“I sleep every night with the both of you?”
Adam exchanged a laughing glance with Thor. “That’s about it.

Although you might not be able to walk for a day or two.”

“I have to work!” Her answer ended in a yelp as Thor twisted his

fingers inside her cunt. After withdrawing, he rose up and over her,
making a space for himself between her thighs by kneeing her legs
apart. She reached up to him and he kissed her. Sinking down, he slid
his cock down the length of her crease, and then deep inside her.

Only to withdraw hastily and grab a packet from the bedside table.

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She put her hand over his. “Do we have to do that?”
“Sweetheart, last night Adam fucked you bareback. While shape-

shifter sperm doesn’t last long, there’s an outside chance I could make
you pregnant.”

She flicked a glance at Adam then back to Thor. “I’ll take that

chance.”

It was the biggest risk she’d ever taken in her life. She didn’t

know how she would manage if she fell pregnant. Still unsure of what
this meant—did breedmates breed for life, did they live together?—
she knew this was right, knew it deep down to her soul. “I don’t want
to get pregnant yet, but we need this. You need to complete what we
started.”

“We do,” Adam rumbled when Thor protested and shot him a

hard stare. “Do you want to see her run again? If we complete the
process, she won’t.” He turned his dark eyes on to her. “You won’t.”
He spoke with such conviction she wasn’t sure what he meant.

Remembering what Thor had said last night about stopping

thinking, she decided to go with her gut. “Fuck me,” she said to Thor.
“Hard and deep and sure.”

“With all the pleasure in the world.” He resumed his thrusting, not

stopping until his balls touched her skin. “And then some.”

Thor gave her everything he had. He crooned to her, pushed in

deep. When someone touched her breast, she knew it was Adam. His
touch felt different. He cupped it, murmured to her, words that had no
meaning but sounded unutterably sweet. He nudged Thor enough out
of the way so he could suck her nipple. While his breed partner
fucked her, Adam shaped and caressed, licked and nipped. The small
jolt of pain when he nipped the peak sent her into a spiral that would
only end one way.

Thor increased his penetration with every drive and then

alternated it with fast, shallow pushes, until the familiar heat rose and
swamped her once more. She went into the sensation and allowed it to

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take control, savoring the wash of heat and pleasure, riding the wave
until it settled.

Thor leaned over her, his chest gleaming with sweat. She curved

her palm around his cheek, enjoying the prickle of his stubble. It
gleamed like a nimbus around his jaw in the sunshine.

Dawn had come and gone and morning was with them.
Thor slowly slid out of her, but he was no sooner gone than Adam

was mounting her, cock in hand. He’d used the protection, and at her
raised brow, gave her a wry smile. “We don’t want to tempt fate. If
you are pregnant, then that’s the end of it, but I want you to myself for
a while, if we can. I felt you around me last night. If you want, we can
make an appointment with the doctor and get you on the pill. Or we
can go straight for the family.” He leaned forward, murmuring against
her mouth. “If you think about it now, I’ll spank you.”

Tingles made her arch up, her back bowing off the bed. It was

then that he entered her, his cock taking over the path Thor had
forged.

To have two men fuck her like this, one after the other, amazed

Samantha. Not that she was complaining. They made her so wet she
hardly ached at all, only a slight soreness around her pussy entrance
reminding her of what they’d done.

What they were still doing. Adam slammed into her, groaning her

name. He pulled her over him, surprising her into a squeak. She was
on top now, but he held her close, preventing her from kneeling up
and taking control. “Stay there, woman. Do as you’re told.” With a
crack of his hand, he slapped her ass, pressing into her, pushing her
body on to his. She yelped, but with the pain came an intensity of
sensation. He held her ass while he fucked her hard and deep,
slapping her when she relaxed, waking her into more and different
places.

Crying his name, she came, her peak so easy to achieve when he

did that. She had so many questions, but he was right—now was not
the time.

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He pulsed inside her, his cock throbbing. Samantha buried her

face in his neck and whimpered as he took them both over the edge.

Gasping, she savored his body, his presence. She’d never felt like

this about anybody before and it scared her shitless.

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Chapter Ten

“Why did I feel like that?” Stroking the sponge down her arms,

Samantha watched the bubbles cascade over her skin. Behind her,
Adam looped his arms around her waist. Thor sat in front of her, his
legs open and knees upraised. This bath was made for three, too. In
fact everything here was.

“Like you needed to finish something?” Thor smiled, his

expression one of a very satisfied man. As he should be.

Samantha nodded. “Something like that.”
“Look at your wrists, baby,” Adam rumbled from behind her. He

rinsed her back, and drew her against his chest. Their slippery skin
met. Adam’s inherent power was never less than obvious. For all the
silky bubbles the men had poured into the bath they were still
masculine enough to beat anything the toiletry industry could throw at
them.

She glanced at her wrist. Something gleamed there, though she

couldn’t remember putting a bracelet on. Dipping her arm in the
water, she rinsed off the suds. A smooth band of gleaming pale gold
met her startled gaze. When she checked the other wrist, another ring
met her curious eyes. They were tight, as if welded there, part of her
rather than an added adornment.

Silently, Thor held up his left wrist. A similar band glowed there.

She touched it as Adam displayed his band, on his right arm.

“What’s this?” She hadn’t felt anything, hadn’t seen it. When

she’d last looked, her wrist was a pretty unremarkable bit of skin and
bone.

“Mating bands.”

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Shock arced through her. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re our breedmate. You accepted that last night. This is what

happens to breedmates. Nobody can predict how long it takes, but
usually it’s after the breedmates have made love a few times.”

Thor spoke so matter-of-factly it took her a moment to digest what

he was saying. “Does it wear off?”

Thor shook his head.
She gazed at her new accessories. They were undoubtedly

beautiful. “Did you put them on?”

“They grow,” Adam said. “They’re part of you.” He paused. “You

could probably disguise them if you wanted to.”

She recalled seeing similar bands, but different colors, on the

wrists of others, people she’d glimpsed on TV or in the street. She’d
assumed they were shape-shifter fashion. “They grew?”

“As part of you. That’s the completion your body craved. Now

you won’t be able to spend too much time away from us. It will feel
itchy at first, then it will hurt. You won’t want to leave us.”

“I’m some kind of slave?” A tendril of fear curled inside her

stomach.

“Not unless we’re your slaves,” Thor said. He took her hand and

twined their fingers together. “It goes both ways, Samantha. We
belong to you just as you do to us. We’re a bonded trio. The itch can
be subdued, if you work hard enough at it. I don’t want that. I fell in
love with you before I knew we were breedmates.”

Adam kissed her shoulder. “I love you, Samantha.” Warmth took

her by surprise and that feeling of sinking into clouds.

She sighed, letting their confessions soothe her soul. “I love you

both,” she said. “So much. ”

Thor leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “We’ll

work it out together. Everything.”

She was part of a unit? They loved her? “How did I get this

lucky?”

“How did we?” Thor said. Adam just laughed.

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* * * *

Even though they’d woken early, Sam was late to work. When she

knew she was running late, she called her boss. “I didn’t expect you in
today at all,” Renata said. “You’ve been claimed, haven’t you?”

Sam ran her hand through her hair, which she had yet to dry and

style. “I guess. Is that was shape-shifters call it?”

“Girl, it’s what I’m calling it. There’s just no other way to

describe it. He went after you like the tiger he is, and I knew it was all
up with you. One or both?”

Sam didn’t bother to pretend to misunderstand. “Both.”
Renata shrieked. Sam held the phone away, her ears ringing.

“Congratulations! Do you know how many women have tried to snag
your men?”

Of course she didn’t, but Renata continued. “You are such a lucky

girl! Are you sure you want to come in to work today?”

“How will you manage?”
“Oh, I’ll cope. Since the wedding is so close I’ll probably close

the boutique and come up to the ranch.”

Adam came up behind Sam and slipped his arms around her waist,

nuzzling her neck. She swatted him, but when he nipped her pulse,
she leaned back, barely containing her sigh. “Come and eat, baby.”

“Go and eat, baby,” Renata said.
“I’ll be in. Keep the boutique open,” Samantha said and turned in

Adam’s arms. She cut the call and put her phone down on the nearest
table so she could hold him at bay. “I can’t let Renata down. Besides,
you’ll wear me out.”

A slow smile curved Adam’s lips. “I still can’t believe I’ve found

you.”

“I can’t believe you were travelling around the country looking

for me.”

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“Every minute I got. I could sense you when I got close, but I

guess I never got close enough.” Releasing her, he took her hand,
their rings gleaming in the sunlight. It streamed in through the
windows, illuminating the comfortable room. More rooms led off
either side. The two bedroom suites, but also another guest room and
a bigger kitchen, a large table in its center. “We had to have this built
when people started dropping by for dinner,” Adam explained.

Thor looked up from the stove, where he was fixing ham and

eggs. His face lit up when he saw his breed partner and breedmate
enter the room. “Grab some flatware and sit. It’s just us this morning.
The guys haven’t shown up.” He ladled fragrant ham on to three
plates. “They probably got the word that the boss is mating.”

Sam blinked. “I’m not used to hearing it talked about in those

terms.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but you’ll need to get used to it. As soon as

people see your rings, they’ll know.” He winked at Adam. “After
breakfast, we’ll shape-shift for you, and then—”

“I’m going to work,” she blurted out. “What do you mean, shape-

shift for me?”

Adam covered her hand with his. “We want you used to us in our

other form. We want you to know us, so you can pick us out from any
other tiger.”

That made sense, except for one thing. “Don’t we have this

telepathy thing?”

“Sure we do, but that’s only one aspect.” Thor brought the plates

over. Ham and eggs, supplemented by hash browns, grits, and
mushrooms.

Samantha was surprised by how hungry she was. She picked up

her knife. “Are you trying to fatten me up?”

“We want you strong and healthy,” Thor assured her. He took his

place on her other side. She was mildly surprised to see that their
rings were nearest to hers, so the arms without rings were furthest
away from her. Maybe they did it naturally.

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“I want that, too.” She didn’t tell them the times she’d gone

without dinner, simply because it was a choice between a bed for the
night and food. Or when she’d been so worried she couldn’t eat. Yes,
she could do with putting on a few pounds. She never wanted to look
so thin ever again, and she knew some of her tiredness was due to a
poor diet. This was good, wholesome food and she attacked it with
delight.

She managed to consume nearly the whole plateful. Leaning back,

she took a drink of coffee and watched her men. Her men!

She’d have to finish getting ready. With the beautiful bathroom

upstairs at her disposal it would take a fraction of the time it took her
in the dimly lit motel room. Should she keep the room there? She
wasn’t kidding when she’d told the men she wasn’t sure what bonding
meant.

Adam finished his meal and dabbed his mouth. “If you give me

your motel key, I’ll get you checked out and move your things here,”
he said, ignoring Thor’s warning glare. “Hey, this is it, buddy. We’re
bonded. No going back now.”

“There might be,” Thor said. “I don’t want to railroad Samantha.

She’s had too much of that.”

Adam shrugged. “Bonded breedmates don’t live well apart. Even

the ones that don’t live as a ménage live close to each other.”

“I know when I’m beaten,” she said, and touched their hands. “I’ll

give you my key. Can you check me out, please? I’m paid up until the
end of the week so there shouldn’t be a bill.”

“Sure.” Adam cocked a brow at his breed partner. “See. Samantha

knows when to see reason. We’re in love, so why shouldn’t we live
together?”

He pushed his chair back and gathered the empty plates before

taking them over to the sink. “Why do you think the guys stayed
away? They know we’re bonding.”

“Fucking, you mean,” Thor said and glanced at Sam. “Tell me

why we should leave the house?”

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“I can’t let Renata down,” she pointed out. Her eyes widened

when Thor peeled his T-shirt off over his head. Even more when
Adam followed suit. He held out his hand, and she took it, allowing
him to lead her to the great room. “What is it?”

“We’re shifting.” He smiled. “For you. Watch us do it, and see

how different we are. Some evenings we’ll shape-shift and sit with
you. We want you to know us. We need it.”

She understood. With her hand on the sofa to support her, she

watched the men shape-shift.

Knowing what they were was one thing. Seeing it happen was

another.

They stripped completely before they started to shape-shift. The

change came over them all at once, not gradually, as she’d imagined.
At first it looked like heat mist was rippling over them, distorting their
forms, and then it became more pronounced. Stripes appeared on their
skin. Fur softened their bodies and they leaned forward on to all fours.
Huge paws took the place of their hands and their faces morphed to
the features of big cats.

She hadn’t expected them to be so big. “Tigers are the biggest of

the big cats,” Adam said. “Shape-shifter tigers are bigger than that.”

She didn’t flinch back as they padded across the room to stand

either side of her. “Touch us,” Thor told her.

Awed, she did as they asked, and laid a hand on their backs. Their

fur pulsed with heat and life. “I don’t believe this. You’re both so
beautiful.”

“Can you tell us apart?”
She thought she could, but only because she knew from their

positions which was which. “I will learn, I promise.”

“We’ll make sure you do.”
Without warning, a naked man rippled into life at her side. Adam.

He tilted her chin and took her mouth in a kiss. His eyes were lighter
than usual, a warm amber. Still tiger. As she watched, they darkened,
completing his shape-shift back to human.

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When she turned, Thor stood on her other side. He claimed his

kiss, which she gave gladly.

The sight had sent words out of her head, but Thor brought her

back to earth. He patted her bottom. “Go get ready before we chase
you upstairs and keep you in bed all day.”

“I still think we should do that,” Adam added.
When she moved, she recalled the whisker burns on her thighs

and the slight soreness between her legs. Her pussy needed the rest,
even if she didn’t. They’d been careful, using their tongues and lube
to ensure she was ready for them.

Such a satiation of sex after going for so long without it had its

effect. She was most definitely sore. If only because of that, she
needed some time away from the house.

Adam drove her to work, and promised her a car of her own.

When she demurred, he stopped her protests with a luscious kiss.
Since he’d waited until she stood outside the office, quite a few
people saw. Whistles and gentle laughter punctuated the air. Sam
ignored them and avoided direct gaze with anyone, her cheeks heating
as she opened the door and prepared for business.

The day was busier than ever and she had reason to be glad she’d

gone in. The wedding was imminent. It was Tuesday, and the
wedding was to take place the following Saturday, so guests were
filling the bedrooms at the ranch. This was a huge affair and the
future reputation of the ranch as a wedding venue depended on this
event. The event planners arrived to supervise the delivery of
supplies. When Sam crossed the spacious hall to the cafeteria to
collect some lunch, she had to dodge boxes and packages stacked on
hotel trolleys, ready to be unpacked and checked. She was glad that
wasn’t her.

The bride returned to Renata’s room and brought more of her

friends. Not, to her relief, Vivien.

Although she hated herself, fear chilled her blood when she

thought of her ex-husband and what he could do. He was still

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powerful, despite the collapse of Lanier’s Bank. People tended to
assume that since he was handsome, he didn’t need to engage in
violent behavior toward his women. That was so stupid but Sam
couldn’t deny it. She’d seen that effect in action. Bruce was
handsome, young and rich. Enough to bring women flocking.

He wouldn’t come. Just because someone had or hadn’t seen her,

they weren’t about to call Bruce. Besides, he had a girlfriend now, so
why should he care?

Nevertheless, she was glad, at the end of the day, to lock up the

room. Since she wasn’t returning to town, the hotel was allowing her
to lock the takings in its safe. Thor stood in the hall, and she couldn’t
express how glad she was to see him. Or how annoyed that she didn’t
have the courage to face this potential problem on her own. How
stupid, to shrink at shadows.

Thor showed no sign of noticing her mood, but pulled her close

and kissed her, driving his tongue into her mouth without hesitation.
Claiming her in front of a hall full of people, as if issuing a challenge.
He eased away and rested his forehead against hers. “Ready to come
home?”

“Yes.”
What else could she say? Why should she want to resist? She

didn’t, of course.

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Chapter Eleven

Back at the house, Adam was waiting, his hair damp from the

shower. With a wry smile, he said, “Good day at work, dear?” before
taking her in a deep, melding kiss. She hardly noticed when he swung
her into his arms and carried her up the stairs to the lovely bedroom,
but when he laid her on the bed Thor was already there.

“We need to take care tonight, buddy,” he murmured to Adam.

“Our mate is tired.”

Adam gazed lovingly down at her. Her hair was spread over the

pillow in the center of the bed, and her face was relaxed and happy.
He wanted that look on her face for the rest of his life and he’d do his
best to ensure it stayed there.

He set about undressing her, sliding off her blouse and bra while

Thor took care of her pants and underwear. “All you need to do is lie
there, baby, and let us take care of you.”

She tried to rise, only for him to push her gently back. “But

you’ve been working, too!”

Adam smiled. “This is hardly work.”
“This is our pleasure,” Thor said from the vicinity of her feet.
She groaned when he took her foot into his hand and pressed his

thumb in the center of her foot, commencing a massage that melted
her from toenails up. “I thought they were pink,” he said, “but they’re
a pale lilac. Very pretty.”

Adam lifted her, and sat behind her, treating her to a shoulder rub.

She groaned and eased back into his touch. “You are both wasted on
the ranch,” she said. “I could find you well-paid jobs as cabana boys.”

Adam chuckled. “I doubt it pays as well.”

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“But the tips! Women would pay handsomely for the attentions of

you two.”

“They’re not about to get them.” He belonged to her, and he

would never—ever—give her up.

Still working the stiffness out of her shoulders, Adam tilted her

head against his shoulder and kissed her. He licked into her mouth the
way he remembered from his dreams, but this was so much better.
Knowing her, and that she wasn’t about to go away, or he’d wake and
find her gone, he could take his time with her.

While Thor rubbed her feet and then her calves, Adam turned his

attention to her breasts, cupping them in his hands and rubbing his
thumbs over her nipples until they were stiff little peaks. “Baby, your
breasts are so responsive, so beautiful,” he murmured against her ear,
his breath heating the lobe. Darting out his tongue, he licked the rim,
her shiver making the tender skin tremble.

He lifted her a little more, so he could reach her mouth better, but

before he did that, he stripped off his shirt and nestled her back
against his chest. She purred. Just like a kitten.

“Baby, are you too tired for this?” Now he had her he refused to

cause her one moment’s discomfort, not one. She’d gone through so
much, she deserved only the best he could give her, and the closest
attention. Slipping into her mind, he sensed only pleasure, so although
she didn’t respond, he knew she was ready.

Thor had already disposed of his clothing. His breed partner

preferred nudity to any clothes. Adam was a bit more circumspect, but
since they’d taken her to bed, he was finding the state easier to cope
with than at any time before. In his youth his keepers had got him to
strip and shape-shift for anyone who paid them for the show and he
ended feeling like a performing animal. Ever since, he’d avoided
being naked in front of other people, even the ones who thought
nothing of it.

But Samantha enjoyed his naked body, and celebrated it. When

she’d run her hands over his chest, he’d felt like a king, and with her

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touch had gone his inhibitions. He might never feel as comfortable in
front of his fellow shifters, but for her he’d strip whenever she wanted
it and feel no shame.

Thor, having grown up in Goldclaw, felt no such qualms, and it

was only his respect for his breed partner that Thor didn’t shed his
clothes as soon as he was through the front door.

Thor’s shaggy, blond good looks put his into the shade, Adam had

always thought, but when Samantha reached back to stroke his bare
skin, he forgot even that. She wanted him, and she would have him.

It took some distortion for him to shimmy out of the remainder of

his clothes without giving Thor more than he had claimed, but Adam
managed it.

He prepared her carefully, grateful for the lube that Thor silently

handed up to him. Working into her slowly, he kept his senses alert
for any sense of discomfort or even rejection, but she knew what to do
now, and she eased back against his fingers until he’d opened her
enough to get his now straining cock inside.

Lifting her, he held her poised, light as feather. Too light. They’d

feed her after this.

“After.” Her voice echoed laughingly in his mind. The clever girl

had picked up his stray thought all on her own.

When he brought her down all thought ceased as he carefully slid

inside her, pushing deep, slowly lowering her until she was taking all
of him.

Thor’s hushed voice broke into Adam’s thoughts. “That looks so

fucking good. To see you inside her like that…”

He sat up, and slid closer, moving his cock into position against

her cock, holding it with one hand.

Adam felt his entry, the tightness as he pushed his way inside and

began to fuck her. They wouldn’t make it hard and fast tonight, but
together they gave her a long, sweet loving.

First Adam drove deep, and then moved back, withdrawing to

allow Thor his turn. After a few strokes they got each other’s rhythm

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and they could move in and out of her body, savoring her heat, her
beautiful responses to their fucking.

She moaned and shifted her body, squirming against their thrusts,

adding counterpoint to their harmony. It felt like a complicated piece
of music. The inevitable notes and occasional comings together, with
the inevitable build to climax, were so inescapable that they didn’t
have to strive for it, only let it happen.

Thor bent to suck a nipple and she moaned. Adam wished he was

in a position to do the same, but he contented himself with his mouth,
thrusting his tongue deep inside to take her in lascivious concord to
his movements below. He held her firmly around her waist, so she
didn’t even have to hold herself upright. Thor’s feet touched Adam’s
ass from time to time, but it didn’t freak him out like it might have
done before Samantha. Now it felt part of the whole process. He had
lost that inhibition.

Adam rejoiced. Even more when he exploded in a series of hard

jets, spurting inside her at the same time as his breed partner.

He finished the kiss and smiled down at her. “Like I said. So

good. So fucking good.”

“You can say that again,” said Thor muzzily.

* * * *

Her men had succeeded in relaxing her so well that Sam went into

work the next day glowing with the results of their attention. Another
night had only confirmed the first, but they wouldn’t make love to her
more than once, claiming she needed her rest.

Having her own things, few though they were, around her helped,

too. She could claim her space and her own territory. The lovely
house began to feel like home. Truly a place to call her sanctuary. It
stood in the middle of fields, with a wood behind that Thor told her
his parents had planted.

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Later on in the evening they shape-shifted for her again, and this

time stayed in their tiger form for the duration of a football game. It
was strangely normal, sitting on the big sofa with tigers sprawled
lazily on the rug in front of her. She could touch them whenever she
liked, and they’d growl for her, the nearest, they told her, that tigers
got to a purr.

She opened the door to her office, recalling how they’d stroked

her to sleep last night, murmuring her name. Whatever differences
Adam and Thor had before she’d arrived, they were together now in
their love for her. Adam told her he found it easy to spend time naked,
where before he’d found it impossible. He’d kissed her, but although
his cock was erect—again—he refused to fuck her. “We have the rest
of our lives,” he reminded her tenderly.

The glow when she thought of the night ahead, and the next and

the next, filled her with delight. Life didn’t get better than this.

She propped the door to Renata’s room open wide, indicating she

was open for business. Later that day Renata was coming over to
discuss a more permanent arrangement with the managers of the
ranch. They’d have a display case in the main hall, and the room she
had slowly made her own would become part of the concession.

Was this what it felt like to be settled, to belong somewhere? It

felt weird, but right as well. Instinct deeper than thought told Sam that
she belonged here.

She was arranging a display in the new display case Renata had

brought in when a familiar voice behind her jolted her. Sent her back
to reality.

“I knew you’d turn up sooner or later. My tramp wife is back.”
She spun around but she wasn’t fast enough. A prick in her arm

was followed by a cold sensation spreading through her veins. Panic
struck and she tried to force herself away but lassitude swept through
her. He’d drugged her.

* * * *

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Sam came awake slowly. She was in something moving, a car or

truck. Instead of opening her eyes, she took stock of her situation.
Bruce had come for her after all. Maybe she should have kept
moving. No, that couldn’t be wrong.

She tried to contact her breedmates, forcing communication into

her mind and got—no response. Nothing.

“I know you’re awake,” Bruce said.
Should she pretend she was still unconscious?
A vicious kick to her ribs made her cry out. “Open your eyes. I

want to talk to you.”

If she didn’t, he’d kick her again. Her mind settled back into old

grooves, recalling the ways she could appease him and stop him
hurting her. Some of the methods she wouldn’t employ. Some made
her feel sick but if they kept her alive a few minutes longer, she’d do
them. She had too much to live for now.

She opened her eyes and let her vision adjust. “How long have I

been out?”

Bruce smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Glad to have you

back, lover.” That was his pet name for her—lover. Like everything
else, he’d distorted the word to his own meaning.

They were in a limo with blacked-out windows. How like Bruce

to abduct her with regard to his own comfort. She lay on the floor,
secured at wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles by plastic restraints. At
least it wasn’t rope. Rope burned. This stuff could cut if she fought
too hard.

Oh yes, she knew because he’d done this before. He loved to see

her squirm. She’d do it, if it kept him happy long enough for her to
work out her escape.

This time she’d fight back, but not uselessly. She gazed up at him.

“Hello, Bruce. How have you been?”

That made him laugh. “My feisty bride.”

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She didn’t remind him they weren’t married any longer. That

would only infuriate him and then he wouldn’t stop kicking her until
she passed out. Not even then, sometimes. It stuck in her throat to do
it, but she had to keep him sweet.

“Don’t you want to know where we’re going?”
“Tell me.” Her voice trembled, even though she tried to keep it

steady.

He smiled and crossed his legs, his tailored pants showing barely

a crease. “Mexico. We’re getting married. Again. Then we’ll go back
home and carry on. Just like before.”

Oh no, no. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that he couldn’t

make her. He’d pay somebody to say they heard her say yes if she
didn’t answer. People like him with money could make anything
happen.

Sluggishness invaded her thoughts. She found herself thinking a

minute after she forced her brain into action. Fuck. She should be
calling for help. If they stopped somewhere, she might be able to get
through to somebody, somehow. “I need a bathroom.”

“Piss yourself. You’ll be changing into a wedding gown soon

enough.” He smiled, the expression triumphant. Shit, if nobody came
to rescue her, she’d kill Bruce herself. Did wedding gowns have
anything that could count as weapons? Glass beads in the eyes?
Boning in the stomach?

Something, anything. He’d have searched her before he took her.

“You got me out of the ranch?”

Security was reasonable and her breedmates had posted

descriptions of Bruce at every gate, and at reception. With the
wedding guests arriving faster, maybe he’d gotten through that way.
She was damned if she was going to praise him on his cleverness just
to get the truth from him. He’d snuck in, he’d got her. That was that.

He told her anyway. “One of the guests fainted and they called for

medical assistance. I bet you can get the rest of this one. I can’t say
I’d like to spend all day in a medic’s uniform. Scratchy.”

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He swung one foot, barely missing her cheek. He was wearing his

usual handcrafted loafers now. “But the scrubs got me in and they got
you out.”

She nodded, schooling her face carefully. She wanted to scream

and cry and fight. But that way she’d end up unconscious again and
then she’d have no chance of getting away. “Are we going straight
there?”

“Yes. We’ll marry and then have a second honeymoon in

Acapulco. The press have been informed. I want you to look
beautiful.” He sneered, his mouth bowing. “We’ll keep the fun and
games to the second night of our second honeymoon, shall we?”

He’d enjoyed hurting her. She’d tried every response possible,

even the most humiliating ones, but whatever she did he’d carried on.
Fuck, no, this time she’d plan carefully and kill him. If it got that far.

He glanced at his watch. “We’ll get to the airfield soon. Nice of

you to leave your passport where I could find it.” He shrugged. “My
driver picked up your purse and I had a good look inside. You’re
staying at a motel?” He frowned. “My wife shamed the family name
by staying in a motel? You’ll pay for that. Right after we get rid of
those bangles.” He nudged her wrists with one toe. “Pretty, but I
didn’t put them there, so they have to go.”

She tried again, concentrating on the telepathy. How it felt, like

opening a channel in her mind. She had no way of knowing she’d
been successful until she got a reply. They didn’t reply.

They’d be looking for her, so she had to pray they found her

before the car she was in crossed the border. Bruce would marry her
as soon as they got across. He and his minions made very good plans.

She wasn’t friendless any longer. She had a whole community of

people who knew her and cared about her. That felt good, and it gave
her hope. She’d never had that before, but now she did.

Keep her head and she might get out of this.
They’d kept her asleep for a while. That explained her grogginess.

More than one dose of whatever they’d given her.

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A discreet buzz forced his attention away from her and to the

screen of a phone that he pulled from his pocket. “Ah, here we are.
Time to sit up, my dear.”

He dragged her to sit next to him. The windows were still black,

but surely he’d have to slice her bonds free? She’d have a chance. She
wasn’t so helpless as she had been. Defending herself against
customers getting fresh in the late-night diners and bars she’d worked
in this last year had given her some dirty tricks she’d have no
hesitation using.

The prick of a needle as it jabbed into her neck told her she’d

underestimated him.

Fuck.

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Chapter Twelve

When his phone rang, Adam cursed under his breath and

apologized to the three women he was working with. They were
paying more attention to him than to their horses and it was pissing
him off.

“Yeah?” he said to Thor.
“There’s something wrong. It’s bad.”
Adam grabbed the nearest horse and swung into the saddle. Thor

must be three miles away, working at the corral with the riding horses
for the ranch experience operation. “I’m at the ranch,” Thor said. The
tension buzzing in his voice told Thor this was really bad. Fear
clutched his throat. Was their woman in trouble? Something else,
worse?

Without hesitation, Adam wheeled his mount around and kicked

the horse into a gallop. The women called his name, but he didn’t
look back. Holding the reins in one hand, he held his phone to his ear.
Talking and driving. “What’s happened?”

“Renata called me to ask why a woman she didn’t know was in

charge of the room at the hotel. I asked where Samantha was, and she
said that nobody had seen her since reception. She got her mad on,
then she called me. Samantha’s missing. She’s been gone since I
dropped her at work this morning.”

“Fuck, then what? Where is she?”
“Nobody knows. One of the wedding guests fainted early this

morning and they called an ambulance.”

“For a faint?” What were these city slickers made of? Glass?

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“The guest disappeared, too. She was a bona fide guest, but—get

this—she was a friend of Bruce Lanier’s.”

Adam let rip with a string of curses that started and ended with

“Fuck,” and had a lot more in the middle. “The bastard’s taken her, is
that it?”

“It looks that way. I’ve got a helicopter ordered.”
If he didn’t calm down he’d force himself into the kind of

unthinking rage that could prove disastrous. Thor forced his mind to
try to communicate with her. Maybe, now they were bonded, he could
sense some trace of her. Nothing. “Do you know where she is?”

“Nope. I thought of something, though.”
He’d reached the ranch. Leaping off his horse, he looped the reins

around a rail by the door, built for that purpose. He’d trained this
animal so he knew he’d behave. Even now a trace of concern for the
horse remained. He raced through reception and into the room she’d
set up for the boutique. It oozed Samantha—her style, her sense of
color and pattern. Shit, before Samantha he’d never have noticed
things like that.

If she was dead, so was he. If her husband had taken her, he was

dead.

His breed partner stood waiting for him, hands on hips.
“What’s your big idea?” he demanded.
“Wherever she is, she’s gone too far for telepathy, and our bond is

too new to get much further.” He closed his eyes. “Maybe we should
have spent more time teaching her and less time fucking her.”

“No,” Thor said. “I don’t think she’d have wanted that.”
The trace of a smile whispered across Adam’s mind when he

remembered his breedmate’s stubborn streak.

“You’re going to have to go to sleep, buddy.”
How the fuck did he get to sleep in the middle of this crap?
Adam didn’t see the punch coming. He only felt Thor’s fist

connecting with his chin.

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* * * *

“Hey, baby.”
Sam opened her eyes. It was as if nothing had happened, like

she’d never met him in real life. Naked, Adam leaned over her. They
were in their special place, the green fields stretching before them, the
small copse behind them.

Only this time she recognized it. This was the field before Adam

and Thor’s house was built. On the Goldclaw ranch. She tried to
remember more, but it eluded her, scattering before her. It was like
trying to catch confetti.

She reached for Adam instead, and he came to her, pressing his

body against hers, but he didn’t kiss her. Why didn’t he kiss her?
“What do you remember, baby?”

Oh, he wanted her to work. Something gold glinted on his wrist. A

bangle, something that appeared welded to his skin. She didn’t
remember that from before.

He touched his wrist to hers. She was wearing one exactly the

same. She had one on her other wrist, too, she saw when she held it
up before her eyes. Adam was shielding her from the hot sun, so she
could see his face and his beloved smile.

“Hi. How do I know your name?”
A shade of concern crossed his features. “You know me now.

We’re breedmates. I’ve touched you like this, kissed you like this…”
He cupped her bare breast and planted a soft kiss on her lips. When
she would have tugged him down for more, he drew away. “Do you
remember?”

Mist cleared in her mind, but only a little. A beautiful bedroom,

and Adam lying next to her. Someone else was there, too, another
man, big body, blond, blue eyes, smiling at her as if he knew her. She
knew him. What was his name?

“That’s Thor.”
Yes, Thor. How could she forget that name?

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They weren’t in their place anymore, but in the bedroom. She’d

been here, touched the bed, walked across the polished floor and over
the soft, richly colored rugs. She knew what lay behind the doors set
in the wall behind the bed.

“Are you remembering, baby?”
A tinge of anxiety touched his mellow voice. “Yes.” She looked

around. “How could I? Where is this?”

“It’s our home. You’re seeing our bedroom.”
He still held her. Although his cock was hard, the vibe she was

getting was a protective, careful one, not the usual rampant sexuality
that raged between them.

He’d held her like this all night. She remembered that much.

She’d longed for that to happen for so long, ever since he’d first
visited her. Their encounters had been too brief for that. Somehow,
they’d broken that. They’d made love all night long. But how and
where?

Home. She’d never had one of those. Her parent’s houses had

been showcases, and so had Bruce’s. This room, though beautiful, had
a totally different feel to it. Private, intended for no magazine, no TV
reality show, no photographer. It was beautiful because they wanted it
that way, not because they planned to show it to the world. That kind
of privacy was unheard of in her world.

No, that was wrong. She frowned, then glanced at Adam and

laughed, a small, self-deprecating sound. “I’m remembering. I—”

He gripped her shoulders, then deliberately gentled his touch.

“Tell me where you are, baby. Bruce came to see you today and
you’re with him somewhere.”

Bruce! His image jarred painfully into this scene. She mustn’t

push him away, not this time. She had to see this through. She put him
in the room.

Handsome, suited, sneering, he stood at the bottom of the bed and

stared at them. He’d insult them, try to belittle what they had. He
always did.

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When he opened his mouth, he said something, but his lips and

the words she heard didn’t synchronize, as if they were coming from
different places. “We’ll have a second honeymoon in Acapulco.”

* * * *

Sam stared at the gleaming diamond solitaire set in white gold on

her finger. She’d be tied into a marriage she didn’t want, unless she
did something to stop it. He’d arranged the marriage here, at the
luxury hotel, and it was happening soon. Far too soon.

Although her head still swam, she felt better than she was letting

on. Bruce liked his women conscious when he humiliated them.
When they’d arrived at this five-star hotel, he’d carried her to the
honeymoon suite, delighting the assembled media, who’d considered
his gesture very romantic.

Bruce had tossed her on the bed and told her to sleep it off.
She was wearing a silky negligee. She was trying to process what

he’d done and how she could get out of this when he burst into the
room again. Immediately she put on her expression of glazed
unawareness.

“The media is gathered downstairs, and the marriage officials.”

He strode to the closets ranged along a wall, opened one and rifled
impatiently through the contents. “Here. Put this on, do your hair and
makeup, and I’ll send somebody for you in half an hour.”

After he’d left, Sam got busy. His words had given her hope—she

could send her message that way, say clearly she didn’t want to be
with him. That she’d been married against her will, probably illegally.
Surely somebody would act on that.

She showered and put on the pink and apricot patterned dress that

Bruce had chosen for her. It had sleeves, but they were slashed from
shoulder to wrist, so they formed more drapery than sleeves. Only
when she’d fastened the cuffs did she realize why he’d chosen it. It
proved she had no bruises or marks, but it hid her bonding rings.

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Where were her men?
They were probably hunting through the whole of the States. She

had a vague feeling she had talked to them recently, but that was
impossible. They’d stuck her with so many needles she’d probably
hallucinated. Since the dress had a high neck, not even the needle
marks were visible, such as they were, but they hadn’t been big
needles. Just carried a big punch.

Pride made her add a light layer of makeup, enough for the heat of

this place. Acapulco in July was pretty much unbearable, and they’d
have to spend all their time indoors or under air-conditioned canopies.

Like this interview with the media. She could be as nice as pie,

could snuggle up to Bruce and call him her savior. It didn’t matter,
because Adam and Thor would see it and they would come. They’d
kill Bruce if they had to.

Her blood ran cold, and she shivered. This could be a trap, aimed

to take her breedmates out. What would she do then?

Nothing in this bathroom would make an effective weapon. Or in

the bedroom beyond. She’d already thought of that, but somebody
had thought of it before her. Even the hairdryer was a lightweight
model, its cable fastened to the wall so she couldn’t rip it out and
throw it at somebody.

She had no hairpins, but there were a few pretty clasps. She used

one of those to secure her hair in a loose, silky knot. She looked good.
Not a victim, which was what she wanted. The poor me approach had
never worked for her. That was one reason Bruce had gotten her to do
what he wanted. Stiff-necked pride had forced her to hold her head
high and meet the world head-on. Not that it had done her much good.

The door opened. “Darling?”
Bowing to the inevitable, Sam left the room. She stood, hands by

her sides, waiting for his approval, as she had in the old days.
Sometimes he’d thrown a fit and sent her to change. He always chose
her clothes. Toward the end, she hadn’t cared about that, although at
first she’d resented it fiercely. Later, it stopped mattering.

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He gave her the visual once-over she recalled so bitterly. “Very

nice.”

He wasn’t alone. Although he was dressed casually, in a polo shirt

and loose pants, she had no difficulty recognizing the bodyguard for
what he was.

“This is Charlie. He’s going to take care of you. Say one thing

wrong downstairs and you will faint. You know you will.” His smile
was tight. “That’s the stress of being kidnapped by shape-shifters. I
rescued you and I’ll marry you to keep you safe. That’s the story.
That way the Grid will be on my side if they think I rescued you from
captivity.” He bit off whatever he intended to say next but she’d
already leaped ahead.

He needed the Grid’s approval. The pupil had outstripped the

master. That was, the Grid, financed and in the service of Ronny
Lanier, had gained the upper hand. That knowledge might give her the
upper hand, too.

Every tiny bit of information mattered. Charlie moved his hand,

enough for her to see the small syringe he’d secreted there. No last
minute “Help! I’m a prisoner!” appeals in front of the worldwide
media. If she said that and then promptly passed out, they’d think she
was mad, or an addict, or crazed by her captivity. She needed to make
her position clear or say nothing. Working the names Adam and Thor
into the conversation might help.

Bruce’s plan was obvious. By using this method, he hoped that

her shape-shifter lovers would believe her and leave them alone. It
wouldn’t work. It couldn’t.

After slipping her feet into a pair of low-heeled gold sandals

which would probably cost a waitress a month’s salary, Sam followed
Bruce into an elevator. They went down to the lobby of the hotel. The
place was all whites and ivories, marble and cool breezes. Very
expensive breezes. She would bide her time and take her chance when
it occurred.

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Em Ashcroft

They went outside to a board patio area, a pool flickering dazzling

lights reflected from the sun, and a bunch of people gathered behind a
red rope. Charlie stood behind her on one side, and Bruce occupied
the other. He drew her arm through his, and held it firmly. If she
pulled away he’d probably call it modesty or something equally
ridiculous, and the people watching would lap it up. She would not
give up, and she would do everything she needed to keep herself
alive. Because two people in the world had shown her how much they
wanted her.

Microphones were set up just in front of the pool. A slight breeze

stirred the blue surface of the water. The external air conditioning
kept everything cool. “It’s great to see everybody,” Bruce said and
received a smattering of applause. The media’s darling. Bruce
indirectly paid the salaries of a lot of people present, so they’d be glad
to see him. Especially with her.

Let the speculation begin.
“Although my darling Sam and I went through a rough patch,

even a divorce, we’re delighted to announce we’re putting our rocky
past behind us and starting again.”

“What about Teresa O’Malley?” someone yelled, referencing the

heiress Bruce had been rumored to be about to marry.

“Teresa pales to nothing next to Sam. I always wanted my wife

back. The women I took out when we were separated meant nothing
to me.”

Charming sentiments indeed. That showed them what he thought

of women, disparaging them all. Sam refused to smile. She glanced
up at the sky. A black speck was rapidly coming closer, some kind of
plane, or even a helicopter. Probably passing over. This was a rich
person’s playground, the kind of place that catered for private aircraft.
But she couldn’t help hoping someone on that aircraft would help her.

Bruce glanced at her, his fond expression at odds with the way he

was dragging her close to him, so hard that her fingers were starting
to go numb. “Do you want to tell the media about your ordeal?” he

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said. When she opened her mouth, he leaned closer, obviously
intending to kiss her, but she jerked back. Not that, not a picture the
world could interpret the wrong way. When she killed him, which she
would if he insisted on this, she didn’t want a picture of him kissing
her coming back to haunt her.

His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, then his smile broadened and

he turned back to the waiting media.

“The truth is, she was captured and tortured by a group of shape-

shifters. These creatures shouldn’t be allowed within a mile of
humans. They are pure animal, and their instincts are terrible. In time,
Samantha will be able to talk about her ordeal, but I want to keep her
safe.”

Sam refused to react. If she did, the man next to her would jab her

with the needle and she’d pass out, which Bruce could excuse as a
faint. That would only reinforce his story.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted that my wife is back in my

arms and my life. We plan to—”

Whatever he was going to say next was drowned by the roar of a

descending helicopter. Helicopters and other light airplanes weren’t
unusual in this part of the country. Billionaires flew in and out,
carrying guests who couldn’t spare the time for normal flights, or
wanted to display their wealth. But the management here would have
been told to keep them away for the duration of the press conference.

Bruce cast an annoyed glance up, but he had to stop talking until it

had landed and disgorged its passengers. He muttered something, but
she couldn’t hear what it was for the noise. They were flying very
low. A big black helicopter circled above, lights glaring at them from
its underside. All they could do was wait until it landed and the pilot
cut the engine. Papers whirled around, whipped up from notebooks.
The media people clutched their heads, their hair whisked up. Some
ducked, as if afraid the copter would land on them.

Adam clapped a hand to his head and frowned up, furious at the

interruption of his carefully orchestrated press conference.

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The helicopter landed on the pad set within her sight, the other

side of the pool. Sam stood very still. This could be her chance to
escape. If she could dislodge the syringe in the hand of the bodyguard
next to her and get away from Bruce, she might get her true story told.

As soon as it had set down, a door on the side opened and two

figures leaped down. Two tigers, to be precise, followed by a dark-
haired man. The tigers loped around the pool, the crowd parting to let
them through. They came to the podium.

Bruce pulled her tightly to him and turned to go inside, but one of

the tigers pushed his body between them, forcing him away. Bruce’s
body stiffened, his fear palpable. He broke out in a cold sweat, beads
gleaming on his forehead.

Sam reacted in entirely the opposite way. Relief surged through

her, making her almost sag on to the tiger’s back. He was snarling, his
impressive fangs bared. He could tear through flesh with those, but
when he moved to touch her, one of the long fangs at the front grazed
her hand, so gently in a way Sam found reassuring. She placed her
hand on his head.

Bruce’s eyes widened. “Get away, Sam. He could kill you.”
“He wouldn’t hurt any part of me.” Unless she asked him to.
The dark-haired man pinned Bruce’s hands behind his back and

efficiently secured them with a plastic cuff. Poetic justice. Maybe
he’d pull them as tight as the ones that had secured her a short time
ago.

“Hey, who are you bastards? Get off me! What is this, a robbery?”
The dark haired man murmured something in Bruce’s ear. He

went pale and clamped his lips together.

“He told him it was the cuffs or me.” Tigers couldn’t smile, but

Sam heard the amusement in Thor’s voice.

The other tiger pushed between Sam and Charlie.
Before she could yell a warning, Charlie jabbed the syringe into

the flank of the beautiful animal. He shook it off as if it was nothing.

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“Adam!” She knew him from his markings, just as he’d said she

would. Caressing warmth entered her, the first tenderness she’d felt in
days. “That was a tranquillizer!”

“A human one. It won’t bother me.” His voice was gentle, belying

his fearsome appearance. The tigers framed Sam, their teeth bared,
daring anyone to get close to her.

She put her other hand on Adam’s head and he pushed gently

against it, growling low in his throat in pleasure. “Are you okay,
baby? Just tell us. Do you need to get out of here right away?”

“He didn’t hurt me yet,” she replied. “He wanted to get this

conference under way.”

“We would have killed him,” Thor said. “We thought you were

gone. You were so clever, sweetheart, letting us know where you
were.”

She basked in their approval. She’d been so scared, and yet they’d

pulled together and her tigers had saved her.

Cameras were clicking, and phones flashing as the media jostled

to get photographs of the unexpected interruption. Bruce stood by
Adam, held by his captor, arrested for all the world to see. A
handsome man next to a stunning animal, like a Las Vegas magician.
He’d have to be a magician for real to escape this.

The dark-haired man who leaped from the helicopter stood close.

He held a bundle of fabric and a gun, careful to keep the weapon
away from the media, so they couldn’t see it. He nodded to her. She
nodded back, half-dazed by the suddenness of events. The soft fur
under her hands kept her sane and safe. They grounded her.

“Take me home,” she said, and she didn’t mean to wherever

Bruce planned to take her.

The tigers didn’t answer at first. One shimmered, followed by the

other, and then two men stood either side of her. Naked. Her heart
warmed. Adam had braved his shyness to do this.

Cameras flashed, but they took no notice. Only smiled at her.

What could she do but smile back?

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The dark-haired man tossed them the clothing. Thor and Adam

climbed into the jeans, zipping up to give the media something
uncensored they could put on the front page of every publication in
the world. The naked version would no doubt appear online in less
fussy places. With her next to them. Their woman, her men.

Adam clasped her hand and lifted it, but he didn’t kiss it.

Extending a claw, he sliced through her dress cuffs and exposed her
breeding ring. On her other side, Thor did the same. They lifted her
hands up and the faux sleeves fell away.

More camera flashes. The gesture looked like one of triumph.

They linked their hands with her, so breeding ring nudged breeding
ring and then they stepped in front of the bank of microphones. “That
is only one reason why Samantha’s recent marriage to Bruce Lanier is
illegal,” Thor said. “The others being that he kidnapped her, and he’s
forcing her to marry him. A forced bride is no bride at all.”

“How do you know that?” she demanded. She’d been terrified

that they’d accept that she had decided to go back with Bruce. They
believed in her. They still wanted her. Joy surged through her in a
great wave.

“I know you. It’s the only way you’d go through with it,” Thor

said, his voice strong in her mind.

“You’re right. They kept me drugged until this morning.”
“I’ll kill them,” Adam promised, his voice ominous.
“No. If you do, they’ll put you in jail. Or worse.” She wouldn’t

lose them now.

Thor bared his teeth in a feral smile. The shouts began, questions

hurled at them from the avid media-watchers. “Did you kidnap her?
How did you get those bands on? Were they forced?”

“Everybody knows you can’t force bonding rings,” Thor told

them, rolling his eyes as if they were stupid. That would make them
say what he wanted. “All three partners have to go into the
relationship willingly. That alone should tell you she was kidnapped

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from Goldclaw and brought here. You’re probably also aware that
bonding gives us primary claim in law.”

Samantha hadn’t realized that, and it seemed many of the others

hadn’t, either because they erupted with questions. When he had a
moment to reply, Thor merely said, “It’s not shape-shifter law, it’s the
law of the land. Passed by Congress twenty years ago. Bonded trios
have claims on each other.”

Adam spoke. “We don’t intend to enforce that claim. Not unless

Samantha wants it. If she does, then we are hers, and we’re prepared
to marry her here and now. If she doesn’t, then we’ll take her
wherever she wants.”

The offer took her breath away. They’d do that for her? Marrying

her would take her away from Bruce forever.

Adam indicated the man standing quietly by the pool, the one with

a gun trained on a cuffed Bruce. “This is Randall Great Wing, one of
the eagles from the town close to Seattle. If Samantha wants, he’ll
take her back to Great Wing and she can stay there in safety until
she’s recovered. Bruce Lanier has kidnapped Samantha, and will be
arrested when the police get here.”

Bruce opened his mouth. His guard jerked on the bonds and he

went silent.

To Sam’s shock, both her tigers went down on one knee either

side of her. Thor pulled the gaudy ring from her finger and tossed it
away. It landed in the pool, the splash easily heard in the hushed
silence.

“Will you marry me, Samantha? I swear to love and honor you for

as long as we live,” Thor asked.

“Samantha, will you marry me? I love you.” Adam’s simple

declaration brought tears to her eyes.

Why would she hesitate? “Yes! I love you both so much.” The

media people murmured. Some yelled questions, but she was only
peripherally aware of them.

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They got to their feet and both men dug in their pockets, coming

up with rings. These were golden stones, yellow diamonds set in gold.
They set them on the third finger of each of her hands. Each man
lifted the hand on his side to his lips, sealing the rings in place with a
kiss.

“Hey!” Bruce found his voice. “This is my marriage, and that’s

my wife!” The last protest of a man who’d well and truly lost the war.

“Not any more, man.” Keeping hold of her hand, Thor turned to

face her ex-husband. “You’re about to see the inside of a Mexican
jail. Abduction is a crime in this country, and you’re going to pay for
it.”

As he spoke, two men in uniform stepped from inside the hotel.

They took over from Randall, who willingly sheathed his weapon and
stepped back.

“Plan B,” Adam murmured. It was unlikely anyone knew what he

meant except Samantha. Plan A would have been killing him. “If he’d
married you he’d be dead by now,” Adam confirmed for her.

“I don’t want to start this marriage on a death,” she said.
The men led Bruce away. He didn’t go quietly, although he didn’t

struggle. Just went away yelling his objections and swearing he’d get
his own back once he was on US soil.

Constantly aware of the media, Bruce probably realized what a

picture that would make, if he tried to fight and was subdued. Instead,
he protested loudly, that she’d gone with him of her own accord, and
the tigers had abducted her. Sam barely listened.

Nobody believed him. How could they, when she had changed

from a listless woman to a radiant bride? She didn’t need to see a
reflection of herself to know, because of the joy that glowed inside
her like a living thing. At last the dress she wore seemed appropriate.
She’d start a new life in it, one she wanted badly.

They went inside with the judge and the other officials.
The preliminaries were dispensed with quickly. Bruce had already

had her blood test done, a requirement for a wedding here. The

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officials retired for ten minutes while the men had theirs completed. It
was legal almost everywhere in the world for a threesome to marry, as
long as at least two of them were shape-shifters, but blood tests still
had to be done.

Sam made a statement to the police, brief and to the point. “He

took me against my will. He injected me with tranquillizer and drove
me over the border,” was the gist of what she said and wrote, enough
to allow the Mexicans to detain her ex-husband. A clear case of
abduction would keep him inside for a considerable length of time.
They warned her that she might have to come back for the trial. She
told them she looked forward to it. She wanted to get everything
about her terrible marriage and the abduction out in the open, and she
couldn’t think of a better place to do it than a courtroom.

The men let the officials take a drop of blood, and someone

produced crisp white shirts and black linen pants for them to wear.
She’d have happily married them as they were, topless, wearing
simple jeans.

Each man stole a kiss each from her once the blood tests were

done and the forms filled in. “Nice of Bruce to bring us here. This is a
great place to marry.” Thor stroked her cheek, adoration warming his
eyes.

“He won’t like jail.” She considered the punishment more than

fitting. “He’ll hate it so much.”

“We have our lawyers looking into the sources of his money,”

Adam said with a smile of satisfaction on his face. “He won’t be able
to get at any of it because the first thing our guy says he’s going to do
is freeze his assets.”

“It sounds painful.” How easy it was to smile now!
With the guys changed, they went outside again.
Sam repeated the wedding vows twice, one to each man. When

the official declared all three married, “Husband, wife, and husband,”
the media gave them a round of applause.

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Chapter Thirteen

How could she be so happy? A hideous day had turned into the

happiest of her life. At last, after talking to the media, toasting each
other in champagne and thanking the hotel for its help with the
wedding, Samantha found herself back in the honeymoon suite. This
time with the men she truly loved.

They wasted no time, her men, but nudged her to the bed.

Impatiently they stripped the shirts and pants from their bodies and
they were as naked as when they’d arrived as tigers. A shiver shook
Adam’s frame and he growled softly as the shadow of stripes rippled
over his body, and then were gone. His tiger was celebrating, too, but
Adam kept him away from her, as he explained. “You’re a woman
and we want to make love to you as men. Nothing else is possible.”

Thor unfastened her dress, hissing when he saw the sites of the

needle marks. “I still want to kill him.” He kissed the marks, touching
them with his tongue and they stopped being sore. Shape-shifters had
accelerated healing properties. Had he somehow used that on her?
Glancing in the big mirror set against one wall, Samantha couldn’t see
any red marks. Only a tawny-haired man, kissing and nibbling her
neck and shoulder, as he gently pushed her dress off her body.

As the silk fell from her, Adam cupped her bare breasts and

brought his lips to them. “Lovely, lovely skin,” he murmured as he
kissed around the areolae and then took a nipple into his mouth. “My
wife has beautiful nipples,” he said before he moved to the other
nipple. He rendered it as sensitive and hard as the one he’d just left.

His wife! “My husband has a beautiful chest,” she said, as Adam

bent to divest himself of his pants.

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Behind her, Thor nuzzled close. He was already naked.
“Both my husbands have beautiful cocks,” she said. “Together.”
While Thor led her to the bed, Adam went to the nightstand and

opened the drawers, purring with satisfaction at what he found there.
He drew out a fat tube. Lube. Perfect.

Thor peeled down her panties, and stayed kneeling between her

legs, taking a noisy sniff. “You are so perfect, that perfume is the only
one I want.” He bent his head and took a long taste. “And this is the
only flavor.”

Adam came down on her other side. “A bit cramped, this.” The

bed was enormous but not as big as the one at home. Hers and theirs.
She rolled the word around her mind, loving the notion. She had a
home.

He growled and moved closer to her, his body against hers,

heating and exciting her. “All the better to get close to you.
“Sweetheart, are you sure you’re all right?”

How typical of him to ensure her well-being. Bruce had always

declared himself an alpha male, but these two put him in the shade.
Taking care of the welfare of the people under their control was
important to a true alpha. Bruce had never done that, not once. These
two did it all the time. They fed her, bathed her, gave her what she
needed and loved her. She loved them. She’d die rather than see any
harm come to them.

Thor sucked her clit, and licked her crease, one long lick from

opening to clit. Her cunt quivered, and sparkles bubbled through
every part of her body.

A gentle pop attracted her attention. Adam had picked up the

champagne from the bucket on the bedside table and removed the
cork. He didn’t spill a drop. Not, that was, until he held the bottle over
her stomach. Then he poured.

Samantha yelped as the cold liquid chilled her skin. Foam spread

as Adam tipped the bottle over her from her neck to her toes and back

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again. Under her, the sheet absorbed some of the liquid, but not as
much as it would have done had Thor and Adam not set to lapping.

Like the tigers they were in their other forms, they licked off

every drop. When they connected, or their heads were close, Adam
just grinned, where before he’d have shied away. Now, sharing the
woman they loved, he was content. Thor took his time on her breasts,
licking the nipples harder, while Adam was lapping the effervescent
wine from her stomach and the cup of her hips. He slid his hand
between her thighs, pushing them open, then when she’d spread them,
he poured more champagne over her heated cunt. She gasped at the
cold and then again when he licked her. Pushing a finger inside her,
he sucked her clit as he worked her open, and then drew away.

He picked up the bottle, and poured, filling her up. “Have you

ever seen a better champagne glass?” he asked his breed partner.

Thor sat up, and stared. He shook his head. “We should toast our

marriage.”

Adam gestured with the bottle for him to go first and Thor

attacked her, drinking deeply, using his tongue to lick her out. Her
wonderful, uninhibited Thor. Her husband. She caressed his head,
threading her fingers through his silky hair and he groaned against her
pussy, the sound vibrating through every part of her.

He lifted his head. “I drank it all.”
“There’s a glassful left.” He glanced up at her. “Do you want to

drink it?”

“I’d rather be drunk from.”
Thor had turned her into a ball of mush, and now Adam continued

the boneless effect. He lapped and drank, sipping delicately at first,
but then drawing deeper, using his tongue to get at all the cool liquid.
Thor slid his arm behind her shoulders and lifted her so they could
watch him together, lapping. Then he flicked his tongue against her
clit until she shivered out her orgasm in Thor’s arms.

Adam came up the bed and claimed a kiss, sharing the

champagne-flavored pussy juice. He kissed her lavishly, hard and

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167

passionate, telling her without words of any kind what she meant to
him. She stroked his chin, already dusted with five-o’clock-shadow.
He growled into her mouth.

He drew away. “Come here, baby. On to me. If I don’t fuck you

soon, I’ll explode.”

When he rolled on to his back, she lifted up and straddled him, the

hair on his thighs grazing the inside of her knees. She didn’t go down
onto his cock. “I want both of you at the same time,” she said.
“Coming into me at the same time.”

Thor growled low in his throat and got on the bed behind her. The

now familiar feel of the gel of the lube trickled down her butt crack,
and Thor massaged it into her, making the slick sound. He pushed his
fingers into her hole, taking his time, but she knew what to do now
and bore back, opening herself for him. Adam played with her pussy,
tracing her shape, up and around her clit, down and into her cunt.

Sam caught her lower lip between her teeth and sucked in a

breath. Sensations rioted through her, rocketing her up close to
orgasm, but the men didn’t let her come. Just as she was heading for
the heights, they held off, and stopped.

Adam grasped his cock and held it up. “Just the tip, baby,” he

said. He held her hip so she couldn’t take more than the very tip,
lining him up ready to fuck her.

Thor’s cock nuzzled against her ass. He rotated it around her hole.

“You’re open now, sweetheart. Ready for me.” His already deep
voice lowered with passion.

“Ready?”
Sam closed her eyes, concentrating all her senses on the way they

were sliding into her. Both at the same time, stuffing her with their fat
cocks. She felt every inch, the way they slid into her, claiming her for
the rest of their shared lives. It felt more sacred than the ceremony
that they’d gone through, and more meaningful. “I’m yours,” she said.

“We are yours,” they said in unison.

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Both deep inside her now, they began to move. Slowly at first,

accelerating as her body juiced and became slicker they thrust,
gaining a rhythm. She loved this, the way they entered and withdrew
at the same time. Fuller than full, then empty, then full again.

Adam played with her breasts, touching and leaning up to lick

them. “I love these,” he murmured against her skin. “I’d have you
naked all the time if I could.”

“That arch of your back.” Thor caressed her back, and stroked his

fingers down her spine. They added to the sensations inside her, her
orgasm already building. When she cried out as she shivered, they
drove in harder. The squelching sounds and the scents of her arousal
and theirs created a world only they inhabited.

Her orgasm took over her body, shaking her with its intensity. She

screamed their names, barely aware of their answering voices as they
shot their seed inside her in a series of powerful, jetting spurts.

Panting as if she’d run ten miles, Sam let her arm lock go and

collapsed into Adam’s arms. Murmuring her name, he held her while
Thor eased out of her and climbed off the bed. “Bath,” he said. “Then
supper. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”

Adam kissed her, licking deep into her mouth. “I love you. I’ve

waited a long time to say that to you. From the first moment I found
you in my dreams, I knew you were the woman for me. Then you
disappeared and I was frantic.”

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. “I love you,

too. Adam, my Adam.”

“Always.” He kissed her again. She heard Thor come back into

the room and pick up the phone. He didn’t bother asking them what
they wanted. He ordered samples of everything on the menu. “Yeah, a
tasting menu,” he agreed. “A big one.”

He cut the call and grinned at his breedmate and breed partner.

“Honeymooning tigers get hungry. Come and bathe.”

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169

Adam carried her to the bathroom and lowered her into the sudsy

water. “We’ll go home tomorrow,” he said. Thor slid in behind her,
and drew her against his chest. Then he claimed his kiss.

“I want babies,” she said suddenly. “I want your children.”
“Fuck,” Adam said as he joined them sitting opposite, his legs

outside Thor’s. “That’s a whole new adventure.”

Samantha couldn’t agree more. She couldn’t wait for the

adventure to begin.

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Em is everywhere. She may be watching you right now!
Em Ashcroft is a woman with myriad lovers and a ton of stories to

tell. She is waited on hand and foot by her assistants. She lives on
chocolate and champagne, flies first class all over the world, and
dresses only from the best designers – when she dresses at all!

Em is creativity personified. She loves history, art, and naughty,

naughty sex. Sinful, beautiful and irresistible, she is everything she
wants to be.

Em has this thing about history. She spends a lot of time visiting

old houses and old cities, and taking a bunch of photos. She uses all
these in her books, and can’t stop researching. It’s an addiction, but
not one that she regrets. She also loves travel, but she does that as
much in her head as she does for real.

Then she gets up from her desk and she becomes someone else

entirely.

Visit her website at:

http://emashcroft.com

Email her at:

[e-mail]

For all titles by Em Ashcroft, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/em-ashcroft

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com