A steaming mug of tea waited for him on his desk as he let the leather of his chair embrace his body. His kingdom. William had learned the hard way just how closed off you had to be, just how distrustful, to hold onto what was important.

A knock on his door sounded and he didn’t bother to look up from his computer screen, instead, just waving whoever it was into the room.

And when he looked up, everything stopped for long moments.

She was long and lean. The short cap of pale blonde curls should have made her girlish but William wagered there wasn’t much girlish about the woman standing in his doorway.

Stylistically, she wasn’t a woman he’d normally have looked at twice. Faded jeans and a button down short sleeved shirt, cowboy boots. In Las Vegas. In August? Not much makeup and her nails were bare, no polish. And yet, whatever it was she exuded was pure sex.

“Can I help you?” He hoped she was there to apply to be a dancer. She had that certain something he knew would amplify up on stage.

“William Emery?”

Her voice was whisky rough, smoky. Christ.

“Yes. You know, … read more ->

The day wasn’t too bad. Despite the fact that the air had a bite, the sky was clear and blue. She’d had a nice lunch, stopped by to see her mom on the way back to her shop and Christmas was coming. Not only was it a good time of year for her business but white and colored lights decorated the light posts and shop windows. Charity smiled with some amount of satisfaction because she’d nearly finished with all her shopping. Even better, she’d just found a gorgeous menorah to sit in the front window of her shop because Hanukkah was so close to Christmas this year she’d be able to celebrate both holidays at the same time. Nothing like feeling you’d checked off more items on the never-ending personal to-do list.

As she turned the corner to head back to her shop she caught sight of Gabriel Bettencourt leaning against his truck, all long and sexy. And her day just got even better. Mmm! Dark sunglasses shaded his eyes, and the beard and just-a-bit-too-long hair gave him an edge that thrilled everything right down to her toes. Charity’s pulse sped as she took him in and pretended that just … read more ->

An angry violence coursed through Roman’s veins after he’d seen the vid footage from the hallway outside the courtroom. He’d fixated on the look of panic flashing over Abigail’s features and then nausea rose as he’d watched her panic fade into blankness.

Saul Kerrigan was a thug and if, after the dressing down he’d received for nearly a standard hour, he did not change his behavior and stay the hells away from Ms. Haws, Roman would punish House Kerrigan severely, no matter what connection existed between them.

A man did not use his size and power to harm a woman. It simply wasn’t done. Roman’s wife had been such a sweet and fragile woman, he couldn’t imagine having touched her in anger even if she’d been as tough as the petite Abigail Haws was.

He shoved that line of thought far away. Lindy had been gone twelve years and it wouldn’t do to think on that just before he was due to meet with Ms. Haws.

Once Marcus announced her arrival, Roman terminated his comm immediately and told his assistant to send her in.

He stood and met her at the door. “Ms. Haws, are you well?”

She sighed out … read more ->

The low, sensual beat brought her onto the stage like a siren. One gloved arm wove through the slit in the curtain and then the other, parting them as she stood, framed for a long moment. Her dark hair was piled up on her head artfully. Long, fake lashes framed big brown eyes. A deep blue satin dress hugged every curve lovingly, her breasts pushed up and out of the scooped neckline and as she walked, the slit on each side of the dress would show her legs to the upper thigh.

She let the music grab her senses and her rhythm as she slowly sauntered out onto the narrow stage. Dancer’s heels, still very high, led her through the beginning of her routine as she carefully maneuvered the long feather boa to keep from tripping.

Caught in the music, Dahlia’s muscles burned as she did a high kick leading into a round kick swiveling her body away from the audience all in a seamless set of movements.

A feather from the boa stuck to the sweat on her neck as she slowly rotated her hips in time with the horns in the jazz band. Her hands rose, slowly taking … read more ->

He’d made up his damned mind and this time he wasn’t going to be put off. The world could end and he’d have her before the last star flickered out. So much stupid crap had gotten between them and he wasn’t standing for it another moment. He was there and things would be made right once and for all.

He knocked, listening to the muffled sounds on the other side of the door.

She opened up, standing there all sleep-tousled and delicious, surprised to see him. A silky peach-colored robe was all that stood between them. One bare shoulder peeked out as she tightened the belt at her waist.

Dumbfounded for long moments, Connor took her in. All dips and curves, she was the most beautiful and most dangerous thing he’d ever beheld. The contradictions set him aflame.

Her mouth opened to speak and he took it as an invitation. In another step he bumped against her body. He kicked the door closed behind them as his arms encircled her, pulling her to him tight.

Time slowed like honey as he lowered his head, his mouth seeking hers. And when his lips brushed against hers, lush and full, his entire … read more ->

Dear God, kill me now. Megan Warden pretended to sleep rather than engage with her insane mother and listen to her prattle on and on about men, children and pregnancy as she had for the last seven hours. Seriously, the military should look into using Beth Warden for interrogation. No terrorist could ever hold up under this stuff.

“I was telling Grandma, there are going to be many single wolves at this event, Megan. Who knows who you might meet,” her mother repeated for the thousandth time.

Megan kept her head down, her chin against her chest and tried to regulate her breathing. She’d been drinking “special” coffee all day long but werewolf physiology meant the alcohol wore off relatively soon.

So her mother continued talking, knowing Megan wasn’t really asleep but Megan kept pretending anyway. Oh the little games you play with family.

“You can’t hide under those dark glasses forever,” Layla cracked from her place next to Megan. They hurtled down the road in the huge SUV her older brother Lex had arranged for them. She’d taken the farthest row back, hoping her mother and grandmother would get into the other car in this caravan of horrors but … read more ->

Cade caught up with her in their room as she tossed a suitcase on the bed and unzipped it.

“I realize you’re worried about your sister-in-law. I’m a doctor, I know how risky it is for humans turned wolf in the first week. But I don’t share, Cade. Period. I won’t live that way. If that’s what she expects, that expectation needs to be eradicated. If that’s what you expected, you need to say so right now so I can leave.” The eyes that greeted his sparked with fury.

She might look sweet but she got right down to the point. In truth the way she’d acted with Nina flipped his switch in a major way. She truly was his mate, truly was an Alpha.

“Grace, honey, I’d kill any wolf who suggested sharing. I don’t share either. Jack got his taste but that’s it forever. You’re mine. I’m yours. You’re not going anywhere. And hell, neither is she. You handled her just fine. She’ll respect your strength and when she thinks about it, she’ll realize she’s being silly and stop being a bitch.”

“She’d better, Cade.” She paused, staying there with the bed between them. “Do you love her?”… read more ->

Kate turned and tried to keep a pleasant expression, pretending she hadn’t ever heard the groan he made at the back of his throat when he came. When really, as she watched Charles Dixon approach, all she wanted to do was fall into his arms and kiss him.

She felt like a teenaged girl. Crap. All the schooling, all the years she spent smoothing out any professional edges and it all threatened to slip through her fingers. He was the highway to hell and she suddenly wanted to wrench the wheel and take off. Oh the clichés!

Buck the hell up, Katherine!

Tugging the hem of her jacket down, she straightened her spine, took a deep breath and tried to keep her smile professional.

When their eyes met…holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

She froze as green eyes bored into hers. Unable not to, she ate him up with her gaze. Perfectly cut dark-brown hair, as dark as the sinful chocolate he represented to her, tempted her fingertips. The suit he wore fit him well enough she knew it was made for his body alone. And when he smiled he showed white teeth, not blindingly so, but perfect enough … read more ->

Sera sighed and fell into a chair, trying desperately not to show how upset she was with her major mistake.

Ash came to kneel before her, taking her face in his hands. “I know we’d decided to keep our status quiet at first, but it’s all right. No one is angry with you.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers with such tenderness it tightened her stomach. Saying things he couldn’t say specifically, trying to make her feel better.

Before she thought about it, her hands slid up the wall of his chest and over the soft skin of his skull. How long had it been? But her hands remembered, her skin remembered and rejoiced at the feeling.

He growled low in his throat and deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding across the seam of her lips until she opened to him. His taste burst over her, the sweetness of the memories rushing through her until they overflowed and she thought she’d drown in them.

With a soft sigh, Ash pulled back, slightly trembling. She realized he trembled with need and was holding himself back. She didn’t want to feel this for him again. Didn’t want to care … read more ->

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine. You lost so much. I take it my translation and recital of the scrolls did something to undo it? Why did you wait all this time?”

“Curses are dark magic. Performing dark magic costs the person who does it. Because she had a murder on her hands as it was, she crafted the curse in such a way that it could be undone so as not to damn herself totally. But to undo the curse, I was unable to help in any way, not direct or suggest. And the right person had to translate. A witch with a touch of Fae in her blood.”

Startled, she blinked quickly. “What?”

He laughed. “The Ogham is more than symbols and words. Magic carries intent and flavor. You have Faerie magic in your blood, Haley. You know that.”

“I know that? What? You’re telling me I’m a Faerie?”

He leaned in and took a deep whiff of her. “Mmmm, yes. Not too far from the hill, maybe a generation or two. Not your parents but perhaps your grandfather? Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

The day just kept throwing more and more her way. The weight of it … read more ->