lips and his tongue slipped between them, a whip of heat unfurling in her stomach with each flick.
She didn’t remember kisses like this. She remembered the fumbling, groping, wide-open-mouthed attempts of her adolescence, before her curse hit. This was unlike any of those. This was skill and persuasion, seduction and heat. As a fiery concerto radiated out from her soul, a clenching warmth rose up from her toes, tingling along every nerve. Nate’s hands chased those tingles and multiplied them, tracing her curves through the thin barrier of her clothes.
He raised his head. His eyes searched hers as they clung together, both breathing rapidly. “Ciara?”
“More, Nate,” she whispered. “Please, touch me more.”
He groaned and crushed her to him, instantly obeying. His mouth slanted down on hers and she fell into sensation.
He’s no one’s hero. She’s no one’s pawn. And now they’re caught in the crossfire…
Deadlock
© 2011 Moira Rogers
Southern Arcana, Book 3
Abandoned by her wolf shifter father and raised by her human psychic mother, Carmen Mendoza can’t deny she’s different. She craves things most women shy away from—and she has a trail of shapeshifting ex-boyfriends to prove it.
Working at a clinic for supernatural creatures, she’s escaped the notice of her father’s legacy-obsessed family. Until they need a pawn in their bid for power. Snared by a vicious spell designed to wake her inner wolf, Carmen’s only hope is to trust the one man strong enough to soothe her darkest instincts.
Alec Jacobson was once the heir apparent to the wolves’ ruling elite, until he walked away to marry the woman he loved. She paid with her life. Now he lives as a rebel, a black-sheep alpha who protects the supernatural residents of New Orleans from the wolves’ barbaric class system. Too bad he can’t protect himself from his need for Carmen.
Yet staking his claim on his enemy’s niece will turn his city into a battleground. Unless he can find a way to stop breaking the rules—and start making them.
Warning: This book contains a renegade alpha wolf, a smart empathic doctor, very dirty sex with psychic safe-words, the occasional dominance game in and out of the bedroom, and a group of supernatural citizens ready to take on the corrupt leaders of their world.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Deadlock:
Carmen slowed and spun, walking backwards. “How long have you lived here?”
“This house?” He slowed too, to a casual amble. “Bought it…oh, nine or ten years back.”
“And do you do this often?”
“Run? Or chase women through the woods?”
“That’s chivalrous of you, to keep pretending you’re the one doing the chasing here.”
One eyebrow quirked up. “You’re right. If I were really chasing you, you’d be under me already.”
“Now there’s a thought.” She had to get used to the blatant, idle flirtation. She couldn’t get aroused every time he said something like that, or she’d be perpetually horny—and frustrated. “I meant your obvious role as protector and mentor. Do you have a lot of new wolves beating down your door?”
“A few,” he acknowledged with that infuriating little smile. “Someone has to take care of them, and I’m good at it.”
And he needed it. She might never hear the admission from his lips, but she felt it plainly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You’re going to trip and break your neck if you keep walking backwards on this path.”
She stopped. “I was trying not to be rude.”
He jerked his chin toward the path. “Quarter mile, maybe a little more. There’s a nice clearing. I’ll give you a ten-second head start.”
The predatory glint in his eyes stole her breath and kicked her heart rate into high gear. “Head start for what?”
“Before I chase you. For real.”
She had to be crazy to consider it, even if the thought made her body buzz. “And then what? More dirty talk because you can’t sleep with me, but you can sure the hell torture me with your eyes and muscles and ridiculously hot voice?”
He actually laughed. “Can’t do much to fix any of that. I could back off, I guess, but you’re not going to like that much better.”
“No, I suppose I wouldn’t.” She didn’t feel like a crazed animal, but she’d never been quite so moved by feral instinct, either. “Go easy on me, would you?”
Pacing herself wasn’t a problem, not if it was only a quarter of a mile, so Carmen ran hard, pushing herself almost at a sprint. Soon, the near-echo of trampled brush drifted from behind her, and she smiled through her panting.
He let her get three long strides into the clearing