Harry's Sacrifice (32 page)

“We thought you might need some help, but I see you have matters in hand here.”

“We?” she asked, arching one eyebrow as she pulled the man’s arm a little tighter. The guy grunted in pain but she wasn’t letting up.

Jesse gave the signal over his tactical radio and the rest of the team appeared in the hall leading to the kitchen. The woman would be able to see them if she looked up, but the dude on the ground with his cheek pressed into the linoleum wouldn’t. Jesse gestured toward the hall with his eyes, hoping she’d get the message.

Wonder of wonders, she did. This girl was on the ball. Of course, he shouldn’t have expected anything less from Sally’s cousin. His brother’s new wife had already proven to be more than a match for a male Alpha werewolf.

And Jesse was definitely Alpha. And male. And a werewolf.

All his senses were standing on end in the gorgeous female’s presence. A bare hint of her scent wafted to him and his hormones raged.

Whoa. Down boy.

“Ma’am…” Jesse made himself get back to business. “We’ve been pursuing these boys. They’re wanted in connection with a kidnapping in Wyoming. I’m sorry we had to barge into your home, but I thought you might need assistance. As team leader, I take full responsibility, and I promise we’ll repair any damage our entry may have caused.” He glanced significantly back at the kitchen door. It was badly splintered and still swinging slightly on its hinges.

She didn’t ease off the man on the floor. “Look, buddy, I don’t know you. For all I know you could be working for these guys, just waiting for me to let this one go.”

“While I applaud your caution, in this instance it’s misplaced. If you’ll allow me?” He didn't wait for an answer before pulling a dart gun from the holster on his thigh and plugging the struggling man with sleep juice.

She didn’t even have time to blink, which was a good thing. Jesse sure as hell didn’t want to tranq her by mistake. Oh, no. He wanted her awake and spitting at him. He wanted the chance to try to gentle her. To woo her.

Woo her? Where the hell had that come from? Damn. She was every bit as attractive as her cousin and twice as alluring to Jesse’s senses. He’d thought his brother was a lucky man when he’d found Sally, but the mild envy he’d felt had nothing on the downright possessive streak that stirred in him at seeing Maria Garibaldi in her nightdress.

The dude under her went slack as the fast-acting drug kicked in.

“What did you just do?” she accused, outrage in her silky voice. Damn. He could listen to her for hours and never tire.

This thought from a man who found most women intensely annoying when they started to chatter? He was in trouble. Big trouble.

“He’ll wake in a few hours. I figured you wouldn’t mind since you knocked the other one out cold.” He glanced at the other man, still slumped against the wall. Signaling his men to enter the kitchen, he stepped closer to Maria. “We’ll take these guys off your hands, ma’am.”

Maria stood faster than he would have credited as he stepped forward. She was really quick for a human. Maybe her alleged magical ancestry gave her some physical advantages.

“You can have them, but I’m not going anywhere. And you can think again if you expect me to agree to anything else you may have in mind.”

He holstered the dart gun and held his hands out, palms up in the intergalactic gesture of
I come in peace
.

“We mean you no harm, Maria.” Her chin jerked up defiantly when he used her first name. “It’s okay. We really have been following these guys for a couple of weeks. Two of their friends kidnapped a young boy in Wyoming. We got those two, but these guys have been leading us cross-country.”

Arlo and Len had secured the unconscious man’s wrists and feet with zip ties. They’d also disarmed him while Jesse had been talking. Maria had been splitting her attention between them and Jesse for the past minute or more. She was like a caged animal, ready to strike and unsure what was coming next. He had to calm her down but he wasn’t sure how.

“Why here?” she whispered. “Why me?”

Now there was a question. Jesse paused. He wasn’t sure how much she knew about the magical world around her. She might be like her cousin Sally, who had been completely unaware of the
weres
, bloodletters and other kinds of magical beings living alongside the human population. Or she might know a lot more than Sally had. He’d noticed a couple of low-level wardings in Maria’s backyard. Nothing that could stop a werewolf of course, but enough to let a magic user know that someone was trespassing on their land.

“Do you know what I am?” Jesse tested the waters.

To his amazement, she sniffed in his direction. That wasn’t something a human would do. She looked at the man on the floor before speaking as if to make certain he was fully asleep.

“
Were?
” She didn’t seem too sure of her answer.

Jesse grinned at her, letting her see the slightly sharper teeth of the predator.

Which man will Callie choose, the alien or the warrior? Or can she have both?

Davin’s Quest

© 2008 Bianca D’Arc

Resonance Mates, Book 2

For each Alvian, there is one perfect match—a Resonance Mate whose soul blends in perfect harmony. Unlike the rest of his race, Davin has emotions and suffers for it. Without a mate, he is doomed to go mad. Searching for answers and understanding, he seeks out Callie O’Hara, a human woman with strong empathic gifts. Could this fragile human be his Resonance Mate?

Rick St. John is a tough-as-nails survivor of the Alvian occupation of Earth. He doesn’t believe in much, but when he sees Callie for the first time, he starts to believe in love at first sight.

The Governing Council is gunning for Davin, the upstart who dares to defy them. And they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way. Davin and Rick must come to terms with their feelings for Callie in order to keep her safe, while she has to find a way to save them both…with her love.

Warning: This title contains hot alien love, explicit sex, graphic language and ménage a trois.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Davin’s Quest:

As Callie rode up, a huge grin broke over her face when she saw Davin, and it lightened his heart to a degree he never would have expected. He was glad her parents remained within the house. As it was, he’d have a hard time explaining how quickly he’d convinced her to Kiss him. They didn’t know of his almost nightly talks with Callie over the communication crystal. As far as they knew, she’d only spoken to him the one time, but he couldn’t hold himself in check. She was near and he wanted—no, he needed—to Kiss her.

She jumped from her horse, caring for it before turning to him, and he sensed her shyness. With a determined step he strode toward her, covertly placing a small, tuned crystal on a fencepost where it would be clearly visible to the watchers in the farmhouse.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Callie whispered as he moved to stand in front of her. His back was to the house, blocking their view, so they couldn’t see her face as they talked, but they could see she was safe nonetheless.

“I can hardly believe it either, sweetheart.” He raised one hand to trail the backs of his fingers over her soft cheek. Her skin was even softer than it looked, a sensual delight to his starved senses. “I’ve wanted to touch you and see you smile. I’ve wanted to hold your hand and spend time with you for so long.”

“Me too,” she breathed as he stepped closer, closing the distance between them.

“I promised you I’d make sure you didn’t turn seventeen without being kissed.” His whispered words made something in her tummy clench with pleasure. She blushed, hoping no one could see, though she knew they weren’t completely hidden by the barn. She pulled back, tugging him toward the barn, but he let her go on without him. “If I go in there with you now, I’ll want to do a lot more than just kiss you, Callie. And you’re not quite ready for what I have in mind yet.”

“But what if I want it too?”

“Oh, sweetheart—” he tucked her hair behind her ear, “—you’re killing me, but I’m trying to do the right thing here. I promised your family I would take this slow.”

“You talked to them about this? About kissing me?” Her face flamed red as his fingers touched her again, so softly.

He nodded. “I had to. I have to do this according to their wishes, Callie. You are too precious to them, and to me, to rush things.”

“I’ve been waiting forever, Davin!”

He chuckled at her youthful impatience. At times he really felt the difference in their ages, but he couldn’t stop his desire for her, no matter what lay between them. They would work through the age difference and in a few years, it wouldn’t really matter. They would both live long, hopefully healthy, Alvian-length lifespans and any age difference would cease to matter beyond their first few decades together.

“Then it would be cruel of me to make you wait any longer.” With an indulgent, yet excited smile he opened his arms and she flew into them. The Hum sounded as his skin touched hers in places.

He moved slowly, savoring the moment of discovery, sliding his cheek over her hair, down her temple, nuzzling her sweet face with his lips and nose. He inhaled her fresh fragrance, stunned by how much her simple, sweet scent turned him on. He kept a small space between their lower bodies, as he’d promised her family he would, but it was just about killing him. He wanted her so badly!

Still, the little taste he would have of her fired his senses as he moved downward, toward his goal. He gave her every opportunity to change her mind, telegraphing his movements as he reached her lips. He moved back momentarily, searching her eyes. He read yearning and hope there, along with a naïve excitement that stirred him so deeply. If it were up to him he would keep her as innocent of fear and fresh as she was now. He would never do anything to destroy that joy in her eyes.

“I’m going to Kiss you now, Callie.”

“Oh, Davin. Hurry up!”

He chuckled, bringing his amusement into their first Kiss as his lips covered hers in a light touch that soon became much more. He’d promised not to take this to the full Embrace, but there was much within the discretion of the Kiss they could enjoy nonetheless. He drew her upper body more closely into his arms as he traced her innocent lips with his tongue.

Her eyes shot open, questioning the sensation but he soon had her relaxing into the feel of his tongue playing over her lips. When she sighed, he slipped within, shocking her yet again. This time, though, she was eager to explore what he could show her, opening her mouth naturally to his exploration. Her tongue tangled with his curiously, sucking lightly as he taught her by example how he liked to be kissed.

His senses were on fire with the taste and feel of her. She was everything he’d imagined and dreamed—and more. She tasted like sunshine and warm honey, unique and special in his otherwise-bleak world. He opened his eyes briefly, turning so he could see what he knew would be happening to the crystal over his shoulder. He had no doubt in his mind now that such pleasure could only be found with one’s true mate.

The crystal shone bright red and swirling orange, enough for him to see with only a quick glance, and he knew her family could see it from the window of the farmhouse where they were no doubt staked out. Thinking of them watching their first real intimacy put a damper on his libido, but he still couldn’t quite let her go. He eased back, kissing her lightly, drawing away when he wanted nothing more than to kiss her for the rest of their lives.

She clung to him as well. He was as gentle as he possibly could be with her. It was there in her eyes how overwhelmed her senses were at that moment and she swayed in his arms as if drunk on the pleasure they’d found together.

“Wow,” she breathed, leaning heavily against his supportive arms.

“I agree.” Davin’s voice was tender, intimate, in her ear. “You are so beautiful to me, Callie. So perfect and lovely.”

Her long eyelashes swept up so she could smile at him. “I feel that. I feel your emotions and they’re…you’re…so amazing, Davin. Why is it I’ve never felt your emotions like this before?”

Harry’s Sacrifice

Bianca D’Arc

Embracing the unexpected can lead to all sorts of adventures.

Resonance Mates, Book 5

The prophesied time has arrived and Harry—born of an alien mother and a human father—must journey to the top of the world to unlock a mysterious ship found trapped in an icy crevasse. A ship only someone of Harry’s bloodline can open.

Roshin, a young Alvian scribe, is sent to record events as they unfold. Beneath her remote, icy beauty, Harry feels an unwanted hum of attraction. He has always dreamed of a warm, giving relationship with a human. Not a cold, emotionless Alvian.

Then there’s Cormac, an Alvian officer sent to head the expedition. When all three are trapped inside the vessel, Harry is confronted with an unexpected dilemma—cling to his dream of a human bond, or answer the call of fate and form a lifelong alliance with not just one, but two aliens.

Warning: Harry’s all grown up and ready for action—with not one but two Alvians. Theirs could be a permanent ménage relationship that will resonate in your heart long after the last page is turned.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.