Protector: The Elect, Book 1 (15 page)

His lips touched her skin and she gasped as he suckled it. “Whatever I say, whenever I say it.”

She didn’t know if she could go for that, but she was intrigued enough to let him go on. “And two, while I’m here, you’re mine. I don’t share.” The last ended on a growl. That was fine with her. She knew she wasn’t ever going to be able to look at another man. What gave her pause was the implication he’d go on to other women, but she forced the savage jealousy away. She didn’t want a mate after all. She had enough problems.

“Oh…” His teeth nipped at the vein pulsing in her neck. “Okay.”

Kiss your powers goodbye.

Temptress

© 2012 Lola Dodge

Kidnapping a super-powered suspected felon from a Vegas bachelor party is another day at the office for Jenny Ray, alias Temptress. With one kiss, any naughty supe’s powers are hers. Except this time she’s caught by her mark’s boss, who’s no ordinary superhero.
 

It’s Thinktank, leader of the toughest hero crew around. One destroyed men’s room and near-toilet-drowning later, Jenny’s forced to steal an innocent hero’s powers.
 

For a super brain, Tank’s feeling pretty idiotic. First, he let Jenny close enough to get to him. Second, he’s helpless against the tide of desire that rises in him every time he kisses her. Which he’s doing a lot, since she’s trying to give him back his power—only it’s not working. As he shadows her on her various freelance casino security jobs, he realizes she’s no she-demon—she’s a time bomb. Her acquired powers are shredding her, body and soul.
 

As they give in to desire, a shadowy figure from Jenny’s past surfaces with a kidnapping plan of his own. Jenny will do anything—even level Las Vegas—to rescue the man she loves. But there may not be anything left of her when the dust settles.
 

Warning: Contains high-stakes poker, high-end cocktails, and high-flying over Las Vegas skies. Never drink and fly!

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Temptress:

Jenny slumped in my arms. That she’d even been able to stand was a miracle.

No. She was that tough. I tucked her against me, shielding her from the growing crowd. She was also insane.

Steve pushed through with more of the security team. “You’ve got her?”

“I’ll take care of her. Can you deal with that?” I nodded toward the baggage cart.

“We’ll figure it out.” Steve elbowed a path to the curb and waved down a cab. “You two get out of here.”

I ducked inside, careful not to jostle Jenny. She looked half-dead.

“Where to?” The cabbie glanced back, but either didn’t notice anything unusual or didn’t care. It was Vegas.

Part of me wanted to say the closest hospital, but Jenny was right. They wouldn’t be able to help her. “The Palms.”

We pulled out as the first news van pulled in. I ducked my head, which brought me closer to her. She smelled like an unholy combination of sulfur and cherry blossoms. Ragged burns scored her arms and dark circles nested under her eyes.

I moved curls away from her face. So soft and defenseless in sleep, it was hard to imagine the firepower Jenny held. Or that anyone could carry so many abilities.

The last moments of the fight had been a spectacle—the tip of an unimaginable iceberg. She could’ve fried me instead of taking my powers.

I couldn’t understand her, and I doubted mind-reading would crack the girl. She breezed into a four-on-one with no plan, no backup and the swagger of a heavyweight champ. She could afford the attitude with that arsenal, but it was no way to live. How many times had she been sent home to an empty penthouse wounded like this?

She needed handlers, or a support staff. Other heroes.

That was the part that made me want to kick a hole through the bottom of the cab. Jenny didn’t want to be a hero. She could change the world if she wasn’t so stubbornly committed to her life in the shadows. She didn’t have to suffer like this. At the very least, she didn’t have to suffer alone.

We rolled to a stop in front of the Palms, and I tried to reach for my wallet without jostling her.

The curbside door flew open. “Jenny?” Seth stuck his head in. The worry left his face as soon as he turned to me. “Is she okay?”

“I’ve got her.” I slid out of the car. “Can you take care of this? My hands are full.”

The cabbie shouted as I walked away. Seth shot me another glare, but leaned through the window to take care of the fare. He’d follow us like a puppy if I let him.

It was quieter on the casino floor, but not deserted. We might’ve passed for an average guy carrying his drunken girlfriend home, but I was too recognizable and Jenny’s arms looked like raw meat. The people who noticed us glared like I was the bad guy. Wasn’t used to that.

As far as I could tell, we made it to her penthouse without anyone calling the cops. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t, especially if I had to kick down the door. I’d never seen a keycard. Jenny stirred in my arms, her lids opening.

“Your key?”

She groaned, and her arm slipped off her chest. Her fingertip touched the key plate.
Click.
The green light flashed.

What couldn’t she do?

As I resettled her to grab the door handle, Jenny scrunched her eyes, letting loose a soft sound of pain. It was her first complaint, which was impressive for anyone who looked that ragged.

I eased her onto her bed and wondered if I should change her into more comfortable clothes. No. She’d just get pissed when she came to. First priority was treating her wounds. I moved into the bathroom in search of bandaging.

The cabinet under the sink was an addict’s dream. I wished I had my power to count the bottles, but I almost didn’t want to know. This shit wasn’t aspirin.

Vicodin. Oxycontin. Calcitonin. That one was for amputees.

Only the closest bottles were for pain. The girl had medicated ointments and eye drops, antibiotics and cases of needles and syringes. Even suturing thread.

What the hell was she doing to herself?

I grabbed bandages and burn cream. She didn’t stir as I wrapped her arms. She probably needed more treatment—a bruise formed on her chin, and her nose was still swollen from earlier—but mostly she needed rest. As I spread a blanket over her, I looked closer. Despite the dark circles, with those long lashes and cherry lips she couldn’t look anything but beautiful.

I wanted to kiss her.

To get my powers back.

I wanted to kiss her to get my powers back.

At least that was what I should’ve been thinking. I backed away and flicked off the light. If I didn’t keep it together, this girl would own me. She already had my powers. I couldn’t afford to give her more.

Kidnapping and bondage are no way to win a girl. Well, actually…

Gone with the Monster

© 2009 Lila Dubois

Monsters in Hollywood, Book 3

Runako has good reason to distrust humans. His sister’s murder taught him it’s safer to keep his Monster form under wraps. Now comes word that a woman is making a movie that will supposedly “help” his people. He’s not sure about that, but one thing
is
sure…Margo is too beautiful to be ignored.

Presented with the opportunity to use his people’s Captive Caves—a secluded mountain fortress designed to hold hapless, tasty humans prisoner—Runako knows exactly whom he wants to star in his ultimate fantasy.

Margo knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. At least where her career is concerned. Runako is just the kind of bad boy with whom she’d like to heat up her nights. In a land of skinny blondes, though, a hottie like him would never notice her lush, Latin curves.

No one is more surprised when she finds out his version of “wooing” includes kidnapping. Forced to stand before him in chains, her paper-thin confidence is burning up fast in the heat of his desire. And when it turns out she can identify his sister’s murderers, they both must decide where their loyalties lie…

Warning:
 
This title contains light bondage, spanking, anal play, sex with a Monster and misuse of home décor.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Gone with the Monster:

The past few months had been surreal. She could clearly remember the day Lena had called them over to her apartment and told them that they were about to see something amazing. Lena had brought out Luke, who, along with his friends Michael and Henry, had shown up at Calypso Productions one day, looking for a movie deal. They—Margo and the other girls who owned Calypso—had dismissed them—assuming they were pretty-boys looking to make it in Hollywood—but Lena had gone to dinner with Luke.

Margo had known that Lena was taking Luke out solely because she thought he was hot. Luke was hot, no doubt about it, but Margo hadn’t worried. Calypso Productions was their baby. Lena, Jane, Cali, Akta and herself had started the production company a couple years after they graduated from Cinema School. They’d gone their separate ways after college, while remaining friends, and when they reached the appropriate levels in their respective fields they’d all quit their jobs and thrown everything they had into the company.

Because of that, Margo knew Lena wouldn’t be swayed by a pretty face and drag Calypso into a go-nowhere project. She’d been surprised when Lena called them over and said Luke had something to show them. But then Luke had turned from a hot Native American guy into an eight-foot-tall Monster with bat wings and horns.

Lena had explained what they needed—a movie so awesome it would catch the imagination of the world and change popular opinion about monsters. The Monsters could not stay in hiding much longer. The world was shrinking and Monster-human confrontations were growing more frequent. Luke and his friends hoped to avoid a war, by first revealing the truth about Monsters to the humans in the form of a movie. Once the movie was a worldwide success they would reveal that the movie was fact not fiction.

Runako had been the bad guy, though he had been quickly won over to their side.

She remembered the way she’d first seen Runako. He’d been battling with Luke, both of them in their Monster bodies. There’d been something savage in their battle, a kind of primal beauty, like lions ripping at each other. And when the fight was done the terrifying blue-winged monster turned into one of the hottest black guys Margo had ever seen.

This was ridiculous. Runako couldn’t just…kidnap her. She had work to do, work to do that would benefit him.

“Runako. Come here.”

Runako, wearing only slacks, appeared. In the flickering firelight Margo could just make out the dark band of tattoos around his right bicep. The tattoo was actually a manifestation of the spell that allowed him to flip back and forth between bodies.

“Are you ready?” he asked, voice like whiskey and velvet.

“I’m ready to go home.”

“I’m not returning you.”

“You have to.”

“Why?” Runako stalked forward again. “Why do I have to?”

“Because I said so. Because I asked you to.”

“You can go if you can get away,” he said with a savage smile.

“That’s…that’s barbaric.” The calm Margo had found during her wait disappeared. “This is felony kidnapping. You have to take me home.”

Runako leapt across the cave and planted his hands on either side of her. “Make. Me.”

Margo kissed him again. This was not going according to plan. The kiss was probably a mistake.

But what a mistake it was. Runako cupped the back of her head and savaged her mouth, sucking her lower lip into his mouth and biting it. Margo jerked back, gasping for air, and Runako kissed and nipped his way down her neck.

“Ahh, yes, now right behind my ear.
Madre de Dios.
Oh that’s good.”

“You talk,” he said, kissing his way across her jaw to take her lips. “I like it,” he murmured before taking her lips in a ravaging kiss.

Margo slid her hands along his chest and belly. He was
cut
. Physical male perfection. She jerked her lips from his and tilted her head back. Runako took the hint and paid attention to her neck. Margo shuddered in pleasure when he licked the spot below her ear.

“You are so hot,” she murmured, running her fingers over his muscled shoulders to his equally muscled back. His shoulders were wide and strong. She actually felt petite next to him.

“And you. I want to see you naked.”

Margo blinked. Reality came crashing back. “Oh no. I don’t think so.”

Runako groaned but let her push him away. “What now?”

“There is no way I am letting you see me naked. You’re like a Calvin Klein underwear model, but hotter, and I’m like…I’m like a partially deflated Big-O Tires balloon.”

Runako stared at her. “I did not understand any of that.”

“You are hot. I am fat.”

Runako looked at her, and Margo became instantly aware of the fact that the way she was sitting caused her belly to bulge unattractively. She tried to suck it in, but that made it worse.