Savage Sanctuary 2: Panther Moon (4 page)

served over there.”

Tears she’d been holding in for hours balled up tightly in her throat as sorrow

swept her. Her mom, Celia. Her dad. Gone from her life in a breath and there’d been

absolutely nothing she could’ve done to save them. She’d been powerless. Knowing she

couldn’t return to see to their proper burial was devastating. “They’re dead. Both of them. My mom and dad. Oh God!”

Grief manifested in a choked sob that burned her throat. Scalding tears poured from

her eyes and washed down her cheeks as a shaking she could no longer contain swept

her. “Those bastards shot them down. I was useless. Worse than useless!”

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Regina Carlysle

Hudson went still as the sounds of her wild mourning broke the quiet of the night.

She looked so damn small curled in on herself like that. Her shoulders shook with the force of her sorrow. He didn’t know a whole hell of a lot about loss. He’d never been a man who let people close and considering his violent past, it was no wonder. Yet her

emotions swamped him. A knot of sympathy clogged his throat.

Crying women were out of his range of experience, beyond his depth. Nothing

about his life had been soft and sweet. Quite the opposite. He’d been every kind of

badass from the moment of his birth. Black Ops. Mercenary. Soldier. He’d killed

without remorse in pursuit of any cause he’d joined but from the moment he’d inhaled

her scent, he’d known he wanted to touch her and never stop. The shock of her

emotions swept him like an avalanche. Rocked to his heels, he wondered at his reaction to this female. A woman’s emotions were strange to him and male panthers didn’t feel

them.
Unless
.

Hudson went still as shock seared him.

It couldn’t be!

Her scent should have been the first clue but he’d been too busy rushing her off to

safety to think about it. For every male panther, there was only one female. One true mate. The clean, seductive scent of her had sent his pulse rocketing into overdrive from the moment he’d pressed his body to hers on the forest floor.

The sudden knowledge that this female was his mate both thrilled and alarmed

him. Terrified him, too. For a man who’d known little softness, the idea of taking a

woman into his life was more frightening than facing down the most hardened killer.

Yet, for him, it was also a miracle.

He looked at her. Her hands were spread over her face as if she wanted to hide her

tears and his heart turned over, thumping hard. Barefoot, she wore only shorts and a

faded tee shirt that was several sizes too big for her slender body. Her long, blonde 24

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curls were tangled, he suspected, from tonight’s dash through the woods. Jagged

scratches stretched along her legs, crisscrossing like a spider’s web on her fair skin.

He’d deal with the shallow wounds later. They were nothing when compared to

her broken heart. Hudson swallowed. His mouth went dry. Ignoring the way his cock

rose high and hard against his belly, he came up beside her on the couch and drew her into his lap. He went still the moment her hip pressed his aching erection and he closed his eyes to gain control of his animal impulses.

Oh hell yeah, he wanted her like he needed his next breath.

A decent man would at least pull on some jeans.

Fuck decency.

She needed him now.

Wrapping her in his arms, he lowered her face to his chest and ran his hands slowly

over her back. It was long and shapely. He settled his hand in the delicate dip at the base of her spine and felt his senses sizzle at the feel of her warm breath soughing over his chest. Whispering nonsense words into her soft, blonde curls, he let her cry it out.

Knowing she belonged to him in some way made the ache of helplessness burn

deeper, harder.

“Shh,” he whispered. “You’re breakin’ my heart, woman.”

“Hurts.” Her wide, mobile mouth moved over his flesh. The warmth of her breath

sent seductive fingers over limbs and down his torso. Lust curled low in his belly but he fought it back.

“I know, honey.”

Finally she lifted her face and Hudson was lost in a pair of tear-drenched mossy

green eyes. They were swollen but he thought they were the prettiest he’d ever seen. A man could get lost in something so sweet and deep. Her parted lips were full and

utterly irresistible to a man who wore loneliness like a battered winter coat. Unable to 25

Regina Carlysle

stop himself, he cupped her face with one hand and traced the line of her high

cheekbone with his thumb. “Don’t cry. Can’t bear it.”

His gaze focused on her lips. He heard her quick in-drawn breath and felt the

awareness that zipped through her system as if it were his own. “I’m hurting you,” she whispered.

“Your grief hurts me. Yes.”

“Oh my gods! Hudson?” She shook her head as wonder filled her eyes. “You—”

Giving her no time to speculate further, Hudson did what he’d wanted to do from

the moment he’d pinned her to the forest floor. A low, coughing sound burst from his

throat as he took her lips and drank the tiny sound she made. He scraped his teeth over her bottom lip, then slid his tongue across the surface before sending it deep into her warm mouth. She went still for a split second before sinking into him. Her despair was like a living thing, yet there was something more, something needy that drew him.

Hauling her closer, he felt the soft flesh of her breasts. The puckered tips of her nipples pressed against his chest with a heat that burned like a brand. When she opened to him fully, he stroked her tongue, the walls of her cheeks and felt her response burst over him like a softly whispered prayer.

Offering comfort in the only way he could, he traced her cheek and the slim column

of her throat. His hand found her shoulder and he dug his fingers deep to hold her to him. Random emotions swept from her to him, wild things that caused his heartbeat to

speed to a frantic pace. His cock ached to possess her, to plunge deep into the comfort of her body and before he could stop himself, he arched against her hip.

Chantrea broke the kiss and settled her mouth on his shoulder. “This is wrong on

so many levels.”

“Maybe you should stop thinking. Just for a little while. I’m not a man to take

advantage of a grieving woman. Gods! You’re shaking like a leaf. Let me try to help,

Trea.”

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Panther Moon

With a soft sound, she looked up at him, tiny wrinkles forming between her brows.

“How can you know my parents always called me that?” she whispered.

“Trea?” He firmed his lips and settled a hand at the small of her back. Finally he

shook his head, feeling her bewilderment. It matched his own. “Can’t explain it. I just know. It feels right.”

“But I—”

Just then Hudson’s phone rang. Scowling, he snatched it up and glanced at the

screen to see Titus Declan’s name displayed. Quickly, he pressed the button and

answered. “My king.”

She went still in his arms and he felt her tension as if it were his own. As he listened to the words of the King of the Turquoise Moon panthers, Hudson ran one hand

soothingly down Trea’s arm. After a moment, her body relaxed on an exhaled breath.

“Something has happened,” Titus said. “Kevin just called about a truck stranded

near the entrance to the compound. Want to update me?”

“Yeah. I found a woman running through the woods with a couple of hunters hot

on her heels. She’s one of us. Her parents were just killed and she came here for

sanctuary.”

Silence fell for a moment. “Mahara and I are on our way. We need to speak with

her.”

“Can this possibly wait until morning, my king? Chantrea is exhausted and she’s

already been through so much tonight.”

“Right. Thoughtless of me,” Titus murmured. “Tomorrow morning then.”

Hudson set the phone aside. Trea looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes and

smiled shakily. “Thank you.”

He swept her tangled hair back then pressed a kiss to her forehead. Compassion

swamped him. “Come on. Let’s get you settled in for the night. How does that sound?

Tomorrow is going to be busy and I think maybe you need some time to decompress.

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Regina Carlysle

Just lean on me. I’ll take care of everything.” With that, he stood, still holding her in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

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Panther Moon

The instant Hudson walked into the bathroom adjoining the master bedroom and

sat her carefully on the lid of the toilet, she looked around. “Pretty,” she whispered, taking it all in. “So big.”

Hoping to lighten the mood, he reached into a cabinet to find cotton pads and

antiseptic and smiled at her. Admittedly dealing with grief-stricken females was out of his element, so Hudson gratefully grasped at straws. “I like my creature comforts.”

Though his home was modest by the standards of most wealthy men, he was proud

of the place he’d built. Over the many long years of his life he, like most of his species, had amassed and lost fortunes. Eventually he’d built a home on the compound

property in the hopes he’d one day raise a family here. The tiled bathroom was

spacious, featuring plants in the etched glass windows. All done in neutral, male-

pleasing tones. He’d ensured the tub was as large as a small boat and the single glass-enclosed shower featured every amenity. Near the toilet was a countertop featuring a

sink with two basins.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bathroom quite this big before.”

“Hey, I’m a big guy,” he said, setting the medicine on the cabinet before heading to

the far end of the enormous bathroom to start water in the bathtub. Returning to her, he hunkered down and reached for her hands, which were held limply in her lap. Hudson

sent his thumbs over the backs of them, marveling at the softness of her skin. Her flesh was warm, bordering on hot. “I want you to feel at home here. Tell me, please, if you need anything.” Concentrating on the task at hand, he reached for the medicine and

cotton pads and went to work on the network of scratches on her legs. Frowning over

his task, he noted a particularly nasty one that stretched from her ankle, across her calf, 29

Regina Carlysle

and ended at the sensitive bend of her knee. “This might sting a little. Deep breath, sweetheart.”

The endearment whispered out before he could stop it but she didn’t comment as

he swiped the medicine-soaked pad over the wound. She gasped at the burn and

quickly he blew a breath over it to soothe her. Unbelievably, the scratch healed itself in an instant and his eyes went wide. Snapping his gaze upward, he looked at her. “I

thought you were unmated.”

“I am. I’m just—”

“Dear gods,” he said, shocked at the sandpaper rough quality of his own voice.

“You are nearing your time. How long have you felt the changes coming over you?”

Among their kind, a female nearing her time of change would begin to notice things

like poor vision suddenly repaired and injuries that were quick to heal. Those changes sent up red flags to a woman of their species that she’d better hurry and find a mate or face a world of hurt. The conversion from human to panther was violent and sometimes

deadly.

Trea’s fair skin flushed, bright color splashing over her cheeks. “For a month or

more.” She looked away, her embarrassment painfully obvious. Hudson’s heart turned

over. Placing a finger on her chin, he gently turned her face and stared intently into her eyes. “Do not be ashamed of this. Not with me. What you are going through is natural

to our kind.”

A pained look was stamped on her pretty face and then she swept her eyes down

his naked body. His cock responded, hardening, to rise high against his belly as she

studied him. Hudson wanted nothing more in that moment then to lay her down on the

cold marble floors and fuck her as he wanted. And not just any woman would do. He

wanted
her
. Her scent, her beauty, everything about her called to him on an elemental level he’d never experienced before. Hudson stood, ignoring the way her eyes drank in the sight of his nude body. Clasping her shoulders, he pulled her up and stalked to the 30

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tub. Steam rolled from the surface of the water and being a cautious man, he drew his hand through it to test it. It wouldn’t do to have her tender skin burned.

Hudson shook his head. What the fuck was wrong with him? He was suddenly as

sappy as a lovesick pup and he barely knew the woman who sat quietly watching him.

Shit! But he knew enough.

She was his.

He’d waited hundreds of years to find his one, true mate and here she was. He

wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers. Turning, forcing a smile to his face, he walked up to her. “Can you manage from here? A nice soak will help, I promise. Do

you need some help?”

Hudson wanted nothing more than to yank that huge tee shirt from her body and

shove those skimpy shorts from her hips to strip her bare, but damn it, he wasn’t a

creep. She was scared, traumatized and downright shocky. If he had his way about

things, he’d claim her and protect her from this moment on but it was too soon to act on that now. She needed to heal. To accept.

“I-I can do it,” she said as she made her way across the room to the tub. Trea looked up at him and smiled. “You’ve been so kind. I don’t know how to thank you.”

Unable to stop himself, Hudson leaned close and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“No thanks necessary. I’ll be just outside if you need anything.”