Temptation Rising (43 page)

She was still tied up so escape wasn’t going to be easy. The disgusting gag was thankfully gone, left on the floor in the first hut where Sabar had thrown it. And they’d taken the blindfold off, probably figuring she couldn’t see much. But her cat could see everything. If she could just get outside, she could figure out her exact location, shift, and go home. Or she could just shift.

The idea had come to her many times since they’d taken her. Shift into a jaguar, kill her assailants, and call it a day. Then what? The bodies would be found; autopsies would prove a vicious predator had taken their lives. Humans would be outraged and pour into the forest looking to shoot anything on four legs. It would be like leading the lamb to slaughter, something she would never do to her people.

But she would escape, there was no way in hell Sabar Tavares would have the satisfaction of killing her. That’s what she assumed this was all about. After all, killing was what Sabar was best known for.

Closing her eyes to that thought, Ary let her head fall back against the rickety wall, felt spears of loose wood sticking into her scalp but didn’t care. She needed to think, needed to figure out what to do.

Only when her eyes closed, the one thing Ary saw, the single person appearing in her mind wasn’t Sabar or her other two captors. It was Nick. The only man to hold her and her heart captive and live to tell about it.

About the Author

A. C. Arthur was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where she currently lives with her husband and three children. An active imagination and a love for reading encouraged her to begin writing in high school and she hasn’t stopped since. Her debut novel,
Object of His Desire
, was written when a picture of an Italian villa sparked the idea of an African-American/Italian hero. Determined to bring a new edge to romance, she continues to develop intriguing plots, sensual love scenes, racy characters, and fresh dialogue—thus keeping the readers on their toes!

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

TEMPTATION RISING

Copyright © 2012 by A. C. Arthur.

Excerpt from
Seduction’s Shift
copyright © 2012 by A. C. Arthur.

All rights reserved.

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eISBN: 9781466801448

St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / April 2012

St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.