Mating Fever by Susan Hayes
Carnage
Carnage traveled thousands of miles in a matter of minutes. The pull of his target’s scent made tracking her almost too easy. She was a beacon in the darkness, and he closed in on her faster than he had ever tracked anyone else. There was something different about her. Something that drew him in and had his hound fighting to slip its leash and run.
He followed the trail to an all-night diner, then backtracked a mile or so before materializing on a quiet stretch of road. He would travel the rest of the way by more conventional means. There were humans around, and materializing out of thin air always attracted too much attention. He checked his weapons and summoned his mount from the ether. His ride was a gleaming chrome and steel steed that had long ago replaced the horses he and his kind had once ridden. In a moment of sadistic humor, Luc had infused each Hound’s motorcycle with the life force of his horse, leaving them to deal with the challenges of having a sentient mount that could travel over two hundred miles per hour and stop on a whim. It was a good thing the Devil had also made his henchmen damned near impossible to kill.
His prey was standing outside by the time he parked the bike, her entire body bristling with tension as she watched him dismount. Her black hair was tied back in some sort of elaborate braid, and she was dressed to fight, from her black combat boots to the red and black leather coat that swirled around her calves.
Her scent saturated the air between them, making his entire body ache with need. Between the hard throb of his cock and the howling protests of his hound, Car was fighting hard to keep control over his own damned body.
I need to get my shit together before I get my ass kicked by a girl.
Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten. Every step he took brought him closer, revealing more details about the woman he had been sent to retrieve. The photo Luc gave him didn’t do her justice. In person, she was gorgeous and far more dangerous. Everything about her screamed of violence, from the hard set of her jaw to the wary gleam of her stunning blue eyes.
“Hello, Leta.”
“How do you know my name,” she demanded. “And what the hell are you? I’ve never sensed anything like you before.”
“Me? I’m something special, just like you are. And I know your name because you’re my mission. One I plan on wrapping up in the next few minutes.” He kept walking, closing the distance between them at a steady pace.
“You’re mistaken. I’m not anyone’s mission.” She fluttered her lashes at him in coy flirtation, but there was ice in her eyes as she did it. “I’m just a sweet lil’ girl trying to get along in the big, bad world. Whoever sent you, they’re going to be disappointed. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Car was impressed. It wasn’t often he met someone who stood up to him without the slightest hint of fear. The beauty in front of him was angry and defiant, but those were the only emotions he could read.
She shifted her weight, making it appear she was about to take a step backward, but instead of moving away, she lunged toward him, lashing out with a wicked looking blade that hadn’t been in her hand a second ago.
He deflected her first attack with ease, but while he was focused on her knife hand, she managed to whip herself around into a spinning kick that slammed into his jaw with surprising force. Stars exploded behind his eyes, and it took him a moment to get his bearings again. Those precious seconds were all the time she needed for his pretty little prey to regain her feet and dance back out of reach once more.
“Sweet cheeks, I’ll answer all your questions once you stop trying to fight me. I don’t want to hurt you, but you are coming with me, one way or another.”
She snorted with laughter. “Like hell I am. I’m staying right here, and once I’m done with you, I’m going to go back inside and finish my dessert. You’re standing between a woman and her chocolate right now. Trust me, that’s not a good place to be.”
“As much as I hate the idea of depriving you of your sugar rush, I’m going to have to insist.” Car pointed to his bike without taking his eyes off of her. “You sure you don’t want to do this the easy way?”
“I’m positive. But hey, points for actually asking me nicely. No one’s ever tried that approach before.” She held the knife out in front of her, her movements inhumanly graceful as she made the blade bob and weave in an almost hypnotic dance. “You’re not human, and that means I can’t trust you. You’re like all the others. You’re here to hurt me because of what I am.
He tore his gaze from the dancing blade to look her in the eyes. “Trust has nothing to do with it. You are coming with me. The only question is whether you’re going to make the trip as is, or slightly battered, bound, and gagged.” His cock twitched at the image of her trussed up and laid out before him like a sinful feast. Oh, the things he wanted to do to her…. If she only knew, she would be running like a rabbit instead of trying to skewer him.
