STORY EXCERPT

Belden held her close even as he lowered her gently to the ground. There was a large gash on her head. Even though it had begun healing, the blood around it triggered the murderous rage to the point he began shaking.

He sensed rather than saw Bryon rise. “If you move one more time, I will rip the hand from your arm that hurt her.”

“You think I am afraid of you, Belden?” The Tritone snorted as he raised to his full height. “You care for that bitch? She is nothing more than a means to an end for me. When I am done with you, I will take her life. It is mine to take, to do with as I see fit. She was promised to me.”

Ja’gar knelt down next to Belden. “I will watch over her. Take care of your business.”

Belden rose then and faced Bryon. He partially shifted into what he knew the humans often referred to as a werewolf. A large, thick mane of his hair spouted on his head neck and shoulders. He let his long sharp canine protrude in a show, not to intimidate but to warn. His claws came to a sharp point, and he shifted his feet into that of a wolf so that he stood even taller in his partially shifted form. He would have better agility and the best of both worlds when he fought.

He did not underestimate that his enemy would be formidable. Bryon’s red eyes seem to glow even brighter. He began to shift as well. Large scales that looked like metal began to appear all over his body. The forefinger on both of his hands stretched out into a fine point, a single clear drop dripped from each of them. Venom. Belden could smell it.

When the Tritone opened his mouth, a row of sharp pointy teeth appeared on the top. Two rows of these teeth appeared at the bottom. Now he could see why the Tritone Army was so formidable. But he wasn’t fighting the army only this bastard. And if he died in the process then so be it.

No. You will die. Her voice came to him soft. He didn’t take his eyes off Bryon.

You are okay, then?

I am well enough. Stay away from the stingers. One of the stingers have a toxin that will paralyze you. The other will deliver venom. It will erode you from the inside out in a matter of minutes.

I am glad you are fine, Mel. But I must take care of Bryon. He must die.

I have no doubt you are the one to bring him death, Belden. But be careful. I want you to come back to me.

I have no other plans, he replied. Then he shut off their pathway. As long as he knew she was fine he could concentrate on killing Bryon.

They circled one another. The other shifters that arrived on the scene gave them both a wide berth. There would be no outside interference. The better, stronger shifter would walk away. Belden was determined that it would be him.

Belden let out a howl as he advanced on the Tritone warrior. Bryon let out a sound that made Belden’s ears want to burst, another fighting tactic from the Tritone. They collided in a mass of muscle, hair, scales, claws and venom.

Melchiorra watched in terror as Belden barely missed the debilitating substance that Bryon seemed intent on delivering. Belden was an intelligent fighter. He always seem to guess just where Bryon would strike next. But Bryon was just as good. Both fighters suffered deep lacerations, blood pouring from them both, and yet they fought.

Belden swiped at the midsection of Bryon, but that was where his scales were the thickest, there and over his heart. However it seemed Belden found a way around this as the swiped in an upward motion, which took his sharp claws under the scales.

Bryon stumbled back, shocked as his stomach lay open. Belden used the Tritone’s distraction to latch his massive jaws onto Belden’s right arm and tore it from his body and spit it out. But just when he was about to do the same to the other arm, Bryon embedded the remaining lance into his side. Belden howled in pain but managed to grab the arm. Melchiorra could hear the sickening sound of Bryon’s arm torn ruthlessly from his body. Belden then yanked the arm now free from his owner to get the finger lance from his body. He threw the arm to the ground. It landed next to the near dead body of Bryon.

Melchiorra rushed to her feet and ran to Belden. Just before she reached him he collapsed to his knees in a motionless heap.

ADULT EXCERPT

Melchiorra felt all the tension in her body melt away. Being with Belden had that effect on her. A brief thought of how she could have lost him mere hours ago sent a pain of panic through her.

I am not going anywhere, he whispered along their True Mate path. But I will always do what is needed to protect what is mine. And you are mine, Melchiorra of the Gilded Clan. His words warmed her and she deepened the kiss.

I have been with no other like I have been with you. You are my first lover. The words almost shamed her.

No one has ever deserved you, Belden replied. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I am honored to be your first, and your last.

He broke the kiss placing little ones on her cheeks, her chin, and her neck. Her body trembled as he kissed and nibbled her neck. “I have to taste you. I love the taste of you,” he whispered in her ear.

His muscled body traveled painfully slow down hers, kissing, licking, and biting her skin. He stopped at her breast, and with each hand he gently squeezed her breast together and laved one nipple, then the other. She could hear a low growl of pleasure as he teased the nipples into hard peaks. He sucked on one then the other, releasing each with a popping sound.

She could feel the liquid heat pool between her legs for him. She rubbed her legs against him, loving the feel of his skin sliding against hers. Lower he climbed still until she could feel his warm breath blowing sensually between her legs. She gasped at the sensation. He used his fingers to reveal the hardened nub. His tongue, deliciously rough, swiped her clit then blew on it. He began to alternated between sucking on it and blowing on it until she felt her head growing dizzy with the need to release the pent-up pleasure.

Command me to make you come. Belden’s voice in her head was silken sexiness. Do it woman, if you want to come.

She’d never said anything like that to anyone. But he was tormenting her in a way that was both exquisite and frustrating. You want to reach your pleasure? Command your True Mate to do it.

Her shyness was being eaten alive by the inferno of desire demanding completion. “Make me come, Mate. Make me come now!” She moaned out loud.

“Finally.” Belden’s voice sounded barely controlled.

Belden wasted no time in climbing back up her body. He used his knees to spread her legs further apart. Melchiorra watched as he grabbed his thick cock in his hand and poised it at the entrance of her pussy. His eyes met hers as if asking if was she sure. “Do it now,” she commanded him in her most authoritative voice. He smiled down at her.

“As you wish Mate.” The last word was barely out of his mouth when he plunged deep inside her. Melchiorra could get no sound out of throat. The pleasure was immense. The way he slid into her, filled her up, every inch and then some.

He pulled out, and just before he was completely out of her, he slammed into her again. She grabbed the cloth on the bed, trying to hold on as her Mate fucked her powerfully. Every thrust made her want to scream as it teased her further up the scale of pleasure.

“Play with those beautiful breasts while I fuck you,” he commanded her. Mel grabbed and kneaded her breast. She licked her forefingers and thumb and tweaked her own nipples as she moaned in pleasure. “You are so beautiful,” he said hoarsely as his tempo picked up. She looked at the hard planes of his abs bunch and release and he continue to piston in and out of her.

The bed began to scratch the floor as it began to travel across the room with every forceful thrust. She wrapped her legs around him, keeping him anchored to her. His golden eyes looked down at her. “I want to see when you reach your pleasure. Don’t look away.”