Romance Excerpts

Mafia Romance

I jumped down to the rocks and climbed up toward the shore, another hailstorm of gunfire came raining down. I was completely exposed. I fell to the rock-covered ground, my knees scraping against the rough terrain, my clothes completely soaked. I fought against the incoming waves that were now not only crashing against the rocks, but me. I panted and heaved as I forced myself up the shoreline and toward my Boss, Dimitri.

I knew he’d be under most of the fire; but I had no choice but to jump down off from the dock.

I was cornered.

At least twelve men surrounded me.

And it was just the two of us.

I growled as I fought through the pounding water. I had to get to him. He wasn’t just my boss. Like in the employee sense.

He was the Crime Boss of one of the biggest and influential crime families in New York City.

The Bonannos.

I was his head capo, and I was sure as hell earning the title.

In the last twenty-four hours, I’d been stabbed three times and shot twice. And by the sound of things, I could easily get pricked again by something.

I just hoped Mia wasn’t right.

I hoped I wasn’t about to meet my maker.

I heard Dimitri scream out, even over the waves, as I hurried down the shoreline, hoping I could use the dock above me for cover and shoot my way as I climbed up the rocks to higher ground.

I threw myself up the bank, the cold air nipping at my body, my lips trembling as my body shivered with fury. My legs ached from how badly I’d been battered.

I jumped again, trying to fling myself up higher and away from the waves that kept pulling me down.

The weight of my soaked clothes were heavy and I screamed in agonizing strain as I tried to fling myself up the jagged rocks with them pulling me down.

When I finally reached the top, my eyes widened in horror as I saw Dimitri shooting haphazardly into the darkness.

He couldn’t see them.

It was obvious from the fact that he wasn’t shooting a goddamn one of them. He was the best shot I’d ever met – and the fact that the shots continued from the other side, meant one thing. He wasn’t shooting anyone.

“Get down!” I yelled to him. “Get down now!”
Now that I was on the docks, I could hear more than just waves crashing against rock.

But what I heard wasn’t comforting.

It was the sound of sirens.

A lot of them.

We were about to get pinched or killed.

One of the two.

And I had to figure out a way to prevent both.

I wanted to kick my own ass. Dimitri purposely hadn’t brought his right hand man, Enzo, because he was letting me prove myself and my worth to him. The fact that I’d led these bastards here made me wonder if I’d have been better off a foot soldier for the rest of my life; or if I should have just turned my 1911 barrel side to my own temple months ago.

At least then Dimitri wouldn’t be in danger.

At least then the whole damn Bonanno reign might not be so goddamned uncertain.

Had I not been careful about a tail?

Had I not been careful about everything?

How had they known we were at the docks? Had I been that negligent?

Was I losing my touch? Had Mia caused me to be useless at all this?

I grimaced as another round of gunshots assaulted my ears.

I ran in zig-zag patterns shooting at the general direction of gunfire as I pounded my way over to him.

But the truth was, I was like him – blind.

They were all around us in the night.

I heard footsteps thunder all around, and ignited fire blasts were popping off all around me – including even higher, from the fish market.

Our fucking fish market.

I was basically a sitting fucking duck as I ran to him.

“Don’t be stupid!” I heard Dimitri scream as he pulled himself under a truck, gunfire still blasting from his Glock.

I shot a few men down as red and blue lights started to shine out from the distance, the cop car tires crunching heatedly against the gravel as the police flew down to the docks. It was only a matter of time.

My body heaved against the truck Dimitri had just pulled himself underneath for cover. As far as I knew, it was just a random truck. One that so happened to be there. Probably some poor nightman that had been cleaning up, I couldn’t help but think. I could only hope he was safe inside – or had left with another person.

My chest rose and fell with intensity as my breath raggedly came out in heated bursts. I felt like I was going to collapse as I gripped my gun tighter. I had to figure out how to get out of this.

Dimitri had been shot.

I was worse for the wear.

There were Lucchese all around. Those mongrel bastards.

And cops were going to be a great addition in the next minute.

The shots had ceased.

For now at least.

Just as I peered over and around the vehicle, the sound of screeching tires echoed through the air.

Were they leaving?

But as soon as I questioned, sirens whirled all around me. I pulled myself underneath the truck to a bleeding Dimitri.

“Shit!” I screeched, as I crawled over to him, ignoring the slamming doors and barreling footsteps. From the yelling, I could tell a few stray Lecchese were being pinched.

I just hoped they wouldn’t find us where we were.

Dimitri had been struck in the side, his breath labored, blood pooling as he tried his best to grip the wound. I could tell he was getting weak. Blood rushed from my cheeks and I grew light-headed.

Panicked, I ripped my shirt off, my head shooting from Dimitri to the feet stomping all around us. He was ok. Cool as a cucumber as usual, but I wasn’t.

I was going to be the reason that the head of our family died.

It had to have been me.

I had to have fucked up.

I had to have not realized they were tailing me.

I dragged his large, brutish form closer to me into the middle.

I couldn’t risk the cops seeing us, or worse, being shot again by a stray Lecchese just hoping to kill the Bonanno crime boss for clout before he was arrested.

I applied pressure to his side with my wadded up my black shirt. “Stay with me!” I hissed out to him, hoping to keep him focused on me, while still remaining quiet enough that the cops wouldn’t hear us.

I heard police officers shouting just twenty feet or so from the truck. I could see from underneath that their doors were open and their guns fired frantically. I assumed it was more Lucchese and I wondered how many of them actually got away, and how many just started off on foot. More gunfire sounded out from up above, near the fish market but only for a moment.

Eventually it all went quiet except the mad footsteps of officers swarming around us.

Dimitri was losing a lot of blood.

And fast.

And the worst of it was I had no fucking idea how to get him out of here before he bled out without getting him pinched in the process.

For several breaths, Dimitri’s lungs filled with blood. I was getting worried. “Dimitri, breathe slowly!” I hissed out.

The sound of footsteps approaching were becoming deafening and I knew I had to leave soon.

“Put this here!” I demanded. “Hold it as firmly as you can. I’m drawing them away…” My voice was hoarse as I whispered to him.

“Where are you going?!” He demanded, his grip weak as he grabbed hold of me. “Don’t leave!”

I looked at him, and for the first time ever, Dimitri Esposito was scared.

And in that moment, I, Max Betrami, was scared too – because I had to make the hardest decision I had ever made.

I left.

When I found an opening, I scurried out, quickly and crawled to a nearby police car before slapping it to draw attention to myself, and then with more adrenaline and force than I’d ever done before, I ran.

As hard and as fast as my feet could carry me.

I ignored the police officers screams of “Freeze!” and I blasted my gun into the air. “Come and get me, coppers!” I bellowed into the night, moving quickly to the fish market.

I left them in my wake, climbing up step after step. I heard them, tailing behind me, but fortunately for me – I was quick.

My feet pounded the pavement as hard as I could as I ran toward the market. Every step I took was labored and my body ached with each and every one. I had my gun out, ready to fire again as needed, but hoped I wouldn’t have to.

I never liked taking out cops.

But I had to draw them away from Dimitri.

I had to get him clear if he had any chance to survive.

I opened my phone and dialed Enzo as I ran into the building. “Dimitri is under a red truck at the shipyard. I’m running on foot to the market. There’s cops everywhere and I’m drawing as many of the bastards away as I can. He’s been hit! Don’t wait for me!”

I’d never found it more difficult to speak into my phone as I had in that moment. Emotions flew as tears streaked my cheeks and the air caught in my throat as I continued to run with everything I was worth.

I knew that I could run faster than the police. I had trained for moments just like this – but it was a whole different scenario than I had ever imagined with Dimitri being hit, left to bleed out under some random truck.

I never imagined being the reason the great Dimitri Esposito was killed.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I just hoped I was able to give the Bonannos enough of an opening so that Enzo could get him out and to safety.

I was shirtless as I flew through the plastic drapes and pulled up one of the grates to the vent system. I knew I could go back a ways - but it would be too narrow to climb all the way through like in the movies.

I needed to find a place to wait them out.

Just a place with enough coverage that I could stall.

The clattering of tables and chairs being scooted frantically across the floor as soon as I climbed through the grate and fastened it shut meant someone was close behind.

What I wasn’t so sure of – was who it was…

Lucchese or the police.

Whoever it was, I sure as hell didn’t want them to find me.

I hunkered back as far as I could, hoping they wouldn’t look in the vent. But as soon as I finished the thought, I saw fingers claw through the holes of the grate and jerk it open.

I felt a hand tighten around my neck and yank me from my far-too-temporary sanctuary and when he pulled me out, I quickly realized he wasn’t a cop.

He was, in fact, a Lucchese.

He smirked at me, evilly, but my breath quickened. Not because I was afraid of him, but because I was anxious with the police.

Where the hell were they if he had gotten in here?

Were they on my tail?

Was Dimitri clear?

The guy hovered over me, a Glock in one hand and a knife in the other. His eyes were dark, his grin pure evil as glimmers of gold teeth shined out at me. He wasn’t Italian.

He was very much white.

Paled skin.

With a goatee and a scowl permanently plastered on his face.

I knew this man.

His government name was Howard Kian.

His mobster name was Howie the Hammer.

He always brought a hammer with him. Strapped to his belt. He would always either shoot you or cut you until you were a brink away from death, and then he’d bludgeon you the rest of the way with a hammer.

It was his trademark.

I always just referred to him as Howie the fucking psycho.

The blade of the knife glimmered in through the dim light and the sharp edge of it immediately grazed my chin. But I didn’t sway. I clenched my jaw. “Do it, Asshole,” I growled and just as his shoulder rose and his blade dug deeper into my chin, a spray of glass flew down at us from above and SWAT ropes dropped from the ceiling.

The cops were coming in through the fucking roof!

Howie swept me under his big bulky arms and dashed underneath the stairs with me in tow. The guy was a fucking mammoth of a man; and something told me he was extremely pissed about me killing his brother yesterday…

He smelled of blood and sweat and suddenly a searing pain blasted through my shoulder.

“Fuck!” Howie screamed in agony, but his voice was strangled – followed by a liquid gurgling.

It wasn’t until he dropped me that I realized the pain in my shoulder was from a bullet that had gone through his throat.

“Shit…” I muttered.

I hated the guy but he was clearly suffering.

Gasping for air.

But I didn’t have time to worry about it. Men dropped down from the ceiling. “Freeze!” I heard over the helicopter blades whirling above the glass top ceiling of the market.

This was it.

I was caught.

I felt defeated as I fell to my knees, my hands lifted into the air.

I just hoped Dimitri had someway – somehow gotten out.

Mia was right…

I really was going to wind up pinched or killed.

I fucking hated that she was right.

***

Together we rolled our hips, rowing together like we were paddling a canoe over the waterfall of our shared climax. Her walls clenched around my pulsating girth and together we screamed in one final blast of pleasure.

This was what we could agree on.

One of the only things.

I rolled off of her, and immediately I missed the closeness, but I couldn’t let her know that.

If she knew that I was for a moment entranced by her, she would try again to get me to leave the Bonannos.

And I couldn’t do that.

I wouldn’t do it.

This was my family.

My only family.

“You know Viola quit…” she said. “You can, too…”

I shook my head. “Viola’s departure from the family is different from mine. I chose to be in the mob. I joined. You have no idea what I had to do to get here…”

“What and you’re saying because Viola was born into it, it was just easy for her?”

I growled, angrily.

“That’s not what I’m saying!” I snapped.

She had a way of really pissing me off.

The difference between me and Viola – the princess of the Bonannos – was the fact that she never had a choice. There was no induction into the mob and made to go through crazy initiations. She was just in it. From birth.

She was forced into it – and also, in my opinion, had an upperhand by not having to go through what I did. Sure she had to do shit she didn’t want to do sometimes; shit that rocked her morality to the core…But she grew up in the mob. Her morality had never been molded into a normal one. She didn’t have to initiate. She didn’t have to completely change everything she had ever believed in.

I grew up in a Christian household.

I had to completely change everything about myself to be inducted into the Bonanno family. I had to stain my hands with blood and face the nightmares of it every day since. I had grown bonds stronger than any bonds I’d ever grown before becoming a mobster.

I wasn’t going back.

I wasn’t turning my back on them.

No matter what I felt for Mia.

No matter what she felt for me.

Viola was my best friend. And Mia was hers. She was how the two of us met. And she decided when she fell in love that she was going to leave the family behind and make a new way – a new life.

All that rose-colored shit wasn’t for me.

I was Max Betrami.

Mobster extraordinaire.

I was one of the highest ranked capos in the business – in line to become Don myself if something should happen to Dimitri and his right hand man, Enzo.

Not that I hoped for either of them to fall from grace.

But the fact that I was even in the running was something to be proud of. There was no way I would have ever turned my back on them – especially not for some fling. And that was all this with Mia was – and all it could ever be.

“What are you saying then Max?” she asked, flinging herself up off the bed and haphazardly tossing her clothes on.

I sighed, heavily, already bothered by the dramatics. I leaned further back, placing my arms behind my head and also covering my ears. I smirked, hoping to piss her off enough that she’d just storm off.

“You’re just going to stay in and get yourself killed or arrested?!” she squealed as she continued getting dressed. “And are you just going to lay there and not listen to me?!”

“Listen,” I said exasperatedly. “If I wanted someone to nag me, I would put a ring on it. Get the fuck out if you don’t like who I am; because I’m sorry if you forgot, but you knew exactly what you were getting into when you let me fuck you.”

I visibly watched as her face grew red with anger and her eyes narrowed into slits.

***********************************************************************************************************

There’s a war going on. I’m supposed to be shaken up by it, but I won’t be. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the give-a-damn, either. When you get older, there’s a certain trait that sort of leaves you. Well, maybe it doesn’t leave you as much as if you just chuck it off to the side and watch as it burns. It’s the exact same trait that makes you give a flying shit about anything. And I’m done worrying about things I can’t control …and about the way people think of me.

I don’t have time to worry about what other people are doing.

I’ve got enough of my own shit to deal with.

Chicago used to only have one family — known as the Outfit — but years ago the Morino and Lorenzo families formed, and off of them, came a whole lot more families vying for a slice of the pie.

The only difference?

These families are nothing but thugs begging for control.

They aren’t real families.

Just a bunch of idiots getting together for a payday and calling themselves families for more clout.

There's no team among them.

There’s no loyalty.

There’s no honor.

That’s one of the many reasons that none of them bother me. To me, it’s just business as usual. It has to be. There’s no way a bunch of wannabe gangsters are going to do anything to hurt me or my empire.

“So, what do we need to do?” Luigi, my new right hand man, asks as he leans across the card table.

I shrug. “We keep doing what we always do,” I say. “It’s business as usual. They can’t hurt us.”

After all, what choice do we have?

I have two families to run. I don’t have time to think about what-ifs.

***

Up until it happens to you, you don’t even think it’s possible. It’s the kind of thing you just hear rumors about. It’s something you pity, but at the end of the day, you’re actually just thankful it happened to them instead of you.

You just end up being happy that your shit show of a life isn’t as bad as their shitshow of a life.

But what if, that one time, it is you?

I let my head rest against the wall for a split second, my chest heaving from panic. I can’t believe I’ve just been shot. I can’t believe at least thirty of my best men have just been killed.

We’ve been attacked.

On our home turf.

A war has been established against both my families, and right now, it’s looking pretty bleak for me. I can’t tell if the echoing bangs surrounding me are playing in a loop at the forefront of my mind or if there are still that many shots ringing out.

Every time I hear someone run, another bang echoes.

Another one bites the dust, I think bitterly, as I wonder if I’ll ever get off this wall. But then…

Silence.

It’s a strange thing.

Foreign at this point, even…but I have a gut feeling that this nightmare is far from over.

And this gun wound is a lot worse than I thought…

I grip my belly and gulp before letting out a shaky breath. I look down the hallway leading to the kitchen. Was I really hiding? Like some weakling?

It’s been a while since I’ve been shot, though. It hurts a lot more than I remember.

The blood trails down the corridor. If they were smart, they’d follow it. Because it sure as hell would lead right to me. I bite my lip and try to think. What am I going to do? Can I get to my armory?

There are bodies in the club, I know that. I’ve never, in my wildest dreams seen a death march quite like this one before. I would have to cross through the club to get to my office. It didn’t seem possible.

I scowl as I hunch over in pain.

They were thugs. All thugs.

I reach for the hem of my shirt and give it a hurried tug. I hesitate when my fingers brush across a sticky warmth. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath, and pull as much of the fabric as I can, tearing it all the way up to the dry area in the middle of my stomach. I roll the fabric to create a fold. And then another. And then another. And then I reach around my back to wrap it around me, tying it as tightly as I can.

I just need to keep the blood flowing.

I slide between the wall and the water cooler, dizziness beginning to ensue as gunshots start up all over again.

This was a massacre.

All around: gunshots and footsteps.

I take a step slowly toward the club.

Bang.

Another step.

Bang.

The pounding in my ears is even louder than the footsteps and gunfire. Just before I go through the door of the kitchen to the bar, I grab a kitchen knife. I wasn’t going to go out without a fight.

The door hits something as I push it open. I halt for a moment, take a deep breath, and peek through the crack. I sigh sadly when I see the foot of one of my chefs with streaks of blood all around him. I push the door harder, hoping I can get through despite the body on the other side. A muffled groan sounds out softly.

“Chef?!” I whisper. It’s strange to see someone so large crumpled to the floor like that, his body bent awkwardly. He’s a tall man. One of the tallest I’ve ever met. Broad-shouldered with a bit of a gut. And he’s dark-skinned with a smooth bald head. I can’t see his head, though. It’s buried beneath his toque, which is still pristine white even through all the chaos. Just how he always likes it…

He groans again, and his arm twitches.

“Pull your leg away from the door; I’m coming through!” I hiss through my pain. He obliges me, his leg scooting away from the door. I slammed it open and crumbled to my knees, searching over his body.

“I’m…okay…” he grumbles as he digs his hand into the waist of his pants. “Take this… My leg will just slow us down…”

His leg was sliced open like a piece of meat. I have no idea what the hell happened to him. But, I was willing to bet it looked a lot better than my stomach. “I got my guts spilling out here…” I try to make light of the situation, taking the gun from him.

“Kill those sonsabitches…”

I clench the gun tightly in the palm of my hand, my trigger finger itching to fire.

I want to do just that.

I want to kill all of these bastards.

My feet have become numb after the narrow escape from the last gunshot wound. I’m not sure if I can go through another ambush. I pop around the corner to the bar. My eyes widen in surprise as I slip on a pool of blood. It’s soaked through my carpet. There are at least five bodies there behind the bar.

My face scrunches on its own accord, and I feel emotion clench in my throat.

I know these people.

I feel sentiment begin to stir, but I force it down. I don’t have time to deal with it. I have bigger fish to fry right now. My gun outstretched and my arm shaky with nerves, I have two choices.

Get to the armory.

Or get the hell out of the building…

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I gasp, loudly. Tony recoils slightly but places his finger to his lips. “Shhh…”

“We got a live one over there…” he whispers, pointing to the staircase leading to the upstairs bar. “I just saw him hanging over the banister drinking your liquor…”

“How many are there?”

He shrugs. “They swarmed with at least fifty,” he whispers. “But our guys took out a lot of them…”

“And what about our guys?” I whisper.

He shakes his head. “I think some of them got out of dodge in enough time…”

What kind of monsters disguise themselves as patrons of a club and just start unleashing hellfire on everyone? Patrons, too. Did they have a death wish? Did they want a target on them by the cops and the Morino and Lorenzo families?

What was their goal here?

My eyes dart around as I lean against the wall, hoping to rest. He digs behind his back and pulls out another gun and hands it to me. There’s a stampede of feet echoing down the hallway up above us.

I should have seen this coming.

***

“They did what?!” I snap as I slam my fist down on the tabletop, my knife in my palm.

“They targeted Slim Finger and tortured him for information. He says he had to give a little info on our club here…” Luigi speaks with facts and gets straight to the point, but I can tell this time, there's a tinge of fear in his voice.

That’s a little too close for comfort for even me, though.

“What info?” I ask, my brow raised.

He shrugs. “They wanted to know how many nights a week we have real patrons and how many nights a week it’s just members only…”

Those damned Colombos.

They’re up to no good.

They're the only family that had swarmed in like a bunch of head lice that actually might be something. Maybe even the real-deal kind of family and not just pests like I’d thought. If they were the real deal, this all might be real, real bad for business.

Especially when they started banging down my door all because of some lowlife loan sharks that had it comin’.

Louis Limbardi and Slim Finger were my only loan sharks. Louis Limbardi was just knocked off for stealing. I’m not going to stand for it. But turns out, he’s the Colombos goat. Their star loan shark.

I’m willing to bet the reason he’s so prized over there is because he was a low life, two-timing, slime that always got his dollar.

He was scared.

I’ll give him that.

People usually pay up when Louis Limbardi is around.

He had everything someone would want in a loan shark. He had the goon staff on his side and he had the experience to know what was what. He had been in this game a long, long time. But he’d stolen from me and I couldn’t let it slide. If you let one person get away with something, they are all going to take as much as they can.

Let them see you vulnerable… and that’s when your throat gets sliced open.

I’ve learned all this the hard way over the years.

You can’t trust anybody.

Not in this business.

If they screw you over once, they’ll screw you over again.

Anger starts boiling over. How dare the Colombos think they can torture my loan shark into giving up information on my establishment? Did they really think they were up to par? Did they really think I wouldn’t kill them all and watch as their whole house burns?

I laugh, and Luigi looks at me with concern.

“What we doin’, Boss?” He asks.

I smile.

“Nothing,” I reply. “Not yet.”

“Boss, they’re going to come here starting trouble… Shouldn’t we send a message?”

I shake my head. “Let’s see what they’re made of.”

***

I’m now eating my words.

A spray of bullets flew down at us from up above. The assholes have the high ground. Tony sweeps me in his muscular arms and dashes underneath the stairs with me in tow. He smells of blood and sweat. A searing pain blasts from my side and I feel faint again. His chest is heaving up and down with intensity. “Fuck…” he growls.

I’m mad at myself for getting shot.

I can usually be a little more help than this.

I got a little too ballsy and fell prey to a trap as soon they came rushing in. I grabbed my gun and thought for sure I’d scare them off.

Why did I think that?

They were everywhere.

Mingling in with the patrons. As low profile as they could get before they started blasting.

The best I can figure, they had an organized leader. I didn’t know who he was or how high up, but I could tell he was the one that called the shots. I asked him if he had a death wish as soon as he stood up on my bar.

His smile would haunt me forever. It was wide. Toothy. His eyes, dark and eerie. “Do you?” He asked, amusedly.

I let my ego get the best of me.

“Come and get me, fucker!” I’d said. Stupidly.

He had jumped down and hit me square in the face. It stung.

But what stung even more was that when we first fought, he laughed. And even worse than that? He played and teased me. He pushed me through the doors leading to the kitchen and then pushed me down the stairs to the basement storage. Only to shoot me square in the side.

He played dirty.

And his intent was clear. He was after nothing more than to show me up.

But that was his mistake…just as much as it was mine…

“Aria!” Tony’s voice was anguished and demanding. “Cover me!”

I look at my newest bodyguard and nod. I feel myself faltering, but I need to suck it up. I need to get my shit together. He has an automatic strapped to his shoulder, gripped in one hand, and a pistol in his other. He pushes away from the wall and spews gunfire as he bounces up the stairs.

I push myself off the wall slightly. Just enough to get a visual.

I shoot.

With everything I have.

I was grateful for Tony.

And in this moment, is exactly when I knew I’d made the right decision.

Werewolf/Paranormal Romances

“What the hell do you mean she’s outside?” I spat, slamming down the folder.

I hustled through the precinct, fury exploding in every step as I made my way toward the double doors at the end of the hall. What the hell had she been thinking? I had been looking for her all day!

What was she trying to prove?

My breath raged as my pace quickened. How could she make me worry about her like this?

My body crashed into doors causing them to blast open. Rain fell heavily, the rushing sound of it flooded into my ears as I continued to scan the street.

“Ariana!” I screamed out as soon as I laid eyes on her. Her body was crumpled on the street next to the police station, her red coat soaked from the rain, the tail floating behind her as the water at the side of the street rippled into the storm drain. The coat was only halfway draped over her shoulders as she clung to her knees, hugging them ferociously.

What the hell happened?

I halted and stood still for a moment as I watched her shoulders rise and fall with an intensity that clenched at my heart. The damn thing was still racing in my chest, just like it had been all day. I took a deep breath, my fists balling as I watched her. Being that close made all the thoughts I’d had of screaming and yelling at her disappear completely. Instead of opening my mouth to fight with her, I walked closer to her.

“Get up…” I said a little more harshly than I’d intended as I grabbed her wrists and jerked her body into mine—a lot more intensely than I’d meant…

There was something about her that made me always lose control. Her body fell into mine, and before I could steady her, her arms flew around the back of my neck.

I froze for a moment— I was supposed to be pissed. But the tighter her arms got around my neck the more I realized something—I wasn’t pissed at all.

My hands fell to her hips, and I held her firmly to me. Rain continued to cascade down our bodies, drenching us. A feeling that was so incredibly unfamiliar washed over me— a feeling so strange that I didn’t know how to express it.

I’d been worried about her…

And this was the feeling of…relief…

I have no idea what the hell she’d been up to—or why she had left like that. But realizing she was missing caused some of the worst pain I’d ever experienced. And I knew pain.

Her absence shook me. The thoughts that swirled through my mind up until this moment caused a pang in my heart that felt akin to a cowhide leather strap lashing away at my bare chest.

I was battered and for the first time, I felt weak, and even now, holding her like this, I felt even more weak.

I hated it.

I hated the feeling of being so goddamned vulnerable.

Her grip loosened around the back of my neck and her hands fell to my shoulders as she pulled back. A smile parted her lips, as if she hadn’t done anything wrong.

I scowled, anger bubbling to the surface all over again.

Relief be damned—I was pissed all over again.

“Are you fucking stupid?!” I growled, my teeth clenching. How dare she smile at a time like this?

Even if it was the most goddamned beautiful smile I’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry…” she sighed as her eyes shot to the ground and her body moved further from mine. I couldn’t tell if she was crying or if it was the rain sliding down her chapped cheeks.

“Let’s just go home…” I growled, fighting the urge to kiss her.

She was safe.

For now.

Questioning her could wait—for a little while.

******

As soon as the apartment door closed, her body crashed into mine all over again. Her face nuzzled into my chest with everything she was worth. “I’m sorry…” she whispered.

Her enticing scent flooded into my senses, and all of a sudden, I was drowning in it. I growled, a lust-filled arousal beckoning me.

I buried my nose in her long, wavy brown locks and inhaled deeply. She intoxicated me. Her scent. Her body.

Everything.

And when she looked back up at me, I knew…

I knew that the eyes staring back at her weren’t the grey eyes of Preston Wellman—they were the deep yellow eyes of the wolf inside of me.

I watched as she shivered at the sight. Her teeth gently grazed her bottom lip as she stared up at me, and a primal moan escaped from the depths of my throat. My body throbbed with anticipation and I knew it was only moments before I gave in to the urge. I just didn’t want to lose all control.

Our bodies were still pressed together, not only by our own magnetic chemistry, but by the small nature of the room itself, and I felt the other side of me gnawing and clawing—dying to get out.

She lunged up to capture my lips with her own, her own growls filling the room. It fueled me. The heat between us seemed to burn so hot that our sopping wet clothes no longer felt cold.

I deepened the kiss until it was dominant—possessive—and I wasn’t sure which side of me it was that took over the kiss, but I didn’t care. All that mattered in that moment was her, and how drunk on her scent I was.

Our hands roamed recklessly as we pulled and tugged at one another’s clothes. Her fingernails clawed through my wet shirt, which clung heavily to my skin and I pressed her against the wall harshly as I continued my assault on her lips. The sounds from her, and the way they seemed to vibrate across my tongue did nothing but push me closer and closer to losing control. One of my hands collared around her neck, and the other grabbed at the small of her back, pulling her even closer. I knew I had to be careful. I had to fight with myself through all of this. My veins pulsated as the animal inside of me continued to try to claw its way out as my arousal massaged against her body.

***

It felt amazing, straddling him with his steamy hot hands all over my body. He knew exactly where to touch me; how hard. He knew what I craved. It was almost as if he was reading my mind.

Tension strained at my shoulders, and his hands immediately journeyed up my body and to my back. I felt on fire. Warmed to the core and then some. Not only was I rid of all of those wet clothes, but his body seemed to ignite like a radiator against me.

The yellow of his eyes did nothing but prod at my own animalistic charge.

He grasped at my muscles and flesh, massaging me as he lay scorching kisses over my flesh, nipping gently as he went. My heart began to race wondering what would happen if he lost full control.

There was something about knowing he could tear me to shreds that suddenly thrilled me.

His hands found my breasts and my back arched instinctively.

“Oh, God!” I moaned, realizing that I, too, was running on complete instinct now. My hips ground into him, rubbing myself on the bulge in his underwear. That was it. That was the only thing separating us at this moment—and it had to go.

Now.

I clawed his chest and watched seductively as he bit his teeth and hissed in a deep and forceful breath.

That was all he needed.

He sat up, his lips immediately capturing mine again, kissing me so deeply-so passionately—that I forgot where I was. I moaned into his mouth, the mouth that I was finding more and more delicious by the second and he flipped me over.

My back slammed into the mattress and my eyes shot open as his tongue explored the depths of my mouth intensely. My nipples stiffened, arousal spreading across every inch of me.

He pulled away, suddenly.

My chest heaved with passion as I looked into the eyes of the wolf.

His breath was ragged, angry almost, but I wasn’t afraid.

I wanted more.

So much more.

“Take me…” I managed to whisper, watching as his muscles rippled with every forceful breath he took, and before I even knew what was happening, he flipped me over.

I felt his breath at my ear and he whispered, “Tell me one more time so I know you want it…”

My eyes shot closed and I whined, the hot steam tickling my ear, sending shockwaves down my spine.

“Take me…” I repeated.

I felt his body shift behind me as his hands grabbed hold of my hips, tugging them up forcefully—right where he needed them to be. I felt his arousal slide carefully over my slit, as if lubricating himself and me with my own arousal.

“Take me!” I demanded—and he did.

He sank deeply inside of me in one satisfying thrust, burying himself completely to the hilt.

I moaned loudly, the feeling of being filled to the brim exciting me, but his powerful thrusts pushing me into oblivion. I could feel every single pulsating throb that elicited from his groin.

It was driving me crazy. Electricity pulsated throughout my tingling body as he moved, in perfect rhythm, against my contracting walls. I was squeezing his hardened rod with everything I had as he slammed into me, his fingertips tightening on my hip bones.

I could almost feel his wolf paws shifting out, digging into my skin in the most erotic pain I’d ever experienced.

I squealed in delight, arching into him, my moans and heavy breaths filling the room.

I was now his mate.


Steamy Romance Scenes (Some Explicit)

She shivered and felt her body throb with an anticipation she had never known before. She could feel his hands roaming her body ferociously, his animalistic instincts clearly kicking in; and if she were being honest with herself, hers were too. In that moment, they were both animals. She wasn’t sure how they’d wound up in a small closet inside the police station, but they had. They were pressed together, his heat engulfing her. The small nature of the closet only boded in favor of their lust-filled chemistry. They were magnets, desperate to touch. She lunged forward, capturing his lips and slamming his back into the shelf behind him.

He growled in pleasure as he deepened the kiss even more. It was a dominant kiss, possessive even, but who was leading it?

Neither of them knew.

One of his hands collared around her neck, and the other grabbed at the small of her back and pulled her even closer. It felt amazing, straddling his thigh, his hot fleshy hands all over her body. He knew exactly where to touch her; how hard. He knew what she craved. It was almost as if he was reading her mind.

Tension strained at her shoulders, and the hand that had gripped her back immediately journeyed upward, massaging her. He continued to move his hands upwards until he grabbed her shoulders and squeezed.

“Oh, God!” she moaned.

She found her body running on autopilot as she ground her hips into him, rubbing herself on the bulge forming in his pants. He growled, as if even more fueled with desire.

With his passion ignited, he pushed her into the door, forcefully. His lips enveloped hers again and he kissed her so deeply – so completely passionately – that she was sure she was about to lose all control. She was about to become unhinged. She moaned into his mouth again; finding it more delicious by the second. As his tongue explored the depths of her mouth, she felt her nipples began to stiffen, aroused.

With a passionate charge of electricity, they each explored the other’s body almost aimlessly with complete desperation. Their hands pawed and pushed and clawed and tugged; anything and everything to rid each other of just some of the offensive layers of clothing that dare separate them. Neither of them even cared that anyone could open the closet at any time.

She could almost feel every single pulsating throb that elicited from his groin as they continued to battle over who was more dominating with their tongue. It was all driving her crazy. An electricity unlike any other pulsated throughout her tingling body as he moved, in perfect rhythm to his lips. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out as her body arched in pleasure just from their entanglement of their mouths and clothed bodies. His hands tightened on her hips, his bear claws almost shifting out, digging into her skin in the most erotic pain she’d ever experienced. She squealed in delight, moans and heavy breaths filling the room.

He was being forward, direct and even a bit demanding… and I couldn’t say I hated it. In fact, I could probably say that I actually loved it.

I really, really loved it, in fact.

There was something crazy hot when he actually took control. It was something that a lot of women would claim distaste towards, but in all honesty, if they had known him, they’d understand why it was so damn sexy when he was demanding.

He looked me up and down, just before biting his lip and launching himself up off the bed, his eyes full of lust. But as soon as he stepped closer, his eyes, which had been glazed over with the blackness of desire cleared and glistened with something a lot more than just an animalistic need. Instead, his eyes showed emotion; actual and pure emotion…

He moved closer to me, so close that I could feel the heat of his breath brush against my forehead. He wrapped his strong, masculine hands around my waist and moved us towards the bed — together.

I felt the moment captivate me, and instantly take me away into blissful serenity. I smiled, completely at peace, and extended my arms to wrap around his neck. I felt an absolute need to reach for him, wanting — needing — him even closer to me.

I needed his touch; his glorious, heated flesh against my own. I needed to feel the weight of his sexy body against me. I needed him. And my eyes must have given me away, because he smiled, almost immediately, as if he knew exactly what it was that I was thinking; as if he knew exactly what I wanted; what I needed.

He moved his body with perfection, down on top of me, as he laid us both down on the bed. And as if in one singular motion, he slid into my already wet core.

“God,” he groaned. “You feel so good…”

We clung to each other, as if for dear life, as our bodies — and maybe even our souls — rocked in a unified rhythm.

“Like coming home?” I moaned.

“What?” he chuckled.

It was cheesy. So cheesy. I didn’t expect it to actually lunge full force out of my mouth. I hated word vomit; I hated it even more when it was during a time so intimate; a time so incredibly sensitive. I only prayed that it wouldn’t upset the mood; that it would ruin everything.

“I feel at home when I’m with you…” I trailed, my resolve faltering almost completely.

My eyes glistened, and tears of uncertainty began to well up in the brim of my eyes. I was scared; scared of what he was going to think; scared of how cliched and cheesy it really was. But as soon as I began to panic, he smiled, reassuringly and interlaced his fingers with mine.

“You definitely are like coming home…” he whispered, leaning against my ear as he continued to plunge in and out of me in a slow, and deliberate rhythm.

I clung closer to him; the gesture of reassurance that he had just made seemed to elicit more emotion than I had ever experienced before. And I relished in it as he continued to rock against me, his member caressing my walls with perfection as he pumped slowly, yet oh-so-precisely into me.

The rhythm lulled me, relaxed me, and made me feel the most elaborate pleasure that I had ever felt before. And as the moment swept and built, I couldn’t believe how intense it had become. The physical and the emotional bliss heightened to a point of which I never thought possible.

He had entrapped me; body and soul….

As crazy as it sounded. As cheesy as it was.

He had me.

Completely…and hopefully forever.

“Ah!” I moaned, bucking my hips. “Yes!”

Where he once was slow and deliberate, he had grown fast and lustful — but it was a welcome change as my body began to tense and I felt myself approaching the point of no return.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His eyes are on me as I kiss his lower chest. I feel them, piercing me. His hands are on my back, caressing me, massaging me. I lay a kiss on his stomach, dipping my tongue between the edges of his muscles, gliding it gently over his flesh.

I can tell it drives him crazy.

And that only encourages me more.

I lower to my knees, and look up at him seductively. My mouth is doing wonders, although a little higher than I want, as I kiss and lick at the waistband of his pants.

I feel his eyes continue to bear into me, even when I shift my gaze.

I smirk against his skin, goosebumps rising up under my lips.

The noises he’s making are empowering me.

I feel dominating as I pull at the button on his slacks. His hands are deep into the back of my hair. My eyes are locked on him.

Slowly I hook my fingers over his boxers and pull down to reveal what I’ve been wanting for weeks. It’s big. Pulsating as my breath falls onto his beautifully erect flesh.

My breath hitches as I lean closer and blow a sultry breath on his glistening tip. He inhales sharply. I kiss him tenderly there. “Fuck,” he whispers. And that’s all I need, I swirl my tongue around his steel and suck at the arousal dripping from him. His hips lunge forward.

His musk is intoxicating and it spurs me to move in closer. I moan, my mouth full as I take his entire length in. I hum over the shaft as I take it in and out of my mouth. He’s squirming. Groaning.

I brake away for a moment, pulling my shirt over my head, tossing it on the other side of my desk. His hand finds my head and grips me softly. I wrap my lips around his girth again, moving my head back and forth as I suck him. He’s moaning.

He pumps his hips back and forth, his breathing is quickening. I can tell he’s getting close.

I pull away, popping him from my mouth.

I raise to my feet, unbuttoning my pants, kicking them off as I kiss him again, hungrily. I kiss down his chest and then go back to bury my face into his neck. I’m getting emotional.

I didn’t realize just how much of an effect he has on me. It's kind of overwhelming to let myself get swept up in it.

I feel his heated sex brush over my ready center. I bite my lip, anticipating every bit of him.

I absent-mindedly kiss his neck and nuzzle his face.

His left hand grabs me by the waist, caressing my hips and curves and picks me up.

I squeal as he sets my body down roughly on my desk.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathes, as he cups the back of my head and pulls me into another kiss. My legs wrap around him and I jerk him closer to me.

I kiss his neck tenderly as I feel him slide into me.

His tongue in my mouth tells me "I want you." But the way it glides slowly and gently against mine tells me, "I want you in every single way possible”.

And that’s exactly how I want him.

I want him to be passionate and lustful.

And I want him in a loving, connected way.

He fills me to the brim. My nails dig into his shoulders with every deep thrust inside of me. It’s amazing. He’s hitting every spot I’ve dreamed of having pleasured for weeks. He’s sending me…over the edge.

I can tell he’s close, too. Our breathy moans fill the room; our sweaty bodies mingle and dance together; our lips desperately grasp at each other with all that we have…and when he finally jumps off the ledge, I follow him.