Adrianna's Storm (17 page)

Taming Team Ten Book One

By Jana Leigh

“Hey,” the large man who was driving said. “We are supposed to meet the foreman of the ranch.”

Slone grinned and looked at the men who were slowly lining up. Alex was slow to get there but ended up at the end of the line. Slone walked to him with a grin and held out his hand. “Alex, welcome home.”

Alex looked up stunned, and then he recognized his childhood friend and grinned. “Slone?”

“Yeah, I am your knew foreman, in charge of teaching you SEALs how to be cowboys,” Slone said with a chuckle and Alex grabbed his hand and did the one arm hug.

“Shit, man, I was gonna call you when I settled in. The dads said you were somewhere in Wyoming, I figured we could meet up. This is awesome, they didn’t tell me,” Alex said with a laugh.

“When they called me, I said I would be honored to help out, quit my job and hightailed it here. I beat you by a week,” Slone said and looked down the line at the rest of the men. “Hey, I am Slone Brate, the new foreman of the Second Chance Ranch, and you are Thane, Gage, Mason, Drake, Jessie and of course, Alex,” he said, naming each of the men correctly.

“Stalker?” Jessie asked and looked at him suspiciously.

“No,” Slone laughed. “Just making sure I know who I am supposed to be teaching. Dallas and Noah filled me in.”

LC stepped forward and held out his hand. “Yep, you can call me Thane.”

The others did the same and Alex felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His friend would help teach them ranching, and the men could decide if this was what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, or if they just wanted a piece of land to retire on. With their VA retirement for medical reasons, they were able to at least have some money coming in to help pay for things, and since none of them had lived in the country in the last few years so their pay had stacked up to a nice tidy sum.

“The big house has enough bedrooms for all of you,” Slone pointed. “Let’s get you settled and then we can talk, then I can give you a tour of the ranch and we can start first thing in the morning.

All of them nodded and looked around curiously but followed Slone into the large house. There was an older woman and man in the foyer waiting for them. They all looked at Alex who shrugged.

The woman smiled and with tears in her eyes, she walked to each of them and hugged them saying as she did, “I am Louise, the cook and housekeeper, and this is my husband, Timothy, who is a handyman and wrangler that is going to help you out. Welcome home, and I am so happy you are all here, if you need anything you tell me. Now, I have a nice pot roast and potatoes, green beans and a nice chocolate cake for you. When you are ready, come down, and I will get your favorites written down.”

The men looked stunned and accepted the woman’s hug, and then mumbled in return. They weren’t quite sure what to do about this show of emotion. It just wasn’t what they were used to.

“Thanks,” Alex said and looked down to the floor.

Her husband walked up, stuck out his hand, and said gruffly, “Welcome.”

Alex looked at the older man warily and shook his hand. It was firm, and the look of understanding crossed the older man's face and Alex looked at the others as they followed, and he saw the kindred spirits all relax with the man's handshake. This was the right move, Alex knew it.

By Nancy Lommel

“Princess Ariyona,” he began by letting her know he was all too aware of her identity. “My name is Captain Merrick. You are now the prisoner of My Liege Lord, His Royal Majesty, King Jareth of Ravenwood.”

Ariyona felt her stomach sink to her toes upon hearing that name and she paled visibly.

“My Lord has ordered my men and me to bring you whole and unharmed before him. My Lord is very unforgiving of failure, so it is my wish that you cooperate with us so that we may fulfill his bidding. We wish you no harm, but know that we will deliver you. It is in your best interest at this point to cause no trouble. As long as you cooperate, we will do everything possible to assure your safety and comfort on the journey to Ravenwood. Do you agree or would you like to take on the four of us?” Merrick smiled as he spoke the last.

For a moment, Ariyona did not reply.
Jareth of Ravenwood!
He was a tyrant king who ruled by fear and force. Many were the tales that had reached King Oberon’s court of the atrocities committed by Jareth upon his people. They had many refugees from his lands. He was a harsh, cruel monarch and the opposite of everything Ariyona believed in.
But why was he kidnapping her?
Ariyona could not fathom a reason. She looked at Merrick who was still awaiting her answer. She was royalty and they knew it. She knew from his words they would respect and treat her well. Jareth wanted her delivered whole and unharmed. Ariyona preferred it that way as well. She thought of her father’s four rules of being captured. The first was to do whatever was necessary to protect herself. The second was to obey her captors as long as it did not compromise the first rule. Thirdly, she was not to do anything that would bring dishonor to her father or her kingdom. Finally, the fourth rule was to try to escape as long as it did not compromise the first or third rule. As resistance would gain her nothing and escape was not an option at this point, Ariyona forced herself to speak to her captors.

“I agree,” she said through clenched teeth.

Merrick smiled. “Very well.” He produced a length of rope that had been secured to his belt. “Please hold out your wrists. I have to bind them, but let me know if it is too tight. As I said, I have no wish to harm you.” Yet from looking into Merrick’s eyes, Ariyona knew he was not a man to trifle with.

Ariyona held out her wrists and Merrick quickly wound the rope around them. As he did the other three men sheathed their swords, but Ariyona did not doubt that any transgression on her part would have them out in an instant. The rope was very tight around her wrists, but Ariyona’s pride would not allow her to speak again to Merrick to ask him to loosen her binding. Merrick tied the other end of the rope to his belt and they set off deeper into the woods, away from the castle. One of Merrick’s men led the way with Merrick second. Naturally, Ariyona was next in line, as she was tied to Merrick, and the other two soldiers took up the rear.

As they walked, Merrick explained to Ariyona how she had made their task easier. They had been watching the castle from the woods for several days and had noticed that she fled the castle alone at least once a day. As soon as they were assured that she remained alone, and sometimes stayed in the woods for hours, all they had to do was pick a day and wait. Ariyona walked right into their hands. Merrick and his men laughed at this while Ariyona silently cursed herself for her foolishness. Her father had been right all along and she did have need of a guard. Now she knew for a fact she was wrong to disobey her father on this matter. Why did she not listen?

Meridian Warriors Book One

By Jana Leigh and Zach Collins

The expansion of their underwater world had been slow, but once their techs figured it out, they moved quickly. The bottom of the ocean was not smooth, and they had to clear little by little so the bubble would be sealed. They used the ship as a place to live until they were able to get materials to build their own homes. It had taken a long time.

“So what do we have to talk about?” Xander asked when Des sat down across from him and sprawled in a similar manner.

“Rosul developed a better security monitoring. There is a storm coming in, it looks like it will be strong. We have several men above water, and we are calling them back, but we are not sure if they will be able to make it back in time. In addition, a ship was using their radar, scanning the bottom of the ocean floor. The technology too advanced for humans,” Des said somberly and watched as Xander’s face hardened and his lips thinned.

“Have they found us?” Xander asked briskly.

“No, we have our own cloaking. We still have to be careful though,” Des said.

“For now, when everyone gets back, we stay inside the city until we can figure out what is going on. We will come up with a plan,” Xander said and smiled at his mate closely.

“I will call the command center; we will have to lock the doorway after the last Warrior returns.” Des picked up the small communication device they used. It worked in their underwater city. When they left the safety of their city, it was equipped with a locator, and the ability to communicate with whomever was on the surface. The device resembled the human’s cell phones, but more advanced.

“I am pretty sure that can wait,” Xander said, standing and taking the communication device from his mate and grinned, “I think we should get cleaned first and then we can see about work.”

Des laughed and pulled the man in for a kiss, “I agree.”

When they reached the shower, both were naked and hard, Xander felt his erection practically pulsing. He had been in this state since he saw the man who was his mate walk through the doors; it was like this all the time. Gorgeous, sexy, smart, Des was everything he wanted in a mate. If only they had found their third, she would have been on the ship with them. Most the men who survived the last attack were mated but none had met their third yet. Warriors had a hard time finding their mates.

It was because of their makeup. They were hard, and rough, and their women needed to be strong with potential as a leader. That was the way of their people. The King was once the most powerful Warrior, Xander was next in line for the throne. His mates would be the King’s Consorts and considered leaders, too.

Standing under the needles of hot spray, he reached down and grasped his mate’s cock.
Shit, his lips were thick and sexy
, and Xander could only imagine them being wrapped around his cock. Xander drew his hand over his cock, closing his eyes and dreaming it was his mate’s mouth.

Des wrapped his hand in his mate’s long hair and brought him in for a passionate kiss. He was demanding and knew it. After training all day, his aggression was peaking. Xander knew that, and although he was also dominant and took control of their sex life, many years ago they came to terms with each other’s differences. Des explored his mate’s mouth with his tongue, making sure he tasted his mate’s flavor. He loved when they were close like this, it was intimate, and made their bond strengthen. Slowly Des pulled his mouth from his mate’s mouth and then kissed down Xander’s chest slowly.

Shifter Justice Book One

By Jana Leigh and Bryce Evans

Vander stood at the doorway while Jewel did her mojo. He would take notes of things he saw and they would compare notes later when they would type their summaries. Vander learned so much from Jewel that he was making a name for himself dealing with crime scenes, too. Jewel told him her theories and Vander told his, then they were able to come up with several scenarios that most cops wouldn’t recognize because of their different styles.

Jewel walked in a circle around the crime scene talking into her recorder. She came to the table where the Victim was tied up. “She was scared, she knew what was going to happen, only if she could talk him out of it,” Jewel said into the recorder.

“He talked to her, made her think she had a chance if she did something,” Jewel muttered and then frowned because the image would not come to her; she had no idea why he was doing what he was. It was pissing her off, as if someone was blocking her, impossible of course, but still frustrating.

The M.O. was the same. He put tape over her mouth and used thin rope to tie her hands and legs to the table. She was nude and appeared to be raped just like the other victims. “Teaching her a lesson, she should never have gone out to the bar with such a sexy outfit. She was asking for trouble,” Jewel said into her recorder—it was the same thing she felt before. Somehow, the perp felt like he was justified in killing them, as if it was his job.

The Victim was pretty and usually came from money. Looking at where the malicious perp had tortured the girl made her blood boil. This was the third victim in Atlanta. Captain John Marks informed her after the second one that he had received a call from Captain Lex Doyle from the New York Police Department asking about their murders. Captain Doyle informed her captain that they had two murders with the same M.O.

That meant he was traveling from one city to another killing, leaving his own brand of destruction in his path. His killing zone was specific though, all at construction sites. Jewel made a note to see if there was a connection there.

Captain Marks wanted Jewel and Vander to go to New York, meet with Captain Doyle, and see if the crimes were connected. They would work together in trying to solve this if it was connected. Jewel wasn’t happy about this development; she was comfortable in her own territory. A wolf traveling out of her territory would need to make sure she didn’t piss another pack off. That’s all she would need. Then there was her fear of flying, being in a small tube that is lofted into the air was not natural. Besides the fact, the cute little flight attendants that inevitably flirted with Vander got on her nerves. She didn’t care about the flirting so much as the hair flipping and disgusting odor of perfume that would always make her want to gag. Then there was her wolf; she hated being enclosed for a long period of time. Only shifters knew how much pain their wolf could cause if they were pissed, the clawing on the inside was painful, so Jewel usually drank to help with the pain.

However, since Captain Doyle believed that this was a serial killer moving from New York to Atlanta, she had to go. Now with this third murder here in Atlanta, the press would be all over it. And she was going to have to be front and center
, damn it
, she thought. They were going to make her cut her hair and wear something business-like instead of her standard jeans and t-shirt.

Shaking off her thoughts, Jewel walked over to the table with the victim and started taking pictures. She reached out and touched the arm of the victim. It was only a light touch to the arm. She was trying to see if you could get a vision.

It was as if she went back in time. She could see the victim lying on the table. She was talking to somebody. It looked like she said, “We had a good time, but this is going too far” but Jewel had a hard time reading the girls lips. She couldn’t hear the other voice, it was muffled, but she could feel the woman’s fear from whatever he said.

Jewel watched as the tape went over the victim’s mouth. She made a note to see if the tape was left behind. Fuck, she was terrified, the woman felt confused and scared,
why was he doing this?

Then the women struggled, trying to get loose. This could not be happening to her, she had just been out for a little bit of fun and ended up here. What the hell was going on?

Jewel observed two hands reach up and touch the woman’s legs then she was pulled closer to the end of the table. She couldn’t see anyone’s face but the woman’s, but the blurred movements showed the man’s arms, she studied his skin, the way his hair was shaved off his forearms.

What Jewel saw next pissed her off. She watched a hand reach up to the woman’s stomach, then turn into claws. The claws slit the woman’s stomach in two. Jewel flinched as she could almost hear the rip of the flesh, it disturbed her.

The vision stopped before Jewel could see anymore. She knew the suspect was a male, because of the semen in the victims. Now she knew that the suspect was a wolf as well. This changed everything.

If humans found out that a wolf shifter killed the victims, it would change everything as they know it. Humans didn’t know about shifters. If they did then shifters would be put into cages and experimented on. The Elders had seen it in the past when someone found out about them, they were treated like freaks, so they went into hiding, making sure never to reveal their shifter side. A killer among them could be disastrous.

This man was smart. He never left a print or hair. Now Jewel was glad that he didn’t leave any hair. How could she explain if a wolf’s hair was found at the scene? The visions were always the same; she could only see so much of what happened. They needed more information. Jewel was getting frustrated quickly with her gift, and with the torture the victims were going through, it pissed her off.