Primal Passion

Primal Passion

The Trinity Masters

By Mari Carr and Lila Dubois

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Mari Carr

First electronic publication: April 2013

Cover by Valerie Tibbs

This book is a work of fiction. The names,
characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s
imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be
construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead,
actual events, locale or organizations is entirely
coincidental.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other
people. If you would like to share this book with another person,
please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re
reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased
for your use only, then please return to
smashwords.com
and purchase your
own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these
authors.

There is passion and power in three…

Deni Parker thinks she’s got it all figured
out. Working on the cutting edge of science, she has little time
for anything but work. Luckily she doesn't have to bother
with dating because she's a member of the Trinity Masters—a secret
society that has not only helped her career, but which will
identify the two people with whom she'll spend the rest of her life
in an arranged ménage marriage.  When her invitation to the
introduction ceremony is delivered—years ahead of when she
expected—by the very intimidating, and far too handsome, Price
Bennett, Deni’s more than a little unprepared.

Price didn't join the Trinity
Masters to play messenger. As CEO of a major security firm and heir
to one of the largest fortunes in the world, he’s annoyed when the
Grand Master orders him to transport the disorganized, virgin
scientist to the ceremony to meet her partners. It's only when they
arrive that Price realizes he isn't a mere messenger—he’s been
matched with Deni.

FBI Agent Gunner Wells has been in love with
Deni for years, but he’s resisted pursuing her. When he arrives at
his introduction ceremony, he's delighted to discover Deni is not
only a member of the secret society, but one of his partners…along
with billionaire playboy, Price Bennett.

Their strong personalities clash—in the
bedroom and out of it—but Price and Gunner have to put aside their
overprotectiveness, and Deni must put aside her pride, when someone
tries to stop her research—with deadly methods. 

Prologue

“You asked to see me, Grand Master?”

“Yes. I need you to perform a task,
Price.”

Price lowered his head in deference. The
Grand Master knew it wasn’t easy for some members of the Trinity
Masters to bend their will to a higher authority. They were a
powerful, wealthy, intelligent group of trailblazers, one and all.
The man standing before the Grand Master no doubt suffered the most
when it came to taking orders. Regardless of that fact, Price had
risen to a position of power within the organization because he was
confident, driven and trustworthy. In the years since Price had
joined the secret society, he’d become one of the Grand Master’s
most trusted advisors.

Today’s venture would test, possibly shatter,
that relationship.

“I need you to deliver this summons. The
recipient’s name and address are on the envelope.”

Price’s eyes narrowed with annoyance. His
knee-jerk reaction was exactly as the Grand Master expected.
“Forgive me, sir, but my role in the Trinity Masters does not
require me to play messenger.”

The Grand Master rose slowly. He’d learned
long ago friendship was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Regardless,
there were times when he missed it. “Your duty is to the Trinity
Masters and to me. Are you questioning my authority? And please, be
very careful with your response, Mr. Bennett.”

Price took a slight step back—no doubt
surprised by the genuine threat in his tone. They stared for
several moments, each of them sizing up the other, before Price
bowed his head once more. “I apologize. I was in a very important
meeting when I received your missive to report here at once. I
thought there was an emergency. My duty to the Trinity Masters is
as it has always been. I will serve. Them…and you.”

He noticed how Price hesitated to add the
last part. The Grand Master held Price’s gaze for a long, silent
moment, letting his displeasure over being challenged sink in.
Price looked away first.

The Grand Master sat once more. “I need the
letter delivered immediately, and I want you to escort Dr. Parker
here.”

Price nodded. “Of course.” He glanced at the
envelope. “Dr. Denise Parker. Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Is she
in some sort of trouble?”

While he didn’t need to explain himself, the
Grand Master decided it might drive home the importance of Price’s
task if he did. “She is meeting her life partners in the
introduction ceremony this afternoon, and I’m not sure she’ll show
up without assistance.”

Price frowned. “We don’t usually escort
members to that ritual. Is she resistant?”

The Grand Master shook his head. “No. She is
special.”

Price didn’t appear satisfied with that
response, but he would soon learn for himself why Denise Parker
required the escort. “Very well.”

Price turned to leave, but the Grand Master
issued one last order.

“Don’t leave the facility without Denise,
Price. Escort her here. And…for your troubles, you’ll find a small
reward in box twenty-seven. Make sure you retrieve it as soon as
you return.”

Chapter One

Denise Parker lifted her head from the
microscope and rubbed her eyes wearily. She’d risen well before
dawn after a restless night spent sleeping on the thin cot in her
office. Her mother would read her the riot act if she knew how
often she stayed at the lab.

Most nights she worked so late she couldn’t
be bothered driving across town to her tiny apartment. She wasn’t
married, didn’t own pets, hell, she didn’t even have plants, so
there was very little reason for her to return home. Ever.

She turned to her computer to input the
figures and to hash out some ANOVA calculations. Her life seemed to
be one long stream of trials and data analysis. Mom despaired over
her long hours and disinterest in a social life, but Deni couldn’t
tell her mother there was no reason to worry. She would definitely
get married…someday. She had found a way to guarantee a marriage
without the awkwardness of dating.

She’d been introduced to the Trinity Masters
just as she was finishing up her doctoral degree. Her professor had
asked her to remain after class one day and had opened her eyes to
a world she’d never imagined existed—one of secret societies,
symbols, ceremonies and power.

As a child prodigy, she’d never fit in
anywhere, always years younger than her peers. The Trinity Masters
had accepted her despite—no, because of—her intelligence and
eccentricities. They supported her endeavors in science, helping
her land a job at one of the most respected research labs in the
country right after her post-doctorate work. The powerful members
had helped pave the way for her controversial research by cutting
through red tape and ensuring the continual flow of grant money
necessary to allow her to continue her experiments.

She’d overheard some of the single members of
the Trinity Masters jokingly refer to their successes as “selling
their souls to the devil,” but Deni didn’t see it that way. Her
work would revolutionize modern medicine, enabling doctors to treat
and maybe find a cure for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and any
other neurological disease that crept up. There was too much pain
in the world—she had witnessed that firsthand—and she wouldn’t rest
until she’d done everything in her power to find a way to stop
it.

The Trinity Masters’s philosophy was based on
the belief that there was power in a triad. By binding three
intelligent people together, they hoped to strengthen society
through relationships formed for a variety of political, scientific
and cultural reasons. In exchange for their support on the
professional level, the Trinity Masters would place her with two
partners who would bind their lives to hers in the ultimate sharing
of power and ideas. It was a heady prospect to be part of such an
old and elite group.

Deni simply needed to bide her time until the
Grand Master called her to the altar. Their concept of an arranged
marriage appealed to her because she wasn’t willing to sacrifice
her research for romance. There was no room in her life for that
kind of emotion.

Unfortunately for her relationship with her
mother, the Trinity Masters was a secret. Deni wished there was
some way she could tell her mother she needn’t worry about her only
child spending the rest of her life as a spinster. Revealing her
life plan would save her countless hours of nagging phone calls and
attempts on her mother’s part to set her up with some friend’s son
or the hairdresser’s recently divorced nephew.

Oh, well. Until the Grand Master found her
suitable partners, she would have to fend off her mother’s
matchmaking for a few more years. She’d paid close attention to the
ages of the recently paired triads. Members were called to the
altar between the ages of thirty-two and thirty-seven with an
average age for females of thirty-two. Mercifully that meant there
was an eighty-four percent likelihood that Deni had at least four
more unencumbered years to focus on her research.

She put on a pair of safety goggles and began
running the next set of tests. She wasn’t sure how long she’d
worked—her research assistant, Curtis, always teased her about
disappearing into the Twilight Zone during experiments—when the
sound of the lab door opening captured her attention.

Glancing up, she found herself face to face
with a very large, stern-looking man. The majority of her
colleagues had slight builds and pale complexions from too many
hours spent inside under the fluorescent lighting. This man with
his dark skin, coal-black hair and Mr. Universe-sized muscles was
the polar opposite of nearly every man she’d ever met.

With the exception of Gunner. The thought of
her only friend made her smile, which produced an even deeper scowl
on the stranger’s face.

Damn. She had a bad habit of living inside
her head and forgetting to communicate.

“What are you doing in here?”

His frown deepened.

Crap. Time to employ social convention.
“Hello. Can I help you?”

“Are you Denise Parker?”

She nodded. “Deni.”

“Excuse me?”

She wasn’t sure why she bothered to correct
the man, but she persevered anyway. “Everyone calls me Deni. Never
Denise.”

The man’s expression didn’t change. Instead,
he extended his hand and offered her a letter. “This is for you,
Denise.”

She couldn’t miss the way he stressed her
formal name. Something about the man rubbed her the wrong way. He
seemed angry with her, but she couldn’t understand why. She’d never
met him before.

Deni glanced at the envelope, immediately
recognizing the seal of the Trinity Masters. Her heart began to
race. There must be a mistake. It was too soon. She was still too
young, too busy for this.

She looked at the man again and her hands
actually went numb. Surely he wasn’t…

No. He couldn’t be. She glanced behind him.
He was alone. Even so, she felt compelled to make sure. “Shouldn’t
there be two of you?”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “I’m here as the
messenger only. Open the letter.”

She released a long sigh of relief. “Thank
God.”

The man glared and she realized she’d spoken
aloud. “Um. Sorry.”

She tore open the envelope, trying hard to
keep him from noticing her suddenly shaking hands. The letter
confirmed her fears. She was being summoned.

“Today?” She shook her head. “I can’t go
today. I have too much to do.”

The stranger didn’t appear to care if she’d
scheduled tea with the Queen of England. With his arms crossed and
his legs spread, he reminded her of a bouncer at a nightclub. His
stance made it clear she was going, whether she wanted to or
not.

“I’m to escort you.” He took the letter from
her hand and skimmed it quickly. He glanced at his watch. “You’re
to be there in fifty-five minutes. With traffic, it will take us
twenty-five to get to the library. How long will it take you to
shut things down here?”

Deni felt a wave of lightheadedness. What the
hell was happening? “I need at least fifteen minutes.”

He nodded. “Then I suggest you begin.”

He walked toward an alcove near the entrance
where her research assistant kept his desk. He claimed a chair
there and pulled out his phone. He began tapping on it, ignoring
her.