Tangled (20 page)

ignore it, to hide it from Jerrod, but it hadn’t helped.

“Thanks, Rachel.”

“No problem.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and flicked another glance around the bar. The place

was packed, but that was normal. Everything appeared…normal. So why couldn’t I shake this feeling? I

rolled my shoulders to try and ease the tension.

Fifteen more minutes and I’d be off for the night. I could drag Jerrod upstairs to our big apartment and

let him screw my brains out. I’d wake tomorrow and everything would be fine. It had to be or I was going

to go nuts. Rubbing my temple, I tried to massage away a headache that began to form.

“It hurts because you’re fighting it.”

The woman’s voice had a whiskey kick to it, soft and rough at the same time. I spun to face her,

needing
to see the person attached to that voice. Werewolf definitely, I could smell the wolf on her. She

had the smoothest cocoa skin I’d ever seen. Her black hair fell in a riot of curls around her face and

emphasized her ebony eyes. They were fathomless, beautiful. They drew me in, and I stepped toward her.

Our gazes locked, heated and my heart lurched. All the instincts I’d been suppressing today jumped up to

bite me in the ass. Something snapped inside my chest, some deep pull of recognition.

Mate
.

“No,” I gasped the word, stumbling back and lifting my tray like it was a shield. Shock roared through

me. My heart squeezed, and I couldn’t breathe. Oh God. Oh. God.

“Yes.” Possession flashed hot in her gaze. “I’m Lena.” She stepped forward, reaching for me.

And I wanted her to touch me, stroke me. Lust twisted inside me, fire licking my veins.
No
. I turned

and fled for the stockroom. Jerrod would
kill
me. How could this happen? Was it even possible? I’d heard

of werewolves having two mates in one lifetime before, but after the first mate
died
, not
at the same time
.

No one would believe this was possible, especially not other werewolves. But, there was no denying what I

felt. It was just like the first time I’d met Jerrod, the instantaneous kick to the heart and loin. Everything

inside me wanted her. To know her, to love her, to
possess
her.

“Oh God,” I breathed. My stomach pitched, and my palms grew slick. Clamping a hand over my

mouth, I fought back the need to vomit. What was I going to do? I couldn’t lose Jerrod. Infidelity was

unheard of among my kind. Matings were for life, forever. Jerrod was my mate, my everything. A soul

mate fashioned just for me.

So was Lena
.

Stomping down on the inner voice, I leaned against the wall and bent to stick my head between my

knees. My heart hammered against my ribs as all the blood rushed to my head. I just needed to
breathe
, to

think clearly.

Being bisexual, I never thought I’d have just one person forever, but life was full of surprises. And

Jerrod was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I couldn’t fuck this up. Fisting my fingers in my

hair, I pressed on my skull in an attempt to ease the shrieking pain. The need to mate was there, ripping into

me with the fierce jaws of the wolf within.

I sucked in a deep breath and pulled Lena’s scent to me. Somehow, I already knew it. It was

imbedded in my psyche already, just like Jerrod’s. Just her smell was enough to make me want, make me

wet. The muscles in my thighs locked, shaking with the need to go to her. Tears pressed against my lids.

Jerrod
. Where was he? I needed his steady strength. But Lena was out there, between me and my mate.

The door to the stockroom swung open and then closed with a solid
thunk
.

It was her. Lena. I didn’t need to look up to know. My instincts cried out in recognition, rioting within

me. My nipples tightened, my pussy dampening with the hot need to claim and be claimed.
No
. Please, no.

I dug my nails into my scalp, welcoming the pain. Anything to distract me from the pulsing want clawing at

my flesh.

“Why do you run?”

My mind scrabbled for any excuse to make her leave. “You can’t be in here. Staff only.”

The heat from her body enveloped me as she stepped closer. I snapped upright, pressing my back

against the wall. There was no escape. I couldn’t get away. I didn’t want to. My breath panted out, logic

and instinct warring inside me. I closed my eyes, trying to shut out the inevitable.

“Rachel.” Her breath fanned against my ear.

I moaned. The sound of my name in that husky voice made my body ache with lust. “How do you

know my name?”

“That’s what the men you served called you, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“
Yesssss
.” She flicked her tongue against my neck.

I shuddered, molten heat rolling through me. I was so wet I couldn’t stand it. My legs felt too weak to

hold me up. I tilted my head back, swallowing hard. My breath bellowed out.

Her hand lifted to cover my breast, tweaking the tight nipple. A soft cry ripped from my throat. I

arched into her caress, lust clouding my mind. Nothing mattered right now but the mating ritual, taking

what was mine. I needed it—her. Now.

Jerrod’s face flashed through my mind. I couldn’t
do
this. I couldn’t hurt him that way. I couldn’t.

Her love for two men could save their future. Her secrets could destroy them all.

The Chancellor’s Bride

© 2009 Kirsten Saell

Recently re-elected Chancellor Collin sur-Gaerig is a rising star on the political scene, and everyone

expects he’ll soon be rewarded with an estate and title. He also has a dirty little secret: he’s in love with his

manservant, Harral. If anyone—especially the wife he’s expected to take—discovers their affair, all his

aspirations will go up in smoke.

The mysterious woman he finds lying half-dead in the street is strong, beautiful, independent…and

aroused when she catches him and Harral in a compromising position. As Aelis worms her way past their

closely guarded defenses and into their bed, they realize she’s the perfect match for both of them.

But Aelis has a secret of her own, an ex-lover’s blackmail scheme that could get them all killed. To

save the men she’s come to love, she’s willing to sacrifice her own happiness, maybe even her life.

Collin’s not about to let that happen. For the first time in his life, he’s willing to risk it all in order to

have it all. Even if it means he could lose the man he’s loved for years—and the woman they both want to

love forever.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
The Chancellor’s Bride:

“Come for another eyeful?”

She didn’t scream—no sound could have squeezed past her heart where it lodged, pulsing, in her

throat. She did jump half a foot in the air, spinning on her heel and shrinking against the wall.

Harral—gods, where had he come from?—stood there in an untucked shirt and trousers, near enough

that she could feel his heat on her all-too-bare skin. As she tried pointlessly to think of some excuse for her

being outside Collin’s bedroom door, he crowded even closer, his eyes burning, mouth curved in a smug

little smile. His menacing posture was a blatant reminder of the incident last night, but she didn’t turn her

face away this time. She couldn’t. His gaze held her rapt, helpless, a thrall.

Time seemed to creep along as he placed one hand on the wall beside her head, and the other gently

on her neck. The pressure of his fingers was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. Her pulse-point

fluttered against the pad of his thumb, and he stroked across it once, twice.

“That’s what you’ve come for, isn’t it?” he said, his voice soft and smooth as silk. “It excited you to

see me fucking him last night. It made you wet between your legs.”

She thought about denying it, but what would be the point? Her knees had turned to water. Despite

her rapid breaths, she couldn’t seem to get enough air. If not for his hand at her throat and the wall at her

back, she’d have collapsed in a heap. His breath fanned her face like the wind from a furnace. Her cunt

filled with pressure, so hot and wet she thought she’d come at the merest touch.

He leaned in until his lips were next to her ear. “Or maybe you’d like to join us. Is that it? Does the

thought of us both taking you make your cunt wet?” His hand slid downward by increments, his fingers

stealing under the plunging, lace-edged neckline of her bed-gown. His mouth touched her neck, first lips,

then tongue, then teeth, raising a shiver of need across her flesh.

“Please…” she whispered.

Please what
?
she had the lingering sense to wonder. God, definitely not
please stop
. If he stopped, she

thought she might die. Her hands sought out the taut muscles of his abdomen through the fine linen of his

shirt. Then his fingertips closed over her nipple and she let out a ragged moan, pulling him close.

That was all it took, that small gesture of acquiescence, for his calm to evaporate. The rasp of his

stubble scraped her jaw as his lips sought hers, slanting over them, tongue plunging deep. His hand cupped

her breast, squeezing, his thumb flicking across the peaked nipple, sending a bolt of pleasure straight to her

soaking pussy. Pressing forward, he ground his cock against her mound, and she angled her hips to bring

her clit harder against him. Her hands found their way under the hem of his shirt, clutching at the roughtextured skin of his back.

He tore his lips from hers, jerked the strap of her gown from her shoulder to bare her breast, lowered

his mouth to it. Sucked so hard she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming.

He paused long enough to growl against her skin, “This is what you want, isn’t it? Tell me you want

this.”

She was drowning in lust, one hand fisted in his hair, holding his face to her breast. God, she did want

this, she wanted everything he’d said, all of it. “I…”

His lips closed over her nipple once more, pulling hard, his tongue flicking across the hypersensitive

bead. She opened her eyes to watch the motions of his mouth on her flesh and in the periphery of her vision

saw Collin standing in his open bedroom doorway.

With a cry, she shoved Harral away from her, slid down along the wall a few steps, distancing herself

from them both. Swiped a hand across her mouth as if she could wipe away Harral’s kisses.

Collin, dressed only in loose Kahlian sleeping trousers, let his gaze crawl from her tousled hair and

swollen lips to her exposed breast. Cringing inwardly, she jerked her strap up and fruitlessly tried to tidy

her hair, then realized in horror that his gaze had settled on the junction of her legs. She glanced down to

see a patch of her own wetness on her gown, a perfect match for the smaller one on the front of Harral’s

trousers.

Her face hot, she resisted the urge to cover herself and forced her gaze to Collin’s.

“Please, don’t the two of you stop on my account,” he said quietly, his lips curling upward at one

corner.

Oh, god, what had she been thinking, coming out here to spy on them? Yes, she wanted this. She

wanted them both. Could hardly make herself think of anything else. But what she wanted and the safe,

sane, intelligent choice were two completely different things. Regardless of what she’d told Collin in the

library, this wasn’t just business to her anymore. She couldn’t afford to get involved with these men.

“I’m sorry,” she said hoarsely. “This was a mistake. If you’ll excuse me…”

She turned and fled down the hall, but Collin’s voice froze her with her hand on her doorknob.

“I have decided to accept your offer of payment, Aelis,” he said.

Her breath wheezed to a stop. Slowly, she turned to face him. Harral stood panting where she’d left

him, his hair mussed, face flushed, eyes hot and hard. Collin, in comparison, was the picture of composure.

She opened her mouth to rescind the offer she’d made him in the library, but he cut her off.

“I’ve taken the time to compile a tally of what you owe, from the clothing to the bill from the

physician, and I will expect the money within fourteen days. You will not be charged for bed and board—I

refuse to put a price on my hospitality—nor for any items you do not take with you when you leave my

house. I want to make sure everything between us is fair and above board.”

She blinked, stymied. He wanted money? “Ah…thank you.”

He smiled coolly. “Good. Now that the matter of your debt is settled, I have just one more thing to

say. This door—” he gestured toward his bedchamber—“is open to you should you wish to walk through it.

It will remain open—in both directions—for as long as it pleases you. But know this—I will permit no

more talk of debts or payment. Behind that door, there will be no trade between us but that of pleasure

given and pleasure taken. Do you understand, Aelis?”

“Yes” she croaked, her throat so tight she was amazed she could get the word out.

“Freely,” he said, his gaze boring into her, “or it is worth nothing.”

She stared, stuck in place by her own terror. After a moment, Collin reached a hand out to Harral.

“Come to bed, love,” he said softly, lacing their fingers together. He led Harral into the bedroom and,

giving Aelis one last meaningful look, shut the door behind them.

She stood rooted to the spot just outside her own door. Smoothed one shaking hand down the front of

her gown. The patch of wetness had cooled in the air, but between her legs she was on fire.