Carnal Secrets (48 page)

“What are we going to name the pack? It needs a name.”

“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that. Any ideas?”

“Well…when Taryn, Caleb, Joey—that’s the kid that Taryn thought was her true mate and died when he was nine—and I were little, we used to pretend we were a special ops team.”

“Special ops team?” He chuckled.

“Taryn and I weren’t girly as kids. Anyway, we used to call our team ‘Mercury Ops.’ I think that would be good for a pack name.”

“The Mercury Ops Pack?” he echoed with distaste.

She slapped his arm. “No. The Mercury Pack. It would mean a lot to me. And to Taryn. And to Caleb. And to Joey, whose soul may haunt you forever if you say no.” She fixed a pitiful look on her face. “Please?”

“Oh, I do love to hear you beg, Shay.”

“I’ve already run it by Derren and the others; they all like it.”

He narrowed his eyes as he realized something. “And here I thought they were working
on
you, but you’ve been working
with
them, haven’t you?”

She shrugged unapologetically. “Your wolf will always feel like something’s missing if he doesn’t do what he was born to do. That’s not good with me. So…the Mercury Pack—yes or no?”

“If I say no?”

“I’ll harass you until you say yes.” When a strange glint entered that dusky-green gaze, Shaya automatically became wary.

“I’ll tell you what: I’ll say yes if you agree to something.”

That didn’t sound good. “What is it you want?”

“I want you to drop this fantasy you have of me dressing like a sailor.”

“Oh, but—”

He rolled onto his back, holding up a hand to cut her off. “No, no, I am
not
dressing like a fucking sailor.”

She pouted. “Oh, come on! After the first few times, it won’t even feel kinky anymore.”

“No.”

“But you’d look so—”

“No.”

“Can’t you at least think—?”

“No.”

She growled and gave him the sulkiest pout ever. “Trey does it for Taryn.”

Nick felt his face scrunch up. “Jeez, Shay, I so did
not
need to know that.” The image came unbidden to his mind, and Nick feared it might just pop into his head whenever he was around the Alpha male in the future.

Her voice turned sultry. “If you do it, I may reconsider the pole dancing scenario you had in mind.”

A short pause. “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
have to firstly say thank you to my husband and children for being my inspiration and for their patience with me when I’m in “cave mode.” I’d also like to thank my sisters for pulling me out of the cave occasionally to make sure I give myself the breaks I need.

A massive thanks to everyone at Montlake Romance for their help, support, and time—especially to my editor, JoVon Sotak, and also to Jessica Poore for answering my many questions.

And of course a humungous thank-you to everyone who has taken time out of their lives to read my book. If for any reason you would like to contact me, please feel free to e-mail me at
[email protected]
.

Website:
www.suzannewright.co.uk

Blog:
www.suzannewrightsblog.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter:
twitter.com/suz_wright

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-Wright/1392617144284756

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Photo by Steven Wright, 2012

A
uthor Suzanne Wright, a native of England, can’t remember a time when she wasn’t creating characters and telling their tales. Even as a child, she loved writing poems, plays, and stories; as an adult, Wright has published five novels:
From Rags
,
Here Be Sexist Vampires
, and
The Bite That Binds
from the Deep In Your Veins series, and two books in the Phoenix Pack series,
Feral Sins
and
Wicked Cravings
. Wright, who lives in Liverpool with her husband and two children, freely admits that she hates housecleaning and can’t cook but that she always shares chocolate.