Instinctive (4 page)

Berating himself, he resisted the urge to take his dick into his palms and stroke it as it hungered for sexual attention.

Her
sexual attention.

He quickly marshaled his wayward thoughts and considered the matter at hand. What would bring a cultured, well-to-do city girl like her to Serene? He turned his attention back to the group and worked to play catch-up on the conversation.

“A princess, then,” Devon murmured. Slyck could feel the pleasure resonate through the demon’s body as he thumbed through the pictures, his amber eyes thoroughly devouring every
delicious detail. “It’s been a long time since I’ve sampled a princess,” he mumbled under his breath, a reminder that even though they’d all come together for a common cause, at the root of their existences, they were all still primal beings ruled by lust, hunger, and primitive urges.

Vall arched a brow. “I give her a month before the town eats her alive.”

“Mmm.” Quinn flashed his white teeth, then brushed his tongue over his protruding incisors. “Can I go first?”

Harmony leveled Quinn with a glare. “Down, boy. You won’t be eating anyone alive.”

“Killjoy,” Quinn shot back, an edge of humor in his voice as he turned his attention to his near-empty sack of blood. It was just like Quinn to find amusement in the situation, absurd master vamp that he was.

Slyck remained quiet during the whole exchange. Oddly fascinated, he found himself drawn to the pictures, despite a hard-fought battle to look the other way. There was something about the young woman in the photo that caused his blood to rush a little faster and his heart to beat a little stronger, which went completely against his feline nature. His skin prickled, and suddenly it took effort to breathe and organize his thoughts.

“Children, please.” Harmony gave a light laugh and toyed with the charm dangling around her neck. “Sometimes it’s like being in a room full of fledglings,” she teased, then tapped her fingertip on the picture. “From what I understand she comes from Chicago’s Gold Coast and is here to turn around cosmetics sales at the department store. I put her in the rental property on Mulberry
Lane. The house across the street from you, Slyck, so you and your team can keep a close eye on her actions in the interim.”

Warmth spread out over Slyck’s skin as an odd tingling caused the hairs on his nape to rise. What the fuck was the matter with him? No woman had ever elicited such a bizarre response from him—especially of the nonpanther variety. He bit back a raspy moan of pleasure before it rumbled to the surface, and tried to make sense of his reactions to her.

“So if we buy her product and help her turn around cosmetics sales, won’t that get her out of Serene quicker?” Quinn asked.

“It’s only a temporary solution,” Harmony assured him. “If sales decline after she leaves, who’s to say the company won’t send more employees in the future? And if we’re forced to continually make their stay permanent, it would raise too much suspicion.”

Slyck remained quiet through the exchange, his mind racing, his cock thickening.

“What’s the matter, Slyck? Cat got your tongue?” Vall questioned, ever determined to get under Slyck’s skin.

“Fuck off, Vall,” Slyck returned, no longer in the mood to humor him. With passion segueing to anger, Slyck quickly pulled himself together and splayed his hands on the table, needing the meeting to end immediately. “You all know the routine. If she’s still here after one month, we reconvene and decide her future. Until then tell your brethren to keep their distance, and make
her stay as unwelcome as possible.” His eyes met and locked with Vall’s. “And remember, no council member is to ‘play’ with her, or ‘mark’ her before judgment, should it come to that.”

Jaclyn had but one month to get out of Dodge. Otherwise she ran the risk of making her stay . . .
permanent
.

With Slyck’s nonnegotiable parting advice, Harmony tapped the table with the tip of her finger, a habitual gesture, and called the meeting to a close. Desperately needing air, Slyck hastily made his exit. He stepped out into the warm night and drew a sharp breath, his mind racing, trying to figure out what it was about Jaclyn Vasenty that held his attention and aroused the hell out of him—because never in his nine hundred years had a
human
female enticed him.

Physical discomfort apparent, he adjusted his jeans and berated his traitorous cock as he made his way back to the bar, but there was nothing he could do to bank his desires. What he needed was a cool drink, and a hot woman to help take the edge off. That would help numb the familiar, incessant ache for a while, but the only one who could help sate the bone-deep loneliness that stirred his insides was his true mate—a mate he’d yet to find.

Obviously such things weren’t meant to be.

In search of his partner, he’d visited the other secret communities over the years but had no real answer as to why he’d yet to find the one woman meant for him. Other panthers were able to unite with their true mates by the time they reached maturity, around their third lifetime, but for some unfathomable reason his soul mate continued to elude him. Slyck worked to fight down the pang of envy that ate at him.

As he walked past the candy store, he looked through the plate-glass window to see a few of Vall’s pack inside devouring a bounty of sugary treats. Christ, that sweet confectionary was like catnip to dogs. The townsfolk tolerated it in moderation, but what they wouldn’t tolerate was demons and alcohol. Talk about hell on Earth.

Retracing his earlier steps, Slyck sauntered past the fire station and then the grocery store. He glanced at the men washing their already-spotless trucks outside the station, then turned his attention to the women milling about inside the store. To an outsider, the town of Serene looked like any other rural community. In order to keep up the appearance, they offered all the amenities of small-town living and even kept a few rental properties.

In a town that didn’t welcome outsiders—for fear that they’d reveal their secret community—one rarely stayed long. And those who insisted on making their stay permanent quickly understood the repercussions behind that rash decision, because eventually straws were drawn, and species were made.

Since the folks in Serene couldn’t risk exposure, the unsuspecting humans would soon find themselves going head-to-head with one of the five species. With primal instincts governing the actions of the chosen breed, the human would inevitably be turned into an immortal being in one of five ways: through a lycan’s bite, a vampire’s blood transfer, a witch’s spell, a demon’s slaying, or a panther’s mating.

When a panther mates with a human, and fluids are exchanged, it alters human DNA, and eventually that human would be gifted with the ability to shift, and brought into the brethren.
Sometimes it took but one mating; sometimes it took more. If a male panther filled his “true mate” with his seed, however, the mating was for life, and without her true alpha at her side, the panther inside her would grow weak and die.

Tension eased from his body as he entered the bar, his sanctuary. The only place where music, as opposed to loneliness, stirred his soul and made him temporarily forget that he’d spent far too many lifetimes searching for the one woman meant for him and him alone.

Sure he’d had sex, plenty of bang-me-up-against-the-wall sex, with a myriad of different partners. After all, he was a panther, the most libidinous cat by nature. But those encounters merely sated his physical needs, not his emotional ones.

Slyck moved farther into the club and nodded to Drake, his first-in-command, who was serving up drinks and covering for Slyck in his absence. After an exchange of pleasantries, Slyck scanned the dance floor. Heat fired his blood when he spotted Brandy and Gina dancing under the flashing lights. Together they moved sensuously to the fast-paced music, mewling and brushing up against each other like they were two animals in heat. The entire scene was most erotic, stimulating, and just what he needed at the moment.

He inhaled. The scent of their arousal reached him clear across the room and brought out the carnal beast in him. He needed to fuck. Hard and fast. With his mind racing, and his cock throbbing for attention, he negotiated his way through the crowd and closed the distance between himself and the two sex kittens.

Brandy turned and grabbed a fistful of his T-shirt, her heat
scorching him as she pulled him from the dance floor, away from the lights. Her eyes widened in pleasure when they met his.

“Slyck,” she purred, and rubbed her face up against his, trailing small kisses over his jaw. “We were wondering where you’ve been.”

He fingered her long dark locks. Soft. Silky. Suddenly his mind wandered to Jaclyn. Would her hair feel so luscious? Would it feel smooth against his naked flesh?
Damn.
He quickly shook his head to clear it. “Out on the prowl tonight, are you, kitten?”

In the darkened corner, Slyck could barely make out Brandy’s pretty features as he traced the pattern of her long, sleek body. He toyed with the light, barely there material of her blouse before his fingers stole underneath her satin miniskirt. He brushed her smooth thighs with the pad of his thumb and climbed higher and higher until he found her sweet pussy dripping with desire. He arched an inquisitive brow, and growled low in his throat.

He gave her a knowing smile, and even though he already knew the answer, he questioned in a low, aroused voice, “Are you wet like this for me?”

When his fingers connected with her moist cunt, raw desire seared his insides. Lust bombarded his body and a tremor raced through him. Oh yeah, this was exactly what he needed to get his mind off Jaclyn Vasenty, because nothing good could come from his strange fascination with her.

In answer to his question, Brandy’s fingers spiraled through his hair, pulling greedily as she pounced. Making no qualms about how hot she was for him, she wrapped her long, lithe legs around
his back. With blatant sexual need ruling her actions, she mewled and shifted, positioning his hard cock on her soft mound.

Slyck’s hands began shaking with desire, and his mouth watered for a taste of her skin. Ever determined to take the edge off, he took charge of their pleasures, gave a lusty groan, and backed her up against the wall. His large body hovered over hers, camouflaging them in the dimly lit corner. When his mouth found hers, a violent shudder ripped through his body.

The talented flick of her tongue over his lips aroused him to the point of no return. Fire pitched through his body; his heart pounded against his rib cage.

Although fucking Brandy in the dimly lit club was completely uncharacteristic for him, he couldn’t seem to help himself. Normally he’d have taken her home and pleasured her thoroughly before he got off himself, but this fierce hunger and this foreign need burning through his veins had him acting completely out of character.

Gina pressed her full breasts into his back. As her hard nipples indented his flesh, he shuddered in heated bliss. Going up on her tiptoes, she positioned her mouth close to his ear and whispered, “What’s the matter with you tonight, Slyck? You’re acting so . . .
feral
.”

Without answering, he pinned Brandy against the wall and, wasting no time, slid into her, burying himself in her hot, tight pussy. He moved urgently against her, driving into her moist heat hard and fast, each velvet stroke bringing them both closer and closer to the edge.

“Yesss . . . ,” she cried out and clawed at his skin.

Blood pulsed so hot and hard through his body, it was all he could do to keep himself upright. He plunged harder, deeper, ramming her with everything inside him as he strived to assuage the strange need he couldn’t seem to identify.

Suddenly, his mind drifted, and as his orgasm mounted, a burst of bright light danced before his eyes and brought illumination to his darkest corners. The image of a beautiful feline muzzle flashed before his eyes. And he knew instinctively it wasn’t Brandy’s face that had just manifested itself in his mind.

It was Jaclyn’s.

So this was it.

Home, sweet home for the next few months, or more, depending on how quickly she could turn a profit and whip Vasenty Cosmetics sales into shape. Uncertainty wormed its way through Jaclyn’s veins as she thought about the daunting task ahead of her. Huge corporate accounts she could handle. But coming in from the head office to restructure, reorganize, and improve marketing strategies in a small town where research had proven that folks preferred to age naturally just might pose more of a challenge. Then again, research had also proven that the elderly bought the greatest amount of skin-care products, and if Serene was anything like its neighboring community, she certainly expected to see her fair share of elderly people.

She briefly glanced at her sleek black cat, Ruby, and gave a heavy sigh. Although the town of Serene was Jaclyn’s destination choice, and her father had readily agreed that it was the perfect
location to prove her loyalties to the company, she was beginning to have second thoughts.

“What have we gotten ourselves into, Ruby?” Ignoring Jaclyn, Ruby pawed at the passenger-side window in search of an escape. Jaclyn chuckled. “Forget it, girlfriend. We’re in this together.”

When Jaclyn’s tire hit a pothole, she turned her attention to the road ahead. Peering through her windshield, she slowed her sporty BMW down to a near stop and absently tapped her fingers on the leather steering wheel. She surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings analytically as she crept forward with caution. She took in the uninviting, cracked, and pitted road and the main gate that seemed to have materialized before her eyes. Her gaze panned the wide expanse of quaint little houses that slumbered in the picturesque village just beyond the entrance.