Cougar Christmas Read online

  With lighting speed, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her forward. He bared his teeth and, to her horror, Elaina saw two sets of razor sharp fangs in the place where a human would have his canine teeth. Then glinted in the last dying light of the Mother Ship’s green sun.

  A Blood Kindred—she’d forgotten that Terex was a Blood Kindred and that all of his kind liked to bite their mates. But I’m not his mate. Surely he won’t really bite me, will he?

  “Please—” she began, but Terex was already dragging her towards him. He brushed her hair aside and pressed his face to the side of her neck. Elaina’s heart began to kick into overdrive, drumming against her ribs. She was sure now he was going to sink those deadly-looking fangs into her vulnerable throat but he only inhaled deeply, his broad chest expanding as he filled his lungs with her scent.

  “The very fragrance of your skin is a distraction from all that I need to focus on—from the person I need to become to in order to do my duty…to exact my revenge.”

  His breath was hot against the side of her neck, sending a shiver through her. It occurred to her, belatedly, that she ought to be pushing him away instead of just hanging limply in his powerful grasp like a ragdoll.

  But she barely had time to put up her hands before he was setting her back down and taking a large, deliberate step back. It was as though he was trying to put some distance between them.

  “What…what was that all about?” Elaina demanded breathlessly. She put a hand to her pounding heart—God, her pulse was racing and she felt flushed and dizzy at the same time!

  “Forgive me.” His voice was little more than a growl. “I…”

  Elaina waited for an explanation, wondering where the kind, courteous male she’d met on her first trip to the Mother Ship had gone. Where had the nice Terex gone and who was this feral stranger who had taken his place? In the artificial twilight of the Mother Ship, his eyes seemed to glow—his right eye, anyway.

  “You’re what?” she asked at last when he never continued..

  Terex started to speak, then shook his head.

  “I have no excuse for my actions. Do you still wish to visit your sister on Earth?”

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “Then follow me.” He turned and started walking away, leaving Elaina to stare after him, feeling stunned. Should she go after him? Confront him? Demand more of an explanation? Should she go on this weird trip with him at all?

  Then she thought of Gina…of her hollow, sunken cheeks and the dark circles around her eyes…the jut of her hipbones under the blue and white hospital gown.

  I have to go, he realized. No matter how crazy it seems, this is my only chance to save my little sister!

  Putting aside her concerns for her own personal safety, Elaina picked up the pace and ran after the big Kindred, determined to keep up no matter how intent he seemed on leaving her in the dust.

  She was going into the Blind, she told herself, going no matter what Commander Terex said or what he did. She was going to save her sister no matter what!

  Elaina just hoped she could handle being alone with the big Kindred and confronting whatever they found in the giant dust cloud. Truly the territory they were going into was…Uncharted.

  Want to read the rest of Uncharted? You can preorder it HERE.

  Big Package by Opal Carew

  Excerpt

  Holly peered out the windshield. “It is getting bad.”

  “No worries. This car will get through pretty much anything.”

  The exit for the border crossing was ahead and he took the turn.

  “Do you have your passport handy?” he asked

  She opened her purse and pulled it out. “Right here.” She set it on the console on top of his.

  The sound of the tires as they drove over the long metal bridge was loud and grating, but soon they were on smooth pavement on the Canadian side. He pulled into the second of four lanes, behind the shortest line-up of cars.

  The line moved pretty steadily. The border guards seemed to be waving most people through. The car in front of them moved ahead to the kiosk while they waited their turn. The guard talked to the driver for a couple of seconds, checking the passports, then handed them back and the driver pulled away.

  The light turned green, indicating Kalen could proceed. He pulled up to the kiosk.

  “Citizenship?” the uniformed woman asked as Kalen handed her the two passports.

  “I’m a Canadian-U.S. citizen and she’s a U.S. citizen.”

  “Where are you travelling to?”

  “We’re going to Ottawa,” he answered.

  “How do you know each other?”

  “We’re both from River Rapids. I’m giving Holly a ride to visit family in Ottawa.”

  The guard peered across at Holly. “How long are you staying in Ottawa, miss?”

  “I’ll be there for ten days,” she answered.

  The guard peered in the backseat. “What’s in the big box?”

  Holly’s eyes widened. Oh, God, this was not good.

  “I . . . don’t know. It’s a gift someone gave me.”

  “You have no idea what’s in it?” The guard’s business-like expression grew stern.

  “No.”

  Her heart sank as the guard told them to pull off to the side so someone could check it out.

  Kalen drove forward, then turned off into one of the bays they had for examining cars. After a few minutes, a guard came out to greet them.

  “Both of you step out of the car,” the guard said. He was big and steely-eyed, and the sidearm he wore made Holly nervous. “Sit on the bench.”

  There was a bench a few feet from the car.

  “Is the package heavy?” he asked.

  “No, not really,” she answered as she sat beside Kalen.

  The guard lifted it out of the car and set it on a table off to the side.

  “Ma’am, I need this opened. If you’d like to do it to preserve the gift wrap . . .”

  She shook her head. “I don’t care about the wrap. You can just rip it off.”

  “Please just come and open the package, ma’am.”

  She gazed at Kalen, as she stood up, then approached the table. She tore at the embarrassing gift wrap and peeled it away. Then she ripped the clear packing tape holding the top flaps together.

  “That’s fine. Was this gift for you, ma’am?”

  “Yes.”

  “From the gentleman?”

  “No,” she answered quickly. “It was from . . . my boyfriend.”

  She didn’t know if she’d be in trouble for lying, since she and Jim weren’t together anymore, but she didn’t want to try explaining why she was carrying around a huge gift from an ex-boyfriend.

  “Okay, you can come and look as I open it if you like.”

  She stood beside him, curious and anxious about what was inside.

  The guard pulled back the flaps and they both peered inside.

  Holly stared in horror, her cheeks blazing with heat. The guard’s gaze shifted to hers and she saw a slight smile on his lips.

  Inside were several items. Every one of them intensely embarrassing.

  * * *

  Do Holly & Kalen make it through Customs?

  Find out at...

  OpalCarew.com

  A Manhattanite's Christmas by Avery Aster

  Excerpt

  Bomb Ass Pussy

  Sheldon

  Observing Neve’s vulnerability turns me on. While it’s refreshing to see another side of her, her thoughts about not going through with marrying me are making me nervous.

  We sit on two office chairs for a few minutes in silence before she asks, “What made you change your mind?”

  “About marrying you?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I have a son who has needs that I can’t afford. Education, medication, tutoring.”

  She doesn’t say anything, just listens.

  “His mother is being released from jail in a fe