BRANDED BY FIRE

His grip on her hair tightened almost enough to hurt before he let go, slamming both hands palms-down on the tile in front of him. “Mercy!”


Smiling, she flicked her tongue along the underside of his erection, and purred. Debauching Riley was the most exquisite task she’d ever had. Now she let the cat out to play, stroking him with quick, feline flicks of her tongue before sucking deep and hard.

His hips jerked. Once. Twice. And then he froze. “Mercy.”

She didn’t release him, didn’t submit to the command in that tone. Instead, she ran her nails deliberately down the backs of his thighs. He swore a blue streak, but managed to hold on. She refused to let him—no way was Riley getting out of this without surrendering to her, at least this little bit. It mattered. Wasn’t just sex. They were changeling—if he trusted her physically, he’d eventually trust her with his thoughts and secrets, too.

But first, she wanted his beautiful body to come apart for her. Taking her mouth off him, she looked up, met his gaze … and licked her lips. He shuddered. And this time, had no hope in hell of holding back.


It was well after midnight when they fell into bed. She was almost asleep when Riley said, “I dream only good dreams when I sleep with you.”

Breath catching in her throat, she pressed her lips to his heart to tell him she was there, that she was listening. He didn’t say anything for several minutes, but when he spoke, the undisguised emotion in him tore her to pieces.

“Brenna was so small when our parents died. She couldn’t even walk properly, just do that grab-anything-and-hope-I-don’t-fall wobble.”

Mercy smiled at the image. “A baby.”

“Yeah.” His voice dropped, grew husky. “And she was my baby. You wouldn’t believe how possessive I was over her and Drew.”

She rubbed her nose against his chest. “That’s the one thing I have no difficulty believing.”

“Cat.” A squeeze. “We were adopted into another family, but the whole pack looked after us. We were almost spoiled with all the attention we got. But even then, I always knew Drew and Bren were mine to take care of.”

Conscious of what was coming, she stroked her hands over his chest, pressing another kiss to his heart. Skin privileges of the most tender kind. Her cat wanted desperately to protect this wolf, but knew this poison had to come out, had to be purged.

“But,” he said at last, “when it mattered, I wasn’t there. The things that bastard did to her—” A sound that held indescribable pain mixed with absolute rage. “It destroys me that the girl I cradled as a baby had to suffer that. She must’ve cried for me, but I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there.”

“You were,” Mercy said fiercely.

“The rescue was—”

“I’m not talking about that.” She pulled herself up on the bed until they lay face to face, side by side. “Sascha said that Brenna’s will was a steel flame, so strong, so beautiful.”

Violent pride in Riley’s eyes. “I know.”

“But, Riley”—she cupped his face in her hands—“where do you think she learned that strength, that will? Who do you think taught her that she was that tough, that she could beat anything?”

Flickers of understanding in his gaze, but he shook his head. “I always protected her.”

“But you didn’t cage her,” Mercy said, knowing he’d only tried to do that after the rescue. “You brought her up to be a proud, strong wolf. You gave her that foundation, Riley.”

A long pause and the wolf glimmered in his eyes. “I need to think about this.”

She smiled. “You do that, wolf.” Part of him would always worry after Brenna. That was normal. But perhaps, in time, he’d stop being haunted by a monster’s crime. “And remember, Brenna made it.” A brush of fingertips against his lips. “She’d probably like her big brother back.”

He dropped his forehead against hers in unspoken affection. Stroking her hand through his hair, she decided that was enough for one night. But she didn’t want him to fall asleep with such solemn thoughts on his mind—she wanted to give him a smile, guarantee his dreams would be pleasant. “Still want to know about the Bikini Babe contest?”

Chocolate brown eyes that were suddenly alert. “Hell, yes.”

She came so close their breaths mingled as they spoke. “Needless to say, you repeat this, I’ll sharpen my claws on your ribs.”

A slow blink. “It won’t leave the room.”

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “When I was fifteen and very stupid, I had a crush on this other cat.”

“Who?”

“Not important. And I mean that,” she added to make sure he’d drop it. “I was already stronger and faster than most boys my age. I thought this boy could handle that—he certainly seemed confident. Turned out he was a snotty-nosed twerp.”

“You going to tell me what he did?”

“If you stop growling.”