Regan clenched her fists and jaw.“Perhapsyou should tell me what the hell is going on.Because at this point in time, I’m very close to picking up the phone and braining you with it.Hard.”She narrowed her eyes.“I’m still not convinced this isn’t all just a bad dream left over from my run-in with Epoc’s security guards.”
Strong fingers pinched her shoulder before she could move.“Feel that?”
Damn, he’s fast.The thought sent a chill straight up her spine.How the hell was she to get away when he moved like a…
Like an animal?
Stomach fluttering, Regan looked up into the smoldering grey eyes.Damn it, she was in trouble.A heavy lump formed in her throat again and she swallowed.“What’s going on?No bullshit, no Irish charm, okay?”
Declan’s face turned serious and he perched on the edge of the bed, studying her with a look so intent the muscles in the pit of her stomach twisted.“Nathan Epoc is a lycanthrope.A werewolf.The Alpha male of theEudeyrnclan, an ancient and sadistic pack.He’s been experimenting on our species for centuries, trying to perfect a way to extract ourcroí, our life essence.”His expression turned deadly and for a brief moment his grey eyes shimmered with a rancorous silver glow.“The process drains the victim of their life-force, sucking their spirit from their body in an agonizing and protracted process until they’re an empty, inert shell.Not dead, but not living either.”His eyes slid to her.“The dog you tried to save in Epoc’s lab was in the early stages of the extraction.”
Stomach churning, Regan stared at Declan.Disbelief and horror coursed through her veins.She shook her head.“But that dog was a German Shepherd, not a wolf.You said…”
“I said ‘trying to perfect’.”He swallowed, Adam’s apple rising and falling with the harsh action.“Every living thing has a life essence, Regan.Epoc has killed more than one animal, more than oneperson, to reach the stage he’s at now.The dog was in the latter stages of the procedure, the last animal tested, before the bastard moved onto his real subject.”
Regan’s mouth felt coated in dust.“Which was…?”
A bleak, frightening smile pulled at Declan’s lips.“Not which, Regan.Who.Nathan Epoc and I have a very long history.None of it amicable.”
She looked at him for a long moment, heart trying to beat its way from her chest.“Why?”
“Why do we have a history?”
“Why the tests?Why the…” She stopped, unable to continue.
Declan’s jaw bunched.“For the creation of an elixir.The drinker—Epoc—will not only gain the victim’s strength but theircroías well, making them virtually immortal.Invulnerable.”His grey eyes flashed with cold rage.“Unstoppable.”
No!It couldn’t be true.Could it?She shook her head, scrambling off the bed.“No.I don’t believe it.”She backed across the room, hugging herself.“I can’t believe it.”
Declan rose to his feet, watching her from the other side of the bed.“Why not, Regan?You saw with your own eyes what I am.You felt with your own hands…”
“Okay, I’ve seenyouchange, so maybe it’s true—or maybe you just hypnotized me—but c’mon!You want me to believe Australia is riddled with werewolves plotting to take over the world?”Her skin prickled with what felt like a million biting ants.She’d fallen into a cheesy, fifties horror movie and she wanted out.“I’ve seen Nathan Epoc.He’s no wolf.Blood-sucking, demon-spawn from Hell, maybe—butwerewolf?”She shook her head.“Not possible.I can’t believe it.”
Declan didn’t move, but his eyes seemed to reach for her.Hold her frozen.“Yes, you can, Regan.You have to.Because Epoc won’t only be after me now.”
It was too much.Regan turned and, heart hammering, sprinted for the door.
Declan smashed into her before her fingers closed around the door knob, his incredibly hard body crushing her against the solid wooden door with such force her teeth clicked shut.Strong fingers curled around her wrists and rammed them beside her head, thighs she already knew impossible to escape pinned hers still.“I can’t let you go, Regan.Not now.”
“Why not?”she snapped.Declan’s heat melted into her, made her breath short.She glared at him—but her pussy was throbbing a traitorous beat.“You think Nathan Epoc’s really going to come after me?An insignificant human?”
His eyes were grey, turbulent pools.“I know he will.You’ve seen too much.You know too much.He will send the meanest mongrels of his pack to hunt you down and make the last few moments of your life the worst you’ve ever imagined.I can protect you.OnlyI can protect you.Keep you safe.”
Regan tilted her chin.“Safe?That’s why you can’t let me go?”
Declan’s nostrils flared.“No, Regan.”He pressed closer into her.“Thisis.”And his mouth claimed hers.
A jolt of exquisite tension stabbed into the pit of Regan’s stomach.Her pussy fluttered an erratic pulse equal to the frantic beat of her heart.A growl rumbled deep in Declan’s chest and he plunged his tongue further into her mouth, demanding she return the kiss.His body pressed her to the door, thighs to thighs, hips to hips.The contact felt like a branding iron.Left her dizzy and wet with want.The thick, solid length of desire between his thighs ground against her belly, as undeniable as his hold was inescapable.Regan whimpered, the sensations roaring through her both intoxicating and petrifying.What the hell was going on?She was in a hotel room who knows where, she’d been abducted by a man she’d first met as a wolf and she was more wet with lust than she’d ever been in her entire life.Nothing made sense.
Does it matter?
Regan’s heart froze.Yes.It did.It had too.
She shoved against his weight, dismay and delight ripping through her when he didn’t budge.His mouth continued its assault, his heat continued to seep into her body.His teeth nipped at her bottom lip and she whimpered again, eyes fluttering closed, tongue mating with his.
God, Woman.What are you doing?
Drowning?Or dreaming?
