Laura Wright - Raphael/Parish

The female gave her blouse another tug. “Lucky friend.”

“Maybe you would recognize her. She’s tall, dark-haired…beautiful.”

“Oh, you mean Ashe Pascal.”

Ashe. He silently tested the name. A Native American name.

Did she carry their blood?

“Yes.”

The woman eyed him with a growing curiosity. “She just went to her room. Do you want me to give her a call?”

“That’s not necessary.” He shared another dazzling smile. “Is she a guest here?”

“For tonight.” The bleach-blonde curls bounced as the female shook her head in a gesture of disgust. “That mother of hers kicked her out. The damned bitch should be flogged for the way she treats her daughter.”

Raphael’s brows lowered. “Ashe never speaks of her family.”

The woman shrugged. “What’s to say? Her worthless father walked out when she was just a babe and her mother’s a drunk. Ashe spends every penny trying to keep a roof over her head and the bills paid. Not that Dixie Pascal appreciates what Ashe does for her. Most nights she’s down at that nasty Cougar’s Den swilling cheap vodka.” She grimaced. “Just as a warning, if you’re new in town, you’ll wanna give that bar a miss. It’s not a place for decent folk.”

A pure shaft of fury pierced his heart.

The Pantera were a close-knit society who protected their young with a ferocious intensity.

But Ashe had been treated like trash. Tossed onto the streets by her mother.

She’d been left vulnerable, her child… his child…put at risk in this shabby hotel that was barely a step above sleeping in the gutter.

The knowledge was unacceptable.

Sensing the hotel manager’s growing curiosity, Raphael leashed his anger.

He would deal with Ashe’s worthless parents after he had her safely hidden in his lair.

For now he had to make certain that his savage obsession with the beautiful female wasn’t blinding him to an obvious trap.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he murmured.

The older woman tilted her head. “Are you wanting to see Ashe?”

With every fiber of his being .

He forced himself to shake his head.

“Perhaps later. Unfortunately, I have a meeting, but I can’t remember the exact address.” He held the manager’s pale gaze allowing a tendril of his musk to fill the air. It wasn’t enough to captivate the woman, but it would loosen her tongue. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen any strangers hanging around here?”

“Here?” She frowned, considering the question. “I’ve had the usual crew from the oil rigs and the Jenkins family came in from Baton Rouge for a reunion.”

“There hasn’t been anyone around town asking questions?” he pressed.

“The only strangers in town are down at The Cougar’s Den.” The woman heaved an exasperated frown as the dogs caught the whiff of his musk and went into a whining frenzy. “What the hell is wrong with them dogs? Excusez-moi .”

Raphael waited until the woman had stomped into the office to pacify her terrified animals before silently sliding out the back door.

He stepped into the shadows, disappearing from prying eyes as he allowed his senses to absorb his surroundings.

He caught the sound of mice tunneling through the trash cans. The buzz of the street lights at the end of the alley. The breeze that carried a threat of rain.

And, overwhelming everything, the sweet perfume that had haunted his dreams for the past six weeks.

Sucking in a deep breath, Raphael focused on the window where he could sense Ashe.

He would wait to slip into her room once she was asleep.

And then…

Then he would have the truth.

ASHE hadn’t expected to sleep.

Even when she’d stripped off her clothes and crawled beneath the sheets buck-naked, she’d assumed she was too worried to actually relax enough to rest.

But the emotional upheaval of the day, combined with the hormonal changes that were already affecting her body, soon had her tumbling into a welcomed darkness.

Not that her rest was peaceful.

She’d barely fallen asleep when her dreams were filled with the memories of a hard, hot body pressing her into the mattress.

She moaned, her head twisting on the pillow as seeking lips trailed a line of kisses down the column of her neck. Her hands ran a restless path over the wide back, savoring the feel of rippling muscles beneath the silken skin.

Raphael .

Her legs parted as he settled between them, the steel-hard length of his erection pressing against her inner thigh. Her entire body was on fire, shaking with the need to feel him deep inside her.

It’d never been like this.

Never before had she experienced this savage…hunger.

She felt the head of his cock penetrate her, but while her hands moved to clasp his hard ass, he refused to deepen the thrust. Instead his lips blazed a path of devastation along the line of her collarbone, kissing and sucking the sensitive skin.

Her hips lifted in a silent plea, her breath wrenched from her lungs as his mouth traveled over the soft globe of her breast and latched onto her nipple.

She whimpered.

Oh…god.

It was good. So good.

His teeth closed over the aching tip, biting hard enough to send a jolt of sizzling excitement through her.

Please.

What do you want?

You.

Only me. Do you understand? You’re mine.

Yes.

Say it.

Only you .

She heard a rumble of satisfaction deep in his chest, the intoxicating musk filling her senses. Oh, hell. How had she ever thought sex an overrated pastime?

This was mind-blowingly fantastic.

The inane thought was shattered as he pressed his hips forward, entering her with a slow, ruthless slide that stretched her with a delicious friction.

He was huge.

A gasp of pleasure was ripped from her lips as his hands gripped her hips, tilting her so he could sink even deeper, invading her with the promise of paradise.

Raphael.

I’m here .

Jerked out of her dream, Ashe lifted a hand to her ear, feeling the lingering warmth. As if lips had just brushed the delicate shell.

Shit.

Slowly sitting up, she tugged the sheet over her breasts as she impatiently brushed her tangled hair out of her face.

“Hello?” Her eyes searched the darkness, sensing a presence even though she couldn’t see the intruder. A chill inched down her spine. “I know there’s someone here.”

“You smell so sweet.” The male voice was low, whiskey-smooth. And terrifyingly familiar. “Like night-blooming jasmine.”

She didn’t scream. Instinctively she knew that he would pounce before she could be heard.

Her hand fumbled for her cell phone.

Where the hell was it? She’d left it on the nightstand, hadn’t she?

“I have a gun,” she tried to bluff.

She heard a soft footfall, but the intruder remained in the shadows while she was bathed in the moonlight that slanted through the window.

The open window.

No need to ask how he managed to get in.

“That’s what first caught my attention,” he continued, ignoring her threat. “That scent…” She heard him suck in a deep breath. “It intoxicates me.”

“I’ll shoot,” she tried again, even knowing it was futile. “I swear I will.”

“And then I caught sight of you.” His words seemed to brush over her skin, creating tiny sparks of awareness. “The exquisite lines of your profile. The sexy tumble of ebony curls. The ivory satin of your skin. The elegant lines of your body.” There was a low rumble. Did it come from the man? “You were a purebred, all pride and nervous energy.”