Romane von Kerri Nelson

Gabbi sat in her hotel room alone on her bed, again. That was the normal end to her days lately. A different city…a different hotel but she was always alone on her bed come nightfall.Today had been just another book signing with the exception of one person. The tall, dark creature of a man that had loomed over her and seduced her with just a look. He was weighing heavily on her mind. She felt a small blush rise in her cheeks as she thought of how she’d stared longingly at him and took that leap by sharing her phone number with a complete stranger.It was a foolish thing to do. Her self-defense instructor would give her a stern lecture about just such a silly decision. But she was glad she had done it.She was downright tired of living by the rules. She'd done it all her life and she had ended up alone.She'd been more than a little embarrased and worried that he'd not find the number or that he would find it but not reach out.As it turned out, she had no need to be worried becau

She smelled of cilantro and the smell was driving him over the edge. Since he’d become a strict vegan to help calm his carnivorous appetites, he’d somehow developed new cravings. Certain herbs and spices had become stimulants to him and one of the most potent was that of cilantro.The green, leafy plant didn’t look like something that would send shock waves down his body but there was just something about the smell. It was almost like a hint of mint mixed with freshly cut grass. The sweetness of it was absolutely intoxicating. His wolf pounced around inside his chest and begged to get out and roll around in it.Was this what it was like to find your mate? You lost your mind over everything they'd touched?He wondered why she had this particular scent. Had she been cooking with cilantro earlier today? Her hands must have been buried in heaps of fresh cilantro recently because after just those few moments of touching this book, she’d transferred the scent to it. Santiago suddenly re

Gabbi took a long drink from her water bottle and then repositioned the smile on her lips as the next fan stepped before her. It had already been three hours and she was exhausted. She wondered if anyone would believe her when she said that book signings were tougher than running a marathon. The amount of energy it took to smile and nod was insane. It was like flipping a light switch to on and feeling your bulb blaze and start to burn out customer after customer. The current customer in question was a woman rattled on about how she had made one of Gabbi’s recipes for a dinner party and how it had been the absolute hit of the evening. Gabbi thanked her for her purchase and autographed her book. The woman asked for a photograph with Gabbi and she obliged.As the flash lit up the dim room, her eyes felt hot as the little black dots began to form in front of them. She blinked a few times to clear her eyes and, when she finally regained her vision, standing before her was a tall, dark

The next afternoon, Santiago and Tenny stood outside the front entrance of Stacks & Racks. Tenny was nervously bouncing from foot to foot as if he was about to break out into a jog. It was a habit that he had when surrounded by a lot of human women. Santiago knew that he could smell the blood and sweat and hear their heartbeats just like he could.Sometimes standing around so many others, particularly so many women, was akin to torture for wolves like themselves.He didn’t really enjoy standing in the line either but he needed to get a closer look at Gabbi Connor. He needed to try and understand the power that she seemed to have over him even through the television set.“What’s taking so long?” Tenny nearly growled the words as he continued his impatient bouncing.“Settle down. The line is starting to move now,” Santiago assured him as the line crept forward by two full steps.Tenny sighed loudly and a couple of women in the line in front of him turned around to eye him. Tenny us

Gabrielle Connor sat in her hotel room staring at her schedule. She had yet another stop on her book tour tomorrow in Beverly Hills. It was at a place called Stacks & Racks no less. She shook her head at the play on words.She couldn’t remember the last time that she’d had a day off from work to just do whatever she wanted. Of course, she hadn’t been able to do what she wanted for almost a year now.It wasn’t as if she was ungrateful for her success in the past year, but it really did interfere with the ability to just lead a normal life.After her little catering business had been discovered by an executive from the Meal Network, she’d been offered her very own cooking show. She’d excitedly turned her store over to her assistant chef, Monique. She was still the owner and she received calls and reports all the time, but she missed her little store. She’d built it from the ground up and she was thrilled that it was doing so well these days. It was doing far better now than it

The last time Santiago Salazar killed and ate a man, he got terrible heartburn. That had been almost ten years ago and that guy really had deserved a lot worse fate. The man had been a drug dealer who preyed on young children and Santiago had put a stop to that. It had been the right thing to do but the man’s blood was so full of chemicals that it had made Santiago sick for days.After that, he’d decided to turn over a new leaf…so to speak. He’d become a practicing vegan with a new lease on life. Of course, since wolves were carnivores by nature, Santiago still had cravings that required serious impulse control management.Frankly, he found it easier to deal with if he kept to himself. Other than his bartending job, Santiago had become a bit of a home body. Being on the outs with his pack since that appetite suppressing death of the drug dealer, he didn't talk to much of anyone other than his nosy landlord. Today, he was off work and was spending the day lounging on the sofa

Steele searched the house and knew in the first ninety seconds that Tabby hadn’t left of her own free will and that it had been Tremaine who had taken her.After he found the wet towel and cleared the ground floor, he’d found two pairs of foot prints leading out of the bathroom and down the hall. The most troubling part was that both of the foot prints were men-sized and wearing shoes. That could only mean that one of them was carrying Tabby. They’d grabbed her right out of the shower. Naked, scared, and all alone.His heart had nearly exploded out of his chest at the thought and he’d had to depend heavily on his training to keep his heart rate in check.He knew that they wouldn’t immediately kill her because no matter what, she was great leverage for both her sister and for him. They were assholes, but they weren’t stupid. He knew Tremaine and he knew that he only wanted two things–his money and Tabby’s sister.He didn’t do too well with betrayal and Trish wouldn’t survive ten min

For the second time in as many days, Tabby awoked to find herself tied up. Only this time, she wasn't looking into the handsome face of Steele.Instead, she was looking at the inside of what appeared to be a dungeon cell. She tried her arms and legs but they were both bound and she was spread eage on a dingy mattress on the floor. She was also completely naked.Tears burned her eyes and she hoped and prayed that she hadn't been molested in any way. She just wasn't sure. Her whole body ached and she could feel her left eye swelling where Tremaine's hard, bony fist had knocked her completely unconcious in Steele's bathroom.She tried to take slow, deep breaths. A panic attack was creeping just below the surface and she it felt difficult to take a full breath. She wondered if Steele even knew she was missing. For all she knew, he was still at work and had no idea that Tremaine and his goons had found her and taken her.She had no idea where she was, how long she'd been there, and if sh

Gavin “Steele” McSteeley was tired. He felt the exhaustion creeping up his neck and he squeezed the taut muscles with his left hand as he maneuvered the car back towards home. His mind was swirling with so many different thoughts and emotions that he felt drained. He feared his undercover operation that he’d been working day and night for months now was over and that he’d not managed to collect enough hard evidence to put Tremaine away. People had a habit of mysteriously disappearing around Tremaine and Steele had been very eager to be the one to take him down. He didn’t like the man and he wanted him to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the multitude of laws that he’d broken over the years. He had some evidence but he wasn’t sure it was enough to get the kinds of convictions he wanted against the crooked man. Tremaine and his crew of thugs were off the radar and no one had spotted him since early this morning. It was getting close to sunset now and s

Tabby awoke for the second time, but this time it was late afternoon. Following their incredible sex, she’d curled up in bed beside Gavin and slept soundly. She’d been lulled into a safe, warm, calming sleep by his slow, rhythmic breathing and the feel of his hands caressing her back. She hadn't dreamt, but instead, actually rested and renewed her mind. Now, she rolled and stretched and felt better than she had in ages. She looked at her wrists and there were no indications of where she’d been bound to the chair the night before. She thought about the fact that it was Gavin who had taken her to Tremaine’s penthouse and bound her to the chair. He’d been playing a role, but he’d taken care to be sure that she was never harmed. She felt the coolness on the empty sheets beside her. She’d not even been aware of him slipping out of bed. As she lay there in the silence, she gazed at the late afternoon sun as it cut across the foot of the bed. The town home was complete

When she’d finally reached the end of her climax, he looked up at her. Her face was flushed and her eyes were dilated wide with pleasure. He’d never seen anything or anyone look exactly like that. “Dammit, that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “What is?” she asked with a raspy voice. “Your face, after you came.” “I want you,” she said, matter-of-factly. With that declaration, he lifted her off the counter and into his arms and began to ascend the stairs to his bedroom. He gently placed her on the cool sheets and watched as chill bumps formed on her naked body. Seeing her in his FBI shirt had been sexy as hell but the body underneath was better than he ever could have imagined. Her breasts were high and firm with small, pink nipples that formed tight little peaks as he circled the palm of his hand over them. He lay down next to her on his side and stroked her bare abdomen with his fingers. Slowly, she sat up and pushed him down to lay flat on his

Tabby awoke to the unmistakable sounds and smells of early morning. The smell of fresh coffee brewing made her roll over and stretch like a cat. She blinked her eyes at the soft rays of sunlight that had begun to creep through the slat in the nearby window. She crossed her arms under her pillow and behind her head as she listened to the soft, tinkling sounds of dishes being stacked and moved in the kitchen. She’d had a rough night. She vaguely remembered noting the time on the clock as her head hit the pillow in the early morning hours, she knew that it was now late Saturday morning and she was in Gavin McSteeley’s house. She pulled herself up into a sitting position and looked down at her smooth, bare legs. She wore only the oversized, blue, FBI t-shirt that Steele had placed outside the bathroom door last night. He’d also left a pair of matching jogging shorts but even with the elastic waistband, they were way too big for her small frame. She’d stayed in the hot shower fo