Today we have two excerpts of Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashely. Check out the first one:
Primal Bonds (Shifters Unbound, #2) by Jennifer Ashley Series: Shifters Unbound #2
Also in this series: White Tiger (Shifters Unbound, #8), Red Wolf
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Publication Date: March 1, 2011
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 298
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When half-Fae, half-Shifter Andrea Gray flees an abusive would-be mate, the only way she is allowed to relocate to the Austin Shiftertown is if a Shifter there claims her as mate.
Sean Morrissey, the Guardian of his clan and all of Shiftertown, is mateless, lonely, and has a tough job--to send the souls of deceased Shifters into the afterworld. He volunteers to claim her, sight unseen, but doesn't realize that one look at the gray-eyed, dark-haired Andrea will stir the mating frenzy in him. Even though the mate-claim isn't finalized, official, or yet blessed, Sean will do anything to get Andrea into his life and keep her there, forever.
Book 2 in the Shifters Unbound series. Full-length novel, Austin Shiftertown.
Excerpt
“And you thought we’d treat you the same, did you, love?”
Damn it, why did he insist on calling her love? And why did it sizzle fire all the way through her? This was crazy. He was a Feline. If Sean Morrissey knew little about her, Andrea knew still less about him.
“Well, you’re part of us now.” Sean came to her, again stepping into her space, a dominant male wanting to make her aware just what her place was. “You’re right that not all Shifters are comfortable with Fae magic, but my brother has to know about your healing gift, and my father. And Glory has a right too.”
“Fine,” Andrea said, as though it made no difference. “Tell them.” She moved to the door, again deliberately turning her back on him. Alphas didn’t like that. “We should go help clean up out there. Does the bar get shot up often? I should get hazardous duty pay.”
“Andrea.”
He was right behind her, his warmth like sunshine on her back. Andrea stopped with her hand on the doorknob. Sean rested his palm on the doorframe above her, his tall body hemming her in. She remembered the feel of him on top of her on the floor, the tactile memory strong.
“Glory says something’s been troubling you,” Sean said. “Troubling you bad. I want you to tell me about it.”
Andrea shivered. Damn Glory, damn Sean, and no, she didn’t want to talk about it.
“Not now. Can we go?”
“It’s my job to listen to troubles,” he said, breath hot in her ear. “Whether I’m your mate yet or not. And you will tell me yours.”
Andrea’s tongue felt loose, her pent-up emotions suddenly wanting to spill out to this man and his warm voice. She clamped her mouth shut, but Sean stunned her by saying, “Is it about the nightmares?”
She hadn’t told anyone about the nightmares, not Glory, not Sean, not anyone, though Glory might have heard her crying out in her sleep. The nightmares had started a week after she’d moved in with Glory, when they’d risen in her head like a many-tentacled monster. She didn’t know what they meant or why she was having them; she only knew they scared the hell out of her. “How do you know about my nightmares?”
“Because my bedroom window faces yours, love, and I have good hearing.”
The thought of Sean sitting in his bedroom, watching over her while she slept, made her shiver with warmth. “There’s nothing to tell. When I wake up, I can’t remember anything.” Except fear. She had no idea what the images that flashed through her head meant, but they terrified her. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now,” she said. “All right?”
Sean ran a soothing hand down her arm, stirring more fires. “That’s all right, love. You let me know when you’re good and ready.”
From the feel of the very firm thing lodged against her backside, Sean was good and ready now. One part of him had definitely shifted.
Andrea deliberately leaned on the door and pressed back into him. A jolt of heat shot through her, the fear of the nightmares dissolving. After Jared, Andrea thought she’d be afraid of Sean, turned off, ready to run. Instead, Sean made her feel, for the first time in years . . . playful.
“So, tell me, Guardian,” she said, lowering her voice to a purr. “Is that where you carry your sword, or are you just happy to see me?”
Shifters Unbound
About Jennifer Ashley
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Jennifer Ashley has lived and traveled all over the world, and now lives in the Southwest. She writes historical, paranormal, and contemporary romance as Jennifer Ashley; mysteries as Ashley Gardner; and paranormal romance and urban fantasy as Allyson James.
Jennifer’s/Allyson’s/Ashley’s novels have won RWA’s RITA award, the Golden Quill, RT Reviewer’s Choice awards, and the Prism award, among others. Jennifer’s novels have been also been translated into nearly a dozen European and Asian languages.
Jennifer enjoys writing and reading above all else, but her hobbies include cooking, hiking, playing flute and guitar, painting, and building miniature rooms and dollhouses.
yay, This looks really good. I enjoyed the first book and look forward to reading this one.