Davies, Corinne - Claiming Destiny [Midnighter Seductions 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Corinne Davies

down.”
    Rock opened the door knowing the warrior was on the other side. He’d wondered how long the man would stay in the bath after the women arrived. His friend had struggled with many things since being scarred, but Blade had a habit of punching anyone who brought it up. Rock didn’t want his lip split open by his friend’s heavy fist. He had plans to taste the part of Destiny he missed earlier.
    “Blade, what can I do for you?”
    “We have a dangerous situation at the portal.” He glanced over Rock’s shoulder and stopped speaking. Rock turned and saw Destiny standing there.
    “Sorry, not trying to be rude and eavesdrop. I’ll go look for the bath…” She flushed a deep red. “I mean another one without a bath…you must have one in here somewhere. I’ll find it.”
    “I’ll show you what you need.” Jag grinned at her, but she pulled the blanket closer around her shoulders, covering as much skin as possible. “No, you can stay here. I’ll figure it out.” She turned and headed into the other room. The smile disappeared from his lips and Jag looked at him in confusion.
    “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one to let a Raxka touch him in front of his Atan .”
    Jag groaned as it obviously dawned on him what had angered Destiny. Rock turned back to Blade, who looked at Jag like he was insane. “What’s happened?”
    “Your Atan ’s vehicle was discovered, as were her bags. The local law enforcement has taken to searching the area looking for her. They fear she has been killed by wild animals or injured and are combing the area for her body.”
    “Dammit. How close are they to discovering the entrance to the portal?”
    “At the moment they’re concentrating their search to the perimeter around where her bags were found. We’re safe for the time being, but the portal will be in danger if anyone finds it.”
    “Have Eddie do what he needs to continue keeping it hidden.”
    Jag stood next to him, but for the first time Rock saw real concern on his friend’s face. “What is it?”
    “Rock, she said a panther was there.”
    “Isn’t that what they call the felines in that area?”
    “I read a book about Earth’s large cats. A panther can be a black jaguar.”
    White-hot fury poured over Rock as he stared at Jag. The emotion was reflected back by his friend. Jag was just as furious as him and as frightened at how close they had come to losing her, as they had their own families.
    “They must have a portal under their control, or could they’ve been lying in wait all these years?” Rock pinched the bone between his eyes as the implications of how things had changed hit him. There would be more women heading to the portal in the state of New Mexico. They would be heading to their deaths and not know it.
    He thought of his warriors in the bath at the moment and shielded his emotions from them. If they knew that their futures were in danger there would be no stopping them. Blade stood there watching him, the dark flush to his cheeks made the scar stand out sharply. “Rock, you can’t hide this from them.”
    “There is nothing we can do at the moment. We need to come up with a way to attract the women to where we want them without giving away the portal’s location or alerting our enemies to our plans.” Jag commented, “Eddie is not going to be able to handle this on his own. We need to blockade the portal on Earth’s side and set guards.”
    “ Nohchil , I’ll stay on the Earth side and prevent anyone from crossing over.”
    Blade’s use of his formal title annoyed Rock. He wasn’t the leader of this world yet. There was too much to do and he would never ask anything of his men he wasn’t willing to do himself.
    “I can’t have warriors and one old man sitting in the middle of nowhere. I might as well kill them myself. We’re going to have it hidden well enough that no one will find it and they can watch from a safe distance. The next town will have to do.”
    “You and