Just One Bite Volume 2 by Brenda Williamson Rosalie Stanton Dahlia Rose Linda Palmer Virginia Nelson Bethany Michaels Amanda McIntyre Karalynn Lee Tracey H. Kitts Jambrea Jo Jones Yvette Hines Marie Harte Kathleen Dienne Victoria Blisse Page B

chair with an ottoman—all nestled around a white marble fireplace that looked like it had never been used. An array of candles-squat, tall, in votive holders and elegant candelabra lined the mantel. He looked around taking note that there were no pictures of family, friends, no vacation snapshots and everything, walls, furniture and even the candles were all colorless, clinical—white.
    “Make yourself comfortable,” she called from down the hall. “I’ll be right out.”
    Gunner parked himself on the pristine couch, realizing how stark the contrast to his faded black jeans was. “Nice place,” he said aloud. A moment ticked by before she answered.
    “It’s a place to hang my coat.” She entered the room carrying a slab of steak, the blood leaving a trail on her white shag rug.
    “You’re… Uh.” He pointed at the path of red at her feet.
    She glanced down, seemingly unconcerned, and shrugged. “It will clean.” She turned her gaze to his. “I thought the blood would turn you on.”
    Gunner swallowed and narrowed his eyes, searching hers. “Like I need incentive around you?” He offered a cocky grin.
    She knelt before him, spreading his knees to wiggle her body between his legs. Gunner raised his good brow, his body sensing as she leaned forward, her breasts unbound, brushing over his sensitive crotch. She placed the steak over his now bulging eye.
    “I thought your kind healed quickly.” She rocked back on her heels, resting her elbows on his knees.
    He wanted to reach down and weigh those delightful breasts in his hands, but they were holding a steak. Instead of answering her, he chose instead to ask his own questions. “What are you doing here, Tory? In this little town?”
    She eyed him and then rose, walking to the window with its drapes pulled tight. “I’m here for the same reason you are, Gunner.”
    He let the steak slide from his face, blinking away her duel image into a single one. “What do you mean?”
    She crossed her arms beneath her chest and Gunner swallowed hard.
    “You’re here for the gathering, aren’t you? To select the next tribe leader?”
    This was getting stranger by the minute. His senses detected a shift in her breathing and he was on full alert. He began to wonder how easy their meeting had been—was it just a coincidence? Something told him that it was not a chance meeting.
    “I had to see you once more before the gathering.” She unsnapped her skinny jeans and shimmied out of them with ease. She hadn’t yet looked at him; her gaze was on the draperies.
    His incisors lengthened, his hungry eyes taking in her creamy white thighs. She wore a pair of pink panties, covering just enough to make him salivate. She hooked her thumbs in her panties and inched them down, flicking them away with her toe. And without even a glance toward him, she peeled her T-shirt over her head, causing her breasts to bobble deliciously in the process. Whatever reason she wanted to see him again, Gunner was more than willing to oblige. He stood and shrugged off his jacket and T-shirt in one fluid motion.
    “Tory, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Ice-cold desire surged through his veins. Would he be able to stop this time? She stood naked before him, staring at the wall and then drew back the curtains. As though the window was already open, it blew her black tresses into a tangled spiral above her head. She held her arms out, reaching for something. He was close, so close--a mere thought would have her pressed beneath him against the wall, holding those luscious hips, making her his. “Tory? What is it?”
    She turned to him then, her eyes twin flames. In one hand she held an ancient dagger and in the other a short bladed sword. “When you left me, Gunner I was lost. What could I do? I had you Gunner and I convinced myself that it could work, that neither of us would have to change—that we’d be together always.”
    Gunner, held his hands to his head, confused, hungry with