Talon/Xavier (Bayou Heat) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Page A

possession, the caress sending erotic jolts of pleasure through her. “At least not for me.”
    A surge of satisfaction burst through her before she could tilt her chin to a defiant angle. “And me?”
    He held her gaze, his musk teasing at her senses like the finest aphrodisiac. “I would never hold you against your will, Isi,” he swore. “Whether you decide to accept the mating is in your hands.”
    “And if I don’t?” she challenged. “What happens to you?”
    A raw, starkly painful emotion darkened his eyes. “I will continue to try and earn your love for the rest of my life.”
    Isi bit her bottom lip.
    It was, of course, the absolutely perfect thing to say.
    The bastard.
    “Oh,” she whispered.
    His head dipped down to kiss her. Then he gave a sudden hiss, jumping off the bed and rushing to the window. “Shit.”
    Alarm blasted through Isi as she shoved herself off the bed. “What?
    “Put this on,” he commanded, tossing her one of his T-shirts before reaching to pull on a pair of faded jeans.
    Isi didn’t argue, tugging the T-shirt over her head. It fell to mid-thigh, covering the basics.
    Not that she really gave a shit what she was or wasn’t exposing. It was obvious something bad was happening.
    “Talon, what is it?” she rasped.
    His face was grim. “Intruders.”
    Oh, hell. Her heart squeezed with fear.
    “Human?”
    “No.” He headed toward the door of the bedroom.
    “Where are you going?”
    “To get rid of the trespassers.”
    Panic thundered through her as she chased after him, down the stairs and into the kitchen. She didn’t have to ask who was out there. Talon wouldn’t be so on edge if it was anyone but the elders.
    “Not alone,” she pleaded. “We have to call Raphael.”
    Never slowing his determined stride, Talon snatched his cellphone off the table and tossed it in her direction.
    “You call,” he said, sending her a warning glare. “And don’t come out of this house.”
    “But…” She muttered a curse as Talon stepped out of the cottage, firmly closing the door behind him. “Dammit.”
    With shaky hands she pressed on the phone and scrolled to find Raphael’s number. Within seconds she heard a familiar voice.
    “What?”
    “It’s Isi,” she said, her voice a raspy croak. “Come to the cottage. And hurry.”
    She placed the phone on the counter and headed to pull open the door.
    Talon could toss out as many orders as he wanted, but she’d be damned if she was going to allow him to fight her battles.
    She stepped onto the porch, her gaze moving to the two large, male Pantera in human form who bracketed a strange mist just inside the front gate. She felt a terrifying chill spear through her heart as the mist parted to reveal three female puma.
    The three ranged in shades from brown to a pristine white, with different colored eyes. But they all shared the same aura of ancient power.
    The sort of power she couldn’t hope to battle.
    The elders.
    She gave a startled jump as they suddenly spoke. Not just because they combined their voices to speak as one, but because they didn’t speak aloud. Instead she heard them in her mind.
    “Step aside, Talon,” they commanded of the man who blocked the pathway to the house.
    The stubborn cat folded his arms over his chest. “No.”
    The mist trembled around the elders, as if astonished by Talon’s refusal to obey. Odd. Isi had known him only a few days and she could have informed them that he had an allergy to being told what to do.
    “The female must be sacrificed if we are to rescue our lands from destruction,” they said in unison.
    Isi wrapped her arms around her waist, glaring at the pumas. Bitches.
    Talon growled low in his throat. “You don’t know that her sacrifice will do anything to save the Wildlands.”
    “It was foretold.”
    “Prophecies can be interpreted to mean anything,” Talon argued.
    The elders regarded him with flat gazes, a sudden heat prickling in the air.
    “Will you risk the future