Home > Work > Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changeling, #5)
1 " You're prone to mood swings."Mood swings? he stopped halfway down the steps. "Women have mood swings. Not men. "
― Nalini Singh , Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changeling, #5)
2 " However, Dorian's acceptance of Andrew only went so far. And it was nowhere near enough to allow him this close to Ashaya. "What are you doing here?" Though SnowDancer and DarkRiver had free range over each other's territory, the wolves preferred to stick to the higher elevations.Andrew's eyes shifted over Dorian's shoulder. "I can smell her.""Don't."The younger male grinned. "She's all over you, too. Is she as sexy as she smells?"Dorian knew Andrew was deliberately jerking his chain. "Why don't you come closer and find out?""Do I look stupid?""You look like a wolf."Andrew bared his teeth. "I thought we were friends.""And I thought you got posted back to San Diego."The other man shrugged. "I came back to visit my baby sister, check up on that mate of hers.""She's fine," Dorian said, relaxing a little at Andrew's deliberately nonaggressive stance. "I've been keeping an eye on her.""Yeah, I know. She's always muttering about how she has three over protective morons for brothers now. Andrew snorted. "Wait till she has a baby girl. I can't exactly see Judd being any less feral. "
3 " Attracted to one of the Silent?His mouth set in a grim line. He'd cut off his own balls before he accepted that. "
4 " Make me forget." A whisper, a plea.Not giving her what she wanted wasn't even an option. He switched their positions so she was under him. "Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage?"She wiped away her tears. "Please do.""Ask nice.""Why don't I make you angry instead? That gets me kissed a lot. "
5 " Dropping her hand, she turned in his arms. Then, rising up on tiptoe, she cupped his face in her palms and drew him down. Her kiss was innocent, vulnerable, a caress so gentle that it made him her slave between one breath and the next. "
6 " His hands clenched. "Sugar, I'm this close to tearing off your clothes and teaching you exactly how badly I take you keeping secrets from me. Your choice. Talk or get naked. "
7 " When the darkness receded, she found herself lying on the bed, still half-dressed...and being watched by human eyes that held a very feline satisfaction. "I said slow."He smiled. "Oops."Charm. "
8 " I ain't no Psy, Ms. Aleine, but even us dumb animals know when two people start exchanging thoughts, something's going on."She narrowed her eyes at his smug tone. "It was a coincidence.""Baby, when I think about my body, I don't focus on my cock. "
9 " If he was going to be held hostage to this unwanted compulsion, then she was damn well coming along for the ride. "
10 " She got to me.""It happens to the best of us.""Yeah? Who gets to you?" He was so strong that sometimes she worried. Everyone needed to bend a little, even a panther responsible for the lives of his entire pack."That damn wolf. He sent you a present last week."Sascha smiled at the thought of Hawke's flirting. The SnowDancer alpha did it only to jerk Lucas's chain. "I never saw any present. What was it?""How the hell should I know? I stomped on it and threw it into the deepest crevice I could find." He smirked. "Then I called him to ask how Sienna was doing."She burst out laughing. "Wicked, wicked man. "
11 " Don't call her Tally in front of Clay", Dorian said, thinking of the small human female who loved Clay so desperately. "He's a little territorial." Lucas's eyes flicked to Ashaya. "So are you." Dorian wanted to bare his teeth, warn Lucas off against interfering. "Yeah, I am. "
12 " I'll buy you a blow-up doll. I'm sure my mate won't mind when I explain how hard up you are."She didn't bother to punch him this time, just glared with promise of future retaliation. "Very funny. You wouldn't be laughing if you knew how sexually frustrated I am right now." [...] "The last time was when that SilverBlade sentinel was in town for a communications meeting."All amusement left Dorian's face. "You serious? That was months ago." A very long time to go without intimate touch. "Merce, that could get dangerous.""I know. Do you think I don't know?" She thrust her hands through her hair. "Damn it Dorian! It's getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder if some of the wolves would be good in bed. [...]"Cat and wolf isn't a ... um ... normal combination.""And Psy and cat is?" She made a face at him. "Yeah, yeah I know. Cat and wolf is strange." [...]"How about one of the Rats?" Dorian's eyes gleamed. "
13 " Why shouldn't we kill you?" he asked the black-garbed male who came forward to meet him."We have no quarrel with you." The man's eyes were flat, his voice toneless. "We ask permission to enter your territory to hunt a Psy fugitive.""Permission denied." Lucas folded his arms. "I don't make a habit of allowing enemies into my territory.""This fugitive may be dangerous to you and your people."Lucas smiled and it was nothing friendly. "Then the fugitive will die.""We would prefer to capture this one alive.""Didn't your mother ever tell you - you don't always get what you want? "
14 " Sascha nodded. "Want me to wait?""Do I want my mate to wait in a deserted forest while a dangerous Psy fugitive remains on the loose? Wait, let me think.""Sarcasm does not suit you." She kissed him again, laughter in her eyes. "
15 " Where did you get the control sample?" A flash of dark heat raced through him and he knew himself well enough to identify it as a dose of pure jealousy. "From Tamsyn." A pause, as if she was debating whether to continue. "I know you'd react negatively if I approached a make. You're... possessive." "Sugar, I'm way past possessive." His voice was no longer fully human. "
16 " People always say it's changelings who most crave touch, but that's not the truth. A long time ago, long before Silence, Psy craved it more than any other." He let her words was over him like affectionate rain. His mate, his mate, was trying to temper his grief, trying to tell him they weren't so very different after all. "
17 " Tammy's eyes widened. "Oh, my God, Dorian, it's not only lust, is it? You're starting to fall for her. She matters." Tammy was wrong, Dorian thought, looking out and into the yard again. The truth was, he'd already fallen for her. "
18 " No buts, nothing. You have the ability to piss me off without even trying, but I'll fucking take a gun to my head before I lay a hand on you. You clear on that? "
19 " Fuck!" Sweat rolled down his spine as he covered the remaining distance at extreme speed. She wasn't allowed to die, he thought, his rage dark red flame. Not until he'd flushed this vicious hunger for her from his system. "
20 " The sole thing that had kept him from going on and hunting her down had been an enraged defiance against a sexual pull that had begun to turn into an obsession. "