Sanibel Fire Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Notify Me!

  Club Saturday Excerpt

  Sage (Sanibel Immortals Book 2)

  Titles by Talyn Scott

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This book is written for those eighteen years and older.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright © 2014 by Talyn Scott. All Rights Reserved.

  Sanibel Fire

  Vampire Werewolf Menage

  Fanged Romance Series Book 8

  Talyn Scott

  Chapter 1

  Six months ago - Sanibel Island, Florida

  “I can’t believe we’re wasting our time coming here,” Eagan grumbled. “Female’s not going to accept you anytime soon, Sear.”

  Searlas MacGelton approached The Blue Pelican with one thing on his mind, and no creature was going to dissuade him. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the scent of his intended prey. “Actually, I’ve a meeting here in about an hour.”

  “And you found The Blue Pelican a convenient place to conduct this meeting.”

  He gripped the carved fish doorknob and nearly ripped the thing off when he stepped into the restaurant. “Stop your cock-blocking.”

  “Oh, we’re nowhere near cock-blocking,” Eagan said behind a smile, winking at a female carrying a tray full of stone crab claws. “If not for your uncle’s position in Pack, she probably wouldn’t even remember your name.”

  “I’ve been her friend for years.” Searlas rolled his eyes, wondering if Eagan realized how his own Beta Blood name kept his cock stroked more than most Pack males. That is, if Eagan ever went for any Pack females. “Right, and how’s that last name working out for you, Ruyter?”

  “This isn’t about me.”

  “It never is. You slide under the radar more often than not.”

  Eagan shook his head as the hostess offered them prime seating. “We’re heading to the bar, sweetheart. However,” he added as an afterthought, “I’m thinking I need your number.” He slid out his phone.

  Scanning the crowded interior, Searlas spotted an empty high table inside the bar area where wealthy locals and tourists unknowingly mingled with creatures, and left Eagan to plan his hookup. He nodded at a few Pack males as he reached the table. After he hung his booted foot on the stool’s rung and lifted himself to sitting, his eyes landed on exactly who he wanted.

  Then his dick did the unthinkable for such a public place.

  Discretely, he glanced down at the blasted thing, cursing the thin trousers he wore to fit in amongst the uppity crowd. Situating his legs, he repositioned himself beneath the table and took another deep inhale, pulling Jennifer Wulfstan’s scent inside him. He gripped the side of the table, fighting to keep his canines right where they were, hidden high in his gums. But the task proved impossible when her earthy musk filled his nose and mouth, whirling down his throat. The essence of her taste scored his back in the way of dark lovers, and he wanted nothing more than to mark her for his own.

  Tonight.

  He lifted his head a notch, staring from beneath his brow. Without a doubt, he thought as he took another breath of Jenny; Searlas could never stave his need for her, could no longer fight it if Alpha Jordan himself demanded he do so. Two years was far too long to wait, and he only hoped Jenny picked up her heart soon, and moved on to him.

  “Got the hostess’ number but she smells purely human,” Eagan said as he slid in to the empty chair next to Searlas. “Might be too fragile for my current mood.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Eagan continued though Searlas ignored him. “Since my brother Ail mated Molly Shirley, you think Jenny’s going to jump on your cock.” He signaled for two beers. “You and every other Pack male, that is.”

  “I have been patient. Hell, I haven’t even seen her for almost three weeks.” Searlas wanted to fist the smooth black silk of her hair, lick the creamy skin on her nape while he slid his loaded cock where they both needed it. “I will have her.”

  Eagan rapped his knuckles on the table. “Thing is; our females are prickly creatures, different from humans.”

  “I know this.”

  “My brother may have found his mate, but Jenny’s been in love with Ail since we were kids chasing each other through the marsh.” He leaned back as the server brought their drinks, complete with two shots of secret agave brew only meant for immortals.

  “You will not dissuade me.” A wave of envy nearly toppled Searlas, and he couldn’t tell if it was due to him missing Pack as a child or because Jenny had loved Ail Ruyter for most of her life. Maybe it was the two combined, the one-two punch that should have brought him down, forcing him finally to abandon his chase, but the werewolf half of him would never relent on any chase. “Really, Eagan, Jenny has no other choice but to forget Ail.”

  “She can’t forget him,” Eagan pointed out, also taking Searlas’ shot of brew and adding it to his beer. “It’s a small island. She practically runs into Ail every damn day.”

  “No problem, I’ll move up here after this next investigation ends, take up a simpler position in Pack, and make her see me every damn day.” Not just for her, Searlas needed a break.

  “You’d give up all that money?”

  “For Jenny,” Searlas admitted shamelessly. “I’d give up anything.”

  Eagan shivered.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “It’s like you took a vow or something.” Eagan held out his arms, showing Searlas his gooseflesh. “I don’t think I’ve ever broken out in goosebumps during my entire life. I would remember because my brothers would’ve beaten the shit out of me for being a pussy.” He raised a raven eyebrow. “Betas don’t do goosebumps.”

  “Air feels different tonight, though, like it’s charged with extra energy.” Searlas shrugged. “If I can feel it, your werewolf must be irritated by it.”

  Eagan rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe.”

  Searlas’ eyes traveled to the left side of the bar where Jenny was leaning over a deep, stainless steel sink while shucking fresh oysters for three awaiting trays. Her pert breasts straining against the silk of her tank top, her plump thighs shaping her black skirt, he longed to see her completely naked in the marsh, spread open beneath the moon’s glow.

  Just one taste…

  His cock tightened impossibly as he fantasized of claiming Jenny with her inner ridges rippling around him in the way of female werewolves. What would that feel like?

  Eagan c
leared his throat. “Get them under the table.”

  “What?” He curled his fingers and lanced his palms with his freshly protected claws. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath as he hid them beneath the glossy, black table. “I’ve waited for her — ”

  “You can’t expect Jenny to fall into your arms.”

  That’s exactly what Searlas expected. “I can make her forget your brother ever existed.”

  “For both your sakes, I wish you could.”

  Jenny sat her last oyster tray down three tables over, her shoulders stiffening as she glanced through the picture windows showcasing the nighttime gulf waters. Searlas followed her line of vision, wondering what she was thinking, and wanting to give her something else to think about — like losing her body with his.

  His skin tightened as his claws retracted, the familiar surge of jealousy an uneasy companion. If Jenny loved an unmated male, one he could co-mate with or even challenge in a territorial battle, the matter would be long solved. But fighting for the right to claim her when she loved another was nothing short of daunting, even to a male who took pride in backing away from nothing.

  He took a swig of beer, the cool liquid doing nothing to extinguish the roaring fire of pure need, and asked the dreaded question, “Any chance of her participating in Rites to Mate?”

  Eagan winced. “Lately, Bane or your uncle usually handles Rites to Mate for Alpha Jordan.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I don’t have an answer.”

  Searlas sniffed out a play on words. “You mean you don’t have an answer I want to hear.” He studied Eagan a long moment, considering. “If I find out that you’re not telling me everything — ”

  “Fine, I’ll tell you, but hold your shit in front of these humans.”

  Chewing his molars, Searlas nodded his agreement.

  “I was patrolling the gift shop two weeks ago.” Eagan met his stare head on, the shadows behind his werewolf, blue eyes shifting with the rising night. “I overheard Jenny’s mother nagging her to conduct the ceremony soon, to secure her true mates.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope.”

  Rites to Mate would also seal Searlas’ fate. As a halfling, he couldn’t declare Jenny his celestially appointed mate at all — though his instincts screamed she belonged to him — unless Jenny and her co-mates allowed him into their permanent relationship. In fact, Searlas aged as his human half dictated. Therefore, Jenny would long outlive him, but he tried not to focus on the negative.

  Searlas wondered, “So her mother thinks it’s a dire emergency for a twenty year old to find her mates.” He couldn’t imagine this urgency. “Jenny’s immortal, has centuries upon centuries to live.” Though, tonight, he’d spotted dark circles beneath Jenny’s eyes, and he wanted to bring her to his chest as she rested safely in his arms for the night, and the nights thereafter. “Why the rush?”

  It was Eagan’s turn to study Jenny, the male always watching over her just as fiercely as any other Pack male because all females were considered beyond precious. “Her mother considers Rites to Mate a rush not only because Jenny is hurting over Ail, but also because they’re considering leaving the states.”

  Searlas gripped his beer bottle until he heard a crack. “Scotland?”

  “Probably,” he replied with a shrug. “Jenny’s mom was born there and she’s been ready to go back since Ciaran reclaimed Weremiasma.”

  Jenny surveyed the room, somehow never making eye contact with either of them. Searlas had no idea if she was ignoring them, or simply hadn’t spotted them. Anyone that knew her could see that she wasn’t the same female, her bubbling demeanor overshadowed by a marked sadness. He wouldn’t be surprised if her tips were suffering.

  “So did you hear Jenny’s response?” Would she participate in Rites to Mate to satisfy her mother? At least, the old Jenny wouldn’t jump to those commands. But the one who’d lost her heart? Searlas hadn’t a clue.

  Eagan stayed quiet.

  “What?” What wasn’t Eagan saying? Was there some tribal law that decreed Jenny obey her mother’s wishes even into adulthood? He rubbed his temples, wishing now he’d listened to his uncle more. “Can her parents force this type of decision on her, like one of those human cults?”

  “Hell, no.” Eagan glowered at him, then sighed. “Sorry, it’s easy to forget you grew up in the human world. You’ve a lot to learn about our kind.”

  Searlas discovered his werewolf heritage only six years ago, when he’d turned sixteen and realized he was beyond different, was part of a creature who ruled the night. Through the years, his Uncle Gage had kept tabs on Searlas, helping him in the way his absentee father should have. Finally, saving Searlas from a dark night which involved a bridge, jagged rocks below, and screaming demands that roared through his head until he’d reached the breaking point. Then Gage worked with him, directed him, sent him on to be of service for his kind in order to channel the Beast. Now he spied within dangerous shadows for Alpha Jordan and his Pack. And so far, Searlas had managed to stay alive.

  He tipped back his beer bottle, finishing it. “So why aren’t you telling me what Jenny said to her mother?”

  “Jenny agreed,” Eagan muttered, resting his forearms on the table, his tribal tattoos peeking beneath his rolled sleeves. “But the way she said it, she’s so lost, Sear, sadly lost. Even though Ail never led her on, never took her to his bed, she can’t seem to — ”

  “So when is the ceremony taking place?”

  Eagan gave him a pitiful look. “There wasn’t a ceremony, per se.”

  “Wasn’t a ceremony?”

  Eagan nodded slowly. “Instead of making anything official, Jenny accepted an offer from Jed Don.”

  “He’s not a Pack male.”

  “Not an offer of mating,” Eagan explained. “I’ll leave you to fill in those blanks.”

  They were blanks he didn’t want to fill. Although Jed and Searlas had become tight during their current joint investigation, considered one another friends though respective factions often divided them, another slash of jealousy flayed Searlas. A pain that left him so hot and furious, his skin felt like it was peeling off his bones. “Jenny really gave herself to Jed?”

  “Well, I wasn’t in the damn hotel room with them, but that’s what it smelled like while I was patrolling the beachside.”

  “So she, uh,…just Jed?”

  “No one else joined them, Sear, which is unnatural for a pureblood female who needs it rougher and… Then again, this is Jenny we’re talking about, and she’s only wanted one male from the get-go.”

  “I can’t believe it. Then again, when have you ever seen a female turn down Jed?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  Searlas had been with scores of women before he’d set eyes on Jenny, had enjoyed countless encounters of mind-numbing sex on the this very beach. So, in theory, he shouldn’t feel so worked up over this. But he couldn’t see straight for the red haze descending on his vision, and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to rip out Jed’s trachea with his canines and toss it at Jenny’s bare feet.

  “Listen,” Eagan continued in a rush. “We know Jed has never hurt a female — that he moves on the same way the rest of us do. So, like us, he selects the females who want nothing but a good time.”

  Searlas’ entire body hardened to granite. “Watch what you say about her.”

  Eagan winced again. “Bad choice of words. What I’m saying is Jed didn't play her anymore than Jenny played him. Think about it. They were consenting adults who probably just used one another to get off for the night. I highly doubt any cuddling was going on afterwards, but I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.”

  Searlas thought about it some more. “I guess that if she wasn’t going to choose a Pack male, I’d rather Jed take care of her needs than most.” He had to meet with Jed in a little while, discuss semantics on their investigation, so calming down before the meeting was vita
lly important for the case and for their friendship.

  “Yeah, but I have to tell you…” Eagan’s eyes hooded. “When Jenny comes, she smells like every wet dream you’ve ever had rolled into one, and then some. I can’t tell you how many times I came by proxy. And those throaty little moans —”

  “Like I needed that visual.” His crotch was tight enough to cut off his circulation. “Obviously, Jenny’s not yours, and I don’t see any other male hovering over her more than usual.”

  “You should feel some sense of relief that no one came forward to claim her.” Eagan smiled at the hostess as she flitted by, flipping her hair over her shoulder the way humans do.

  “You don’t look too disappointed that it wasn’t you.”

  “I’m nowhere ready to settle down.”

  “I think you don’t want to be the runner up to Ail.”

  Eagan laughed at that. “It’s hard enough living up to the standards of Bane as Beta of North America.” His eyebrows slammed over his eyes. “People expect too much from Ruyters. Maybe I should change my name.”

  “One day you’ll govern over those who ‘expect too much’ as their Territorial Beta.”

  “I may not travel that road, Sear.” Eagan’s lips curved. “Well, what do you know?” He nodded to Jed Donn, the male walking into the bar and slipping into a booth against the far wall. Obviously both Jed and Searlas arrived early for the meeting in hopes of capturing Jenny’s attention. “Why don’t you go on over and say hi to your friend? Oh, and try not to kill Jed. Bren gets pissed when we tear shit up in his place.”

  Searlas found none of this funny. “One day soon, Eagan, you just may be pushed into a similar position.”

  “Again, this isn’t about me.” He chuckled darkly. “What’s that look about, Sear? What are you going to do?”

  “Exactly what my inherent instinct is screaming for me to do.”

  Quickly, Eagan sobered. “Don’t listen to it, Sear.”

  Chapter 2

  Jenny kept Searlas in her peripheral vision, not letting on she’d spotted him from the moment he’d entered The Blue Pelican. She found herself drawn to his stubbled jaw, those wide lips that were to firm to be considered feminine, and those golden lashes fanning over his high cheekbones as he lifted and lowered his eyes while chatting with Eagan Ruyter. He’d circled her for the past year or so, maybe longer. She hadn’t kept up. Funny how one night of desperation had changed everything that Jenny thought she knew. And now, she longed for a male’s touch.