Monday Excerpt: Shadow State

Shadow StateOriginally from The Wild Rose Press anthology Taming of the Wolf, Shadow State is now available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and All Romance eBooks. A free sample is available for download from Smashwords.

Fighting to prevent the Nazi’s from gaining a wehrwölfe army, Christoph and Elsa tread a serpentine path between an ambitious party man and their primal need for each other.

Hidden for centuries in the German countryside, the Arminius Clan has amassed power, wealth, and respect. All that changes when the Nazis come to power. Christoph von Berangar, Alpha, makes his way to Berlin to claim his mate. But then one of his wölfes is captured, and experimented on by the Nazis.

Elsa von Skyler, leader of one of the Arminius Packs, is forced to experiment on the captured wölfe. Along with her father, an esteemed doctor at the Charité Hospital, they do this only to facilitate the wölfe’s escape. Together, she and Christoph form a plan to rescue their fellow wölfe, but when things go awry, will Elsa survive? Or will Christoph’s fervor to protect his mate compromise them all?

Excerpt:

Dinner was barely a half hour off, and Christoph hadn’t seen Elsa since she’d told him of Erik. After putting the fate of their captured member into his hands, she’d waited for his response.

He had no answer for her, not until he learned from Gerard what Strasser believed. Though he wanted to speak with her of personal matters, he’d needed to get the business of the Clan out of the way first. She’d left him to see to the other guests, without his answer.

 Now, he set out to find Elsa in the large townhouse. It was an eclectic mix of old and new, but the art deco suited her well. The unique style matched her personality. Efficient, sleek, sensual.

Following her scent into the library, he stumbled upon a far corner she’d clearly marked as hers. Lancet Medical Journal lay open on the window seat, with several more journals in various languages stacked in a corner. He sat by the window, letting the late afternoon sun warm him.

A fresh whiff of her reached him a heartbeat before the clatter of her rushed footsteps. Standing, he moved into one of the shadowed archways. Elsa scanned the shelves nearest her window, oblivious to his presence. Christoph took the opportunity to study her.

The sunlight glinted off her golden hair, neatly coiffed despite her rush. Her hands were delicate as they skimmed over the spines of her books, taking one from the shelves and stepping to the side, she skimmed it. He knew from her letters, and the diplomas lining the walls, that she was adept in her field of biochemistry. Her skirt accented her curved figure, and he wondered how she’d look with the material bunch around her hips as he took her.

Stealing out of the shadows, he stepped behind her with a growl. She startled, dropped the book and tried to turn, but he held her arms at her sides, trapping her between him and the diploma-lined wall. His lips tasted the side of her neck, the smooth, fragrant skin there. The feel of her body against his told him everything he needed to know.

My woman.

“We are creatures of instinct, are we not?” he asked in a low rumble. “Mine are very clear.”

Her heart pounded, he could feel it jump where his fingers brushed the sensitive underside of her wrists. Her scent intensified, an added undercurrent of muskiness, and he knew she was as aroused as he.

Her head turned, but she didn’t struggle. She leaned further into him, pressing her arse against his throbbing erection.

“I wondered what your instincts would tell you,” she whispered. “You were inscrutable this afternoon.”

“That was not the moment for us.”

“Have you decided this is our moment?” she asked.

He pulled away just enough to see the eyebrow raised in amused question. But he could also see how her blue eyes darkened, could feel her breath coming in gasps. Could smell the change in her scent.

Trailing his lips along the back of her neck, he breathed her in. Another growl escaped him, louder and stronger, establishing his dominance over her. When Elsa growled back, his cock hardened further.

Yes, mine.