Black Storm [Panther Key] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Scarlet Day Read Free Book Online Page A

it. And more. And Blake knew Kate would be their next target if her heritage was discovered. They were going to have to see to it that no one found out Jesse was her father.
    He couldn’t stand this any longer. Even though Kate was only in the next room, it was too far for him to be comfortable. He stalked out of the kitchen toward the closed bedroom door, ignoring the scowling looks of his brothers as he passed them. He knew they were only concerned that Kate be allowed to rest after everything she had been through. Blake had no intention of waking her, but he needed to have her in his arms.
    He quietly opened the door and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him just as silently. Without making a sound, he slipped into the bed and stretched out next to Kate then pulled her into his arms. She snuggled against his body, and he curved around her protectively. Thankfully, she didn’t wake up. His brothers would give him hell if she did.
    He cradled her head in the crook of his arm and watched her sleep, her breathing deep and peaceful. He loved the feel of her pressed against him. She really was beautiful, though he had sensed the lack of confidence she seemed to have about herself. He would gladly spend the rest of his life showing her just how extraordinary she truly was. Her black hair fanned out across his arm and chest and shimmered in the soft light of the candle on the nightstand. She had a tanned olive complexion that set off her emerald-green eyes, though those eyes were currently hidden from his gaze. Her body was curvy in just the right places. He couldn’t wait to see her in her panther form. He was sure she would be magnificent.
    Blake had never really known what it would feel like when, or if, he and his brothers ever found their mate. They had been prepared to live their lives without the companionship and love a mate would provide. But that was not their fate. All of their cats had reacted instantly with the same intense possessiveness toward Kate. It was what had drawn him to her in the woods. He and his brothers had spent their lives getting to know and trust their cats, so when their cats said this was their mate, their hearts were immediately won over. It was sort of love at first sight, panther style.
    He knew it would be different, and harder, for Kate. Having never known her cat, or even known she was a shifter, meant that her head and her heart would have to learn to trust the cat’s instincts. Her cat would never lead her astray, and her ability to trust it would be crucial for what lay ahead.
    They hadn’t told Kate the whole truth about her father, or about herself. She’d endured enough shock for the time being, but they would have to give her the rest of the story eventually. Everyone thought Jesse’s family line had been extinguished when he was killed. The fact that Jesse had survived for as long as he did was somewhat of a miracle, having escaped the massacre when the rest of his family had been destroyed.
    Jesse had only been a young boy then. He’d been spending a weekend playing with their father at their grandparent’s house when the attack at his family’s compound had occurred. It had been the only thing that had saved him back then. As the years had gone by and the attackers had not returned, Jesse had grown too confident in his own survival. He had started using his surname again, convinced that his family’s killers had finally returned to their native lands overseas.
    Now that Kate was here, Blake worried it was only a matter of time before the news got out that the killers had left a loose end and the legendary bloodline had survived.

Chapter Seven
     
    Kate awoke and felt something warm and hard pressed against her body. She inhaled and recognized Blake’s scent. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but the enticing musk-and-honey smell registered in her mind as distinctly Blake. She wasn’t ready to open her eyes, so she just lay there and enjoyed the sensation