Riptide
Blurb:
Rory
Frazier is destined to be the next leader of Kismet Cove, a secret colony of
seal shape shifters known as selkies. The catch? Rory can only claim his
birthright if he and his blood brother Evan Sinclair find a suitable
mate.
Jessica
Jones has come to Tofino to reclaim her life and move on from the grief of her
mother’s death. Jess just wants time alone and space to heal, but kismet has
something else in store. After a rogue waves sweeps her out into the frigid
Pacific Ocean, Jess is rescued by two handsome men who heat her blood and help
to heal her wounded heart.
Time’s
running out for Rory and Evan. They need to present the colony with their
chosen mate and tell Jess the truth about who they really are. When their
secrets are finally revealed will their new found love survive, or will the
emotional riptide tear the three of them apart forever?
Excerpt:
Jess knew there was a reason she should
open her eyes, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what it was. It
was easier just to drift in the comforting warmth that surrounded her like a
cocoon than to puzzle out what was wrong. She was warm, and Evan had said she
was safe… Jess’s brain slammed on the brakes and then reviewed her last thought
and a second later she was sitting up in bed, her arms crossed over her nearly
naked chest as she stared down at the blond god looking up at her in alarm.
“What—” was all he got out of his mouth
before she started screaming.
“Where am I and why am I naked? And who the
hell are you?”
Jess grabbed the blankets still wrapped
around her and scrambled backward until she hit a wall.
“Just calm down for a minute, Jess. I’m
Evan, remember?”
“No! I mean… maybe?” She realized he was
only half dressed and panic washed over her again. “Where are your clothes? And
where the hell are mine?!”
She heard footsteps coming at a dead run
and the next thing she knew another man burst into the room. Jess squealed in
fright and tried to stand up, slamming her head on the low ceiling. Stars burst
behind her eyelids and she dropped back down to the bed with a cry of fear and
pain.
“What the fuck did you do to her, Evan?”
the new arrival bellowed.
“Nothing! Now will you shut up? You’re
scaring her.”
“I’m scaring her? Really? I was up top when
she started screaming.”
“Shut. Up. Rory,” Evan snarled and Jess
could hear him moving on the bed. “Jess, sweetheart, it’s okay. You got taken
out by a wave and we pulled you out of the water. You’re clothes are right over
there, but they’re soaking wet. Are you remembering any of this yet?”
Jess opened her eyes slowly and found
herself staring straight into the face of a dark angel. His black hair fell to
his shoulders, and his eyes were the color of onyx. She could tell he hadn’t
bothered to shave in a day or so, and the dark stubble added to the surreal
sense of danger the man projected. Even stooped over to fit inside the
strangely configured room, he looked absolutely huge and more than a little
intimidating.
“Hi, Jess. I’m Rory.” The dark haired man
gave her a slow smile and she felt her insides turn to molten mush. That smile
transformed his face and softened the impact of his powerful presence.
“Uh, hi.” She tugged the blankets tighter
around her and glanced over to Evan again. He was like sunshine after the storm
when she compared him to Rory. He had sandy blond hair and a friendly smile
that she recognized from the tumble of terrible memories that were all jumbled
up inside her head. “You were the one that pulled me out of the water,” she
said to Evan and he nodded, still watching her with concern gleaming in his
sky-blue eyes.
“That’s
right. Rory was there, too, but he was dealing with the boat, so I was the one
who took you down here and got you warmed up.”
More
memories came back and Jess blushed as she remembered being undressed and then
burrowing into Evan’s arms.
Evan
grinned and she found herself dazzled by his smile. “Oh yeah, it’s all coming
back to you now, isn’t it?” he chuckled. “Now that we’ve established the fact
that no one here’s an ax murderer, why don’t you lie back down and finish
getting warmed up while I check to make sure you didn’t just give yourself a
concussion.”
“I’ll do it,” Rory offered and the two men
exchanged a look Jess didn’t quite catch the meaning of. It must have meant
something, though, because Evan grinned and nodded before flopping back down on
the mattress and patting the spot beside him.
“I’ll leave the first aid to Rory’s gentle
touch, then. Come here, sweetheart. You’re nowhere near recovered yet. You need
to rest.”
A fragment of another conversation popped
into Jess’s head and she grinned at Evan as she carefully made her way back to
his side. “I thought you said he was heavy-handed?”
Rory growled and Evan groaned with
laughter. “Oh sure. You didn’t remember getting rescued, but you managed to
remember me insulting his driving? You’re just going to be a world of trouble
for us, I can already tell.”
Jess was intensely aware of Rory as he
moved around behind her, and she felt a shimmer of heat dance over her skin as
he gently stroked her hair and explored her scalp just around where she’d
bumped it.
“You gave yourself a nice goose-egg, but I
don’t see any blood.”
“So I’ll live?” She tried to keep her tone
light, but she could hear the tremor in her voice. She hoped they’d think it
was from the cold and not because of the effect the two of them were having on
her.
Rory’s hands stroked over her wet hair and
came to rest on her shoulders as he leaned down so his mouth was just beside
her ear. “You’ll live, but only if you stop wandering out on the rocks during
storm season. Promise me you won’t do that again.”
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