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  Reese couldn’t bear the pain in Josh’s eyes and he steered the direction to something easier. “A little less talk and more work might help.” Reese pointed to the pile of bolts and the other drill beside him. “It’s been a bitch working on the construction alone.”

  “Somehow, Colton, I don’t think you really wanted our human friends nosing around while you modernized the wine cellar downstairs. I’m sure they wouldn’t think much of your recipe.” Josh went to work attaching the other end of the sign.

  “But can’t you just see Timmon’s smart mouth hanging to the floor at the site of the vat full of blood?” Reese laughed. “Speaking of blood, another load of pigs arrived at the farm yesterday.”

  Josh looked at him thoughtfully. “It’s not hard being there?”

  “Nah. Feels right. Like I’m continuing the work Glenn started.” Reese shrugged. “Besides, I’ve been enjoying experimenting with the blood wine mixture. I figure the new mix should yield a hundred bottles every couple of days. The tribunal’s looking to set up several more wineries.” Reese set the last bolt. “By the end of the year every vamp in California will be able to live off Alex’s blood wine.”

  They gathered the tools and jumped to the ground. Standing in the wash of the angled spotlights on the roof, they stood a moment and admired their work. “You think Glenn would’ve approved?” Reese asked quietly.

  “Flanagan’s Tavern,” Josh said, reading the sign. “Yeah. He’d approve.”

  “You fools going to stand out there all night? There’s plenty more work inside.”

  Reese stared at his wife standing in the open door. The lights from the new dining room silhouetted Alex’s beautiful figure.

  “Pull out the whips, why don’t you?” Josh joked.

  “You’d enjoy it too much, Burkett, and I’d never get you two to finish anything.”

  Reese jumped over the three stairs onto the porch and kissed her sweet lips. “You actually tell him about the flogger?” he whispered.

  Alex swatted his arm and nuzzled his ear. “He was kidding, you idiot.”

  “Enough.” Josh joined them on the porch. “Haven’t you figured out that’s the kind of stuff that got you in this condition in the first place, Alex?”

  Reese splayed a hand over her protruding belly. If Josh weren’t there, he’d fill his hands with her swollen breasts. “Shh, don’t tell her that. She still hasn’t figured it out.” He swept Alex into his arms. He had no idea the prospect of being a father would make him so happy. Both of them suspected she’d been just human enough to conceive. They had no idea if the smoke from the fire or her transformation back to vampire the night of the fire had affected the fetus. Only time would answer that question.

  Whatever the outcome—they’d handle it all with love.

  Reese smiled down at Alex. “I was hoping to get lucky tonight.”

  The End

  Also Available

  by Nina Pierce

  Please Enjoy this excerpt from

  Bonded Souls

  The prequel in the Shifting Bonds series

  Chapter One

  Jayda Kynslan sauntered into the Whip and Bull Tavern, wanting only two things—a cold beer and a hot body. The first, she hoped would ease the heavy ache in her chest. The second would be part of a good-looking man who would replace the images of the jackass who’d broken her heart. This whole road trip to the high mountains of Montana had been a knee-jerk reaction to the asshole’s selfishness. Jayda shook her head, clearing away thoughts of the friggin’ pig of a manwhore. She didn’t want to go there tonight. This night was about getting a little buzz and a whole lot of sex.

  Her first objective was only as far away as the bar across the room. But weaving her way through the handful of empty tables, her red cowboy boots tapping across the peanut shells strewn on the marred floor, Jayda realized finding someone to fulfill the second thing on her wish list wasn’t going to be as easy. She’d picked a bad night to go cruising for male flesh in a nearly empty bar that seemed to cater to the college crowd.

  Plunking her voluptuous ass on one of the padded barstools, Jayda lifted her hand to the bartender. Some might consider Jayda overweight, but she liked to think of her size-sixteen frame as curving in all the right places. Why men would go for the little waifs with nothing to hold on to, like the petite blonde behind the bar, was beyond her understanding.

  “A long neck. Something domestic. I’m not picky,” she said to the female bartender, who looked only slightly less bored than Jayda felt at the moment. Except for football season, which had already passed, she figured Monday nights, even in a cowboy town like Lonesome Fork, weren’t really big tavern nights for most people.

  The bartender’s ponytail swayed as she set down the bottle, offered a glass, which Jayda refused, and slid over the bowl of peanuts. In a hurry to begin her vacation, Jayda hadn’t bothered to eat lunch before leaving the vet clinic. Anticipation had kept her driving through the Montana mountains and now her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn’t taken time to fix herself dinner before leaving the cabin either. Grabbing a handful of nuts, she broke open the shells and popped them in her mouth. She scanned the reflections of the patrons in the mirror behind the bar, searching for possible targets.

  Tonight, Jayda decided, would be her last go-around with the opposite sex—unadulterated, uncomplicated coitus with a complete stranger. A nice memory to hold on to in the quiet of the night when she was alone in her bed. Jayda didn’t want to need a man. She was a successful veterinarian in a big practice. It should be enough.

  After tonight, she’d spend the week in solitude at her friend’s mountain cabin, mending her shredded heart and planting her feet solidly on the path to celibacy. Obviously, two weeks drowning her sorrows with tears hadn’t helped. Men, Jayda had come to believe, were nothing but scumbags of trouble on the garbage heap of misery. The sooner she cleared them from her mind, the happier she’d be.

  Jayda nervously toyed with the bangle bracelet at her wrist. She’d chosen this evening’s outfit to accent her best features. Her ass was swaddled in her favorite pair of worn jeans. A white cashmere sweater displayed her plentiful cleavage quite nicely. The clothes definitely announced, “I’m yours for the taking.”

  She hadn’t wanted to mess with the corkscrew curls of her hair while traveling the ninety minutes from her condo in Blackfish Springs to the cabin in Lonesome Fork, so Jayda had pulled the whole mess into a long French braid. The thick tail of black curled over her shoulder and draped invitingly over her left breast.

  Unable to make out faces in the murky light of the tavern, Jayda gave up on her sly inspection of the clientele and kicked the stool a half turn. Leaning one elbow on the padded edge of the bar, she casually sipped her beer, assessing her chances of getting laid.

  A rowdy group of young men, barely old enough to drink, sat at a booth, flicking a paper football between them. A few others spilled onto the tables next to them. Most likely students from the state university at the base of Coppertip Mountain. Though their youthful stamina would be a definite plus, Jayda thought a more experienced man would leave her with more satisfying memories. A sigh puffed out her cheeks, and she turned the stool back to the bartender.

  “Quiet tonight,” she said.

  “Give it another thirty minutes.” The bartender flicked her head toward the door leading to the back room of the tavern. “Monday’s the mechanical bull competition. They’ll start filtering in here soon enough.” The woman swirled a couple of beer steins in some homemade rig for cleaning glasses and set them next to the sink. “Not from around here?” She turned the statement into a question.

  “That obvious?” Jayda casually shelled a few peanuts, adding the husks to her neat pile on the bar. “I grew up in New York City, but now I’m living in Blackfish Springs. Even after four years in the foothills of Montana, I can’t seem to lose the city accent.”

  The bartender smiled. “Lonesome Fork’s a small town. I know most every
one coming and going. Accent’s not that obvious.” The bartender used her cloth to wipe the bar and push the peanut shells to the floor. “Part of the Whip and Bull’s ambiance,” she said, almost as an apology. “What brings you to Lonesome Fork?”

  “A man.” Jayda immediately regretted the words. It didn’t help that the cobalt eyes staring back at her grew wide with surprise. Jayda’s hand shook with her head, wiping away the confusion. “That came out wrong.” She took a long pull of her beer, trying to wash down the embarrassment. “What I mean is…I’m not looking for a man. I just broke up with my boyfriend and I’ve come here for a vacation to get my head on straight.”

  Tension eased out of the bartender’s shoulders and she smiled and nodded. “I’m Becca.” She wiped her hand down the small apron around her waist before extending it to Jayda. “Nice to meet you…”

  Jayda shook her hand, relaxing into the female kinship of understanding. “Jayda. Jayda Kynslan.”

  “Well, Jayda, Jayda Kynslan, welcome to Lonesome Fork.” Becca leaned in conspiratorially. “I guarantee the fresh mountain air smells a hell of a lot better than testosterone.”

  * * * *

  Cole Takoda shoved the Saab into park, wondering again why Aaron had felt the need to call him. It was one of his few nights off, and he’d wanted nothing more than to settle in with the most recent Clive Cussler novel and some classical guitar music. But Aaron’s curious phone call had made that impossible. He’d left the quiet of his log house, grabbed his leather jacket, and hightailed it to the Whip and Bull all because his head detective had strongly recommended he stop over for a beer.

  Cole’s cheeks puffed with the frustration heating his blood. With each step through the dirt parking lot, weaving around the old trucks and rusted beaters of the college crowd, the apprehension squeezing Cole’s gut drew tighter. Two nights before the full moon and something certainly seemed a little—off.

  It probably had more to do with the tone of Aaron’s call than something riding on the chill air of March ruffling through his hair. He could smell the snow. Forecasters claimed to have a clue, but they’d said clear skies and warm temperatures would brighten everyone’s spring for the next couple of days. He laughed. Obviously none of them had Cole’s nose or they’d know a real storm was brewing.

  Pushing through the battered door of the tavern, Cole was immediately assaulted by the scent of stale beer, wolf shifters and bodies in heat. Okay, sometimes his acute sense of smell wasn’t an asset. He kept his head down, not wanting anyone from his pack to stop him for a lengthy conversation about legends. With the upcoming full moon, it seemed that was all anyone wanted to discuss these days.

  He took a moment to acknowledge Becca behind the bar and signaled for a beer. The woman was a permanent fixture here. But so were the college kids and regulars he was hoping to avoid.

  Cole had every intention of running in, helping Aaron control whatever fire was currently burning, and heading back home to enjoy the rest of his evening. Quiet nights at home were rare for the chief of police.

  Not that it appeared anything out of the ordinary was happening at the moment. But then again, it was only ten o’clock. Trouble never started at the Bull until well after midnight when too much booze mixed with shifter testosterone and feminine allure.

  “Hey, Cole.” Aaron Wallace stepped away from the crowd gathered around the mechanical bull and strolled up to him.

  Cole didn’t read anything in his best friend’s casual posture or the nonchalant way he drank his beer. Aaron was as mellow as a well-aged cognac and just as smooth under pressure. But the fact he’d called Cole at all meant something significant was going down.

  “I’m here. What’s up?”

  “Sorry to pull you from your exciting night.” Aaron cocked a brow with his shit-eating grin.

  Aaron’s teasing of Cole’s austere ways didn’t bother him. The two of them had gone through the academy together, competing for grades and status. But Cole had worked his way to chief of police while Aaron had chosen to take the detective’s exam.

  “Anyway, I thought you’d like to check things out. You know, keep your finger on the pulse as they say.” Aaron lifted his chin toward the crowd. “Check out the woman in the white sweater. Front row. Long braid.”

  Aaron wasn’t prone to getting worked up about anything if it didn’t include evidence to a crime, and even then one had to really be looking for it. The slight tick in the man’s jaw told Cole something more than a great ass and pretty eyes had launched Aaron into investigative mode.

  “I’ve never seen her around here—” Aaron stopped abruptly as the waitress delivered a beer. Cole slipped her money for the long neck, along with a generous tip. Though Aaron’s head motioned casually toward a corner table, there was nothing relaxed about the way he steered them away from the raucous crowd. The man obviously didn’t want others inadvertently overhearing their conversation.

  Cole swallowed his confusion with a few gulps of beer before settling at the battle-scarred table next to Aaron. “Why the hell are your panties in a twist? Strangers pass through Lonesome Fork all the time.”

  “She’s more than a random stranger.” Aaron shrugged. “She’s a wolf shifter. But there’s something else.”

  “What the hell else is there?”

  Aaron leaned back in his chair. “It’s no skin off my nose and I don’t really give a shit if you believe me. I just thought you’d like to know something may be brewing and this woman could be a catalyst.” Aaron shrugged and slugged down the last of his beer. “I stopped by to grab a couple of brews, watch a little of the bull riding competition and maybe offer Becca a ride home. Then she came in. Got everyone’s attention without even trying. She’s got them all riled up. You’ll see.”

  Cole shot a look over his shoulder at the men and women gathered around the foolish bucking machine that passed for entertainment near the end of a long winter.

  “I mean she’s good-looking and all, but even the women are sniffing around.” Aaron lifted his empty beer bottle to signal the waitress. “And with the timing, I’m just wondering…” He let the thought hang out there with the confusion roiling between them.

  “Wondering what exactly, Aaron?”

  “People are talking, that’s all.” Again he let the words drag slowly over his tongue. “We’ve both heard the rumblings going through the town. About you know.”

  “No, Aaron, I don’t know.” The impatience clogging his throat made the words come out hard and clipped.

  “Sure you do.” Aaron leaned forward. “Maybe she’s here because she’s the one. Timing’s right.”

  Cole laughed out loud and slapped Aaron on the shoulder. His best friend had definitely fallen into a deep pool of crazy. “Right, and I’m the next president of the United States. What is it about the blue moon that gets everyone’s heads thinking of legends and folktales? I didn’t peg you for someone who believed in that sort of thing.”

  “Whatever. Just thought you’d like to check it out.” Aaron leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “The second full moon this month is only two days away. I can’t say it doesn’t have everyone on edge as always, but you and I both know that’s not why I called you.” Aaron paid for the beer the waitress delivered and waited until she was out of earshot before speaking again. “Jesus, Cole. I’m not one of the village idiots seeking the Holy Grail. You know I believe only half of what I read and even less of what I hear.”

  Again Aaron leaned in close and lowered his voice. “But I’m telling you, this stranger’s got something up her sleeve, and I for one would sure like to know what it is.” Motioning toward the crowd with his head, he fell back against the chair, his brows knotted in a deep furrow. “You get one whiff of her and tell me you don’t feel it.”

  End Excerpt

  Chapter of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five
/>   Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Excerpt from Bonded Souls

  Author Bio

  Thank you for reading Shadows of Fire

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  Author’s Bio:

  Award-winning romance author, Nina Pierce, grew up in a house full of readers. So becoming enamored with books was only natural. She discovered romance stories in her early teens, falling hopelessly in love with knights in shining armor and the damsels who saved them.

  Eventually, reading about alpha males and the journey to find their happy-ever-after endings wasn’t enough. She needed to pen her own stories of fated loves and soul mates. Nina’s discovered the passionate side of romance with her sexy stories. For her, it’s all about the sweet scent of seduction mixed with the heartwarming aroma of romance.

  Nina resides in the northeast with her high school sweetheart and soul mate of twenty-seven years, their three grown children and several very spoiled cats who consider her “staff”.

  Nina enjoys hearing from her readers. You can reach her at [email protected]. You can also keep up with all her newest releases on her website http://www.NinaPierce.com or by following her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/NinaPierce and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/author.nina.pierce