Panthers’ Prisoner
(Black Panthers 6)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifters, Suspense, MFM, HEAWhen her uncle pushes her to date Nico, Antonia Carerra doesn’t understand until she overhears a conversation between them. Soon she is on the run, trying desperately to hide from a man she senses is very bad. When the men her uncle and Nico have hired find her, she’s puzzled by the strong effect these men have on her. She’s overwhelmed by desire.
She has no experience with such lust, and panicked and alarmed, she soon learns that Mitch Landon and Graham Tate want her for their own. When her escape attempts prove futile, her struggle to resist them becomes impossible. Even learning that the men are shapeshifters doesn’t diminish her hunger for them, but she needs more than their word that she is their mate to profess her love.
Toni soon discovers that her ex-lover is a dangerous man and will go to any lengths to make her his. She also learns that her two panthers will go to any length to protect the most precious thing in the world to them—their mate.
Excerpt
After another pause, he inclined his head. “I get it, my m—honey. I understand why you’re wary of us. We don’t know how to convince you that you can trust us, and it’s a little frustrating because it’s so important.”
“If you’re not taking me back to Nico or my uncle, why is it so important?”
Turning back to her, Graham sighed. “Because I don’t think they’re going to stop looking for you until they know you’re safe.”
“That’s bullshit!” Toni whirled on him. “I’m not heartless. I called my uncle a few days after I left, when I got a burner phone and got far enough away, to tell him I was all right. He told me to run!”
Graham’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“None of your business. Please leave.”
Graham cursed. “Fuck it. I’m gonna go get some food. You try to talk to her.”
“Why don’t you both go? I need to take a shower.”
Sharing a look with Graham, Mitch nodded. “Okay. Mitch will go pick up some food while you take your shower. I’ll be here to make sure no one gets in.”
Graham slid his gaze to Toni’s. “Is the food good in the restaurant you work in?”
“Yes.”
Graham inclined his head and walked out.
Mitch pulled a chair out from the table and placed it close to the door. “Go ahead and get your shower before the food comes.”
Staying in the shadows, Graham pulled out his cell phone and called the farm, slowing his steps when he wanted to hurry back to his mate.
“Moran.”
“Leland, it’s Graham.”
“Did you find her?”
“Yeah. She’s pissed and not very trusting.”
“But she’s safe?”
“Yes. She doesn’t want to go back to Nico or her uncle.”
“I already returned the money.”
“Before we found her?”
“I trust your instincts. Either way, knowing she was your mate, she wasn’t going back.”
“That’s the fucking truth. I still don’t know how you and Joe know which ones of us to send out together, but neither one of us expected this.”
“We’ve sent men out on jobs in every fucking combination. We sent Mitch this time in case she was injured when she was kidnapped or drugged. These assholes don’t always know what they’re doing when they drug people. How the hell do we know what’s gonna happen?” He chuckled softly. “At least we know she’s safe. Pissed, huh?”
“Yeah.” Graham came to a stop. “We startled her, and she thought we were Nico’s goons, and she fought to get away.”
“Yeah, that’ll make you crazy. The scent alone makes it difficult not to shift.”
“If I’d done that, I would have scared her to death.”
“Yeah, that’s what happened with Glenna. She survived it. So, how did you find her?”
“Blind fucking luck. And good hunting. You saw in her a traffic camera, which told us she was headed south, and that she was riding a bicycle. We figured she could get lost in Virginia Beach but didn’t figure she had or would want to spend the money to stay there. Too expensive.”
“True.”
“Caught her scent a couple of times. Just followed it. Then we lost it. Frustrating as hell.”
“I know the feeling.”
“We stopped for something to eat at a small restaurant on the outskirts of Virginia Beach. Picked up her scent again., and when we showed her picture, the woman who owns the place lied and said she didn’t know her.”
“Nice.”
“Asked a couple other people who worked in town, and they pointed us in the right direction of a shithole motel. From there, we just followed our noses. I’m on my way back to the restaurant now to get something for all of us to eat. Graham’s with her. We’re hoping we can convince her that she can trust us not to take her back to Richmond.”
Leland sighed. “Yeah, but she’s not gonna trust you to bring her back here.”
“Then she’s gonna run out of options. Hell, she’ll just leave here and find another town or a low-rent part of a big city that she could get lost in.”
“Again, that’s what my mate did, along with her sister. Keep her close. If she manages to shake loose, you could lose her forever.”
Graham grimaced at the memory of the Alphas’ frantic search for their mate. “If I remember right, when you found them, Glenna was pregnant and some gang-bangers were bothering her.”
“Not for long. Stay close to your mate.”
Graham smiled at that. “Hell, being away from her now is making me nervous.”
His smile fell. He rubbed the back of his neck where it tingled. “I just wanted to touch base. I’ve got—”
Two dark cars, luxury cars that looked out of place, turned onto the street.
“I don’t like this. Looks like we might have been found. How the hell…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nico’s men. They’re here. They all drive the same cars and wear way too much cologne. How the fuck did they find her? I’ll call you when I can.”
Disconnecting, he hurriedly called Mitch.
“Yeah?”
“Get outta there.”
“Fuck.”
Graham heard the sound of the bathroom door being broken and then another curse as water was shut off. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s gone.”