Blood Moon Read online

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by fines and federal imprisonment.

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Blood Moon

  Copyright 2016 by Desiree Holt

  ISBN: 978-1-61333-926-8

  Cover art by Mina Carter

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

  Look for us online at:

  www.decadentpublishing.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Dear Readers:

  When I finished writing Wolf Moon, Jesse and Alexa stayed with me long after. New characters started talking to me, and before I realized it, Moonlight, Florida, came to life—filled with a devastated wolf pack trying to rebuild, a local sheriff's department trying to keep the peace, a new wolf-lead agency determined to make a difference, and so much more. The Hot Moon Rising series was born. But it needed more. It needed to grow and take on a life of its own...so I invited lots of wonderful authors to take part in this shared world.

  Survivors of the devastation wrought by developers and a more savage pack, the Moonlight Wolf Pack struggles to find a new home for itself in the heat of Central Florida. Here you will meet Jesse and Charlie, the sheriff’s deputies who are their liaison to the human world; Alexa and Liana, the women they married; Derek Sawyer and Rand Molina, leader and lieutenant of the Moonlight Pack; and all those who make up their wolf family as well as those who will join them in the future.

  We hope you enjoy the stories from the many authors and return often to keep up with the original characters as well as meet the new ones. But not to worry. Whether this is your first or twentieth book, each one stands on its own. We look forward to having you join us.

  ~Desiree Holt

  Decadent Publishing Recent Releases

  Romancing the Author by Kali Willows

  Endless Devotion by Libby Waterford

  Claiming His Cub by Kayleigh Malcolm

  Silk & Scars by Cassandra Dean

  Rain by Taryn Kincaid

  Hard Lovin’ by Desiree Holt

  How Six Chefs Got It On by S. Ford Brown

  Moon Crazy by D.L. Jackson

  Gemini by Catherine Peace

  Desert Tryst by Susanne Saville

  The Mysterious Mrs. Pennybaker by Nancy Fraser

  Rolling in Sin by Kayleigh Malcolm

  One Night with His Wife by Sara Daniel

  One Exquisite Night by Annie Anthony

  Elena Chavez by Jeanette Collins

  Spurred on by Jon Keys

  Her Real-Life Hero by Vicki Ballante

  Aden by AC Katt

  Waking Beauty by D. L. Jackson

  Seducing Susan by Alexis Lusonne Montgomery

  Love and Punishment by Sorcha Mowbray

  Playing with Fire by Desiree Holt

  Also by Desiree Holt

  Joy Ride

  Aftershock

  Night Mission

  He Came Upon a Midnight Clear

  Flyover

  Lust Becomes You

  Overnight Sensation

  Soul Dreams

  Dark Secrets

  Knockin’ Boots

  Hard Lovin’

  Playing with Fire

  Sexy Designs

  Wolf Moon

  Venus Moon

  Blood Moon

  Coming Soon

  Northern Star Book 1

  Fallout

  Blood Moon

  Hunger. It drives the wolf. Hunger for food, for domination, for sexual satisfaction, and for revenge when one of their own is harmed. So it is when Hannah Raines is kidnapped by an insane geneticist who wants the female shifter for his bizarre experiments.

  Rand Molina has not only been able to satisfy his hunger with Hannah as his new mate but also taught her there is no limit to the carnal pleasures they can enjoy. He is both frightened and enraged by Hannah’s disappearance and hungers for revenge.

  Derek Sawyer, alpha of their small pack, has been seeking his mate for a long time. Fate delivers her in the person of Riesa Marlowe, a psychic who can give them clues to Hannah’s location. With Riesa, he feeds his sexual appetite that strengthens his ability to lead his pack on a rescue mission.

  Two very hot couples and a dangerous situation. Will the fire burn brighter, or will they all go down in flames?

  Moonlight Wolf Pack

  Charlie Aquino (human) - Detective for the sheriff’s gang task force for Palmetto County Sheriff’s Department. His partner is Jesse Farrell.

  - Mate: Liana Cosa

  Liana Cosa Aquino – Refugee from a different pack.

  - Mate: Charlie Aquino

  Alexa Martin Farrell – Left her pack over a disagreement with her alpha. She moved to Florida and helped the pack find a small community of cottages in Moonlight, Florida. She works as an Internet researcher and gets jobs through her online website. She also does research for The Defenders Agency.

  - Mate: Jesse Farrell

  Jesse Farrell (human) – Detective for the sheriff’s gang task force for Palmetto County Sheriff’s Department. His partner is Charlie Aquino.

  - Mate: Alexa Martin (who saved him when on assignment he was attacked by a gang)

  Derek Sawyer – Alpha of a small pack, most of their original clan was destroyed when developers took the land they were living on and many of their pack were killed by hunters. They hid in an abandoned orange grove until Alexa offered them the bungalows in exchange for their help. He and the others have embraced Jesse & Alexa and Charlie & Liana and given the female shifters a new sense of belonging.

  - Partners with Rand Molina at The Defenders Agency, a private security and bodyguard agency.

  Blood Moon

  Hot Moon Rising Book 3

  By

  Desiree Holt

  Chapter One

  Derek Sawyer looked at the woman sitting across the table from him. She was already upset, so when he spoke, he chose his words carefully. Being the alpha of their pack held a great responsibility, and he’d spent many tense years keeping them together when their families were destroyed and they’d had no place to go but a deserted orange grove. Now, trouble was stalking them again, but he didn’t want to show the frightened woman how edgy he was.

  “You know how careful we have to be. We’ve all talked about it.” He fiddled with his coffee mug. “Now that we live in real houses instead of the old orange grove, and many of us have jobs, we have to be extra vigilant.”

  Hannah Raines lowered her eyes to her tightly clenched hands, her body rigid with tension. Her sun-streaked hair fell forward, shielding her delicate face and her unique silvery-blue eyes. When she spoke, her voice was so low he had to strain to hear her.

  “I know that. I’m sorry.” She raised her eyes to Dylan. “But there I was at the convenience store, watching two men hitting a woman and trying to drag her into their
car. What was I supposed to do? In human form, I would never have been able to help her. Only the wolf saved her.”

  “How many other people were around?”

  “I think only two other cars in the parking lot, and one was empty.”

  Dylan shook his head. “So at least two people saw you besides the men you killed. Right?”

  “Yes.”

  He could still barely hear her words. “Did anyone follow you?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I ran off and hid behind a dumpster two buildings away. I didn’t go back for my car until I was sure everyone had left.” She blushed. “I was naked, you know.”

  Of all the women in their very small pack, Hannah was the shyest. At meetings, she was always restrained, staying in the background. Even her job, working for Alexa Farrell as a researcher, allowed her to keep to the comfort zone of her home. It also gave her a sense of contributing, since much of the work they now did was for Derek and Rand’s protection agency. The lust that drove the rest of them didn’t seem to be as strong in her. As the alpha, it was his responsibility to see to her welfare and help her realize the full extent of her sexuality. She had not mated yet because of it, but Derek was confident she soon would. In his role of alpha, he had taken her to his bed, not to mate, but to teach, and she was both a willing student and an increasingly eager participant.

  “Tell me about the car that had someone in it. That’s probably our biggest worry. What color was it? Did you get the license plate number?”

  She held out her hands, palm up. “Dark blue. Four door. I did see part of the license plate—DG. But that’s all. I’m so very sorry, Derek,” she repeated, twisting her hands together. “You’ll have to tell the others, won’t you?”

  He had no choice. Alexa, a shifter married to sheriff’s deputy Jesse Farrell, had helped them settle in this group of cottages at the edge of the small town in Palmetto County, Florida. They could live as humans but shift and feel free to roam the woods under cover of darkness. Or in the privacy of their own homes. But Hannah had exposed not only herself but the rest of them to danger. He would have to call a meeting so everyone would be on guard. He would do his best not to humiliate Hannah, but everyone had to be aware of the situation.

  He reached out and took both of her hands in his. “They must be prepared.”

  Derek felt the sizzle of lust that struck him these days whenever he touched Hannah. From a closed blossom, she had unfolded to a fully bloomed flower in his bed, even becoming, on occasion, the aggressor. Perhaps what she needed to prepare her for the coming meeting was another session with him. Something to take the edge off and give her the feeling of strength their recent sessions seemed to provide.

  She didn’t move away from his touch. “When are you calling the meeting?”

  “Tonight. After everyone’s finished dinner.”

  She tightened her hands beneath his even as she looked away. “Maybe I should just leave. It would take the danger away from everyone.”

  “No!” Derek took a breath and let it out slowly. “No one is leaving. We have stayed together when life tried to force us apart, and now we are the foundation for a new pack. We’ll handle this, Hannah. I promise you. And no one will blame you for what you did.” He shook his head. “It was just rotten luck and bad timing, is all. But the group will stand behind you and protect you.”

  Hannah looked up at him. “I trust you, Derek. You’ve been so good to me.” She sighed. “I wish….”

  He knew what she wished. That the bond had been there to make them mates. It hadn’t, however, although she was quickly learning the art of erotic love. What existed between them was nothing more than pure lust. At least they could enjoy that until he had to let her go.

  He checked his watch. Two hours. Plenty of time for what he had in mind. And he was sure it would take the edge off her anxiety.

  ***

  Rogan Mueller looked at the man sitting across his desk from him. He was careful to conceal his feelings, but excitement roared within him, anxious to burst free. After all these years, all the false alarms, was he finally going to get his hands on the subject he needed?

  He smoothed his hands over his straight hair, now more silver than black, before pulling a cigar from his desk drawer and clipping off the end. His thick fingers fumbled only slightly as he lit up. Although he carried a lot of bulk, he was also very tall. What might have been fat in a shorter man was massive bulk in Mueller. He presented an imposing presence wherever he went, a huge man with an impassive face, eyes that bored into people, and an attitude of pure arrogance, although, when the occasion demanded, he could roll out the charm with the best of them.

  “Are you sure this time?” he asked. “We’ve had so many false alarms that my patience is running out. My projects are stalled.”

  Gary Lisbon was the direct physical opposite of Mueller—whipcord thin, medium height, with undistinguished hair and features. It served his purpose well to be able to blend in wherever he went and allowed him to do the job he’d been doing for so long. He nodded his head at his employer’s question.

  “I tell you this time it’s for real. I saw her shift right there in the parking lot of the convenience store.” He stared at Mueller. “What’s the big hurry, anyway? If we don’t capture one now, we’ll just keep looking. You’ve got other things going on.”

  Mueller slammed his hand on the desktop. “This particular project has been in the making for ten years. I have a lot of money riding on it, and many powerful men waiting for the results.”

  Lisbon raised an eyebrow. “What’s so great about breeding a special strain of shifters, anyway?”

  Mueller snorted. “You’re kidding, right? We can study her blood in my lab and experiment with injecting humans with it, trying to recreate the shifting ability. Adding DNA from other species. And with the added use of the drugs we’ve developed, we can produce a unique and challenging prey for hunters who pay me big bucks for things like this.”

  “I don’t know. I still think you’re biting off more than you can chew. You have no idea what will come out of all this.”

  A malicious smile crept over Mueller’s face. “Maybe I’ll end up with something even better. Meanwhile, go back to that convenience store and try to pick up traces of the female. Scout the area. Someone will know where she lives. Or, better yet, maybe you’ll see her again and be able to follow her.”

  “All right. I’ll give it my best shot. But I still think you’re crazy.”

  ***

  Derek undressed Hannah with great care, removing each garment slowly until she stood naked before him. Unlike their first time together, she stood proudly, making no effort to shield her nude body. Her dusky nipples were already swollen and pebbled with anticipation, stark against the creamy color of her skin. The curls covering her cunt were the same dark red as her hair, and, experience had taught him, just as soft. His eyes skimmed the line of her shoulders, the slight roundness of her belly, the swell of her hips, and the tapering legs. She was a compact package with luscious curves, and again he regretted the instinct to mate with each other didn’t exist between them.

  He dropped to his knees in front of her and nudged her legs apart. The backs of his fingers caressed the insides of her thighs, sending a shiver racing across her skin. The scent of her arousal drifted past his nose, and he bent his head to lick the curls and the portal they protected.

  Hannah’s cunt, even after all their sessions, was still tight and gripped his tongue, his fingers, especially his cock like a hot, wet fist. After each session, she invaded his dreams, giving rise to a lust he had yet to completely satisfy. He opened the lips hiding the pink, swollen flesh and traced every exposed inch with his tongue. Hannah trembled in his grip, her hands braced on his shoulders

  As always, just the taste of her nectar excited him, arousing him to an almost painful point. His cock was hard enough to hammer nails, swollen and throbbing with unfulfilled need, and his balls tightened in their soft sac. He h
ad to restrain himself from thrusting his tongue fully into the channel of her pussy, but that would come later. Now, he was just teasing her to a state of excitement that would give rise to the lust that would burst forth from her.

  Derek pulled his head back, stood up, and lifted her in his arms, carrying her to the big bed in the center of the room. Some nights, three or four of their very small pack would enjoy each other there, and the images that called up excited him even more. He arranged her on the soft sheets, positioning her so her feet were planted firmly on the mattress, knees bent and apart. His eyes feasted on the sight of her cunt, glistening with her juices and those of his mouth. His hand moved to his cock, stroking it as he raked his gaze over her.

  How she’d changed from that very first night when he introduced her to erotic lust. A hint of shyness still remained, but the fire in her eyes overrode it.

  “Touch yourself,” he commanded. “You know what I like to see.”

  Her small tongue peeped out from between full lips and wet them until they glistened as her hands stole down her body to her pussy. Two fingers of one hand opened her labia while the forefinger of the other hand circled the tip of her clit in a rhythmic motion. A glazed look came into her eyes as the stimulation of her clit gave rise to more liquid in her pussy. The muscles of her belly contracted, a sure signal the first flutterings of orgasm were building inside her.

  Derek climbed onto the bed and positioned himself between her legs, one hand on each knee, holding them apart. Her hips hitched as her finger moved faster and the pressure grew in her body. Derek leaned forward and moved the fingers holding her open, pressing the lips even farther apart.