BOOK EXCERPT: THE PROTECTOR'S JEWEL Bonnie Rose Leigh

THE PROTECTOR'S JEWEL Bonnie Rose Leigh

BLURB

Leading two separate lives, Jewelry Designer, Alyssa Maguire never expects her secret life as an Underground Railroad Operator for Weres to lead her to not only a journey of a lifetime but to the one man who is destined to be her True Mate.

Blake Donovan is a Private Investigator on a vital mission when he simultaneously meets his mate and learns of his mother's attack and possible abduction. With danger and intrigue surrounding the newly mated couple, Blake and Alyssa must follow the clues left behind at the
scene of his mother's disappearance and rescue her before Midsummer's Eve or risk humanity's enslavement by an evil one that makes vampire whimper in fear.

Can Blake and Alyssa rescue Jeanne Donovan in time to prevent humanity's enslavement or will all be lost, including their newfound love and commitment to each other?

EXCERPT

Blake sighed,
his head leaning against the closed door, knowing he wasn't going to be able to change her mind about letting him inside. It was early by anyone's standards, but he was so close to reaching his goal. Patience wasn't something he possessed much of anyway, but when he was close to finding the answers he wanted, he could be a little pushy.

Fine, he could wait fifteen minutes. It's not like she could get out of the building without him knowing. Besides, she didn't have any reason to run. At least he didn't think she did.
Running his hand through his hair, Blake turned toward the stairs leading outside. It wouldn't do him any good to wait outside her door. More than likely it would only perturb her further. He didn't want this woman pissed off at him. Something in her voice warned him she was someone he didn't want to cross. Maybe because of the effect she'd had on him as he stood impatiently outside her door.. He could swear the hair on the back of his neck stood up at attention when he first heard her muffled voice answering his knock.

Still, he had a ridiculous urge to run back upstairs and beg her to let him in. At the sound of her voice, everything inside him seemed to stand still, to quiet down. He didn't even know what she looked like, yet his heart raced as he remembered her husky tone. Her voice had him thinking about unrelenting passion, silken sheets and Chateau Margeaux at midnight.

Only his urgent need for her cooperation kept him from charging back upstairs and pounding on her door until she either let him in or called the police. Until he discovered if Samantha Woods had passed through this stop, Blake would be all business. As a Private Investigator, he'd
learned the hard way that it was never wise to antagonize someone who might hold valuable information.

At the bottom of the steps, Blake sighed and tapped his fingers against the stairwell's iron banister. He was as tense as a bowstring ready to fire, that is, until he took the time to notice his surroundings. He heard the ocean waves roll onto the shoreline. He saw the water surge in the distance and watched the seagulls glide over the whitecaps, dipping their wings in search of fresh fish to catch.

His breath hitched at the beauty around him. He watched the tourists as they began to litter the shoreline. Children with plastic shovels and pails started building sandcastles along the mostly deserted beach. Blake was surprised there were people on the beach at all at such an early hour.
Then again, if he lived this close to the ocean, he'd probably be walking its shoreline before dawn every day.

Blake still faced the ocean when he felt her presence move up behind him. His entire body went on alert, his blood ran hot and thick, his pulse skyrocketed. His cock went rock hard, urgently demanding release from the confines of his jeans. If he hadn't been preoccupied when he'd been standing outside her door, he would have been prepared for his next shocking revelation. She was his mate. He could smell it, sense it in every part of him. She was his other half and the timing sucked.

Not only did he have his leader's twin sister to find, he had something more personal to attend to–his father's destruction. How was he supposed to court a mate at such a time? How could he not? As if he had a choice. He was unable to turn and face her, his feet frozen in place. His destiny stood behind him and he was afraid to look her in the eye.

Blake felt her nervousness. He could hear her beating heart above the ocean's roar and sensed her fear as she approached. He could feel their telepathic bond blinking to life in his mind. Final proof that they were destined to be together. As if he needed proof beyond his body's demands.
He didn't know what he'd been expecting when he was finally able to turn and face her, but it certainly wasn't the vision standing before him. Her eyes sparkled like the finest emeralds and her auburn hair was a mass of riotous curls that framed her heart-shaped face in wanton fire. But it was her luscious curves that grabbed his attention and held it like a dog would a particularly juicy bone.

Dressed as a gypsy in a peasant shirt and long flowing skirt, she epitomized Mother Earth. She wasn't model thin like so many women were these days, but was instead, pleasantly rounded. Her breasts would fill his hands and her hips looked custom made to cradle his. Blake shook his head to clear it. Now where had that thought come from? He needed to stick to business, even if his body currently screamed for release.

With his hormones raging, he couldn't stop staring at her, all thoughts, save one, wiped from his mind. His instincts were shouting at him to take her to the nearest bed where he could mount her, mark her and make her irrevocably his.

The Protector's Jewel: http://tinyurl.com/cvccyf