Blaze of Glory (7 page)

Jonathan entered the cabin and tossed his hat and badge on the side table. His day had been long and hard. The whole cabin smelled delicious and he wondered what his wife had cooked up for them tonight. He still couldn’t believe Molly was finally his. It didn’t matter that they’d been man and wife for nearly two years now.

She entered the living area, a toddler in her arms and jelly smeared on her face. She sighed. “Can you keep an eye on him? He’s into everything.”

Laughing, Jonathan took their son in his arms. He snaked his free arm around his wife’s waist and dragged her against him. He kissed her lips passionately and then wagged his brows. “How much longer will I be able to do this before your big ole belly is in the way?”

She swatted his arm playfully. “It was your idea to have another baby. Now you have to live with it.”

He eyed his woman. She was even more beautiful pregnant. Little did she know the sight of her that way made him want to assure she remained in that state for as long as possible. With one boy here and another on the way, Jonathan was the happiest man in the territory.

“I love you,” he said to his wife as their son smeared his jelly-covered hand over Jonathan’s cheek. “Love you too, kiddo.”

Molly laughed and shook her head as she went for the kitchen. “I can’t believe I gave up hunting outlaws for this. It’s damn hard work.”

Jonathan followed her, still holding their child. “Do you really miss it, Molls?”

“No, but I enjoy razzin’ you,” she offered with a wink. “I’ve given up my Marshal Molly days and there is no place I’d rather be than here with you two.”

Mandy M. Roth 
grew up fascinated by creatures that go bump in the night. From the very beginning, she showed signs of creativity. At age five, she had her first piece of artwork published. Writing came into play early in her life as well. Over the years, the two mediums merged and led her to work in marketing. Combining her creativity with her passion for horror has left her banging on the keyboard into the wee hours of the night. Mandy lives with her husband and three children on the shores of Lake Erie, where she is currently starting work on her Master’s Degree.

To learn more about Mandy, please visit www.mandyroth.com or send an email to [email protected].

For latest news about Mandy’s newest releases subscribe to her announcement list in Yahoo! groups. http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/Mandy_M_Roth

Rory Michaels has a soft spot for men in cowboy boots and at one point in her life, raised pigs. Now older, wiser and slightly curvier, she pens erotic tales that tease the senses and still loves a man in boots.

To learn more about Rory, please visit www.rorymichaels.com.

Kim pushed through the dense jungle vines, surprised she’d run into yet another thick cluster of them. They cut at her skin, digging deep in some places and breaking open cuts she’d sustained only the morning before. A branch shot back and caught her cheek. The sting told her it too had drawn blood. The tour guide in front of her paused and glanced back at her, having the decency to appear apologetic. She gave a tiny wave indicating she’d be fine and wondered if the man was qualified to be leading the way. He’d told her the day before that the trails they’d be taking today were fairly clear.

Guess we have different views on clear paths,
she thought as she glanced down at the shallow lacerations covering her hands and forearms.
They would heal over relatively quickly, within a day or two, but that wasn’t the point.

Face it. You just might not be cut out for a life of this
.

She trudged along, wishing she’d brought more bug spray. So far, she was averaging a bite a minute.

At least it felt that way.

A prickly vine dug into her lower legs and she was thankful she’d at least thought to wear long pants. One of the other students on the trip had suggested she put the bottoms of her pant legs into the tops of her socks. Wisely, she’d listened.

When her professor had asked her, along with several other students, to go on a trip to South America for a few weeks, she’d thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime. She wasn’t so sure now. They were there to study plants native to the area. Kim had an interest in studies reporting amazing results with the fungi in soil and leaf litter samples. She also had a curiosity about the antibacterial qualities associated with several of the plant extracts she recently began studying. The news was making its way through the scientific community, not quite at the rate she’d like but moving all the same. It wasn’t something that fascinated most people but Kim enjoyed the work. She’d also enjoyed the chance to study in the Brazilian Rainforest or at least she had until recently.

The trip had started out fine but had become progressively odder from there on. Professor Krauss wasn’t acting like himself. Back at the university he seemed even-tempered and basically boring. All in all, a nice man. Now, in the wild of the jungle, he was agitated and virtually impossible to talk to. The other students had noticed as well. Everyone was in a hurry to get their day excursion over with so they could visit the nearest town without Krauss trailing close behind them.

Already today the professor had snapped at the guides and even turned his temper on one of the male students. Kim wasn’t extremely close to any of her classmates because of her condition but she didn’t like seeing them berated. Vic and Brad were the two classmates she’d dare to label friends but even that was weak. They never did anything outside the confines of the class or lab. The trip to South America had left them spending more time together than they had in the year she’d known them.

Brad had been the male student Krauss had focused his foul mood on. Brad took it in stride but the act still bothered Kim. Krauss had been a mentor to her back at school and it was disheartening to watch his metamorphosis. Something was certainly off. What? She wasn’t sure.

Kim swatted a bug on her neck and inwardly cursed about how damned edible she seemed to be to insects as of late. She was an all you can eat buffet, traipsing around, sweaty and barely covered.

Standing near the roots of a Kapok tree, Kim lifted a leg, swatting yet another bug from her. She couldn’t help but stop and admire the sheer size of the tree. A grown man could lay on the ground, stretching his arms and legs as far as he could and still not come close to the width of the trunk. It didn’t matter how many Kapoks they passed on their expedition, each one amazed her.

Vic walked up beside her and tapped her arm lightly. “Here.” He held a bottle of bug spray out to her. His sandy blond hair flopped over into his green eyes and his lips twitched as if he were trying not to laugh at her.
“
You’re going to be miserable later.”

“
I
so
have bug guts smeared on my forehead right now, don’t I?” She returned his slightly flirtatious look with one of her own. He was handsome and she’d had a dry spell in the way of relationships for the last few months.

Vic simply stared at her. Something about the expression on his face made her breath catch.
“
No. You’re perfect.”

“
Uh, thanks,” she said, taking the bottle from him and misting her face, arms and torso. The spray was supposed to have a fresh, clean scent. She begged to differ with the
manufacturers.

She went to hand the bug repellant back but Vic shook his head.

“Nah, hang onto it. I’ll get it back from you later tonight.” He grinned. “Besides, I kind of think the bugs only have a taste for you.”

“It’s because I’m so sweet,” she said, before rolling her eyes at her own lameness.

Vic let out a soft laugh as he stared around. “Kim?”

“Yes?”

“Something’s wrong.”

She sensed it too. Vic pulled her close to him and turned in a slow circle before letting her go and motioning for her to stay put. She wasn’t keen on being left alone but nodded all the same. She glanced around, trying to figure out what had caused her inner alarms to go off.

The telltale sounds of the jungle came to a grinding halt. It was a noisy place. To have it all come to a stop wasn’t natural. The tension in the air carried with it the threat of danger. At first, she assumed a larger predator was near them, stalking them. It wouldn’t have been the first time on their expedition that they had found themselves near a large animal.

There was a loud thud followed by a groan from somewhere behind her. She glanced around, unsure what was going on and found the professor watching an area off to their right. It took a moment for Kim to register what she was seeing but when she came to her senses, she screamed. Vic was there, face first on the floor of the jungle, a dart sticking out from his upper left shoulder.

“
Ohmygod, Professor Krauss, Vic is hurt!” She looked to her left and found another of her fellow students lying on the ground, unconscious. “So is Brad!”

Kim turned and yet another classmate was fallen. Confused, her gaze snapped to the professor. For a split second, it appeared as if Krauss was smiling. Something sharp pinched her neck and she swatted at it assuming it was a bug.

Coming away with a tiny dart, Kim shook her head as her body began to feel heavy. Her vision blurred and she staggered. She reached out for the professor, screaming once more, as blackness swallowed her whole.

* * *

Wilson Rousseau lifted his head and pain radiated throughout his body. His vision blurred and for a moment, he could have sworn he heard the cry of a female. One who needed help—one who needed him.

A distant, yet constant, low-grade sound emitted from something his captors liked to refer to as the “scrambler”. He knew enough about the shit Krauss and his band of insane followers were into that Wilson surmised the device was built to prevent other supernaturals from sensing the presence of a cluster of them. If his hunch was right, it was some sort of modified L.R.A.D.—long-range acoustical device.

In short, it blocked his ability to mentally or electronically call out to the I-Ops and the rest of the I-Op’s ability to call in. If they even were still looking for him, which he was fast beginning to doubt. But, if they were, static would be all that greeted them.

Again, he sensed the call of a woman in need of him even when he shouldn’t have been able to receive any form of mental links. He struggled against the silver-coated chains digging into his wrists and ankles. They would cut through his limbs if he dared to continue to push. Understanding that fact, Wilson still tugged, needing to get to her, get free, anything beyond spending the rest of his days locked in a cell.

Dead or alive, he would be free.

Whatever his captors had injected him with dulled his senses, making things blur and his body weak. At random times, he could feel the Fae power his friend’s wife, Melanie, had passed onto him trying to surface but the magik either wasn’t sure what to do or knew he was clueless so it didn’t bother lending a hand. It probably figured he’d kill himself attempting to wield it. At this rate, he’d rather be dead than living like he was, so he was open to the idea.

Groaning, he moved his head around, trying to work the kinks from his upper shoulders and neck. It didn’t work. Beyond that, his throat was dry and his body was weak. The food wasn’t fit for human consumption. Maggots infested the majority of it and the rest was in a state of decomposition. After a certain point, Wilson had forced some of the food down only to find it coming back up quickly. Still, any nourishment he could get was needed if he planned on regaining his strength and escaping.

In shifted form, Wilson wasn’t too particular about what he ate or drank—that being said, his rat form wouldn’t even eat the food his captors continued to try to pawn off on him. Considering his rat form tended to eat just about anything that was saying a lot as to how dire his situation was.

He tipped his head back, giving in to the need to sleep. He was almost completely out when a scent like he’d never smelled before came to him, causing his cock to harden and his body to light with need. He looked up to find Krauss’ men dragging an unconscious woman past his cell.

The fierce need to protect her overtook him. Wilson surged forth, yanking with all his might against his restraints, reaching for her. He knew then it had been her call for help that he’d tried to answer.

“
Get away from her!” Wilson roared, his body protesting his every movements, pain lancing through his limbs.

The men stalled and stared at him before sharing a curious look.

“
He’ll
want to hear about this,” one said.

The other nodded. “Definitely.”

They continued down the hall, dragging the unconscious woman behind them. Wilson struggled against his chains, trying to get to her, until the pain was so unbearable that he passed out cold.

END EXCERPT

To learn about this, or other Mandy M. Roth titles, please visit her website at www.mandyroth.com