Excerpt from "A Panther's Flight" by J. Hali Steele

Blurb:

When a mate is worth waiting for.

Fane Baron is a Reign warrior—a sanctioned killer charged with hunting down the rogue vampyre cats of the Sovereign Kind. Haunted by memories of stalking his best friend and afraid the same contagious addiction will consume him, Fane makes a drastic decision; he’ll stop taking blood. He knows the consequences of his decision, the problem is, can he live with himself once he meets her…?

Edy Adair is in a predicament of her uncle's making. A few days from her first change to a panther, already dealing with the clawing emotional turmoil of being in heat, she’s headed on a short flight to Arizona with the vampyre cat of her dreams. Only problem, he isn’t the mate chosen for her by her parents. The fact is he killed her cousin!

Excerpt:

Edy Adair’s face lit with excitement as she hurried across the tarmac. This would be her first real estate deal. Uncle Thomas had called at the last minute to say she’d be making the trip alone and it took longer than they both expected to bring her up to speed. She added to that by taking extra time to assure her hair and makeup were perfect.

Her parents were concerned because her twenty-second birthday was the day after tomorrow, an important age for all Kind.

The plight of her people was attributed in part to the prophet Ezekiel and the angel Gabriel who, it was said, created vampyres. She had heard the stories as she grew up about scrolls written by the prophet that would free them from the vampyre curse. Ezekiel wrote this prophecy during his twenty-two years in Babylon. All Kind went through their first change at the age of twenty-two.

In just two days, she’d be panther for the first time and Edy couldn’t wait. Pain would be involved but she was prepared, and her mate would help. Her cat paced inside of her. It knew freedom was near. Soon she’d crave release.

She wasn’t anxious to become a vampyre.

The Elders still searched for the hidden scrolls that they hoped would rid them of their blood-thirsty half. But for now it couldn’t be avoided. It was part of who they were.

What kept her kind strong and gave them long life was blood taken in the way of the vampyre.

This made Edy think about her chosen mate. It would be his blood that sustained her. Her parents liked him and she was okay with their choice. She’d known him most of her life and they were good friends. She just wished he excited her more.

She knew she’d be back in plenty of time for the mating. She already felt the effects of being in heat. The fire that flared up inside of her was compounded by the fact that it settled right between her thighs.

It was an itch she couldn’t scratch.

Edy focused on the two men by the plane. All thoughts of her mate slipped to the back of her mind. Her uncle told her to trust Fane, he’d take good care of her. She knew he was Reign and he would be her pilot for this trip. But her uncle didn’t tell her how damned good looking he was.

She recognized the Kind prince, Nikolaus, so the magnificent creature beside him must be her pilot. Her inner cat started to purr like a motor. Wow, this guy is hot!

Close to six and a half feet tall with hair as black as a moonless sky, he wore it in a braided ponytail that hung down his back. The white shirt, partially open, clung to him in the heat and managed to accentuate a mat of dark hair on his broad chest.

Definitely panther.

The shirt couldn’t mask the muscles bunched beneath it. His leather pants strained against thighs that belonged to an athlete. She wondered how much better he’d look if he didn’t scowl.

Was she that late? She picked up her pace dragging both bags behind her. Edy was glad of the extra time spent on her appearance. She looked damned good in the dress she wore and hoped Fane would notice. Not quite normal business attire, it was one of her favorites. It gave her confidence and made her feel feminine. The discarded outfits littering her bedroom floor were a distant memory.

* * * * *

“Damn, why didn’t Patrik tell me this? A female. Hell, this is going to be a long trip.” Fane’s panther felt his distress and scratched at his insides for release.

“Everyone understood about Sans,” Nikol replied. “He was a transgressor. You did what needed to be done. No one blames you. You need to stop blaming yourself. She’s very young and probably won’t know you. You were bound to run into the family sooner or later. Anyway, an hour in, let her do her thing, and an hour back. I’ll probably see you on the compound tonight.”

The likelihood of his name cropping up around the family dinner table was zero. The subject of transgressors had always been taboo. Even though it could happen to any one of them, the Kind avoided the topic like the plague. It was a weakness none of them wanted to acknowledge.

The time to let it go had long passed. But his fear of transgressing didn’t relinquish its hold on him. He had stopped taking the blood as often as he should to maintain his powers and soon it would be evident.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Fane watched anxiously as Edy approached the plane. She was a knockout and he felt his panther change direction. It no longer prowled. It started to purr and the beast waited as she walked towards him.

When she got closer, he saw that kohl lined her sparkling green eyes and gave her an exotic look. Black as ink hair was worn tousled and short. It surrounded a face of stunning beauty. Her cheeks glowed with that just-made-love flush. Small, rounded breasts looked so right on her tall, slender body. Hips that curved sweetly above the longest legs he’d ever seen. They went on and on.

She exuded sex appeal like an expensive perfume.