Michel/Striker
Book 9 in Bayou Heat
Michel doesn’t trust Dr. Chelsea Young. Why should he? She willingly worked as a researcher for the humans who were using Pantera as lab animals. Unfortunately, his suspicions haven’t kept his cat from being obsessed with the need to possess the beautiful female.
Chelsea is determined to atone for her youthful mistakes. Even if that means working with the aggravating Michel who refuses to believe she now wants to help the Pantera. Together they must overcome their mutual animosity to track down her former boss, Stanton Locke, before he can commit the ultimate betrayal.
Genre: Paranormal
Series: Bayou Heat, Book 9
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
Winter was no more than a crisp edge in the breeze that threaded its way through the Wildlands. Michel sucked in a deep breath of the fresh air, savoring the tingle of magic that flowed through his veins.
He loved this secret homeland of the Pantera. It was a place of beauty, power, and untamed dangers that lurked in the thick shadows. Not even the new construction to house the dozens of victims that had been recently rescued from Locke’s dungeons of horror could mar the lush wetlands that were filled with a vibrant green.
This morning, however, his attention wasn’t on the Cypress trees that dotted the thick bayous, or the nearby cubs who playfully wrestled on a patch of grass. Instead he watched the slender female who was perched on a fallen log, monitoring the playful cubs and occasionally making scratches on a clipboard she had balanced on her knees.
She was a striking beauty with her long curly hair that blazed with a rich red threaded with gold in the sunlight. Her eyes were a pale green and her skin was soft and satiny, except for the scars that ran from her mid-cheek down to her throat.
The first time he’s seen her, he’d noticed the burn marks she tried to hide with her hair, but he’d instantly dismissed them. Instead, it was the rest of her creamy skin that had captured and held his attention. A perfect cream that made his cat long to lick it until it was rosy with passion.
His intense arousal had set off all sorts of alarms in the back of his mind. Not to mention pissing him off.
This female had worked with Locke, kidnapping and torturing his people along with innocent humans. And for all he knew, she was still working for the bastard.
It was obscene that his cat would instantly fall in lust with her.
And even more obscene he’d been unable to take another female to his bed since she’d arrived in the Wildlands nearly a month before.
He swallowed a growl as he sensed a
They were both Suits, but the two males couldn’t be more different. Raphael was tall, with a golden beauty and easy charm that made him the perfect diplomat. Michel on the other hand was three inches shorter with broad shoulders and muscles that bulged beneath the New Orleans Saints sweatshirt and faded jeans he was wearing. His dark hair was skull-shaved and his eyes a dark green and rimmed with black. His skin was naturally a deep copper tone, with a tattoo of a crouching puma inked onto his back.
He was also more aggressive than most Suits, which was why his brothers had been shocked when Raphael had made him a spy. But while Michel might not have a golden tongue, or the ability to mix among the humans, but he could scale a building, disable the surveillance, and take out a dozen guards without breaking sweat. Hell, he’d broken into the Oval Office just to prove he could.
“Should I ask why you spend so much time watching Dr. Young?” Raphael demanded, folding his arms over his chest as he studied Michel’s tight expression.
“I would think that was obvious,” he muttered.
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Raphael drawled. “She’s lovely.”
A strange sensation tightened around Michel’s chest, his gaze never wavering from the female. She wasn’t lovely.
She was stunning.
It wasn’t just the delicate features or the fiery hair. It was intense intelligence that shimmered in her green eyes and the grim resolution etched on her face.
This female was a survivor.
His cat was dangerously fascinated. Thankfully, his brain was connected to his human side. Which meant he wasn’t going to be blinded by a pretty face and perfect tits.
“I don’t trust her,” he said, his voice hard as he watched her lean forward, lightly running a finger down the nearest cub’s back.
Over the past two weeks she’d requested the opportunity to do non-invasive research on the children that had been created in Locke’s laboratories. She’d promised that she only wanted to make sure that they were healthy and growing at a steady rate.
“Have you forgotten that she has given us information on our enemy that we would never have discovered without her?” Raphael demanded. “And that her skills have helped us heal our people?”
Michel turned his head to meet Raphael’s determinedly bland expression. Were his lips twitching?
Did the annoying shit think that Michel’s obsession with the female was funny?
“She’s shared just enough to try and earn a place in the Wildlands,” Michel snapped. “For all we know she’s a very clever spy who’s trying to lull us into complacency while she gathers intel to send to our enemies.”
“So cynical,” Raphael murmured.
“Because it’s what I would do,” Michel said between clenched teeth.
“True.”