Teaser Tuesday – Silver Mine by Vivian Arend

The Book

The Tease

Shelley turned away under the excuse of grabbing her instruments, but honestly she couldn’t bear to watch Chase strip off his shirt. The buttons had sounded loud in her ears, and the thought of having this delicious man half-naked in her office—oh boy.

She was a dirty pervert, the thoughts running through her brain.

The past three nights she’d been thinking about him and her lost opportunity at the party. Caroline had been kind and stopped teasing after only a couple more digs. Shelley had been the one to administer chastisement for the next while. She could have had a man in her bed, but instead she was making herself come in the middle of the night, waking up to feverish dreams, all of which involved Chase.

Now he was here and she had to touch him.

She was either being punished or rewarded, and she wasn’t sure which.

“I’m ready.”

Slow and steady, there was a teasing lilt to his voice, as if he knew she was hiding as she gathered tools. Shelley braced herself and lifted her chin as she turned back.

She should have grabbed a towel to catch her drool. My, oh my, he was a fine specimen. Sharply muscular, the combination of wolf and cat turning his leanness into hard lines. “You must have the most incredible metabolism,” she commented.

“Hard to take in too many calories, that’s for sure.”

Ripped. Strong. Shelley took his blood pressure and did all the routine checks as stoically as possible, but there was no way to stop him from scenting how turned on she was. His skin was hot under her fingers as she removed the blood pressure cuff from his biceps, and she fought to not linger as she held the stethoscope to his chest.

Sweet mercy, the hair on his chest was thicker than your average wolf—perhaps his cat nature coming to the fore. She imagined petting him, playing her fingertips through the soft curls. Working her way lower until—

It wasn’t professional of her to think that way. It wasn’t professional to be feeling any of the things she was feeling, but damn if she could stop herself.

She moved faster, rushing through the steps, trying to keep her focus on what she needed to do, which was not leaning over to lick him.

Not even once.

A strong grip wrapped around her wrist, trapping her in place.

“Shelley. Slow down. We should talk about this.”

“Talk about what?”

“This.”

He tugged her between his legs and lifted her chin as his lips covered hers.

It was oh, so wrong and oh, so right. Shelley let the stethoscope fall from her fingers and gave into the urge to press her fingers against his pelt and run her hands up his chest. He’d wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and controlled her, kissing her softly but insistently. His tongue stroking hers, lips teasing and demanding a response. They weren’t diminishing, they weren’t going away, the urges inside her.

But they also weren’t uncontrollable. It was lust, pure and simple, not a frantic mating urge, and that made her feel a little better. Maybe she’d kick her own ass in a few minutes, but for the next sixty seconds she was going to take this in and enjoy every second.

Hmm, she’d set the examination tables at the right height for her to check dogs, cats and other pets without having to stoop or lift up. That put his groin and hers nicely in line and as he kissed her—no, as she now kissed him, heat transferred between them in the most delightful way. He stroked her hair, his other hand slipping behind her back and pressing her against him. Her T-shirt could have evaporated for all the barrier it provided. Her nipples tightened, her sex ached for a touch. The only part of her body truly happy was her mouth because he tasted so. Damn. Good.

The Blurb

If a tree falls in the forest, duck…

Life in isolation is the safest place for Chase Johnson, a crossbreed who doesn’t know which form he’ll assume next—cougar or wolf. Once a year, his unelected position as spokesman for the Yukon outcasts forces him to visit civilization. This time he runs across someone unexpected. She’s not his mate, but she pushes all the right buttons.

It’s taken years for Shelley Bradley to gather the courage to return to her home pack. In spite of being the lowest of the low—a shifter who can’t shift—she’s determined to make a place for herself as the Whitehorse locals’ new vet-slash-doctor.

There’s definite electricity between her and Chase, but sex with fellow shifters and the inherent mind games got old a long time ago. Ignoring him seems best. When he shows up at her office with a wound that won’t heal, she’s stuck—yet drawn to solve this medical mystery.

As they journey deep into outcast territory in search of answers, their powerful sexual attraction crumbles her resistance. But time is of the essence. If a cure can’t be found before his human and cougar succumb to his injury, he—and others like him—will die.

Warning: Contains a silver-tongued, hairy-chested, lean-muscled Alpha who’s got what it takes to lead in the wilderness and in the bedroom. Yeah, I know…not really much of a deterrent, is it? Throw in continuing territorial wars and a domestic cat. Stir and enjoy the chaos.

Available September 11, 2012

www.vivianarend.com

Preorder:

Amazon

B&N

Samhain