Mating Fever Read Online Free Page A

of
plenty of people who were fascinated by the subject matter.
     
    She guessed anyone had a right to make a
living selling to them. “So is this war still going on?” she asked,
amused by the old man but trying not to show it.
     
    “It flares up every now and again, but they
usually stick to their territory. Just stay clear of anything
Southwest of the Ponchartrain Expressway. Oh. And especially the
warehouse and Garden district.”
     
    Jessica nodded, humoring him. She was going
somewhere around there to check out the cemetery where her birth
parents had been buried--at least that’s what she’d managed to dig
up about them.
     
    “Mmmhmmm. How much do I owe you for the
repair?”
     
    “Ten dollars,” he said.
     
    Jessica paid him and turned to leave, but he
stopped her with one last warning.
     
    “You’ll remember what I said, right? I can
tell you’re not from around here and don’t know about the
territories just yet. I wouldn’t want you to have a run in with
those bloodsuckers. There’s only so much protection that warding
medallion will give you.”
     
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    Gabriel stood in the shadow of a doorway,
watching as Jessica left the shop and walked up the street,
completely unaware of his presence. Her senses were too dulled from
human living, but he could change that. And he would. Even with the
distance, he sensed the necklace about her throat. He was grateful
she’d heeded his advice and gotten the chain fixed. A warding
medallion was no real worry to him, but he hoped its power would
keep the others from sensing her presence in the city a while
longer. He’d staked his claim with that kiss, but there were too
many to challenge him.
     
    Given what she was, he had little doubt she
would be allowed to choose a mate, and better him than another. The
fact that he had little remorse for his action proved just how
Lycan he’d grown, but it mattered not.
     
    He waited until she’d gained some distance on
him before pushing away from the door jam, following her, keeping
her within sight. The streets here were empty of other pedestrians.
He couldn’t smell Lycans or Vamps nearby, but that didn’t mean they
weren’t out there, prowling the streets. Still, he was satisfied
they were relatively alone.
     
    He hooked his thumbs in his pockets, rubbing
his fingers on the rough denim. They still burned from holding the
chain, but no more than the studs in his nipples. If anything, it
served as reminder of the kiss he’d taken.
     
    His cock tightened at that thought, and the
sight of her hips swaying gently as she walked only worsened the
sweet pain. He smiled darkly. She remained oblivious to the fact
that he followed her. But wasn’t that how he wanted it? She was
blissfully innocent, and he knew the inevitable warning Mikel had
given her had fallen on disbelieving ears.
     
    She’d become a believer soon enough. It was
amazing how quickly a person could change their mind when
confronted by living, breathing evidence. Seeing with her own eyes
would banish that last, clinging ignorance.
     
    Now that she was here, the warding power of
the medallion would grow weaker and weaker, until it lost its power
completely amongst the overwhelming presence of his brethren.
     
    Gabriel almost regretted what she’d go
through. But she should not have come to New Orleans. Now that she
was here, he wasn’t going to deny himself the pleasure of seducing
her. The subtle nuances of her nervous desire excited him
immeasurably: the breathless sigh, the pulse in her throat, the
fight against her own base appetites that mirrored his own. He
could still taste her on his tongue, feel the rounded firmness of
her ass in his palms. His groin felt imprinted by the cloaked heat
of her femininity and the moistness of her desire dampening his
jeans.
     
    He couldn’t remember ever feeling so
frustrated in all his life. He wondered if fucking both their
brains out would satisfy the lust boiling his blood, or if