Sinful Instincts (Woodland Creek) Read online

  Sinful Instincts

  Copyright © 2015 by JD Hollyfield

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Editing: Hot Tree Editing

  Cover Design and Interior Images: Jennifer Munswami

  Formatting: Champagne Formats

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A huge thank you to my husband. He might have no idea what it truly takes to write but he sits back and enjoys my crazy. Thank you to Scarlett Dawn for allowing me this opportunity. It was an amazing experience and I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. Thank you to all authors and readers who helped guide me through this new journey. Who would have thought so much goes into paranormal? I now have a great appreciation for PNR authors. Thanks always to Hot Tree Editing for their amazing services and support. To all my beta buddies who helped provide their professional insight with Sin and Emma. I love you all. And always thank you to my readers. You make this possible always. I raise a glass of wine to you all… Okay, I raise two. Thank you. To many more books and wine toasts.

  DEDICATION

  To Jeff. Thanks for listening to all my rambling about humans changing into animals and pretending you have any idea what I’m talking about.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  DEDICATION

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  WOODLAND CREEK

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  OTHER BOOKS

  Fallen Crest, New Orleans

  Five years ago

  Sin

  I hustle outside the bar with Gabriella in tow, into the darkness of the night. I pull her into the shadowed alley and push her small yet perfect frame into the brick building. I don’t hesitate for permission to kiss her. I know she wants me. Craves me. I can smell it on her. My skin prickles with anticipation as I part her lips to insert my greedy tongue into her mouth.

  “Roxsin, please, touch me.” Her begging voice shatters my resolve as my hands go wild. I’ve held off for so long. The beast within me craves to taste her in every way imaginable. But it’s impossible. She wouldn’t see me for the gentle lover she wants. The sickness that plagues my soul will turn her against me, and those lustful eyes she offers will turn fearful.

  My back tenses, wanting to transform as I always do when I’m around her. At the young age of twenty-six, I am still struggling with self-control. Every single moment I spend with Gabriella is tantalizing, and yet torturous. I wish I were able to tell her what I really am, and for her to accept me for just that. But I know I can never do that; the harsh world we live in doesn’t accept what I am. What I have been born into.

  I grab for her needy hands and stop her from making her way down to my belt.

  “Roxsin, please. Why do you always stop me? I want you. And I know you want me. Please.”

  “I can’t, Gabriella. I’m not good for you,” I breathe out, struggling to convince myself of those words.

  “What? What are you talking about? You are everything to me. I love you, Roxsin. I have loved you since the moment you stepped foot into my father’s shop. It’s always been you. Please, don’t deny what we could be together.”

  Her begging eyes and even sharper words of truth gut me. My heart lies in her hands. From the moment we crossed paths, I knew it. She would be mine. And I would have stopped at nothing to make her that way. But she is human, and I… well, I am something different altogether. I was born half-human, half-leopard beast. The human part came from my mother. The disease I would claim is from the shape-shifting beast who raped her. There are days I wish she did the right thing and aborted me. But her love for however I would turn out was too strong, and in the end, she created me. A monster. A creature Gabriella would never understand.

  I grab for her worried face, despite my resistance. My heated body is blazing with how bad I crave to take her in this alley. The urge is as strong as needing my next breath.

  “I love you, Gabriella. I will love you till my time runs out—” I kiss her neck and work my way down her collarbone. Brushing her silky brunette locks away from her bare shoulder, I press my wet lips against her porcelain skin. “—but I am not good for you.” And it’s the truth. She deserves a real life with a human. The choice to have human children and not deal with the burden of my genes, my heritage.

  “Roxsin, please stop. What are you saying?” Gabriella pulls away, and her shiny emerald eyes cut through my tortured soul. “I don’t care. Whatever it is. Please. I don’t care. I love you. We will work it out together. I know you’re keeping secrets; I can tell. It won’t change anything for how I feel for you,” she says frantically, placing her delicate hands over my face and into my unruly dark mane.

  Her words calm and torture me all the same. I sense honesty and pure love pouring off her, but I also smell the ignorance coming from deep inside. As they say, ‘what you don’t know’. And she doesn’t know—has no idea, in fact. Her thoughts are running, trying to think of the worst I can admit, and if she could take it. She’s trying to be brave. By the way her eyes glisten and her hands stay firmly wrapped within my hair, she believes this. But she can’t know about the beast that lives inside me.

  She presses her fragile body closer to mine. I want to fight her, but the need to have her overpowers my resistance and I bring my mouth down to hers again, kissing her wildly. Underneath the grasp of my fingers, I feel her body tingle with delight, and I smell her lust –the scent of approval. She is finally getting what she’s craved since the moment we entered each other’s lives.

  “I love you, Gabriella,” I declare, my nervous heart threatening to detonate out of my chest.

  “And I love you, Roxsin. Now and always.”

  Our mouths lock with no more words. I grab for her legs, bringing our bodies closer, eliminating the space between us. “I’ll never let you go, Gabriella. Never,” I vow as I hoist her up, and she wraps her legs around my waist like a slipknot.

  In that moment, I sense it. The hairs on the back of my neck stiffen, signaling evil nearby. Gabriella catches my mood instantly.

  “What? What is it?” she asks.

  I drop her legs immediately and turn my back, creating a protective shield.

  “Roxsin, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

  My hyperactive senses kick into overdrive. In the distance, I hear running, heavy breathing, and the beating of an unsteady heart. An inhuman heart. How did he find me? I turn quickly and press my lips onto her
s then pull back just as fast. “Gabriella, we’re not alone.”

  She turns frantically to look over my shoulder for any oncoming pedestrians. What she doesn’t know is she won’t see this one coming until he’s on top of her, tearing at her flesh.

  “I… I don’t hear anything. Roxsin, I think you’re just nervous. We can… We can go back to my place and be alone,” she argues, wanting to console me.

  I want to coddle her and give her the reassurance she needs, but there’s no time. If only I had enough time to explain, but I don’t.

  The crackle of static electricity flashes down the dark alley, illuminating our surroundings. Gabriella jumps into me, startled by the strange occurrence. To a human, one would consider the anomaly a strike of lightening. To a shifter, it’s a sign of power from a purebred showing dominance. And the only one who would be coming for me would be Zander Argonian. My only enemy in this world.

  The air thickens as the aura of evil fills the narrow alley. Finally in view, I stare into the eyes of my half-brother. The brother whose father I murdered.

  “Keeping a human all to yourself, I see. Tsk tsk Sin. You know what they say: sharing is caring, brother.” Zander laughs sickly as he prowls closer to us both.

  I take a step toward him, using my body to shield Gabriella. I know Zander doesn’t play fair. He never has. “Stay away from her, Zander. This has nothing to do with her,” I growl as we circle one another.

  “Oh, but it has something to do with us, dear brother. You took something away from me, so I feel like it’s my turn to return the favor.”

  His threat sets me on edge. The air thickens with pure hatred, causing an unnerving chill to wash over me. Something is different about him. His abilities have intensified. I can’t pinpoint the cause, but my heightened senses can tell he’s become stronger since our last encounter.

  Ever since I took his father’s life two years ago, my mother and I have been on the run. We fled from our home, hoping for a better life. Covering our tracks, it took us over half a year to finally settle down in a town, feeling safe from the threatening past of Tibersar, my mother’s rapist, and his psychotic son. I knew there was a chance one day Zander could find us, but I trained myself to track him. To sense him. To smell his putrid soul.

  “How did you find me?” I demand, pivoting around him and working my body to stay in front of Gabriella.

  “Why? Miss me, have you? How sweet. It’s a shame we won’t get to do any brotherly bonding, though, because once I rip out your sweet little girlfriend’s throat, I’ll do what I’ve been aching to do since you ran like a little coward after killing my father,” he hisses, making his way closer to me. “I am going to rip off every limb from your body for what you’ve done to my family.”

  Zander makes a jump toward me, and my back arches in attack mode. “Your family? You mean your atrocious father who raped and killed women? He deserved worse than what I did to him. I just wish I hadn’t killed him so quickly. He got off easy.”

  Zander’s eyes light up instantly, the glow permeating the alley. I have enough time to guard Gabriella’s quivering form before the bones in my body retract and I fall to the ground. Without another thought, I shift into my animal.

  Before I am able to fully acknowledge my transformation, I hear Gabriella scream. And it’s because she is horrified, watching me. Turning back at her, I see my glowing orbs from the reflection of her wide eyes, the leopard gene that consumes part of my body. The anger inside me explodes as I release a feral roar of pure madness. My heart constricts at the terror in her eyes, but the fear for her safety overrides the need to go comfort her.

  “Aww, how cute. Are you going to protect her, Sin? You know I’m stronger than you right?” He laughs. “Always have been. Still unsure how a weak half-breed like you was able to take down my father.” He prowls around me. “But in the end, it was I who would have taken leadership when he passed anyhow, so I guess you practically did me a favor. But you know family responsibilities,” he taunts. “I must kill you, but it won’t be before I take something you love first.”

  Before Zander has the chance, I lunge at him. The moment I pounce, his animal rips through his back. Any sight of human form disappears, and he transforms into an ugliness of evil. I watch as his body turns from the mirage of a charming lad to the iniquitous leopard beast.

  There is something unsettling about how powerful he has become—quicker, more lethal. But how?

  Our bodies collide as we simultaneously swing for each other’s jugular. While we compare in size, his heritage makes him stronger, more forceful. I fight him swing for swing, our forms in a tornado effect, battling to claim the upper hand.

  I’ve dreamt about this day. The day when he would come to avenge his father. And the day it would take everything in me to kill him, ending a long lineage of heinous terror and knowing no one from his bloodline would live to harm another soul.

  My thoughts weaken me, allowing him to lock me down. He swings back, connecting his sharp claws to my chest. I stumble, which allows him to throw me back against the brick wall, slamming my head against the surface. I fend off the pain but as I retreat, he takes the opportunity to slash me in my abdomen with his extended claws, ripping into my skin. The pain searing, I crumble to the ground.

  “Roxsin!” My name echoing off the walls of the alleyway, I roar in response, fighting off the pain that’s forcing me down. I lift myself off the ground, ready to attack, but it’s pointless. As I stand on my hind legs, I witness Zander dragging his fingernails across Gabriella’s neck, slowly and lustfully, enjoying the life escaping her. I howl in desperation to get to her but by the time I do, it’s too late. As she bleeds out, her fragile soul leaves her body and enters Zander’s. I watch in horror while he drains her life force. I shift instantly, making it in time to grab her lifeless body as she falls into my arms, her eyes faded. Her body slumps into my hands as I cradle her. “NO!” I howl, the realization hitting me like a repressed memory.

  “No, no, no,” I beg as I rock her back and forth.

  Commotion nearby forces Zander to retreat. His agenda quickly changes as he stops from making his way to me.

  “It’s your lucky day, Sin. Till next time,” he says before disappearing into the night.

  I hold a lifeless Gabriella in my arms, her body cold to the touch. I attempt to save her with my blood, with my power, but nothing resurrects her. Deep down, though, I know it won’t. I witnessed firsthand the new power Zander has gained, and he now holds the one true element that could bring her back.

  Her soul.

  Present Day

  Emma

  That’s it. That is it! I argue to myself. I stumble on the uneven sidewalk as I walk out of Vider’s Bar and into the cold, dewy night. I curse all things evil to Melanie, my coworker at Fibber McGee’s Bar and Grill, who convinced me to attend the stupid speed-dating event.

  I mean, what in God’s name was I thinking? I know what those things are about. ‘Tell me about yourself?’ ‘What do you do?’ ‘Are you on Tinder?’ I accidently bump into the garbage can blocking the sidewalk. “Shit.” I stumble, trying to get my bearings. At least the booze was free, I grumble as I hiccup and sway to the right.

  I’m so over this town. Letting my worthless ex- boyfriend talk me into moving with him was the biggest mistake of my life. No, wait. Letting him talk me into only putting my name on the lease was the biggest mistake. You have better credit, he says. “Stupid fuckwad,” I mumble to my intoxicated myself.

  Three weeks ago, I was living in Arizona, with a job, a decent place, and a decent roommate. And now, I’m living in this small dump of a town I’m forced to call home. Three weeks ago, I had a boyfriend who said he loved me and convinced me he loved me so much I needed to uproot my life and move with him to Woodland Creek, Indiana because he had a job opportunity and just couldn’t live without me.

  What did I do? I fell for his bullshit. What did he do? Three days after we’d barely finished unpacking our mini
mal things, he took off. After withdrawing all the money in my measly bank account and leaving me a ‘Dear John’ letter, if you can believe that shit.

  Three pathetic weeks ago, I sat down and explained to my boss that I was quitting, and the expression on his face was pure shock. Why would a girl who didn’t have much to begin with leave such a great job? Okay, so I was only a bank teller, not a CEO, but still. When I told my roommate that I was breaking my lease because I was in love and moving to live with my boyfriend, she looked at me like I was insane.

  As I waved goodbye to my old life, all while holding onto my boyfriend’s hand, I looked up at the beautiful sky and swore the clouds even started forming one word: insane. Well that, and before I could officially spell out the word, said clouds opened for a torrential downpour. Nope, that wasn’t a sign or anything.

  You wonder why everyone was so hesitant to be happy for me, right? Me, too! I mean, fine, my boyfriend wasn’t from the right side of the tracks. And okay, so maybe he had a bit of a record, a wee bit of a drug problem, and possibly no current job at the time. But he was good to me. He was faithful. He told me sweet things and treated me right. Who was I to judge? I loved him. And he was honestly the first guy I had met in Arizona who actually paid attention to me. Growing up in the system myself, foster home after foster home, no one felt it was necessary to show me any love. So, no shocker that the first guy who does, I latch on to. The very first guy, who basically sideswipes me two months later.

  And yes, if you break down my timeline, Scott got me to agree to shift my whole life after two months of dating. And I fell for it. Now, I’m stuck in Woodland Creek, working a day job a monkey could do because it’s the only place hiring, and I’m all alone and broke as a joke.

  I came home one day three weeks ago to a letter. Typed, if you can believe that shit. I didn’t even know Scott knew how to type, that asshole. Either way, his typed letter told me it was fun while it lasted, but he was out. End of story.