Keeping Kaitlyn Read Free

breath warmed her mouth, scented like the sweetest mint. His tongue slid into her mouth. Kaitlyn’s knees went wobbly and her spine turned to marshmallow. This man, whoever he was, had engaged every hormone in her body in under three seconds.
    She wanted him. No…she needed to have him. Now.
    For a moment, she struggled with one of the strongest, most primal instincts she’d ever had in her life. Sex. With this complete stranger. Right now. It wasn’t right, wasn’t safe, definitely wasn’t sane. She had to break this spell before she did something she’d regret in the long run.
    She reached into her pocket, drew her pepper spray and squirted him in the face, knowing she was close enough to get a little of it too.
    White hot fire hit her eyes. They pushed away from each other, both coughing hard enough to break a rib. She scrambled away blind, her eyes burning and watering, trying to get as far from him as she could.
    “Stop,” came his low, commanding voice from behind her.
    “No way. I don’t know who you are or where I am.” She wiped her watering eyes and glanced behind her to find him on his knees, covering his face and groaning. Good. “Why did you bring me here?” She continued to move away from him, feeling her way forward, hindered by her blurry eyesight.
    “I didn’t bring you. You were drawn.” He spoke with an accent she couldn’t place. “You came because you were meant to come. You belong here with us.”
    She stumbled, not understanding his words. Belong with who? Those two hunky guys from her fantastical daydreams? No way.
    “ Stop. ” He sounded really close now.
    She glanced behind her and saw that the pepper spray had apparently worn off. Her eyes still burned and she hadn’t even taken a direct hit. What was with this guy? He strode to her as if completely unaffected. Was he superhuman? She hastened as much as she could, but her eyes were still watering. Her shoe caught on a clump of weeds and she fell. Hard.
    By the time she’d flipped to her back, he was looming over her. Through her burning eyes, she watched him extend a hand. “Don’t be afraid. Come with me.”
    Don’t be afraid , easy for him to say. He was ten thousand times her size.
    She narrowed her eyes. “Why?” The man was too gorgeous for words, but that didn’t make him trustworthy.
    “I am Lucas. You are my mate. Mine and Rafian’s. Ours. That’s why.”
    She stared at him, trying to comprehend what he’d just said. “Mate? What does that mean?”
    Lucas shifted impatiently. “Woman, I speak English very well. I learned it for you. You must know the meaning of the word mate .”
    She blinked through achy, reddened eyes. “Mate as in sex, or mate as in joined in some kind of….marital type arrangement?”
    His teeth flashed white as he bared them, looking predatory for a moment. “Both. Lots and lots of… both .”
      Kaitlyn’s mouth went dry. “Uhm. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m a software engineer from Chicago. I have a career back there. I can’t go off mating with a couple strange men from—wherever this is.”
    His head lifted as if he heard a sound in the distance. All she heard were twittering birds. “We’re not safe here.”
    She glanced around at the lush forest that surrounded them. They were in a meadow dotted through with tall grass and daisies. All the scene needed were cavorting kittens. “What’s not safe about this place?”
    Not a millisecond after she’d muttered the sentence the sounds of shouting, horses, and men crashing through forest filled the air. Lucas’s gaze caught hers and held. Then he moved, leaping to the side almost faster than her eyes could track. His form blurred and a curious sound she couldn’t identify came from his direction….a stretching, popping kind of sound. It was a fleshy, organic, alien noise that made cold, stark fear race up her spine.
    It happened so fast, she barely registered the event through her shock and primal emotion.