The Claimed Read Online Free PDF

such, he could never be a worthy mate for a Quinchu. But even if she defied her parents and opted to choose her own bonding partner, Rafael would not be on her list. They were friends and only friends.
    “Because of my family,” Sammie and Jan mimicked in tired unison, having heard more than once how any man she chose had to be acceptable to her parents. Victoria left it at that, not wanting to continue the discussion. With a last stream of healing energy into Sammie’s body, she good-naturedly patted her friend on the butt. “Back to work. I’ve got to go to a funeral in a couple of hours.”
    “Me, too,” Sammie replied as she sat up, dangling her legs over the edge of the table.
    Victoria narrowed her eyes as she considered her friend. “You knew Salvatore Bruno?”
    “My dad is an old friend, but not me. However, I do know Adam and his new wife, Bobbie. They’ve been ordering some T-shirts and things from my store,” Sammie said. The evasiveness in her voice could not be denied.
    Sammie was doing more than just providing T-shirts for Adam and his wife, but Victoria didn’t press. She understood that her friend had other businesses with the kind of clientele who demanded confidentiality about the services which Sammie offered. Much as Sammie knew when to stop pressing about Victoria’s family obligations, she refrained from asking more about Sammie’s connections to the Brunos.
    “Want to go to the funeral together?” It would be nice to have a buffer between her family, the newlywed Brunos, and their people. The Desert Light Hunter clan had been in the area for several months, but she hadn’t spent much time with either them or Adam and Bobbie. That this next encounter would be over the grave of the man who had been both his father and kidnapper was the height of awkwardness.
    “I’d like that. These things are always so uncomfortable,” Sammie said, as if reading her thoughts.
    “You can say that again.”
    And because Sammie was Sammie, she did, dragging a chuckle from all of them, easing everyone from a difficult moment and back to the work they had to complete before Victoria’s first customers arrived and the morning disappeared.
    Her energy registered long before she lifted the edge of the bed coverings and slipped onto the mattress beside Christopher. Maya’s hand snaked around his waist, skimming along his midsection toward the erection caused by a combination of the morning and the strength of her Hunter allure.
    Sucking in a breath, he grabbed her hand before she could touch him intimately and left the bed. He stood beside it, naked, glaring at her, nearly hobbled by his almost painful erection. As Maya peered at his engorged cock, she smiled like the proverbial cat.
    “What are you doing here?” he asked, reaching for a robe.
    Maya lowered the bed coverings to expose her breasts. Another wave of need rolled over him and she knew it.Her particular affinity was sexual energy, and she both gathered and dispensed it to suit her needs. Maya smiled, raised her hand, and stroked the tip of her breast. His erection jerked in response and his balls tightened to the point of agony.
    “You are my Añaru. I live to please you,” she said, smiling sexily while she continued to touch herself.
    “I have no need of your services, Maya. If you came to me hoping to rekindle our relationship—”
    “I came because I believe you are right about the old ways,” she replied, but the words were as false as the passion she roused.
    “Go back to your room, Maya. Find someone else to satisfy,” he commanded, his tone flat and hard as granite, leaving no doubt about his intentions.
    With a quirk of her lips and a final tug on her hardened nipple, Maya flounced from his bed, making it a point to brush against him. She emitted another blast of her power, which nearly buckled his knees, dragging a groan from him. She paused, as if believing he would reconsider and ask her to satisfy him, but he warned,