The Scent of Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jaryn help her? He was a shifter, so maybe he had inside contacts, but she didn't know how deep the corruption went. What if all the shifters already knew about Adam's little colony? What if it was somehow sanctioned, and the intention was to keep humans in the dark all along? Oh God, what if the government actually knew—planned to take over Adam's compound when the time was right and use those being held captive for its own purposes? Nicole closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get her heart rate to slow down. A year and half under Adam's control and she'd turned into a conspiracy nut. She'd promised that she'd somehow find help. In order to do so, she'd have to trust someone. Nicole looked up into Jaryn's silver eyes. He watched her in silence, waiting.
    Could she be Jaryn's mate? What did that mean for her? Surely not all packs functioned the same way Adam ran his compound—a world of servitude and submission...being forced to give up your sense of identity and capitulate to an Alpha's whims.
    Then again, with the world network being what it was, undesirable shifter communities would certainly have been exposed by now.
    She didn't know why Jaryn couldn't detect the mark Adam had told her he'd placed on her. She'd felt the scar on the back of her neck. She'd twisted and turned in the mirror to study the evidence. She didn't actually remember Adam making the mark, but then again, there were several voids in her memory since the time Adam had kidnapped her—periods of time that Nicole simply refused to ponder or investigate out of fear of what she might uncover. In this case, she suspected that ignorance was bliss. But why did Jaryn claim that he couldn't detect the mark? Maybe there was something special about it?
    "Why don't you detect the mark Adam forced on me?"
    "Who's Adam, and what do you mean forced?” he growled.
    "Don't growl at me, Cujo. Just answer the question."
    He smoothed the hair away from her slender neck. “May I?"
    She nodded, and this time voluntarily stepped into the circle of his arms. Jaryn leant down to Nicole's neck, and inhaled deeply. His scent washed over her. A small voice inside her hummed in approval and assured Nicole that he belonged to her. His hands rested on her hips, and she longed to close the remaining distance between their bodies. Her eyes closed as Jaryn nuzzled into her neck far more than she suspected he really needed to in order to discover Adam's mark. And when his tongue snuck out and licked at a small patch of skin, Nicole's knees trembled and she almost pleaded with him to never stop. Jaryn pulled back and Nicole managed to rein in her whimper of disappointment.
    "There's nothing there. I detect the lingering smell of another male, which raises every hackle in my body, but definitely no mark. Now tell me about this...forcing."
    She looked around the bank parking lot and shivered as a cool breeze blew around them. Despite Jaryn's large body shielding her, she still felt exposed. If she was going to take Jaryn into her confidence, she'd be much more relaxed somewhere secured and preferably indoors.
    "Can we go somewhere else to talk about this?"
    "You're cold. I'm sorry. Let me take you home, then we can talk about everything. I'll have my Beta come pick up your car later and bring it to the house."
    Nicole stepped back from Jaryn's arms, and immediately felt the cool air whip through her. She hadn't realised how much heat the larger man put out, and missed the cosy warmth. However, she wasn't ready to chuck all her apples into his basket yet.
    "Look, I know you're convinced about this mating thing, but I'm not.” She held up a hand when she saw him about to protest. “I'm not saying it's impossible. I've become cautious by nature and have no intention of exposing myself to another bad situation. So here's the deal. I'm going to get a hotel room. I've been driving with very little rest for the past two days and I'm exhausted. After I've gotten some sleep and