EXCERPT

Escape: Werewolf Cover
by Marteeka Karland
cover art by Bryan Keller
ISBN: 978-1-59596-752-7
Genre(s): Paranormal, Hot Flashes
Theme(s): Werewolves

Isabella's groan when she entered her apartment echoed through out the empty room. "That son of a bitch." He apartment was empty. Nothing remained. The one room one bath apartment was as bare as the day she'd first rented it two weeks before. Her clothes were gone. Even the cat. She'd moved out of her boyfriend's home and into this tiny apartment because after three years, she was still the "girlfriend." He hadn't liked her leaving one little bit, and she'd just bet he was the one responsible for this.

If she'd had a chair, she'd have collapsed. After a twelve-hour shift in the ER, all she wanted to do was rest a few minutes before leaving for the airport. The end of this shift marked the beginning of a two-week vacation. She had been looking forward to the exclusive resort on Maui she'd saved an entire year to be able to pay for on her own. It would have been her three-year anniversary present to her now-ex-boyfriend, but she'd decided to go by herself. She needed the vacation.

This was the perfect end to a perfect day. Her little mishap with Dr. Connor Anderson right before leaving work was just one incident. The whole day had been crappy.

She shivered. That "little mishap" would have curled her toes if she hadn't had an eighteen-gage needle stuck through her thumb. Ok, so it had still curled her toes. He was fifteen years her senior, and she'd always the feeling he hid something dark and forbidding from the world, but he was easily the sexiest man she'd ever seen. She'd jammed that stupid needle into her thumb because she had been looking at his ass instead of the bottle of flush she was drawing.

She'd just stood there for a few seconds, unable to believe what she'd done. Then her vision started going black around the edges, she got lightheaded, and her knees gave way. She would have fallen to the floor if he hadn't caught her. Being in his arms was the second most erotic thing she'd ever experienced. The most erotic thing had come later.

The paramedics who brought their patients to the ER usually hit on her. She'd always turned them down, and it had grown into more of a game than any serious attempts to get her to go out with them. Right before she left, one of those incidents happened. This time, Dr. Anderson growled -- actually growled. His six and a half foot frame, all solid, bulky muscle, was enough to make the shorter man back up a couple of steps, but not enough to make him keep his mouth shut. Danger was apparently part of job. Knowing when to shut the hell up was not.

"You better quit that growling, Doc. People are liable to think you're a dog."

The paramedic had chuckled, but Dr. Anderson hadn't seemed phased by his poor attempt at humor. Instead, he replied in a deadly, low voice. "That's exactly what I am, ambulance driver. And my bite is definitely worse than my bark."

It wasn't the exchange that was memorable, though calling a medic an "ambulance driver" was rather amusing. What settled in her belly and made her cunt throb in anticipation was the animalistic, territorial way he had defended her. It was like he was staking his claim. Letting every other male in the vicinity know she belonged to him. Isabella had no doubt he'd be the aggressive lover she craved.