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eBook Category: Erotica/Romance
eBook Description: Dr. Jake Moore has been running from the past for too long. Now, it's time to face it head on. He never expects the demons that haunt him to be sniffing at his heels when he returns to Louisiana, and he never expects the one girl who got away to still be there, looking exactly like what he needs as the moon rises overhead. When Jake was bitten by the creature that turned him into a werewolf, he knew it was an accidental attack, but he never realized that Josie, the girl he left behind, was the intended victim or that now he would be forced to protect her, even if it means transforming into a wolf. Rating: Contains violence, graphic language, and explicit sexual content.

eBook Publisher: New Concepts Publishing, Published: 2005
Fictionwise Release Date: August 2005

27 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [946 KB], eReader (PDB) [176 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [161 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [144 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [151 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [190 KB], hiebook (KML) [426 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [222 KB], iSilo (PDB) [132 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [166 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [203 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [211 KB]
Words: 53142
Reading time: 151-212 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
ISBN: 1-58608-583-2

Jake inhaled sharply as the needle pierced his skin. He should be accustomed to the sensation by now, but the burning still took him by surprise. It began at the injection site and then worked its way up his arm until the whole thing felt as if it had been filled with liquid fire. Slowly, he depressed the plunger on the syringe, watching the amber liquid course through and make its way into his veins.

His breathing would increase now. He pulled the needle from his arm and removed the elastic band that held his veins tight. Then he collapsed against the back of his chair. The sensation would only last a few minutes, but those minutes were excruciating. The liquid would first attack his nervous system and then go straight to his heart.

It would beat wildly, threatening to hammer right out of his chest. And then, just when he thought he would die from the intensity, it would subside. His breathing would steady. His heart would regulate. And he would be in control again.

His eyes wandered over to Lucy who lay in her cage, curled around a rock. "Thanks, girl," he managed through clenched teeth. Lucy flicked her tongue out, as if she understood and was saying "you're welcome." Once again, she saved his life.

It only took three minutes this time for the venom to move into his system. His fingers grasped the stopwatch, clicking it when the burning sensation died down. Ten years and it still wasn't any easier. He wondered if it ever would be. He scribbled a note in the file marked "Confidential" and then slipped the watch back into his desk drawer.

He washed his hands and slipped on his gloves with a snap and then he reached into Lucy's cage. Handling rattlesnakes was dangerous business, but the ones he dealt with were mostly harmless. They were used to the constant attention that he gave them. And in spite of their instincts, they rarely struck at him anymore. He'd raised most of the current crop himself, working with them since they were tiny, so his bond with the group was more advanced than it was with the nonpoisonous snakes at the zoo. Then there was that little matter of his constant injections of their venom, which formed a bond unlike any other he'd ever had with an animal.

"Well, girl, you ready for me today?" he cooed as he reached into the cage holding the five-foot snake. Lucy didn't even rattle at him as he gently lifted her from her rock.

He placed her on the table to get her measurements and temperature then scribbled a few notes in her file. "You're about ready for a fella, huh?" he asked as he wound her around his left arm. Even though she wasn't a constrictor, she pulsed and squeezed.

Jake had been studying the Massasauga rattlesnakes since he entered college. His love for the snakes became a career, and he got his doctorate in herpetology. The snakes were growing more and more rare in their home of Ontario and the surrounding areas in Canada. He commissioned a contract with the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario and exported some of the snakes to the States to study in an attempt to help them adapt to new habitats and captivity.

But most importantly, the snakes provided him with the precious venom he needed in order to survive. Without them, he didn't want to think about it. The three years he had lived without the venom still haunted him. He wasn't sure where he had gone or what kind of harm he had inflicted on those nights when the moon threatened his sanity and everything within him snapped. It was by accident that he had been bitten. That night, he was sure the snake venom would kill him. Now, he knew it to be a blessing in disguise.

He turned back to Lucy, who was his pride and joy at the age of nine and was primed and ready for breeding.

"Well, I think I know just the one for you. See Killer over there? Now, don't get put off by his name. He just thinks he's bad. He's a gentle soul if you can get past the name. I think he's your type. Needs a woman like you to set him straight." He laughed at the irony of playing matchmaker for deadly snakes. In truth, he hoped the breeding between Killer and Lucy would work. If it did and the babies were viable, he would be on his way to helping save an at risk species of snake--one that didn't really like to mate in captivity under the watchful eye of humans. And he would have a new crop of venom to research.

"Sounds like someone I know," the deep voice came from behind him. Jake turned slowly to see Paul Mills standing behind him. Paul occasionally came around to help with the snakes, but he was mostly in charge of the large alligator exhibit.

"What?" Jake looked over his glasses at Paul, wishing he'd been able to find his contacts this morning.

"In need of a good woman to set him straight." Paul tapped Killer's cage.

"Don't do that," Jake warned. "Ever since Sarah got ahold of you, all you can talk about is me settling down. I'm fine just like I am."

"I bet your boy here would say the same thing," he indicated Killer.

"No, he wouldn't. He's at the right age to mate and...."

"And so are you," Paul laughed. "I know this really nice girl and...."

"No."

"She's at least as cuddly as Lucy over there."

"I doubt that. Lucy doesn't have fangs. Most of the women I know do."

"You date the wrong kind of women."

"Who said anything about dating?"

That gleam in Jake's eyes was evident. Jake ran around with Paul enough in high school for him to know that Jake didn't date as much as he slept around. "With anything that didn't crawl," Paul had once commented.