Claiming Princess Kailen — Kelli Wolfe

I found myself looking up into burning yellow-green eyes, and when he pressed his lips against mine I could not resist. Princess Kailen has spent her whole life pampered and protected - until her coach is waylaid and she is carried away to a ruinous castle by three vengeful were-leopards with a serious grudge against her father. Kailen finds her defenses slowly crumbling before the brutal sexiness of Shadow, but he refuses to simply take her. He intends to torment her until her body betrays her and make her beg for him to do every unspeakable thing he wants - things that proper princesses don't even think about, much less actually do. Can she hold out against Shadow's dark charms, or will she surrender to her body's insistent demand to submit herself completely to him? EXCERPT: Shadow took a step towards me and I blanched and flinched away. When he saw my reaction he laughed softly. "You are afraid, but you aren't afraid enough. Not yet." He strode to the far side of the room so that the fire grate lay between us and relaxed against the wall. "Open the door." The words seemed to mean nothing and I stood there looking at him. "Do it," he ordered. "Open the door. Try to run." Hesitantly I slid across the floor and gripped the icy iron handle of the door. When he still made no move I gave the door a tug, and it swung ponderously open. Shadow remained where he was, watching me with mockery in his eyes. I took a deep breath and thrust myself out onto the stairwell, pulling the door shut behind me with all my strength. However slim, it might be my one chance to get away. If I could hide in the forest until nightfall, I could try to get back to the road and somehow back home. I had not made it down three steps before the door behind me slammed open and death stared at me from yellow-green eyes set in a triangular face covered in short black fur. Before I could blink the creature had covered the distance between us and steaming breath scorched my face from between fan