Page 21 of Taken by Moonlight

6

Alexander

Peyton was scared,and that rattledme.

I could smell her fear, like every shifter in the room could. Smelling fear amps up a shifter’s instincts. If it’s prey the shifter is after, then the chase instinct istriggered.

For some males when they smell fear in a female, it gets them erect and violent, ready forsex.

For others, good shifters like my alpha Dante, it triggers what Gabe calls thedo not fuck with her or I’ll rip your arms outby the socketsinstinct.

Fortunately, Sam, Rodney’s brother and alpha, diffused the situation. And by covering Peyton with his own jacket, Dante not only shielded her nudity, but said in a very loud gesture that she was covered by hisprotection.

That shock of seeing Peyton naked, though. Good thing I was sitting down. All that creamy, smooth flesh, those round breasts tipped with coralnipples…

As enraged as I was over the violent crudeness of her being stripped bare, my very male brain triggered another very maleinstinct.

I had to fight hard to get my impulses under control. I had to warn my dick to calm down, which is rather hard when it’s straining against my trousers, eager to mount andclaim.

Fortunately, most likely because Gabe felt the same, he delivered a good, hard kick to my shins. The kick served to remind me of the abuse I’ve endured, and my erection slowlyfaded.

I watched as a stage hand hustled her away. No fear that the stage hand would take her to a back room to claim what was rightfully Dante’s, for I knew that all the stage hands Norm selected for this event weremated.

They would no more think of fucking another female than they would their ownmothers.

Shifters seldom, if ever, cheat on theirmates.

But that glimpse of Peyton’s naked body served as reassurance. She is definitely the female for me. Not only does she possess the kind nature and emotional strength I need in a lover, but she’s sexy and arouses me in a way no other femalehas.

When Dante originally proposed his plan, I agreed. Not because he’s my alpha, or it was an excellent way to solve the lack of mates problem in ourpack.

I agreed because Peyton, at the heart of her, is the kindest, sweetest female I’ve ever met. Shifter orskin.

She also has a killer bottom, the type that drives me wild. Merely thinking about that plush, shapely bottom nestled against me as I clasp her hips to slide my cock deep inside her tightvagina…

Damn. There goes my erectionagain.

I’m not the type of male shifter who test drives dozens of women before selecting a mate. I enjoy sex, crave it like any other healthy male. But spending a year in hell, betrayed by a woman who said she loved me, tends to make a malewary.

When it comes to sex, I’d rather read, and when the need strikes, seek out a female the other guys have found for me. It’s rather like riding a horse that the stable manager said is gentle andtame.

If that fails, there’s always my fist. Better that than to risk getting caught again by a female skin who holds mecaptive.

Tortures me while shelaughs.

But Peyton, she’s different. We’ve traded books back and forth, our own private lending library. She likes modern poets mixed in with T.S. Elliot and e.e. cummings, while I prefer the classics, such as Shakespearean sonnets or LordByron.

We once argued about poets, and I let it slip that I enjoy reading aloud poetry before I make love. Peyton’s green eyes glinted with mischief and interest. That interest made me think she was more than afriend.

Perhaps she desired me as I desiredher.

Then she teased me that Byron was a Regency dandy who was more interested in putting on clothing than taking itoff.

When Peyton teases me, Ilaugh.

There was no laughter coming from me in the cage where my former lover imprisonedme.

Dante and Gabriel both know and understand this. They have always been considerate around me. I owe them both my life. Dante took me in and gave me a home and a place where I could earn back self-respect.