Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

you until the boss shows up, but we’re going to have some fun.”
    The way he said “fun” made her gut roil. “You’re one of those APL members.” It wasn’t a question.
    “And you’re a shifter-loving whore,” he spat.
    As he came toward her, she kicked out at him with her socked foot. She missed him, but the gleam in his eyes told her he didn’t care. He wanted her to fight.
    When he came at her again, she managed to kick his shoulder. He grunted in annoyance and cursed under his breath, but it didn’t faze him.
    He just kept coming. Without her hands it was hard to defend herself. No matter how many times she kicked at him, she didn’t have much strength behind the blows. He’d strung her up so she was poised on the tips of her toes. Her shoulders felt as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. Arched like that, she didn’t have a good position and the more she tried to kick, the more she hurt and the more out of breath she became.
    As she kicked out at him again, he grabbed her calf and used it as leverage to get closer. His viselike grip didn’t lessen on her leg as he slammed his body against hers. She tried to use her other leg as a weapon, but he pinned her against the wall with the full force of his weight.
    “If you don’t fight, I’ll go easy on you,” he whispered in her ear. His unmistakable erection pressed against her abdomen.
    She dry heaved at his words. Her reaction evidentlypissed him off. He punched her hard in the stomach. She coughed and tried to catch her breath, but it was impossible because he hauled off and punched her again.
    It was as if someone had slammed a two-by-four across her middle. She tried to bite it back but the cry escaped regardless. Tears rolled down her cheeks when he slapped her across the face.
    When he grabbed the front of her sweater and ripped it fully open, she managed to kick out again, but it was useless. Using his weight again, he pinned her back against the wall as he unbuttoned her jeans and shoved them down.
    Kat screamed as loud as she could, even though instinct told her they were alone in the woods somewhere. When she did, he slapped her again, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop. She lashed out again and this time managed to clip him in the groin.
    “I told you I’d go easy on you!” he shouted at her. “Now you’re going to pay,” he growled, sounding angrier with each word.
    The pain in her stomach had lessened, or maybe she was becoming numb, but her face still throbbed as she watched him. He strode to the other side of the barn and picked up something. When he turned to face her, she realized he was holding a whip of some sort.
    The long, brown cord uncoiled and hit the hay-covered dirt with a soft thud. He lifted it and cracked it once against the ground.
    She flinched at the slapping sound it made, because she knew what he planned to do. She could see the coldness in his soulless eyes. When he lifted the whip and struck out at her, she tried to turn away the best she could.
    The end sliced into her outstretched arm and downthe side of her rib cage. As her skin tore away, she screamed again. She might not beg for her life, but she couldn’t stop the screams. She managed to twist around even more, but he just continued beating her. The edge of the whip sliced across her back and legs. Over and over. A merciless torture without end.
    With each blow she screamed until she realized she was screaming Jayce’s name. But he never came for her.

Chapter 17
    L iam watched the barely perceptible rise and fall of December’s chest. Sleep hadn’t come easy for either of them last night and after he and the rest of the pack had returned home, he’d gotten only a couple hours.
    The thought of Kat out there, at the mercy of a bunch of crazy radicals…He didn’t know how Jayce was dealing with it. December had told him the enforcer had left to hunt for her. He still wasn’t back as far as Liam knew.
    Reaching out, he gently pushed back a curl that had fallen across her face. She stirred but didn’t wake up. She looked so peaceful with her bright red hair pillowed around her face and her pink lips slightly parted.
    His throat constricted as he stared at her. Last night it could just as easily have been her. The knowledge shredded his insides with razor wire. If he’d never walked into her store, never pursued her so insistently, she’d still be safe. The APL wouldn’t have a reason to target her. This was his damn