Point of No Return: Project Exorcism, Book 3 Read online

  She’s determined not to give in. He’s determined to make her beg.

  Project Exorcism, Book 3

  As head of the Sargaidia guards, Nina Janelle is accustomed to getting what she wants out of her men—in battle and in bed. These days, she’s in a losing battle with her panther-shifter heat cycle, each round requiring more and more men to quell her burning need. Until she meets Commission Officer Jordan Vasil. Suddenly, only one man can satisfy her—too bad the cocky pilot grates on her very last nerve.

  Nina’s is the only face floating in his mind when Jordan lies alone at night, suffering from unrequited lust. It seems she’d rather slit his throat than bed him—until he finds her in debilitating pain from her efforts to subdue her urges. Ignoring her attempts to push him away, he gives her what she needs. His touch. His body.

  Nina’s not quite ready to concede defeat, but she needs Jordan’s piloting skills to find her missing brother. Alone with him in close quarters promises to be more than distracting. Losing control could cost more than her kick-ass reputation. It could cost their lives.

  Warning: Contains a hotheaded female who doesn’t like having to rely on any one let alone a man. And an equally stubborn alpha shifter male who’s is more than willing to go toe to toe with her before rocking her world.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

  Macon GA 31201

  Point of No Return

  Copyright © 2010 by Mandy M. Roth

  ISBN: 978-1-60504-999-1

  Edited by Lindsey Faber

  Cover by Natalie Winters

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2010

  www.samhainpublishing.com

  Point of No Return

  Mandy M. Roth

  Dedication

  To my readers. You are the best!

  Author’s Note

  Each book in the Project Exorcism series is written to stand alone; however, I do recommend reading them in order to maximize reading pleasure. To aid any who have not, as of yet, read the other books, or any who are simply looking for a refresher, I thought this introduction might help.

  Series background: Year 2206—Man has long since achieved space travel. Almost all planets in the known universe are part of the Commission, an intergalactic governing body that oversees the well-being of all within its quadrants.

  Supernatural creatures were discovered among us in 2055 and witch-hunts quickly began to rid Earth of them. A battle broke out and Earth’s human population dropped. In the end, humans were victorious, but only because a few select figureheads in the supernatural world agreed to the terms of a peace treaty. The terms were simple. The supernaturals were to be escorted off planet Earth and relocated on other planets, ones that were not part of the Commission’s territory. Ones that were agreed upon ahead of time, and ones on which the supernaturals would not be a threat.

  Thus began Project Exorcism. Five vessels set out on this mission. Only one arrived at its chosen destination. The others were thought lost during the meteoroid shower that occurred shortly after takeoff. Man now faces a new threat, only they are unaware of it. By shipping the supernaturals off, they unknowingly gave them access to other planets’ resources, including added magikal abilities, the ability to breed with their inhabitants, and so very much more.

  Welcome to Project Exorcism.

  Mandy

  Chapter One

  Village of Shamenia on the planet Sargaidia…

  Jordan Vasil leaned over the control panel in the central observation deck, waiting for the daily logs to download. Their primary function was to collect and record data from probes stationed both in orbit and planet-side. Because of issues with solar flares from the two suns and the way Sargaidia’s atmosphere had been plagued with random, unexplainable streams of stellar remains for the greater part of two years, probe accuracy and complete planet surface coverage wasn’t possible. The probes did a fairly good job of detecting approaching vessels as they entered the planet’s orbit. The data logs weren’t showing anything that would alarm anyone. But then again, often things got past that shouldn’t. Technology was hardly foolproof. Neither were the people monitoring it.

  It wasn’t Jordan’s job per se to oversee the probes and their findings, but he didn’t mind lending a hand where he could. He’d been trained on more sophisticated systems while an officer with the Commission, and had the expertise required to assist and even try to bring Sargaidia up to date. When he’d entered Commission Academy, he’d studied engineering, wanting to use his mind and his hands to build the next great spaceship or to revolutionize space stations. As much as he still enjoyed it all, his life had gone in a different direction. He’d excelled in other areas—areas that had him moving up the ranks quickly and second in command of Alpha Brig Three, a prized Commission vessel.

  He snickered, wondering how much the Commission would appreciate knowing their star of the fleet hadn’t left the planet in two years. It was living quarters to many of the original crew but more like a giant apartment complex than a ship. At least the smaller shuttles, parked in the loading bay, were utilized. It wasn’t as if everything went to waste.

  They’d still court martial me or execute me.

  He keyed in his acceptance code, taking time to check the Commission-based recognition systems as well as checking for non-Commission sanctified vessels. As someone who technically deserted from the Commission, he made it a point to assure they weren’t close and hadn’t found him or his brother. The possibility was unlikely since they believed Alpha Brig Three to have perished in a star explosion without any survivors.

  There had been a time when he’d never dreamt of life outside of the Commission. Sevan and he had held high-ranking positions and had even managed to be assigned to the same vessel, which was unheard of for siblings.

  Things changed.

  The Commission’s intolerance for anything supernatural was notorious. Before coming to Sargaidia, Jordan possessed only a small portion of supernatural blood within him—that of a werelion. Enough to make him stronger, faster and more in tune with his senses than humans, but not enough to register on the Commission’s screening exams. It was a secret his family held close to the cuff and the reason he and Sevan had pushed so hard to remain together after the academy. They’d made promises to one another to avoid temptations that could possibly alert the Commission of the truth—such as marrying a woman and having children. They’d lived in fear that, like their cousin, they too would wed, start a family and the children would somehow be able to shift forms, throwing up a red flag to the Commission and forcing them to go into hiding or risk death. Executions for being more than human weren’t unheard of, especially when the Commission managed to find ways to make you appear guilty of things you never did. They would justify their behavior by whatever means were necessary. And he’d foolishly lived under their thumb, believing he had no other choice. When their ship had run into trouble in Sargaidia’s orbit, his eyes were opened. Everything chang
ed for him the second he’d stepped off the ship and spotted the petite brunette with odd markings upon her body and eyes that held both strength and mischief.

  Nina.

  One look was all it had taken for Jordan’s shifter side to rear up and demand he take note of her. His cock had sparked an interest in her too, as did the rest of him, and there hadn’t been a day that had gone by that his cock didn’t still notice the woman. Fuck, just thinking about her made his dick hard.

  Reaching down, Jordan exhaled slowly, adjusting his erection through his pants, hoping no one noticed just how horny he was—again. He seemed to live in a constant state of arousal anymore.

  “Sir, do you need any help?”

  He glanced over his shoulder to find Sasher, a girl who came across as barely legal to him and who his brother insisted had a crush on him. Jordan didn’t pay much mind to it at all. His focus tended to center on Nina and Nina alone. Only she held power over him. Only her image would do when he lay in his quarters at night, stroking his cock until he reached culmination. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem as interested in him. She came off as wanting to slit his throat rather than be drawn into his arms. Though, she did seem to be warming to him slightly the longer he resided on her home planet.

  “Sasher,” he said and she instantly perked, shoving her chest up and out towards him. Her nipples were hard and her top barely there. Long waves of golden hair came to a stop just above her breasts. Prior to meeting Nina, he’d have responded to Sasher’s obvious advances, taking her into a back room, riding her tight little body until he couldn’t possibly go another second and then spilling his seed all over the swells of her stomach. He didn’t come in women. Even with the standard issue population control shots the Star Union created, he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t impregnate someone. Since the shots also controlled diseases, contraceptives used in the olden days—such as condoms—no longer existed.

  Funny how things had changed so drastically for him. Once a lady’s man, notorious for his refusal to settle down, to commit and for his bedroom skills, he’d now been reduced to masturbating and longing for a woman who took nearly no interest in him. As pathetic as it was, he couldn’t stop thinking about Nina even with the offer of sex with another woman on the table. He looked at Sasher. “Have you seen Nina?”

  Her enthusiasm deflated. “No.”

  Christian, the Chieftain and head guy in charge, twisted around from his seat near the docking controls. His long blond hair was tied back and braided in one braid. Jordan didn’t feel enough at home on Sargaidia to take on the look of the local males. It wasn’t his style. “I believe she’s checking the perimeter fencing—again.”

  “Didn’t I already check that this morning?” Jordan questioned.

  “Yes, but you know Nina. She likes to double and triple check everyone.” Christian faced the panel again but not before flashing a knowing look in Jordan’s direction. “She asked for a security status report. I was going to send Pheebes out with it but if you’re free…”

  “I’ll do it,” Jordan said, faster than he’d have liked.

  “I assumed as much.” Christian snickered and Jordan ignored the man, returning his focus to the panel before him and the task at hand. While waiting for the logs to finish downloading, he stepped to the side, keying in Nina’s identification code. A tiny red blip appeared on the screen, showing her near the outer fourth quadrant—along the fence line.

  As the logs drew to an end, Jordan looked towards Christian. “Do you have the security status report handy?”

  Christian lifted an electronic pad. “Everything is here.”

  Jordan grabbed it, hurrying out of the command center and through the main building. He knew Nina would be less than receptive to him and that she’d most likely not even acknowledge his presence, but that didn’t stop him for increasing his pace. The burning need to simply look upon her had rooted deep, and he’d long since given up denying it. It took him a second to realize his hand, holding the electronic pad was no longer in human form.

  Jordan drew to a stop and had to concentrate to get the fur and claws to recede away. So much of Sargaidia had been a gift, yet another darker side resided there as he’d learned firsthand. After an ugly ambush, he’d awoken to find he’d been infected with additional strands of shifter DNA—tiger—and that his body had somehow accepted the introduction of new traits. They had triggered his own latent abilities, leaving him able to shift into three forms—a lion, a tiger and an odd mix of both, which was strangely the form his body seemed to naturally prefer whenever he shifted without thought.

  Like now.

  He took a calming breath, knowing Nina had a strange power over him. Losing himself in thoughts of her and thinking about fucking her sweet little body had called upon the cats he carried within.

  “One foot in front of the other and keep your head in the game,” he said, continuing in the direction he knew Nina to be. If she learned he’d accidently done another partial shift, she’d tease him relentlessly. The woman found great joy in his inability to get a handle on it all. For the first several months after the attack, Jordan would change at random into a lion or a tiger. Nina bore witness to the act many a time and found great humor it in all. He’d even managed to laugh a little too.

  By the time he reached the fourth quadrant, Nina was deep in concentration, her attention on the fencing that kept the Shamenia villagers in and the enemy out. The others, as the locals referred to the enemy, were cutthroat and a force to be reckoned with.

  Jordan stayed downwind of Nina, knowing she wouldn’t sense him just yet. He watched as she paced back and forth, her back to him. Long, dark brown hair hung freely to her waist and had the slightest of curl to it on the ends. He’d long since memorized the royal blue of her eyes and the way her lashes bordered on black rather than brown. He’d already mapped her body without even being gifted the chance to explore it. He knew she was tight, toned yet still soft in the places a woman should be. Her breasts were just shy of being too large and he often found himself totally taken with the slightest of swells she had on her low stomach. It was a favorite spot of his on women. He wanted to kiss her abs, to sink lower and taste her cunt.

  His dick hardened and he bit back a groan. If he kept going like this, kept longing for someone he could never have, his cock would explode. Never had he gone so long without sinking into a woman. He teetered on the edge of demanding Nina give him what he wanted, but he knew better.

  Nina Janelle walked the outer perimeter of the compound, triple checking it was secure and free from signs of intrusion. The fence, made of metallic alloys and charged with energy that could be either steady or intermittent, was supposed to keep out anything. Sadly, the enemy had managed to find ways around it. Some had gone as far as to crossbreed supernaturals with levitating powers and the ability to leap clear over the fence in one bound.

  Nina tossed a small rock at the fence, testing it, watching as it kicked into action. Energy pulsed, causing the rock to explode into hundreds of fragments. A smile touched her lips as a clear mental picture of the enemy meeting a similar fate filled her mind.

  If only she could rid the planet of the others, then, she and her people would be safe and could live in harmony once again. Legends of old told of a time before the coming of the supernatural vessels, cast away from the planet Earth, a time before the wars. The period was said to be a peaceful one.

  She’d not known peace in her lifetime. The closest she’d come had been the recent stretch of relative silence on the home warfront. It was odd and she found herself wondering what lay on the horizon. What plot thickened in the enemy camp and why was it taking so long for them to make their next move? Even as a small child her life had been riddled with violence. All caused by the others. Her hate of them ran deep.

  It had been too many months since Stegian, the vampire hell-bent on destroying her people, had attacked. Her brother seemed to think it meant they were winning. Nina knew better. Stegian was bri
lliant and ruthless. He was up to something she just wasn’t sure what that something was. Soon, she’d be off-world and unable to help should he launch his plans into action and attack her village—her people.

  The idea of leaving Sargaidia even for a few short weeks terrified her. As head of security and defense, it was her job to assure her family and her people were as safe as could be, considering the threat they were up against. Leaving them sickened her. If Stegian knew she was absent, he’d find a way to attack. It’s what he did. He looked for weaknesses and exploited them to his full potential. Regardless, she had to make her move. Dreams of her twin brother’s demise had plagued her. While she’d not spoken or seen Kyriakos in nearly thirteen years, she still loved him deeply, as she did all her siblings. They shared a strange bond, a connection that occurred between twins. To lose him would destroy her. While she was scheduled to head off-world in an attempt to locate Marisa’s father, she fully planned to search for Kyriakos.

  “Boss,” said a deep voice from behind her that tended to not only make her sex moist but grate on her last nerve. “Christian mentioned you wanted a security status report.”

  Nina sighed, the will to be difficult with him suddenly gone. “Thanks, Jordan. You can lay it over there with the other handheld.”

  She turned to face the tall, muscular man with a head of sandy blond hair that hung to his broad shoulders. His skin was bronzed by the sun, his features strong, demanding attention. Her body responded to his presence. It always had but as of late, she’d been going through a fertility cycle and Jordan Vasil was who her hormones begged for.

  All right, demanded.

  She resisted.

  When he’d first landed on her planet he’d worn his hair shorn off and kept the appearance of a well-cut, well-bred man. He was wilder now, free from the confines the Commission had laid upon him. There was a certain feral edge to everything he did. Sadly, it too only served to turn her on. The damn man was walking temptation and she had half a mind to punch him because of it.