Don’t forget to go forth and find your copy of the newly released, SHE SHIFTERS! In the meantime, meet a dear friend of mine, Desiree Holt. Watch put—she’s a ball of fire! ~DD

First of all, huge thanks to Delilah for hosting me today. It was her books that first turned me to the dark side of shapeshifting and inspired this series.

I’m having a love affair with the wolf. He is such a legendary, mysterious animal that it’s hard not to be fascinated by him. In many areas wolves frequently feature in the folklore and mythology of those cultures, both positively and negatively.

Shapeshifting has become a popular subject for fiction of all kinds. The use of it in romance fiction has increased exponentially in the past few years. Authors have written about packs who inhabit entire towns, shifting at will but keeping to their human shape in the presence of strangers. The mating of humans and shifters has again become a subject of romantic fiction, and has given rise to many successful books.

For me it’s the excitement of knowing alpha males can change in a shimmer of stars to an animal whose primary drive is to protect its own. To know that strong women can become strong mates in both wolf and human form. The wolf is my hero. I hope he will be yours. Come peek into his wolf in Lust Unleashed, Book One: Night Seekers.

The Setup:

The Chupacabra has been a legend for decades, stretching from South America to North America, sighted in many place. Ranchers swore they’d killed it only to have it turn out to be a mutated goat or coyote. And the killing spree continued—animals and humans alike. Was it a wolf? A vampire? The legend continued to grow.

When billionaire Jason Stafford’s wife and daughter were killed by the Chupacabra and none of the state or federal agencies could trace the half man/half animal, he funded his own team. He chose carefully from the best law enforcement agencies as well as the private sector across the country. Six of the eight selected are shifters themselves, each representing a wolf pack whose members had fallen prey to killers. Each one of them had also been affected by the beast and so had personal reasons to find and kill it. Known simply as The Night Seekers (because they hunt most effectively at night), they work from an isolated ranch property in Texas, with all the latest high tech equipment and any other resources they might need. Their only mission: find and stop the Chupacabra.

Jonah Grey, driven by a lust for the blood of the legendary Chupacabra who murdered the woman he was to mate with, jumps at the offer to leave the FBI and join Night Seekers, who are dedicated to hunting and killing the devil beast. Jonah encounters a woman and there is such explosive chemistry between them that neither can turn away from it, and the sex that follows brings them to a level of pleasure neither has ever known before. He divides his time between tracking the Chupacabra and erotic bouts of orgasmic sex with Dakota. But he’s a wolf and the devil beast must still be dealt with.

 Jonah leaned against the headboard of the bed, pillows propped behind him, and watched as Dakota opened a bottle of wine, poured the amber liquid into two glasses and carried them to the bed. They were both still completely naked and her body was fluid motion. Graceful. Artless. If he were an artist he’d want to paint her.

Her skin was a golden color and he noticed there were no tan lines. Out here in the middle of nowhere she could sunbathe nude without fear of prying eyes. Her breasts were high and firm, tipped by dusky nipples still hard from the attention of his mouth. Her dark hair cascaded down her back, wispy bangs drifting across her forehead. Thick lashes framed eyes blacker than night and high cheekbones defined the exotic quality of her face.

Her long legs moved easily around the room, the rounded globes of her ass tempting him as she turned her back to him. His cock swelled and hardened just watching her.

A tiny frisson of guilt raced through him as he realized he had given himself to this woman as completely as he had to Jenna. Would she see it as a betrayal? No, Jenna was a person who believed in giving completely, holding nothing back. Inexplicably he’d felt her spirit encouraging him, urging him to do this. But he feared the guilt would always be there, a barrier to a new relationship, until the devil beast was finally captured and killed.

“Heavy thoughts?” Dakota was standing beside the bed.

Jonah wiped everything from his mind but her naked presence. Something was pulling them together and he wasn’t about to throw it away. Somehow he’d deal with the inner turmoil of his conflicting emotions.

“Not too bad.” He curved his lips into a smile. “Thinking about you.”

“Here.” She handed him the wine. “I don’t usually drink this early in the day but today I’m making an exception. I thought it might be more appropriate than coffee.”

Jonah grinned. “I think all things considered it’s a good exception to make.”

He shifted to make room for her next to him, holding the wine with one hand and looping his other arm across her shoulders. The press of her body against his was like a lit match to his skin. God, how could he want this woman so fiercely when he barely knew her and they’d just had off-the-charts sex?

Mate!

The word singed his brain. Forcibly he pushed it away. He was no longer in the market for a mate. Besides, he was sure if she saw him shift that would kill any relationship.

No! She believes in legends and the unusual. Don’t write this off.

He took a healthy swallow of his wine, hoping to derail his thoughts. He had a mission and he couldn’t lose sight of that, no matter how much he desired this woman or how fantastic the sex was.

“Would I sound too unsophisticated or cliché if I say I don’t usually do this?” she asked.

Jonah had to stop himself from chuckling. He was pretty sure she didn’t do this on a regular basis, considering her situation. And he was the one who practically attacked her. Shifters acted on their lust when it surged through him. He was just worried she’d think he made a regular habit of it.

“No worries.” His fingers drew circles on her shoulder. “I felt the heat between us and so did you. It’s all good.” When she didn’t say anything else, he asked, “So are you saying you don’t have any…relationships with men?”

“I’m saying I learned long ago to keep my urges to myself and live alone.”

Her voice was flat but he detected the undertone of pain. Someone had hurt her, badly. Or maybe several someones. A sense of protectiveness flared within him. Who would deliberately hurt an erotic flower like this? Who could be so cruel? But he could answer his own question. In his life, both personal and professional, he’d unfortunately seen all kinds of cruelty.

On impulse he reached for her hand and wound his fingers through hers, squeezing them gently. He was surprised when she gave him an answering compression.

She took a sip of her wine as if to distract them both from the conversation. “Tell me about the story you’re writing.”

Story? Oh, yeah. My cover.

“It’s actually a series for National Crime Magazine. My boss is fascinated by the legend of the Chupacabra. There have been so many conflicting stories. Each time a body’s discovered the interest flares up again. So I’m checking things out.”

“That’s all it is, you know. A legend. People have created this absurd story for publicity value. And to explain what they don’t have answers for.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You really think that?”

Dakota ran her fingertip around the rim of her glass. “This town’s really been crazy since the hunters’ bodies were found. Without any other resolution, it was natural for them to bring up the legend. But I don’t believe in it.”

Lust Unleashed is available now in both print and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores.

Hope you’ll follow me on Twitter @desireeholt, on Facebook (Desire Holt) and my blog, Under My Hat at https://www.desireeholt.com/.