Turned
by a Tiger (Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 12)
Felicity Heaton
On the verge of bleeding out and hunted by his merciless torturers, Talon has
no choice but to seek sanctuary at Underworld, a nightclub run by a jaguar
shifter liable to kill him on sight for being a tiger shifter male. What he
finds in the old warehouse isn’t the grim shadow of Death though but an angel
of mercy, one who offers him salvation and revenge—one who happens to be his
fated mate.
Tending bar at Underworld is never dull
when you’re a mortal surrounded by immortals, but when a gorgeous tiger shifter
covered in blood stumbles into the club, and set’s fire to her boss’s temper,
Sherry’s entire world is in danger of being turned on its head. Something about
the mysterious warrior has her stepping in to save him, something that ignites
her heart and stirs her soul, and no matter how fiercely she fights it, she
can’t hold herself back.
When Talon reveals the name of his captors,
and his plan to head back in to save his friends, will Sherry be brave enough
to embrace the feelings he stirs in her and step deeper into the world of
immortals? And will Talon be strong enough to resist the lure of Sherry to
protect his family’s secret or will he risk everything to claim his eternal
mate?
“Shit.”
Talon’s knees hit the tarmac with a
bone-crunching jolt and he sagged forwards, breath sawing from his lips as he
fought to remain conscious and drive the pain back as it swarmed him,
threatening to drag him into the waiting darkness. He couldn’t pass out here.
They would find him.
He wearily lifted his head and growled low
in his throat at the effort it took to do such a simple thing now. Not good.
He gazed down at his lap and then his
trembling left hand as he pulled it away from his bare stomach. His hand
wobbled and blurred, and he blinked hard, fighting to clear his vision and
refusing to let the pain ricocheting through him, a bone-deep savage onslaught
that wouldn’t abate, overcome him. The streetlight off to his right caught the
thick layer of blood on his hand and turned it black and shiny.
“Fuck,” he growled through clenched teeth
and tears stung his eyes.
He forced his right hand up and scrubbed it
across his face, rubbing them away.
No damn way he was going to cry, no matter
how dire things looked.
He wouldn’t give up.
He pressed his damp right hand into the
gritty road and pushed himself onto his feet. Lightning flash through him, fire
licking along the length of the wound across his stomach, and he gritted his
teeth so hard they creaked, but he kept going, kept pushing, kept refusing to
just lie down and die.
Death would be a mercy, one that probably
wouldn’t find him before the bastards hunting him did.
Talon staggered onto his bare feet, stumbled
a few steps and grunted as his right shoulder smashed into the wall that lined
the narrow alley.
Awareness prickled down his spine and he
looked over his left shoulder, his long beard scraping his skin and his shaggy
black hair falling to obscure his eyes. He didn’t have the strength to push it
out of his face.
Or the time.
They were coming.
Closing in now.
Dammit.
He had to keep moving. He was close.
The world wobbled around him, losing colour
at times, as he stumbled forwards, clutching his stomach with his left hand and
wincing with each laboured step. That damned lightning and fire zapped and
danced through him with each shift of his body that disturbed the worst of his
injuries, forcing him to breathe shallowly in an effort to keep it at bay.
Gods-fucking-dammit.
It wasn’t going to end here.
His right ankle gave out and the tarmac
loomed in his vision again, but this time he managed to catch himself at the
last moment.
Would’ve been a triumph if he hadn’t
face-planted into a brick wall instead.
He rested against it, giving himself a
moment, aware that if he kept pushing this hard he was going to pass out and
that would land him back in their hands.
That prickling sensation came again,
warning him they were narrowing the search, growing closer with every moment he
stood still. He had to keep moving, even if it was only inches at a time. He
leaned against the wall, using it for support and clawing his way along it with
his right hand, his fingertips aching as he dragged his weight.
His muscles trembled beneath his skin, on
the verge of going liquid as his strength drained away.
Another sensation joined the first.
One of dread that hounded him as he pulled
himself forwards with dogged determination.
There were more than night shadows behind
him.
There was death.
It was stalking him like the hunters,
waiting for that moment when he gave in.
Never.
Talon ground his teeth and staggered
forwards, calling on all of his strength and refusing to give up. He hadn’t
given up when the hunters had caught him. He hadn’t given up all the times they
had demanded he shift into his tiger form and then tortured him with cattle
prods to force him to turn back. He hadn’t given up when they had left him
naked and bleeding in that infernal cage or all the times they had dragged him
back to his cell, letting their other captives witness him at his weakest.
He would never give up.
He kept inching forwards, the pain mounting
inside him stealing his breath as it reached a new crescendo and fresh warmth
spilled across his left hand, his life draining from him. Couldn’t give up.
Wouldn’t.
Talon growled and pushed onwards,
near-blind as fire blazed inside him, devouring his strength and setting every
nerve in his body alight. Instinct drove and guided him, a deep desire to
survive that lived within all feline shifter species, as strong and undeniable
as the need to defend their territory.
Something he was deeply aware of as he
finally reached the end of the alley and his destination.
He stared across the narrow road to the
red-brick warehouse.
He shouldn’t be here, but he was desperate,
had nowhere else to go and no hope of surviving if he couldn’t convince the
shifter who owned the building to give him sanctuary.
The chance of that happening was slim,
about as slender as him surviving the night.
But he had to risk it.
Underworld was his only hope now.
He checked the silent street in both
directions, studying the shadows to make sure he wasn’t being watched, and then
limped across it to the other side, slumped against the wall and clawed himself
forwards, towards the broad door beneath the unlit neon sign.
The scent of shifter hit him hard, flowing
from a torn up piece of wood beside the door, the owner’s calling card and a
message to other male cat shifters in their prime.
A warning to stay away.
He couldn’t.
He reached the door and rested, breathing
hard and fighting the nerves rising inside him to mingle with the pain. His
limited senses stretched around him, ears pricking as he listened for a sign of
life—both inside the building and outside it with him. There was no one in the
streets around him, but inside were two heartbeats, not far on the other side
of the door.
Talon pulled his hand away from his stomach
and banged his fist on the door.
It swung open the moment he made contact
and he lost balance, falling inside to land in a heap on the floor.
“We’re closed,” a deep gruff male voice
called from the darkness. “I thought you’d locked up?”
Talon ignored the male and crawled
forwards, dragging himself with both hands now, desperation driving him and
urging him onwards, into the gloom. He growled. He was moving too slowly, the
distance between him and the door not growing quickly enough. He needed to go
faster.
Pain shot through him, his ears ringing
with it and heart labouring in response, and he clutched his stomach with his
left hand again, grunting as he fought it. When it eased, he pushed up on his
right hand and shuffled forwards, holding his stomach with his other hand. The
scent of his own blood filled his nostrils and his vision wobbled again.
Dammit.
He pressed harder with his left hand,
trying to stem the bleeding. It wasn’t slowing.
Silence fell like a thick shroud.
Eyes landed on him, intent and focused.
The air shifted and a growl echoed through
the enormous room, unholy and vicious.
A warning he felt all the way down to his
bones.
To his soul.
His hope ended here.
The shifter was going to kill him.
'I received a copy of this book from the author as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.'
As with every other book by this amazing author I absolutely LOVED this book. There only a handful of authors that I can honestly say that about.
The characters were amazing. Sherry is one that those of us that have been following the series have known. Talon is a great addition. He is protective and dominating and a sexy alpha at that. He wants Sherry, but wants to protect his family and the secret that they carry.
Sherry is a human bartender at Underworld. The only human that is employed there and is like a little sister to the owner. Kyter doesn't want some shifter trying to mate with is 'little sister' and wants a piece of Talon for that reason and a few others. Talon definitely has his work cut out for him. Not only does he want Sherry he needs Kyter and his friends help to save his friends from Archangel.
It's fast paced, sexy and Talon is everything that we look for in a hot shifter. I definitely recommend reading. This book can be read as a stand alone but it can be a little confusing trying to figure out who a lot of the characters are without reading the whole series.
'Read and Reviewed by LSK Sweetheart Reviews'
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA
Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance
books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing
action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary
from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to
sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors
Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan
then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and
wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong,
powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her
stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that
are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic
Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded
alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and
angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or
want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
