Sentinels: Jaguar Night. Doranna Durgin
tion id="u0a2e7ffe-11dd-5a8e-948d-f0b2886980aa">
Dolan’s eyes narrowed as he drank in the rising power of what lay between them…
He let it swell within him instead of fighting it, until it verged on intoxication.
Below him, Meghan drew her sweatshirt together with one hand and shoved her hair back with the other, poised for flight. Suddenly vulnerable–and yet unable to keep from leaning towards him ever so slightly.
It was his undoing.
He leaped from the rock, invoking the shift along the way–riding the flash and crackle of the change and landing human.
And damned ready to face this thing between them.
“Meghan,” he said, and his voice came out as more of a growl. He rode the pounding demands in his body, the ache of being so close and yet not touching her. Until she lifted her face slightly, leaning into what lay between them. She took a deep breath; she let it out on a single, quiet, “Yes.”
He hesitated an instant longer–just long enough to be sure of what she’d said.
Doranna Durgin spent her childhood filling notebooks, first with stories and art, and then with novels. After obtaining a degree in wildlife illustration and environmental education, she spent a number of years deep in the Appalachian Mountains. When she emerged, it was as a writer who found herself irrevocably tied to the natural world and its creatures–and with a new touchstone to the rugged spirit that helped settle the area, which she instils in her characters.
Doranna’s first fantasy novel received the 1995 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall award for the best first book in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres; she now has fifteen novels of eclectic genres on the shelves. Most recently she’s leaped gleefully into the world of action romance. When she’s not writing, Doranna builds web pages, wanders around outside with a camera and works with horses and dogs. You can find a complete list of her titles at www.doranna.net, along with scoops about new projects, a lot of silly photos and a link to her SFF Net newsgroup.
Sentinels:
Jaguar Night
BY
Doranna Durgin
Dedicated, of course, to the critters in my life–
Jean-Luc, Cheysuli Jean-Luc Picardigan
OJP NAP OJC NAC, CGC
Belle, Cheysuli’s Silver Belle
CD RE MXP3 PAX EAC EJC, CGC
Connery, Ch Cedar Ridge DoubleOSeven
CD RE MX MXJ EAC EJC, CGC
and Kacey, Xtacee Carbon Unit, CGC, who was still
with me when I wrote this book, and Strider the
WonderHound, who was there when it all started.
But especially to Duncan the Lipizzan, aka Pluto
Gladys, who has resisted critical injury, extreme
distance and lengthy separation to always fulfil the
task of keeping me humble.
And with thanks to Tashya Wilson and Tara Gavin,
for giving me a chance at all this fun!
Table of Contents
Prologue
Meghan crossed her arms over her flat ten-year-old’s chest and gave her mother a defiant stare. “You never listen!”
Her mother smiled. Her mother always smiled. Sometimes her