Enticed by Ecstasy (Wicked Treasures) Read online

  “Channing?”

  “Get dressed,” he murmured and rushed to his clothes.

  A knot of fear formed in Abby’s stomach. There were few men in the area, and Channing’s men had guns to be used only in emergency.

  Channing was waiting for her by the time she finished dressing. He took her hand as they rushed into the jungle to return home.

  The gunshot had been close, very close. Abby was glad Channing always had his own rifle with him, along with the pistol and long knife he kept at his waist.

  They hadn’t gone far when Channing skidded to a halt. Abby peered around his shoulder and gasped as she recognized her father and a dozen of his men.

  Her father stood immaculate in tan trousers, highly polished black boots, a dark green jacket, and dark brown hat. His hazel eyes regarded her with a mix of anger and resentment.

  For a man in his mid-fifties, he was tall, fit, handsome, and easily charmed women. But beneath his good looks was a soul as black as night. He cared for no one other than himself.

  “Finally,” Huntington said with a sneer. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you in the Godforsaken continent, Abigail?”

  Abby fisted her hand in Channing’s wrinkled shirt. The fury and annoyance shooting from her father’s gaze told her he hadn’t come to talk.

  An image of her mother’s face flashed in her mind, and Abby knew it was time to face her father as he had in her mind so many times. She’d waited for this moment for years. She took a deep breath and stepped from behind Channing.

  “How nice of you to join me, Father. Has Africa agreed with you?”

  He lifted his lip in a sneer. “You know how I hate the outdoors.”

  “Actually, I don’t know anything about you.” Years of anger and resentment threatened to drown her as she let it loose. “How could I when you chose your mistresses over your wife and daughter?”

  “Is that what this is about?” he demanded and took a menacing step toward her.

  Channing moved to block her, but Abby wasn’t about to cower before her father. She squeezed Channing’s hand to let him know she appreciated what he was doing.

  She glanced at her father’s men. “Actually...Father...this isn’t about anything other than my happiness.”

  “Whoring about?”

  Channing stiffened beside her. Abby’s mind worked quickly. If her father provoked Channing, he would attack, and her father’s men would kill him. She couldn’t let that happen.

  “Call it what you will,” she said as flippantly as she could. “I learned from you.”

  His lips peeled back over his teeth as he growled. “Why you insolent bitch.”

  Abby took a deep breath and smiled. “I’ve been planning this moment for years,” she said as she walked toward him. Channing tried to hold her back, but she needed her retribution too desperately.

  “What?” Huntington looked at her contemptuously.

  “When did you discover the money was mine?”

  A murmur went through his men. Huntington silenced them with a look before turning back to her. “I tried to sell the house. The lawyers informed me of the state of the will.”

  “Ah,” she said and laughed. “I wish I could’ve been there to see your face when they informed you that you had a week to vacate the house.”

  “How dare you!” he bellowed. “I’m your father!”

  “You were no father,” she said and let her anger show. “You were a man who couldn’t keep his trousers fastened. You were a man who killed others with a wave of your hand. You were a man who took women, used them, and then threw them away as if they were trash. You were the man who killed your own wife.”

  “I didn’t kill her.” But his anger had deflated. He looked at her with new eyes now, eyes that told her he was more than wary of her.

  Abby snorted. “Every time you left the house for one of your mistresses, you twisted the knife. Every time you strutted about the ton with your mistresses instead of Mum, you took part of her soul. Every time you walked past her room without giving her a simple hello, you choked the life out of her. She gave you everything. You gave her death.”

  Huntington stared at her silently for one heartbeat...two. “What do you want?”

  “I want you out of my life. Forever. I don’t ever want to see your face or hear your name again. If I had my way, you’d be locked in prison in the depths of Hell, but I have no evidence to give to the authorities.”

  “Do you know why I came looking for you?” he asked softly. Too softly.

  Abby was immediately cautious, but she knew her father well. “You came to kill me.” She flashed a bright smile. “And you can try, but if you think that will get you the money, you’re wrong. My will was made the day Mum’s was read. In the event of my untimely death, the money goes to charity. You won’t get a penny.”

  “That bloody marriage agreement.” Huntington cursed and yanked his hat off to slap it on his leg. The sea wind whipped the short strands of his head full of blond hair streaked with silver. “I didn’t think she knew about that part of it.”

  “She knew. Grandfather made a point of telling Mum. He never trusted you.”

  Huntington released a pained sigh and returned his hat to his head. “Kill her,” he ordered his men.

  “Didn’t you hear her?” Channing finally spoke up, his question to the men with the guns pointed at them. “You won’t get the money from Abby’s father.”

  Her father’s gaze moved to Channing and narrowed. “I remember you. You’re supposed to be dead.”

  “I’m not,” Channing said and stepped to Abby’s side.

  “You two conspired against me.”

  Abby laughed, wondering why she had been so afraid of her father for so long. He was just a man, and without the money backing him, he had no control. “Unknowingly. It wasn’t until I arrived in Africa that we discovered we were after the same thing. Your downfall.”

  Huntington turned to his men. “I said to kill her.”

  Each man lowered his rifle. “No money, no killing,” one of the men said.

  “I’ll get you the money!” Huntington shouted.

  Abby felt Channing’s hand reach for hers. His touch comforted her, for even though she had needed to say those things to her father, she knew it involved an amount of danger that could very well end with her death.

  “No, he won’t,” Abby answered. “All the money is mine. I’ll pay you triple what he offered if you take him out of here.”

  “You want us to kill him?” one of the men asked excitedly. “We were told we could kill someone.”

  Abby looked into her father’s hazel eyes and shook her head. “No. I won’t have that on my conscience. I just want him gone.”

  Three men stepped forward. One took her father’s weapon while the other two grabbed Huntington by the arms and pulled him after them.

  Abby blew out a breath and turned away from them. The fury she had let loose made her entire body shake, and she was ready to return home with Channing.

  They had only gone a few steps when there was shouting behind them and the blast of a rifle. Channing’s arms wrapped around her as he pushed her against a tree to shield her.

  Abby peered around his shoulder and saw her father had managed to get a rifle away from one of the men. He was now pointing it at her. Smoke rose from the barrel, and she realized he had already fired a shot at her. How close had it come?

  “If I can’t have the money, neither can you.” He raised the rifle and readied to fire again.

  “Channing,” she whispered and lifted her face to his. Seeing her mother waste her love on a man such as her father had made Abby hesitant to ever want to love, but the feelings that had grown so quickly for Channing told her she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

  His arms tightened around her. “I won’t lose you. Not now, not after finally finding happiness.”

  She waited, her heart hammering in her chest, for her father to fire the rifle, but
nothing happened. Slowly, she and Channing lifted their heads to find her father surrounded by hungry hyenas.

  Abby took in a shaky breath and glanced at Channing, remembering all too well their encounter with the animals.

  “Move slowly,” he whispered.

  She was afraid to move at all. The hyenas had their attention on her father and his men, but any sound might make them turn to her and Channing.

  “Abby. Trust me.”

  How could she not after such a plea? She gave him a slight nod and gradually moved away from the tree. Channing stayed between her and the pack of hyenas just in case they decided to attack. Inch by agonizing inch, they worked their way backward, glancing over their shoulders as they did.

  “Abigail,” her father screamed. “Help me.”

  Abby swallowed, but refused to answer. The hyenas had begun to close in around him and the men. A few of the men took shots at the pack, and a few even managed to kill a hyena or two, but it was too late. The hyenas growled before they charged.

  Their screams mixed with the growls of the animals echoed through the jungle. She and Channing were about to run when one of the hyenas looked at them.

  A moment later, he turned back to the slaughter. She took Channing’s hand and together they ran toward his home. After they had gone a safe distance, Channing stopped and pulled her into his arms.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  She knew he referred to her father’s death. “I’d like to say I’m going to miss him, but I’m not. He was an evil man who got what he deserved in the end.”

  Channing leaned back. “And you? What have you gotten?”

  She smiled and smoothed a lock of black hair away from his forehead. “I got the best gift of all. You.”

  “I’m falling in love with you,” he admitted softly, his coffee colored eyes serious.

  “Good, because I’ve already fallen in love with you.”

  His head dipped to take her lips in a kiss. Abby rose up on tiptoe, eager to taste him once more. And just as their lips brushed against each other, monkeys above them began to scream and jump up and down in the trees.

  Abby shared a laugh with Channing as they raised their gaze to watch the monkeys.

  “Are you sure you want this?” he asked and spread his arm wide to encompass all of Africa.

  She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. The forever she’d always dreamed was standing right before her. A life full of adventure and danger. And love.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Just what I wanted to hear,” he said before he took her lips in a searing kiss.

  Also look for…

  SEIZED BY DESIRE

  First book in the Wicked Treasures series

  Forced to take drastic measures to keep his people from dying out, Achates risks his life to save a woman only to learn she’s the one deemed strong enough to rule with him by Poseidon himself.

  It isn’t just her mind – but her body – Achates stirs when Livia wakes in his arms. She’s unsure of her place in this new world she learns is the home she was stolen from. It’s with Achates strong heart, gentle hands, and trust that she begins to understand what her true role is. But will it be in time to stop the destruction of their world?

  CAPTURED BY DESIRE

  Third book in the Wicked Treasures series

  For three years Juliann Little has hidden away from everyone after the Scandal. She devoted her life to helping her father study the paranormal. It was meant to be a safe job, something she didn’t have to face anyone over. Until her father disappears.

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  Author Bio

  Bestselling, award-winning author Donna Grant has been praised for her “totally addictive” and “unique and sensual” stories. She’s the author of more than twenty-five novels spanning multiple genres of romance.

  Her latest acclaimed series, Dark Warriors is a continuation of her Dark Sword series and features a thrilling combination of Druids, primeval gods, and immortal Highlanders who are dark, dangerous, and irresistible.

  She lives with her husband, two children, a dog, and four cats in Texas. You can visit Donna at her website: http://www.donnagrant.com.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Author Bio

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Author Bio