DARCY
(GUARDED HEARTS BOOK 5)
by Claire Marta and Nia Farrell
Length: 89,000 words. Cover Design by Crystal Visions.
Cover Reveal Sept 1, 2020 Release Date, Oct 23, 2020
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Darcy Takahara’s distrust of supernaturals makes her wary of cadre members Zana Sasani and Lukas Schmidt…
Darcy Takahara’s experience with dark forces puts her at odds with the men at the Citadel. With her cousin in their clutches, she’s not sure they can be trusted.
Driven by her own agenda, she accepts a teaching position at The Haven, a private boys’ school in rural New York. She’s on the trail of her ex-lover, Dr. Liu Chan, the former member of an elite secret order. Discovering him on staff at the school, she fears Liu is up to his old tricks.
Gaining the trust of those around her is imperative. Darcy does what she must to infiltrate their ranks and learn Liu’s secrets. When things take a devastating turn, she’s forced to seek the help of two men she’s been trying to avoid.
Zana Sasani and Lukas Schmidt have been watching Raven’s cousin for a while. The Asian beauty is feisty and strong, and they’ve both fallen head over heels for her.
The problem is she can’t be trusted. When circumstances force a wary truce, the men think they have their chance to win their fated mate. But Darcy’s mission is far from over. With an old enemy rising, the men must work quickly to aid her or risk losing her forever.
Shifters with a sci-fi twist, Guarded Hearts Season One (Books 1-7) follows members of The Order of the Phoenix. Each book in this interconnected storyline provides a happily-ever-after for the main characters. While the first book of Season One can be read as a stand-alone, the following titles will be more fully enjoyed and understood if they are read in order, beginning with Morgan (Guarded Hearts Book 1).
This story has potential triggers, including interrogation and forced compliance. MFM ménage erotic romance with MM and MMF scenes, written for Ages 18+.
EXCERPT (PG13):
He was waiting for her inside the door, a handsome man with dark hair, golden skin, and almond eyes that spoke to his Chinese heritage. She hadn’t seen him in years, but he hadn’t changed.
Assessing her with a long, slow sweep of his gaze, Dr. Chan nodded his satisfaction.
“Ms. Takahara,” he intoned, giving her a stiff, formal bow, his face betraying nothing. “How are you?”
It was the telling note in his voice, the hint of thinly veiled anger that revealed what he did not say.
Taking a breath, she ventured a guess. “You saw what he did.”
“Yes,” he grated. “Are you hurt? Do you need me to examine you?”
She shook her head. “No. No,” she insisted, stepping back when he started to reach for her.
He dropped his hand. A Chinese curse blistered the air.
“It’s alright,” she assured him, trying to convince herself as much as the doctor. “You know me. I’m tough. I’ll survive.”
Giving her a long, considering look, he canted his head questioningly. “Is it true what the whispers say? Have you gone rogue?”
Darcy stared into the face of the man who had changed her life in so many ways for both good and bad. Nothing had been the same since she’d met him.
“It’s true,” she replied quietly. “Like you, I grew tired of serving someone else’s agenda. I needed a fresh start, and Dr. Rossi offered it.”
“He should not have done what he did,” he grated, no longer talking about Rossi.
“No, but it’s the price I pay for being better. Rape isn’t about sex. It’s about control. You know this.”
“You should have fought harder.”
“Like I fought you?” She dropped her gaze to the scar on his face. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Dr. Chan.”
He reached for her, slowly, carefully, as if she was as feral as the cat she was trying to tame.
“And I’m sorry he hurt you,” he said. “I didn’t know. I would have stopped it.”
She shook her head. “It’s alright, Dr. Chan.”
He tipped her chin and tsked. “Not here, not now, and not when it’s just the two of us. Under this roof, there is no doctor or Ms. Within these walls,” he told her, “you are Darcy Takahara and I am Liu Chan.”
“Liu,” she acknowledged, breathing in his scent, as memorable as their time together…
And almost as tempting as the two men she’d been forced to leave behind.
If Tobias had his way, she’d never see Zana or Lukas again.
Liu, however, was here. And the pheromones rolling off him in waves confirmed that he still wanted her as much as ever.
Maybe more so, now that the colonel had had her, too.
EXCERPT (NSFW):
Going by instinct alone, Lukas leveled a look at Darcy that dared her to disobey and barked at Zana, “You! Take her to the kitchen! I will fetch the rope.”
It was in the dungeon two floors up, but Lukas made a flying trip and was back in no time with hanks of natural and dyed jute rope clutched in both hands.
Darcy was seated in a chair that Zana had pulled away from the table, far enough that both men could prowl around it and have access to every available part of her. The Persian had pulled off his belt and used it to handcuff her wrists—a clever trick that Killian had learned from one of Raven’s books and shared with the rest of the brothers.
Zana hadn’t gagged her, but he had gripped her chin and was making her suck his thumb.
Just the sight of them gave Lukas a raging hard-on.
Tossing most of the rope onto the floor, he untied one hank, shook it out, and used it to lash her calves and ankles to the front legs of the chair. Looping another length through her bound wrists, he pulled her arms over her head with her elbows up and her hands behind her neck. Drawing one end through the bottom rung of the chair, he cinched the rope tight and tied a quick-release knot in it. Standing, he circled in front of her and ripped open her towel, exposing the exquisite lines of her athletic body to them.
Darcy gasped.
Lukas stared. He’d never seen a naked woman except in porn and this one was perfect in his eyes. Her breasts were high, round, and firm with golden brown nipples furled into diamond-hard knots. Her shaved pussy was plump, smooth, and already sopping wet.
Zana frowned, worried that maybe he was taking things a bit too far.
Lukas didn’t think so. There was one way to find out.
“What do you have to say for yourself, fräulein?” Lukas thrust a hand between her legs. This time her gasp was followed by a moan. Her eyes grew languorous, heavy-lidded with lust, her chest rising and falling with each panting breath. “Explain this. What has made you so wet, hmm?” As an experiment, he lightly slapped her breast. Feeling her gush, he slapped it again, harder. “What is your mission? Whom are you trying to save? Talk or we will find ways to loosen that tongue of yours and then…, I already know something else I wish to do with that mouth.”
She swallowed hard and shook her head, playing the part of a recalcitrant prisoner.
“Very well.” Lukas drew himself up to his full, intimidating height. “Zana! Give me your knife. I want you to fuck her with your fingers but don’t let her come. Bring her to the edge and keep her there.”
Quirking an eyebrow but saying nothing, Zana pulled his favorite folding knife from his pocket and handed it to Lukas. Kneeling by the chair, the Persian ran his thumbs up the inside of her thighs and pushed one finger into her sheath.
“Christ, she’s tight,” his partner breathed, flexing his arm and working his digit in and out several times before attempting to add another one.
Lukas flicked open Zana’s knife and held it in front of Darcy’s face. A warrior like her would appreciate such a weapon, forged in fire and hammered into the perfect blend of function and form. She held her breath, eyes widening when he brought it to her neck below her chin and pressed the flattened blade against her throat. “Just the tip,” he promised, shifting his angle enough to barely puncture her skin. Breath hissed between her teeth when he dipped his head and licked her wound.
The taste of her blood triggered his own quickening that Zana had experienced earlier. It was true. She was their fated mate, sent to them for a higher purpose. Now they needed to make her their own, share their seed, and begin her transformation.
But Zana had taught him, ladies first.
Lukas tossed the knife onto the counter and came to stand opposite Zana by Darcy’s free side. Raising his hand, he wrapped his fingers around her throat and squeezed, listening to the liquid sounds from below and watching every nuance on her exotically beautiful face. “Bang her harder,” he ordered his partner. “I think she likes it rough.”
Zana used all of his experience to bring Darcy to the edge of her climax and keep her there without letting her go over. Lukas tightened his grip on the slender column of her throat. Letting his knowledge of anatomy guide him, he squeezed until he’d cut off her air and she started to fight for it.
“Come for us,” he crooned, not letting up until she did, her body convulsing almost violently as she squirted, juices shooting out to bathe the inside of her thighs and wet the floor between her feet.
“Good girl,” Zana hummed, pleased with her responsiveness.
“Are you ready to talk?” Lukas asked her.
Darcy eyed him warily from the fog of post-orgasmic bliss.
“No? Have it your way. Zana, take her to bed. We’ll keep her there until she agrees to answer our questions or we fuck the truth out of her.”
Author Nia Farrell 