Praise for the Nauti Boy series

“The Nauti series is one that absolutely no one should miss. The characters are brilliant, sexy, and real, while the high-octane action and soul-gripping plots have you on the edge of your seat. I loved it!”

—Fresh Fiction

“Steamy, smoking, hot, erotic, risqué. Romantic . . . Intriguing and hard to put down.”

—Night Owl Reviews

“Completely blown away by this surprising story, I could not put [it] down . . . and before I knew it, I had read this entire novel in one sitting. Lora Leigh has spun a smoldering hot tale of secret passion and erotic deceptions.”

—Romance Junkies

“Wild and thrilling.”

—The Romance Studio

“The sex scenes are, as always with Leigh’s books, absolutely sizzling.”

—Errant Dreams Reviews

“Heated romantic suspense.”

—Midwest Book Review

More praise for

Lora Leigh

and her novels

“Leigh draws readers into her stories and takes them on a sensual roller coaster.”

—Love Romances & More

“Will have you glued to the edge of your seat.”

—Fallen Angel Reviews

“Blistering sexuality and eroticism . . . Bursting with passion and drama . . . Enthralls and excites from beginning to end.”

—Romance Reviews Today

“A scorcher with sex scenes that blister the pages.”

—A Romance Review

“A perfect blend of sexual tension and suspense.”

—Sensual Romance Reviews

“Hot sex, snappy dialogue, and kick-butt action add up to outstanding entertainment.”

—RT Book Reviews (Top Pick)

“The writing of Lora Leigh continues to amaze me . . . Electrically charged, erotic, and just a sinfully good read!”

—Joyfully Reviewed

“Wow! . . . The lovemaking is scorching.”

—Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Berkley titles by Lora Leigh

LAWE’S JUSTICE

NAVARRO’S PROMISE

STYX’S STORM

LION’S HEAT

BENGAL’S HEART

COYOTE’S MATE

NAUTI TEMPTRESS

NAUTI DECEPTIONS

NAUTI INTENTIONS

MERCURY’S WAR

DAWN’S AWAKENING

TANNER’S SCHEME

HARMONY’S WAY

MEGAN’S MARK

NAUTI DREAMS

NAUTI NIGHTS

NAUTI BOY

Anthologies

TIED WITH A BOW

(with Virginia Kantra, Eileen Wilks, and Kimberly Frost)

PRIMAL

(with Michelle Rowen, Jory Strong, and Ava Gray)

NAUTI AND WILD

(with Jaci Burton)

HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS

(with Angela Knight, Anya Bast, and Allyson James)

THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS CAT

(with Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh, and Linda Winstead Jones)

SHIFTER

(with Angela Knight, Alyssa Day, and Virginia Kantra)

BEYOND THE DARK

(with Angela Knight, Emma Holly, and Diane Whiteside)

HOT SPELL

(with Emma Holly, Shiloh Walker, and Meljean Brook)

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North 2193, South Africa • Penguin China, B7 Jaiming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 2012 by Christine Simmons.

Cover illustration by Danny O’Leary.

Cover design by Lesley Worrell.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / November 2012

eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-58140-7

An application to register this book for cataloging has been submitted to the Library of Congress.

For Bret,

because you’re the son I never imagined you would be,

and you’re turning into a man I find

more pride in each day.

I wish I could take credit

for your compassion, generosity, and strength.

And I hope those qualities always remain

a part of your incredibly giving heart.

Contents

Praise

Also by Lora Leigh

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

PROLOGUE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

EPILOGUE

PROLOGUE

The fat, evil little leprechaun was interfering in their lives again in a way they would never recover from. Rowdy could feel it.

It was like a chill chasing up his spine. It was a premonition of hell. It was a certainty that perhaps they should have just shot his ass when he interfered the last time.

But that last time hadn’t been with one of the Mackays, just a friend, and not an old and dear one at that. The brother of an old and dear friend wasn’t exactly the same.

Standing in the marina office and staring out the heavy glass door, he wondered what the little bastard was up to this time. His eyes narrowed against the bright summer sun as the fat little bastard, a.k.a. Timothy Cranston, stood at the open back passenger door of the black Ford Excursion, his attention on the occupants he was obviously speaking to. He was apparently debating something with them, Rowdy thought. The tension in Cranston’s shoulders was a sure indication that his frustration level was rising.

There were times Rowdy and his cousins might like the former Homeland Security agent, but other times he was more trouble than he was worth.

Rowdy had a feeling he was about to become more trouble than he was worth again.