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Colters' Woman by Maya Banks

Excerpt from Colters' Woman
Maya Banks
http://www.mayabanks.com http://samhainpublishing.com/colterswoman.shtml

Prizes: Copy of Seducing Simon in choice of
format. Copy of Colters' Woman in choice of format

Blurb and Excerpt:

Holly Bardwell is running from her past
mistakes. Straight into the arms of the Colter brothers.

Adam, Ethan and Ryan aren’t looking for women.
They’re looking for a woman. One woman to share
their lives and their beds. They don’t want a
casual romp in the hay, they want the woman who
will complete them--and they’re losing hope of find her.

That is until Adam finds Holly lying in the snow
just yards from their cabin. He knows she’s
different the minute he holds her in his arms.
But before Adam gets his hopes up, he knows he
has to gauge his brothers’ reactions. Soon it’s evident that she’s the one.

There are a few problems, however--convincing her
she belongs with them and keeping her safe from the man who wants her dead.

Excerpt:
Adam drove the Land Rover to its limits. For two
hours they’d searched every nook and cranny of
the mountain. There was only one possibility
left, and despite his best effort, he was fast losing hope.

“Around the next bend, take the path off the
road,” Ethan directed, his voice grim. “We have
to hope the snowfall hasn’t made the trail impassable.”

Adam tore around the corner and braked as the turnoff rushed to greet them.

“Adam look!” Ethan cried out.

Adam wasted no time. A fresh trail down the
path. One made recently. By a vehicle. He sped
up the bumpy incline, slipping and rocking in the
snow. The four wheel drive made quick work of
the path, and soon they rounded the bend to the old mining cabin.

A black SUV glinted in the sunlight. Adam roared
to a stop, grabbed his rifle and piled out of the
Rover. Ethan followed quickly behind, his gun up and ready.

Adam frowned when he saw the door wide open. He
ducked under the window and peered inside through the entryway. It was empty.

He and Ethan rushed inside.

“Someone’s been here,” Ethan muttered. “Very recently.”

Ethan picked up a still lit cigarette laying on the floor and flicked it away.

Adam’s heart sank as he looked around. There were
visible signs of a scuffle. Blood on the
floor. He whirled around and ran out the door,
his eyes searching the snow for fresh sign.

Deep trenches in the snow led away from the cabin
and into the trees in the distance. He and Ethan
leapt off the porch and began charging after the tracks.

A few seconds later, Ethan put a hand out to halt Adam.

“Look!”

Ethan pointed to a body in the distance. They
ran over to find a man slumped in the
snow. Blood seeped from a wound in the back of his head.

Adam rolled him over. He was unconscious. Hope
beat a steady rhythm in his heart. Had Holly been able to escape him?

Then his eyes came to rest on the dark red blood
that stained the snow. Blood that did not come
from the man. His eyes followed the splatters
across the snow where it continued down the hill.

“Lets go!” he shouted.

They powered down the hill. Adam prayed the
whole way. God let them find her. Let her be okay.

“Adam there she is!”

Adam looked ahead in time to see Holly wobble and
slump into the snow. He ran the remaining thirty
yards, his heart screaming the entire way.

When he got to her, he reached down and pulled her up to his chest.

“Oh God,” he moaned.

There was so much blood. It bathed her entire
front. Her left arm lay at an odd angle, swollen and discolored.

“Holly! Holly, baby,” he cried.

Ethan sank down beside him and helped Adam lift her from the snow.

Her eyes fluttered weakly. Disorientation
clouded the depths. She pushed and shoved, trying to stand.

She was running on adrenaline, and she was fast
running out. She began to shake violently.

“She’s going into shock,” Adam said. “We have to
get her out of here now. Radio in. Tell them to
have the chopper waiting. We’ll have to get her
as far down the mountain as we can.

“Ryan,” she cried out. “Oh God, Ryan.” She
struggled weakly against Adam, tears slipping down her cheeks.

“Shhh, baby. Ryan’s okay. I swear it.”

She didn’t seem to hear him.

“I never told…I never told them I loved them,” she whispered.

Adam held her tighter against him. He buried his
lips in her hair and blinked back tears. “God, I
love you too, baby. I love you too.”

posted by Michelle Pillow at 12:47 PM