Seized by Seduction--A Compelling Tale of Romance, Love and Intrigue Read online

  One glance is all it takes

  From the moment his eyes meet hers across the crime-scene tape, ex-con turned bodyguard Quasar Patterson knows he has to see the mysterious Dr. Randi Fuller again. She’s a renowned psychic investigator who can foresee danger for others, but not for herself. That makes Quasar doubly determined to watch over her—the closer, the better—as she’s drawn into a dangerous gang rivalry.

  Both her psychic gift and their blinding chemistry tell Randi that she and Quasar are fated to be entwined. Even as they surrender to the heat between them, there’s no guarantee of a happily-ever-after now that an enemy has her in his sights. And claiming a future will take more than Quasar’s strength and skill. If he can’t risk the heart he’s always held in check, they’ll both lose for good...

  Praise for Brenda Jackson

  “The only flaw of this first-rate, satisfying sexy tale is that it ends.”

  —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on Forged in Desire

  “Leave it to Jackson to take sizzle and honor, wrap it in romance and come up with a first-rate tale.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Temptation

  “Brenda Jackson is the queen of newly discovered love... If there’s one thing Jackson knows how to do, it’s how to pluck those heartstrings and stir up some seriously saucy drama.”

  —BookPage on Inseparable

  “[Jackson] proves once again that she rocks when it comes to crafting family drama with a healthy dose of humor and steamy, sweaty sex. Here’s another winner.”

  —RT Book Reviews on A Brother’s Honor, 4½ stars, Top Pick

  “This deliciously sensual romance ramps up the emotional stakes and the action.... [S]exy and sizzling.”

  —Library Journal on Intimate Seduction

  “Jackson does not disappoint...first-class page-turner.”

  —RT Book Reviews on A Silken Thread, 4½ stars, Top Pick

  “Jackson is a master at writing.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Sensual Confessions

  Also by Brenda Jackson

  The Protectors

  FORGED IN DESIRE

  SEIZED BY SEDUCTION

  LOCKED IN TEMPTATION

  The Grangers

  A BROTHER’S HONOR

  A MAN’S PROMISE

  A LOVER’S VOW

  For additional books by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson, visit her website, www.brendajackson.net.

  BRENDA JACKSON

  Seized by Seduction

  To the man who will always and forever be the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

  To all my readers who after reading The Grangers Series wanted more. This book is especially for you.

  And to my readers who will accompany me to Barbados for Brenda Jackson Readers Reunion 2017.

  I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart for your love, encouragement and support.

  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

  —Romans 14:7

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM FORGED IN DESIRE BY BRENDA JACKSON

  PROLOGUE

  QUASAR PATTERSON WAS a man who appreciated anything female, which was why his gaze was focused on the woman standing within the perimeters of the crime scene tape. He didn’t know her identity, but the one thing he did know was that she was definitely a looker. She was so striking that he felt a scorching sensation in his eyes from staring at her. And he was convinced it had nothing to do with him having run out of a burning mountain cabin in the Shenandoah Valley just a short while ago. He would lay the blame solely at her feet. Even from a distance her facial features were so captivating, so mesmerizingly beautiful, he felt an intense stirring in his gut.

  Her skin appeared the color of creamy cocoa with a sensual pair of cheekbones, well-shaped lips, a delicate nose and dark eyes that were either black or brown. From where he was standing he couldn’t be certain. Regardless of their color, her eyes made the entirety of her facial features exquisite.

  Long, straight black hair fell to her shoulders, and even from across the yard it looked thick and silky. The kind a man would want to run his fingers through...or better yet, grip while thrusting hard inside her. He usually preferred a woman with bigger breasts but concluded hers were perfect for her size. The lush curves outlined in the dark slacks and short leather jacket she wore were appealing as hell.

  He’d first seen her after running from the burning house with his friend Stonewall Courson. He and Stonewall hadn’t thought twice about running into the blazing cabin to save their friend Striker Jennings, and the woman Striker had been hired to protect, Margo Connelly. Striker and Ms. Connelly were being treated by paramedics, and the body of the man who’d tried to kill them lay covered by a white sheet.

  “You okay?”

  Quasar reluctantly shifted his gaze off the woman to glance at the man who’d joined him. “Yeah, Stonewall, I’m okay. What about you?”

  “We’re alive. So are Striker and Ms. Connelly, and that’s all that matters. And that bastard over there is dead,” he said, indicating the would-be assassin. “Good riddance.”

  Quasar nodded in agreement and then switched his gaze back to where the woman stood. Three other women had joined her. He recognized Margo Connelly and Detective Joy Ingram, and when the third woman took out a writing pad he concluded she was a federal agent about to take a statement from Ms. Connelly. Federal agents were swarming all over the place. However, Quasar had no idea about the woman who’d caught his eye. Was she a federal agent, as well?

  When Stonewall muttered something about it being a pity that such a nice house was burning down, Quasar decided to satisfy his curiosity. “Hey, man, the woman standing over there next to your detective—the one wearing the slacks and leather blazer—who is she?”

  Stonewall frowned after glancing over his shoulder. His friend wasn’t all that keen on him referring to Joy Ingram as his detective. Stonewall and
Joy had met at a party a month ago, and from the first it was obvious Stonewall had the hots for the detective. Probably to the same degree Quasar had the hots for the woman standing beside her.

  “She is not my detective,” Stonewall said, copping an attitude that Quasar chose to ignore.

  “You want her to be, though. I know the two of you haven’t had an official date yet, but you’ve met up with her a number of mornings at that café on Monroe Street for coffee and donuts. You also met with her at Shady Reds a couple of times to grab a few beers.”

  Stonewall’s frown deepened. “You know too damn much.”

  “Not really, which is why I want to know who that woman is. The one in the dark slacks and leather blazer.”

  “I heard your description the first time,” Stonewall snapped.

  “Well?”

  Stonewall took a huge gulp of water from the bottle he was holding, then swiped across his mouth with the back of his hand. Quasar knew his friend was trying to annoy the hell out of him by deliberately taking his time in answering. Finally he said, “Her name is Dr. Randi Fuller.”

  Quasar lifted a brow. “The psychic investigator?”

  “Yes, the psychic investigator. I admit I was a skeptic at first, but she’s made a believer out of me. She led everyone to this place, and just in time. I don’t want to think what would have happened if no one had taken Dr. Fuller seriously.”

  Quasar didn’t want to think what would have happened, either.

  “Well, let me get back over to Striker,” Stonewall said. “He’s about done giving his statement to the Feds now.”

  When Stonewall walked off, Quasar returned his full attention to Dr. Randi Fuller. Randi. He liked that name and thought it was different. Tired of standing, he decided to crouch down a minute, and when he did so, as if the movement carried a sound that floated through the air, Dr. Fuller turned and looked over at him.

  The moment their gazes connected, desire with an intensity he’d never felt before twisted Quasar’s gut, and primitive male awareness filled his every pore. A throbbing need suddenly consumed his senses, and there was an unmistakable pounding in his crotch. Crackles of sexual energy passed between them, hot, raw and relentlessly carnal. Even across the distance, he swore he could hear the intimate sound of her breathing, the fast pounding of her heart. He was convinced he could even smell her. It was an arousing scent of jasmine and some other entrancing fragrance.

  Shit. What the hell was happening? With him? Between them?

  She must have been trying to figure out that very same thing, because she suddenly broke eye contact with him. He used that time to suck in a deep breath and to force his aroused state under control. The strange connection they’d just shared was a jolt of sexual energy that rocked him to the bone. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before.

  Moments later, when she glanced back his way and their gazes reconnected, his mind conjured up a number of erotic images. Like him burying his face in the hollow of her throat, undressing her, making hard-ass love to her while those long legs wrapped tight around his waist. His penis throbbed at the thought of pounding into her. Hammering hard. Then harder.

  When Detective Ingram said something to get her attention, she looked away from him again. But he continued to stare at her, to will her to glance back. Although maybe it was a good thing she didn’t. He was so damn aroused he could probably come just from all this sexual chemistry surging between them. Explosive. Fiery as hell. The I-need-to-get-fucked kind.

  “We need to talk to Striker,” Stonewall said, returning, interrupting Quasar’s heated thoughts.

  Annoyed, he glanced up at Stonewall. “Why?”

  “He’s about to make some crazy decisions about Margo Connelly.”

  Frustrated, Quasar ran his fingers through his hair. “And you know this, how?”

  “Because I do. He’s crazy about her and is fighting it.”

  “Not my business, and neither is it yours,” Quasar said, standing back up and pulling his shirt down past his pants zipper.

  “It will be our business if we’re the ones who have to put up with his crappy-ass mood.”

  Well, hell, Quasar figured Stonewall was right about that. “Okay, so, what’s the game plan?”

  As Stonewall began talking, Quasar glanced over to where Randi Fuller had been standing. Dammit, she was gone. He anxiously glanced around the crime scene but didn’t see her anywhere.

  He sucked in a deep breath of disappointment and as he drew the oxygen through his lungs, he wondered if, somehow, someway, he would ever see the beautiful psychic investigator again.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Three months later

  WHY IS THE NIGHT I saw Dr. Randi Fuller still so vividly clear in my mind?

  That irritating question nagged the hell out of Quasar while at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia. Getting more annoyed with himself every passing minute, he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and a slice of leftover pizza from the microwave. The very idea that any woman could linger on his mind for this long was preposterous. Especially when it was a woman he’d seen only one time.

  But damn, she’d been beautiful, and he would admit to being awestruck and mesmerized. So much, in fact, he hadn’t been able to stop looking at her that night. She’d caught him staring and had boldly stared back. He’d seen the same interest mirrored in her eyes he was certain shone in his. A part of him wondered if she’d read his thoughts. After all, she was a psychic.

  Deep down he knew that her paranormal abilities had nothing to do with why she’d been stuck in his mind for three solid months. For a reason he couldn’t explain, he’d felt this strange connection between them. One that had him still thinking of her three months later. As far as he was concerned, nothing about his obsession with Dr. Fuller made sense. He dated women. He bedded women. What he didn’t do was get fixated on one.

  His phone rang and he recognized the tone. It was a call from his father. Normally he’d have let it go, but he decided to answer it. Maybe if his mind was full of anger at someone, it would keep his thoughts of Dr. Randi Fuller at bay. He’d never known a time when a phone conversation with Louis Patterson didn’t end in shouting.

  He looked at the clock. Usually his father didn’t call past dinnertime. There was only one way to find out the reason for this abnormality. “Is there a reason for your call, Louis?” He had stopped referring to his father as Dad years ago. As far as Quasar was concerned, the man didn’t deserve the title when he’d unashamedly picked one son over the other countless times. And unsurprisingly, his father hadn’t made a fuss about the change.

  “Yes, I wouldn’t be contacting you if there wasn’t. Doyle has decided to run for public office.”

  Quasar’s stomach clenched at the thought of his older brother. Doyle was and always had been his father’s golden child. “Any reason you thought I needed to know?”

  “Forever the smart-ass, aren’t you, Quasar?”

  Quasar managed a tight smile while thinking, Yes, if it riles you, then it’s worth it. “Why do you think I need to know Doyle has decided to get his hands dirty in politics?” He figured his old man didn’t like that question, especially the reference to dirty hands.

  His father ignored the comment altogether. “The media knows about you. They might want to talk to you. Get an interview.”

  Quasar chuckled. “Oh, I get it. And you’re afraid I’ll tell them something. Like the truth.”

  Once again there was silence on the other end of the call. Quasar liked it whenever he could render the great, all-powerful Louis Patterson speechless. It was always this way between them. He was determined never to be controlled again, and his father was intent on controlling him like old times.

  The old man finally recovered and said, “When are you going to forget about that and let
it go, Quasar? You know I couldn’t let Doyle go to jail.”

  But you could let me go and waste three years of my life behind bars for a crime I didn’t commit. Quasar knew there was no reason to get into an argument with his father about it. The man had wanted to protect Doyle, and Quasar had been the sacrificial lamb.

  As far as Quasar was concerned, the only good thing that had come out of those three years in prison was meeting a man who’d proved that not all fathers were assholes. That there were some who loved their sons...no matter how many they had. That man was Sheppard Granger. Like Quasar, Sheppard had been jailed for a crime he hadn’t committed.

  Shep, as the other inmates called him, was a lot older than most of the prisoners and served time for murdering his wife. It didn’t take long for anyone who hung around Shep to know he was a natural-born leader—a positive one. He gained the respect of many and was highly admired.

  Before being sent to prison, Shep was the CEO of a major corporation, Granger Aeronautics. While in prison he became a father figure to the younger inmates, their mentor, confidant and role model. Instead of acting resentful for being locked up for a crime he didn’t commit, Shep used his time in prison to implement Toastmasters, Leaders of Tomorrow, GED exams and college programs. Shep was the reason Quasar had walked out of prison a different man. A man who would no longer allow his father to intimidate him. While growing up, nothing he did pleased his father. Louis always made him feel inadequate, as if he would never measure up...like that time he’d become captain of the swim team and the team came in second place in its first competition. Instead of giving him accolades for even making it to the finals, Louis had verbally lashed out at him for not winning.

  Prison had also introduced several other men into Quasar’s life. Some who were better brothers than Doyle had ever been. The first two who immediately came to mind were Striker and Stonewall.

  “Quasar?” His father’s voice annoyingly intruded on his thoughts.

  “I heard you. Doyle is getting into politics.”

  “You gonna keep your mouth shut and not bring shame on the family’s name?”