Shifter's Claim (The Shadow Shifters) (7 page)

“I’m well, thank you. How was your trip?” She spoke clearly and politely, always.

“Both pleasant and disturbing but isn’t that the way of the world?” he replied, flipping through the mail he’d picked up.

She smiled at him. “I guess so.”

Jewel never talked much. She answered him respectfully but never offered more than was required. Because this wasn’t new and he had other things to do, Bas hurried to dismiss her. “Well, thanks for bringing me the mail. I’m going to catch up on some things in here and will be down in the conference room around nine thirty. Tell Mrs. Ramirez I’ll take a late dinner down there.”

Jewel nodded and left the room as quietly as she’d entered. She would go directly to the kitchen where Maria Ramirez, his kitchen manager, could usually be found and deliver his message. Jewel was a good worker, which was another reason Bas had allowed her to stay at Perryville for the last few years.

He finished his glass of wine, which was excellent, a new blend he’d secured from two of Jace’s actor clients who had taken the plunge into the winery business. He’d have to remember to send Jace an e-mail telling him how flavorful the wine was and order more. Bas undressed, then moved into the bathroom, opening the glass doors and stepping inside the marble-tiled shower beneath a cascade of hot water.

The hot spray slapped blissfully against his skin as he first moved so that it drenched his front and then his back. Flattening his palms on the tiles just beneath the shower head Bas stretched, elongating each vertebra along his spine. Inside there was more movement, more stretching and pushing, a low growl rolling through his chest.

It wanted out. The beast within wanted to run, it wanted to stretch and be free. Most of all, it wanted to fuck.

Inhaling deeply, searching for calm, for steady breathing, steady thoughts, Bas fought the hunger. It had been growing impatient these last few months, stalking him like a hunter, reminding him that regardless of the choice he’d made to live this solitary lifestyle, it yearned for something much more. Shaking his head, Bas denied it, again. His jaw clenched so tightly the rattling of his teeth echoed throughout the shower stall.

He could not have her. There was no question about that. If it were just a woman, the hard drive of a blatant carnal connection, then he could find someone and slake the burning need.

Searing pain streaked through his chest but Bas did not growl, he did not yell out in agony, because he was in charge. Not the cat, never the cat, he promised himself. The cat hadn’t yelled this loud to save Mariah, it hadn’t ripped through the human skin to save the innocent human whose only mistake had been falling for him and following him to a dangerous and unknown place even after he’d declared their relationship finished. It hadn’t torn those other shifters to shreds to protect her the way it should have. So he’d be damned if he’d listen to the inner roaring now.

Priya Drake was off-limits and that was that.

Yanking his hands from the tiles and grabbing the soap, he proceeded with another thought, ignoring the movement, the hissing, the agitation as if it were nothing more than a nuisance that would hopefully go away. Switching off the spray of water when he’d finished he stepped out into the cooler room and prepared to dress, to make contact with the East Coast guards to ensure that the near-confrontation just as they’d stepped out of Rome’s office building had been resolved.

Abruptly he stopped before pulling on his boxer briefs. His dick was so hard as to make the task uncomfortable, if not almost painful. Bas sighed, gripping his length in one palm and jerking so hard he half expected his release to come shooting out instantaneously. Then his memory betrayed him, her scent filtering through his nostrils as if she were standing directly in front of him. When he closed his eyes in exasperation it was only to find that she was there. In his mind he could see her face, see the alluring curve of her chin, the soft mound of her cheekbones, the length of her eyelashes. Her compact body wore jeans and a short-sleeved shirt as if they were custom-made.

He’d touched her. Bas growled, his hand growing tighter around his dick, teeth clenching once more.

No man could touch her. No other man could have her, could not fuck her. Because she was his.

“No,” Bas hissed. “No.”

His hand moved of its own accord, jerking upward until the bulbous head burned with impending release. Sliding down his shaft and up roughly once more he cursed and cursed some more, until release finally came in rushing jets of white dripping to the floor so loudly his eyes shot open even as his head lulled back.

“No. Not her,” he said on a hampered breath. “Not her.”

Chapter 7

Sedona, Arizona

Evening

This is not a game.

That’s what he’d told her, even though she’d been fully aware of those facts from the first e-mail she’d received. This wasn’t a game, and whoever it was that wanted her to uncover this secret Reynolds and his friends were harboring, were doing a damn good job of hammering that fact home. Right to Priya’s doorstep, to the heart of who she was, to be exact.

This morning she’d walked up the familiar cracked steps to her mother’s house, becoming instantly overwhelmed with all the memories that lived beyond that front door. Using her key she’d gone inside, walking through the vestibule, inhaling the scent of stale cigarette smoke and old grease. Her mother would be in the kitchen, no doubt, sitting at the old Formica table with its only two surviving chairs, across from the cracked counter that held the nineteen-inch television Priya had bought her two Christmases ago. She would be dressed in her robe, cotton and frayed at the collar and her hair, which she’d long ago cut short would be slicked down to her scalp with some gel concoction she was fond of. In one shaking, bony hand would be her ever-present cigarette, while her ankles crossed beneath the table, shaking as well.

“Mornin’, Mama,” she’d said.

“Hey there, you got my medicine?”

“Of course,” Priya replied, putting the bag from the drugstore on the table within her grasp.

She went to the refrigerator, opened it, and unpacked the other bags she’d brought with her, the ones with the milk, eggs, butter, and Cap’n Crunch cereal her mother loved.

“I don’t know where Malik is,” Karen had said while Priya’s back was still turned to her. “He never usually stays away this long.”

Priya stilled. No, her older brother Malik never stayed away for weeks because in a matter of days he’d run through whatever money he’d been able to scrape up, getting high with all the drugs he’d been able to find. He always came back to Karen’s though, because she always let him in. She cooked for him, and washed his clothes, and even gave him what pennies she had left out of her monthly check so that he could go right back out into the streets. Closing her eyes, Priya tried not to think about the endless circle of their lives. She tried not to think about the father who had walked out on them, thrusting Karen into the endless pit of depression and self-loathing that had created such a loving home for her to grow up in. At one point she almost covered her ears as she thought she could still hear Levi Drake’s yelling and cursing as he beat Karen and Malik like they were rodents on the street. Priya and her sisters had escaped those beatings only because they stayed away from Levi and his deadly temper, out of his reach and sight as much as they possibly could. Malik had always protected Karen, always jumped in Levi’s face whenever he struck her. One day all that violence ceased because Levi was gone, the no-good bastard.

“Malik will be home soon, Mama,” she told her mother as she leaned over to kiss her forehead. “He’ll be home real soon, I promise.”

“You’ll bring him back, won’t you?” Karen asked, her words stilling Priya instantly.

Her mother was asking her for something and it wasn’t new. All her life Priya had felt like she’d been put on this earth to care for her family. She was the youngest and yet she was the strongest, the most dependable. She’d never let any of them down and they trusted in that fact. Even her sisters who had never been as close to her as Priya would have liked, knew who to call when their child support payments were late, or when one of her nieces or nephews needed new shoes. It was always Priya and she always came to the rescue.

“He’s probably checked himself into another rehab,” she said after taking the few minutes she needed to gather her thoughts. Some days there were things she wanted to say to her family, moments when she just wanted to scream for all of them to get their own lives together and leave her the hell alone. “You know how they have the blackout period when they first check in.”

“No,” Karen had said in a low whisper.

It was so low Priya had turned to her, leaning against the counter as she looked at the frail frame of a woman who at one time had a light in her eyes, a luster to her chocolate-brown skin.

“I think it’s different this time,” her mother had finished.

It was different, Priya thought sadly. It was something Priya had never imagined she’d be in the middle of, some sort of blackmail scheme that she couldn’t walk away from.

“He’ll be back, Mama. I promise,” she told her mother as she moved to stand right beside her, rubbing a hand over her shoulder.

Karen surprised her by lifting one of her shaking hands to touch her daughter’s fingers where they rested on her robe. “You always keep your promises. You always do the right thing.”

Priya didn’t know what to say to those words. Karen had never been one for affection, not having anything left to spare after Levi had beat all the good out of her. Priya was used to that, they all were. Certain things just weren’t expected from her mother—compassion, pride in her children, love in her eyes, were just among the few. But this touch, the sound of Karen’s voice—she was right. It was different this time and Priya only prayed she could do what was necessary to give her mother what she wanted, once more.

“Yes, Mama, I keep my promises. Malik will come back,” she told her without another second’s hesitation.

And he would, Priya vowed. If she had to walk right up to the devil and shake his hand she would do it to bring her brother home to her mother. If she didn’t, the idea that another man that Karen had loved with all her heart may have also walked out of her life would be too much for Karen to bear. And watching her mother deteriorate any more would be too much for Priya.

So now, she was officially broke. As she stepped through the doors of Sedona Airport and coughed into dry, stiff air she thought breathing was going to be quite difficult. With only her carry-on bag, laptop case, and her purse she proceeded to hail a cab praying that she still had enough cash in her purse to pay for transport to and from Perryville Resorts.

Her entire life savings, one thousand two hundred and eighty-five dollars, had quickly dwindled down to one hundred and fifty dollars after her round-trip airfare and the exorbitant nightly rates at the exclusive Perryville Resort. No wonder he wore Armani suits and Dolce & Gabbana silk ties, gouging people to stay at a simple hotel the way he did. She frowned as she climbed into the back of the cab and gave her destination. Sebastian Perry was quickly moving up her list of people she detested.

So why was she here? Why had she flown across the country when the notes had directed her to Reynolds? Because Sebastian Perry knew what she was after. He knew the secret Reynolds was hiding and she was going to get him to tell her. He’d warned her to stay away from Rome. Fine. Then he would be the one to tell her what she needed to know. It was that simple.

No, there was absolutely nothing simple about Perryville Resorts. The redbrick building was like a small fortress jutting up from the earth surrounded by nature’s choice and not man’s, by the most beautiful rock formations Priya had ever seen. Sure, she’d never been anywhere farther than Ocean City, Maryland, for a week in the summertime, so saying she hadn’t seen many gorgeous feats of nature was a given. But that didn’t stop her from recognizing the breathless wonder that was the Boynton Canyon and this magnificent display of modern décor that had been dropped inside of it like a penny in an old Coke bottle.

She stepped out of the cab, slipping her sunglasses off so she could see everything without any buffer. The sun had already set, night looming over the resort like a shadow, but even it couldn’t hide the opulence. The front doors seemed much taller and wider than normal doors she’d walked through, gold handles and writing on them added grandeur. She wanted to go back home and slip into her red dress once more, to put on the shoes she’d paid only about a third of her weekly paycheck for at Macy’s. Jennifer, her hair stylist who worked on Florida Avenue, would gladly squeeze her in for a quick wash and curl, and her manicure was still in acceptable condition. The jeans and black fitted T-shirt she wore did nothing to make her feel like she belonged in a place like this.

Still, her green money that held the same value as everyone else’s had paid for a room, so Priya walked up to the front desk and checked in. She tried to ignore the soft music that sounded like a harp over dripping water that played overhead. This wasn’t a vacation. She walked with her chin held high, her duffel bag growing a little heavier in her hand toward the elevators and once she finally stepped inside, let out the breath she’d been holding.

“Do or die?” she whispered to herself, shaking at how true that sentiment actually was in her case.

The elevator dinged, doors opened, and she hurriedly stepped out.

“Great. Big expensive resort and no signs to tell you which way to go to your room,” she quipped then looked down at the key card in her hand. It had the number written in small green numbers beneath the gold-printed Perryville logo, the same one that was printed everywhere she’d looked in this building as if anyone would dare to forget where they were or who owned the place.

It took her another five minutes to realize she was on the wrong floor and to curse herself for being wrong once again. Slapping her palm against the UP button she waited impatiently for the elevator. All she wanted to do was talk to Perry again, get some information out of him this time, then go back home where she belonged. The elevator doors opened once more and she stepped inside determined to do her job as quickly as possible and not to enjoy a moment of this gorgeous place for fear that at any moment she might just get used to it.