The Claiming of Sasha [Panther Cove 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

Eventually, they approached the counter and tossed the clothing on top. The one with the short hair handed her a credit card. When she lost her grip and the plastic dropped, the blue-eyed hunk snatched it up, smiled, and handed it to back her.

“Sorry, ma’am. I’m a bit tired.” His cheeks dimpled. Heaven help her.

She waited for the revulsion to return, but it didn’t.
Damn
.

Truth was, he hadn’t dropped the card. She had. Enough was enough. “I know you’re visitors, but you know that tiger shifters are not welcome in this town, don’t you?”

She stepped back anticipating an argument. Instead, the one with the short hair clasped the blond’s shoulder and shook him. “Did you hear her?” His voice might have been close to a shout, but the joy was unmistakable.

The blond faced her. “Ma’am, would you so kind to explain what you meant.” His jaw seemed to tremble, and she could sense the rage boiling underneath. That emotion she could deal with.

“Where did you say you were from?” One of the things she was good at was spotting a lie.

Her parents may have decided they wanted nothing to do with The Shield and fighting The Sword, but she’d stayed around Panther Cove because her grandfather was the wisest man around. He’d taught her how to detect a person’s intentions.

“Texas.”

That might explain why they had no clue they shouldn’t be here. “Do they have a lot of tiger shifters there?” She knew The Sword had units everywhere.

“Just us, ma’am.”

They might not look evil or act with evil intent, but she wasn’t ready to say they were two innocent tiger shifters who happened to wander into her store. While she had no way to confirm or deny her suspicion they were good men, she got the sense these two weren’t part of any Sword consortium. “My name is Sasha, not ma’am.” She worked to keep any bitterness out of her tone.

The blond grinned, and a wave of lust nearly felled her. She touched her forehead to see if perhaps she’d come down with a fever. Usually, her stomach revolted around the unsavory creatures, but right now it was as calm as could be. If she believed in alternate realities, she would have been convinced she’d stepped into one.

He stuck out his hand. “Howdy, I’m Trace Sanders.”

Touching a tiger shifter might cause her harm, but she decided to take the chance. She clasped his hand, and to her surprise, his warmth radiated up her arm.

He didn’t linger and let go. She glanced at the other one. “And you would be?”

The man almost blushed. In all her one hundred years, she’d never seen a tiger shifter get embarrassed, probably because none of them seemed to give a damn about anyone. A panther, however, was a different story.

“I’m Danny Sanders, Trace’s slightly younger twin.”

Sasha had no idea what to say, so she slipped the credit card from his hand and swiped it. Once she handed it back to him, she bagged their items and handed him a receipt.

Danny grabbed the pen with the confidence of a cowboy and signed his name. His handwriting was remarkably neat. Once finished, he handed the pen back to her. “Ma’am, I know you don’t know us, but from where we come from, we never knew there were others of our kind. Can you shift, too?”

She had to laugh. “Women don’t shift.”

They both looked crestfallen as if they’d pictured romping in the woods with their mate.

“Oh. Then how did you know we were, ah, shifters?” He looked behind him as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear.

Just then Gladys Crenshaw tugged on the door. It was heavy and she struggled, causing the bell to tingle a few times. Trace saw her dilemma and rushed to pull it open for her. Never before had she seen a tiger shifter do something nice. To her, they were all mean-spirited. So, why not these two? Either they wanted to fool or were telling the truth.

“Why thank you, young man.” Gladys waved to Sasha. “Just came to pick up some wool socks for Joshua. You know how he wears them out real fast.”

Sasha smiled and nodded, but her heart was still racing from Trace’s actions.

Danny faced her. “I know this may not be appropriate, but Trace and I sure would love to buy you a cup of coffee and pick your brain.”

Their sincerity pushed her off kilter, and his grin seemed to alter her insides. “I have to work.” She congratulated herself on her good catch.

“We plan to wait around all day anyway. What time do you get off work?”

The Drinking Emporium sat across the street and one building down. She doubted she’d get into trouble meeting them there. After all, two of Panther Cove’s former security men now ran the place. Besides, as soon as her grandfather or the Black brothers got wind of these tiger shifters’ arrival, she bet they’d appreciate some intel. “Today, I close at five.”

“We’ll stop by then and see if you’re available.” He shoved his hands in his back pockets, an action she found endearing. “Now if your beau would get upset, just tell us, and we’ll be on our way.”

“I’m not seeing anyone.”
Stupid, Sasha
. She should have told them she dated half the security team.

Danny glanced to Trace, and from the way he was almost bouncing up and down, that was the best news he’d ever received.

“Oh, Sasha?” Gladys waved to her from the other side of the store.

“I really have to go.” They both took a step back and acted as if they didn’t want to be a burden. “I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

If nothing else, she needed to break them of the habit of calling her that terribly old name. She might have been born a century ago, but she sure as hell didn’t look or feel it.

* * * *

As soon as Danny stepped outside, he was ready to burst. “Did you hear what she said?” He was almost too excited to put one foot in front of the other.

“Yeah.”

“Well?” Why wasn’t Trace cheering and yelling? They’d found others like them. They could get answers.

“I say we check in to the bed-and-breakfast and make a plan.”

“Okay.” Normally, he was the plan maker, so if Trace wanted to get organized, he was all for it.

Danny had wanted to run around and check out more places first, but he didn’t want to drag around a miserable brother. He could sense Trace was overwhelmed, and he totally understood. They crossed the street, and when they got to the car, he dumped his purchases on the backseat.

Trace rubbed his forehead. “I might like to lie down for a bit. My head aches. I think I caught the flu.”

Danny didn’t feel all that hot either. “Maybe there are a lot of shifters around here sending vibes.”

“Panther shifters, bro. I can see what you’re thinking. We’re not staying. Hell, the whole town considers us outcasts. You heard her. People hate tiger shifters.”

“They don’t know us.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Danny started the car, pulled out, and headed north on MacLeash Boulevard. The bed-and-breakfast was supposed to be less than a mile out of town on this road, so he didn’t bother putting the address into the GPS. The drive was pretty as the road was lined with tall pines. Every break in the tree line presented a wonderful view of the mountain range.

Fortunately, he found their destination easily. The log-cabin-style home was nestled under more pine trees and had a wooden, carved sign in front. “I like the wraparound porch. Kind of reminds me of home.”

As soon as he parked, Trace jerked open the door, as if he couldn’t wait to get out. “At least we don’t get these bad vibes in Texas.”

“Stop being so negative.”

“I will as soon as I stop feeling like shit.”

“You were feeling pretty good when you saw Sasha.” He’d seen his brother’s claws. Hell, his own cock had gotten so hard, it was painful. “What was that about?”

“Fuck if I know.” Trace stopped and set down his bag. “I had no control. She was like a siren. Maybe that’s what panthers are like. They draw you into their trap.”

“Could be. All I know is that I’d never wanted anything more in my life.”

Trace cocked a brow and shook his head. “Good luck with that.”

“You want her, too.”

“You heard her. Everyone, including Sasha, hates our kind. As for wanting to lick her clean and fuck her, sure, but I’m not going after her. That would be emotional suicide and possibly cause us some serious harm.”

Danny smiled. Trace wanted her. “Let’s check in.”

When they got inside, the living room sported a deer head above the fireplace and worn furniture in a cozy room.
Perfect
. It looked like a nice place to relax.

An older man came out from the back, and Danny’s body vibrated, just like it did when his brother came near.
Holy fuck, holy fuck
. His heart beat so fast he could barely breathe. “Trace?”

“Yeah. I feel it, too.”

The man looked up and smiled. Well, that was a better reception than Sasha gave them.

“Gentlemen. Welcome to Delight. What brings you here?”

Danny hesitated, not sure how to answer. “Just wanting to learn a little more about this area of the country.” He’d been about to blurt out that he’d come to find some tiger shifters, and while he was pretty sure this guy was one, he didn’t know what would happen if he just stated that fact.

The man ran a gaze up and down both of them. It made him feel like he was in some damn cattle auction. “You the new recruits?”

Trace’s hands fisted. “Recruits?”

He quirked a brow. “You’re one of us, right? I ain’t never been wrong about a person before.”

The last thing Danny needed was for Trace to shut down this flow of information, so he answered for him. “We most definitely are. In fact, that’s why we’re here. To find out more about our heritage.”

“Good.” He gave them another once-over. “I think you boys will fit in just fine.”

It had taken some work on Sasha’s part to convince her friend, Julia Wilson, to watch the store for a few hours, but as soon as she explained what had happened, Julia had rushed over. Both of her fathers were panther shifters, and while she lived near town, she was soon to be mated to the two new security recruits in Panther Cove.

“I won’t be long. I promise. I have to speak with my grandfather.”

Julia shooed her. “I’m cool. Go.”

With the store in good hands, Sasha rushed up to the Cove in need of some direction. She knocked on her grandfather’s study door.

“Come in, Sasha.”

The man seemed to be able to see through doors, despite the fact that powerful men could sense another cat from afar. She guessed that talent was what allowed him to live to over four hundred. At times she wondered why she even spoke.

“Hello, Granddad.” She leaned over his seated form and kissed his papery-thin cheek.

“Why aren’t you working?”

She smiled. “So you don’t know everything.”

“I might, but I don’t want to spoil your fun in telling me.”

Gordon MacLeash was a sly old dog. She sat across from him. “Two tiger shifters came into my store today.”

His eyes darkened, and his gnarled fingers clenched the wheelchair’s arms. “What did you do?”

She told him about the strange reaction she had to them and how they’d been nice.

He waved to the bar on other side of the room. “Pour me a drink.”

She didn’t like enabling him. “You drink too much.”

He laughed. “What’s a little drink going to do? Kill me?”

He had lived longer than any panther in history. “Fine.”

As she poured his drink, she debated having one herself, but she needed to have her wits about her when she met with Trace and Danny. They had given her a way out saying she could decide not to go when they returned, but at the moment she was leaning toward meeting them. She was so conflicted, which was why she was here.

When he had the drink in hand, he polished off half in one gulp. “I remember once having the same reaction.”

She doubted he’d have been turned on by two men. “Do tell.”

“It was the strangest feeling. It was almost as if they were half panther.”

She stilled. “You think that’s what’s going on?” It all made sense now.

Her first reaction had been to their tiger half, and when their eyes drew her in, the woman in her reacted to their panther side.

“I do. It’s the only thing that would explain it. If they shift into tigers, then their mother would have to have been a panther.”

“Wouldn’t they know?” She hadn’t asked them because it hadn’t occurred to her.

Granddad shrugged. “Maybe the parents wanted to keep their heritage secret. Cross-mating isn’t done often, but it can happen.”

“Has it ever occurred in Panther Cove?”

He laughed. “No. I doubt any tiger shifter would even want to step foot up here. Best if you push aside your feelings for them. I don’t want you disappointed.”

He couldn’t know she’d gotten flashes of lust so strong that she’d almost driven off the road coming here. “I’m meeting them for coffee. I don’t think they know anything about Gastron.”