Shadow Shifters: Shifter's Claim Part 16

"Priya." He whispered her name, drawing it out until it was more like a moan.

He grabbed her hips then and his eyes s.h.i.+fted. No longer dark, they were now a golden yellow, with tiny black slits down the center. His cat's eyes. She didn't know what she was about to say but she opened her mouth, only to swallow the words when Bas pulled her down hard on his d.i.c.k. More water sloshed over the rim of the tub as he began pumping mercilessly inside of her. Her teeth chattered at the force, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggling their own protests and Priya cried out.

The next o.r.g.a.s.m was even stronger than the first and Priya fell against Bas, out of breath and out of coherent responses. He held her tightly against him as his own release ripped free, caressing his hands up and down her back.

"I didn't plan for this," he said quietly after they'd sat for too long in the now-tepid water.

She'd turned her head so that her cheek rested on his shoulder. "Neither did I. And now I'm not so sure it was one of my smartest ideas."

"Impulsive, tenacious, and stubborn as h.e.l.l," he replied.

"I don't think criticizing me is one of your smartest ideas," she quipped.

He had the audacity to chuckle.

"My father used to tell my mother she had a stubborn jaw and that she'd poke it out each time they argued. Considering how frequently that was, I was privileged enough to see that jaw more than I cared to. It looked just like yours," he finished.

Priya didn't reply. Okay, she didn't really know what to say to that. Bas had never talked about his parents to her before and she'd certainly never thought he would compare her to his mother.

"Then they were divorced and I didn't see either of them again," he finished.

"My father left, then my mother had so many men in and out of our tiny apartment I never knew what marriage was until I watched a few sitcoms on television," she added.

His fingers were making lazy circles along her spine. "I doubt my parents planned for their divorce and your mother probably didn't plan to have all those short-lived relations.h.i.+ps."

"But that's how it ended," she replied, thinking she already knew where this was leading.

"Neither of us planned for this, we've already admitted that," he said.

She was getting a bad feeling. The mood had definitely s.h.i.+fted and not in her favor, she suspected. What the h.e.l.l happened to the afterglow of s.e.x? She didn't want to sound needy or desperate or whatever, but she couldn't help saying, "But it is now."

He nodded. "So it is."

She sat up then, covering her b.r.e.a.s.t.s because now she felt chilly and exposed. "And how will this end, Bas?"

At first he looked at her as if he wasn't really sure of what to say. Then the Bas she'd seen that first night, the one that stared back at her each time she Googled his name and the one that ran this resort with ease stared back at her.

"It will end, these things always do. The how and why doesn't really matter," was his aloof response.

And that was that, his close-lipped appearance seemed to say. He'd answered her question in another one of those roundabout ways and he had no intention of continuing with this conversation. Most men chose this moment to walk out of the room, to put some distance between them so the overly emotional female could have time to cry in private. Well, Bas was not most men. Besides, he couldn't move as she was still sitting in his lap. And Priya, well, she'd never considered herself a woman who needed a man to complete her. All her life she'd told herself she didn't need a man, didn't want one if it meant she'd end up like her mother, pregnant every other year and dead broke every day. No, she had bigger and brighter plans for herself and up until the moment she'd been thrust into Bas's world, she'd been living them out just fine. There was no way in h.e.l.l she was going to let him change any of that. No matter how much the tightening around her heart threatened to choke her.

"Well said," she replied flippantly. "And now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'd like to find my brother and save his life, so I can get on with mine."

She moved as she talked, scooping up the loofa sponge and soaping it up once more. Priya didn't talk any more as she soaped and washed her body, ignoring the fact that Bas was still in the tub with her and that he was once again powerfully aroused.

In the next few minutes Priya was out of the tub, reaching for a thick soft towel from the gleaming silver rack by the door. Wrapping it around herself, she went to the sink and brushed her teeth before turning back to Bas. A small bubble of triumph floated through her as she saw him still in the same position, watching her quizzically.

"If you leave me the directions, I will meet you in your office," she told him.

He looked like he'd swallowed that loofa sponge she'd just washed with. His gray eyes giving her a cool glint, his fingers gripping the sides of the tub. When she thought he was going to continue with his brooding silent treatment she opened her mouth to speak again. Bas stopped her with a raised hand.

"I'll send for you when I'm ready."

She thought about telling him she wasn't his captive, again. Then she thought about the clutching pain in her chest-the freakin' emotions she hadn't intended to develop-and figured distance might be the best decision here, it might actually keep her heart from breaking in front of him. "Right. I'll be ready."

Chapter 22.

"I need you," Bas spoke into the phone.

He'd locked the door to his office and immediately booted up his computer. After printing all the e-mails Jacques had sent him from Priya's account and the new list of her most recent text messages, he'd forwarded that e-mail and placed a very important phone call to Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

"What's going on out there? Rome and his two sidekicks have been in a closed meeting all morning. Training of the new soldiers is on a fast track and everybody's on edge about what might happen next," she told him.

There was immediate concern in her voice, but no fear, never fear. Nivea Cannon was one of the toughest Shadow s.h.i.+fters Bas knew. She was also the closest thing he'd ever had to a sibling. Bas's parents and Nivea's parents had known each other through their social circles in New York. As those social circles often included humans, Bas, Nivea, and her two sisters spent a lot of time together as the only s.h.i.+fters amongst the other kids their age. Bas was so proud when Nivea decided to leave New York and join Rome and his team in their work for the a.s.sembly. And just recently he'd warned Nick to take extra special care of Nivea as she'd been given a very high-level a.s.signment.

"It's probably about that s.h.i.+pment we intercepted a few days ago," he told her. "How's your other a.s.signment going?"

There was a moment of silence on the phone line that concerned Bas.

"It's going slow. If Agent Wilson was still looking into Rome and his dealings he's decided to lay low for a while. I've been tracking him for weeks and keep coming up empty."

"But that's not what's worrying you, is it?" he asked, knowing that on the other end of the line Nivea was probably running her fingers through her shoulder-length hair in exasperation.

"It's nothing I can't handle," she said with a quick sigh. "So what's up with you? What do you need?"

He could probe a little more and maybe she would tell him what was really bothering her. Or he could relax, be patient, and expect a call from her when she was ready to confide, as she always did.

"I just sent you some e-mails and a printout of text messages. I need you to follow up and see what you can find. The human's name is Malik Drake, he's thirty-five years old, African American, two hundred and thirty-seven pounds, last seen at the Sullivan-Minster Rehabilitation Center. Send me whatever information you come up with immediately."

"Drake? Does this have something to do with that reporter? I heard about what happened at the hotel. She's still on this story, isn't she?" Nivea asked.

Bas turned in his chair, staring out the window to the mountains once more, wondering just how much he should tell Nivea. She lived at Havenway with Rome and Kalina. She saw the a.s.sembly Leader on a daily basis, had meetings with him to discuss the status of her own a.s.signments. How could he trust her with what he was doing here when he knew Rome's position on the matter? Because Nivea was like his sister, how could he not?

"He's her brother," he said after a few seconds of silence. "She's tracking the story to save his life. I need you to find out where he is."

"Wait a minute, I'm scrolling through the e-mail and attachments now," Nivea said, then paused. "How do you know all this?"

"She told me," he stated simply. "Priya Drake told me that someone's been e-mailing her, forcing her to follow this story. They want her to expose us, even gave her a time limit that I do not see the significance of. If she doesn't do what they say, they'll kill her brother."

"And you want to be the white knight to come in and save the day. Again. I swear the press would have a field day if they knew how chivalrous and romantic you really are."

Bas shook his head. "I don't give a d.a.m.n about the press or what they think of me."

"I know. I know. But the world should know what a great guy you are, what a loyal and devoted friend and protector you can be."

"It wouldn't matter. In the end they would still see me as a threat. I'd still be a Shadow s.h.i.+fter." Today, for Bas, that was a bitter pill to swallow.

"Wait a minute, what's his name doing here?"

"Whose name?" he asked, the serious switch in her tone causing him to sit straight up in his chair.

"Dorian Wilson," she told him. "Page three of the text messages. He's an FBI agent. The one Rome has me tailing night and day."

Turning back to his desk, Bas flipped through the printed pages, found the one Nivea was referencing and frowned. "This text is to her friend Lolo, he works at the paper and he knows about the threats to Priya."

"But how does she know Wilson? And why is she telling this Lolo person to send the e-mails to him?"

Bas contemplated her question. "Her brother's had some run-ins with the law over the years, maybe that's the connection."

"Maybe," she said contemplatively. "I'll get started on this right away. I'll call you when I get something."

"Call me on my cell the minute you find something," he instructed. "And Nivea, let's just keep this between us."

"You didn't have to tell me that, Bas. We're family, this is what we do. Now, sit tight, I'll call you later."

Disconnecting the call with a slight smile on his face, Bas replayed her words-they were family and they did stick together. Priya was dedicated to her family the same way, if not with a closer connection. For that, he couldn't blame her for searching so hard for this story. He couldn't blame her, but at the same time, he couldn't let her print a word of what she knew.

"She's staying in his private suite. First time I've seen that since I've been here."

Palermo nodded as he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone.

"The bunker is the most protected part of the whole resort, so attacking through that route is like suicide. I tried to tell Black and Sye that the other night but they didn't listen. Perry and his sidekick keep that place wrapped so tight and guarded so heavily it's like walking right into the line of fire."

"So I'll walk in the front door," Palermo stated unflinchingly.

"Just like you've got a reservation, which by the way you do. I made it this morning after your text. You can check-in by three tomorrow afternoon. Your room's on the floor just below Perry's. All you have to do after that is wait for him to come out and bam, you've got him!"

The bloodthirsty excitement coming from the other line may have been infectious to others, but to Palermo it was foolish and a sign of the untrained. Never underestimate an enemy is what he'd been taught. Never a.s.sume victory was another. So many things had been drilled into his head in his years growing up in the West African town of Etinosa. Words about fighting and claiming what was rightfully theirs, along with strategies to eventually turn the shadows' weak-minded and idealistic goals into dust, were all Palermo heard growing up. And all he'd ever felt was pain and disgrace.

Now was his chance to break free of those bindings, to involve himself in something bigger and better, to finally tell Boden Estevez to go to h.e.l.l where his dark, perverted soul belonged.

Paolo Melo had been with Bas and the blue team for going on three years now. He'd come straight from training with his father who had been one of Cole's lead guards. He was twenty-five years old with a thick build, a quick laugh, and murder in his eyes. His father had been concerned about his son's temper and thought after an unsuccessful stint in college and a run-in with the law that it was time his son did something different. He'd trained well, was a natural-born fighter, but had a lot of growing up to do.

There was an edginess to the young cat that Bas recognized from the years immediately following his parents' divorce. He'd wanted nothing more than to inflict some kind of pain, anything that would resemble what he was going through, on someone else. That urge had led him to the jungle, to that night when he'd frozen completely. It was also that urge and that night that sobered Bas and made him into the s.h.i.+fter and leader he was today. He wanted desperately to believe that Paolo only needed to get to that same point in his life.

Unfortunately, he wasn't so sure the s.h.i.+fter was going about it in the right way.

Jacques opened the door the moment a light knock sounded. He'd already called for Paolo to meet with them so they could discuss what had happened last night. Now the two watched as the young s.h.i.+fter walked into the room. He wore gray sweatpants and a hoodie, white tennis shoes, and a slight frown-he looked like someone out of a rap video or a college dorm. What he did not look like was a soldier being called to his superiors.

"You wanted to see me," he said to Bas after he'd taken a seat in one of the guest chairs across from Bas's desk.

They were in Bas's offices about an hour and a half after his conversation with Nivea. Jacques took a seat in the remaining guest chair, looking to Bas to see which one of them would answer the youngster.

With all that had happened with the intruders, the threat confessed by the one they'd captured, and of course, the fact that he'd revealed himself and what he really was to Priya, Bas was in no mood for chitchat or to tiptoe around what had become a big issue among their team. So he spoke first. "You were given a direct order last night and you disobeyed it."

Paolo sucked his teeth like an insolent child. "I had the shot," he continued to claim.

"And yet the rogue got away," Jacques added.

Paolo shot the guard a seething look and sat back in his chair. He lifted his arms, letting them drop back to his lap. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to stop walking around here acting like we owe you something," Bas told the talented s.h.i.+fter.

Sitting up in his chair, he let his elbows fall to the desk as he continued to hold Paolo's gaze. "Your father is a great guard. You want to know why? Because he knows how to listen, how to watch and wait and learn. He's not a hothead trying to make a name for himself in the field at the cost of either hurting someone else or, as last night proves, letting a rogue get away and get even closer to our property."

"We got him in the end," was Paolo's retort. "And I'm not my father."

Bas could definitely relate to that comment. He'd been compared to his father after he'd opened Perryville Bali and made it onto Forbes's Top Earning Entrepreneurs list. There had even been a number of his father's colleagues calling to offer their own investments in his resorts, which Bas respectfully declined.

"No. You're not," Bas told him tightly. "But what you are and what you will keep in mind the next time Jacques or I or any officer of higher rank than you in the a.s.sembly gives you orders, is that you are a guard. You are here to protect and to serve and the moment you feel like you can no longer do that job, I will personally direct you to the door. Last night was the last bit of insubordination you will show while you are in our employ. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a moment of silence in which Bas thought he might actually have to relieve the s.h.i.+fter of his duties. That was a phone call he did not want to make to Paolo's father, but he would if it became necessary.

Paolo gave a half shrug, stopped only when Jacques made a noise like he was clearing his throat, then sat up straighter in the chair. "I got you," he murmured.

Bas raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"I understand, sir," Paolo said in a clearer, louder voice.

Seconds later he was dismissed and Jacques and Bas sat alone in the office. Bas's temples throbbed as he sat back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his chin.

"The package went out as you requested," Jacques was saying before there was another knock on the door.

Bas frowned. "It's like Grand Central Station in here today. Come in," he bellowed, not really expecting who would walk in and what cheery news they would have for him this afternoon.

Chapter 23.

"I doubt very seriously he has to check with you before he makes a move," Ezra said the moment Bas shot him a chilly glare. That remark was met with a growl from both Bas and his sidekick, Jacques. Normally Ezra's reply would have been a big f.u.c.k you to both the s.h.i.+fters as he clearly planned to go through with the job he'd been a.s.signed, no matter how much they got their panties in a wad. But Bas was a Faction Leader, he was the commander of the Mountain Zone, and thus deserved Ezra's respect as a Lead Guard. In other words, the two were not on equal terms, no matter that they both stood up to p.i.s.s, put their pants on one leg at a time, and s.h.i.+fted into the same form of killer jaguar.

"Look, that new e-mail was some cryptic type of threat. We need to neutralize it as soon as possible. Your teams are stretched here trying to deal with the invasion of that savior drug and now the weapons that are attached to them. We're on the same side and I'm just here to do a job," Ezra said to both men as they sat in Bas's office.

"I just received a copy of this e-mail message about fifteen minutes before you showed up," Bas began, rubbing a hand over his clean-shaven jaw. "Last I spoke with Rome I was going to work on finding out what was going on at Comastaz, and he was going to continue his work with the president."