Shadow Shifters: Shifter's Claim Part 5

"Stand down!" Paolo ordered, pointing his semiautomatic at them. The others in the circle, six more, held their guns trained on the two in the center as well.

Bas moved closer, his spine tingling with each step, the ripple of his cat pacing impatiently just beneath his skin. His ears were trained on the matter at hand, the sounds of running feet, painful yells, cursed demands. His eyes zoned in on the two in the circle, who stood back to back, knees bent, arms extended as if they were ready to pounce at any moment.

Paolo continued to yell at them, the two prisoners yelling back. Tension rose from the asphalt like a thick haze of smoke. Eyes glimmered in the night, changing, s.h.i.+fting. Bas cursed. He ran toward the circle, gun raised.

"Stand the f.u.c.k down!" Paolo yelled once more.

Then there was a growl, a deep guttural sound that signaled everything was about to change. One of the prisoners fell to the ground on his knuckles and knees and Bas knew what was coming next.

Paolo fired instantly, the others around him following suit, and the bodies crumpled on impact, muted roars echoing through the night.

Bas came to a stop, looking down at the carnage, blood staining the asphalt, human bodies with s.h.i.+fter eyes crumpled and dying. Paolo and the others pa.s.sing high-fives like they'd won the d.a.m.ned lottery.

"Enough!" Bas yelled, his patience long since vacating the premises. They'd been about to s.h.i.+ft, which would have in turn caused his soldiers to s.h.i.+ft, and then there would have been an all-out catfight in the parking lot. And not the kind a man generally wanted to see.

"Clean this up. Load them in the truck and get inside to help pack up everything in that tunnel," he instructed Paolo, who he knew was the ringleader of this particular group. The s.h.i.+fter had a penchant for egging on confrontations and while he was a good soldier, Bas knew it was well past time to rein him in. He'd already said as much to Jacques. A meeting in the next couple of days was now a priority.

But for now, they needed to clean up and get out of here. The likelihood that someone had heard the commotion or the gunshots was slim since they were in such a remote part of town. Still, he didn't like them being out in the open with the desire to hunt too fertile in the minds of his s.h.i.+fters. The sooner they got out of here and back to Perryville, the better.

His thoughts turning in circles, he intended to go back in that building and interrogate or intimidate those dumba.s.s wannabe runners some more while his men packed up everything they'd seized from the tunnel. But just as he turned around something stopped him dead in his tracks. Something that had been nagging at him since they'd taken to the road on this trip, possibly even before he'd left Perryville. He inhaled deeply, felt every muscle in his body stiffen. Then his cat rose up, stretching languidly, purring almost softly. Bas looked around, his eyes hurriedly scanning the perimeter and then he cursed once more.

Priya's heart beat like a dozen racehorses as she was jostled back and forth along the back floor of the SUV.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Over and over she berated herself for the split-second decision she'd made at the resort.

After finally finding her room she'd wanted to waste no time getting to Perry. But she needed to find him first. Unlike back in D.C. she didn't have the opportunity to follow him upstairs on the elevator then walk right up to his room and knock. That had been her plan with Reynolds until Perry had intervened. Now she'd wondered how she could get a face-to-face with the owner of this lavish resort. Easy, she'd thought, make a complaint about this lavish resort then demand to see the owner as the only source of recovery for the acting management. It was a foolproof plan, or so she thought as she exited her room, slipping her key card into her back pocket and carrying nothing else but the key chain she'd impulsively purchased at the gift shop in the lobby. It was a bronze replica of the Perryville logo she'd seen when she'd visited the Web site online to make her reservation. Priya had no idea why she'd purchased it as this was not a vacation and she didn't need to take home any souvenirs-all she needed was to get the information they wanted, by the time they'd dictated, or her brother would die. Just as she was headed to the front desk to lodge her complaint she glanced out the doors to see a line of vehicles: a dark-colored SUV in front and several smaller silver ones behind. After Lolo's warning about the black truck following her in D.C. and the two she'd seen on the street-along with Perry and his fine-a.s.s bossy self-she should be leery of these vehicles altogether. Instead she felt the thrill of a connection, a link to the direction she needed to follow.

Forgoing the front desk Priya headed directly through the main lobby's gla.s.s doors. The scene reminded her somewhat of standing outside of the Reynolds Building earlier today, except there were more trucks and more men. Still, she was certain this type of entourage could only be for one person. And wasn't it just like the smug, well-dressed millionaire to require such an elaborate motorcade for his travels. She frowned at the complete waste of money and effort just to prove he had more money than most of the human population.

She was just about to head for the first vehicle when it pulled off. The second one behind it followed suit. The lights to the third one came on and she saw the wheels turning as if it were ready to pull off. There was only one more vehicle still idling so she had about two seconds to decide what to do.

"Now or never," she whispered before running across the walkway, barely missing two other females in bikinis who must have been on their way to the pool. The last vehicle's driver was preoccupied by the two bathing-suit beauties.

Priya took that opportunity to open the back door, saying a silent thank you that it had been unlocked. She slipped inside, pulling the door closed as quickly and quietly as she could. The screech of tires ahead most likely m.u.f.fled the sounds she made as she pulled her legs up so she could fit on the floor. On the seat above there were blankets and duffel bags. She pulled them down covering herself completely and waited, holding her breath and praying she didn't get caught. The driver's door closed and the vehicle pulled off in the next two seconds.

They drove for what seemed like forever and she struggled to remain still. It wasn't a strong point of hers, keeping still, that is. She'd always been active, always wanted to keep moving, for fear that if she kept still, her father would notice her and decide he had yet another punching bag.

Perhaps she could have fallen asleep, it seemed like they were in the truck for so long. But a little thing called fear of being caught kept Priya's eyes wide open until the moment the vehicle came to a stop. She actually held her breath while the driver stepped out of the truck and she could hear other doors slamming in the distance. Never in her life had she gone this far for a story. Sure, she'd camped outside of Senator Baines's offices after they'd found his daughter's and his mutilated bodies months ago, just to be the first one at her paper to get an actual quote from his administrative a.s.sistant. Unfortunately, Reid Clack, who was currently a.s.signed to the political section of the paper, had already interviewed the brother-in-law and the daughter's boyfriend. All of which trumped the vague and rehea.r.s.ed statement the ditzy admin had tossed her when Priya had just about accosted her as she'd jumped from the bushes near the front porch of Baines's midtown home.

Then again, that story hadn't been nearly as important as this one. It didn't directly involve her and her family. If she allowed herself to even think beyond that point she would admit that some of the things that were going on in D.C. did mysteriously link back to Reynolds and now to Perry. But none of that was Priya's main priority.

She sat up when she thought she could hear footsteps moving away from the vehicle. Peeping over the console between the two front seats she could see nothing through the front window but darkness. Not a very good sign since she had no idea where she was at the moment and had no weapon to help her should she actually be in a dangerous predicament-more dangerous than being caught in this truck by Sebastian Perry? she wondered.

Priya couldn't even see the men who'd gotten out of the vehicles, it was so dark. Cursing, she kicked at the duffle bags and the blanket she'd pulled over herself, then decided on second thought to look around in the vehicle for a flashlight because this darkness was not going to help her one bit. The first duffle bag had clothes in it, men's clothes, she thought. The second bag also had clothes, but beneath them were handcuffs and rope. Holding the cool metal in her hands, Priya frowned, wondering what these were used for. A salacious thought entered her mind and she quickly dropped the cuffs back into the bag, shaking her head. "Not even gonna go there," she whispered and kept looking through the bag. No flashlight.

Cursing again, she climbed into the front pa.s.senger seat and opened the glove compartment. Surely everyone kept a flashlight in there. Everyone but whoever owned and drove this particular vehicle. Without another choice she opened the door and stepped out into the night air.

She was in some type of parking lot, Priya surmised after looking around. Old condemned buildings across from her. Why would Perry drive all this way to come here? A dark, run-down place with n.o.body around. Whatever the reason it couldn't be good and she figured she had two options-get back in the car and wait out this entire scene then return to the resort and try to talk to Perry again, or walk around until she found him and his men and figured out what they were doing here.

The alley back in D.C. had been dark and the men there had no doubt figured the darkness would cloak what they didn't want anyone to see. Why wouldn't Perry think the same thing this go-around?

Her decision made, she started walking forward since she was almost positive the footsteps she'd heard had moved away from the vehicle. In no time there was more movement and she could see men dressed in all black running in different directions. She didn't know which way to follow but went with the ones closest to her, sticking close to the walls as they moved about. They seemed to be looking for something, going in and out of the buildings, kicking down doors, or breaking windows out. She prayed this whole trip hadn't been about vandalizing a vacant property, even though that would make a great human-interest story-rich real estate mogul trashes old buildings in his spare time. That would be one h.e.l.l of a headline.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the men she'd been following all ran right past the building she'd ducked inside of for cover.

"They found them!" she heard one of them yell.

"Go! Go! Go!" another one yelled.

Okay, whatever was meant to go down apparently was. Priya took off running after the last man had pa.s.sed her hiding place. She thought she'd waited too long, especially since she clearly did not run as fast as they did. She had a members.h.i.+p at the local YMCA but rarely used it; now that her lungs were on fire and her thighs screaming for mercy, she thought maybe she should make more of an effort to use the members.h.i.+p after all.

By the time she'd made it around to what she thought might be the back of the buildings, she was totally out of breath and she thought she'd heard gunshots. At first she didn't see anyone, then again her eyes were blurred with the sweat dripping from her brow. Then she heard them, yelling and cussing, threatening to kill someone. Fidgeting at her pockets she looked for her Mace, cursing because she hadn't brought her purse with her. Which also meant she didn't have her cell phone to call the police in the event someone actually did end up dead tonight.

Then all of a sudden, the shouting stopped. She ran ahead, still ducking in and out of the open doorways the others had left before her. Now she was actually appreciating their penchant for vandalism. She moved until she was one building away from where a group of them stood. Shadows of men were all she could make out, until he spoke.

"Enough!" he'd yelled.

And Priya froze. It was Perry. He hadn't spoken to her in this tone, still she recognized it instantly.

"Clean this up. Load them in the truck and get inside to help pack up everything in that tunnel," he continued and warmth flooded Priya's body.

Sure, it was really hot out in this dry night air and she'd just run what felt like a country mile so it was safe to say her body temperature was already running on high. But this was different, the heat swirled around and inside her, centering in strategic locations-at the tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and deep in her center like its own pulsing heartbeat.

She swallowed, willing herself to get a grip. Her eyes had zoomed in on a particular shadow, the taller one, with the broad shoulders and locked. It was him, she knew it even though she couldn't see the b.u.t.ter tone of his skin, the silkiness of his hair or his ... eyes ...

As if they were magnets drawn inexplicably to her, and even though she stood hidden in the shadows of that building, his eyes found hers and they were not human.

Chapter 9.

"No," Bas said, a low rumble vibrating from his chest as he walked toward what he prayed was not really there.

It wasn't Mariah, he knew this for two reasons: one, the scent was different and two, Mariah was dead. Still, it was a human, there was no doubt. The presence had been with him since he'd been back at the resort, in the distance but within reach, just like before.

All at once, or rather the moment their gazes locked, he knew exactly where both were coming from. This s.h.i.+t had been distracting him all d.a.m.n night. He hadn't been able to focus entirely at the briefing or during the ride down here, his mind had constantly gone back to that feeling that someone else was near, watching him, waiting for him. Her scent was spicy and hovered like a thick cloud over him every waking moment since he'd first pulled her into the hotel room in D.C. But he hadn't believed for one moment she was in Sedona. Why would she be in Sedona? It was foolish to even consider that a possibility, even more foolish for him to entertain the thought that yet another female had followed him.

Still, the feeling persisted. The scent had permeated every part of him, inciting his highly trained-to-be-nonexistent cat into a not so gentle stalking. Bas had tried to ignore it, tried like h.e.l.l to convince himself that he wasn't one of those s.h.i.+fters who got all caught up in one female's scent or craved her proximity. He'd never been that kind of s.h.i.+fter and wasn't about to start now and especially not for this G.o.dd.a.m.ned female!

"Need some help, sir?" one of his soldiers asked from behind.

Bas shook his head, holding up a hand signaling the s.h.i.+fter to remain where he was. "I got this," was his tight reply.

Gla.s.s crunched beneath his booted feet as he stepped into the building where she still stood just inside the doorway. She hadn't tried to duck out of sight when he'd noticed her. Would he have turned away, dismissing these feelings once more if she had? Maybe, but that didn't matter now, since he was about three feet away from her and his fingers tingled to reach out and touch her. His jaw ticked with the effort of clenching his teeth the whole walk over here and now that he was this close, he felt like he was definitely going to get lockjaw if he didn't speak soon.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" were his words of choice.

"Seeing exactly what you told me didn't exist," was her quick retort.

"First," Bas said, taking a step toward her. "You're not seeing anything out here in the dark. And second, this ridiculous crusade of yours is going to get you killed."

"Are you threatening me?"

He was right in her face now, only about an inch separating their bodies from touching. His hummed with an eerie antic.i.p.ation for that connection to happen sooner rather than later, and her eyes filled with what Bas was positive was desire. Through her T-s.h.i.+rt her nipples had hardened, her arousal mixed with her already intoxicating scent was enough to make his human half feel more than a little weak at the knees, while his cat sat upright, roaring an unfamiliar call to Bas's ears.

Reaching out he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her flush against his chest. There was a moan somewhere in that s.p.a.ce, from which one of them Bas couldn't be sure. "Not yet, Ms. Drake. But you're begging for it," he told her through clenched teeth.

"Sir, you ready to roll?" Jacques asked from the doorway Bas had just walked through.

Bas sensed the moment the s.h.i.+fter's eyes locked on the female and felt a glimmer of rage rippling through him.

"Where'd she come from? Was she with-"

Lifting an arm, his hand palm up to Jacques to silence the s.h.i.+fter's next words, Bas replied, "She's with me. Get the trucks loaded and let's go."

Years of service and friends.h.i.+p held Jacques silent, no doubt, still Bas knew he'd have to figure out how to explain Priya's arrival to his team. But first, he needed the nosy reporter to explain it to him.

Once Jacques had returned outside, Bas, his fingers still gripping Priya's arm, looked down at her. "You're going to ride back with me and keep your mouth shut. That is not a request, Ms. Drake."

He could see the conflict in her. She wanted to fight back, to shove him away and most likely curse him in that sharp, pinpointing way she had. But she was also smart enough to recognize her own predicament. If she'd followed them out here, which Bas doubted, but couldn't completely rule out, then how was she going to get back? And where was she going back to, Perryville or D.C.? That wasn't an easy question, but Bas had already decided on the answer, she was staying with him. He wasn't letting her out of his sight, in spite of the ravenous pacing his cat was presently doing.

"Lead the way, sir," she replied, sarcasm all but dripping from the last word-the last word that had his d.i.c.k jumping to immediate attention.

With an obvious frown and a low growl that he kept buried deep in his chest, Bas headed for the door, pulling her behind him. He didn't release his hold on her until he was back at his SUV and she was buckled in the seat right across from him.

The ride back was done mostly in silence. Bas remained deep in his own thoughts, more than aware of the female's presence just a few inches away from him. There was no possible way he could ignore her. His d.i.c.k was so hard, his need for her so great he was having a hard enough time breathing. Clenching and unclenching his fingers at his sides he cursed inwardly at the urge to take her right on the backseat. His temples throbbed as he thought of having her out of those tight-a.s.s jeans, his d.i.c.k buried hilt-deep in her wet p.u.s.s.y in about ten seconds flat.

She'd been staring out the window, acting as if she were trying to figure out her next move, when Bas knew instinctively l.u.s.t was driving a similar heat path up and down her spine. He could tell by how she s.h.i.+fted in her seat every few seconds, adjusting her legs, making sure her thighs rubbed together, no doubt applying as much pressure to her c.l.i.t as she possibly could under the circ.u.mstances. He ached to help her out in that situation.

But his duty held him still.

"I told you this was not a game," he said finally, his words stilted by the intense heat radiating throughout his body.

"You have no idea what this is for me, Mr. Perry," she snapped back instantly.

Bas was quiet a moment, taking in what she'd said and knowing it was absolutely true.

"Then tell me," he insisted, his voice a little closer to normal. "Tell me why hours ago I watched you being dragged away by some guy on a street in D.C. and now you show up across the country snooping around where you don't belong. Tell me there's a good-a.s.s explanation for why you insist on behaving so irrationally for a f.u.c.king story!"

Normal had lost its course somewhere along the way and now he was just plain angry.

"I don't have to tell you anything," she shot back.

Bas reached for her then, pulling her across the seat after s.n.a.t.c.hing the seat belt free. She was just about in his lap as his hands gripped her shoulders tightly.

"Oh yes, Ms. Drake, you do have to tell me. Or so help me I'm going to f.u.c.k your tight little body in this backseat and then I'm going to take your a.s.s to the airport and personally put you on the next plane back to D.C." He spoke through clenched teeth.

She opened her mouth to speak and Bas simply reacted. Leaning forward he took her lips, not in a kiss, but a heat suckle of first the top, then the bottom one which was only slightly plumper. As his d.i.c.k throbbed with the intense pleasure he let his tongue trace a line around her mouth as she gasped.

"Tell me to and I'll stop," he whispered over her lips.

This time when she prepared to speak he pressed forward again, taking her tongue and sucking like his life depended solely on the sweetness of her. She squirmed beneath his grasp, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressing against his chest, her hips moving seductively over his engorged length.

When finally Bas pulled away, whispering urgently, "Tell me," once more, she turned her head, her breathing erractic.

"Stop," was her breathy reply. "Just stop. This is not what I want. It's not why I'm here."

Like a splash of cold water her words rained over Bas and he instantly released her. First and foremost, he had never forced himself on a female and never would. Even though her body screamed the exact opposite of her words, that's all Bas needed to hear.

"I can't help you if you don't trust me enough to tell me the truth."

"How can you ask me to trust you when I don't even know you?" she replied after moving back across the seat. "And it's not even about you, not directly, I mean." She sighed and then let her head fall back against the seat, closing her eyes momentarily. "I just need to get this story and I need to do it by the end of the month. Can you help with that, Mr. Perry?"

Bas didn't know what to say to that. He wanted to say yes, that he'd do whatever he could to help her with whatever she needed. But he didn't know if that was true.

She was a reporter. A d.a.m.ned tenacious, persistent, and s.e.xy-as-h.e.l.l reporter who was out to expose the s.h.i.+fters and he should simply kill her to remove that risk. He was almost positive if he called Rome that's what the a.s.sembly Leader would order him to do. While the Stateside a.s.sembly was a peaceful organization, trying to live in a world where humans believed they were the dominant species, they were also entering into a time of war. Exposure now could be more than detrimental to not just the s.h.i.+fters, but also the humans.

So, if she wanted his help to tell the world about his kind, no, he could not do that. He also knew that to say those words to her, right at this moment would not benefit either of them.

Luckily, the vehicle had come to a stop and Jacques now stood holding the door for Bas to get out.

At Perryville Bas climbed out of the backseat first as Jacques stared at him expectantly.

"I'm taking her up to my suite. Secure the prisoners and the cargo. Don't question the detainees any more tonight, let them stew for a while. I want everything found in those crates photographed and identified. Schedule a conference call with the FLs for seven tomorrow morning. You and I will meet in the conference room at six thirty. I don't want to be disturbed until then," he finished, giving his Lead Enforcer a nod of his head.

Jacques returned the nod. "I'll walk you around to the back entrance."

Bas moved around the truck to the pa.s.senger side and opened the door for Priya.

She didn't hesitate but stepped her first leg out of the truck then followed with the next. When she stood in front of him she simply stared up into his eyes. A tilt of her head said what she saw wasn't what she'd been looking for. At that, Bas gave a small smile, before taking her arm once more.

As Bas and Priya walked, Jacques remained in front of them. The soldier never turned back to look at them or to say a word. There was a back entrance into Perryville for when they had detainees that needed to go to the bunker or just didn't want to be seen by the guests. Double steel doors that required a combination to get inside, opened at Jacques's command. Bas and Priya stepped inside and moved down the long hallway with its gray-painted cinder block walls and tiled floor.

Only when they were on the elevator heading up to his suite did Bas relax, minutely. A few seconds later when the elevator doors opened again, he guided Priya off, moving swiftly to the door that would let them into his suite. She followed silently. Until they were inside.

"Look," she began as soon as he released his grip on her and she'd spun around to face him. "I don't know who you think you are, or who those drones out there have pumped you up to believe you are, but I'm not on your payroll. So the orders and the dragging me around stops here. You offered your help, but I get it if you cannot actually give it."

Bas didn't respond. Instead, he kept walking through the large living area, past the small office section, and straight back to the bedroom, knowing she would follow him. Once in his room he grabbed at the bottom of his s.h.i.+rt, pulling until it was free of his pants and up over his head. Tossing it onto one of the leather chairs that faced the floor-to-ceiling window across from his bed, he turned to face her.