Tropical Leopard's Longing (Shifting Sands Resort Book 8)

by Zoe Chant

  “Hello?” Darla called quietly as she came to the entrance of the spa.

  It was quiet, with most of the wedding party occupied approving the flower arrangements with Scarlet and the surly gardener, and Darla liked it much better this way. It was cool inside, and she was glad to see only Laura standing at the far window.

  “One of my nails chipped,” she started to say, then belatedly she recognized the miserable roll to the dark-skinned woman’s shoulders, and the ineffective wipe she gave to her face as she turned and tried to pull herself together; she had been crying.

  Darla was across the room in a moment, automatically gathering the woman into her arms. “It’s okay,” she said comfortingly. “Can I help?”

  For a moment, she was afraid she had overstepped and been too forward; Laura was stiff and surprised in her impulsive embrace. Then she gave a shuddering sigh and softened into Darla’s hug with gratitude.

  They sat together on the bench by the window, and Darla put an arm around her shoulder and patted her hand kindly as Laura wiped her face on a cosmetic towel and her sobs gradually subsided.

  “I’m sorry,” Laura said shakily.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” Darla assured her. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

  Laura laughed weakly. “It’s probably just… hormones. I’m… I’m…” She couldn’t quite finish.

  “You’re pregnant?” Darla guessed, her mother’s uncomfortable conversations fresh in her mind. “You just found out?”

  Laura took a shaky breath. “I thought I might be for a couple of weeks now, but yeah, just confirmed it.”

  “Is he going to be unhappy about it?” Darla asked, knowing there must be some conflict to cause her so much grief.

  Laura exhaled in a rush, and gave a crooked smile. “He’s going to be over the moon… except…” She bit her lip.

  Darla let her continue at her own pace.

  “There are no kids allowed at Shifting Sands. I… I don’t know what we’ll do. He’s so happy here. I am, too. I can’t imagine leaving.”

  It occurred to Darla suddenly that Breck could be the father to Laura’s child, and jealousy threatened to rise up and choke her. Almost as suddenly, she realized that they hadn’t used any protection the night before, and that she could get pregnant herself.

  “Who is he?” she couldn’t help asking, heart hammering in her throat.

  The love that bloomed in Laura’s face was so brilliant and unabashed that Darla’s jealousy and worry felt foolish. “Tex, the bartender,” she said almost shyly. “He’s my mate.” She showed Darla the simple gold band on her left hand. “We got married a few months ago — a double wedding with my twin sister.”

  Darla had to fight back her own wave of misery, sudden tears welling in her eyes. This is Laura’s moment, she reminded herself, willing them away and smoothing her face before she looked up from the ring. “It’s beautiful,” she said sincerely. “You’re very lucky, and I’m sure the three of you will figure out something wonderful.”

  Tears filled Laura’s eyes, but these were happier. “The… three of us,” she repeated.

  Darla smiled at her and nodded. “The three of you,” she said, squeezing Laura’s hand.

  Laura gave an excited squeak. “I’m going to have a baby!” she said, her tears overflowing.

  “It’s wonderful,” Darla said firmly. “You’re going to have a baby, and however it works out, it’s going to be amazing.”

  Laura wrapped her arms around Darla again. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. Then she sat up. “Oh lord, I’m a mess. This hormone stuff better get itself in order, or this is going to be a really long nine months.”

  Darla decided it was wiser not to share her mother’s horror stories of pregnancy.

  “Now your nail,” Laura said professionally, straightening her skirt and wiping away the last of her tears. “Let’s get you fixed right up. That looks like pink angel polish, and the chip isn’t bad. We’ll just do a quick patch and seal it over.”

  While Laura fussed cheerfully over the broken nail, Darla looked through the opposite wall, thoughts crowding her head. She had never wanted a child before, and marrying Liam had been a relief from the idea of carrying on the family line like her mother so desperately wanted her to. But somehow the thought of Breck’s child seemed like something utterly different. The bracelet on her wrist was glowing faintly, like it did every time that she thought about him, and she rubbed it automatically.

  “What is that bracelet?” Laura asked curiously. “Does it always do that?”

  “Oh, it’s… ah, a fertility charm,” Darla said, embarrassed. “It does this… randomly.” Thinking about not thinking about Breck had the opposite effect, and it glowed more brightly.

  “Well that certainly bodes well for you,” Laura said with amusement. “You must be so excited about your wedding.”

  The bracelet returned to dull metal as Darla made herself smile, and she talked politely about the wedding details, feigning the enthusiasm she knew she was supposed to be feeling.

  And the whole time she could not stop thinking about the unsettling possibility that she could be pregnant.

  When her nail was dry, as flawless and perfect as the others, Laura let her go, giving her a swift hug. “Thank you,” she said warmly. “I’m going to go tell Tex right now.” She was grinning like a loon. “He’s going to be so excited.”

  Chapter 28

  Their second night, Breck met her at the door before she had knocked, drawing her inside with a flurry of kisses and he had undressed her, and himself, before Darla had managed a full breath.

  In complete contrast to the night before, they made fast, desperate love right from the start, coupling against the closed door, then bent over the back of a low chair, then on the bed, and when Breck thought he might burst an important blood vessel somewhere, they came together, crying out and trying unsuccessfully to smother their sounds in kisses.

  “I’ll be back up to speed in short order,” he promised, holding her loosely in his arms and breathing in the sultry smell of her. “Don’t think the night is over yet.”

  She drew her hand along his face, and the way she gazed into his eyes made his chest feel too small for the heart inside it. “You are so amazing,” she said softly.

  Though Breck understood that she wasn’t talking about sex, he fled to humor to avoid thinking too hard about how much they’d never have. “I keep telling Scarlet she ought to list me in the sales brochure. The resort would make bank, with a resource like me to pitch.”

  Darla giggled helplessly, and pinched him. “You’re unbelievable,” she scolded him. “I’m trying to have a serious moment here.”

  “I’m serious,” Breck teased her. “Do you think ‘sexpert’ has a better ring, or should I go with something more humble, like ‘Costa Rica’s best lover?’”

  Darla had to smother her laughter in a pillow.

  “The copy writes itself,” Breck said, putting his arms behind his head in a pose of satisfaction. “Come to Shifting Sands… and come and come and come…”

  Darla decided that her pillow was better served smothering him, and they wrestled and tickled and kissed until she was pinned helplessly below him and he could kiss and tickle her, and she could only squeak in protest and laugh until Breck had to crush her in his arms and try desperately not to admit that he could probably never be with anyone again after her.

  “Tell me about these bracelets,” he said, when they were lying quietly together again, slowly caressing each other, trying to memorize all their favorite parts while they could.

  It was glowing faintly now, not the blazing light that had accompanied their frantic lovemaking earlier.

  “It’s… a fertility charm,” Darla said hesitantly. “The dragonrunes say ‘unbroken line.’”

  Breck traced it with one finger. “It’s not going to have much luck with me,” he said. Something almost like regret settled in the pit of his stomach, though he
’d never wanted children before, and he didn’t feel like that had changed. But if Darla had wanted them…

  Darla was giving him an intense look, one that Breck was having difficulty deciphering. “Are you… sure?” she asked. “Liam and I will never… but if I was… if I did, they’d all think… I’d have at least some part…”

  Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Breck’s chest felt like it might crack. “I couldn’t if I wanted to,” he said gently. “I’ve… ah… had a vasectomy. There are no swimmers in there.” Discomfort made him ramble forward. “Not an easy thing for a shifter, and harder still to reverse, I might add. I never wanted to be the cause of someone else’s burden, and I’d… what kind of dad could I be, really? I’m a waiter at an adults-only resort, and the bonuses around here haven’t been great, and I never wanted to settle down… before.”

  He did now, he realized. He wanted to spend forever with the woman in his arms, and if that had included children, he couldn’t have been happier about it.

  It was very unsettling indeed.

  Darla wiped her tears away fiercely and shook her wrist. “I guess these things are miscalibrated or something then. Dragon magic,” she said in disgust.

  “You wanted children?” Breck dared to ask.

  Darla sighed. “Not really,” she admitted, to his relief. “I just… thought it might help if I had something of yours… something to carry on with me…”

  Breck swept her into his arms and held her tight as she wept, and, though he never would have admitted it, shed a few tears of his own into her hair.

  Chapter 29

  “It’s not fair,” Darla finally said, when her messy sobs had subsided. “It’s not fair to find you and have to lose you.”

  Fair had never bothered her before, she realized. She had always had everything she wanted, been a part of an elite class — moneyed, a shifter… and not just any kind of shifter, but the end of not one, but two prestigious dragon shifter lines. And now that she was at the other end of the fair stick, it suddenly seemed to matter.

  “Life is never fair,” Breck agreed, stroking back her hair. “But at least we got this. Hey, you could write a best-selling memoir about it when you’re old and no one cares. Three Nights at Shifting Sands with the Greatest Lover on Earth.”

  Darla squirmed to look at him skeptically. “I thought you were the greatest lover in the country. And wasn’t it the island yesterday?”

  “I get better with time,” Breck said flippantly. “I’m probably better now than when you got here. I might even be the Greatest Lover in the Solar System by tomorrow night.” He grinned at her, and wiped away the tears left on her cheeks. “But that probably wouldn’t look as good on a book cover. They might think you were bragging.”

  Darla had to giggle, she couldn’t help herself. “Sure, they’d think I was the one bragging,” she teased him. “How do you do that?” she asked him, sitting up.

  “It’s a combination of skilled technique and great equip…” Breck started, but Darla poked him in the side.

  “Make me laugh, I meant,” she scolded him, smiling despite her best efforts.

  He sat up with her, and cradled her face in his strong hands, smiling back at her. “I can imagine nothing in the world that I want to do more.”

  “Nothing?” Darla teased him.

  He chuckled, kissed her, and amended, “Almost nothing.”

  If Darla was very carefully, she could think only about now, about the feel of his hands on her face, the whisper of his sheets over her legs, the smell of him, the glow of his smile, the warmth of his kiss. She could be here with him in this moment, and be perfectly content.

  Her stomach growled, and she blushed.

  “Let me go get us a snack from the kitchen,” Breck offered.

  “If you keep feeding me, I’m going to have seven chins like Magnolia,” Darla protested.

  “We can all only aspire to be Magnolia,” Breck said, giving her a kiss and sliding from the bed. She caught him before he could stand, with a second, deeper kiss that dragged him back down on her. When she finally released him, he grinned at her. “I will not be long,” he promised.

  Then he was pulling on a bathrobe and vanishing out the door.

  Darla snuggled back down into his sheets for a moment, inhaling the musky smell of sex and sweat. Then she rose and explored the room restlessly. He had a private bathroom, and Darla smirked at her ruffled, naked reflection a moment before she splashed water on her face and tried to smooth back her hair. She prowled around the bathroom, stroking the lush towels and rattling his lone toothbrush in the holder.

  A little chilled in the cooling night air, she decided to find a t-shirt of Breck’s to put on, and returned to the disheveled bedroom. A wide, low dresser stood along the far wall, and Darla walked to it and pulled open the top drawer.

  The sight that met her eyes froze her on the spot.

  Chapter 30

  Breck was dismayed to find that the common room was not deserted. Worse, most of the staff was there, and they were toasting Tex and Laura enthusiastically.

  “I’m going to be a dad!” the bear shifter bartender exclaimed, throwing his arms uncharacteristically around Breck. “Come drink with us!”

  “I’m… ah, right in the middle of something,” Breck said regretfully. “But congratulations!”

  “They can come celebrate with us,” Jenny suggested laughingly. Several of the others echoed the invitation.

  Breck’s chest squeezed to realize that wasn’t possible, and Graham gave him a long, suspicious look as he shrugged them off with a stiffly smiling shake of his head.

  “Are you the only one who isn’t smashed?” he asked Laura bemusedly as he piled a plate with leftovers from the big fridge.

  “Not by choice,” Laura said, grinning foolishly and toasting with her glass of water.

  “Congratulations,” Breck said sincerely. “You guys thought about where you’ll go?”

  He regretted the question at once, as Laura’s entire face fell. “I… I don’t know,” she confessed quietly, with a glance out of the kitchen to where the others were raucously placing bets on gender and shift form. “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

  “You’ll figure something out,” Breck promised more confidently than he felt. “Maybe Scarlet will suddenly develop a motherly streak, and she’ll open a daycare in the event hall. She did let Ally stay over Christmas.” Wrench’s eight-year-old niece had come in secret for safe haven at the resort, and Scarlet had been unexpectedly generous about the infraction of the rules.

  Laura giggled. “Can you imagine Scarlet with a baby? They’re so messy and unpredictable. She’d want it on a very specific schedule, with very exacting requirements for its feeding and bowel movements.”

  “You, however, will be a wonderful mother,” Breck told her warmly. “I hope you stay here so we can all spoil it rotten.”

  Laura smiled gratefully. “I’d really like that,” she said wistfully.

  “However it works out, it will be amazing,” Breck promised.

  Laura chuckled. “That’s funny, that’s exactly what Darla said.”

  “Darla?” Breck choked, surprised.

  “Miss Grant. You probably haven’t met her, with your serving ban, which by the way, is outrageous and everyone is furious. She’s nothing like her mother, and is really very sweet. Not at all your type, though.”

  “I don’t have a type,” Breck said automatically, wondering if it sounded as strangled as he felt.

  “Well, you’re not her type then,” Laura said. “She’s lovely, but very much a good little girl: shy, docile, meek.”

  Naked in my room, Breck thought in chagrin and amusement. Screams like a siren when she comes… getting married to someone else the day after tomorrow...

  “Anyway, we’ll find some creative solution,” Laura said brightly. “No situation is impossible.”

  Except mine, Breck didn’t say.

  He suffered t
hrough another comically drunken hug from Tex, who had returned to the kitchen to find Laura, and escaped back down the hallway to his room with the plate of food, listening to the happy din diminish behind him.

  He was walking quietly, and opened the door with practiced silence, and had to stand a long moment, gazing at his mate across the room in awe.

  Darla was standing in front of the lamp, so that all of her edges were golden, and her hair was a messy halo of light. She was still naked, and every curve was perfect. She was all woman: plump breasts, round hips, the little roll of tummy that every woman hated and every man adored. Her arms were strong, but soft, and the line of her neck was an invitation for kisses. The mesmerizing sweep of her legs. The perfect tuck of her ass. The dimples of Venus in the small of her back.

  Breck looked his fill, trying to memorize it all, to drink her in while he could, reveling in his exquisite thirst for her.

  Then he realized that she was standing in front of his open top dresser drawer.

  He must have made a noise of dismay; she turned sharply in surprise, cheeks flaming red.

  This was it, then, Breck thought in chagrin. This was when she realized that he wasn’t the kind of person she really wanted to be involved with anyway. Her wedding would look like a happy escape from an awkward situation now. She may not have been a virgin, but she checked off every box of the stereotype of virginal, and that drawer definitely wouldn’t fit into her sheltered world view.

  Braced for her disgust, Breck put the plate of food on the nightstand. “About that drawer…” he started.

  “I want to try everything,” Darla said breathlessly.

  “You can just… wait, what?”

  “I don’t even know what some of these things are,” she admitted shyly. Her cheeks were still red, but it was a delighted flush, and she was licking her lips with interest. “Will you show me?” She turned to reach into the drawer, coming up with a gleaming silver ring… the tamest of the offerings of the drawer.

  Breck swallowed hard. “I’m afraid it’s a little late for that one,” he said, chuckling. “I’d need a cold shower or the funeral of a friend to get me into that right now.”