The Claimed (Sin Hunters)

by Caridad Piñeiro

  Victoria shook her head. “I’m an only child, too, but I have some great friends who are like sisters to me.”

  “What about your parents? Do they live in the area?”

  She nodded at his question and said, “My parents live about ten minutes away in a big home upriver. They run a fleet of charter and fishing boats out of the local marina. What about your parents?”

  He hesitated and picked up his glass again. Then he took a bracing sip before he confessed, “You might say that I have what most would call a dysfunctional family. My mom died some time ago and my father is intent on controlling my life.”

  “You’re not alone in that camp. Maybe it’s because we’re only children.” Victoria realized that in a way it was true. Quinchu pairings rarely resulted in multiple children since the release of energy during bonding seemed to cause damage to either one or both of the partners. As such, Quinchus were generally overly protective of their young.

  “It could be,” he echoed, although Victoria sensed sadness in his words. Clearly he didn’t really buy that as the reason for his father’s overpowering ways.

  “What do you do for a living?” she asked, wondering how someone so relatively young could afford one of the huge multi-million-dollar properties along the Sea Girt waterfront.

  “I’ve patented a couple of software programs based on fluid dynamics. They’re used a lot in the automotive and aerospace industries.” He placed his glass on the table and reached for the bread basket. Picking it up, he offered her a piece.

  Fluid dynamics? she thought, and took one of the slices. She wondered if like Adam he had chosen a field that matched some affinity he might have, although the power she was detecting around him still couldn’t let her determine whether he was friend or foe.

  “So how did you decide to open up a surf and sail shop?” Christopher asked, peering at her intently in the waning light of dusk.

  She shrugged and ran a finger around the edge of her wine glass. “I pretty much grew up on the waters around here. Went to a local college and majored in environmental science, but the shop was for sale when I graduated. The price was right and I decided to take a chance and be my own boss.”

  “No regrets?”

  She smiled and shook her head emphatically. “No regrets. Seasonal gigs can be tough, but the shop lets me spend time on the water, which I love. During the off season I teach some courses at the local community college.”

  “I guess we’re both lucky to love what we do,” he said just as the waitress brought over their dinners.

  The meal progressed pleasurably from then on with them sharing small talk about everything, from their desire to be close to the water to local politics and environmental policies.

  Christopher found it easy to chat with Victoria, but there was also a comfort in being close to her that he had not ever experienced before. She was a stunningly beautiful woman. She had a wealth of shoulder-length toffee-colored hair, lovingly streaked with the kiss of the sun. Gorgeous silver-gray eyes were filled with intelligence and framed by thick lashes. The wafer-thin veneer of energy around her was too weak to be full Hunter power, and yet it created a peaceful calm in his core. And although she could be hiding her true aura, that would take a great deal of skill. More skill than he thought he would possess, and just to be sure, he snuck a quick glance just to confirm his own aura was concealed.

  Barely visible, he thought with a sigh of relief, and once again allowed her peaceful energy to touch him. It meshed with his almost as if their life forces were in sync. But little by little that synergy built a different kind of emotion.

  She had the kind of body that appealed to him, tall, lean, and powerful, but with those curves that he wanted to explore. It was taking all his control not to reach out and touch her. Soothe his hand over the thick waves of her sun-streaked honey-colored hair. Maybe even run his thumb across those sexy lips that smiled easily or tilted upward with unrestrained humor.

  He sensed she was unafraid to love fully or laugh heartily, novel traits that intrigued him. Growing up as a Shadow and next in line to be Añaru, he had found that virtually everyone around him had an ulterior motive and hid their true agendas. Everyone except for Ryan.

  And now possibly Victoria. While he still knew little about her, he sensed goodness in her and hoped she was incapable of deceit, unlike his ex.

  He held up a forkful of his last bit of cheesecake for her to taste and as she leaned toward him grinning, her silver-gray eyes sparkled with life. She closed her mobile lips over the tidbit and swallowed with gusto.

  “Tasty,” she said, but as her gaze drifted to his lips it strummed alive demanding passion in his gut. He was loath to end the night when the waitress came over with the check. After he had settled the bill, he said, “Would you like to go for a walk along the beach? Work off all these calories?”

  She nodded. “I’d like that.”

  Rafael scrunched his neck down until his face was hidden by the collar of his lightweight windbreaker. Between that and the darkness and distance, he remained undetected as Victoria and her date strolled side by side across the street to the boardwalk and then down onto the beach. As they moved toward the shore, they chased off some seagulls, who scattered back up onto the boardwalk.

  Perfect for him.

  Crossing the street, he expended a bit of the energy bestowed to him by the Quinchus to create a tiny whirlwind of air which trapped one of the smaller seagulls on the wooden planks of the boardwalk. He scooped the bird up in his hands, his touch soothing. Once again he called upon his Quinchu’s gifted energy and used it to absorb just a bit of the seagull’s essence. With that taste of its life force alive in him, he gently laid the bird down on the wood, tucking it against a baluster where it would be safe until it recovered from the smidgen of power he had drained.

  Heading onto the sands, he ducked beneath the wooden structure for the Avon Pavilion which hid him from those on the boardwalk as well as the beachfront. Gathering the bird’s energy deep into his center, his core shrank and heated in anticipation of the change. When he had amplified the life force with his own, he blasted it out along every inch of skin. Painful bumps erupted along his dermis as his skin shifted into feathers. Bones and muscles popped and shifted, condensed as he assumed the sleek shape of the seagull.

  With an ear-piercing screech of pain, Rafael fully morphed. A few quick hops and a flap of his wings and he flew off into the winds he loved, quickly finding an updraft that propelled him forward.

  Oh, how great it must be to be able to do this at will as his ancestors had once done, their power unlimited by the contagion from the humans. To glide and soar, unfettered by limits on energy, tasting the forces of the winds as they lifted you toward the blessed Mother Sun.

  Rafael had to rein in his desire to savor the breeze and forced himself to rise up on an air current to seek out Victoria. He could not trust following her with just a stream of his energy. He had to see for himself what was happening because if she was in danger, he would do anything to protect her.

  CHAPTER

  8

  Victoria ambled beside Christopher along the hard-packed sand at the water’s edge, her insides in knots as attraction and common sense battled it out. There was no denying the strong pull of something elemental between them.

  She narrowed her eyes to try to make out the faint hint of energy surrounding him. In the dark it was less visible than before, but nevertheless registered against her aura. She had to try to find out more about him and if he was aware of his abilities. “So you say you moved here permanently from the city? You can do that just with your programs?”

  A casual shrug rippled across his broad shoulders. “The royalties for using the software are quite generous.”

  “It must be nice to live a life of leisure and enjoy the nature around you.” She hit a watery patch of sand where her foot sank deep, making her wobble and bump up against him. The moment her skin met his, the buzz of his power radiated
throughout her, awakening desire along her sex, which quivered in reaction.

  Totally not a human life force. Caught off guard, his energy was clearly discernible and much more powerful than what she had expected.

  He stopped walking and shifted away, but kept a gentle hand on her arm to stabilize her. From that point of connection, warmth and energy continued to travel between the two of them, making it impossible to deny the Hunter blood in him.

  “What are you?” she asked, looking into his eyes. It was clear as she met his gaze that he understood her question had nothing to do with his home or employment or anything else two normal people would discuss on a first date. That lack of confusion confirmed she was not off in her observations.

  “What’s more important to you: What I am or who I am?” he replied, his grip tightening on her arm for a moment before he relaxed it and instead brushed his hand from wrist to elbow in a simple caress. But beneath the physical touch came one of energy. Strong and demanding, it created a glimmer of aqua wherever his fingers touched her and traveled straight to her Hunter center.

  The motion sent a shiver of anticipation through her and created searing desire deep within. She imagined his touch along other parts of her body and how their energies could meld, bringing even greater satisfaction. Dangerous thoughts considering how little she knew about him. Plus there was the fact that it was painfully obvious that he was not only aware that he possessed such power, but also seemed to know that she did as well.

  She should have been more worried since so far she had not been able to determine if he was Hunter or Hybrid. And if he was a Hunter, she had no clue if he was one of the Dark Ones or a Light Hunter, which was equally troubling. But there was one sure thing on which she could rely: If he was a Shadow something bad would have happened long before now.

  As he took hold of her hand, the sizzle of power continued. She glanced down to where their hands were joined and the glow intensified. Tendrils of silver and blue twined around the spot and she waited, fearing that if he was a Shadow he’d sink his ravenous filaments deep into her aura and try to drain her of her life force.

  But he didn’t.

  If anything, his power seemed to be similar to hers, complementing it—arousing physical passion and bringing immense curiosity about him.

  “So who are you?” she wondered, following his lead for the moment, allowing her fascination with him to overrule common sense.

  One side of his lips quirked up with the first hint of that sexy smile and boyish dimple. The moonlight cast a silvery glint to his gaze which gleamed with intent as he said, “I’m a man who desperately wants to kiss the beautiful woman beside him.”

  This time it was his words that dispatched a wave of heat over her. Man-woman heat that she didn’t want to deny because more than almost anything, she wanted to have normal in her life.

  “What’s stopping you?” she said with an inviting arch of her brow.

  He bent his head and she raised on tiptoe to eliminate the couple of inches that separated them. His lips were warm as they covered hers, hesitant at first, but from the moment skin met skin, desire grew until Victoria wanted more.

  She laid her hand on his shoulder and leaned into him, opened her mouth to taste him and savor the shape of his lips with hers. Hard-edged, but tender at his full bottom lip. Tasty, she thought, nipping at that fullness.

  Her inviting bite dragged a groan from Christopher and he eased his arm around her waist and drew her close, pressing her long delicious curves against him. He explored her mouth with his tongue as she opened to him.

  The heat of passion grew in his gut until he wanted to touch more. Taste more.

  But it was too soon, he told himself, and slowly pulled back. As he did so, his gaze skittered across her features and for a moment, he detected the glimmer of neon green swirling within her silver-gray eyes. Or at least he thought so, because it disappeared with a rapid blink of thick lashes.

  However, it was a daunting reminder of how little they knew about each other and of the risks involved in additional discovery, especially as she laid her hand against his cheek. There was no avoiding the power there, sending a calming wave of energy through him.

  He covered his hand with hers and allowed a greater hint of his own power to emerge. Beside him her body shuddered from the release. In the bright light of the moon, it was impossible not to see the tight points of her nipples against the thin cotton of the scooped-neck blouse she wore. Yet as much as he wanted to touch, he also wanted to know more about her and her power.

  “Who are you?” he pressed, wanting to have enough information so he could trust her.

  She leaned close to him once more and placed her free hand over his chest. Tipping her head up invitingly, she said, “I’m a woman wishing you would touch me.”

  He sucked in a breath and shifted slightly, his big body providing a screen from anyone along the boardwalk. Releasing her hand, he brought his up between their bodies and cradled her breast, running his thumb along the hard nub.

  As he took her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, tweaking it, Victoria’s breath exploded from her lips. Then he bent, taking her mouth again. Kissing and licking at her lips. Dancing his tongue with hers and mimicking where their interlude could lead, especially as Victoria brought her body flush to his and experienced the long hard ridge of his erection against her belly.

  The loud screech of a seagull broke through their desire, reminding them of where they were. Warning them about going farther in such a public place, especially as the gull swooped close by and appeared to screech an additional chastisement.

  “I should walk you home,” he said, cupping her cheek and running his thumb along the flush of color on her cheekbone.

  “I’d like that,” she replied, slowly. Her tone told him that she was reluctant to end the night, but he knew that a little distance was needed. It was too much too soon, and she knew too little about what he was.

  With cautious distance between them, both carefully hiding their powers while testing the boundaries of the other’s, they walked farther down the beach toward the Shark River Inlet and her home.

  Rafael dive-bombed toward Victoria and released another raucous cry before flying away as Victoria and her date resumed their stroll down the beachfront.

  Anger churned through his veins since his bird’s eye view had let him see way too much. The kisses were filled with hunger. The human’s filthy hands had been all over Victoria.

  His gut tightened and twisted and with that, he realized that his rampant emotions were forcing him to lose control over his transformation.

  His glide along the updraft of wind faltered as the feathers on his body slowly retracted and began to form smooth skin once again. Aiming downward, Rafael hurtled toward the sand, wanting not only to hide his full alteration back to human, but also to avoid a drop from a height that would surely cause bodily injury.

  He was about five feet from the ground when he lost all of the feathers along his body. With a painful thud he landed on the sand which drove all the air from his lungs. He lay there, stunned for a moment, but then with a surge of pain, his body continued its morph back to a human shape.

  Aware that he was completely visible to anyone on the boardwalk or beachfront, Rafael could not allow a slow change in order to conserve energy. Blasting his Hunter power from his core out through his extremities, Rafael restored his body and everything on him to normal in the time it took to draw a breath. When he was finished, he lay on the sand, appearing to one and all as a man just resting on the beach, appreciating the sights and sounds of an early summer evening.

  But the swift morph had drained him and he had trouble moving. When he finally was able to rise, his legs could barely hold him up thanks to his intense weakness. The sweat along his body and lightness at his center warned him of how much energy he had expended.

  Too much energy, he thought as he stumbled and had to grab hold of the edge of the boardwalk planks. He
needed power to restore his life forces, but there was only one way to get it: feeding from one of the Quinchus.

  If he went to Victoria’s parents, they would wonder what had caused him to deplete his energy so quickly. As angry as he was with Victoria, he could not violate her trust and let her parents know about their daughter’s dalliance with the human.

  But if he went to Victoria, she might also know that he had been watching her and become furious that he had seen those brief, but intense personal moments. Maybe Victoria would even come to hate him for violating her privacy.

  He would rather die than have Victoria hate him, Rafael thought, and slowly staggered back to his car.

  CHAPTER

  9

  Victoria closed the door to her home and leaned against it, her body pulsing with need once again from the sexy interlude she’d had with Christopher just moments earlier.

  Now that she was in the safety of her home, she freed her life force from the tight grasp she had over it. Desire increased as the natural flow of sexual energy traveled over her as the first stirrings of the Equinox erupted, surprising her. She was still young for that bonding call to fully emerge, plus it normally came in response to sympathetic Hunter power.

  But there was no denying that the call of it was here and it was equally impossible to ignore the demand it had awakened in her body.

  Reaching up, she tweaked the tight tips of her breasts, recalling Christopher’s intimate touch. She had to acknowledge that there had been power there that was something other than human.

  Whether he was Hybrid or Hunter, their energies had been amazingly similar. Incredibly attuned to each other, she thought as she imagined what might have happened if she had let him come in tonight. How he could have pleasured her with those wonderful lips, gifted hands, and masculine body. At the thought of all that size and strength satisfying her, her sex grew wet and ached to be caressed.