Shift (The Neturu Chronicles)

by Sarah Kay Carter

  “No,” she mumbles. “I just thought…because of security reasons...”

  Damien shakes his head. “The hallways, yes. The outside of the building, yes. In the rooms, no. Don’t worry. I am the only one allowed to see you in your underwear.” His gaze turns to Jackson, and Damien gives him a harsh look.

  “We should go to dinner,” Kayla chirps, trying to change the subject. “I need to get my shoes on.” She speed-walks back to the bedroom. “Awkward,” she breathes out.

  She puts on a pair of red heels that match the dress. When Kayla walks back out, Damien grins. “Love the shoes with that dress.”

  “Hey, now I’m only a few inches shorter than you.” Kayla giggles at Damien.

  “No matter what heels you wear, you’ll never come close to me,” Jackson quips. “Neither will Damien.”

  Kayla rolls her eyes. “Come on, let’s go.” She weaves her arm through Damien’s, and they walk down the hallway.

  A limo waits for them outside. Kayla smiles because she has never been in one before. Damien asks the driver to take them down the strip so Kayla can see it. She turns to Damien. “Can we come back here for a vacation once this William problem is solved and I have my shifting under control? I want to see all of this!”

  “Of course we can, baby,” Damien replies. “We’ll do anything you want.”

  Turning to look back out the window, Kayla grins. She feels out of place because she’s never been to such a fancy restaurant before. The food is wonderful, and Damien explains what all the different herbs and plants are. Jackson stays pretty quiet through the entire meal. It makes Kayla a little sad, but Damien keeps her occupied the whole time.

  They finally make their way to the club, and Kayla can’t help but dig for more information. “What’s the big deal about these places?”

  “You’ll see.” He laughs in return. “If you feel uncomfortable at any point, we’ll leave. Don’t feel like you have to stay.”

  “Why would I feel uncomfortable?” Kayla asks.

  Jackson snorts. “Just wait and see.”

  The limo stops outside a large brick building. Kayla looks at it curiously because it doesn’t have any windows, just one door on the front. “This is it?” she inquires.

  “Yup,” Damien replies. “We’ll go in through the back.”

  “Weird.”

  The driver gets out of the car and opens the door to let them out. Damien offers his hand to Kayla. She takes it and steps out of the limo. “Right this way, my dear.” He takes her hand and leads her to the back of the building.

  As they turn the corner, Kayla’s eyebrows go up. “You aren’t serious.”

  “Yup,” Damien chirps. “This is why a human doesn’t get in without us knowing.”

  Kayla looks down at the doggy door in shock. “Where are all the cars and people?”

  “You have to be dropped off at the club. Less conspicuous if it’s ever investigated,” Damien replies. “Do you want to go first?”

  "Of course not,” Kayla exclaims. “You didn’t say anything about having to shift to get in!”

  Damien leans over and kisses her on the cheek. “I’ll go in first, then you can come and Jackson will follow. Give me a minute in there and I’ll make sure no one is looking.”

  “Thanks,” Kayla replies, giving him a soft smile.

  Damien shifts down and goes through the door. Jackson puts his hand on Kayla’s back. “Are you ready for this?”

  “Ready for what?” Kayla asks.

  “You’ll see. Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Kayla shifts down. She takes a few deep breaths to steady herself before walking through the door. Music overpowers her.

  “Shift back,” Damien says from overhead. “Your hearing is too sensitive.”

  Kayla shifts back to her body and shakes her head to readjust. “That’s so weird.” She looks around and sees that they’re in a small room. Dark curtains cover the doorway. “It’s not so loud now.”

  “Wait until you get into the club,” Damien replies. He nods to someone over her shoulder, and she turns to find Jackson behind her. “Shall we go in?” Damien asks. Kayla shrugs her shoulders and nods. Damien grabs her hand. With a smile, he guides them through curtains.

  Music and lights immediately overload them. Kayla shields her eyes against the glare. When she removes her hand from her eyes, her jaw drops. “What in the…”

  The room is packed with dancing people, but it’s the way they dance that makes Kayla pause. Two girls pass them, and Kayla watches them with wide eyes. Their outfits barely cover any skin. When Kayla looks around she realizes all the girls are dressed that way.

  She turns and looks at Damien. “Why did I bring you guys here?”

  Damien chuckles and pulls her farther into the club. “Come on, babe.” He walks them closer to the crowd.

  Suddenly it’s like a wave hits Kayla and takes her breath away. She stops walking and grabs her chest. Everything in her lights on fire. “What is that?”

  “Pheromones,” Jackson replies, bending down by her. “Free energy and pheromones. Everyone is giving it off.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Kayla gasps. “It’s stifling, but, like…in a good way.”

  Damien turns around. “Now, that’s what a guy likes to hear.”

  “You’re not using that to your advantage!” Jackson snaps, pointing at Damien. Damien just returns his look and smirks. He pulls Kayla towards the bar. They walk along the side of it and then stop at an empty table. She is awestruck by everything. There are long dance floors elevated from the rest of the floor along the walls. There is a main stage centered in front of the large room, and barely clothed girls are dancing all over the place.

  Kayla shakes her head. “This is insane. Everyone is—”

  “All over each other?” Jackson finishes for her. “Yeah.”

  “It’s…weird,” Kayla replies.

  “If you’re uncomfortable, we can leave,” Damien whispers in her ear. “It’s a little much to take in at first.”

  Slightly dumbfounded, Kayla stutters, “I don’t know what to think. I mean…is it a sex club?”

  “No, not technically,” Damien explains. “People aren’t doing it in corners or anything. Though if you are interested, I have a curtained off area for us.”

  “Damien!” Kayla exclaims. “Why would you have that?”

  He laughs. “I have it in case you need a break from the energy later. We can go there right now if you want.”

  Kayla looks out at the club. “No, it’s fascinating. Is this how we find people to date? Is this the single scene?”

  “Sort of,” Damien answers. “People will leave here with each other. It’s not where you find a wife, usually just a playmate.”

  “That’s horrible,” Kayla chastises.

  Damien puts his hands up. “I didn’t say I do! It’s our people. It’s like taking the normal horny teenager and magnifying his hormones by a hundred. It’s who we are.”

  “It’s not who I am,” Kayla retorts.

  “Me either,” Jackson interjects. “You don’t have to be like them, Kayla.”

  Damien cocks his eyebrow. “Really? You two aren’t like that? You haven’t been all over each other because of the hormones? Never felt drawn to maul each other sexually?”

  Kayla blushes. “Shut up, Damien.”

  “Don’t point fingers then,” he laughs in return. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “Like alcohol?” Kayla quips.

  Shaking his head, Damien replies, “No, alcohol doesn’t affect us. We have something that does. Did you want that?”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Jackson growls. “Don’t offer it to her.”

  “She can make her own big girl decisions, Jackson,” Damien snaps condescendingly. “Kayla, what would you like to drink?”

  She smirks at him. “Water.”

  “See, she can decide things for herself,” Damien states to Jackson. “Now, would you like anything to
drink, my little brooding cousin?”

  Jackson glares at him. “I can get it myself.”

  “Whatever,” Damien replies, turning on his heel. “I’ll be right back.”

  Kayla turns her attention back to the thronging crowd. They’re dancing makes Kayla blush.

  “I know this is a little much to take,” Jackson says, walking toward her. “I told you I’d never experienced this kind of energy before or since the last time I went to a shifters club.”

  “It’s so heated. I feel like I’m in an adult film or something,” Kayla hisses.

  “We should leave,” Jackson declares. “You’re totally uncomfortable.”

  “No,” Kayla retorts strongly. “I can do this. As long as people don’t actually start having sex on the dance floor we can stay.”

  He shakes his head. “They won’t. Like Damien said, there are curtained off rooms.”

  “Ew, disgusting,” Kayla squeals. “Don’t make me think about that.”

  Jackson laughs. “I don’t think you’re allowed to actually do anything. It’s really not a sex club.”

  Kayla grimaces and shakes her head. “Nasty thoughts.”

  A girl walks past in a sheer dress. Kayla’s jaw drops. When Kayla sees Jackson looking, she smacks him on the arm hard enough to leave a bruise.

  “What?” he shouts.

  “Don’t look,” she yells.

  “Why can’t I look? I’m single, and she obviously didn’t mind showing off her…assets.” He laughs.

  “You shouldn’t look,” Kayla snaps.

  He leans toward her, his lips brushing her ear. “I can look. You need to keep Damien’s eyes in his head.”

  “Yes, well, you can’t look either.”

  “What can’t he look at?” Damien asks, setting her water in front of her.

  Kayla slaps her hand over Damien’s eyes. “The nearly naked girl standing to the right of us.”

  “Unless you are the nearly naked girl, I don’t want to see it,” Damien replies, letting her cover his eyes. “Is she gone yet?”

  “No,” Kayla says. “You can look, though.” She pulls her hand away.

  Damien looks at Kayla and smiles. “You’re the only one captivating my attention.”

  “Aww,” Kayla replies.

  Jackson snorts. “Damien, you really shouldn’t look up then.”

  So of course he does look up and his eyebrows nearly pop off his head. “Dear Lord,” he breathes out.

  Kayla swings back her hand and smacks him across the head. “Will you guys stop looking at her?” she yells.

  “It’s hard not to,” Damien retorts. “She’s naked!”

  “You’re starting to make me really mad,” Kayla growls.

  Damien walks to the other side of the table so his back is to the girl. “There, I can’t see anything but your beautiful face now.”

  “Good,” Kayla says. “Jackson you should go over by him. Keep your eyes in your head too.”

  “No,” he replies with a devious smirk. “I’m not dating anyone. I can stare if I want to.” Kayla glares at him and he winks back.

  A few minutes later the song changes. “Is all the music like this?” Kayla asks.

  “You mean dirty?” Jackson asks.

  “If that’s what you call it,” Kayla replies.

  “Then yes, for the most part.”

  As she listens to the next few notes of the song, she snaps her fingers in realization and starts laughing. “This is your song, Jackson!”

  Jackson tilts his head in confusion. “What?”

  “The song you fantasize about…” Kayla is about to say me, but goes with, “girls…to.”

  “Oh, the one that was playing in my room,” he finally gets it. “I told you that was Internet radio, I had no control.”

  “Mmmhmm,” Kayla hums back. “That’s what you say now.”

  Damien looks at Kayla. “I wouldn’t mind this being the song you play when I come home from work and you’re dressed only in my tie.”

  “Excuse me?” Jackson snaps.

  “If we ever get married,” Damien explains. “Kayla is going to either wear nothing or wear lingerie and put on my tie, and then wait for me to come home from a long day of saving people’s lives.”

  There is no humor on Jackson’s face as his gaze moves to Kayla. “Really,” he draws out.

  Blushing, Kayla says, “Only if we’re married, and Damien, shut up about our personal conversations.”

  “Come on, there are certain things that I will brag about. Never any real intimate moments, of course, but you dressed up in my tie? That’s sexy as hell, and the whole world needs to know about it.”

  Kayla laughs. “All right, no pictures, though.”

  “What?” Damien exclaims. “There has to be pictures. They just have to be password protected on my computer. You know, for business trips.”

  “I better be going on these business trips with you,” Kayla retorts, pointing her finger at him. “Don’t need you around sexy flight attendants.”

  “Will you be my sexy flight attendant?”

  Kayla leans over the table. “Only if you buy the outfit, and we use one of your personal planes.”

  “I’m going to hurl,” Jackson interjects. “Will you two shut up?”

  “We need to find a girl to preoccupy Jackson,” Damien says, turning around to scan the crowd. “Then I can have my way with you in a corner.”

  A knot forms in Kayla’s chest. “Jackson doesn’t need a girl,” she says, trying to be blasé.

  “Why wouldn’t he need a girl?” Damien chirps. “I’m taking you out on the dance floor. We don’t want him standing here alone, all sad and helpless.”

  “I don’t need your help picking up girls, Damien,” Jackson snaps. “I think I may go hit on the girl with the see-through dress.”

  “No,” Kayla yells.

  Jackson turns to her. “Why not? Do you think I’m not attractive enough to lure in a girl like that?”

  “No, you’re drop-dead gorgeous, and you know it,” Kayla states seriously. “Go for a girl who has a little mystery and doesn’t give a free show to everyone.”

  “Oh, you want me to go for the girl next door type. Someone I would go to high school with. I see. And we’re going to come across sooo many of those types here, aren’t we?” he says, rolling his eyes. “I may as well have a good time. Let’s see…who to pick…who to pick.”

  Kayla’s chest tightens as she watches him look around the club. Damien steps closer to her. “Since he’s preoccupied, I’m going to take advantage of your lips.” He sweeps in and kisses her. It takes only a second for her pulse to pound out of control. Kayla can barely catch her breath as they kiss.

  Too soon, two hands pull them apart. “I look away for a few seconds, and you jump each other.”

  “We can jump each other if we want to,” Damien says, hotly. “You’re not our mom, Jackson.”

  “That would be awkward,” Kayla adds.

  Damien and Jackson face-off silently, while Kayla stands between them. She starts to raise her hands to push them apart when Jackson suddenly stands up and his eyes widen in shock. “Um, Damien, we have a problem.”

  “What’s that?” Damien asks.

  Following Jackson’s gaze, Kayla sees a girl walking towards them. She is quite beautiful. Her dress is like another layer of skin. It’s black with large diamonds cut out of the material to show off her body. She’s beautiful, and Kayla instantly dislikes her.

  A wicked grin crosses the girl’s face. When she gets to the table, she purrs, “Hello, Damien.”

  Damien immediately tenses. “W-What are you doing here?” he stammers.

  “I’m on vacation,” she replies, running a finger across his chest. “The same question goes for you. What are you doing here?”

  “I came to meet up with Kayla,” Damien says, brushing away her hand and putting his arm around Kayla’s back. “You can leave now, Natasha.”

  A million alarms go o
ff in Kayla’s head. This is Damien’s ex-girlfriend. Natasha looks at Kayla, her eyes scraping over Kayla’s body like knifes. “Really,” Natasha draws out.

  “Yeah,” Kayla retorts sharply. “I’m Kayla, Damien’s girlfriend.”

  Jackson and Damien both snap their eyes toward Kayla. She just hopes Damien goes along with it. When she sees a grin cross his face, she smiles. “Yeah,” Damien says. “This is my girlfriend, not that it’s any of your business, Natasha.”

  When Kayla glances at Jackson, his face is cold as stone. She stares at him with pleading eyes. He looks away.

  “I didn’t think you would have such a…normal…girlfriend,” Natasha states slowly.

  “I am anything but normal,” Kayla declares.

  Damien takes Kayla’s hand and squeezes it. Natasha snorts. “Oh really, and tell me, what makes you special?”

  “I am a—”

  “Kayla, no,” Damien snaps.

  Before she can stop herself, she finishes, “Morrae.”

  Natasha starts to laugh. “Oh, so the council wants Damien to be with you. That explains a lot.”

  “Shut up,” Damien growls. “It’s not even like that.”

  “Mmhmm,” Natasha counters. “I believe you.”

  Glaring at her, Damien says, “I’m in love with her, which is more than I ever felt for you when we were together.”

  Kayla’s whole world stops as she looks at Damien. He returns her gaze. “You’re what?” Natasha snaps.

  “I’m in love with her,” Damien states again, not taking his eyes away from Kayla’s. “If you can even fathom what that feels like.”

  “And are you in love with him?” Natasha asks hotly.

  Kayla opens her mouth, but no words come out. A security guard rushes up to them. “Master Damien, I need to talk to you.”

  “Now is not the time,” Damien counters.

  “Sir, it’s important,” the guard says.

  Damien turns to Kayla. “I’ll be right back.” He leans forward and gives her a long kiss. His mouth finds its way to her ear. “I meant it,” he says. “And I don’t expect anything back. Don’t let Natasha bother you. She is nothing to me.” He traces his finger across her cheek, giving her a kind look before walking away with the security guard.