Tara leaned closer, putting her arms around his neck in case anyone was watching them somehow. She whispered into his ear.
“It’s not a laptop.”
“I know. And Arnold assured me that anyone who turned it on and tried to power it up would only find what appeared to be the desktop of a laptop. There’s even the beginnings of the piece on Shifter Island. Didn’t you look at it?”
His breath was warm on her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine as he whispered.
“No, I didn’t.”
“I’ve known Arnold a long time. Trust me, he thought of everything. Leave your bag here. I’m starving, and if I spend another minute in this room with you with your arms around my neck like this, I might actually kiss you.”
Tara released him quickly, stepping back and placing the backpack on a flimsy wicker chair in the corner of the room. He laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling it to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently.
“You’re a mess,” he said fondly. “But I like it.”
With that, he led her out of the hut and on to dinner.
CHAPTER FOUR
Luis pulled out the chair for Tara, kissing her softly on the cheek before he sat down across from her.
“You’re enjoying this,” she said, her cheeks coloring slightly.
“So much,” he admitted.
“I would say that turnabout is fair play, but I have a feeling that you wouldn’t mind if I kissed you.”
“You would be correct,” he said, skimming the elegantly printed menu before folding it and setting it aside.
“Don’t you already know what you’re going to eat?”
“No. I’ve actually never eaten here before.”
“Why not?”
“Shifters don’t eat here unless the guests request it. Most of the time, the women need a break from all of the-” he paused, “activities, and they take their dinner alone or with friends.”
“So what do you eat?”
“We’re on a special diet to keep us strong. Then, once a month, we head out to the Forbidden Jungle to take a break from the resort and also to have a break from the cocktail of supplements and male birth control they give us.”
“I was going to ask how the women managed to avoid getting pregnant.”
“There are extra precautions. I’m sure you take precautions, too, in your line of work.”
“I do, though I go with the shot. It’s easier to only think about it three times a year, so I don’t have to worry if I have to travel for a story.”
Luis smiled at her and winked, completely aware that she wasn’t actually speaking about being a journalist. But they stayed in character, and just like she’d been taught, Tara kept everything as close to the truth as possible without divulging anything that was actually real so that she could easily recall what she had said at any given time.
“So, when is your next week off?” she asked, still scanning the menu options and not quite sure what she wanted. “This is hard,” she said before he could answer. “I want to try everything.”
“To answer your first question,” he laughed, “I was scheduled for my week off in a few days, but I will stay on until you are through with your research, and then I will escort you home. And you can eat here for breakfast and lunch, too, which will give you a chance to try most of the food offered here. For now, can I suggest the cau-cau?”
“What is that?”
“Trust me, you’ll love it. It’s tender beef on potatoes, yellow pepper sauce, and rice.”
“That actually sounds so good. I’ll take that.”
She put her menu down, and almost immediately, a man clad only in a strip of leather that wrapped around his waist and hung halfway down his thighs stepped forward to take their order. Tara ordered the cau-cau, much to the approval of the waiter, and Luis ordered a steak with traditional yellow potatoes and peppers.
“So, we’re heading down to the beach after this, then what?” she asked, drizzling honey over the tiny pieces of sweet bread that the waiter had brought them to nibble on while their food was prepared.
“That’s up to you,” he said, winking at her suggestively.
She rolled her eyes at him.
“I guess we’ll talk about that later, though I would like to have a tour of the island at some point.”
“I can make that happen tomorrow. We’ll have to set out extra early, but it can be arranged. We’ll take the boat to the other end of the island, then I can show you the new, private, above water bungalows we’ve built for the most exclusive clients. I hope your camera is charged. You’ll want to get a picture of those.”
“Perfect.”
The waiter returned, setting their food down in front of them and leaving, while a second man topped off their drinks and disappeared again.
Between bites, Tara looked around at the large, outdoor restaurant area, taking everything in.
“So all those men just stand around, looking sexy and waiting to be chosen?”
“Pretty much. I’m surprised to see that there are four women here tonight. And I know that Arnold had to take off to meet Ian and an investor he’s trying to get onboard. So, counting you, that will be six total by this time tomorrow.”
“Isn’t that normal?”
“No. The resort tries to stagger the clients so that they have a sense of being mostly alone and secluded. It also avoids competition for certain companions. Some of the men are more popular among the women.”
“Does that include you?”
Luis shrugged.
“I work hard, and I pull my weight here. I enjoy the island. It’s not the same as back home, but it’s still nice, and I like it here. I am one that is trusted to leave the island and return, though, and I also am one of the few that isn’t chipped.”
“Chipped?”
Before he could answer, Eric appeared out of nowhere and squatted on his haunches beside Luis. The two spoke in rapid Spanish, Eric apparently unaware that Tara was fluent in Spanish, including the South American dialects. She picked at her food and pretended not to be listening.
“Luis, you can’t talk about those things with our guests. What are you doing?”
“I’m doing what I was told to do. My orders come directly from Ian and Arnold. I don’t answer to you.”
“That may be so, but there are other women here, and I don’t want them to overhear your careless conversation. It’s one thing to tell Arnold’s little reporter friend, but the others?”
“There is nothing secret about the microchips implanted in the shifters to keep them from leaving the island. Isn’t that why the humans feel safe?”
“Of course it is, but they don’t want to admit that. It’s not politically correct to admit that you are afraid of an entire species and want them maintained like chattel. We can’t do what we need to do here if you’re spilling all our secrets in front of everyone. I don’t even know why Arnold chose you for this one. You’re a fool, and you’re going to bring us more problems than we’ve already had in the last few months.”
“You need to back away, brother. I’m not here to answer to you, and I have no problem talking to Ian and Arnold about your behavior if you don’t back off. I’m doing my job, or have you forgotten who was right there within striking distance of the fugitives and let them get away? People in glass houses should probably not throw stones, Eric. I’m surprised you’re still here after such an epic failure.”
Luis’ face was completely passive and calm, his soft smile hiding the venom in his voice. If Tara hadn’t understood their words, she would never have guessed what was going on right under her nose. Eric held his ground, but she could tell that he was seething inside.
Eric glared at Luis, then stood suddenly, smiling at Tara and walking away almost as quickly as he had shown up.
Luis went back to his food without another word, catching Tara’s gaze and smiling.
“You know I speak Spanish fluently, right?” she whispered quietly.
/> “Why do you think I’m smiling?”
He finished up his meal and so did she. The waiter was there instantly to pick up their plates and returned just as quickly with the bottles of water that Luis requested. He stood up, putting his arm out and kissing her tenderly on the cheek when she put her arm through his.
“Shall we pick up your swimsuit and head to the beach?”
“Why not?” she replied. She leaned against him as they walked, hoping that Eric was watching so that her show of affection wasn’t wasted.
Luis led her into a hut filled with all manner of clothing and shoes, going straight to a rack filled with bikinis and picking out one quickly. He cut the tag from it at the register and instructed the man behind the counter to put it on Arnold McClellan’s tab.
He held it out to Tara, laughing when she wrinkled her nose.
“Does that cover anything?” she asked.
“It covers enough. You have a beautiful body with luscious curves. You should show it off. The blue matches your eyes, and the gold accents match your hair. You’re going to look stunning.”
He grabbed her hand and led her to their hut, waiting patiently outside the bathroom while she changed.
Tara was hesitant to wear the skimpy suit. Never one for two-pieces, she wasn’t sure that now was the time to step out of her comfort zone. She was curvy but athletic, and she had long ago learned to love her curves and accept that she would never be rail thin. But it wasn’t the curves that gave her pause.
She reluctantly put the swimsuit on and turned so that she could see her reflection in the mirror. The ugly scar on her hip was painfully obvious, though Tara knew that it wasn’t nearly as noticeable as she thought it was. The size of a half-dollar and just a single shade darker than the rest of her skin, it wasn’t visible from more than five or six feet away. But Luis wouldn’t be that far away, and Tara felt self-conscious about him seeing it.
“The sun will be setting soon,” Luis teased from the other side of the door, even though sunset was almost an hour away.
“I’m coming out,” she said, garnering her courage and taking one last look in the mirror.
She stepped out of the bathroom, and Luis sucked in a breath.
“You look fantastic,” he said, his eyes roving over her body slowly, taking in every inch of her, from the soft swell of her full breasts to the gentle slope of her hips.
“Thanks,” she said, stopping herself before she made some ridiculous, self-depreciating comment. She could tell by the look on his face that he meant what he’d said, and her mother had taught her that people who put themselves down are just fishing for compliments anyway.
He hadn’t changed, still wearing his jeans and tight gray t-shirt he’d changed into before dinner.
“Aren’t you going to change?” she asked.
“I’ve already got what I need on under my clothes.”
Tara blushed, envisioning a Speedo, or worse, one of those string thongs that the companions wore that would only cover his manhood, and even then not much.
Luis wrapped his hand around her waist, his strong hand sliding over her hip and settling right on top of her scar. She tensed, waiting for him to yank his hand away, but he didn’t.
“Why are you so tense?” he asked, “It’s only a scar. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, and it doesn’t distract from your beauty.”
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“And it doesn’t bother you?”
“Does it bother you?”
“Not really, except when a sexy man hands me a bikini to put on. Then it bothers me a little.”
His arm was still around her, and even though she was still tense, he didn’t move to release her.
“What happened?”
Tara took a deep breath, not sure that she was ready to reveal such a personal story, but at the same time, sure that she had to tell him. No, she amended, I don’t have to tell him, I want to tell him. Why, she didn’t know, but for the first time in her life, she felt compelled.
“When I was sixteen, I was walking home from school late one night after orchestra practice. I had a violin solo, and I’d spent more time than I meant to in one of the practice rooms. When I finished, it was already dark, and I hurried home. I was supposed to get a ride, but when my friend Shayla couldn’t find me, she had to leave. I only lived a few blocks from the school, so I decided not to bother my parents. I took a shortcut through the school and through an alley that I walked down all the time.”
“But not in the dark?”
“No. Never in the dark. I didn’t think about that until I heard someone’s footsteps on the concrete behind me and realized that I wasn’t alone. I turned around, hoping that whoever it was would be intimidated by face-to-face contact. You know, because a lot of criminals really don’t want to be seen and aren’t great at confrontation. I figured he was after my violin or my bag. I was willing to hand those over rather than be injured.”
“But that’s not what he was after?”
“Not even close. I tried to fight him, but he was bigger than me, and he had a knife. He had me, and I realized that he was dragging me toward a van that I hadn’t even seen when I’d walked past it. I started screaming and fighting even harder to get away. That’s when he stabbed me. We were almost to the van when a man came from one of the houses, leaping over his fence and into the alley. I thought that I was imagining it, because he leapt over a six-foot wooden fence and landed on the other side almost silently. I was already bleeding so much, I just thought that I had started hallucinating. But the man was there, and suddenly, the guy who attacked me just dropped me there in the alley.”
Tara took a breath, and Luis hugged her tighter to his side, offering his silent comfort and giving her a chance to find the words to tell her story without interruption.
“I rolled onto my side and I tried to watch, but it was dark, and I could only see the outline of the two men fighting. When I heard a roar and saw what I thought was a large cat jump through the air, I passed out.”
She was shaking now, the memories of that night so very real, even thousands of miles and over ten years away.
“When I woke up, I was in the man’s house, and he was sitting there, watching me. I heard a knock at the door, and my parents rushed in. Right after that, the first paramedic showed up. The man whose house I was in was my neighbor, only five houses down from my house. He’d heard the scuffle in the dark somehow, and he had called my parents as soon as he found me, then called the paramedics and the police while he doctored my wound. My parents were so grateful to him, and I tried to tell him thank you, but I couldn’t talk and I was so weak. He just held my hand, smiled, and said that he knew what I was trying to say and to rest.”
“He was a shifter.”
“He was. He was a WereTiger. He was a little younger than my dad, but you know how it is when you’re sixteen; everyone over twenty is ‘old.’ So he could have been twenty-five or forty-five and he would have looked the same to me.”
Luis laughed.
“I do remember feeling that way when I was younger. Did he tell you that he was a shifter, or you just saw him and knew?”
“My parents told me. Well, my mom did. The man I called ‘Dad’ was actually my stepdad. He died two years ago, but he and my mother were married most of my life. My mother married him when I was in kindergarten. Anyway, Martin was really well known in our neighborhood, and everyone liked him. I even remember him being at my parents’ wedding. He helped me when I dropped the basket of flower petals and spilled them everywhere. He was always very nice to me.”
“What happened after he saved you?”
“I actually never saw him again after that night, and my parents never spoke about him again. When I got out of the hospital later that week, I went to his house to thank him, but he had moved. About a month later, I got a delivery. He had ordered a custom-made violin to replace the one that had gotten destroyed during their fight. I never got to
tell him thank you. Now that I’m older and I understand the world a little better, I know that he didn’t move. He was one of the first group of shifters to be rounded up and removed from the human population.”
“Do you remember his name?”
“Just his first name. Martin.”
Luis tensed but said nothing.
“Do you know Martin, Luis?”
“I know him well. He was an excellent man and a good friend.”
“Was? Did he die?” She was crestfallen.
“I don’t know,” Luis leaned in a whispered to her. “He was one of the shifters that attempted to escape the island a few months ago, but he was captured. No one has seen him since.”
Tara’s face fell. Luis sat down on the bed and pulled her onto his lap, his face a few inches from hers so that they could continue the conversation quietly.
“Maybe we should talk about this another time. I don’t know if the hut is bugged.”
“It isn’t. My laptop would have sent me a prearranged text if it was.”
“There’s no signal here.”
“My laptop creates its own signal and is attached to my phone via Bluetooth. I can’t vouch for whether or not someone is hiding outside the windows trying to listen, but there are no bugs.”
“Then they won’t hear us like this, and they won’t know why we’re whispering.”
Tara nodded her understanding.
“I can’t believe I missed him by a few months.”
“You wouldn’t even have known he was here if he hadn’t tried and failed.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Some of us are very happy here. It’s hard to live among humans and hide the very essence of who you are. Here, we are allowed to be ourselves. Women flock to the resort to enjoy us because we are shifters, and I get to run free in the jungle for a week every month without having to worry about freaking people out. That seems so little, but it’s a huge thing to me. I was drafted into the military because I’m a shifter, but I was ostracized for the same reason. Arnold is the only one who treated me like a person, and that’s why we became so close. But when Martin and the others tried to escape and Martin was captured and then disappeared, I realized that there was something more going on. The more I looked into it, the more I realized that I had been living in my own happy bubble and not seeing what was going on right under my nose. When I was looking for Martin, I discovered that GRE was not only working in the controversial field of eugenics, but that they were trafficking humans in order to build a better shifter. Martin’s disappearance opened my eyes to a few things I hadn’t seen. Because of him, I contacted Arnold and told him what I suspected. So here Martin is, missing and probably dead, still helping others.”
Her Undercover Panther : A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Page 4
