by Elle Thorne
“Not at the moment.”
“Why don’t you approach him?”
She pulled her eyes from Reese. “What?” Was Lézare picking on her? “No. I…”
“It’s okay, Alexandria.” Lézare’s propensity not to use nicknames occasionally got on her nerves, but tonight, in this environment, with their ball gowns and mask, it seemed apropos.
His words were meant to soothe her, to tell her it was okay to love, to tell her it was okay to trust.
Who was he to say? He hadn’t been involved with a woman in years, as far as she knew.
She swallowed the lump of emotion aside. Her brother was her best friend. She couldn’t have asked for better. She forced a smile to her face, fairly certain he’d know it wasn’t sincere, but hopefully he’d realize it was better than getting emotional at the ball.
Lézare nodded. “I think I’ll go check on things.” He brushed a kiss on her cheek. “See you soon.”
With that he was gone, darting between the revelers as though he was on a mission. Was he?
She glanced back at the man who’d caught her attention.
Reese Nielsen.
Her tigress snarled her appreciation at the man’s physique, then chuffed with pleasure.
The man looked at her, his gaze pinning her, his stare seeing straight through to the core of her.
It was as if they’d met before. It was as if they’d…
This is not happening.
Her tigress chuffed that, indeed, it was.
Chapter Twelve
The drive was short, the little paths were dotted with golf courts and those who opted against them, deciding instead, to trek to the main house.
As they pulled up to the grand staircase that led to the front door, Reese understood why they’d been offered the cart. Ladies and gentlemen—shifters all—were dusting off from the dirt and pine needles that had attached themselves to hemlines.
Satin ball gowns and dress pants were disheveled as the housekeeper stood at the top of the staircase shaking her head in disbelief. Reese’s shifter hearing picked up her orders to the staff to assist the guests with eliminating any sign of the walk through the pine needles and soft dirt.
Rory gave him a haughty look, as if to ask if Reese was glad to have acquiesced and taken the cart. Reese didn’t acknowledge his brother’s reaction, watching the guests’ almost comical reaction to having a little dirt on their attire.
The sounds of music came from the open doors and windows.
A minuet? he wondered.
Yeah, and that limits the extent of my knowledge of music, he admitted, to our mother’s chagrin.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. Mrs. Nielsen had tried to get him to appreciate “the finer things.”
Not Reese. Not Rory.
Poor Mom. All those years trying to turn us into gentlemen.
That wasn’t the kind of man Reese was. He liked working with his hands. Two weekends per month, he traveled to his little cabin in the hill country, not far from Fredericksburg. He maintained his own property and put up his own fencing. He’d earned his callouses. And in the early morning and late evening hours, he fished. He escaped the hustle of Houston, not eager to be the eligible bachelor. He played that role the other two weekends—but it was getting old, he admitted to that easily.
The scent of appetizers wafted his way, teasing Reese. The delectable aromas beckoned to him. He heard a growl and wasn’t sure if it was his wolf or his stomach.
He hopped off the golf cart and took the steps two at a time, turning back toward Rory. “Let’s get inside. I’m starving.”
The room was semi-dark, with an occasional candle in a sconce on the wall and a chandelier that captured and winked the reflecting flames. Not that the amount of light mattered to the shifters, what with their preternatural vision.
Ladies, resplendent in their colorful dresses, spanning hues in the rainbow giggled, the sound like tinkling bells. Hair in fancy updos or in ringlets. Faces hidden by three-quarter and half-masks. Lips glossed to perfection. They brought fans to their faces coquettishly. He wasn’t sure what seemed more appetizing at the moment. The aroma of the food or the vision of the ladies.
The guests were gathered in tight circles in the large room’s perimeter, laughing and chatting. The center of the room was occupied with couples dancing—bringing his mother’s disappointment to his mind. Again.
They’d better do a dance I can manage.
And then—
Time stopped.
The sound of the music vanished.
The odor of the food disappeared.
Alexa.
Around her, the world faded away, dark—as if there were a spotlight, only on her.
Reese’s lungs burned with a need for air, but he couldn’t convince his body to take in any. His wolf howled, the sound filling Reese’s head. He yearned to silence the wolf, to comfort him, yet he wasn’t even able to level his own reaction to her.
He couldn’t tear his eyes off Alexa Arceneaux. How was this woman able to affect him and his wolf in this way? She stood there, cream-colored ball gown caressing her body, shimmering, clinging in all the right places, and moving with her every step. She was more delectable than all the women in the room put together.
All the women and all the food, he thought, though his stomach rumbled and tightened with hunger.
Much more than any woman I’ve ever known.
Or will ever know, his wolf’s howl proclaimed.
He rubbed his leg, and it was a second later he realized the scar was tingling.
Her gaze glittered, focused on him. She was talking to her brother. She said something to Lézare and seemed to point in Reese’s direction.
Reese tried to concentrate his hearing so he could pick up their conversation. He normally would have been able to, but with the loud music and the other guests talking, Lézare’s and Alexa’s conversation was lost in the din.
“Not a good idea.” Rory nudged him with his elbow, the blow striking Reese’s kidney, and definitely catching his attention.
“Why the hell not?”
“She’s Lézare Arceneaux’s sister.”
“And?”
“Their family has a reputation.” Rory cocked his head to the side, closer to Reese. “You know.” He’d lowered his voice. “Other beings. Do we really want to deal with that sort of thing?”
Reese thought of Leandra—she had to be one of those ‘other beings.’ If you only knew, little bro, if you only knew.
He didn’t even know himself, not for sure. Shifters avoided other types. Some shifter types even avoided other shifter types, going an entire lifetime without interacting. Reese had seen an ivy shifter once. Just once. When he was young; and that was just a glimpse. He’d never encountered a witch or a vampire before.
And I just as soon as keep it that way.
“I’m going to meet her.”
“You’re too damned hardheaded for your own good. So many fine shifter women out there, human women too. And you’re going to mix it up with an Arceneaux.”
Reese frowned at his brother.
Rory held up a hand. “I’m just saying.”
“You’ve said enough.” He wasn’t going to spend tonight merely watching her like he did last night. Tonight he’d get to know her.
When did getting to know her become my priority?
It occurred to him he hadn’t given the underground fighting ring much thought in the last twenty-four hours.
Oh well. I’ll take care of that right after this weekend ends.
His senses kicked out an alert, like he was being watched, and it wasn’t Alexa. She was looking at her brother.
He glanced around, but caught no one’s eyes.
“I’m going to the buffet,” Rory announced. “You?”
His appetite for food had dissipated. “Nah. Not hungry.” The sexy redhead was the only thing on his mind. “I’ll catch up with you later.” Reese left his brother and headed toward the
corner of the room.
“What the hell,” he muttered under his breath. Lézare had vanished and Alexa was now talking to Theo, Lézare’s head of security.
They were leaning too close, talking too low. Reese couldn’t control the jealous pangs that struck him. Was there something between the big lion shifter and Alexa? Until now, he wouldn’t have thought so, but they seemed on close terms.
Reese’s wolf snarled.
I feel the same way.
Reese wasn’t about to let that lion shifter get between him and Alexa, not before he’d even been introduced to her.
Theo patted her shoulder, drawing her in for a quick hug, then headed toward the entrance where he pulled two of the security guys into a conversation.
Alexa stood at the base of the stairs, her hand on the carved wooded banister.
Reese had almost reached her when another shifter stepped in front of her. Reese overheard him asking her for a dance.
Before Alexa could respond Reese stepped in front of the shifter. “Ms. Arceneaux’s presence is needed.”
The shifter’s jaw worked beneath the mask. “I just asked her for a dance.”
“She’s needed.” Reese’s tone brooked no argument.
“It seems I’m needed,” she told the shifter. “Perhaps another time?”
Chapter Thirteen
“This time I’m the one saving you,” the man her brother called Reese murmured.
“Pardon?”
He rubbed his hand over his thigh. “Nothing.” He took a step toward the veranda, then turned back. “Coming?”
“If I’m needed I suppose I should.”
He stepped to the side and indicated she should precede him, then placed his hand in the small of her back. His fingertips seared her skin, even though there was fabric between their flesh.
She could feel his gaze creating a thrumming in her body that began at her core and emanated to her scalp, her toes, her fingers. Her breathing was shallow, her body intensely aware of his presence.
Balmy Louisiana air greeted them as they passed through the glass double doors. The sound of the music grew faint, the harmony of crickets and bull frogs taking precedence with every step they took away from the ballroom and toward a dark corner of the veranda. They stopped at a giant marble railing and stood overlooking the maze below.
“You mentioned I was needed…” Alexa was beginning to believe there wasn’t a matter that actually required her attention. Deep in her chest a rumbling sensation gave her pause. Was it more than a sensation? Was she making that sound? She looked around, then studied the man to see if he would react to the rumbling.
Alexa concentrated on her tigress, trying to discern if she knew anything.
She’s purring, Alexa realized with a start.
Her tigress was purring.
Tigers don’t do that. Do they?
Whatever it was… her tigress was doing it.
“You’re very needed,” the man’s voice was huskier than it had been inside. An amber glow flared in the depths of his eyes.
“Have we met before?” She couldn’t get past the sensation that she knew him—somehow.
As if I’d forget ever meeting this man.
Tall, so much so that she had to tilt her head to look at his face. His hair was short. It wasn’t as dark as she’d thought it was initially, with bronze highlights that caught the moon’s silver beam. A strong jaw, as if chiseled from rock was joined by a set of high cheekbones and a pair of eyes that held directness.
“You don’t know?”
A kiss of embarrassment licked flames on her cheeks, embarrassed that he’d think she’d have met and forgotten him.
“No. It’s just…”
He placed a fingertip on her chin. “You don’t have to say it.” His tone said, he got it.
She believed he did. There was something about this man, his directness, his honesty. She wanted to scent his emotions, hoping to get a bead on him, to know more about this man who affected her body, her mind, and her tigress. She drew the air in, analyzing it, letting it sit on her senses while Reese studied her.
Alexa turned toward the maze, away from the piercing eyes of the wolf shifter who faced her. She held onto the guardrail with one hand, clutching the rock-solid marble. She pretended to look at the maze, closed her eyes and let his scent infiltrate her senses.
Earthy pine and…
Blood?
Blood!
Her eyes flew open. She swiveled toward him, gave him a once-over. There was no blood anywhere that she could see.
His eyes glowed a deep amber.
She swallowed a lump made of emotions she couldn’t peg. “There’s blood.”
“You’re remembering?” His voice was low, so soft that she almost didn’t hear the words he said.
A shudder coursed over her body.
Is this Leandra’s doing?
She didn’t want to tell him she scented blood she couldn’t see, blood that as far as she knew, didn’t exist. “What am I remembering?” Her whispered words hung on the heavy swamp air, thick, tangible, as though they were connected.
He blinked slowly, breaking the connection between them. “I was hoping you’d tell me.” He covered her hand with his.
Tell him what? “I’m not…”
He took her hand, pulled her toward him until she was facing him fully.
“You don’t think it’s strange we haven’t introduced ourselves?”
She tilted her head way back, seeking something in him, finding his wolf.
“Reese.” She said his name, the name her brother had told her he was called by.
“Alexa.” His full bottom lip curved into a small smile.
Her tigress chuffed in her chest. The sound was a happy one, unlike any Alexa had heard her make before.
A low rumbling came from Reese’s chest.
A chill ran through her. “They know…”
“They do seem to know each other,” Reese finished her thought for her.
“How?”
“She saved me—him—us.”
Alexa chewed on her nail. “Why don’t I remember?”
“You don’t have dreams? Of the chase? My wound?”
She cocked her head. “Wound?” Yet without even knowing why she looked down at his thigh.
He took her hand, the one he was still holding and moved it close to his thigh. He held it a mere finger’s width from his body, but didn’t lay her hand on him.
Even separated by the tiny distance, a buzzing made the fingers of her hand tingle.
He placed her hand on his outer thigh.
She gulped, feeling much like a fish that had been thrown ashore, squirming and gasping. A vision flashed in her mind, like a series of lightning flashes.
In her mind’s eye, Alexa saw a wounded wolf—Reese’s. And there was a tigress hovering over him—she couldn’t see the tigress’s face—but she was licking his wounds and guarding him. The tigress turned her head.
Alexa sucked a breath in.
The tigress. Her tigress!
But I don’t remember that. Where…? What…?
Deep within, her tigress pushed against her in a way she never had before. Alexa’s teeth began that familiar twinge. The twinge that heralded erupting canines. Her nerve endings twitched, her bones ached.
This can’t happen right now.
Alexa pushed her tigress back. Her efforts were fruitless. She may as well have been shoving a monument. Her tigress was unyielding, pressing Alexa further as her tendons stretched.
“No.” The word was a growl.
It was Alexa’s sentiment because she didn’t want to shift, but her tigress was winning the battle.
Chapter Fourteen
Reese didn’t release the hand he was holding. Beneath her flesh he felt her bones stretching, shifting. Slight creaking and crunching sounds hidden by the night’s denizens—the crickets, bullfrogs, rustling rabbits, and the occasional screeching owl.
Her fin
gers became paws. The tips were pads. She dropped to all fours, her body shifting as she dropped. The ball gown yielding to luxurious fur.
She’s going to be pissed when she shifts back.
Though their clothing remained on their bodies after a shift that returned them to their human form, the clothing was rather worse for wear—askew, rumpled, and occasionally torn.
His thoughts of that vanished as the woman he was attracted to transformed into the tigress in his dreams.
The same eyes, the same intricate patterns. The same silver and white against black stripes. A long, elegant neck upon which was perched a beautifully marked face with eyes so vivid as to be emerald in color.
He stared at the tigress. She was the very one from his dreams.
He reached out a hand placed it on her shoulder, just at the withers. Muscles rippled beneath her fur.
She angled her head, placing it against his thigh, resting on the same scar she’d tended to all those years ago when they were…
Where the hell were we? Who could answer that?
An image flitted through his mind of a dark-skinned, dark-haired woman with glowing eyes.
His wolf didn’t allow Reese to dwell on the thought. The wolf shoved Reese aside, planting his paws firmly in Reese’s mind, demanding Reese immediately yield his body to him.
Reese knew, he understood. And he wasn’t going to stop his wolf from having this moment.
He was no stranger to shifting, indulging his wolf often—equally sharing space with him.
His canines erupted. His face lengthened, his body stretched. He fell to all four, pads striking the tiled veranda without making a sound.
Chapter Fifteen
Alexa’s light-colored tigress eyes widened when she saw the size of Reese’s wolf. She was no small tigress. She wasn’t as large as her sister Evie, but she wasn’t diminutive either, but this wolf…
She took a step back. Her tigress studied him. Noting the bulk of his muscles, the way his ears were perked, listening, attentive, on guard. His neck was thick, rising from a broad chest. She let her gaze wander, drinking him in. It felt like it had been eons since she’d seen him. Her gaze was drawn to the jagged scar that ran the length of his thigh, parting the fur, revealing a jagged line of ivory skin.
