by Bonnie Vanak
She could tell by his mutinous look he didn’t play well with others.
“I’ll work with you, but I’m in charge. If you’re in danger, you obey me or I’ll do what I must. No compromise.”
“I’ve taken very good care of myself for eleven years….”
“No compromise,” he repeated. “Or you stay here where Bernard can watch over you and I haul ass alone at first light.”
She sighed. “Okay. But you don’t ride roughshod over me. Deal?”
“Deal.”
She stuck out a palm. Instead of a brisk handshake, he turned her hand over, brought it to his lips and kissed it.
“Hell, I wouldn’t be rough with you. You deserve gentleness,” he said softly and nibbled at her knuckles.
The wet warmth of his mouth against her skin sent all her nerve endings raging into overdrive. Kayla felt herself filled with yearning. Moisture trickled between her legs as a hot ache built in her loins.
A satisfied smile graced his full mouth as he released her hand. Kayla pretended indifference, though she was certain he could hear her crazily pounding heart.
“When is this meeting?” she asked.
Guy glanced outside. “Seven, dinnertime. In the meantime, I suggest we both grab a little rest.” The sexy grin returned. “Do you prefer the right side of the bed or the left?”
“I like the right side of my own bed.” She headed for the door. “See you downstairs at seven.”
Bernard was overjoyed to see Guy, and charmed by Kayla. His French staff served them a delicious rack of lamb in the private dining room. His old friend entertained them with stories of the island’s legends before changing the topic to their assignment.
“Henri St. Pierre is a good Draicon. He runs Les Jardin, the best hotel in that region. He knew the Quartermaine pack well. If not for him, Brianna would be dead.”
Guy toyed with his heavy silver fork. “How did he find her?”
Bernard glanced at him. “She fled to his hotel a week ago after her pack was slaughtered. The Morphs didn’t touch her—why, I don’t know. Poor thing was in shock and only stayed with Henri because she’d met him a few weeks before and trusted him. Henri’s wife, Danielle, what a beauty! I met her yesterday over lunch before she left for Henri’s. She flew in from France to care for Brianna until you could arrive.”
“Why is Brianna still at Henri’s? Why not get her yourself?” Kayla asked.
His friend stared at his plate. “My senses aren’t what they used to be. I could no more scent a Morph than a human could, so what good am I to Brianna? That little one was severely traumatized. Besides Henri, she only trusts females. The Morphs who attacked her pack were disguised as friendly men.”
Bernard leaned forward. “Never drop your guard, Guy. There are Morphs lurking in the mountains, and something else evil has infiltrated the island. There are even rumors of a Remorae.”
Guy shot him an amused look. “Another of your island legends?” He deepened his voice as if telling a ghost story. “Beware the Remorae, my son. It will slowly suck the water out of you until you solidify like a mummy. They crave the sweetness that is in all Draicon children until their first wolf change.”
“They’re not legend,” Bernard said softly. “They existed once.”
“And they’re extinct now.” Guy twirled his wineglass. “I fight what’s in front of me, not myths. The Remorae are nothing but myth now.”
“I hope you are right.” Bernard looked pensive.
Much later, Guy couldn’t sleep. He found the bed too distracting. The velvety feel of the sheets made him think about Kayla’s soft skin cushioning him as he mounted her. Would she be wet and welcoming as he drove into her?
Would she be welcoming at all, knowing what he was?
He rolled over, punched his pillow. Tension knotted his gut. He was a cold-blooded killer who’d dispatched his alpha. A criminal. Kayla wouldn’t want him, couldn’t ever learn to care for someone like him.
“I’m still alone. I’ll always be alone,” he whispered into the night.
He lay awake, the thought aching inside him for a long time.
Chapter 5
Over breakfast, they talked about the journey ahead. In a chambray-blue work shirt, faded jeans and hiking boots, Guy looked rugged and earthy. He’d shaved and the clean look made his face appear more vulnerable. She glanced up from slicing her banana.
“You look a little pale. Rough night?”
“The bed takes a little getting used to,” he muttered.
She could only imagine. For a moment, he looked like a lost puppy. Then he flexed his shoulders. Her gaze drifted to his sculpted body carved from hard muscle. Guy was a powerful Draicon. Underestimating him could prove dangerous.
Afterward, they came downstairs as porters loaded their luggage into the waiting Toyota 4Runner. Inside the SUV, Kayla turned the key. But the engine didn’t start. She blew out a frustrated breath.
Guy held out his hand. “I’m driving. You’re shotgun.”
“The hell I am. You haven’t driven in thirty years!”
“I’m Draicon and can use magick to manipulate the vehicle and traffic. You no longer practice magick.” He pinned her with a severe look. “Give me the keys.”
Her fingers tightened on the wheel. “Compromise, wolf. I’ll drive so you can watch, and relearn, until we reach the highway leading to the country.”
Sinew and tendons corded on his neck as his body tensed. Those cool eyes turned into blue fire. After a long minute, he gave a low curse. The engine started with a smooth purr.
Once they were in the city, driving became complicated. Kayla navigated past a flock of schoolchildren in blue gingham uniforms, past women carrying straw baskets of mangoes atop their heads.
Guy cursed as an impatient BMW cut them off. He waved his hands and suddenly all the cars in front of them pulled over to the side, leaving an open path for her.
Kayla smiled, shook her head. “You sure are cocky.”
“Just want to make things easier on you, sunshine.”
“I can take care of myself, wolf.”
“No doubt,” he murmured. “Sixteen years old, and thrown out into the big, bad world.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “What about you? A demon prison is far from easy living.”
His expression grew stone cold. “It’s where they send Draicon like me.”
“I know, you killed your alpha. With good reason, I’m sure. So I doubt you’re as bad as everyone thinks you are. I sense that about you.”
Guy’s jaw tightened. “Sense this. If I don’t deliver that little girl to Dell, they’ll send me back to that hellhole. I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way. So how can you be so damn confident I’m not that bad?”
Kayla’s breath hitched. It made sense now why he was desperate to give Brianna to Dell.
She wouldn’t want to return to that prison. She glanced at his taut face. The demons had told her Guy was a savage. And yet she felt no fear.
Kayla settled for honesty. “Logically, I don’t know because I don’t know you. But, somehow, I feel that you’d gnaw your right arm off before letting an innocent get hurt.”
She darted a glance at his scowling face. “You want to think you’re only out for yourself, but deep down you know it’s not true. And that scares you, because caring gets you hurt. But I also know that when we get to Brianna, you’ll provide her the protection she needs and keep her safe. Because she’s the most important thing to you right now.”
He was silent a moment, then spoke. “So you think.”
“Yes.”
“I wouldn’t be so certain about that,” he said darkly.
Once they accessed the highway, Kayla pulled over and traded places with Guy. A blur of green sugarcane fields on their left contrasted to the tangy scent of brine from the ocean on their right. They passed several villages, and stopped twice to allow a donkey to cross the road.
“Donkeys have the right of way,” Gu
y noted.
“Most asses think they do.”
“Damn, sunshine, you are the queen of comebacks. Or are all women like you these days?”
Kayla considered. “Well, ever since we got the vote and decided that bra burning releases too many greenhouse gases, we had to do something else to entertain ourselves.”
He laughed. Guy hung an arm out the window, his body language relaxed, yet she sensed he was ready to react. Kayla wondered if that’s what prison did to you. Never made you able to drop your guard.
“So why did you kill your alpha?” she asked.
He gunned the engine as the donkey cleared the road. “I caught him plotting to kill a few in our pack to increase his power base. I was fool enough to tell a woman. She told him. Simon came after me. I killed him. Prison. End of story.”
Outrage filled her. “She ratted you out?”
Guy gave her a sideways glance. “Pack loyalty rules.”
“Not for me,” she muttered. “I’d rather be a lone wolf.”
“Me, too.”
They were quiet a few minutes as she ruminated over this startling fact.
She wondered what he’d been like before prison. Beneath the tough, edgy side was a soft spot he seemed determined not to expose.
A couple of hours later, he took a narrow dirt road flanked by ferns and towering pines. In a clearing by a narrow stream, he parked beneath a mahogany tree’s sprawling shade.
“Lunchtime,” he said briefly. “You could use a little food, since your breakfast couldn’t even keep an ant alive.”
“And you have a picnic basket packed?”
“Always come prepared.” From the backseat he pulled a small cooler, a thick blanket and plates.
Beneath the tree, Guy spread out the blanket, put the plates down and opened the cooler. The tangy scent of fried chicken assaulted her senses. He picked up a leg and began to eat.
Salivating, Kayla stared at him as he finished it. Guy took out another, waved it before her like a baton.
“There’s this. And the rabbit food I asked Bernard to pack for you. If you really want it.”
His thoughtfulness touched her. But the veggies didn’t make her mouth water as much as the chicken did.
“Nice, crisp chicken. Come on, just a little taste?” Guy touched her lips with one finger. “You look so damn hungry, Kayla, could you please eat for me?”
She closed her eyes against the sensual feel of his finger tracing her mouth. Disappointment filled her as he withdrew it.
“I’m going to check out the stream. Help yourself.” He dropped the leg onto the plate.
Kayla watched Guy saunter off. Inside the cooler, she found a shaker of salt, chicken, tomatoes, celery, a loaf of bread and a jar of honeyed butter. She took a tomato, salted it and hesitated.
Oh, hell. Kayla attacked the chicken with ravenous hunger. Her stomach felt filled for the first time in years as she devoured piece after piece.
Dismayed, she stared at the bare bones littering her plate.
Feeling guilty, she spread honeyed butter on a slice of bread and ate it. The thought hit her that Guy wanted her to eat meat, restore her lost energy and turn wolf again.
But why?
Maybe it was time to find out.
It was safe. She couldn’t see him.
Guy removed his socks and hiking boots, rolled up his jeans. Sitting on a flat rock by the gurgling stream, he sighed with pleasure as he dipped his scarred feet into the water. Guy removed his shirt and carefully folded it on the rock. After thirty years of wearing rags, he valued good clothing.
The lash marks delivered by the demons still hurt. Rolling up his jeans, he waded into the gurgling stream. Guy bent over, splashed the cool water down his aching back.
A soft cry made him whirl around. Guy bunched his fists, his eyes narrowed.
Kayla stood on the mossy bank.
She’d seen. Humiliation dug in like twin knives. He wanted to turn away before she started gawking like the damn tourists at the zoo had stared at his wolf.
Guy splashed to the bank, reached for his shirt.
Her hand stopped him. Kayla walked behind him. Guy closed his eyes, the agony of shame much greater than old pain from the lashes. He flinched beneath the gentle touch of her palm.
“What did they do to you?” she whispered.
The careless shrug hid his feelings. “The demons got bored.”
Her searching gaze probed his. Guy fisted his hands. “I charged the cage at my keeper. He was yelling at a little girl. I hate it when anyone is nasty to kids.”
Yeah, I’m just a stupid, soft wolf who should have known better.
She traced the cruel lines carved deep into his flesh. “I could whip them myself for doing this to you.”
He closed his eyes as she caressed his back. Too long he’d hidden the emotional pain that sank far deeper than any physical hurt. He’d been alone, no one to comfort him, huddling into the morass of his own dark thoughts until one time he’d taunted the demons into nearly killing him.
Guy had longed for death to finally end the agonized loneliness of his inner prison. But they hadn’t done it. Instead, they’d locked him in the “box” for thirteen months. Shrouded in darkness, he’d nearly gone mad.
“I’m so sorry for what they did to you.”
Her trembling voice shattered his hard-fought defenses. Guy turned. He cupped her chin, amazed at the translucent tears filling her eyes.
“Hey, sunshine, it’s okay,” he said softly. “It’s in the past.”
But she looked so distressed, he longed to comfort her. Guy bent his head and brushed his lips against hers.
She moaned, slid her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
Guy’s groin ached with fiery need as he tunneled his hands through her thick curls. Relishing the taste of her, the honey mingling with spice. Beneath his ravaging mouth, she parted her lips.
Sweet female arousal scented the air. He fought the primitive male impulse to strip her naked, tumble her backward, spread her legs wide and push himself into her. She was innocent, and deserved better. Even a savage like him could be gentle.
Gooseflesh suddenly broke out on his arms. He knew the feeling from putting up with people staring into his cage. Guy pulled away, snatched up his shirt and shrugged into it. “What’s wrong?”
Kayla was breathless, her mouth swollen by his kisses. Guy leaned close to whisper into her ear.
“We’re being watched.”
Chapter 6
They searched the woods and found nothing. Still, Guy was insistent someone had been silently observing them. He’d felt no immediate danger. But something had been in those woods.
His grim look spooked her. Unlike Guy, she’d been away from the inherent dangers of the Draicon world for a long time. If she didn’t trust him, she put herself in jeopardy.
Kayla decided to trust him.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the Les Jardin hotel. The opulent, two-story hotel was practically deserted. Coconut palms flanked the terrace. Dining tables draped in orange and white linens were adorned with lavender orchids. The open-air room featured a resplendent view of turquoise water and jagged rocks lining the shore.
Henri St. Pierre greeted them with a beaming smile. His skin was tanned as a polished walnut, his head covered with a shock of thick brown hair. He barked orders to the porters to handle their luggage.
A tall, graceful woman joined him. Henri’s gaze softened as he looked at her.
“My wife, Danielle. She just arrived two days ago,” he told them.
Kayla stared. Her shining black hair pulled into an elegant French twist, Danielle wore a sleeveless red sheath that accented a breathtaking figure. She had the beauty of a polished supermodel. In her grungy jeans and dusty shirt, Kayla felt downright lumpy in comparison.
But Guy scarcely regarded Danielle. It was as if no other woman existed but Kayla, because his gaze always rested on her. She warmed at the thought.
>
Their waterfront suites had separate living rooms and bedrooms. Guy’s suite was connected to hers by a door in Kayla’s living room.
After Henri left them with an invitation to join them for dinner later, she stripped and showered. She blew her hair dry, wrapped herself in a towel and walked into the bedroom.
Guy stood at the sliding glass doors opened to the cool sea breeze. His duffel bag was in one corner, the cooler on the desk.
“We’re sharing,” he told her. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
The towel offered little covering. But she suddenly didn’t care. “I think you want to share a room because of what happened at the stream.”
Her tone was teasing, but his expression was grim. “I’m not taking chances. Something smells wrong here. Can’t you tell?”
Kayla was ashamed to admit she hadn’t.
His expression softened. “My senses have always been stronger than other Draicon’s, especially my sense of smell. You’ll get it back, Kayla. Eat more protein. You’ll be shifting before you know it.”
“I stopped being Draicon long ago.”
A frustrated sigh escaped him. “I need you sharp and ready for whatever can happen. Marching into this without your magick is like being blindfolded.”
“I can’t,” she protested. “Don’t ask me to try.”
“Why are you so damn afraid of being a wolf?”
Emotion closed her throat tight. It felt like a fist squeezing. “Because I never want to be one again. Just leave it, Guy.”
“No, I won’t.” In two strides he was before her, his hands gripping her shoulders. “Level with me, Kayla. What’s so wrong with being who you are that you’re running from it?”
“I’m not Draicon.”
“The hell you aren’t!” he shouted. “Stop denying yourself, damn it, your own mother—”
“My own mother betrayed me.”
The words were a hoarse shout. Guy’s face twisted in confusion as he released her.
