Centaur Rivalry (Touched Series Book 3)

by Straight, Nancy

  I wasn’t sure if my neck was bruised, and if it was, it might not be visible in the moonlight. Any injury inflicted would heal quickly, Drake might not even see it. “I’m fine. Where are the others? And why did you say you were sorry?”

  “Gage’s standing guard over the enforcers. Everyone is fine, not even a scratch. We’re going to have to get out of here. We don’t know how long until the others arrive.”

  I shook my head. No matter where we went, the Council’s enforcers would find us . . . unless. Another idea occurred to me. “Can we get a hold of Katherine? See if we can get her down here.”

  As if the thought had never occurred to him he asked, “Why?”

  The answer seemed obvious. “She’s the only Lapith I’ve ever met. If she were with us, no one would be able to find us – none of us. Our families are here. She could keep everyone safe.”

  “Lapiths are the sworn enemy of the Centaur. No matter how persuasive you are, she won’t put herself at risk to come here and protect us.”

  “You heard her in the car yesterday. She cares for Brent. If she knew Brent’s family was in danger, I bet she’d be on the next plane.”

  Drake leaned down and extended his hand to me, “If anyone could track her down, I’d put my money on Bianca. Let’s go get her.”

  Images of my family started flashing in my mind. I’d been so preoccupied with the Centaur who’d come for me that I hadn’t tried to find out what happened. Deep down I knew they were okay, but I asked Drake for confirmation anyway, “You’re sure everyone’s okay?”

  “Yes. Everyone’s fine. Well . . . Dad’s a little shaken up, but he’ll be fine in a minute. He didn’t know that I had the ability to . . . trot.” Drake gave me a lopsided grin, and I put my fist over my mouth to hide the giggle.

  Drake had transformed so quickly, I wondered how he’d done it. “But how did you. . . ?”

  He smiled sheepishly as his thumb caressed my hand. “It wasn’t anything I consciously did. As soon as I saw the enforcers on the beach, my body took control and transformed on its own.”

  Bianca’s voice called to us from the beach. “Drake? Cami? Where are you two?”

  When the two of us stepped out onto the sand, faces full of fear, exhilaration, and shock at what had just happened looked back at us. Will was the first to recover. He took a step toward Drake, held out his hand and said, “You are the only Centaur worthy of my daughter. Thank you for protecting my family.”

  Drake shook his head. “There will be more. We may not be able to stay here.”

  I squeezed Drake’s hand. He nodded toward Bianca, “Unless our party planner can get four more guests to join us.”

  She didn’t hesitate as she read my thoughts and her smile grew. “I think I can convince them.” She turned toward Will, “We’re going to need to charter a plane, and we’re going to need a couple passports.”

  William looked confused while Gretchen’s smile stretched from ear to ear. She saw what Bianca and I were thinking, then relief filled her, “You know how to contact Brent?”

  Bianca nodded vigorously, “We’ll have to pull him away from the roulette wheel, but it shouldn’t be too hard to convince them.”

  Gretchen looked at me and silently asked, “Brent came to see you?”

  I nodded, “Yeah, we all got out of South Dakota yesterday. He went to Las Vegas with the others.”

  “Will told all the boys to go into hiding. We left right after Beau. We can message him through a Facebook account we sent up, but we didn’t know where he’d gone.”

  Drake stood off in the distance – away from the others. He had been right beside me when we walked up, but all the stares must have bothered him. As I moved toward him, he was forcing a smile on his face. Did he not want Katherine here? Did he want to go on the run instead?

  “Why are you off by yourself?”

  Drake’s voice was hollow, “I just pictured tonight a lot differently.”

  “The night’s not over yet.”

  “I haven’t exactly mastered this body yet, Cami. I don’t know how to change back.”

  “Do it the same way you did at Katherine’s house.”

  “You were there. The only reason it worked was Daniel was goading me on. It’s not a light switch I can flip at will.” His hoof stomped in frustration.

  I looked around for something to stand on. He was too tall for me to look directly into his eyes. I spied a fallen tree trunk a few yards away and motioned for Drake to come over to it. I stood on the decomposing trunk and held my hands out to help me balance. Once I was steady, I put my hands on either side of his face. My thumbs caressed the tender skin just below his eyes.

  I let my mind’s wall crumble. All my thoughts lay open for him to see. Flashes of memories of the two of us faded in and out of my conscious thought: the moment he caught me in mid-air the first time I met him, just after I had stumbled off of Will’s stairs. . . the overwhelming desire I had for him the first time we kissed. . . the relief I felt when he sneaked into my room at Zandra’s house and told me everything was going to be okay. All these emotions and images were rolled together for Drake to see and experience through my eyes.

  Flashes of light began peppering his back, just as they had in Katherine’s entryway when Daniel sent him into a jealous rage. I pushed images of the two of us harder: the memory from two nights before in Katherine’s garage immediately after Drake had transformed . . . the raw desire we had shared. The more images I pushed, the brighter the lights became, until there was an enormous explosion of light, and before me stood Drake, the man.

  The transformation to his human form brought him back to his normal size. I hopped down off the log and buried my face in his chest. Drake was acutely aware of the attention his transformation had brought from the wedding guests and the heavily guarded enforcers. Bart, Beau, Ben, Bruce, and Gage surrounded them. Each enforcer’s hands had been bound, and from all the cuts and bruises, it looked like each had been in a title fight and lost.

  A bright red blush appeared in front of me before Drake reached for some nearby plant’s enormous leaves to cover himself.

  All smiles, I asked, “Now, tell me again how you pictured tonight?”

  Drake balanced the two leaves covering himself, holding each firmly in place on his front and back. “Come with me and I’ll show you.”

  Chapter 22

  (Camille, Bungalow outside of Cancun, Mexico)

  We made it as far as the entryway inside the bungalow. I’d wanted Drake since he knelt in front of me giving me his betrothal pledge on the way to Ireland. Want wasn’t a strong enough word – craved. He stood in front of me, my back to the door as his hands let the two large plant leaves covering him drop to the floor. It was the first time I’d seen him naked; my breath hitched and my heart felt like it would beat out of my chest. Drake looked like a sculpture, a true work of art.

  My hands went to his chest, tracing the broad lines defining his muscles. When I saw him waiting for me on the beach with the priest, I didn’t think it was possible for him to look more handsome – I was wrong. A body like his should never be covered up with clothes.

  It was here, finally, the day he would be mine in every sense of the word. Drake’s strong hands reached up and untied my bikini top. It fell to the floor with the leaves. The sheer wrap around my waste and my bikini bottoms joined them. Drake’s eyes took me in as his hands glided all over my exposed flesh, creating goose bumps in their wake. He brought his mouth to mine, hard – his tongue greedily penetrating. Drake stepped into me, his erection hard as his gentle glides across my skin morphed into harrowed kneading. A husky moan escaped him as tingles ripped through my body.

  I didn’t want to take things slowly; the pent-up desire wanted free, and I had no strength nor ability to try to cage it. The ache that had been with me screamed to the surface. I put my arms over his shoulders as I wrapped my legs around his waist. There would be no more enforcers, or transformations, or dogs to interrupt us.


  He held me in place and walked into the bedroom. His teeth grazed my earlobe as his voice whispered, “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Drake eased me onto the bed. I lay on my back as Drake’s lips kissed, caressed and tasted every inch of my body. When I was sure I couldn’t take one more second without him inside me, I grabbed the back of his head and demanded, “Now.”

  *****

  I awoke to bliss. Bright sun rays fought their way in through the gaps in the window’s shutters. The sound of the surf had been our background music all night. In the light of day, the crashing waves sounded angry against the backdrop of the chirping birds.

  Drake’s naked body lay against mine. I’d never known a truer friend, a fiercer protector, or a deeper love than the man I could now call my husband. If Drake were right, and more enforcers were on the way, this is how I wanted to spend my last few days on earth: not running . . . not hiding . . . not working on a strategy to bring down Zandra. I wanted only to lie in his arms, to feel his breath against my neck, and to watch the images of us that play in his mind while he dreams.

  His hand brushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear as his lips drifted to my neck. His voice was gravelly next to my ear, “Good morning, wife.”

  I jerked slightly, unaware that he, too, was awake. My hunger for his touch was acute, and his word spoken against my ear – “wife” sent tingles to my toes. My body was exhausted in a delightful way. Our families waited for us at the main house, but I only wanted to stay where we were: tune out all the chaos that our lives had become and simply stay wrapped up together as one.

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Drake’s voice was smoother than it had been moments ago.

  “Really? And what’s that?”

  “That the enforcers should storm through the door now and kill us where we lie.”

  My body went rigid as I spat, “What?! No. Why would I be thinking that?”

  In a hushed tone, “For as long as we live, we’ll never have a better day than the last twenty-four hours. If I died now, I’d die a happy man.” He was close to right, but I didn’t want either of us to have a death wish.

  I wrenched myself free and turned over to face him. “Yesterday was just the first of many years of the same. Get used to it.”

  Drake’s eyes bore into mine as his smile warmed me from the inside out. “I don’t know. I’ve had some pretty vivid fantasies these last couple months, but none prepared me for last night.”

  I buried my face in his chest, drinking in his scent and memorizing this moment. He was right in a small way; if anything did happen to us, I could retire to the pasture without regrets. I forced myself to believe that in spite of any struggles we had ahead of us, there would be days just as perfect in our future. “Road blocks are no more than stepping stones as long as you’re with me.”

  His soft lips gently kissed mine, then he pulled back with a smile, “I believe you.” Drake slid out of the bed and offered his hand to me, “C’mon, I’m sure Gage and Bianca have had to put up a security detail to keep our families away. Let’s go get some breakfast,” he winked with a mischievous grin, “you’ll need your strength for later.”

  When we entered the main house, everyone else sat around a large table, happily chatting away. Bart stood up from his chair and motioned for me to take his seat. Everyone was still talking about Drake’s transformation, the wedding, and the enforcers who were locked up in the basement.

  Silver trays were warming on a buffet table along the far wall. We filled our plates and joined in the chatter.

  A panel of television screens covered a wall in the same room, a stark contrast to the buffet holding the food on the opposite wall. The entire estate was being monitored: the beach where Drake and I had exchanged our vows, the bungalows, the pool, hallways in the main house, the main gate, and areas of the property that I couldn’t identify.

  I thought of the events last night and wondered how much it had cost Bianca to keep the footage of Drake transforming into a Centaur from being posted on You-Tube. The man monitoring the televisions kept stealing glances at Drake, and I was sure he had to have seen the whole thing. It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen any of the security detail last night when all the action was going on and made a mental note to ask Bianca where her thugs with guns had been.

  I watched the screens as a taxi-cab pulled up to the main gate. After zooming the camera in on the passengers and speaking in Spanish to the driver, the man monitoring the security system buzzed it through the large metal gate into the estate.

  The four passengers piled out of the taxi in front of the estate’s main house: Brent, Daniel, Jessica, and Katherine. Bianca must have noticed my surprise at seeing them, because her voice resonated in my head, “They called ahead after they landed, so we were expecting them.”

  Gage was absent from the room; Bianca must have noticed I was looking for him. Her voice resonated in my head, “He volunteered to keep a watch on the Council’s enforcers locked up in the basement.”

  Something bothered me. I turned to Bianca and asked, “Hey, any idea why the enforcers were only carrying swords and daggers instead of Uzis and sniper rifles?”

  “We don’t know and they’re not talking. We’re not counting on being as lucky the next time. Your brothers went on a late-night weapons run. All the humans on the security detail are using armor piercing rounds now, too. If more come, we’ll be ready.”

  I didn’t like the idea of taking anyone’s life, but I refused to be unprepared. I nodded a silent thank you and went outside to meet Daniel, Brent, Jessica and Katherine.

  My goodbye to Daniel in Omaha had been awful. At the time I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see him again, and I couldn’t have guessed I’d see him just two short days later. Before I could grab hold of him and crush him in the too-warm air, Daniel positioned himself in front of Will, held out his hand and beamed, “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Strayer.”

  Will’s lips were pursed together firmly. I’d always heard that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Will remembered exactly who Daniel was, and he hadn’t miraculously grown a soft spot for him.

  Daniel had nothing but contempt for Will, and although his words had been kind, his tone made no effort to hide his disdain. Daniel took it upon himself to introduce everybody. “Obviously, you know our favorite America’s Most Wanted: Brent.” Will took Brent into a hug as Brent welcomed our father’s embrace.

  Daniel stretched his arm around Jessica and pulled her to him. Jessica’s body went rigid and her face blushed in response to his touch. “This is Jessica Baker, fabulous bartender, blackjack master, and Centauride extraordinaire.” Will and Gretchen smiled a warm greeting as Jessica nodded her, “hello.”

  Daniel held his arm out with a flourish and announced, “This is her human friend, Train Wreck.”

  Brent shouted a few steps away from Will, “Stop calling her that!” Brent re-introduced Katherine to his parents, “Mom, Dad, this is Katherine Newton. She helped us get out of South Dakota.”

  Gretchen’s gaze was fixed on her son. She turned her head as if contemplating something she saw, but said nothing.

  Daniel interrupted Brent’s introduction with a smirk, “Tomato, tomato,” Daniel said the first tomato with a long a sound and the second tomato with a short a sound.

  “Enough, Daniel.” Brent grimaced.

  Daniel was definitely getting under Brent’s skin. He called to Jessica and Katherine, “C’mon, I bet the water’s great.” Daniel saw Beau emerge from the house, and it looked like I’d been replaced. His face lit up like a toddler with his first sucker. “Beau!! Crap, they didn’t say you were here!”

  Beau walked straight over to Daniel and hugged him. “I thought I was going to be the only one in the surf today.” It shouldn’t have bothered me, but Daniel didn’t even seem to notice I was standing there.

  Lacey peeked out from behind Beau, “Beau, there’ll be time for that later. I think
your family wanted to catch up first.”

  “Right. Daniel, we’ll be down in a few.” Beau hugged him a second time, “I’m glad you’re here, man.”

  “You, too, Bra.”

  Instead of Daniel, Katherine, and Jessica heading down to the surf right away, we all walked over to an outdoor patio set and told the four what had happened the previous night.

  Brent’s reaction surprised me. He didn’t seem the least bit worried that we’d been found by enforcers. He looked hurt when he searched our family’s eyes and muttered, “You were all here for Cami’s wedding and no one invited me?”

  Daniel leaned in and whispered, “Yeah. Nice ring. I better see some pictures later.”

  Guilt washed over me. I had been elated that Will, Gretchen, Bruce, Hannah, Beau, Lacey, Ben and Bart surprised us; it never occurred to me that Brent would feel left out. Gretchen reached out and took Brent’s hand, “We didn’t know where you were when Bianca called us.”

  “You all took off. I didn’t know where any of you were.” Brent had been left out. My feet walked toward him, but I couldn’t bring my eyes to meet his. I recognized the loneliness in his expression – he believed he had lost his entire family before he came looking for me in South Dakota.

  His voice was strained, “When I couldn’t find any of you, I went looking for Cami.”

  I felt horrible. He knew Drake and I were getting married but didn’t want to be a fifth wheel. By not coming along, he’d nearly missed seeing our family – maybe for the last time. In a strange way I was silently thankful the enforcers had shown up, so we had a reason to bring him here.

  No one said anything right away. The realization of our thoughtlessness weighed heavily on me. As I looked around at the others, I could only guess that they felt the same.

  Jessica and Katherine said very little, Brent looked solemn – as if he would rather have been walking on hot coals than sitting on the little patio. I couldn’t help but notice – it looked like the four were hiding something. None would make eye contact with me, and all seemed to be in their own little worlds. What happened in Las Vegas?