Shifting Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  She nodded. “I would’ve been fine buying gift cards last night, but no. Zach insisted I get actual presents.”

  He chuckled and relaxed into his chair. “You hang out with Zach a lot?”

  “I wouldn’t say we hang out. He harasses me from time to time.”

  They both looked up when Elsa, a coyote waitress in the restaurant, stopped at their table with a plate full of food. She chirped like a little song bird, “Food’s up!”, and slid the loaded plate in front of Vince along with silverware wrapped in a napkin.

  He said in confusion, “I didn’t order any food.”

  Penny watched in irritation as Elsa turned up the charm. She looked so concerned when she said, “Really? What about you, Penny?”

  She stared flatly at her. “Not me.”

  Perky, pretty Elsa batted her eyes at Vince again. “Well, the boss said to bring it over.”

  “The boss?”

  She pointed behind her to Sebastian sitting next to Zach at the bar. Zach was busy working on his laptop, but turned around and gave Vince a two finger salute after Sebastian gave him a head bob.

  Elsa kept her stupid, pretty eyes on Vince while she put her hand out for him. “I’m Elsa. You’re Vince, right? New guy in Zach’s pack?”

  Vince seemed more alert as he shook her hand, and Penny wanted to bite him for it.

  “Yeah. Nice to meet you.”

  Elsa held on to him for way too long, and Penny firmly decided who she’d be ‘accidentally’ biting when she shifted into her coyote at the next full moon.

  “Well if you need anything, anything at all, you come find me, you hear?”

  “How about something to drink. Do you have milk?”

  “Sure thing sweetie.” Miss perky had a twinkle in her eye as she slowly let go of him and walked away.

  Vince seemed like the dumb man that he probably was as he nodded and immediately looked down at the plate of steak and veggie chunks in front of him.

  Penny knew when she’d been beat. Elsa was prettier, perkier, and just plain nicer than Penny. It was a craptacular way to start her night. She slouched against the table and rested her chin in her hand in defeat. “Wow. The only thing she didn’t offer was to take you to a private room and blow you.”

  By Vince’s shocked laugh, she figured she’d said too much. Whoops. She tried to change the subject. “So what’s with the food?”

  Vince stared at her for a time and she wondered if she should just get up and leave right now. This night was not going good.

  He finally said, “They’re trying to fatten me up I guess. Want some?”

  “No thanks. I’m already fat.”

  Vince cocked an eyebrow. “No you’re not.”

  She lifelessly smacked her hip with her free hand and said, “My thighs say different.”

  His attention was suddenly intense on her body, his gaze slowly tracing upwards from her hips until he was looking her in the eye again. She silently freaked out wondering what he’d say next. Something sexy? Or something mean. Mean was more likely. Well screw him.

  “You’re curvy. Like women are supposed to be.”

  What? Ok, that was kind of awesome. But still… “Keep your eyes up here.”

  He smirked in a way too sexy way and said, “You’re the one touching your body all over in front of me.”

  “I’m not…” She was too flustered to think of anything to say to that, so she grabbed his fork, stabbed a chunk of steak, and popped it in her mouth. She gave him a look as she chewed, and a smile lit up his face right before he scooted his chair a lot closer to her.

  Elsa came back with milk and Vince turned to Penny with a sexy little smirk. “Want some?”

  “No.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.” Actually, if he wanted to lick it off her, she’d gladly pour it all over herself.

  He watched her as he downed the drink, and Elsa was thankfully nowhere in sight once Penny thought to look for her again.

  “So you’re coyote.” He popped a bite of food in his mouth and watched her.

  “Yep.”

  After a time, he said, “You dress pretty creatively.”

  She stiffened and looked down at her hot pink pants and army green shirt with a butterfly on it. “It’s just a splash of color.”

  “A splash. Like your hair. It’s fun. I like your fake Mohawk.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with my hair.”

  “A little sensitive about it?”

  “Sick of people giving me shit about it.”

  Her eyes caught on some wolves walking by their table giving them funny looks. Vince watched them walk by, too, then turned his attention back to her. “Who gives you shit?”

  “Everyone.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “Because they’re assholes.”

  Vince laughed. “You’re so mouthy.”

  She snapped her teeth at him and he laughed again, the tension between them almost gone now.

  He said, “Did you grow up here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s that like?”

  She made a face. “I don’t know. Kind of boring I guess. What’s it like growing up in the human world?”

  He looked casually around the room before settling his gaze back on her. “Hard. We moved around the city a lot when I was younger. Had to keep ourselves under the radar until I learned to act more human.”

  He looked around again as if he were studying everyone in the room. “Feels weird being here. I’m not used to being able to let my guard down.” He dug into his food then, seeming like he didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

  Her heart hurt for him, and by his sudden frown, she figured he must have felt her emotions and didn’t like her pity. Crap. The cats were known for being hyper sensitive to that kind of thing. It felt dang near like mind reading when Zach did that to her. It was hard to hide something from someone who could feel your moods, sometimes before you even knew you were having one.

  She didn’t know how to fix him being upset, so she grabbed his fork and stabbed at a piece of potato. He got a sexy smirk on his face again and seemed preoccupied with her mouth as she bit into the chunk.

  “See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “It’s going straight to my thighs.”

  His eyes immediately trailed down her body again and he started purring, then looked away and cleared his throat while she stared at him in shock. This gorgeous guy was purring over her? The thought of that made her feel oddly shy, so she did what she did best. Changed the subject.

  “So, Zach will never answer me when I ask, but do werejaguars cough up hairballs?”

  “What?” He snapped his attention back to her, a confused smile on his face as he laughed.

  “Come on! You’re a cat!” She mimed licking her paws while Vince’s laughter faded to a sexy grin. He wore the look well.

  “You’re really pretty, you know that?” His eyes glowed, and for once he didn’t look away, not that she knew what to say to his unexpected complement.

  “Vince?”

  Penny wanted to growl at being interrupted again, except it was the Master Vampire himself, Anthony, and his human lover walking towards them, and she looked upset.

  “Hi Kaia.”

  “Vince… what are you doing here?” Her confused gaze landed on Penny for only a brief instant.

  Vince stared awkwardly at her, like he wasn’t sure how to answer. Anthony put his hand on Kaia’s shoulder and said, “My sweet. Your friend is a guest here.”

  “But he’s−”

  “One of us.”

  Her eyes went wide and she seemed hurt to hear that. A look of resignation quickly settled over her, though, and she turned her attention back on Vince.

  “Sorry Kaia. I didn’t know you knew about supers.”

  She carefully said, “What are you?”

  Maybe it was Penny’s imagination, but it seemed like there was too long a hesitation before Vince answer
ed.

  “Jaguar.”

  Was he ashamed of being a cat?

  Kaia silently nodded as she pursed her lips and clenched her jaw, and Penny didn’t even need a jaguar’s hyper emotional senses to see the woman was mad. She also knew better than to get in the middle of whatever was going on, so she kept quiet.

  Anthony said, “Vince, welcome to my home. I’m pleased to see you here. Enjoy the music this evening. Kaia and I were on our way out, but if there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He surprisingly inclined his head at Penny. “Miss Thomason.” The Master of Atlanta knew her name?

  Vince stood and put his hand out for Anthony. “Thanks man. For everything.”

  Anthony looked startled by the gesture, but quickly shook his hand, inclined his head in an old school kind of way, and hustled an irritated Kaia out of the club with him.

  Penny couldn’t help her nosiness after they left. “What was that about?”

  “No clue. I would’ve figured he’d told Kaia about me the other night when I first met him.”

  She scoffed. “We don’t do that.”

  “Don’t do what?”

  “Tell each other’s secrets. Even here at home. And especially not between the different animals, er, races. It’s not surprising he didn’t tell her. He’s the Master of this entire territory, but I guess even his trust only goes so far.”

  Vince’s eyes brightened and he looked like wheels were spinning in his head.

  “So you know Anthony’s lover?”

  “She used to come into the bookstore a lot. I’ve gotten to know her over the years.”

  Her voice came out a little too sharp when she said, “How well?”

  He narrowed his eyes and smirked. “Not that well. Not like you’re thinking.”

  “And what am I thinking?”

  He leaned away. “Oh no. I’m not falling into that trap.” He stabbed the last bite of steak and said, “Come on. It looks like the bands are starting.”

  She scowled, but when the lights quickly dimmed, he finished eating and they hurried to join the growing crowd in front of the small stage.

  **

  Penny jammed herself in with the others in front of the stage, Vince’s solid presence like a brick wall beside her. With his sexy smile on his face every time he looked at her, it was really starting to feel like something good was going on between them. He was a nice guy, sexy as hell, and he totally ignored perky Elsa earlier to openly flirt with Penny. Yeah, he was a keeper. Hopefully he felt the same way.

  They stood side by side as the first band started and got the crowd warmed up. Unfortunately, there just had to be some stupid wolves getting a little too rowdy. They were always one up’ing each other, trying to figure out who was more dominant. Funny how the other animals never had to have pissing matches in public.

  The crowd got even rowdier for the next song, and before she knew what was happening, Vince had her pulled against him with an arm of steel wrapped around her torso. His other hand quickly caught a wolf’s elbow that would’ve connected directly with her face if he hadn’t been watching out for her. Damn wolves.

  The dude looked back at Vince when he didn’t let go of him. Huh. Vince must be pretty strong to be able to hold on like that, especially while the guy was jerking around. Vince’s low, deep growl vibrated against her back as he stared the guy down, then gave his arm a little shove away from them.

  She wasn’t sure if she was excited to be in Vince’s arms, or worried he’d end up in a fight. The guy’s friends were now looking their way, but she quickly decided she was safe with Vince. Something about the energy he gave off was damn fierce, and those wolves looked like they knew it, too, because they had a hard time staring him down. They looked like lost puppies as they tried to glare at him, and kept ending up looking away in frustration. They finally just gave him an irritated head bob before moving off to some other place in the crowd, somewhere not near them.

  Vince kept his eye on them while they moved off, then leaned closer to her ear. “You ok?” He loosened his grip and took a step back, but she held on tight.

  They locked eyes, and for a split second she thought he might still pull away, but he stepped closer instead. He slid both arms around her, his broad body enveloping her in its warmth and strength. She smiled and leaned her head back against his chest and finally relaxed.

  The crowd rocked and moved to the beat of the music, but all she could think about was that this was what it should feel like with a man. He’d been looking out for her with the rowdy crowd and didn’t waste any time, or even hesitate to keep her safe. And now, his body was firm and solid behind her, but his hands were gentle as he traced circles on her hips with his fingertips. He leaned closer and she thought he was going to tell her something, but instead he scented her, then rubbed his cheek against hers. She sighed in satisfaction, then smiled at the vibration of him purring against her back.

  She felt peaceful here with Vince as they watched and listened to the music. It’d been too long since she’d felt an intimate embrace like this, and she missed it. Whether or not things went well between them, his strong body wrapped around her tonight, holding her close, was the best feeling on earth.

  **

  The music was good background noise to being able to hold Penny in his arms and not have to worry about her freaking out by the rumble of his purring. He’d never been able to pull that off with a woman.

  And he liked her curves even better up close. She seemed more muscular than women he’d briefly been with in the past, but she also had hips and other nice, round parts that he really wanted to slide his hands over. But not here. Not now.

  God he was hard. Another thing she wasn’t making a big deal about. She needed to stop rocking to the beat of the song like that because it made her ass rub up against him… Oh shit. Was she doing that on purpose? He gave her a squeeze and looked down to see her smiling wickedly, though she kept her eyes on the band. This woman was driving him crazy.

  He was even willing to give up his grudge against her for calling him out for being clumsy last night. If people actually kept secrets around here then maybe she didn’t know he was handicapped. And if she didn’t know, he didn’t want her to know. Not if there was a chance he could be cured before she ever found out.

  He took a deep breath and the smell of her shampoo and something else, something uniquely her, made him crave a stable relationship in his life. He’d never even dared to dream about it with a human woman, but with Penny… She was shifter. There could be hope with her.

  Hope. That word sobered him up. He looked behind the crowd, towards the restaurant, and saw Zach still sitting at the bar working on his computer. That dude was tenacious once he found out about Vince and his mom, and tonight, trying to fatten him up because the doctor said he should eat more. They really were all trying to help him here. Did he dare dream that his handicap could be cured? Could he let himself get swept up by the possibility? As if Zach were reading his mind, he looked up from his computer and locked eyes with him. Vince gave him a head bob and turned back to watch the band, all the while feeling like things might really be changing in his life.

  For almost two hours they swayed to the music, the second band a crowd favorite, but he was getting shaky, and it hit home for him that he really was handicapped for a shifter. He should be strong and have all kinds of energy, but he was always exhausted. Like now. Having a woman to hold in his arms had amped him up for the night, but now his adrenaline was coming down and he was crashing. He was already fighting to keep his muscles stiff so they wouldn’t shake so bad, but if he didn’t get out of here soon, he’d get dizzy and his vision would get bad right before he really got sick.

  Luckily it seemed to be the last song for the night because the band members were all pumping their fists in the air, and the lead singer eventually said goodnight through the feedback noise of the guitars still screaming in the background. The club lights brightened just a little, and th
e crowd started to break up.

  Finally. Vince was desperate to get out of here before Penny saw how messed up he actually was.

  **

  Vince loosened his hold on her and Penny turned to him with a smile, wondering what else might happen tonight. It was late, but she really didn’t want the night to end. It felt too good to be wrapped up in Vince’s arms, his embrace a heady mixture of cozy, comfortable and romantic. It definitely wasn’t the usual first date pawing she got from some guys.

  There was no smile on his face and little emotion in his voice when he said, “That was fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime. You ready to go?”

  Her mood instantly fell. She’d been reading way too much into their night together based on how eager he was to get away from her, especially seeing how far back he’d stepped so he wouldn’t have to touch her anymore. Great. She was just the fun girl for the night and now he was done with her.

  She couldn’t even look at him as she dryly said, “I’m totally ready to go. Can’t wait to go do something by myself. You leaving?”

  He urged her across the club and she reluctantly kept pace because what else was she going to do? Let everyone see that she’d been dumped?

  “Yeah, I have to work early in the morning.”

  So did she, but that wouldn’t stop her from staying up with someone she really liked. Whatever. She followed his quick steps up to the foyer, mumbling under breath, “We don’t want you to be tired.”

  They got to the top and Vince asked, “You live up that way?” He pointed to another set of stairs opposite the front door.

  She didn’t hide the sharpness in her voice when she snapped, “Yep.”

  He put his hand on her shoulder and nudged her towards the stairwell, then pulled her to a stop and turned her towards him. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on, still pissed that he was leaving her like this, but when he stepped closer and cupped her cheeks in his warm, masculine hands, she froze as she stared into his eyes. Why was she mad at him again?

  His kiss was warm and firm, and started out just like his embrace had tonight. He gently teased and probed her needy lips until it was obvious both of them wanted this. It quickly became heated to the point of scorching hot, but to her dismay, he pulled back. His warm hand nudged her head back and he trailed tender kisses down her neck, until he just stopped and breathed her in. Finally he pressed her head against his chest and held her as if she were the most precious thing in his world.